The Road Ahead - What to do?

[Ian Kennett]

Another loss to an inferior team, Estonia, except that we were inferior again.

Another uninspiring performance by Mitchell as coach. Hart got a better performance at the Gold Cup and Dasovic, in a really short time, at least got something out of the Olympic tournament where a loss to the much stronger USA was expected, but he passionately spoke out against the CSA'a lack of direction in Canada.

Mitchell? I agree with anybody who says that it is time for him to go. There is plenty of time for the CSA to find a new coach within 30 to 45 days. Even Hart would be, in my opinion, a better choice. Mitchell does not seem to have the knack for tactics or for motivating a team. He should not have been chosen as national coach after the U-20 disaster (yes we debated that before - give him a chance etc.), but that's the CSA for you! Peter Montopoli has his first opportunity to test his authority!

Where to now?

1) Over the short term, Hart must be able to convince the feudal-minded provinces that it is in their best interests to set as their goal NOT a provincial championship which in the real world counts for NOTHING, but rather the development of players for careers at PRO CLUBS, and contributions to the NATIONAL teams. It has to start at all age levels, and coaches, particularly before the U-17 level, must accept the fact that they make a better contribution by teaching SKILLS instead of tactics. A conversation that each coach must have with him/herself is this:

"Wow! Look at all my team trophies. I am a great coach. How many players have I sent to a long, successful career at higher levels? What? None? Hmm! I am not a great coach after all."

Provinces (associations and clubs) must, to establish their right to brag, be able to supply top quality players to top clubs and national teams. That should be their success story. A provincial championship with inferior players who, in the long term, cannot succeed at higher levels, is USELESS! You can teach tactics to anybody with half a brain, but if the player lacks skills, all is a waste of time!

2) Canadian amateur clubs must receive some kind of financial and moral recognition when their players are selected directly by professional teams. Even a small amount would be a recognition of the club's efforts, and would show which clubs are doing a great job with young players; however, no club director or coach should ever discourage or block a player's move to a higher level if the player will benefit from the move regardless if it hurts the lower level team's potential to win a trophy. Trophies are small compansation for sabotaging a player's development.

3) Fire Dale Mitchell - see above.

4) Arrange for far more friendlies against CONCACAF opponents. Play them in England, if needs must, at a Premiership stadium on FIFA dates. Canada/Jamaica in London? Why not!

5) Train coaches, train coaches, train coaches!!! Each province should , under Hart's direction, be aggressively training coaches at all levels, and moreso at the youth levels. In addition, the Canadian/provincial coaching levels must be upgraded to standards which better refelct those in other successful parts of the soccer world. It is simply naive and arrogant for any Canadian soccer person to say that Canada has the answer to training players. Don't reinvent the wheel, but do beg, borrow, and steal the ideas oif successful soccer nations.

6) Why number 5 above? Well, just how many promising young Canadians are being coveted by TFC, Whitecaps FC, or the Impact? Right! We need better players so these clubs would be anxious to replace journeyman/average foreigners who are currently preferred over young Canadians by the top pro clubs in Canada. Sad testament!! (BTW, The acadamy idea, such as that run by the Whitecaps, is certainly on the right track!)

7) Do away with stupid, restrictive rules which say that this player or that player cannot enroll in a soccer academy and then play for club, or not, or for the province, or not. Players themselves will find an appropriate equilibrium, and if a guy from Soccer Academy X is clearly a top player, but he/she has not registered with the correct bureaucracy, or does not have an uncle pulling strings, blah, blah blah, there should be NO reason whatsoever for not allowing such players to get a fair chance at provincial or national youth programs. End the "provincial" fiefdom mentality, boys! I recall an incident about five yeas back in which the Whitecaps U-16 team was planning a trip to Scotland, but BC Soccer wrote letters to all the Whitecaps players stating that those players would lose their eligibility to play for BC if they travelled with the Whitecaps U-16's, a team which had not yet been recognized by BC Soccer as a legitimate team. Some kids left the Whitecaps under that threat. What nonsense! Can you believe it? There has since been an arrangement made between WFC and BC Soccer to avoid such rubbish in the future, but kids should NEVER be put into the jackpot like that!

Well that's a start.

I'm sure to have missed a few other ideas. Maybe somebody from the old CSA can help me out here LOL.

Cheers!

[Paddy]

quote:Originally posted by Ian Kennett

Mitchell? I agree with anybody who says that it is time for him to go.

Not that I disagree, but who is there left in Canada to hire? The CSA made the stupid statement the foreign coaches are too mercenary and have now left us cycling through former national team players (with the exception of Hart, who may as well have been left in charge).

[Guest Can. in UK]

Losing to Estonia, in my opinion, is the worst result of the Mitchell era. He's a loser (in the literal sense of the word). I am sure someone will put together his record over the past few years - and it's not going to be pretty. God knows what he says at half time but he certainly doesn't seem to inspire anyone - and he certainly has not engrained a winning attitude in the side.

The CSA made such a mess of the hiring process that they have given themselves no choice but stick with Mitchell. It's so unfortunate that he'll only get fired after we get knocked out of the WCQ. The whole debate of 'what's next' is irrelevant until then.

[CanadianSwede]

In any other country results speak for the coach. And as mentioned if results are important, they would clearly indicate that Mitchell needs to be sacked. We haven't wont a single game against any opposition worth mentioning. No wonder no one comes and sees Canada at home, who wants to see a losing team? In any case if we keep playing like we have, don't think about mexico, honduras or jamaica because we'll be going to down to St. VAG, which is pathetic. What a waste of talent.

[The Ref]

Dale Mitchell is not a good coach. More specifically I do not see him as a coach at all. Results at U20 and senior level are grossly bad. He does not behave like a coach in the field, but rather as an insecure, meek person who can only sit down, say nothing and caress his face. He did manage to pass the A license exam in 2004, but I wonders if the CSA just gave it to him as already back then there was talk of him being THE national coach. The CSA may have appointed him, not because of his virtues but rather as a last resort to save face. Now they just throw him bread crumbs.

To let him continue would be yet another CSA blunder. Bring in someone who at least has demonstrated some aptitude and has an coaching outlook, namely Stephen Hart or Nick Dasovic. The CSA can save money by having a joint farewell party for Mitchell and Pellerud together.

[youllneverwalkalone]

I readily admit that Stephen Hart's time as manager is an exception to everything I'm going to write, but...

The one thing that lingers in my mind amidst all the fire Mitchell talk is that he is calling the best 18 players consitently. In comparison too Yallop who was all over the place. Or Holger who alienated many. It seems that with Dale, like most of us, his virtue is also his vice: he picks a top team but doesn't bring in the intangibles to get result. In fairness, Yallop didn't get results either but...

Hypothetical situation: the CSA hire manager Charlos U. Farleto from Paraguay/Uruguay/Otherguay and he come in an selects a couple of off the chart guys. Say Rivas Jr. and Mcginnis-Castro or something like that. What do the V's say if he doesn't get the results?

Seems to be a damned if you do, damned if don't scenario. Make changes and try to build a *team,* the way Holger did by bringing in youngsters (like Hutch, Tam, Canizles) or just put out the best and hope for the best. Hart obviously was able to get more than Mitchell, but...

As much as I take comfort in Mitchell selecting the squad that I would, I'm thinking that any manager worth his stones selects the best team, and will inevitably leave talented players out of the squad. The problem with Yallop was that he selected crappy off the chart guys like Gervais and Braz, whereas Holger selected young players with potential.

To me, Mitchell's ear so far is about whether or not our players are now good enough to qualify themselves for the World Cup. As mentioned, it doesn't seem like he's doing much else. Though sometimes less is more...

[rodfern2007]

So, is there going to be another friendly before we begin our World Cup qualifying campaign against SVG? And if so, what do you think the result might be? By my reckoning, Mitchell has one last chance to redeem himself for all the poor performances he's put forth so far (and before anyone says anything, no I do not count Bermuda and Martinique as a win; anyone can beat them. ANYONE.) If not, then the chances of qualifying will diminish even further.

[Daniel]

Aren't we playing Panama and Haiti in the lead-up to Saint-VAG?

[devioustrevor]

I think we play one more before the WCQ. If I'm not mistaken it's against Panama in early June.

[jonovision]

Daniel's right, Haiti and Panama are both booked.

http://www.fifa.com/associations/association=can/fixturesresults/gender=m/index.html

[VPjr]

Ian Kennett...great post. We agree on basically EVERYTHING.

youllneverwalkalone...I agree that DM is consistently picking our A squad. the question is, does the A squad want to play for Dale? I think Dale deserves 2 more games....that's it. If the results don't come, he's gotta go. Get those keyboards warmed up folks because the voice of the fans will need to be heard if things don't improve. If they turf Dale, I'd put SH in charge on an interim basis again. why not? It worked out ok last time. He can lead them through SVG and then he can be involved in hiring a proper MNT coach.

[nolando]

quote:Originally posted by jonovision

Daniel's right, Haiti and Panama are both booked.

http://www.fifa.com/associations/association=can/fixturesresults/gender=m/index.html

For what it's worth, I'm keeping tracking of Canada's and our future opponent's games in this thread: http://www.canadian-soccer.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=14418

[rodfern2007]

Will either of those games be played in Canada? If so, we should display some sort of message, expressing our displeasure with the way things are being run by the CSA, just like we did for the Costa Rica game. The floor is open to suggestions.