Klinsmann-agement Theory

I've made my disappointment obvious that Jürgen Klinsmann is only here on a short term consultancy basis, but I'm open to other opinions.  So for the first time on Cruel Geography, I've hired a consultant to give a Stein half full viewpoint, so here's frequent commenter Roz to explain why it's actually a good thing.

When Klinsmann was introduced to the media on Thursday, there seemed to be a bit of a collective groan amongst TFC supporters.  There was no talk of grand visions and sweeping changes to the organization, but more of a vague corporate speak referring to team identity and styles of play.   But for the first time in awhile, I actually felt hopeful. ‘Der konsültant’ may just be what TFC needs. 

For the past four years, it seems like everyone at TFC has been doing their jobs (or not doing them) with very little focus on the big picture.  When things were going well there was back slapping, hand shaking, enthusiastic singing from supporters and victorious goal celebrations.  And when things weren’t going well (which was definitely more often) there was finger pointing, firings, hirings, trades, green supporters and stupid ‘cheque-writing’ goal celebrations -  all of which makes for fascinating daytime TV, but not a good football club.  And if Klinsmann were to just step in and ‘blow things’ up, as some people were hoping for, it’s likely that it would only add to the drama.  Because before any new sweeping changes are put in place the whole organization needs to take a step back and remind themselves of why they are here and what they want to do.  And that’s what Klinsmann, not the flashy former footballer, but the serious management consultant, is here to do. 

What TFC needs is a mission and vision.  It needs values and guiding principles (and if it currently has all these, well I think it’s safe to say they need a serious revamp).  And hopefully as I write this and you read this, Klinsmann has Anselmi and company locked up in the boardroom brainstorming , visioning, ‘blue skying’ and ‘thinking outside the box’.  All mind numbing exercises for anyone that has ever participated in them, but with outcomes that really do help guide the day to day operations of an organization.  Once an overall philosophy is in place, the next step is for Klinsmann to help TFC figure out the best management structure to implement it.  Do they need a Director of Soccer and a General Manager?  How many coaches?  A sports psychologist?  A yoga instructor perhaps?  And here’s where hopefully Klinsmann can use his connections to help TFC identify management and coaches who will work well within the new TFC structure and philosophy.  These managers and coaches will then work together to identify a style of play that is in line with the organization’s vision, and then find and train players that embody the TFC mentality.   The people in these positions may be new to the organization, or maybe they are here already, it all depends on the vision, mission and values.  That’s why Klinsmann, or anyone, can’t just come in and clean house without going through this admittedly tedious process.  Because what if they were to get rid of someone who doesn’t seem to ‘fit’ with the current organization, but would thrive within the new one?

Now, I know a bit of a sore point is the inclusion of Anselmi and company in the development of a new organizational philosophy.  I mean, why doesn’t Klinsmann just come right out and tell us what it should be, he’s the expert right?  Well, not really.  Klinsmann has been in Toronto for all of a few weeks now.  He knows nothing about the inner workings of MLSE, TFC history, demands of supporter’s groups, etc.  To get a true picture of what TFC is all about, he needs to hear from Anselmi and Bierne.  He also needs to hear from current management, coaches and players.  To get a well-rounded picture, I would argue that he also needs to sit down with the supporters.  And only when he talks with all of the stakeholders, all of the experts, can Klinsmann help us define what it means to be TFC.  Good management theorists would also point out that including all stakeholders in discussions on organizational philosophy increases the chances of buy-in and satisfaction.  All of which increase the chances that changes will actually be implemented, as well as maintained and effective.

So, the reality is that what’s happening right now at TFC isn’t dazzling and it isn’t dramatic.  It’s actually tedious and a little bit boring.  But it is good management, and it just might be the best thing that’s ever happened to this club.

History! Underdogs! er...Marvell Wynne!

With FC Dallas knocking out LA Galaxy, Landon Donovan, David Beckham et al last night, the job of generating excitement to sell all the non season-ticket seats, and get bums into those pre sold seats to make BMO field look acceptably close to, if not actually full, got a lot harder.  Judging by the lack of adverts to be seen so far around Toronto or in the media, for the game or any of the events surrounding it, the Toronto FC marketing and sales types must have been working overtime on the TFC season ticket renewals, and hoping that Beckham or Thierry Henry would have been showing up to boost interest for the MLS Cup. 

With the sizzle reduced to Marvell Wynne (hey TFC fans, you liked Marvell right? You don't remember all those handballs do you? You'll come out on a cold November night to cheer him right? Right? Guys?), it's time to focus on the steak of what should hopefully be a decent game.  Despite the lack of marquee talent, there's still good players on show, Conor Casey and Omar Cummings have been one of the best forward pairings in the league over the last few years.  For Dallas, David Ferreira has had a great year, legitimately contending for the MLS MVP award, and they have had a very successful year, including going 19 games unbeaten spanning almost 5 months.  The two games between the teams this year both ended in ties, so it should be an even game, with a good possibility of extra time and penalties.

It's not like there's no good storylines at all here, both teams are original founding members of MLS back in 1996, and neither of them have won the cup before, so we're guaranteed a new winner, and a feel-good story of long suffering team and fan base finally gets the title.  Both teams are underdogs, with Dallas having to beat the reigning champs, and then the favourites to get here, and Colorado coming from behind then holding their nerve in penalties against the Crew, and despite having two of the worst corporately-named stadiums in the league, neither team has a shirt sponsorship, which for me at least is a very refreshing thing to see.

There should be enough to be able to sell the game, especially given the oft-repeated assertion that "TFC fans are the best in the league".  This should be a good test to see if Toronto really is the great soccer market people try and tell us it is, or merely a great TFC market, either way I'm looking forward to it.

Der Konsültant's in town, uh-oh!

Thursday saw Jürgen Klinsmann introduced to the media in Toronto for the first time along with his SoccerSolutions colleague Warren Mersereau, to explain what their role is going to be and finally give some details of what we can look forward to. Turns out it’s not a lot really, he basically crushed any lingering hopes that Tom Anselmi had been underplaying his involvement when he talked about it last week. He’s certainly not going to be taking on any kind of GM or coach job himself, and confirmed that his consultancy is going to be a short one, ending before next season starts, ie before he’s even seen his new team play one competitive game.

What sort of power would he have in the short time he’d be here? Would it be the sort of omnipotence that Gerry Dobson described a couple of weeks back?

It's unclear exactly what his title will be, but make no mistake, the reality is Klinsmann will be in total command. He'll run everything from the top, right on down to the academy....the fact is he'll make all the decisions that matter. Everything else, Klinsmann will leave in the hands of the man (or men) he hires to run the day-to-day stuff. At this point, that's unclear as well. Klinsmann may well appoint a single overseer below him to act as general manager and head coach.

Not so much. Here’s Gerry sheepish comments after the press conference.

Those of us who thought Klinsmann was coming in here to roll up his sleeves, take charge, make changes and turn Toronto FC on its' head were wrong. He's here only to make suggestions.

Suggestions, recommendations and a point in the right direction is all that Klinsmann will be bringing, and then the big decisions, the hiring of whatever coaching/management structure they decide is best, and running the team from there, will once again be in the hands of Anselmi and co.  A point made clear by Klinsmann with a chuckle and the sort of "good luck buddy" smirk that reminded me of the "now we just need to make sure TFC makes the playoffs, right Mo? ha-ha" comments aimed at then GM Mo Johnston during the press conference to announce the 2010 MLS Cup final was coming to Toronto.

What are SoccerSolutions' processes to arrive at these suggestions?  Well apparently it's all about getting a feel for the city and supporters, figuring out what sort of team and style of play they want, talking with the players and staff already at the club and finding out how they work and what they're looking for, then coming up with a few suitable candidates who fit into that mould and will theoretically be able to build that sort of team.  Anselmi said in an interview that he's already talked with Klinsmann and told him about the style of hockey we like here, which might just be the most depressing sentence I've ever written.  Seriously?  Now we're going to try and emulate the Leafs?

Trying to look on the bright side, it's better that he's here even for an advisory role for a short period than for nothing at all, and his contacts and reputation will hopefully ensure us a higher class of applicants for the full time jobs.  Also developing an identity and plan that all future decisions will be filtered through is a very good idea, the Mo Johnston era never gave the impression of any clear long term plan being followed.  Starting right from scratch again, looking at every aspect of the organisation and coming up with a plan that will go right down to the academy teams is very necessary at this time, and to have Klinsmann involved right at the beginning to set us in the right direction can only be a good thing.

Basically, 2 months down the line from firing Mo and Preki, we've hired a consultant, one with a great footballing reputation and contacts, absolutely, but just a consultant, nothing more.  Any recommendation can only be as good as those that are implementing it, and that's going to be the same old people, so forgive me if I don't really see much different here at all.

It was 20 years ago today. November

Part 4 of my look back at Darlington's 1990/91 season.  Click here for August, September and October.

Darlo entered November riding high in the standings, and their first game was away at Rochdale, Mark Burke's loan was over, and with Steve Mardenborough still covering for Les McJannett, that meant a return to the lineup for Paul Emson, who didn't really do much, and an own goal meant we got a 1-1 draw, marred by an injury to Frank Gray.  Next up was a trip back to the non league, at Barrow, for the GM Vauxhall Shield, the non league version of the Charity Shield, a trophy Darlington won handily 4-0, with goals from Mardenborough, Andy Toman and 2 from John Borthwick.

This was followed by the first meeting of the season with Hartlepool, with our highest crowd of the season, 5,713 on hand to watch what turned out to be a frustrating game.  Darlo didn't play a great game, and missed a few chances before the ugliest man in football, the man who made Peter Beardsley look good, Joe Allon, scored the only goal of the game.  I may be getting games and seasons mixed up here, but I think it was from a corner in front of the Tin Shed, he'd been getting abuse all game, and he pointed to the goal, saying he was going to head it in, right before he did.

The next week was the first round of the FA cup.  With memories of last years run to a third round replay and the injustice of Archie Stephens' disallowed goal fresh in our minds, another big crowd came out for our home game against York City.  Gary Gill scored our goal in a 1-1 draw that I don't remember at all.  This game saw the return of Frank Gray from injury, and was also the last game that David Corner started for us.  The replay was 3 days later, and marked the first time in the starting line up for up and coming youth player Lee Ellison, though he couldn't inspire us as it ended 1-0 to York and that was that for our FA cup hopes for another year. 

Getting back to the league was just what Darlo needed, a makeshift defence including Emson and Drew Coverdale not stopping us from getting a 3-0 away win at Lincoln, Ellison getting the start again, and scoring his first goal.  Kevan Smith also scored, as did Gary Gill from the penalty spot.

The last game of the month saw us playing another cup tie against bloody York, this time in the group stage of the Leyland Daf trophy, where another defender picked up an injury, this time Les McJannett, and 2 goals from Borthwick couldn't stop us going down to a 3-2 defeat.

The day before that game though, saw Feethams host an FA youth cup 2nd round game against Manchester United, with the big attraction being some 16 year old kid called Ryan Giggs, who was apparently going to be the next George Best.  This was the only youth team game I ever went to and also the only game I watched from the East stand paddock and Giggs definitely looked good, scoring 5 goals in a 6-0 win, but check out the rest of the Man Utd line-up, under Ferguson, you'd think there'd be some good kids there, well here they are, at least here's who's listed on the programme.  Ian Wilkinson, Alan McReavie, Leslie Pottts, Mark Gordon, James Shields, John Sharples, Adrian Doherty, Peter Smyth, Colin McKee, Simon Davies, and Marcus Barmeld and John Okane on the bench.  Not exactly household names.  Darlo's team that day included Sean Gregan, as well as a few players who made the grade at Darlo's level, Anthony Isaacs, Simon Shaw and Lee Ellison.

As always, feel free to add your own memories in the comments section to fill in the gaps.

Coming up:  December, including Grimsby Town players fighting themselves.

Only normal people play football.

That's apparently the view of the President of the Croatian Football Federation, Vlatko Markovic, when talking about the possibility of homosexuals playing for Croatia.  See the original article here, and thanks to The Justin Campaign for blogging and tweeting about it.

"While I'm a president of the Croatian Football Federation, there will be no homosexuals playing in the national team", Vlatko Markovic said in an interview with Croatian national daily Vecernji List.
Asked whether in his career he has met a homosexual footballer, he has replied:
"Luckily, only normal people play football".

Sigh.

Edit: Red Card Homophobia have started an email campaign protesting this.  Here's where you can go for more info on that.

And here's another good article on this issue, at In bed with Maradonna.

Successful Canadian footballers?

Tonight, having already qualified for the 2011 World Cup in Germany after their semi-final win over Costa Rica, Canada's Women's National Team has the chance to clinch the Concacaf championship tonight.  They're favourites as well, as rather than taking on the heavily favoured US team, they'll actually be playing Mexico who lost 3-0 to Canada in the group stages, before stunning the US in the semi-final.  You can watch the game on CBC Bold, or if you're not one of their approximately 12 subscribers, online here.  Congratulations to Carolina Morace and her team for a successful qualification, and hopefully they can finish the job tonight and cap what's been a busy and enjoyable weekend of football.

In the MLS playoffs, San Jose destroyed the "dream final" by knocking out Thierry Henry and the Red Bulls, and you've got to say that the first half-season of the Henry experiment was a bit of a failure really.  Not a Mista level failure by any means, but he's going to have to improve next year to justify the big bucks.  Columbus also lost, in a shootout to Colorado, and San Jose-Colorado really is an appropriate final for what was a very bad year for Eastern Conference clubs.  In the Western Conference, Dallas beat Real Salt Lake, before a higher seed finally won, with LA knocking out Seattle.  So either David Beckham or Jeff Cunningham will be playing and potentially lifting the the cup at BMO field, it's safe to say I'll be supporting whoever comes out of the "East".

Back in England, it was a mixed weekend for the small clubs in the FA cup.  Tipton Town and Hythe Town both got hammered, though Hythe did at least score.  Dover upset Gillingham, getting revenge against all the management and coaches who went from Dover to Gillingham this summer and FC United of Manchester got a 94th minute winner against Rochdale.  Darlington beat League one side Bristol Rovers 2-1, though even when they win, they can't win, as computer problems in the ticket office led to very long waits to get in and quite a few people apparently giving up, so that's a good chance to win some new converts, or win back some old fans wasted, but still, an excellent result.

Throw in Chelsea and Arsenal both losing to EPL minnows, and it's been a really good weekend, Canada being champions would be a great way to finish it.

Edit:  And they did finish it off, a 1-0 win giving them the title, 5 games, 5 wins, 0 goals against, a really good tournament all round.  Well done Ladies.  Campeonas! Campeonas! olé, olé, olé!

Misanthropes corner.

If like me, you're cycnical and beaten down from years of supporting failure, you'll know a big part of the joy of sport is very negative in nature.   Cheering against somebody is just as satisfying as cheering for your team, and every individual hero needs an anti-hero.  As an example, I'm watching San Jose against New York right now, and cheering very much against New York rather than for San Jose.

Two articles in the Guardian over the last couple of days really speak to me in this way.  Firstly, this article from Marina Hyde is simply about the people and things you hate in sports.  The article itself isn't all that special, but the comments section is gold.  Pure bitter hateful gold. 

Next up is this article from Harry Pearson, which takes things to a more complicated area, when for whatever reason, usually a manager/coach you don't like, you start to secretly, sub-consciously, cheer against your team.  I think a lot of people started to feel that way about TFC towards the end of Preki's reign, each woeful, scoreless loss inching us closer to his exit.  I was more the other way round, I didn't want him fired, so I must confess to a small tinge of satisfaction when we started leaking goals all over the place under Dasovic.

So, if you're of a certain miserable, cynical mindset, both articles are well worth a read.

As for the New York-San Jose game, San Jose won 3-1, 3-2 on aggregate, and what a game it was, fantastic entertainment.  The defending wasn't great from either side, so for the sake of his health, I hope Preki wasn't watching, but if you like attacking play, lots of chances and plenty of goals, and didn't actually see the game, find it on the internet and watch the whole thing.  Seriously.

Sweet FA Cup.

This is going to be a great weekend of football.  The MLS cup conference semi-finals second leg games will be played over 4 days, starting Thursday night with only one goal seperating the teams in every game, so it's all very much still up for grabs.  Then in England, it's FA cup time.  While the third round, when all the big teams enter, is generally the weekend that gets the most attention, the first round proper, when the League One and League Two teams join all the non-league teams that have got through qualifying, is one of my favourite footballing weekends of the year.  Those Football League teams that are generally ignored for most of the year are lined up as the giants waiting to be killed and a bunch of teams from towns you've never heard of get their moment in the spotlight.  I don't know if they still do it or not, but every year it was a BBC staple to do a piece following the players in their real jobs, one of which was always, always, a postman.

This years teams getting the patronising pats on the head are Tipton Town (from park football to the FA cup!)and Hythe Town (the lowest ranked team left in the cup)who have away games at Carlisle and Hereford respectively.

Other matches getting attention, in my house at least are Darlington vs Bristol Rovers and Gillingham vs Dover.  As a freshly minted non-league team, Darlington had to qualify, which they did by beating Mossley AFC 6-2.  Mossley had 3 players sent off, including their goalkeeper, leading to the man who works their tannoy using his platform to announce to everyone“I don't believe you referee, you're turning this into a farce!”  Fantastic stuff.  It's not a great draw as Rovers are probably big enough to be able to beat us easily, whilst not being big enough for Darlington to get the big crowd and cash they need.

Gillingham vs Dover could be very interesting, mainly due to the following, which happened this summer, brought up in the Guardian's The Knowledge section

"On 6 November Gillingham will be playing Dover in an FA Cup first round game," begins James Tong. "Not only is it a nice Kentish derby, but it has added spice given that this summer we nicked their manager (Andy Hessenthaler), their assistant manager (Darren Hare, now youth team manager), their replacement manager (Ian Hendon, who was there for 17 days, was on holiday for 14 of those days, then came up the A2 to Gillingham not having signed a contract at Dover) and their replacement player/assistant manager (Nicky Southall, now at his fourth spell at Priestfield). As we're two leagues apart and the Whites are making the FA Cup first round for only the third time ever, it's quite amazing that we've been drawn against them in the season after all the shenanigans. Has there been a spicier match drawn in such against-the-odds circumstances?"

The match getting the most coverage though is FC United of Manchester's game against Rochdale, this being the first time FCUM have made it this far in their 5 year existence since being created by Manchester United fans sick of what their club had become and pushed over the edge by the Glazer's takeover of the club.  This is a great article published after they qualified, detailing how they've come this far and what their future plans are.  I love a good 'stick it to The Man' story as much as anyone, especially when that Man is Man Utd. so even though I have a soft spot for Rochdale, I'll certainly be cheering for FCUM.

Don't tell him about Rob Ford.

Damn work!  I must have been busy when TFC made their Jürgen Klinsmann announcement, as I missed the press conference and hoopla that surely accompanied the news that such a well known and respected football personality was joining up with a club desperate for some good news to sell season tickets and fill BMO field for the MLS cup.  They wouldn't have just released some publicity gold like that casually on their website would they?  Oh!

Alright, that's a little unfair, Tom Anselmi did an interview with The Fan 590 which gave a few more details than had been previously reported last Friday, and this article on sportsnet suggests he'll be formally introduced a couple of weeks from now, presumably as part of the pre MLS cup festivities, so I guess we'll get the full details and press conference at that time.

So what did we find out?  Well, fears that it might be SoccerSolutions and not actually Klinsmann himself were dismissed by Anselmi, but disappointingly, his contract runs only until "some time in the spring".   What is he here to do?

"It's more than just helping us hire a new manager, a new leader," said Anselmi. "It's looking at helping us organize or reorganize the whole front office, everything from vision for the club, what do we stand for, what's the style of play that we want to adopt for the rest of our lives to the people that we need to be able to deliver on that: players, coaching staff, the like."

 Though he hasn't made any public statements since being hired, in earlier interviews Klinsmann has elaborated a little on that

...I think every country has its own style and every environment, every MLS team should have its own identity based on their neighbourhood, based on their environment, the people that grow up in that neighbourhood, what they stand for ...

Who knows exactly what he'll decide represents Toronto, hopefully he hasn't heard about our latest election results.

The talk about potentially reorganizing the front office and the management and coaching staff would be encouraging if it weren't for the impression that's been given repeatedly over the last few weeks that the front office doesn't really think there's much wrong with the status quo.  Whether it's comments about Preki being fired mainly due to a gut feeling that he didn't really fit in with the organisation and the way they like to work, or Anselmi's oft-stated belief that we were only a few tweaks away from competing until Mo and Preki unnecessarily blew up last year's squad, or the repeated assurances that Earl Cochrane, Jimmy Brennan and Nick Dasovic are a big part of the club's future, and that Klinsmann will be working closely with Cochrane and Brennan, there's nothing to suggest that management thinks much needs changing at all.  This despite the lack of success that TFC has had since it's inception, and that all of their teams have had under MLSE's leadership.

It will be interesting to see exactly what recommendations and appointments are made, and just how much things change. I really shouldn't criticise too much before any of that happens, but given that he's just a consultant and apparently without long term involvement, my initial excitement at Klinsmann's involvement is definitely fading.  Anselmi said that this was in no way just about getting a big name on board, I hope he's right, but I really don't see Klinsmann being able to affect much change in such a short time in an organisation that seems so determined it's already doing most things right, especially when he's likely going to be leaving behind 2 or 3 new guys surrounded by Tom, Paul, Earl, Jimmy, Nick and all the rest of the staff who've given us such profoundly mediocre results so far.

Waiting for Jürgen.

We're now at day 4 since the rumours of Jürgen Klinsmann coming to Toronto were first published, and still there's no official announcement or press conference confirming the appointment and detailing exactly what his role will be.  So what's a blogger to do in the absence of information other than comment on other rumours, this time of coaching candidates as divulged by Sportsnet's Gerry Dobson in this article. 

Some very eye catching, if flawed names there.  Starting with Roberto Donadoni, former Italy coach, with a few coaching jobs of varying success in Serie A.  Carlos Quieroz, former Real Madrid and Portugal coach, though not with much success there, his reputation still mainly resting on his work as assistant to Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.  Franco Baresi was a magnificent cerebral defender for AC Milan and Italy, but hasn't had coaching experience beyond the youth sides at Milan.  I'm not all that confident any of them would be the answer for TFC, but they would certainly get people's attention, which is probably the point at this stage of season ticket selling season.  Iain Dowie is also somewhat incongrously mentioned, he's not really a big name that would be well known to those fans that don't follow British football, and even to those that do, his lacklustre record and unsightly style don't exactly impress. 

Whether any of these names end up in Toronto is anyone's guess, but it's at least a good sign that MLSE is prepared to spend the money to get a high profile coach, and it's not the only impressive action they've taken recently.  The 2010 relocation event for TFC season ticket holders started today, and the most interesting information to come out so far is that seats in section 112, 113 and 127, ie where the main supporters groups gather, are being treated differently and not given out to just anyone.  Though details of exactly how it will work haven't been made public, the obvious implication is that unrenewed tickets will instead be assigned one way or another with help and input from the supporters group in those sections. 

Having previously dismissed as impractical the idea of the supporters groups getting more control over their sections, this is another promising sign that the front office is ready to work more closely with the supporters groups to nurture the atmosphere that they bring and that has been marketed so enthusiastically.  Free home opener, 2012 price freeze, giving supporter's groups more control over their sections, rumours of big names coming in, it's been an impressive couple of weeks from Anselmi and Co.  However, the big names are still rumours at this stage, it's been 4 days and we're still waiting for Jürgen.

Edit:  Tweeted by Paul Beirne just after 11:00:  Finally announcing Jürgen today. Yes, we're on a first name basis. Hüge day for TFC... Looking forwards! 

Excellent