loyola Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 PLAYERS UNINSPIRED BY CSA'S LEADERSHIP Board Mostly Unknown Eric Koreen, National Post Published: Thursday, August 30, 2007 TORONTO - It is clear that Jim Brennan is no fan of Colin Linford. However, the Toronto FC defender and Canadian international does agree with the departed Canadian Soccer Association president on one thing: There needs to be more soccer people making decisions for the welfare of the CSA. "There's a lot of people in the CSA that are looking after themselves," Brennan, who has represented Canada 43 times with the senior team, said . "And there are a lot of buddy-buddy [situations] in the CSA, which is a joke, and it shouldn't be that way. It should be soccer first. And they do look after themselves. They know who they are." The division in the ranks at the CSA -- with volunteer directors taking the lead ahead of the soccer administrators on key decisions -- was one of the main reasons that Linford announced his resignation as president on Tuesday after serving just 15 months of his four-year term. While most players said they didn't know Linford personally, they did say that his comments about the CSA operating as a faceless organization were accurate. "His criticism seems like it's spot-on," said TFC defender Chris Pozniak, a veteran of 20 matches with Canada. "The problem is we can't really put a face to a lot of people on the board in the CSA. We don't know who they are. I've seen some resumes of people. And they're either not soccer people or not business people. I don't know who they are. Colin came out to a few of the camps, a few of the games, so at least we knew who he was." Goalkeeper Pat Onstad agreed players could be better informed of the goings-on with the CSA. "Being a player, you're kind of on the outside looking in, in terms of all the internal squabbles," said Onstad, the starting 'keeper for Major League Soccer's Houston Dynamo. "It's tough to know if there's really a side for players to pick ." However, Linford certainly wasn't winning praise from some of the players regarding his treatment of the men's team's coaching situation. Linford made it clear that he preferred to hire Brazilian coach Rene Simoes to be the national team head coach, but that the CSA -- for a few reasons, including the desire to have a Canadian at the helm -- wouldn't approve of Linford's choice. In May, the CSA gave the job to Canada's former men's under-20 coach Dale Mitchell. "Going out and hiring a foreign coach and paying him loads and loads of money might not necessarily have been the best choice," TFC defender Adam Braz said. "I don't think that saying Dale was the wrong choice was right at all by Colin." Brennan added that Linford had not earned complete acceptance among Canadian players. "Things weren't going the way he wanted them to. He came out and he has hammered the CSA and a few people along the way," Brennan said. "But at the same time, you've got to look at yourself first. There's a lot of players that didn't agree with him or what he wanted to do." Nonetheless, Linford's resignation leaves the CSA without a president --a new one is to be elected in October. Meanwhile, many of Canada's players hope the leadership situation can be sorted out in time for the start of qualification for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa starting next year. "For a few of us, this is going to be our last crack," the 30-year-old Brennan said. "You want everything to be right. When things are right on the pitch, and things are right off the pitch, you come together as one unit." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gian-Luca Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 Good for the boys for speaking out. This article certainly seems to further the suggestion that the hiring of Simoes would not have been a popular choice amongst the players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loyola Posted August 30, 2007 Author Share Posted August 30, 2007 quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca Good for the boys for speaking out. This article certainly seems to further the suggestion that the hiring of Simoes would not have been a popular choice amongst the players. Well, I don't imagine those players (who their place with the MNT is far from certain) criticizing the hiring of Mitchell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free kick Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 quote:Originally posted by loyola Well, I don't imagine those players (who their place with the MNT is far from certain) criticizing the hiring of Mitchell. Perhaps, but by the same token, they are closer to the scene than, say, a player in europe who mind is going to be more preoccupied with events going on there and less likely to follow the day to day reports of whats happening at CSA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gian-Luca Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 quote:Originally posted by loyola Well, I don't imagine those players (who their place with the MNT is far from certain) criticizing the hiring of Mitchell. Of course not, but nobody is forcing them to criticize the plan to hire Simoes either. It would be easy to take a diplomatic approach if they wanted. And in Brennan's case, he is reporting what a lot of the other players thought about the subject. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackTheBlizzard Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca Good for the boys for speaking out. Does that include Chris Pozniak who says Linford's assessment was spot-on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
River City Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 I'm sorry, since when is it up to the players to decide who their coach is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gian-Luca Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 quote:Originally posted by BringBackTheBlizzard Does that include Chris Pozniak who says Linford's assessment was spot-on? Yes, it does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youllneverwalkalone Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 I'm not sure how anyone on the MNT can criticize Linford's overall agenda of making the squad the first priority and getting more home matches. I still don't understand why he didn't wait for the Simoes counter-offer before hiring Mitchell. The story I remember is that Simoes came back and said that he would take the job without his entourage, but the CSA had already approached Mitchell. Why couldn't Linford have navigated this a little better? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonovision Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 I'm not sure if Onstad's quote supported the author's point at all. quote: "Being a player, you're kind of on the outside looking in, in terms of all the internal squabbles," said Onstad, the starting 'keeper for Major League Soccer's Houston Dynamo. "It's tough to know if there's really a side for players to pick ." Seems like he was trying as hard as he could to say something without really saying anything, diplomatically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackTheBlizzard Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 quote:Originally posted by River City I'm sorry, since when is it up to the players to decide who their coach is? That may be part of the problem. National team players actively campaigned for Osieck's departure and since then it has been a CSA insider in the post. Colin Linford, rightly IMO, wanted to create a more professional environment again, based on the sort of setup that countries who regularly qualify have, similar to what existed under Osieck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gian-Luca Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 quote:Originally posted by River City I'm sorry, since when is it up to the players to decide who their coach is? Nobody said it was. But they can decide not to play for a coach, and I do think you have to take that into account when deciding who to hire, especially when it is a coach that comes with a certain reputation that is not always a positive one. Granted, you could say that the players in Canada have an inordinate amount of potential sway in what coach is picked because of the lack of depth in Canada in comparison to most countries. But it's the reality that the CSA can not ignore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gian-Luca Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 quote:Originally posted by youllneverwalkalone I'm not sure how anyone on the MNT can criticize Linford's overall agenda of making the squad the first priority and getting more home matches. I'm sure they wouldn't criticize that aspect. And I doubt that they were all Kevan Pipe fans who wanted him to stay or conversely were against the new CEO. I think it's pretty easy to read between the lines on this one, especially with the comment the journalist made which precedes the quotes about the coach. And adding to that what we had heard from the players previously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackTheBlizzard Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca Nobody said it was. But they can decide not to play for a coach,... This is exactly the type of mentality that holds the national team back and why most people in the soccer community find it very hard to take the national team seriously or summon up much in the way of enthusiasm for it. If the CSA wants to get serious and wants to actually move beyond being an old boys sort of social network again then they can't be seen to meekly accept this behaviour. If any player refuses to play for a coach it should be declared publicly that they will never play for the national team again until a public apology is made and a pledge is made not to do it again with another offense leading to permanent exclusion. Identify the players who actually want to approach things properly and build from there and then the whole culture around the team will slowly change as a set of standards is set in place that the next generation of players will conform to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bingham Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 quote:Originally posted by River City I'm sorry, since when is it up to the players to decide who their coach is? Its not up to them but one would think they would be concerned that the best available coach was not hired especially given the Yallop debacle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ag futbol Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 If there was such overwhelming opposition from the players for Simmoes then Dero should have stepped up and said something on the hiring committee. What was the point of using that method to conduct a search if the players weren't even happy about the end result? On the other hand I agree that we have to move past what individuals want and look at what is best for soccer Canada as a whole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
River City Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 quote:Originally posted by bingham Its not up to them but one would think they would be concerned that the best available coach was not hired especially given the Yallop debacle If the choice for coach was someone with no clue about soccer like Pellerud , I'd agree. But you can't tell me they actually think Mitchell was the best available coach. Not compared to Simoes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VPjr Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca Nobody said it was. But they can decide not to play for a coach, and I do think you have to take that into account when deciding who to hire, especially when it is a coach that comes with a certain reputation that is not always a positive one. Granted, you could say that the players in Canada have an inordinate amount of potential sway in what coach is picked because of the lack of depth in Canada in comparison to most countries. But it's the reality that the CSA can not ignore. The only reason I can imagine for a player to resent playing for Rene Simoes would be because he would be making a lot more money than they would be making and, truly, that should not be their concern. I am pleased that the players spoke so frankly. Maybe someone at the CSA is listening (I doubt it). I am not surprised that they are not keen to criticize Mitchell because that would be suicide, especially if they have a hope of being called to senior squad for future matches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpg75 Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 Let's not forget the whole "Jesus Saves" side of Simoes. I can see why some of the Canadian players might be a little turned off playing for a religious zealot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VPjr Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 quote:Originally posted by jpg75 Let's not forget the whole "Jesus Saves" side of Simoes. I can see why some of the Canadian players might be a little turned off playing for a religious zealot. Do you really believe that his religious beliefs are that big of a deal. As long as he doesn't require you to be baptized to play for him, I don't see it being that big a problem. I'm an atheist. I work with deeply religious people every day and it doesn't impact our ability to work together as a tight knit team. Based on your statement, would that preclude devout Muslims, Sikhs or Orthodox Jews from being a good national team coach? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
River City Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 There is a large movement in Brasil called Atletas de Cristo (Athletes of Christ) that is hard to ignore. Scolari (very right wing and conservative) when coaching Brasil at the 2002 World Cup allowed the players to express their religious views openly as a way of uniting the team. Not all players believe in the same thing, but having an open attitude helped gel the team. I was personally put off by the post-Cup celebrations where they were writing all sorts of religious inscriptions on shirts and jerseys, but to each his own. Anyway, it would be hard for a Brasilian coach not to be affected by this but it's not like he only pursues players who agree with him. His job at the end of the day is to select the best eleven. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpg75 Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 quote:Originally posted by VPjr Do you really believe that his religious beliefs are that big of a deal. As long as he doesn't require you to be baptized to play for him, I don't see it being that big a problem. I'm an atheist. I work with deeply religious people every day and it doesn't impact our ability to work together as a tight knit team. Based on your statement, would that preclude devout Muslims, Sikhs or Orthodox Jews from being a good national team coach? I assume you haven't heard about his required pre-game prayer sessions then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
River City Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 I believe some college football teams have pre-game prayer sessions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VPjr Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 quote:Originally posted by jpg75 I assume you haven't heard about his required pre-game prayer sessions then? Dude, I go to church for weddings and funerals. When everyone else prays, I recite the TFC Massive quietly to myself I did not know about mandatory pre-game prayer. I am not sure that it's such a big deal but to each their own. if you are uncomfortable with it, I can respect that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acid-Tone Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 During the u20 tourny, me and my friends had a similer pregame ritual- it was called "pray for a effing goal" That didn't go so well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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