Keegan Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 http://www.millwallfc.co.uk/news/article/marc-bircham-leaves-lions-for-chicago-fire-2239839.aspx Will assist under Yallop. Good for him, always nice to see the loyalty he has shown to Canada beyond his playing career and I'm sure this will see him continue his involvement with helping our youth teams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gator Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 Great news and all the best to Birchy! He'll always be a Voyageurs legend after dying his Blue and White QPR Mohawk Red and White for the Canada WCQ matches in Kingston where he was pictured having a Molson Export with the Voyageurs! Has anyone got that pic on file? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yohan Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 I'm intrigued by this move for Bircham. Sounds like he's setting himself for eventual head coaching gig in MLS, because it's probably harder to do this in UK. He's got a decent playing and coaching background by MLS standards, and with few years of familiarizing himself with NA game, he'll look attractive to MLS teams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackdude Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 I'm intrigued by this move for Bircham. Sounds like he's setting himself for eventual head coaching gig in MLS, because it's probably harder to do this in UK. He's got a decent playing and coaching background by MLS standards, and with few years of familiarizing himself with NA game, he'll look attractive to MLS teams. How can it become harder, there are more than 120 pro clubs in the UK and only 20 in MLS? He wanted to work as an assistant and MLS was a place that he could do that. Bircham is just a Yallop hire, nothing more here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yohan Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 How can it become harder, there are more than 120 pro clubs in the UK and only 20 in MLS? He wanted to work as an assistant and MLS was a place that he could do that. Bircham is just a Yallop hire, nothing more here. there are also more coaches in UK with resume similar to Bircham's than in US. traditionally, MLS has given UK coaches and ex players more chances Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackdude Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 there are also more coaches in UK with resume similar to Bircham's than in US. traditionally, MLS has given UK coaches and ex players more chances Bircham has never played in MLS. I'm trying to think former players with no coaching experience who got hired and can't think of one. Also, UK coaches aren't that big and Bircham would be a tough sell to hire in MLS, IMO, a "Canadian" who has never coached a senior team before. (The "Canadian" is more on Bircham being someone who hasn't been a product of the Canadian system) I don't think that any coach has a worse resume than Bircham if he stays assistant coach for a good Chicago team assuming they do well, not saying that Chicago will do well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Bob Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob.notenboom Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 Fantastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yohan Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 Bircham has never played in MLS. I'm trying to think former players with no coaching experience who got hired and can't think of one. Also, UK coaches aren't that big and Bircham would be a tough sell to hire in MLS, IMO, a "Canadian" who has never coached a senior team before. (The "Canadian" is more on Bircham being someone who hasn't been a product of the Canadian system) I don't think that any coach has a worse resume than Bircham if he stays assistant coach for a good Chicago team assuming they do well, not saying that Chicago will do well. I'm confused. Former MLS players with no coaching experience? Or Former UK players with no MLS experience and no coaching experience? (and are you discounting Bircham's UK coaching experience?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keegan Posted February 3, 2015 Author Share Posted February 3, 2015 How can it become harder, there are more than 120 pro clubs in the UK and only 20 in MLS? He wanted to work as an assistant and MLS was a place that he could do that. Bircham is just a Yallop hire, nothing more here. You do realize he was assistant coach at Millwall? It's common sense that Bircham has a better shot at an MLS head coaching job. He is connected to the CSA, has UK coaching experience at the youth and senior level and the fact that he is a Canadian which will only help his cause. There are few Canadian coaches worldwide, it only makes sense that they would be in demand in our "domestic" league. He actually has a really decent resume for a 36 year old, you'd be hard pressed to find many guys that young. Look no further than Mark Watson who had a less impressive resume and was head coach at San Jose and is now back as assistant in Orlando. Very possible that Bircham will be a head coach but some guys don't even want that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obinna Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 I can see what Yohan is saying. Because of his UK experience, he'll be a big fish in the small, North American, coaching pond. Whether or not he's successful is another matter, but I think Yohan is right in identifying that as the perception. By contrast, PP has taken the opposite approach and has decided to stay in the UK and work his way up the English coaching ladder. It will be interesting to compare their coaching resumes when it's all said and done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackdude Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Mark Watson got a job as head coach because Yallop, Grizzly's favourite mediocre coach , was again mediocre and that he was able to put them in the playoff hunt with 2 games remaining and they kept the player. They gave him another year and it didn't pan out. Watson knew the league , he played for 3 different MLS teams, he got assistant coaching gigs in North America, so they said that it wasn't the most stupid thing, because the player knows what it is to play here. I'm sorry about saying that Bircham wasn't an assistant, but the biggest problem in hiring Bircham as a head coach is that he hasn't played for a club here and that he had no previous head coaching experience. Let's not kid ourselves, Bircham is only Canadian for sporting purposes. I highly doubt that he has a lot of contacts here. And that's why I don't think that he would get a good look if any team is looking for a coach. If Chicago does well, perhaps he could get a couple of opportunities in MLS. I hope for him that it leads to bigger and better things, but please tell me which UK coach with no previous head coaching experience are coaching/have coached MLS without having played for a North American club. All I've found were coaches hired by Mo Johnston. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obinna Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Mark Watson got a job as head coach because Yallop, Grizzly's favourite mediocre coach , was again mediocre and that he was able to put them in the playoff hunt with 2 games remaining and they kept the player. They gave him another year and it didn't pan out. Watson knew the league , he played for 3 different MLS teams, he got assistant coaching gigs in North America, so they said that it wasn't the most stupid thing, because the player knows what it is to play here. I'm sorry about saying that Bircham wasn't an assistant, but the biggest problem in hiring Bircham as a head coach is that he hasn't played for a club here and that he had no previous head coaching experience. Let's not kid ourselves, Bircham is only Canadian for sporting purposes. I highly doubt that he has a lot of contacts here. And that's why I don't think that he would get a good look if any team is looking for a coach. If Chicago does well, perhaps he could get a couple of opportunities in MLS. I hope for him that it leads to bigger and better things, but please tell me which UK coach with no previous head coaching experience are coaching/have coached MLS without having played for a North American club. All I've found were coaches hired by Mo Johnston. Without looking into it, Martin Rennie fits that profile, no? Now admittedly, he did coach USL before moving to MLS, but that's a pretty low level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gator Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Thanks Lord Bob for digging up that pic, who are the other lads with Marc? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Thanks Lord Bob for digging up that pic, who are the other lads with Marc? That is the Keay brothers, Ryan and Sean. Not sure about the 3rd person, looks familiar but can't think of the name. The legendary Belize matches in Kingston. We met a lot of the players after that one. Met Jonathan De Guzman and the De Guzman family and at 16 years old of age he seemed completely unmoved by fans chanting "Jonathan play for Canada". I remember we chanted another youth player's name while he was walking out with his family who I think eventually became a senior team member. Does anyone remember who? Was it Edgar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Bob Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 That is the Keay brothers, Ryan and Sean. Not sure about the 3rd person, looks familiar but can't think of the name. The legendary Belize matches in Kingston. We met a lot of the players after that one. Met Jonathan De Guzman and the De Guzman family and at 16 years old of age he seemed completely unmoved by fans chanting "Jonathan play for Canada". I remember we chanted another youth player's name while he was walking out with his family who I think eventually became a senior team member. Does anyone remember who? Was it Edgar? According to the best thread on this message board, it was Edgar: I think David Edgar posted here after we shocked him somewhat by recognizing him outside the stadium in Kingston at the second Belize match (the one where the photos of Bircham boozing it up with the Keays which are now on the facebook site were taken). He actually asked me how it was that I recognized him, and told him it was the fault of Soccercentral for doing a feature on him a couple of years earlier. Standing next to him was a silent Jamie Peters - a name we'd heard about at the time, but none us knew what he looked like. I figured he was a player in the youth team pool however since he was talking to Edgar and then later introduced Yallop to Edgar (whereas Peters & Yallop had already met, apparently). Little did we know that Peters would be playing in the next qualifying match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackdude Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Without looking into it, Martin Rennie fits that profile, no? Now admittedly, he did coach USL before moving to MLS, but that's a pretty low level. He was a head coach with Carolina in NASL. Yes, he coached USL2, USL1 and NASL, but Rennie was a hot commodity because he was able to make teams at lower levels better instantly. I don't think that it was that low because when he was at Carolina, that team was about as good as TFC because of shrewd signings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obinna Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Yeah he did make teams much better, that's for sure. Carolina was the the best NASL team during that period. I believe they won a supporters cup and a championship in his time there, accomplishing much more than traditional heavy weights in the lower leagues, such as Montreal, for instance. Despite Carolina's success with him at the helm, the competiton he faced was still very poor. That is not to take anything away from him, you can only beat what's in front of you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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