Jason deVos weighs in on Brennan Dispute...

[CanadasBest]

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/blogs/2008/10/can_world_cup_team_follow_impa.html

Can World Cup team follow Impact lead?

October 9, 2008 10:38 AM | Posted by Jason de Vos

On Saturday, Canada faces a do-or-die World Cup qualifying game in Honduras. If head coach Dale Mitchell is looking for any pointers on what it takes to come home with a victory, he could do worse than pick up the phone and call John Limniatis. For not only does Limniatis know how to win on the road, he also knows how to do it in style.

The Montreal Impact head coach led his battered and bruised team into hostile territory once again this week. This time they faced Joe Public of Trinidad, whose coach, Keith Griffiths, boasted that his team would beat the Impact by “at least four” goals when the two teams met in Trinidad.

Well, at least he got the four goals part right.

The commanding group leaders

Unfortunately for Griffiths, it was Montreal who scored them in their comfortable 4-1 victory.

The result sees the Impact sitting pretty atop Group C of the CONCACAF Champions League with 10 points with two games remaining. Atlante FC of Mexico is in second place with five points, followed by CD Olimpia of Honduras with four. Which begs the question: If the Impact can do it, why can’t Canada?

Truth be told, Montreal are a well-organized, well-coached team who play to their strengths. They are very resolute defensively, only conceding two goals in four group games thus far, and they work extremely hard as a team.

When they don’t have the ball, they play a 4-5-1 formation that is difficult to break down. When they win possession, they commit players forward, shifting to a 4-3-3 formation which takes advantage of their pace and strength.

They play the game the way it should be played, by passing the ball on the floor and moving to create space. They are a fantastic team who has shaken off the tag of ‘underdogs’ in style.

National side chances bleak

By comparison, Canada’s World Cup team has failed to live up to expectations.

A disappointing 1-1 draw in Toronto against a poor Jamaican side was followed up by a 2-1 loss in Montreal to Honduras. A 2-1 defeat away to group favourites Mexico was hardly unexpected, but it leaves Canada with a mountain to climb in Group B.

Yet, it could have been so different.

Had Pat Onstad not gifted the Jamaicans their equalizer, we could have started off our second-round qualifiers with a precious three points.

Had we been able to defend a lead, we could have followed that up with another three points against Honduras. Even if we had still lost in Mexico, we could be going into Honduras with six points under our belts.

But we’re not. We’ve got one point and we’re staring down the barrel of a gun.

Our best player, Julian de Guzman, is injured. Our most dangerous attacker, Dwayne De Rosario, is suspended, as is central defender Adrian Serioux.

And now there are rumours of dissension in the ranks.

Brennan: Right or wrong?

Defender Jim Brennan has come out and publicly criticized Dale Mitchell claiming, among other things, that the CSA “lacked class” in not informing him personally of Mitchell’s decision not to include him in the squad for the match against Honduras.

Like any argument, there are always two sides to every story. So I’m going to look at this from both sides.

Mitchell is the coach of the team, and he is free to choose whoever he wants to include in the squad. He is paid to make those decisions, and he will ultimately be judged by results. If he doesn’t think Brennan is good enough to make the squad, then that is his decision.

Brennan has been involved with the national team program for many years. He is a veteran who has made many sacrifices to play for his country. If he is deemed surplus to requirements for this game, I think he can accept that. He won’t be happy about it, but he is a professional footballer who is mentally tough enough to deal with disappointment.

Not calling him personally to inform him that he is not being selected is wrong. Period.

Sure, you could argue that every player should be glad to get the opportunity to play for their country, and you would trade places with them in a second. You could say that they are highly-paid professionals and you would do their job for a fraction of what they earn. And you would be right. But there are very, very few players in Canada who are good enough to play for the national team. And Jim Brennan happens to be one of them.

What happens if we have a glut of injuries to our left-sided players? What if Mike Klukowski and Marcel de Jong both go down injured against Honduras? Who is going to step into that void now that Mitchell has fallen out with Brennan? Over something as simple as a phone call?

Football management has more to do with people skills than Xs and Os on a blackboard. Especially international management. You can’t just dip into the transfer market when you feel your players are underperforming or you fall out with someone. You have to play the hand you are dealt.

Part of playing that hand is maximizing the talent at your disposal. You have to encourage and cajole, discipline and criticize players individually and collectively in order to get the best out of them. That is what separates great managers, like Sir Alex Ferguson, from everyone else.

Are Brennan’s comments poorly timed? Yes. Do they sound like sour grapes? Perhaps. But I think it is a mistake to fall out with a player over a simple courtesy call, especially when our pool of players is so small.

For what it’s worth, I would have Brennan in my team any day. He’s great in the dressing room and he’s a solid professional who is proud to represent his country. You know what you’re going to get from him and he’s never let me down when we’ve played together in the past.

I’m sure there is more to this story than what has been said thus far, and it will be interesting to see what gets revealed in the days and weeks to come.

[CanadasBest]

Be quiet Jason. You don't know enough about international football. How dare you weigh in on this.

[Big Daddy K]

quote:Originally posted by gwallace76

Be quiet Jason. You don't know enough about international football. How dare you weigh in on this.

oooh... nice reference at the DM comment

[Gian-Luca]

Very weak. This isn't looking at it from both sides at all, there's no discussion as to whether Brennan is at fault to quit from his national team (& teammates) over something so trival. Everything De Vos says about why it is important not to piss off players unnecessarily could be applied to why it is important for players to not abandon their teammates, particular over something so trivial - but it's only applied to Mitchell.

If you are going to criticize Mitchell that's fine, but don't claim to look at it from both sides and then only take the side of your former teammate.

[youllneverwalkalone]

quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca

Very weak. This isn't looking at it from both sides at all, there's no discussion as to whether Brennan is at fault to quit from his national team (& teammates) over something so trival. Everything De Vos says about why it is important not to piss off players unnecessarily could be applied to why it is important for players to not abandon their teammates, particular over something so trivial - but it's only applied to Mitchell.

If you are going to criticize Mitchell that's fine, but don't claim to look at it from both sides and then only take the side of your former teammate.

I think you need to consider the source here: DeVos is not afraid to speak his mind one way or the other. He has his share of enemies on the team and at the CSA for his leadership style. I don't think it's fair to imply that he's writing solely to defend his teammate. If he thought Brennan was more at fault he would say so. He felt the players weren't giving Mitchell a fair shake, he would say so. This is just another piece of evidence to say that everyone in the Canada soccer community seem to agree that Mitchell is not doing his job properly. And I don't think DeVos or anybody else is suggesting that JB acted the right way. All we are saying is give us a coach.

[loyola]

quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca

Very weak. This isn't looking at it from both sides at all, there's no discussion as to whether Brennan is at fault to quit from his national team (& teammates) over something so trival. Everything De Vos says about why it is important not to piss off players unnecessarily could be applied to why it is important for players to not abandon their teammates, particular over something so trivial - but it's only applied to Mitchell.

If you are going to criticize Mitchell that's fine, but don't claim to look at it from both sides and then only take the side of your former teammate.

Agree.

As for the call thing, I remember DM saying before the Jamaica game (and it's in a printed article as well) that OO must be tired of receiving his calls because he was alaways the last cut.

My guess is that JB knew perfectly on september 10 that he wasn't going to be part of the October 11-15 games.....but he's making a mess now because of a phone call DM didn't think he had to make.

[Gian-Luca]

quote:Originally posted by youllneverwalkalone

I think you need to consider the source here: DeVos is not afraid to speak his mind one way or the other. He has his share of enemies on the team and at the CSA for his leadership style. I don't think it's fair to imply that he's writing solely to defend his teammate. If he thought Brennan was more at fault he would say so.

Ask yourself why he doesn't think Brennan is more at fault. Why the issue of Brennan abandoning his country by removing himself from possible future selection should we need him (with Klukowski on a yellow card) isn't even discussed. That is the truly important issue, not whether or not Brennan got a phone call from the coach to explain something that he apparently had already explained to him in person. When you add this to the "I think Jim Brennan rocks" paragraph at the end of the article, he is painting himself out to be biased, despite the claim that he's not.

I can agree with the argument that Dale Mitchell as coach needs to improve on man management and needs to deal better with players acting like prima donnasgiven how small the Canadian national team talent pool is. The "other side" to that issue is that players shouldn't be acting like that to begin with. That has been a problem since before this campaign began, which a few of us on this board had tried sound the warning cries of. The fact that it continues to get ignored in the media is a problem which needs to be addressed.

[Vic]

Brilliantly said Jason.

[youllneverwalkalone]

quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca

Ask yourself why he doesn't think Brennan is more at fault. Why the issue of Brennan abandoning his country by removing himself from possible future selection should we need him (with Klukowski on a yellow card) isn't even discussed. That is the truly important issue, not whether or not Brennan got a phone call from the coach to explain something that he apparently had already explained to him in person. When you add this to the "I think Jim Brennan rocks" paragraph at the end of the article, he is painting himself out to be biased, despite the claim that he's not.

I can agree with the argument that Dale Mitchell as coach needs to improve on man management and needs to deal better with players acting like prima donnasgiven how small the Canadian national team talent pool is. The "other side" to that issue is that players shouldn't be acting like that to begin with. That has been a problem since before this campaign began, which a few of us on this board had tried sound the warning cries of. The fact that it continues to get ignored in the media is a problem which needs to be addressed.

DeVos does clearly discuss the issue of an injury/suspension to Klukowski or De Jong. Sure, he blames Mitchell. But the title of that part of the blog is "JB: Right or Wrong?" He has to conclude. He's not claiming to be impartial, he's stating he will look at both sides. Read the article again.

I totally agree with you that the players are babies. But if we had a manager with any intelligence, he would have met this issue head on months ago. He would have convinced the players that playing on the fake turf with a big home crowd was to our advantage. Instead, Mitchell pretended to side with the players while he had absolutely no ability/desire to influence the outcome. He sits around with his thumb up his bum while Mpenza was telling us all at least a month in advance that the surface at Saputo was not up to par. Mitchell is the most massive failure of a Canadian manager in our long history of disappointment. Everybody agrees other than Paul James. I maintain that if there were any reasonable defense of Dale Mitchell, JDV would have the balls to come to his rescue. It's not a question of being balanced. It a question of fact: Mitchell is a total loser in every sense of the word. Brennan is the captain of his club who competes very hard. He's made his share of mistakes, as JDV admits, but I respect him a lot more than Mitchell. The guy at the top needs to take the fall and DM is waiting for a push. It's disgusting.

[loyola]

quote:Originally posted by youllneverwalkalone

DeVos does clearly discuss the issue of an injury/suspension to Klukowski or De Jong. Sure, he blames Mitchell. But the title of that part of the blog is "JB: Right or Wrong?" He has to conclude. He's not claiming to be impartial, he's stating he will look at both sides. Read the article again.

I totally agree with you that the players are babies. But if we had a manager with any intelligence, he would have met this issue head on months ago. He would have convinced the players that playing on the fake turf with a big home crowd was to our advantage. Instead, Mitchell pretended to side with the players while he had absolutely no ability/desire to influence the outcome. He sits around with his thumb up his bum while Mpenza was telling us all at least a month in advance that the surface at Saputo was not up to par. Mitchell is the most massive failure of a Canadian manager in our long history of disappointment. Everybody agrees other than Paul James. I maintain that if there were any reasonable defense of Dale Mitchell, JDV would have the balls to come to his rescue. It's not a question of being balanced. It a question of fact: Mitchell is a total loser in every sense of the word. Brennan is the captain of his club who competes very hard. He's made his share of mistakes, as JDV admits, but I respect him a lot more than Mitchell. The guy at the top needs to take the fall and DM is waiting for a push. It's disgusting.

That's why he helped Canada, as a player, qualify to a WC in 1986?

That's why, as a player, he ws part of our best result during the Olympics in 1984?

That's why he was part of the coaching staff (2 as Head coach) of 3 teams who qualified to U-20's WC without loosing a game during the qualifications?

That's why he was the head coach of men's NT who has the best result ever in a WC competition (2003 U-20's)?

Of course, you have the current situation and the 2007 U-20's but his resumé doesn't indicate to me that he is a loser. Of course he shouldn't be there at the moment in an ideal world but there's no way "facts" are leading me to believe he's a loser.

When I look at the bunch of primadonnas he has to deal with, I feel a bit of sympathy for him.

Of course, Brennan being the captain of a club who won twice in approx 20 games is a great achievement in itself. What about those 3 EPL games where he looked out of his league? Impressive I say!

[Joe MacCarthy]

quote:Originally posted by loyola

That's why he helped Canada, as a player, qualify to a WC in 1986?

That's why, as a player, he ws part of our best result during the Olympics in 1984?

That's why he was part of the coaching staff (2 as Head coach) of 3 teams who qualified to U-20's WC without loosing a game during the qualifications?

That's why he was the head coach of men's NT who has the best result ever in a WC competition (2003 U-20's)?

Of course, you have the current situation and the 2007 U-20's but his resumé doesn't indicate to me that he is a loser. Of course he shouldn't be there at the moment in an ideal world but there's no way "facts" are leading me to believe he's a loser.

When I look at the bunch of prima donnas he has to deal with, I feel a bit of sympathy for him.

Of course, Brennan being the captain of a club who won twice in approx 20 games is a great achievement in itself. What about those 3 EPL games where he looked out of his league? Impressive I say!

Thank you for presenting the side that never gets heard. Finally it's coming out about how a few of our players are underachieving babies.

[L.T.]

man, this is a depressing situation... IMHO, DM should never have been promoted after the disappointing U20 finals, but these players have been underachieving on the field and yapping too much off it...

It's unfortunate that at the same time everyone (players, staff, supporters) should be pulling together to ensure success in the WCQ, people choose this time to air dirty laundry because it is really the only time people (in mainstream life) pay attention to our national program.

It would be nice if the CSA, players and other stakeholders could present a united front during competitions, but also all be willing to sit down and speak frankly about changes with things go wrong...

[Gian-Luca]

quote:Originally posted by youllneverwalkalone

DeVos does clearly discuss the issue of an injury/suspension to Klukowski or De Jong. Sure, he blames Mitchell. But the title of that part of the blog is "JB: Right or Wrong?" He has to conclude. He's not claiming to be impartial, he's stating he will look at both sides. Read the article again.

I've read it more times than I care to already. By stating that you will look at both sides you are de facto saying you are looking at the issue objectively, but the rest of the article appears to be anything but that. The issue of a possible suspension or injury to Klukowski is discussed but only from the point of view of it being Mitchell at fault. Note the wording that De Vos uses when he says "Who is going to step into the void now that Mitchell has fallen out with Brennan?" when a truly an unbiased version should state "Who is going to step into the void now that Brennan has fallen out with Mitchell?" since that, regardless of which side you take, was the order of events.

This isn't about defending Mitchell. I already stated my preference for a new coach after the Mexico game, not for tactical or player selection reasons, but because I felt that he seemed unable to instill the proper attitude with some of the players. This example is the latest playing out of that problem. Unless we start to instill the right attitude in the players we will never make the world cup. Articles like these will not correct the attitude but instead seem to condone it.

[youllneverwalkalone]

quote:Originally posted by loyola

That's why he helped Canada, as a player, qualify to a WC in 1986?

That's why, as a player, he ws part of our best result during the Olympics in 1984?

That's why he was part of the coaching staff (2 as Head coach) of 3 teams who qualified to U-20's WC without loosing a game during the qualifications?

That's why he was the head coach of men's NT who has the best result ever in a WC competition (2003 U-20's)?

Of course, you have the current situation and the 2007 U-20's but his resumé doesn't indicate to me that he is a loser. Of course he shouldn't be there at the moment in an ideal world but there's no way "facts" are leading me to believe he's a loser.

When I look at the bunch of primadonnas he has to deal with, I feel a bit of sympathy for him.

Of course, Brennan being the captain of a club who won twice in approx 20 games is a great achievement in itself. What about those 3 EPL games where he looked out of his league? Impressive I say!

But Brennan is a player, Mitchell is a manager -and the manager of the MNT, not the U20s. When Mitchell was hired after the U20, I started the Dale Mitchell support thread based on exactly the resume you mention. So why do I throw that out the window and call him a "total loser?" Because he has destroyed our chances of qualifying for this World Cup and any professional manager who has lost match after match should resign and let somebody else give it a go. Mitchell is a disgusting hypocrite to imply Brennan is selfish. Mitchell is the most selfish guy in the MNT right now. And it's showing in the results. Whether or not he should have accepted the job after the U20 disappointment is debatable. Not resigning after the Honduras performance is absolutely inexcusable. Jim Brennan has always played well for Canada and, while I agree the players are babies, it's Mitchell who is the main problem. Mitchell is the one putting these babies on the pitch and not standing up for them. It's not very impressive to try to make your disciplinary mark on a club after you're already eliminated. This controversy is just pointless.

[fan]

Mitchell follows in the footsteps of the organization he represents. The organization he represents almost perfectly.

The organization that is embarrassing and constantly imposing conflict and confusion on everyone who touches it.

The organization that's greatest victories or accomplishments are depressingly surpassed by its own under achievement.

The organization that takes potential and turns it instantly into disappointment.

The organization that constantly asks questions and provides no answers.

The organization that has nothing to be proud of and elusively asks whats the problem while pocketing another coin?

The organization that rests on its meager laurels.

The organization that acts in an autonomous, selfish, incompetent manner. Refuses to do the honourable or even respectable thing.

The organization that requires scrutiny and mainly perverse inspection to find fault with everyone else but so easily demands respect and honour.

The organization that bares no responsibility and divides its own people into a splintered bitter mass.

This organization is unharmonious and asynchronous with success and honour.

Mitchell is in harmony and synchronous with this organization there is no doubt.

[Joe MacCarthy]

Just wondering have you ever made a post not about the CSA?

Here a news tip for ya, The CSA is responsible for the present financial crisis and upcoming depression.

[jonovision]

De Vos does a very nice job of defending his buddy Brennan, but a very poor job of looking at this "from both sides" as he claims to have done.

[Loud Mouth Soup]

quote:Originally posted by Joe MacCarthy

Here a news tip for ya, The CSA is responsible for the present financial crisis and upcoming depression.

Sorry, but my internet marketing company has already been blamed for that. The CSA ain't stealing my thunder so easily...

[fan]

Kennedy was assassinated and the CSA are incompetent, Santa Claus doesnt exist. None of these are conspiracies sorry to break it to you so close to Christmas.

Suck it up boys start acting like men.

quote:Originally posted by fan

Mitchell follows in the footsteps of the organization he represents. The organization he represents almost perfectly.

The organization that is embarrassing and constantly imposing conflict and confusion on everyone who touches it.

The organization that's greatest victories or accomplishments are depressingly surpassed by its own under achievement.

The organization that takes potential and turns it instantly into disappointment.

The organization that constantly asks questions and provides no answers.

The organization that has nothing to be proud of and elusively asks whats the problem while pocketing another coin?

The organization that rests on its meager laurels.

The organization that acts in an autonomous, selfish, incompetent manner. Refuses to do the honourable or even respectable thing.

The organization that requires scrutiny and mainly perverse inspection to find fault with everyone else but so easily demands respect and honour.

The organization that bares no responsibility and divides its own people into a splintered bitter mass.

This organization is unharmonious and asynchronous with success and honour.

Mitchell is in harmony and synchronous with this organization there is no doubt.

[Canuck Oranje]

Any professional coach will tell you that the first challenge in taking charge of a group of athletes, regardless of the sport, is that he has to earn the confidence of those he coaches. No where is that granted by virtue of the coaching position. Most coaching manuals even address that.

Teams who underperform tend to implode. The Canadian national team is no exception. In fact, compared to what would happen in other countries, Dale Mitchell has had a relatively easy ride.

As for Mitchell, I thought from the beginning that he would have a difficult time getting players to place their confidence in him and his tactics. Once it seemed that the team was not going to perform as well as expected, it isn't surprising that we have this problem. The fact of the matter is that Mitchell had no experience coaching players of the quality he has on this roster.

Some of the other issues that existed simply aggravate even more. The fact that the hiring process was completely botched, the NT program is underfunded, and the U-20 team underperformed made his task of building confidence as well as his credibility almost impossible. That was the fault of the CSA and not Mitchell because it was they who made the decision to put him in this situation.

As a fan who has also followed the Dutch team, the Brennan situation is minor if it is only Brennan and a misunderstanding about a phone call. I suspect this runs much much deeper. When a team does not have confidence in the Coach's ability to prepare the team, its ability to succeed is diminished.

That's not a statement on Mitchell but one on coaching in general. It's also one of the reasons why most teams would have replaced the coach earlier.

[Vic]

^ not a bad post. Yes, with 100% certainty unless you have the total respect of the players you will never succeed. We likely had lost these games the day he was hired after the U20 wipeout.

"If a chairman sacks a manager that he initially appointed, then he should go as well."

- Brian Clough

Physician, heal thyself.