Champion Requiem

I was taught when there’s somethin’ you can change around
Keep quiet, you got nothin’ to complain about
You got work to do, I don’t know if that work for you

Fitting that I’m able to contrast my previous use of a Mos Def song with another. For those of you too busy reveling in FCE’s run of 21-1 in their past two games, or busy biting their nails in anticipation of the upcoming Cruz Azul-TFC game. Or, busy doing whatever’s happening in Vancouver, whatever that is. Pot Smoking?  Anyways… For those of you too busy to notice, Joey dropped quite a bomb on Montreal recently, coming out of his hidey-hole to lambast almost everyone in his organisation, except for those that deserve it. Here is the english press release, which was followed up by a statement from the 2.77 Billion Dollar Baby on CKAC.

“Following the recent performances of the team, I wish to reiterate that Nick De Santis, Marc Dos Santos and the other members of the technical staff continue to have my vote of confidence and they will stay in their current functions. They have proved their skills in the last few years and we will continue to build the future of this club with them.”

“The players, veterans as well as newcomers, are the only people responsible for the position of the team in the standings. They have not lived up to expectations so far this season. They have to look at themselves in the mirror and ask if they could have done more. Certain players have yet to convince us that they should be part of this club in Major League Soccer in 2012; as well as in 2011, as we will focus on our MLS preparation.”

“With seven matches to play this season, making the playoffs is still possible, but to do so the players on this team will have to react and find solutions. I cannot accept the results thus far, as the standards set by the Montreal Impact are higher than simply just making the playoffs.”

What a crock of shit, right? Well, to be fair, there’s a few dead-on things in his press release, most notably that Joey will never fire his organisational staff, not even if our lives depended on it. They, coughcoughNickcoughcough will stay and build a future with us, yes. Notice how Joey Saputo shies away from saying a build a GOOD future. Guess we can’t hold Saputo to that one…

“They have not lived up to expectations so far this season”: Partly True. Some have been found wanting.

“The players, veterans as well as newcomers, are the only people responsible for the position of the team in the standings. “: Completely False. Absolute bullshit coming from the master of it himself. Teams don’t organise from the ground up. If many underperform as a whole team, while occasionally having individual flashes of brilliance, the problem is most likely coming from the actual organisation of the team itself, not every single player. And if there truly is a problem among every single player like Saputo says, shouldn’t his brother NDS be able to bring in people who can fit in the system? Shouldn’t MDS be able to try and reorganise to play to the strengths of what he has available?

After the release, Joey himself went on air saying he has not yet spoke to the players in private yet. But then he goes on to name individual players and their problems: It was a mistake to make Pizzolito captain, DeRoux doesn’t perform, Ali Gerba(Zherba) gets paid too much to do nothing, Placentino “thinks he’s the future of the team” but “a guy like Rocco Placentino is cheating the organisation, the club and our fans”.

After those player-centric diatribes, Joey comes close to skirting the issue by saying that the issues and philosophy needs to change, and that a change will come in 2011, but ignoring the fact a clubs “philosophy” is closely tied to the aura exuded from the front office, which right now is a large part of this complacency and stagnation that exists in Montreal. A technical director is in charge of the team, and should that team end up playing below their expectations, one most look towards the technical director for answers. Answers like why does he rely on player Philippe Billy to spearhead our search for talent, rather than earn his money by finding the players himself?

And has it never occurred to Joey that only talking to the Technical staff would paint a picture that is biased towards placing blame on the players? Maybe he should grow up and act like an adult, and hear both sides of the story before going about in public blindsiding his players? But then again, this is a man who calls us Ultras “pieces of shit” and “not real fans” one day, and “great fans” the next. The guy whose team is very totalitarian when it comes to criticism, and keeps his players from their fans when celebrating their championship?

Who can really expect a proper response to a situation from an entitled boy who’s acting not like an adult owner, but more like a boy who is having a problem with his toys?  Even if he says there is a youth movement coming to Montreal in 2011, one must realise that our 2012 will look less like the start of a new era, but more of the same old shit. All this for a team that’s sitting out of a playoff spot, who haven’t won in near on a month, with seven games left. Perfect.

Look for some “pieces of shit” making the trip down to Baltimore, regardless of how badly you mismanage the team, Joey.

Next home game is the 27th vs. Rochester.

You got work to do, I don’t know if that work for you
But thats how Mos work it through

Mountreal Roundup #4

So, a bit has gone on since the last match, where the Gulls quite rightly(but somehow surprisingly) beat AC St Louis 3-0. A goal from Reda in under 20minutes, and a goal from the now returned and much loved Antonio Ribeiro mere minutes after being subbed into the match were the highlights of the night.  This late goal by Ribeiro sent quite a clear message: that he is always someone who gives it his all, and he played like a man determined to show everyone that he never should have left in the first place(We’re looking at you, DeSantis!). And as his performance shows, you cannot stop a determined soul. You could see his joy after the match as he ran up to the kop, in front of  a 3-foot high banner of his likeness to celebrate his triumphant return. Welcome back, Antonio.

It was also quite a treat to have a strong contingent of supporters come over from the fledgling ESG, to take back some ideas to support their team on the prairies, FC Edmonton. Nice guys, with quite a bit of potential. I can see good things coming from Edmonton in the future, if everything is allowed to grow.

The feather in the cap for me that night was while waiting for the ESG on Crescent Street, running into parents of AC St Louis keeper Alec Dufty. They were so genuinely nice and appreciative of the atmosphere at the game, I couldn’t even manage to smack talk these kindly oldish people. Shocking behaviour for me, I know.

To bolster our hot-and-cold offense, the Gulls signed Marco Terminesi to a contract today.  A young(ish) Canadian with an unfortunate past, Marco last scored 6 goals and got 4 assists in 700 minutes with the Thunder. Hopefully he is match fit and able to make a difference right away.

Seeing as Nick is a fan of Latino Gang movies, he lives his life according to the phrase “Blood in, Blood out”(google it) Tyler Hemming, as of today, is outta here! The much maligned, often unused midfielder was the victim of a strong midfield that he could not crack. Here’s hoping he does well in Austin(with, shudder, Sakuda.)

And all this is in anticipation of one of the bigger matches we’ll play all season, a rivalry/night game, against a team we desperately need the 6point turnaround on this season versus the Whitecaps, which takes place tomorrow night. We can expect to see Jordan in the lineup(he didn’t lie to me when I asked when he’d be back. Huzzah!), as well as a possible appearance from Terminesi, as he’s been cleared to play for us. With Jordan back in nets, I feel like we should thank Srdjan Djekanovic for all his good play this season while Our LORD and Saviour, Jordan, was on the bench. You’re a good kid, Srdj, thanks a bunch.

See you all there!

Montreal Roundup!

In order to reduce the amount of daily small posts, I decided to wait a suitable amount of time, and present all Gulls related news in one handy-dandy, easy to link to(hint-hint) D&G post that covers the recent topics that have popped up in Montreal.

First off, WE SCORED!! Not just one, but Two(!) goals against Tampa Bay! Such a monumental occasion, it surely ranks up there with our three league titles and seven national titles. Hence my, perhaps over the top reaction, which consisted of lighting off four flares at work. I kid, it was only three flares.

So, two goals in one game, a feat that has only happened once before this season, in the 2-1 comeback against NSC Minnesota (sing louder, we can win this, it’s only Minnesota!). Oddly enough, this finished 2-1 as well, though it was not a comeback, for once.

Second of all, Montreal’s Baby Gulls spread their adorable little fledgling wings in front of 2,100 people against FCE tonight, resulting in a 3-0 loss against the Prairie Dogs. From the reports from those at the match, there was the promise of potential atmosphere with the Edmonton Supporters Group, as well as ownerships that seems willing to foster a loyal supporters atmosphere. A young Canadian of only 17 years managed to get two goals of his own this match. Hopefully, it was not a fluke and he continues to improve. The sole player to have played tonight  for the senior side this year was one Tyler Hemming, the Canadian midfielder who’s been on the outside looking in. Pity he plays in our strongest position as it gives him so few opportunities to crack the lineup. It seems hemming knows this, as he also spent time tonight as keeper, after Badescu received a red card. Maybe he thinks with Jordan’s injury, he has a better chance to crack the Gulls, as one of our goalies.

He probably has a better chance, to be honest. Next up for the Vermin is their match against Chilean Colo-Colo.

Next on the docket for those in Montreal is the home match sunday versus our once “proud(ish)” rivals, the Rochester (Raging) Rhinos. Don’t expect away support, as it seems the Stampede have all died, most likely myocardial infarctions brought about through years of eating garbage plates:

Heart Attacks never looked so good.

Also, expect another update sometime before the Rochester game, as I sit down with none other than the Gulls’ own Stephen Deroux.

Colo-Colo friendly a step away from being colo-Concrete.

Excuse the bad wordplay but it seems the sporting manager of Colo Colo is currently in Canada to finalise the two previously mentioned friendlies in Montreal and Edmonton, opponents to be announced and to be played sometime before/around the 14th of June. I’m hoping that FCE ends up facing off against them, and I fully expect the Gulls to be their Montréal opponent

This is probably good news for FCE if they end up being Colo Colo’s Edmontonian opponent, any exposure always helps establish a new product. Can anyone with knowledge of Edmonton/Alberta please fill me in on just exactly how prevalent are Chileans in the city? Will it be an event for the city?

In lieu of the Champions League…

We might have yet another friendly! Woo!

So, according to a link dredged up by every Montrealer’s favourite journalist, Matthias Van Halst, of Impact Soccer/ Quebec Soccer fame, our Gulls might face off against the storied Chilean team, Colo Colo.

According to that link and another one, Colo Colo were offered to play friendlies in Canada. Though my knowledge of spanish is infinitesimally small, the dear readers on IS have started to sift through it, and as it stands now, it looks like Colo Colo have not yet decided on whether or not to trek up to the great white north to face off against Canadian sides(potentially). So it appears as if Joey has chosen to make up for the lack of meaningful games by bringing in the likes of Antigua Barracuda FC and Colo Colo to attempt to placate the fans at Stade Saputo. Nice try.

Also within the link, it does not specifically say the names of the sides they’d be facing, only the cities they’d “disputar cuatro amistosos”, which is to say, Montreal…”y Edmonton”. Aside from that surprising Edmonton bomb, the fact that it might be four friendlies, in the two cities could perhaps mean one game in each city vs. a local side, as well as another international team..

So it appears as if the Faths are really trying to attract some big names, with Portsmouth, Colo Colo(potentially) and Montreal heading to the prairies to play FCE(potentially).

Now if only they start to run FCE professionally, we’ll have another Canadian team to beat on regularly.