Alyson Walker

[toontownman]

Given they have been through an exhaustive search to hire Walker, isn't it a case of sounding out the 2nd/3rd choices to see if they are still available? Surely they had backup options if she said no to the job? 

Edited January 23 by toontownman

[Bison44]

If this as the wise parrot claims, she should be ashamed of herself.  She didnt realize things were a shit show at CSA when EVERYONE was shitcanned in the last few years??  SHe didnt see the goverment hearings, watch Herdman walk away from the program see or of Westheads insightful reporting??  You dont take a very public job like this without doing a little research.  I've said this before, who would want this job with the way they get treated??  She was signing up to be a punching bag with little to no hope of being able change the dysfunction in soccer goverence.  Hell, on the field both programs are at high water marks now, we have more pro soccer MLS (3)and CPL (8) in more areas of the country, the womans league is on the way and burgeoning regional D-3's popping up like dandylions in spring.  If CSA and or CSB are killing the sport in canada, it seems like they are doing a poor job of it.   As stupid as this sounds I hope it really was something in her personal life (god forbid nothing serious) that kept her from living up to her commitment.  

[Ottawafan]

1 hour ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

You really think you only show up for a professional corporate job like this on the first day you are officially going to be paid without doing a lot of preparation for your new duties? She wasn't going to be working as a cashier at a supermarket or something like that. 

These are also some of the same people that will still blame negative stuff on the players strike.  The stick their heads in the ground crowd.  

[The Real Marc]

Maybe she disagreed with their in-office days policy.

[narduch]

3 minutes ago, The Real Marc said:

Maybe she disagreed with their in-office days policy.

WFH for the win!

[El Hombre]

28 minutes ago, Bison44 said:

If this as the wise parrot claims, she should be ashamed of herself.  She didnt realize things were a shit show at CSA when EVERYONE was shitcanned in the last few years??  SHe didnt see the goverment hearings, watch Herdman walk away from the program see or of Westheads insightful reporting??  You dont take a very public job like this without doing a little research.  I've said this before, who would want this job with the way they get treated??  She was signing up to be a punching bag with little to no hope of being able change the dysfunction in soccer goverence.  Hell, on the field both programs are at high water marks now, we have more pro soccer MLS (3)and CPL (8) in more areas of the country, the womans league is on the way and burgeoning regional D-3's popping up like dandylions in spring.  If CSA and or CSB are killing the sport in canada, it seems like they are doing a poor job of it.   As stupid as this sounds I hope it really was something in her personal life (god forbid nothing serious) that kept her from living up to her commitment.  

This is exactly it.  For this position, it isn't like there is one phone interview and then the job offer appears in your email.  There are rounds of interviews where both parties get in deep on the particulars.  To posit that someone accepts a job at this high level without knowing that there might be skeletons in the closet, especially with an organization that has been in the news so much over the last two years, is ridiculous.  That just doesn't happen at this level and reflects more poorly on the headhunters than the CSA.

If something like that were to happen, what usually occurs is the person does the job for a month or two while they line up their next opportunity.  That usually takes awhile and is not a two weeks notice and you're out kinda deal.

Occam's razor points to the health issue that has been reported.  Either that or she got poached.  There's lots of things to blame the CSA for but someone resigning on their first day wouldn't be it.

[Ottawafan]

24 minutes ago, El Hombre said:

This is exactly it.  For this position, it isn't like there is one phone interview and then the job offer appears in your email.  There are rounds of interviews where both parties get in deep on the particulars.  To posit that someone accepts a job at this high level without knowing that there might be skeletons in the closet, especially with an organization that has been in the news so much over the last two years, is ridiculous.  That just doesn't happen at this level and reflects more poorly on the headhunters than the CSA.

If something like that were to happen, what usually occurs is the person does the job for a month or two while they line up their next opportunity.  That usually takes awhile and is not a two weeks notice and you're out kinda deal.

Occam's razor points to the health issue that has been reported.  Either that or she got poached.  There's lots of things to blame the CSA for but someone resigning on their first day wouldn't be it.

Ah yes, the it isn't me, it's you argument.  

Those in charge will always portray a rosy picture but then when you start looking behind the curtain and actually talking and interacting with those involved, reality becomes clearer.  Doesn't seem to matter how many F ups there are, somehow folks here will shield blame from the dysfunction that is.

[youllneverwalkalone]

Glad 2024 is off to such a great start for Canada Soccer. I wish Montopoli had groomed a successor. I had never heard of this role till he resigned, which I assume is a credit to him. 

[El Hombre]

16 minutes ago, Ottawafan said:

Ah yes, the it isn't me, it's you argument.  

Those in charge will always portray a rosy picture but then when you start looking behind the curtain and actually talking and interacting with those involved, reality becomes clearer.  Doesn't seem to matter how many F ups there are, somehow folks here will shield blame from the dysfunction that is.

You really don't think someone looking to accept a job at this level didn't do their due diligence prior to accepting the job?  Or raised the vast number of concerns publicized in most Canadian sports outlets over the last two years as topics of conversation during the interviews?  That they really only found out about it after accepting?  If any of that happened then that is incompetence of the highest order on the hiree's part (note: I'm not saying this happened).  I'm not saying the CSA isn't dysfunctional but a resignation like this doesn't happen at this level, in this fashion, because of that.  There has to be something else going on.

But yeah you're probably right.  I'm wrong.  We should definitely use this to grind our favourite axe.  What most likely happened is that she started looking into it and saw that Pedro Pacheco was called into the national team 32 times but only ever saw the pitch for 825 minutes.  That to her was a clear indication that the CSA cannot evaluate true talent and just endemic of all the problems tip to tail.

[Ottawafan]

30 minutes ago, El Hombre said:

You really don't think someone looking to accept a job at this level didn't do their due diligence prior to accepting the job?  Or raised the vast number of concerns publicized in most Canadian sports outlets over the last two years as topics of conversation during the interviews?  That they really only found out about it after accepting?  If any of that happened then that is incompetence of the highest order on the hiree's part (note: I'm not saying this happened).  I'm not saying the CSA isn't dysfunctional but a resignation like this doesn't happen at this level, in this fashion, because of that.  There has to be something else going on.

But yeah you're probably right.  I'm wrong.  We should definitely use this to grind our favourite axe.  What most likely happened is that she started looking into it and saw that Pedro Pacheco was called into the national team 32 times but only ever saw the pitch for 825 minutes.  That to her was a clear indication that the CSA cannot evaluate true talent and just endemic of all the problems tip to tail.

If you’ve been around soccer at certain levels you’ll find a lot of the same characters, like an old boys club. People who don’t want to lose control and influence. With all the negativity surrounding the program and its continued negativity I get some fans don’t want to accept it. 

[SthMelbRed]

1 hour ago, Ottawafan said:

If you’ve been around soccer at certain levels you’ll find a lot of the same characters, like an old boys club. People who don’t want to lose control and influence. With all the negativity surrounding the program and its continued negativity I get some fans don’t want to accept it. 

Aren't we so lucky to have somebody like you here, with all your high-level, inside knowledge, to keep the rest of us naive rubes on the right track. 🙄

[Ottawafan]

42 minutes ago, SthMelbRed said:

Aren't we so lucky to have somebody like you here, with all your high-level, inside knowledge, to keep the rest of us naive rubes on the right track. 🙄

Buttercup…

[GasPed]

Obviously I have no idea what's going on, but I am confused by this "personal reasons" vs. "health concerns" narrative.  I mean if she was stepping down for a health concern, why would she not just say that?  Yes, health concerns are private matters, but given the already very public nature of this position and the resignation, she would gain a whole bunch of public goodwill if she just said "health concern" and lose very little privacy in the bargain.  As it is, I think everyone is questioning both her and the CSA's competence, professionalism, decision-making, etc.  And that in itself leads me to think it may not be a health concern at all...  🤔

[SpursFlu]

Why would anyone want to do this job? There is so much negativity pouring in from the typical people who would put their family thru any of that in the age of social media.

I dont even care who the general secretary of the CSA is. Just keep doing what they've been doing for the past 5 years and I really dont even care to know the person's name.

Edited January 24 by SpursFlu

[Unnamed Trialist]

36 minutes ago, SpursFlu said:

Why would anyone want to do this job? There is so much negativity pouring in from the typical people who would put their family thru any of that in the age of social media.

I dont even care who the general secretary of the CSA is. Just keep doing what they've been doing for the past 5 years and I really dont even care to know the person's name.

It is actually an extremely easy, gratifying job with relatively good pay. 

The work pace is not high.

You are not being pressured as you would in a for profit enterprise, where the bottom line is key. 

Any failure is only relative, does not hurt anyone, and is merely symbolic. Success gets you accolades from the across the board. 

You get to travel merely to sit and watch a sporting event, apart from routine meetings with provincial reps and delegates. You associate with excellence even if you are not excellent. And you will never be the first, or even second, and not likely third one to blame if the CSA can't field a competitive team.

[SpursFlu]

5 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

It is actually an extremely easy, gratifying job with relatively good pay. 

The work pace is not high.

You are not being pressured as you would in a for profit enterprise, where the bottom line is key. 

Any failure is only relative, does not hurt anyone, and is merely symbolic. Success gets you accolades from the across the board. 

You get to travel merely to sit and watch a sporting event, apart from routine meetings with provincial reps and delegates. You associate with excellence even if you are not excellent. And you will never be the first, or even second, and not likely third one to blame if the CSA can't field a competitive team.

The job sounds great. It's dealing with the media and fools on line that sounds not worth it. I wouldn't care but it's not fun to put your family thru all that negativity when you can go and get other great jobs with none of that hassle 

Edited January 24 by SpursFlu

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

10 hours ago, youllneverwalkalone said:

Glad 2024 is off to such a great start for Canada Soccer. I wish Montopoli had groomed a successor. I had never heard of this role till he resigned, which I assume is a credit to him. 

In Kevan Pipe's day the job appeared to be more high profile than the CSA president's. Given a lot of the issues related to the CSB deal appear to have happened because Victor Montagliani was able to make important decisions without proper board oversight getting back to that scenario might be a good thing in governance terms.

Edited January 24 by Ozzie_the_parrot

[An Observer]

13 hours ago, DeRo_Is_King said:

I mean, at the very least, she would have researched the CSA and potentially identified red flags during the interview process. I've been in a similar situation to Alyson here. High-profile role, troubled org, decided not to take it on the start date. A savvy candidate will spot the problem spots. 

Edit: To reiterate, I don't know her reason for rescinding acceptance, but she has every right to and should not be maligned or blackballed for it, imo. 

I don’t agree.  You do your homework and drop out before you accept the job. People are right to malign you and blackball you if you drop out a few days before you are due to start as you are wasting everyone’s time and money, damaging an organization’s reputation and possibly costing the organisation other qualified candidates. If I knew you did that, I would never hire you as I would see that as very flakey at the best.  Of course, you can disagree vehemently but that is my view and I can think of at least two occasions in my corporate career where I have not considered candidates for this reason.

[SF]

9 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

It is actually an extremely easy, gratifying job with relatively good pay. 

The work pace is not high.

You are not being pressured as you would in a for profit enterprise, where the bottom line is key. 

Any failure is only relative, does not hurt anyone, and is merely symbolic. Success gets you accolades from the across the board. 

You get to travel merely to sit and watch a sporting event, apart from routine meetings with provincial reps and delegates. You associate with excellence even if you are not excellent. And you will never be the first, or even second, and not likely third one to blame if the CSA can't field a competitive team.

I would argue it is both an important and difficult job. 
 

The person in the role has to manage many constituencies, most of which are self interested- national teams and their lawyers, provincial associations, professional and amateur clubs, fans, sponsors, Concacaf, FIFA and more. 
 

All of this against a backdrop of a financially hamstrung organization and a Board of Directors that have proven itself to be dysfunctional and reluctant to change (any CEOs works nightmare). 
 

And we’re set to cohost a World Cup in 2026. 
 

And the job is important because financial and administrative success matter in creating good teams and players (at all levels). No different than a professional club - look at clubs that have gone into administration. Look at TFC. The top down leadership at these organizations is massively important. 
 

I don’t know Walker and I don’t know why she chose to not start the job, but it wouldn’t surprise if she got into the weeds on the above matters and had second thoughts (especially the Board and financial pieces). 

Regardless of why she made her decision, the job of the next GS is probably even a bit harder now. 

[DeRo_Is_King]

4 hours ago, An Observer said:

I don’t agree.  You do your homework and drop out before you accept the job. People are right to malign you and blackball you if you drop out a few days before you are due to start as you are wasting everyone’s time and money, damaging an organization’s reputation and possibly costing the organisation other qualified candidates. If I knew you did that, I would never hire you as I would see that as very flakey at the best.  Of course, you can disagree vehemently but that is my view and I can think of at least two occasions in my corporate career where I have not considered candidates for this reason.

Yeah. No way we're agreeing on this one. Both have a right to terminate an agreement, subject to the notice terms in the employment contract. 

Edit: Need to add that you may not like what Alyson did, but employers retract offers and fire employees with no warning or reason all the time. I think it's a cause of much instability in the world. Employees need to protect themselves. 

Another thing: I've seen so many one-way, employer-favoured contracts with overkill termination clauses (and probationary clauses). Coupled with non-competes, non-solicitations, etc., you basically swear allegiance to an employer with no assurance of the same level of loyalty. That, in and of itself, is not healthy or a great way to start a relationship. But employers will try to sneak this stuff in, which erodes trust from the get-go. 

Edited January 24 by DeRo_Is_King

[Obinna]

1 hour ago, DeRo_Is_King said:

Yeah. No way we're agreeing on this one. Both have a right to terminate an agreement, subject to the notice terms in the employment contract. 

Edit: Need to add that you may not like what Alyson did, but employers retract offers and fire employees with no warning or reason all the time. I think it's a cause of much instability in the world. Employees need to protect themselves. 

Another thing: I've seen so many one-way, employer-favoured contracts with overkill termination clauses (and probationary clauses). Coupled with non-competes, non-solicitations, etc., you basically swear allegiance to an employer with no assurance of the same level of loyalty. That, in and of itself, is not healthy or a great way to start a relationship. But employers will try to sneak this stuff in, which erodes trust from the get-go. 

I get what you are saying, but many also people sign non-competes and go on to have long successful careers with an organization. If you are an asset to your employer they are going to keep you around. Not disagreeing with your post, but rather providing the other side of the coin to the "erodes trust from the get-go" argument. Whether or not trust is eroded comes down to other factors as well, such as your own personal assessment of how valuable you are and the general reputation of the company, which one would be aware of had they did their due diligence.

[Unnamed Trialist]

2 hours ago, SF said:

I would argue it is both an important and difficult job. 
 

The person in the role has to manage many constituencies, most of which are self interested- national teams and their lawyers, provincial associations, professional and amateur clubs, fans, sponsors, Concacaf, FIFA and more. 
 

All of this against a backdrop of a financially hamstrung organization and a Board of Directors that have proven itself to be dysfunctional and reluctant to change (any CEOs works nightmare). 
 

And we’re set to cohost a World Cup in 2026. 
 

And the job is important because financial and administrative success matter in creating good teams and players (at all levels). No different than a professional club - look at clubs that have gone into administration. Look at TFC. The top down leadership at these organizations is massively important. 
 

I don’t know Walker and I don’t know why she chose to not start the job, but it wouldn’t surprise if she got into the weeds on the above matters and had second thoughts (especially the Board and financial pieces). 

Regardless of why she made her decision, the job of the next GS is probably even a bit harder now. 

If you don't have shareholders, if no one is ever at risk of losing money, if you really have no one overlooking what you do, if accountability is relatively low, it's an easy and even soft general manager or middling CEO equivalent job. 

Being hired to run any company whatsoever providing services or selling goods, from shoe polish to fertilizer to corporate communication to interior design, is infinitely more difficult. Much less gratifying. And much higher risk, subject to volatile markets and other intangibles. 

The CSA is not burdened by supply chain, wars end up simplifying things, a market crash is irrelevant, there are no hostile takeovers. I'd say it's cushy. I'd say the same about Canada Basketball or Rowing or Rugby. No one even looks at the General Secretary if a team bombs out in a competition, they just cruise through it. 

What you are describing in terms of communication, if you are at all used to communication, is not stressful at all.  Or let's say it is just intense, hard work, with a certain demand on quality and efficiency. 

It is an important job, but I would say it is far less important that head of the CSA, or being on the board of the CSA. If those people get it together, your job running the organisation would be even smoother.

Edited January 24 by Unnamed Trialist

[DeRo_Is_King]

15 minutes ago, Obinna said:

I get what you are saying, but many also people sign non-competes and go on to have long successful careers with an organization. If you are an asset to your employer they are going to keep you around. Not disagreeing with your post, but rather providing the other side of the coin to the "erodes trust from the get-go" argument. Whether or not trust is eroded comes down to other factors as well, such as your own personal assessment of how valuable you are and the general reputation of the company, which one would be aware of had they did their due diligence.

For sure. You want to add value and should do so when someone is paying for your services. I agree 100 per cent with that. But the idea that they ultimately decide whether you stick around and then also make you sign a non-compete creates an imbalance of bargaining power.  This can lead to high performers staying in toxic situations and employers never truly being honest with themselves about how they treat their staff. 

[El Diego]

3 hours ago, DeRo_Is_King said:

Yeah. No way we're agreeing on this one. Both have a right to terminate an agreement, subject to the notice terms in the employment contract. 

Edit: Need to add that you may not like what Alyson did, but employers retract offers and fire employees with no warning or reason all the time. I think it's a cause of much instability in the world. Employees need to protect themselves. 

Another thing: I've seen so many one-way, employer-favoured contracts with overkill termination clauses (and probationary clauses). Coupled with non-competes, non-solicitations, etc., you basically swear allegiance to an employer with no assurance of the same level of loyalty. That, in and of itself, is not healthy or a great way to start a relationship. But employers will try to sneak this stuff in, which erodes trust from the get-go. 

Right, but this is also extremely shitty and those employers deserve to be maligned

[DeRo_Is_King]

1 hour ago, El Diego said:

Right, but this is also extremely shitty and those employers deserve to be maligned

It's shitty, but that's how a lot of employers operate. There are legal, HR, and financial best practices that exist to minimize legal risk and create efficiencies. Unless the laws are changed to prevent employers from acting shitty, they will act shitty as needed.