Join the millions that use us for their forum communities. Create your own forum today.
| QUOTE (Bellerose @ Oct 17 2008, 12:28 PM) |
| as kimmy said last night while posing for a picture with us "fire dale mitchell" |
| QUOTE (marktci @ Oct 17 2008, 12:34 PM) | ||
Kimmy Gibbler? |
| QUOTE (Bellerose @ Oct 17 2008, 12:28 PM) |
| as kimmy said last night while posing for a picture with us "fire dale mitchell" |
| QUOTE (dichiofanclub @ Oct 18 2008, 01:34 AM) |
| thanks for summarizing all of the problems brunt.....maybe next time you can comment on them before we are eliminated. you are the best writer in the country, but an asshole in this case. |
| QUOTE |
| It's not going to happen, though. The qualifying process hasn't even begun and Canada hasn't played a game, but just try to find someone who believes that we have even a fighting chance. Don't blame the talent. Don't pay too much attention to those ridiculous FIFA ratings, which have us mired right now in 94th place in the world, tucked between Libya and Ethiopia. Canada certainly has the players (though scattered all over the place) to be competitive behind Mexico and the United States for the third automatic qualifying berth from North and Central America and the Caribbean. What Canada doesn't have is a coherent plan to get there. Heck, we haven't even committed to a coach. And for that, the folks meeting today in Toronto deserve 100 per cent of the blame. The Canadian Soccer Association, which has never inspired much confidence at the best of times, has enjoyed a particularly humiliating 12 months. Last June, Frank Yallop, who was the right man for the job, resigned as the coach of the men's team to join the Los Angeles Galaxy of MLS (before knowing, it should be added, that David Beckham would be joining his squad). It's a terrific gig, and Yallop has enjoyed tremendous success in that league, but the reason he bailed on Canada — as he made clear, in diplomatic terms, during a chat last month — was that he didn't believe there was any direction in the national team program. Kevan Pipe, the widely criticized chief operating officer of the CSA, was the next to go, though he didn't jump — he was fired last November. This spring has brought the fiasco of Rene Simoes (who took Jamaica's Reggae Boyz to the World Cup in 1998) being offered big money by CSA president Colin Linford to take the coaching reins along with the title of technical director and then having that hiring vetoed by the board. If that sounds farcical …well, it is. And maybe it's the natural byproduct of having the future of an elite national side, with professional players, dictated by folks with roots in volunteer organizations who are most concerned with kids' registration levels. |