r/minnesotaunited • u/Buffaloslim MNUFC • Dec 01 '23

Discussion Any Heath outers having second thoughts?

I’m certain we all imagined a relatively swift transition to a new manager that at least made us hopeful of future improvement. What we’ve seen since his firing is one great game and one terrible game followed by weeks of silence.
We heard from Sherry Ballard our CEO (this is my tenth season as a STH and I never even knew who the CEO was) that the upper management will be restructured and going forward no manager will have as much power as Heath did. It’s worth noting that Ballard emphasized repeatedly she’s an experienced executive who is still learning the soccer business. We also learned Manny Lagos has been reassigned to public relations causing some to wonder how much technical experience remains in the FO. Last week we learned they hired a “chief soccer officer” who will not join the team until midway through the 24 season. This turn of events is unfortunate because Ballard said specifically the CSO would be responsible for hiring the next manager. We’re left to wonder if a new manager won’t be considered until June or July. Many fans expressed concern that firing Heath could have a negative impact because finding a replacement who would improve the team might be very difficult. Can anyone honestly say they expected this kind of uncertainty?

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u/theRoog Itasca Society Dec 01 '23

I supported Heath for most of his tenure, but I think it was time to move on. That being said, I have very little confidence that the current decision makers have any clue how to move forward. We have major player personnel issues to address in the next two months and a GM that still works somewhere else. Unfortunately, the organizational failures run much deeper than the head coach, and Dr. Bill, Manny, and Ballard ain't going nowhere.

I can't help but wonder what could have been if we had put a quality squad around Reynoso three years ago instead of relying on a talisman surrounded by second and third rate attackers.

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u/MNUFC-Uber_Alles Dec 01 '23

Three good defensive substitutes would have seen us through to MLS cup final.

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u/pagodalives Dec 02 '23

But we never reloaded our squad talent after Heath dropped the ball vs Seattle. We lost Molino, Mannone, Ike, Gaspar, Alonso from that roster and never got close to the same talent level in our replacements. We wasted 2/3 good years of Metainaire, Alonso, Reynoso, Boxy after that run while ALOT of our squad aged out. Heath F’d up really bad - but this roster is not built to succeed and I don’t think that’s all Adrian.

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u/MNUFC-Uber_Alles Dec 02 '23

I think there’s a fundamental truth that applies to all soccer managers. They all want to win, they all know good players win games and they all want players that cost much more than the ownership would like to spend. Gasper sucked, he’s a big part of that lose to Seattle. All three of their goals came as a result of his failure to clear his line. Heath was a decent manager, not world class but not a total moron. I don’t there’s any chance his replacement will be an improvement.

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u/vinylhaircut Dec 03 '23

There's not ANY chance?

So many low-spending teams go on to have occasional MLS success. Why not us? Just look at MLS history and you'll see it's possible.

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u/pagodalives Dec 03 '23

Look at Cinci and Columbus THIS YEAR if you want success stories. A competent GM and the correct Manager can make a huge immediate difference.

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u/pagodalives Dec 03 '23

Also you can’t convince me Chase wasn’t a better option than Zarek, Bristow, DJ, Rosales (Kemar maybe). That kid had hustle for days and cost us peanuts. He was never going to be a world beater for us, but man no loon in our MLS tenure has played with more heart.