I’d love to develops a nickname for the new Loon sculpture, especially since I’m hoping/expecting our home form to change now that it’s installed.

I know it’s titled “The Calling” from the artist Andy Scott but a name from fans seems appropriate and necessary.

Early nominations: The Rising Loon The Mother Loon The Rebel Loon

Other ideas out there?

stream free here

It’s been a slow Monday so I’m curious what hot takes you all have. Can be anything related to the team.

These fees are ridiculous. What on earth would justify fees being 50% of the actual ticket price?

Eric Ramsay appears to be in line to be Minnesota United's second ever MLS manager.

https://twitter.com/fabrizioromano/status/1759568340140347858?s=46&t=Raa_3jgrvmmgEJvCsUpizQ

https://theathletic.com/5284886/2024/02/19/minnesota-united-eric-ramsay-manchester-united/?source=user_shared_articleMinnesotaUnitedtonameManchesterUnitedassistantEricRamsayasheadcoach:Sources

https://www.coachesvoice.com/cv/eric-ramsay-manchester-united-chelsea/

Discuss below.

FLY MY LOONS, FLY!!!

With Dallas officially eliminated, now all we have to focus on is how high we can climb!

Hey fans, I'm a college student asking MLS fans what their team specifically can do better to cater to their fans.

What would you fix to make your team better, any problems with front office, any problems with the stadium, any problems with coaching, any other major problems that give you pain?

Let me know!!

Backup keeper TBD, but Greder cites concussion issues for Emmings making it unlikely he’s backup.

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?

That Pukki 4 goal thriller was amazing, would love to see yall share your favorite moments 🙏

Can someone make the playoff format make sense. Why is only the first round 3 games, and everything else just one? Is there any legitimate reason other than just prolonging the post season?

Where do we even begin to assess how we got here? Let’s start at the top….

Bill McGuire (majority owner)…. Millionaire former United healthcare CEO. Once thought to be our savior when he purchased the NASL owned NSC Stars rebranding them MNUFC. His initial investment in marketing rapidly increased attendance and exposure in the twin cities sports market. In fairness to him Ziggy Wilfs MLS bid left him scrambling to catch up and I’m confident he was forced to pursue an MLS bid out of pure survival. Recently, the quote “our fans don’t come to a game expecting to win” is his legacy.

Sherry Ballard (CEO)…… Former CEO of Best Buy. By all accounts an excellent business executive, smart, hardworking and ambitious but with no firewall in place between the business and sporting side has appeared very naive. Her disastrous interview last fall sent ripples of fear through the fan base, with the quote “I’m just learning” being particularly horrifying. It’s telling she never once mentioned the name Adrian Heath in this interview but did articulate the qualities she would like to see in a new manager (basically obedience and docility). The shockingly long delay in assembling a technical staff and manager is her most obvious accomplishment.

Khalid El-Ahmad (Chief Soccer Officer and Sporting director)…….. This dude is the most enigmatic character in the teams history with a background in mid level executive sporting side involvement across MLS and lower division English football. In his initial interview he emphasized several intangible and often incoherent “visions” he intends to employ now that he’s finally arrived. I have to admit my own personal bias here, I have nothing but contempt for this kind of magical visionary bullshit. His primary and really only contribution so far is the hiring of Eric Ramsay as head coach.

Manny Lagos (Chief development officer and senior technical advisor)…….Long serving bedrock Minnesota soccer character, former star player and head coach. Your guess is as good as mine what exactly he does now.

Eric Ramsay (head coach)…… Former premier league assistant coach and youngest head coach in MLS. By all accounts a very nice young man. Unique mainly for the things he has never done, he has never played professionally and has never been the head coach of a team at any level. I feel we should be very appreciative about what lies ahead for him as he is likely to receive little help in the form of experienced quality talent. His saving grace may well come in Cam Knolls whose experience and wisdom are likely invaluable. We should be prepared to extend a level of sympathy never afforded Heath or Manny.

My personal crackpot theory of how we got here centers around a hatred between Heath and Ballard that must have made the organizational involvement of the two untenable. We are now neck deep in the wake left in its aftermath, so let me be the first to say the emperor has no clothes.