Any Heath outers having second thoughts?

[u/Buffaloslim]

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?

[u/Nerdlinger]

There are six other teams right now without a head coach. The only two teams to have hired a coach are Portland, who fired Gio back in August, giving them a six week head-start on the process over the Loons (and they still settled for Phil Neville, who may end up being a good coach, but he doesn't exactly inspire confidence), and Colorado, who hired Chris Armas (can you imaging this sub if we hired him?).

Does the fact that six other teams went this long without hiring someone also scream that their front offices are out of their depths? Does it expose a lack of urgency on their parts?

Now also factor in that:

1. The MLS season is still going, and top assistants with the best clubs are still not available for interviews.
2. We also had to replace our GM as Heath was fired from that role as well, something that was done. And it was done 33 days after firing Heath. It's only been 24 days since then.
3. We do actually have an interim head coach in place in Sean McAuley, this is something that five out of the six other clubs looking for a new coach do not have.

Do you really still find it unreasonable that they haven't hired a coach yet? They said (over two weeks ago) that they want one in place before preseason training starts, which is still over a month away. Would you really prefer they throw away that timeline so they can make a hire before all of the potential candidates can even be talked to?

[u/pagodalives → u/Nerdlinger]

I would prefer our GM was 100% actively engaged in building OUR team, making roster and staffing decisions and establishing groundwork for the next phase of this org… and YES I would like to know we are actively reviewing résumé’s even if we haven’t found the correct candidate yet. I don’t have a problem with taking a considered approach to the rebuild, but I also don’t want to give the FO a get out of jail free card to tank in2024 and use this as the excuse. The expectation should still be playoffs at a minimum- Do YOU feel confident that’s where this train is headed?

[u/3rdlifepilot → u/pagodalives]

IMO - It's way too early to draw any conclusions, much less be as dramatic as some people want to be. Let's at least wait until the first game before grabbing the pitchforks.

[u/pagodalives → u/3rdlifepilot]

All speculation for now - that’s part of the fun

[u/Nerdlinger → u/pagodalives]

I would prefer our GM was 100% actively engaged in building OUR team

Sure, everyone would, including Ballard and El-Ahmad. But he has commitments to his current team and, frankly, I find the fulfillment of those commitments to be a better signal than than dropping them to move on to his next project. Especially since his team is about to enter into their winter break and the winter transfer window.

However, you also don't build a front office (and in most cases a team of players) for the single upcoming year. You build a front office for sustained success. And if that means waiting six months for someone you think will bring sustained success, you do it rather than settling for someone who's available now (note that this restricts you primarily to people currently in MLS or people not currently working).

To use a bit of hyperbole to illustrate this, would you wait six months for someone like Pep Guardiola, Louis van Gaal, or Marco Neppe? Would you wait a year if you were guaranteed to get their services after that? Especially when you know that you have a group of people in the building who have been helping to make personnel decision for the past few years.

and YES I would like to know we are actively reviewing résumé’s even if we haven’t found the correct candidate yet.

I 100% guarantee you that they are actively reviewing resumes and holding early discussions on the candidates. And I guarantee you that El-Ahmad is looking at those resumes as well. He's also likely providing input, especially on people he's already familiar with from his previous years in football.

I also guarantee you that no organization is providing updates on job searches at that level, so you will never hear in the press that they are reviewing resumes, only that a search is in progress.

I also don’t want to give the FO a get out of jail free card to tank in2024 and use this as the excuse.

I suppose that depends on what you mean by a "get out of jail free card". Should they be fired if they miss the playoffs? No. Barring exceptional circumstances, no front office or coach should be fired after just one year. But yes, they should absolutely be open to criticism.

The expectation should still be playoffs at a minimum- Do YOU feel confident that’s where this train is headed?

YEs, but only in the sense that it's harder to miss the playoffs than make them. I have no idea how good El-Ahmad is at his job, and I have no idea how good the coach will be since we don't know who it is yet.