Allegedly, if you believe the insider who occasionally posts here (who has been proven right before), he’s the only reason we signed Kamar Lawrence. Nobody else wanted him.Originally Posted by Ultra & Proud
His job is on the line. I wouldn’t trust him just to say out of it.
Unfortunately last year TFC proven to give away and anchor themselves with a devaluing asset on a bad contract. could have had CB bombito for example.
If manning is leading the charge- we all know a quick fix to stop the bleeding is around the corner- like trading a 1st pick for Josef Martinez LOL>
LOL ^^
this right here!
At some point even the dumbest executive would have to realize what he has been doing isn't working. I think he is at the point that he has to have his fate decided by his underlings. However if we manage to dump the Italians I could see him dropping his 2 cents in to try to get DPs that sell tickets rather than get ones who fit well and could be good.
Michael Bradley has joined his dad as a coach at Stabek. John Molinaro has posted it.
This is the best move for absolutely every party. I wish him nothing but the best and if he proves himself as a coach elsewhere bring him back for TFC for sure
Bombito has spent most of this season in MLS Next Pro, after being unable to hold onto his starting gig. But he's young and we could probably get him, given he hasn't stuck yet.
I don't think it's a good look, taking a nepotism job, but everyone has to start somewhere, and it's also pretty normal in football.
Kemar was Ali Curtis, all the way.
Maybe his Dad is going to retire in a year or two then Michael takes over?
From his press conference and talking about new adventures I thought it was pretty obvious he was leaving North America.
Yeah you have to balance bad look with how much better an opportunity it was vs others he'd have gotten. As I said elsewhere, I think if this is super short term and he's not working with his dad 2 years from now it could be a good start for him
Also do wonder if the succession plan was Bob to Michael here, as some suspect, and maybe they're angling to do the same thing in Norway. If so, yeah nepotism and yeah it's a bad look, but a path to management with zero experience is a hard thing to say no to. If you get the job and do well nobody will care about how you got it - nobody cares that Jose Mourinho got his first coaching gig because he had a good relationship with Bobby Robson as his translator and he worked his way into management from there (Okay not a perfect analogy, but it was someone who got an opportunity he maybe wouldn't have otherwise through his network rather than anything he'd proven, and nobody holds that against him now)
Mind you, if he gets the job and fucks it up, his management career may be over before it starts, but that's the gamble
Last edited by JoesphNdo; 10-23-2023 at 01:28 PM.
And Armas. Total NYRB connect.
That's not Manning's MO.
He only actively interferes with the roster when it comes to DPs and his fail rate is HIGH.
Thats just not true at all. He only played 4 games in MLS next pro. Partly to get some fitness back after injuring his knee early in the season. He ended up starting a decent amount for Colorado.
Owusu made 700k in guaranteed comp and his salary was 600k. He basically had one decent year in the B2 and wasn't anything special in the 3 liga. Another trash signing.
I'm hoping that number from MLSPA is just due to proration. 700k is way too high. I'm hoping it's something like 300k a year, but they agreed to give him a full 300k for this half played season, so it was 700k prorated to 300k and then starting next year it will be 300. Probably not, but one can hope.
Owusu made 300k from Toronto fc this season not 700k, MLSPA salaries are annualized.
He has an 18 month deal I wouldn't be shocked if whole thing was worth like 650 to 700k but they frontloaded it.
But then again we thought Diomande would be on league minimum so who knows with this club.
If it were true that the DPs were Manning’s decision, would Manning still be here?
It seems kind of obvious someone else made those calls.
“What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left.”
His $700k is amuch better deal the $22 million for the Italian duo.
Prince seems another one of our mystery signings at striker. He’s not lame like Diomande, he’s not 35 and should be retired like Sapong, but I don’t yet see any reason he should be here (beyond the fact that we had only 700,000 to spend on a striker and we did it in Europe).
Not an obvious match with the Italians, and no obviously strong play of any kind. He looks like he can run, he looks like he should be able to hold up the ball but there wasn’t any real evidence of it. I didn’t see anything in the air … now maybe he wasn’t given anything in the air (but that’s not likely to change). His touch is mediocre, and he isn’t comfortable with the ball in the build up to goal.
Maybe an example of how analytics, like any method, can screw up. At any rate, analytics only works if you have the other factors: you need real scouting and you need, somewhat, to know the guy. Especially in MLS where taking flyers on European salaries is going to kill you. Okay, maybe it’s too early to tell but I’m not hopeful on this one. Not if he’s our first choice striker. Let’s hope he’s not!
Last edited by los sonadores; 10-24-2023 at 01:08 AM.
Owusu makes himself available for the ball and competes on every long out by Johnson. He finds space.
His touch I didn't see anything glaring - he's not Sapong bad. His passing from feet in traffic is decent when holding up play but deteriorates as play develops - sign of a person still expecting people to be disciplined and in certain spots.
My biggest issue for him - doesn't go for goal hard when the ball is taken to the line. His move is to hang back at the spot - if he went in and then took a step back, that would be better.
Jeff Bradley said he's going over for a few months to help out and finish off his UEFA badges
Maybe Herdman can sort out something that plays to his strengths but I’m not sure that’s going to happen if we keep the Italians (and it seems unlikely we don’t keep them). So far I see either not good enough or not a good enough fit.
And I suppose that leads to the question: what will Herdman do with the Italians? I think one of Herdman’s strengths is motivation. But that seems to be based partly on giving players what they most want. Davies plays striker or winger if that’s what he wants even though it’s clear he’s a poor striker, and not nearly as good a winger as he is a wing back. So far the Italians seem totally to want to play the wings only. If that continues and we don’t have an extremely good and compatible striker, someone they respect, we’re handcuffed. It’s been the same story since they arrived and Prince is not an answer as much as I can see. Hernandez (working alone) didn’t seem to recognize that. His two acquisitions - one who seems inadequate, the other who doesn’t play - have not been promising. Let’s hope he’s better working with Rubio and Herdman.
Last edited by los sonadores; 10-24-2023 at 06:59 AM.
How many of these bradleys have been on the payroll here? Wonder how if any from his mother's side also.
Manning took credit for proposing them, so yes, he's mostly responsible.
However to your point the MLSE board (and maybe the CEO) also share some responsibility as they would have signed off on this. Maybe that gives him an out.
Manning is still in his seat due to the success of the Argos IMO. They've done far better than the low expectations that were there for them.
MLS is a tough, physical league, that emphasizes speed, and features plastic fields, grueling travel, extreme weather, and incompetent refs. - NK Toronto
From what I seen from Owusu its the same story as everything striker we've played since the Italians got here. Zero service.
Owusu seems motived and strong, but if the ball never reaches him nothings happening.
Check out Jeff's Twitter. He's interacting with people on criticisms of Bob - biased obviously but some interesting bits in the replies
https://x.com/JBradley08736?t=K4Brkc...OesY2rtqw&s=09
A fascinating insight into camp Bradley, really crystallizes the Bradley vs the Italians lockerroom that existed. He probably shouldn't be tweeting like this, but it's more insight than we get from anywhere else
The difference is that he is supposed to be thinking of the footballing aspect of the signings, which he didn't do and he apparently never bothered looking into their character. I guess for him, Transfermarkt and visions of increased revenue streams was enough.
For sure the board signed off on this but they weren't fed stats on how the Italians would fit in the system, how they'd ignite our offense, or how they'd fit into the dynamic of our team. They were told one guy was the captain of Napoli and won the Euros and the other was a long time Juve guy (like Giovinco) and from that, we'll sell out every match, we can raise ticket prices, and the ad dollars will be huge.
So on the actual football side it's all on Bill.
Someone made the point on Twitter the other day, Jimenez’s form dried up exactly when the Italian’s arrived. To be fair, he struck me as more of a support striker or winger than someone who would lead the line but nonetheless…
Pretty ridiculous that the entire premise of not getting a DP striker was the service from the wings would be so great. Reality is it’s been awful.
According to Transfermarket, he had 11 appearances and eight starts all season.
Do you have a source that says otherwise?
Edit: No, I've checked, that's right.
In those 11 appearances, he got five yellow cards and a red. Across the eight starts, including cup games, he committed 15 fouls. Sounds like discipline issues, too.
Last edited by jloome; 10-24-2023 at 09:22 AM.
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