Barber out at Vancouver

[Canary10]

Wow, more big news today. Barber resigned as CEO of the Whitecaps. Huge blow to them I think.

[mdc 77]

but they are like the greatest mls club ever.

lol

[Brooker]

but they are like the greatest mls club ever.

lol

It's all part of their plan, I'm sure. They're fuckin geniuses over there. They actually know how to run a club.

:o

[jloome]

Looks and smells bad. Vancouver fans are upset.

[Ossington Mental Youth]

so weird. god forbid soehn takes over

[rocker]

A lesson Montreal fans need to learn quickly: everything seems golden and perfect for expansion teams before the games are played.

I heard so many people, even on these boards, praising the ownership of Vancouver when they signed Barber (in light of TFC's problems over the years). Then I heard at one point how Vancouver would make the playoffs ("Look at that wonderful defense, led by Jay DeMerit"; "Wow, Hassli is awesome... they just solved their offense problems.")

One year later, Vancouver was dead last and Barber is gone.... they're on their third head coach...

Montreal fans shouldn't get excited about anything until the games are played.

Who knows, in a year Montreal could be dead last after Ricketts gets a season-ending injury, Braun is a bust, Arnaud wants out... Marsch gets into a spat with Saputo and Saputo fires him. LOL.

[twistedchinaman]

Who knows, in a year Montreal could be dead last after Ricketts gets a season-ending injury, Braun is a bust, Arnaud wants out... Marsch gets into a spat with Saputo and Saputo fires him. LOL.

Bet you a beer the next time I see you, Marsch will be fired before the end of the 2012 season...Saputo seems to be the control freak type to me.

Not everyone can be a Chicago 1998 or Shittle 2009.

[Cashcleaner]

A lesson Montreal fans need to learn quickly: everything seems golden and perfect for expansion teams before the games are played.

I heard so many people, even on these boards, praising the ownership of Vancouver when they signed Barber (in light of TFC's problems over the years). Then I heard at one point how Vancouver would make the playoffs ("Look at that wonderful defense, led by Jay DeMerit"; "Wow, Hassli is awesome... they just solved their offense problems.")

One year later, Vancouver was dead last and Barber is gone.... they're on their third head coach...

Montreal fans shouldn't get excited about anything until the games are played.

Who knows, in a year Montreal could be dead last after Ricketts gets a season-ending injury, Braun is a bust, Arnaud wants out... Marsch gets into a spat with Saputo and Saputo fires him. LOL.

But can you honestly say that Hassli has had a bad year with Vancouver?

[Oldtimer]

Bet you a beer the next time I see you, Marsch will be fired before the end of the 2012 season...Saputo seems to be the control freak type to me.



Montreal's season, whether in football or in hockey only really gets started when they fire one of their coaches...

[DOMIN8R]

Off topic, I know. But I'll give Marsch until August before he's fired.

[ensco]

Off topic, I know. But I'll give Marsch until August before he's fired.

I'll take the under (ie sooner).

[Shakes McQueen]

I'll take the under (ie sooner).

I suppose it depends on if the team views this as a traditional expansion season, or if they expect to walk in and be like Seattle.

If the latter, then I'll take the under as well.

- Scott

[Detroit_TFC]

Bet you a beer the next time I see you, Marsch will be fired before the end of the 2012 season...Saputo seems to be the control freak type to me.

Not everyone can be a Chicago 1998 or Shittle 2009.

I hope someone told Marsch to rent by the month. No way he finishes a year long lease.

[Shway]

what would it take to get barber into the CSA?

[Ossington Mental Youth]

eeeech, dont think we need another knit picker in control

[twistedchinaman]

I hope someone told Marsch to rent by the month. No way he finishes a year long lease.

:lol:

[Oldtimer]

The Score's Footy Show podcast for Dec 12th has a former Whitecaps player Chris Williams interviewed.

It paints a very ugly picture on Teiter's departure, the infighting between Barber and Lenarduzzi, strong personalities, and the general disarray surrounding the club. Far from being a "model" for anyone to follow, the Whitecaps are anything but what you want a club to be. (Almost makes Mo's tenure at TFC look good by comparison). Their only hope is that Rennie is an equally strong personality who can stand up to the other managers.

Very interesting listening.

http://blogs.thescore.com/footyblog/2011/12/12/the-footy-show-podcast-dec-12th/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheFootyBlog+%28The+Footy+Blo g%29

[Roogsy]

So Barber...a proven, successful world football executive leaves and what Vancouver fans are left with is Bob "Media Whore" Lenarduzzi and Tom "I kill franchises" Soehn?

I figure bottom 3 again in 2012.

Too bad for them, they have all the pieces to be successful but intentionally shoot themselves in the foot. Like I tweeted the other day, they're doing their best imitation of Toronto FC.

[Roogsy]

I heard so many people, even on these boards, praising the ownership of Vancouver when they signed Barber (in light of TFC's problems over the years). Then I heard at one point how Vancouver would make the playoffs ("Look at that wonderful defense, led by Jay DeMerit"; "Wow, Hassli is awesome... they just solved their offense problems.")

One year later, Vancouver was dead last and Barber is gone.... they're on their third head coach...

Toronto fans praised (and I believe rightly so) good moves. Bringing in Barber was a good move. Bringing in Hassli was a good move. I don't think anyone can deny these things.

What Toronto fans could not possibly have known is that Vancouver was going to cancel the benefits of these good moves by making boneheaded moves. Lenarduzzi first of all, should be a figurehead but nothing else. He should be used to promote the team (as someone as well known as he is in Canadian football) but be given nowhere near the responsibility he has had. Bringing in Tom Soehn was by far their biggest mistake and they STILL have not corrected it and in fact made it worse.

I was one of those people praising Vancouver at the beginning of the year. But I was also someone who immediately called them out on their mistakes, in particular choosing Soehn over Teitur Tots. Truth be told, I think if they didn't have that brainfart and fire TT before the NCC replay betwen TFC and Vancouver, all those warm and fuzzy feelings we had for our team at the end of the year with the CCL run we made would never have happened because Vancouver was well on their way to taking away our Canadian Championship from us in the first game and no way TT allows his team to lose the replay. Soehn on the other hand has shown to be an absolute ninny that has no idea what he is doing and why Lenarduzzi chose to have faith in him, over TT who managed to take Vancouver to several USL championships is beyond me.

Vancouver ownership is making the exact same mistakes TFC ownership made when we first started. They put too much faith in the guy they put in charge and gave him far too much leeway without any accountability or measurements to gauge progress. Lenarduzzi is making things up as he goes and it's showing on the field with the Whitecaps having no identity or direction whatsoever. Maybe Rennie will change that, but only if given the ability to do so.

[Fort York Redcoat]

No one has mentioned Portland yet. Weird since it's clearly all their fault. In hindsight Vanny should've waited a year to join the league to not invite direct comparison.

These cockups won't be masked by Vanny having the best fans in the league. Which was the primary difference between our first year and theirs.

[Yohan]

No one has mentioned Portland yet. Weird since it's clearly all their fault. In hindsight Vanny should've waited a year to join the league to not invite direct comparison.

These cockups won't be masked by Vanny having the best fans in the league. Which was the primary difference between our first year and theirs.
biggest difference between Portland FO and Vancouver (and most of MLS FOs for that matter) is that Portland FO understands soccer culture. it translates into how they conduct business

[Ossington Mental Youth]

while i agree lenarduzzi and soehn are useless/incompetent, there were rumors that Barber was a micromanager, that doesnt necessarily prove success to me either. Dont know that its that one group was right and one was wrong, could be that all of them were wrong. Good luck to Rennie. he might be what they need and also might not get teh time or support he needs.

[Fort York Redcoat]

biggest difference between Portland FO and Vancouver (and most of MLS FOs for that matter) is that Portland FO understands soccer culture. it translates into how they conduct business


Please expand. The term culture is used a lot and can be pretty vague. Not trying to be antagonistic or contrary. I really didn't follow their hires much.

We can point out the management decisions Vanny did wrong but how did Portland do it right?

This element of being understanding of soccer culture is far more tricky for the success of the club than just being great PR with support.

[Yohan]

Please expand. The term culture is used a lot and can be pretty vague.
i suppose it is a bit hard to explain, but the biggest clue to whether the FO gets it right is the end product on the field, and matchday experience. seems like Timbers FO is doing their best to create the best game day experience and it's working. though I suppose living in a soccer town helps to understand what the customers want.
I've yet to hear any Timbers supporters or fans complain about how their FO treats them.

[Fort York Redcoat]

^Yes I see that their PR and gameday planning is bar none should be the goal of any team in the league but I think that that success is shared with how organized the support already was in Portland and the 2 parties could thrive on that.

On the other hand it was apparent before a ball was kicked that Vanny would cock it up with their support.

But this isn't my concern so much here (in this thread). I'm curious as to how the management in Vancouver got so poor so fast. The indecisiveness as to whether or not to trust the men you put in charge, micromanage, it's indicative of desperate measures.

In a way these quick actions on management are the opposite of our first year.

[rocker]

Portland looks good as an organization because their team did alright this season in the standings and the fans are epic.

They did alright in the standings because they hired an MLS-experienced coach, a guy who played in the league and worked under a great coach. I'm still not certain John Spencer is a good head coach... his team plays a fast-paced haphazard/hectic style... but he seemed pragmatic and knew enough about MLS to put together a team that could survive the rough and tumble style. But Fat Sigi gave him a lot of stick for the style, noticing that they basically survived on set pieces and little more. Vancouver played a much more aesthetically-pleasing style but it backfired when they played against teams with the typical MLS style... they just didn't have the depth once guys starting getting injured, particularly on defense. Vancouver and Portland had two very different approaches to MLS. I think Aron Winter probably could relate more to Vancouver's approach than Portland's, and we saw how that class of cultures affected TFC's results (more success playing the CCL teams that play that style too).

[Fort York Redcoat]

Well summarized. Thanks, rocker.

[maninb]

Bob Lenaduzzi is a egotistical twat...I highly doubt he has what it takes to bring a winner to Vancouver, he's always interfering and you see how a very capable guy like Barber couldn't put up with him...

[ag futbol]

Bob Lenaduzzi is a egotistical twat...I highly doubt he has what it takes to bring a winner to Vancouver, he's always interfering and you see how a very capable guy like Barber couldn't put up with him...
I was going to say the same thing. The guy is effectively a dinosaur in the landscape of Canadian Soccer. The criticisms in the interview from Williams were very on point, and probably what a lot of us suspected already.

He's their version of Mo Johnston and if that wasn't enough they have Tom Soehn to reinforce the bad.

[Oldtimer]

I was going to say the same thing. The guy is effectively a dinosaur in the landscape of Canadian Soccer. The criticisms in the interview from Williams were very on point, and probably what a lot of us suspected already.

He's their version of Mo Johnston and if that wasn't enough they have Tom Soehn to reinforce the bad.

My impression from Williams was along these lines as well.

Don't know if Barber was a good hire or not, he had a good pedigree, but I suspect he was brought in more for marketing purposes, just like Mo was in Toronto. When he wanted to actually run things, the other two frustrated his efforts.

What is very clear from the podcast is how disfunctional their FO is.

[rocker]

And Tom Soehn wasn't exactly loved by DC United supporters either. He took over what was a good MLS team, perhaps class of the league, and rode that for a year and then it all fell apart until he was fired. DC got worse, not better, under him.

As a TFC supporter, I'm happy they have Lenarduzzi ;)

Now let's see if Montreal can be the third strike of failure in Canadian MLS teams.. I wouldn't put it past Joey Saputo and Nick DeSantis to screw everything up there.

[Canary10]

Wonder if these failures are an indictment of Canadian soccer leadership as a whole?