Insult to injury - Mitchell stays
I have always said that Dale Mitchell should be given the full qualification cycle. I think that if we want to attract top people, we have to at least give them some assurance that they will have some time to prove or fail themselves.
Dale Mitchell belongs in the fail category.
Qualification has been an abject failure. Mitchell had his chance and he blew it. Yes, the players also blew it, and the CSA is another rant completely (but why they gave Mitchell a contract until 2010 without an escape clause stating that if he didn’t actually qualify for 2010 he would be gone is beyond me). But right now, my beef is with Mitchell.
At this point, it is apparent that Mitchell is doing what is best for him and not for soccer in Canada as he insists he will not step down. And why should he? He’s drawing a decent salary and probably doesn’t have a lot of coaching options available. And after this run, who the hell would want to hire him?
But for fans of the game in Canada, how can Dale Mitchell justify to us why he should stay on when, for the third time out, we can’t even make it to the final round of WCQ, let alone the World Cup?
I have great memories of Dale Mitchell, the player. But the longer he stays, the more those memories will sour and be replaced by memories of Dale Mitchell, the coach sucking taxpayers money for little in return.
How will soccer history in this country remember Dale Mitchell? A prolific striker, scoring 19 goals in 55 caps for his country? Or Dale Mitchell, the U20 coach who led us to one of our worst and most embarrassing performances in a U20 World Cup, while at home? Or Dale Mitchell, the man who couldn’t even make the Hex with a skilled group of players - a group of players he obviously can’t control. The man with a coaching record of 3-6-4 with 2 of those wins coming against the international powerhouse St. Vincent & the Grenadines?
He has lost the faith of players, and any goodwill he had with the few fans who did support his appointment (like me way back when) has blown up in the past 2 months. But don’t worry, Dale. We here in the peanut gallery don’t really know what we are talking about. We have had our heads up our hockey loving asses for so long that we couldn’t possibly know that swapping a striker for a striker at the half when you need offense and then, desperate for a goal, you use your last sub to bring on a defender because - well - because there is no one left might be a bad tactical move.
Apparently, we fans who know nothing of what it takes to win internationally are in good company because I know a certain coach who doesn’t know, either.
Joe Ross at The Score has some notes about the game tomorrow night against Mexico, including some player changes. Not surprising, the best are heading back to their clubs, with Atiba Hutchinson and Rob Friend heading back to Europe. DeRo won’t be in the lineup (suprise). De Guzman is still injured.
If you are going to the game, be sure to join the Voyageurs in giving Tomasz Radzinski a rousing send off. This will probably be the 34 year old’s last apperance in a Canuck jersey and he deserves to get a fond farewell and thanks from all of us fans. When you see the quality the man has put on the field this cycle, it’s hard to think that he still doesn’t have something to offer this team.
Hmmm? Radz for coach?
