There is only one way this ends well. Gale demands top-level signings in the summer. He gets them and the Thorns are in the final. Then in the winter Gales remakes a big chunk of the team. He ends up staying at the club for many years.
There are a near-infinity of ways this ends badly. The Thorns make no summer signings. We don't make the playoffs. Gale is fired and we start over for the fourth time in three years. No reputable coach wants to work for a bunch of flakes like our FO, so Loudon or Vitas gets the job and the cycle repeats.
As others have pointed out, there was literally NO reason to make this announcement today. If he becomes head coach in November, it's the exact same as giving him a new sign on the door today. But if we waited until November, maybe we could have found somebody actually qualified to do the job in the interim. That option is gone now.
That's the problem - I doubt he gets fired anytime soon regardless of how badly the Thorns perform. They'll at least be middling because they have better talent than the bottom tier of the league. In other words, they won't bottom out but I don't think missing the playoffs will be enough to fire the nice guy from Canada.
Gale seems like a nice man and a decent coach. But this is another "global search" that leads to the guy already down the hall. Either the new owners aren't as ambitious as they made themselves out to be or we've overrated our Thorns attractiveness to the best coaches. This feels to me like complacency and maybe placating the players again, and I'm beginning to think that LeBlanc ain't it.
I like Rob, he seems like a stand up guy. I'm just not sure he's the world class coach we should be aiming for. There's been a bit of regression performance wise from the six match streak so I'd like to see him figure out how to raise the performance level besides get it to Soph and hope for the best
I've said since the Bhathals took over that my first real checkpoint for them was the start of the 2025 season, and that's still how I feel. With that said, fan confidence and trust is earned, and they haven't yet established the base. Obviously, KK hasn't either.
By signing off on hiring Gale, they've narrowed their runway for a bit. If they had taken a swing with a big hire and failed, some us would say "at least they took the shot." There's a lot of talk about "vision" and what exactly that means. I believe they have one and I believe they're willing to spend, but having a vision is useless without proper execution. For better or worse, they have a coach now and attention has to turn to the roster. Two pretty clear tasks there:
1. Add talent. Simple. Get some more capital-G good players, period. Talent solves a lot of problems.
2. Clean out the mess that is the backend of the roster. Loans, whatever. Do what it takes. This has to look like a balanced, high-level NWSL roster at the start of 2025.
I wish the isolated moves were making me feel more confident than they are, but so it goes. They're on the clock!
Yeah, I'm trying to let this last shred of hope that I'm trying to keep alive get me through to the start of 2025.
There's still runway to shift my mind, but if we're in a similar place at the start of 2025 then I'm going to come to STF to yell about it. On. The. Clock. Literally no more excuses.
I like Gale! I (and others) tried to come up with available managers that would be clearly, objectively be a better candidate than him and really struggled. I just wanted them to take a risk because it would show interest in being aggressive, acknowledging that there's no guarantee that a random manager would have the same floor as Gale (probably) has.
I still think that if they bring in the talent, he'll probably do fine....and I hope I'm wrong in saying that he's not an elevating manager. The process is the dissapointment.
My wife thinks I'm a crazy idiot (and she's probably right) that I'm disappointed in the Gale hire. He is well liked and has an 8-2-2 record. My frustration lies in the process and an outcome that screams "status quo" for a team that is falling behind the best teams in the league. I don't know squat about what woso coaches are available or good, but I do know that we, as a club, need some big time changes if we are going to compete with the KC, Spirit, Orlando and Goths of the world. I don't "feel" like this move is taking us the that direction. I hope I'm wrong. I hope KK blows up the summer and off season with great players. I'm just sick of waiting. Waiting for a new owner, coach, retirement,ect. While the team goes backwards.
As I always try to say, shades of gray. On balance, Gale's far from a disaster. There's probably a decent chance he's better than whatever other coach I would have preferred more, acknowledging that there are simply not that many known quantities in woso. For every Amoros, there's a Fran Alonso. For every Seb Hines, there's a Christy Holly.
But this particular hire is disappointing because we --especially the die-hards that populate this site-- see this as signifying stasis instead of ambition. I think there's still a lot of time to be proven right or wrong on that and the roster is priority #1, but it's an undeniably disappointing move on the surface, regardless of how well liked the dude is.
The consistent lowering of expectations I've had to keep doing over the years for this club has been quite sad for me, honestly. Now again, we'll have to overperform our coaching as we have for several years now....problem is, that talent we were able to do that with has also begun to dry up. We don't have the roster we had 2 years ago, and, in that time, many many teams have either passed us or are very close to doing so. We are nowhere near as well run as the 4 teams above us in the standings, and Chicago and NC are right behind us. And I'm not sure that'll be for long, because they are slowly moving forward. They're really gonna have to nail a lot of big signings either summer or offseason, and really shed a lot of the backend of the roster for us to even think about trophies. So so much on this roster needs to be remade, and I'm now not optimistic our coaching will be what gets us performing better in the meantime... pretty bummed and disappointed by it all.
Also, I just really think the decision to do this now really sends up more red flags about the FO (as if they weren't already there.) Literally no reason to do this now. I think what I'm mostly disappointed about is that our new owners + FO, who promised us so much more, signed off on this. And that they seem to lack the ambition needed to succeed in this league in 2024. How else will this lack of ambition trickle down? KK will run this thing into the ground, and maybe then we'll get a cleaning of the house, but how many years is that gonna take? I'd love to proven wrong, though. I think Rob seems like a nice guy, and I want the best for this club...I just don't think this elevates us.
“Persistent lowering of expectations over the years” … the frog in the boiling water analogy comes to mind. Hate to think how this diminishing of talent has been a slow creep over the years. But it is true!
This is disappointing to me. While Rob may be a great guy, with a real connection to the players, I just don't see him as the guy to elevate the players on the club. Lets hope I'm wrong on this, but this seems like a failed opportunity. This team deserves a world class coach.
My assumption is no high profile national coach is leaving for a club job no matter how much they like it.
Let’s look at the names.
1. Rob Gale
2. Mark Parsons - he was supposedly seen twice at Providence Park. Can explain once, but the second time suggests an interview
3. Carmelina Moscato - she’s highly regarded and is close to KK. She would have been a tough sell as better than Gale, though I was impressed with her time at Tigres. To be honest, I thought it was going to be her in the offseason.
4. Amandine Miquel - she would have been my choice solely based on the number of players she’s developed before taking the Leicester job. Even then, it is more based on reputation than anything I’ve seen on the field.
5. Carla Ward - former Hayes disciple. She’s leaving Aston Villa. Curious to see where she lands
6. Twila Kilgore - USWNT second in command. Is that a selling point?
Reading through the quotes from the presser, and this one from Rob stood out: ""I told the players that I wouldn't be here without them. They are my family. They have responded at every turn. I was very grateful for the response and it is a vindication for everybody at the club." -Gale"
I love that the players like him, and vice versa, but I also have concern with a coach considering his players family. Am I wrong here? I am literally one of the most sentimental mushy warm fuzzy people out there, and I absolutely respect that quality in other humans, but I do have concerns that it could leak into job duties if you're thinking of players like this. A whole lot of change has to be made with this roster, and sentimentality could be a killer when it comes to making hard decisions about players you're attached to. I love that he has that trust, but at the other end, I also hope that he can reel that back and be professional when hard decisions have to be made. Obv coaches aren't the ones constructing the roster (though I'd have the same reservations about KK's sentimentality affecting roster build), but he is creating lineups and the like, and communicating with KK about performance.
I have a similar concern (and I'm one of the _least_ "warm and fuzzy" people you'll ever meet...seriously). While given this sport's/league's/team's history, having a coach the players can completely _trust_ is critical, having one they _like_ isn't. Having one they think of as an actual friend is probably more of a negative than a positive. It would unquestionably be a negative below the pro level, but even for pros, there's a very necessary hierarchy of authority at work on a sports team.
But here's the thing: there's a lot of talk about how we should be "looking for a world class coach." Okay, that sounds great...but how many legitimately WORLD CLASS coaches are there in the women's game? Of those, how many are even _thinking_ of being on the market? I might argue that while it would certainly be possible to find someone on the market who could reasonably be predicted to be better than Gale, would they be truly "world class" better? The list of people with that kind of resumé is short, the number of those actually considering a new position is a small fraction of that number...and a lot of them would be ruled out for a number of reasons: they focus on the wrong sort of play for our roster and/or fanbase, are a bad fit with team culture, language barriers, and so forth.
I very much suspect that the "global search" wasn't turning up any obvious candidates. I agree with the sentiment that that might not be a reason to confirm Gale _now_ instead of waiting until the end of the season, but I don't think I agree with the FO critics who seem to be implying no such search was made. They just didn't find the right Canadian... (jk on that last bit!)
Nah, that’s just who he is and how he talks. I don’t think we should worry about the one truly positive attribute we *know for sure* he has. There’s nothing wrong with being a player’s coach as long as you get your message across and the players respond to it. His job also depends on making good decisions.
Yeah I guess I'm just sad and stressed lol. We gotta shed so many players and I don't wanna see little movement because they lack a tiny bit of competitive ruthlessness. Gotta be a functioning business also. Just hard when both KK and Rob seem to lean into that sentimentality a lot, and the vision is still murky....
I think people need to accept that the pre scandal Thorns,which was probably one of the pillars of the women’s soccer community, is frankly on life support. Maybe even dead.
A very good fan base and attendance is a very good rebuilding piece, but Merritt Paulson’s last few years of ownership damaged the brand.Followed by a coach who admitted having feelings for a player and a level of distrust that permeated when one of the most respected players in the league (Becky) had to step in to tell management why they were handling it incorrectly. It’s been painful to watch. I do think her saying positive things about Gale is a pro in his favor.
It’s recoverable, but the Portland Thorns are no longer the queen of the ball. When Vlatko the Impaler is the best new coach in the NWSL, we may need to take a step back as a fan base. I don’t like it, but the best way to get respect is to get great players to commit.
I’m hoping that last game is a sign to come for Fleming, Weaver comes back healthy, and a viable right forward is brought in to help Sophia.
Frankly, the change in competitive balance has very little to nothing to do with Portland's "brand" and scandals. There has been NO evidence that players or coaches are rejecting Portland or that woso folks see Portland as an undesirable place to play. They are very much still one of the pillars of the women's soccer community, and I think most players and coaches would agree. I'd argue (and so did she) that one of the main reasons Smith re-signed in Portland was for that exact reason.
The reason the Thorns aren't the belle of the NWSL ball anymore is because other teams are investing at an equal or higher level for the *first time ever* and there are now other high level options in prime locations as a result. Period. That's it. The Thorns aren't going backwards because of the scandals, they've just stalled while other teams have moved ahead of them. I remain hopeful that they will get to an equal level under the Bhathals, but there's no more Yankees of woso anymore, and that's a VERY GOOD thing for the sport.
So yeah: It bothers me slightly when the scandals get used as a crutch for the Thorns not being at the level they should be at from some abstract appeal perspective, because that's simply untrue and takes responsibility away from the current FO which is working in an environment that, while comparatively not what it once was, is still very favorable to building an elite team.
I think you are in denial that the last few years didn’t drastically impact the Thorns. It has brought both coaching instability plus a short term decision to hire someone who was as much a PR hire as a qualified GM.
That's neither what I was arguing, nor what you said in your original post. You said that the scandals have ruined the Thorns' brand and therefore limited their ability to get good players and coaches. That is not true. They are still very much --by all accounts-- a desirable place to play and coach. Even during the scandals, none of their stars left. The difference is that there are now *tons of other options* for star players looking to come to the NWSL. I am not saying that the scandals didn't have an impact, just that said impact was NOT ruining the brand or appeal factor.
Saying that the scandals have created stagnation as a knock-on result of Paulson's lame duck ownership is true: Once Paulson was forced to sell, he became a lame duck owner and stopped investing in the team, allowing other franchises to pass the Thorns up as the league grew exponentially. Saying that the Thorns are no longer a pillar of the woso world is demonstrably, objectively false. They are not dominant on the field anymore because they are no longer the only attractive place to play! Since 2020, the NWSL has added franchises in three giant, player-attractive markets, tripled the salary cap, increased the media deal by 40x, and have had three existing franchises receive major investment. You HAVE to look at context instead of the Thorns in isolation.
So nah, no "denial" here. Just looking at the situation with a wider lens than "Thorns not dominant no more, must be because scandal."
Took a long lunch and put my thoughts on today's news into a short post. Long story short, I'm disappointed, but mainly because I thought the Bhathals would take some ambitious risks and because the process/timing stinks, not because I think Gale's a "bad" coach..... though crucially, I also don't think he's one that elevates. They better hit on the rumored signings and give the guy some real support or else this decision will start looking much worse.
Müller should be there…unless I’m missing something! But yeah, our goofy ass roster construction means we’re gonna just be playing folks who can run basically lol. All we have are 3 9’s? One is 41 years old? Sure throw ‘em all out there! I imagine the FB’s are gonna be tasked with providing width and will stay quite high. Hope we’re not throwing Nally and Obaze out there on an island because that isn’t gonna end well lol. That said, I know literally nothing about TJ so I have no idea what to even expect. But, I’m guessing they should be at their full strength. Us, uhhhh, not so much haha.
Shoddy roster construction aside, this would look a hell of a lot better with a healthy Weaver, Linnehan, and Moultrie given he have the entire first team defense and Hina. That’s just pretty shitty injury luck.
I’m not even super concerned about the results, I just wanted to watch the kids play tbh. Would have been fun to see a Weaver-Izzy-Linnehan front line in the minutes Sinc wasn’t on the field.
Yeah, that’s why it’s kinda both compounded. A lot of teams have a whole lot of injuries, but they have GM’s that at least build more balanced rosters so that there’s bodies for every position. Not…6 GK’s, 4 9’s but only 1 6 lol. I wanna watch the kids play too, that’s why it sucks we’re so thin. Put Sinc at 6 for all I care, play the kids at their actual positions so they can build minutes. Sticking Sinc in the 9 again and again does nothing for their development. At least put her in midfield and do a 442. But yeah overall just sucks to not have any of those players available. I’m hoping we get to see a lot of Obaze…but hopefully not next to Nally.
Idk why we'd see much of Nally at all given Obaze, Hubly, and Becky are all healthy. Maybe he rotates a little, but I'd HOPE we only see her in short periods if at all.
And yes, I agree that I'd rather see Izzy at the nine for sure, but she also just needs consistent minutes on the damn field lol
I agree, I just imagine these will be the games you’re gonna given the end of the bench time. But yeah, Hubs and Broon are still gonna need to stay fresh. So far, it seems teams each are doing it a little differently. Some teams hardly make changes, some have drastically different XI’s. Not quite sure how we’ll approach it. It’s a perfect time to get Obaze more reps with Broon (and Hubs), though!
Who tf do we have playing on the wing lmao. Literally 0 wingers. Inevitably, as always seems to happen....this means Sinc prob starting in the 9, with our other 9's playing out of position on the wings (which sucks bc D'Aquila, in particular, needs minutes in the 9.) Or change of shape and a 2 front? Change of shape makes more sense...maybe Sinc will be on the wing again lmao. Best might be a box w/ Kling/Hina and Sinc/OWK and then Dias/D'Aquila up front.
Oh yeah I forgot about Sheva lol. She can play on the wing-ish. A combo of injuries and our goofy roster construction makes this really a stretch lol. Unfortunate bc it's just gonna be players playing out of position when this tourney is for quality developmental minutes.
There is only one way this ends well. Gale demands top-level signings in the summer. He gets them and the Thorns are in the final. Then in the winter Gales remakes a big chunk of the team. He ends up staying at the club for many years.
There are a near-infinity of ways this ends badly. The Thorns make no summer signings. We don't make the playoffs. Gale is fired and we start over for the fourth time in three years. No reputable coach wants to work for a bunch of flakes like our FO, so Loudon or Vitas gets the job and the cycle repeats.
As others have pointed out, there was literally NO reason to make this announcement today. If he becomes head coach in November, it's the exact same as giving him a new sign on the door today. But if we waited until November, maybe we could have found somebody actually qualified to do the job in the interim. That option is gone now.
A sad day.
That's the problem - I doubt he gets fired anytime soon regardless of how badly the Thorns perform. They'll at least be middling because they have better talent than the bottom tier of the league. In other words, they won't bottom out but I don't think missing the playoffs will be enough to fire the nice guy from Canada.
Small thinking. Again.
Gale seems like a nice man and a decent coach. But this is another "global search" that leads to the guy already down the hall. Either the new owners aren't as ambitious as they made themselves out to be or we've overrated our Thorns attractiveness to the best coaches. This feels to me like complacency and maybe placating the players again, and I'm beginning to think that LeBlanc ain't it.
Beginning to think? Haha
I like Rob, he seems like a stand up guy. I'm just not sure he's the world class coach we should be aiming for. There's been a bit of regression performance wise from the six match streak so I'd like to see him figure out how to raise the performance level besides get it to Soph and hope for the best
Good grief. KK is NOT up to the task of building a world-class team. This decision just breaks my heart.
And how cd the new owners let this happen?? So disappointed
One last thought from me on this:
I've said since the Bhathals took over that my first real checkpoint for them was the start of the 2025 season, and that's still how I feel. With that said, fan confidence and trust is earned, and they haven't yet established the base. Obviously, KK hasn't either.
By signing off on hiring Gale, they've narrowed their runway for a bit. If they had taken a swing with a big hire and failed, some us would say "at least they took the shot." There's a lot of talk about "vision" and what exactly that means. I believe they have one and I believe they're willing to spend, but having a vision is useless without proper execution. For better or worse, they have a coach now and attention has to turn to the roster. Two pretty clear tasks there:
1. Add talent. Simple. Get some more capital-G good players, period. Talent solves a lot of problems.
2. Clean out the mess that is the backend of the roster. Loans, whatever. Do what it takes. This has to look like a balanced, high-level NWSL roster at the start of 2025.
I wish the isolated moves were making me feel more confident than they are, but so it goes. They're on the clock!
Yeah, I'm trying to let this last shred of hope that I'm trying to keep alive get me through to the start of 2025.
There's still runway to shift my mind, but if we're in a similar place at the start of 2025 then I'm going to come to STF to yell about it. On. The. Clock. Literally no more excuses.
The other thing is like, if you look on Facebook and around the stadium, a LOT of fans *like* Gale. I think this board is in the minority, tbh.
I like Gale! I (and others) tried to come up with available managers that would be clearly, objectively be a better candidate than him and really struggled. I just wanted them to take a risk because it would show interest in being aggressive, acknowledging that there's no guarantee that a random manager would have the same floor as Gale (probably) has.
I still think that if they bring in the talent, he'll probably do fine....and I hope I'm wrong in saying that he's not an elevating manager. The process is the dissapointment.
My wife thinks I'm a crazy idiot (and she's probably right) that I'm disappointed in the Gale hire. He is well liked and has an 8-2-2 record. My frustration lies in the process and an outcome that screams "status quo" for a team that is falling behind the best teams in the league. I don't know squat about what woso coaches are available or good, but I do know that we, as a club, need some big time changes if we are going to compete with the KC, Spirit, Orlando and Goths of the world. I don't "feel" like this move is taking us the that direction. I hope I'm wrong. I hope KK blows up the summer and off season with great players. I'm just sick of waiting. Waiting for a new owner, coach, retirement,ect. While the team goes backwards.
As I always try to say, shades of gray. On balance, Gale's far from a disaster. There's probably a decent chance he's better than whatever other coach I would have preferred more, acknowledging that there are simply not that many known quantities in woso. For every Amoros, there's a Fran Alonso. For every Seb Hines, there's a Christy Holly.
But this particular hire is disappointing because we --especially the die-hards that populate this site-- see this as signifying stasis instead of ambition. I think there's still a lot of time to be proven right or wrong on that and the roster is priority #1, but it's an undeniably disappointing move on the surface, regardless of how well liked the dude is.
The consistent lowering of expectations I've had to keep doing over the years for this club has been quite sad for me, honestly. Now again, we'll have to overperform our coaching as we have for several years now....problem is, that talent we were able to do that with has also begun to dry up. We don't have the roster we had 2 years ago, and, in that time, many many teams have either passed us or are very close to doing so. We are nowhere near as well run as the 4 teams above us in the standings, and Chicago and NC are right behind us. And I'm not sure that'll be for long, because they are slowly moving forward. They're really gonna have to nail a lot of big signings either summer or offseason, and really shed a lot of the backend of the roster for us to even think about trophies. So so much on this roster needs to be remade, and I'm now not optimistic our coaching will be what gets us performing better in the meantime... pretty bummed and disappointed by it all.
Also, I just really think the decision to do this now really sends up more red flags about the FO (as if they weren't already there.) Literally no reason to do this now. I think what I'm mostly disappointed about is that our new owners + FO, who promised us so much more, signed off on this. And that they seem to lack the ambition needed to succeed in this league in 2024. How else will this lack of ambition trickle down? KK will run this thing into the ground, and maybe then we'll get a cleaning of the house, but how many years is that gonna take? I'd love to proven wrong, though. I think Rob seems like a nice guy, and I want the best for this club...I just don't think this elevates us.
Reminded of the old MAD TV skit, "Lowered Expectations"
“Persistent lowering of expectations over the years” … the frog in the boiling water analogy comes to mind. Hate to think how this diminishing of talent has been a slow creep over the years. But it is true!
I thought of water drip torture. It is also like a clock ticking with no real changes.
This is disappointing to me. While Rob may be a great guy, with a real connection to the players, I just don't see him as the guy to elevate the players on the club. Lets hope I'm wrong on this, but this seems like a failed opportunity. This team deserves a world class coach.
This is where I am. I wish no ill will to Rob, and I wish him every success. I also hope I'm wrong!
Was USSF in charge of this "global search"? Seems an awful lot like the the "global search" for the USMNT coach that ended up rehiring Berhalter.
I would put money on it being a Canadian company/organization.
By god it's good to see Morgan Frickin' Weaver out practicing wearing no protective gear.
https://x.com/ThornsFC/status/1814781377579290878
I imagine she’s back for the first game post Olympics.
Still just her running shoes though, but agreed!
Well, we'll always have this: https://x.com/ThornsFC/status/1814469293729558562
Proof they should stick to using their feet
Portland Thorns Head Coach "Global Search" Finalists:
1) Rob Gale
2) Rhian Wilkinson (runner-up)
3) Mike Norris (withdrew)
My assumption is no high profile national coach is leaving for a club job no matter how much they like it.
Let’s look at the names.
1. Rob Gale
2. Mark Parsons - he was supposedly seen twice at Providence Park. Can explain once, but the second time suggests an interview
3. Carmelina Moscato - she’s highly regarded and is close to KK. She would have been a tough sell as better than Gale, though I was impressed with her time at Tigres. To be honest, I thought it was going to be her in the offseason.
4. Amandine Miquel - she would have been my choice solely based on the number of players she’s developed before taking the Leicester job. Even then, it is more based on reputation than anything I’ve seen on the field.
5. Carla Ward - former Hayes disciple. She’s leaving Aston Villa. Curious to see where she lands
6. Twila Kilgore - USWNT second in command. Is that a selling point?
Reading through the quotes from the presser, and this one from Rob stood out: ""I told the players that I wouldn't be here without them. They are my family. They have responded at every turn. I was very grateful for the response and it is a vindication for everybody at the club." -Gale"
I love that the players like him, and vice versa, but I also have concern with a coach considering his players family. Am I wrong here? I am literally one of the most sentimental mushy warm fuzzy people out there, and I absolutely respect that quality in other humans, but I do have concerns that it could leak into job duties if you're thinking of players like this. A whole lot of change has to be made with this roster, and sentimentality could be a killer when it comes to making hard decisions about players you're attached to. I love that he has that trust, but at the other end, I also hope that he can reel that back and be professional when hard decisions have to be made. Obv coaches aren't the ones constructing the roster (though I'd have the same reservations about KK's sentimentality affecting roster build), but he is creating lineups and the like, and communicating with KK about performance.
I have a similar concern (and I'm one of the _least_ "warm and fuzzy" people you'll ever meet...seriously). While given this sport's/league's/team's history, having a coach the players can completely _trust_ is critical, having one they _like_ isn't. Having one they think of as an actual friend is probably more of a negative than a positive. It would unquestionably be a negative below the pro level, but even for pros, there's a very necessary hierarchy of authority at work on a sports team.
But here's the thing: there's a lot of talk about how we should be "looking for a world class coach." Okay, that sounds great...but how many legitimately WORLD CLASS coaches are there in the women's game? Of those, how many are even _thinking_ of being on the market? I might argue that while it would certainly be possible to find someone on the market who could reasonably be predicted to be better than Gale, would they be truly "world class" better? The list of people with that kind of resumé is short, the number of those actually considering a new position is a small fraction of that number...and a lot of them would be ruled out for a number of reasons: they focus on the wrong sort of play for our roster and/or fanbase, are a bad fit with team culture, language barriers, and so forth.
I very much suspect that the "global search" wasn't turning up any obvious candidates. I agree with the sentiment that that might not be a reason to confirm Gale _now_ instead of waiting until the end of the season, but I don't think I agree with the FO critics who seem to be implying no such search was made. They just didn't find the right Canadian... (jk on that last bit!)
Nah, that’s just who he is and how he talks. I don’t think we should worry about the one truly positive attribute we *know for sure* he has. There’s nothing wrong with being a player’s coach as long as you get your message across and the players respond to it. His job also depends on making good decisions.
Yeah I guess I'm just sad and stressed lol. We gotta shed so many players and I don't wanna see little movement because they lack a tiny bit of competitive ruthlessness. Gotta be a functioning business also. Just hard when both KK and Rob seem to lean into that sentimentality a lot, and the vision is still murky....
I feel ya! I’m not feeling great about things, but a few good signings would do a world of good lol
Def still holding out for a Lauren James and Aitana Bonmati to the Thorns announcement lol...
I think we have more chance of getting a Bronny James announcement.
At positions of need: Lucy Bronze and Aoba Fujino. Make it happen! ;)
Also, here's the thread I mentioned. KK's responses are always just ???? to me. LOL about the GK situation:
https://twitter.com/SportsGuyJeremy/status/1814400484892950762
"We did a global search (Google), went across all continents (Canada & England), hired a 3rd party company (Monster.com)."
Joking obviously. ..
Not so obvious, though, that they did more than this.
I think people need to accept that the pre scandal Thorns,which was probably one of the pillars of the women’s soccer community, is frankly on life support. Maybe even dead.
A very good fan base and attendance is a very good rebuilding piece, but Merritt Paulson’s last few years of ownership damaged the brand.Followed by a coach who admitted having feelings for a player and a level of distrust that permeated when one of the most respected players in the league (Becky) had to step in to tell management why they were handling it incorrectly. It’s been painful to watch. I do think her saying positive things about Gale is a pro in his favor.
It’s recoverable, but the Portland Thorns are no longer the queen of the ball. When Vlatko the Impaler is the best new coach in the NWSL, we may need to take a step back as a fan base. I don’t like it, but the best way to get respect is to get great players to commit.
I’m hoping that last game is a sign to come for Fleming, Weaver comes back healthy, and a viable right forward is brought in to help Sophia.
Frankly, the change in competitive balance has very little to nothing to do with Portland's "brand" and scandals. There has been NO evidence that players or coaches are rejecting Portland or that woso folks see Portland as an undesirable place to play. They are very much still one of the pillars of the women's soccer community, and I think most players and coaches would agree. I'd argue (and so did she) that one of the main reasons Smith re-signed in Portland was for that exact reason.
The reason the Thorns aren't the belle of the NWSL ball anymore is because other teams are investing at an equal or higher level for the *first time ever* and there are now other high level options in prime locations as a result. Period. That's it. The Thorns aren't going backwards because of the scandals, they've just stalled while other teams have moved ahead of them. I remain hopeful that they will get to an equal level under the Bhathals, but there's no more Yankees of woso anymore, and that's a VERY GOOD thing for the sport.
So yeah: It bothers me slightly when the scandals get used as a crutch for the Thorns not being at the level they should be at from some abstract appeal perspective, because that's simply untrue and takes responsibility away from the current FO which is working in an environment that, while comparatively not what it once was, is still very favorable to building an elite team.
I think you are in denial that the last few years didn’t drastically impact the Thorns. It has brought both coaching instability plus a short term decision to hire someone who was as much a PR hire as a qualified GM.
That's neither what I was arguing, nor what you said in your original post. You said that the scandals have ruined the Thorns' brand and therefore limited their ability to get good players and coaches. That is not true. They are still very much --by all accounts-- a desirable place to play and coach. Even during the scandals, none of their stars left. The difference is that there are now *tons of other options* for star players looking to come to the NWSL. I am not saying that the scandals didn't have an impact, just that said impact was NOT ruining the brand or appeal factor.
Saying that the scandals have created stagnation as a knock-on result of Paulson's lame duck ownership is true: Once Paulson was forced to sell, he became a lame duck owner and stopped investing in the team, allowing other franchises to pass the Thorns up as the league grew exponentially. Saying that the Thorns are no longer a pillar of the woso world is demonstrably, objectively false. They are not dominant on the field anymore because they are no longer the only attractive place to play! Since 2020, the NWSL has added franchises in three giant, player-attractive markets, tripled the salary cap, increased the media deal by 40x, and have had three existing franchises receive major investment. You HAVE to look at context instead of the Thorns in isolation.
So nah, no "denial" here. Just looking at the situation with a wider lens than "Thorns not dominant no more, must be because scandal."
It killed the Thorns brand we knew before. Being “desirable” is a long run down from what they were before.
Some decisions have allowed KC and Orlando to pass them, but that scandal did a ton to the brand. None of it positive.
Took a long lunch and put my thoughts on today's news into a short post. Long story short, I'm disappointed, but mainly because I thought the Bhathals would take some ambitious risks and because the process/timing stinks, not because I think Gale's a "bad" coach..... though crucially, I also don't think he's one that elevates. They better hit on the rumored signings and give the guy some real support or else this decision will start looking much worse.
https://www.theeaststandnwsl.com/post/the-thorns-lateral-coaching-hire-deflates-expectations-raises-questions-about-ownership-sambition
https://x.com/tayvincent6/status/1814837672336408750
Gonna be immensely bummed if Linnehan is out for this tournament both because we need her and because I'd like to see her get a big chance.
Also, STF folks: Questions about timelines for Moultrie/Linnehan/Weaver would be GREATLY appreciated :)
Is bringing up Academy players allowed? We are thinner than thin.
Tomorrow is gonna be... interesting.
No Soph, Sam, Beckie, Fleming, Muller, Weaver, Moultrie, and Linnehan. At the least.
A loss tomorrow, in what should be the easiest group, and we're already out of contention.
Müller should be there…unless I’m missing something! But yeah, our goofy ass roster construction means we’re gonna just be playing folks who can run basically lol. All we have are 3 9’s? One is 41 years old? Sure throw ‘em all out there! I imagine the FB’s are gonna be tasked with providing width and will stay quite high. Hope we’re not throwing Nally and Obaze out there on an island because that isn’t gonna end well lol. That said, I know literally nothing about TJ so I have no idea what to even expect. But, I’m guessing they should be at their full strength. Us, uhhhh, not so much haha.
Couldn't remember off top of noggin if Muller was heading to Paris. Cheers!
Yeah! Hasn’t cracked the international stage so it’s nice to have her around.
But Payne is gone, so still down one of our starting backs.
Def true. Folks still gonna be playing full 90’s
Shoddy roster construction aside, this would look a hell of a lot better with a healthy Weaver, Linnehan, and Moultrie given he have the entire first team defense and Hina. That’s just pretty shitty injury luck.
I’m not even super concerned about the results, I just wanted to watch the kids play tbh. Would have been fun to see a Weaver-Izzy-Linnehan front line in the minutes Sinc wasn’t on the field.
Yeah, that’s why it’s kinda both compounded. A lot of teams have a whole lot of injuries, but they have GM’s that at least build more balanced rosters so that there’s bodies for every position. Not…6 GK’s, 4 9’s but only 1 6 lol. I wanna watch the kids play too, that’s why it sucks we’re so thin. Put Sinc at 6 for all I care, play the kids at their actual positions so they can build minutes. Sticking Sinc in the 9 again and again does nothing for their development. At least put her in midfield and do a 442. But yeah overall just sucks to not have any of those players available. I’m hoping we get to see a lot of Obaze…but hopefully not next to Nally.
Idk why we'd see much of Nally at all given Obaze, Hubly, and Becky are all healthy. Maybe he rotates a little, but I'd HOPE we only see her in short periods if at all.
And yes, I agree that I'd rather see Izzy at the nine for sure, but she also just needs consistent minutes on the damn field lol
I agree, I just imagine these will be the games you’re gonna given the end of the bench time. But yeah, Hubs and Broon are still gonna need to stay fresh. So far, it seems teams each are doing it a little differently. Some teams hardly make changes, some have drastically different XI’s. Not quite sure how we’ll approach it. It’s a perfect time to get Obaze more reps with Broon (and Hubs), though!
Who tf do we have playing on the wing lmao. Literally 0 wingers. Inevitably, as always seems to happen....this means Sinc prob starting in the 9, with our other 9's playing out of position on the wings (which sucks bc D'Aquila, in particular, needs minutes in the 9.) Or change of shape and a 2 front? Change of shape makes more sense...maybe Sinc will be on the wing again lmao. Best might be a box w/ Kling/Hina and Sinc/OWK and then Dias/D'Aquila up front.
At least we got 1 NTRP forward? lol
Change of shape does make more sense, but it'll probably just be Sinc-Izzy-Dias. Maybe Sheva gets a look or Hina gets moved out wide. Who knows!
Oh yeah I forgot about Sheva lol. She can play on the wing-ish. A combo of injuries and our goofy roster construction makes this really a stretch lol. Unfortunate bc it's just gonna be players playing out of position when this tourney is for quality developmental minutes.
Dutch Bros at PP needs to start selling Kenergy drinks.
Also, an NE-style IPA called Cloudy Future.