Photo: Paul Rudderow
Editor’s note: After the press conference on Friday announcing him as Philadelphia Union head coach, Jim Curtin candidly spoke to reporters on a number of topics that he and his coaching staff will be confronting over the offseason. Below is a transcript of his comments. Questions have been paraphrased.
On the offseason
We are looking to bring in a striker, that is something that we’re actively pursuing. Chris Albright’s tirelessly working, he’s been overseas a couple of times already. It’s a piece that we know we need.
In MLS now, you look at the type of forwards that’s working, it’s the Dom Dwyer, Quincy Amarikwa, kind of pain in the ass, can run forever, stocky and fast, and just annoying to play against. There are things that we want to add. We need to get bigger, stronger, and faster. I know that sounds cliché, but, a lot of times when you look at National Anthem, and our group is lined up next to the other team? We’re a lot smaller than the other team, and I think we need to get bigger, a lot faster, and a little bit stronger on the ball so we’re not getting pushed around a little bit.
So, again, these are things that we need to add and tweak in the offseason. It’s not drastic things, but it’s a striker, some pace that stretches the field, like I said, for a Cristian Maidana, a Nogueira, to get on the ball. That’s a huge advantage, by having that threat to get behind.
Do you expect big turnover in the offseason?
It’s tricky. In a year where you don’t make the playoffs, there’s going to be a lot of turnover. That’s any club. And, yeah, there’s some hard decisions that are being made. There’s a re-entry process, we might lose somebody to an expansion draft, so, yeah, I expect there’ll be turnover. But, I still have a good core of guys that I believe in, that believe in me, that are going to be back. That’s the majority of guys who started games this year, they’re going to be back and they’re going to impact things in a major way.
On being a Philly guy and head coach
It’s special. I’d say it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity, but I mean that literally — I get one shot at this, then it’ll be done. It’s not an industry where now you get to come back and get your second try. And am I young? Yeah, I’m 35. I get it that I’m young. It happened a lot faster than I thought it would. But, at the same time, I believe I’m ready. I’ll surround myself with people that I trust, that will give me the support that I need to bring in good players, and all those little things that are necessary. Again, once in a lifetime opportunity, but that’s in the literal sense, if you know what I mean. I get one shot at this thing and then that’s it.
How big is getting a half season under your belt?
Huge. It was 23 games, and I learned a lot in every game. It keeps me up at night the way the season ended — it drives me nuts the way we collapsed at the end of the year. Inexcusable. We let our fans down.
Our fans are smart enough to know that anything said right now is just words. They’re fed up with some things, they want to be in the playoffs. I respect them — they’re too intelligent to trick, for me to sit here and make false promises of “We’re going to bring in ‘X’ DP,” and this and that — they’re tired of that. Our fans are too intelligent to fall for the words. That’s why, when you bring up a style, I don’t even go into it because I can’t make promises.
Are we looking at a 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1?
It’ll probably be a 4-2-3-1. I mean, it can morph pretty quickly into a 4-3-3, though. With Seba and Wenger, you have some mobility to really get at teams. That central guy — Conor gave us a ton of minutes, gave us some big goals. But the mobility, it’s less than the two guys that are out wide. So if you can add some mobility there too — I won’t get into that…
On Amobi Okugo’s situation
He’s in a unique one. So, Amobi is a guy I had a conversation with three years ago and I told him — when I was kind of, I was in the Academy but I’d come in to help out at training sessions — I said, “You got to give Europe a try.” I said that to him three years ago. It’s something I believe in his career. I’ve seen guys that play-out their contracts, then go overseas, and it goes great: Carlos Bocanegra comes to mind. Guys that I played with that did it the same way Amobi did: Put in his time here, did a great job here. We’re still going to make him an offer so we can maintain his rights moving forward. But, at the same time, he’s going to try overseas. That’s not a secret, I think you guys all already knew that. And I encourage it, it’s a great opportunity for him. He’s a guy that’s good enough to play over there. We’ll see how it works out. There’s going to be a crazy off season in that regard.
To be clear, an offer was made to retain his rights?
It hasn’t officially happened yet. But before when you have to get roster compliant, and everyone has to have whether their option is picked up, he’d be a guy that, in short, we would pick up his option, meaning we’d make him an offer. It’s called a bona fide offer. The league kind of determines what makes a bona fide offer. It’s different for everyone — age-wise in the league, service in the league — there’s lots of different things that go into it. But we’ll make him a bona fide offer. He’ll try overseas, and we’ll maintain his rights from there. Or he’ll accept the bona fide offer. I don’t expect that will happen but that is possible.
So that’s not official that he’ll be going to Europe?
That’s all that I’m expecting.
There’s a chance that he could be back?
Yeah, of course, of course. Amobi’s a great player. I think highly of him and it’s still very possible that he’s in a Union jersey, for sure.
On Maurce Edu
Maurice is a unique one too, there’s a lot of moving parts on that one. Stoke’s involved, we’re involved. His agent did a good job with his contract, it’s done really well. I want him back, he’s a guy that I see value in: he can shut down a $5 million player. We have to weigh now what the number is to bring Maurice back. I think he’s an exceptional player. Like I said, he has the tools to shut down an Henry, to shut down a David Villa, to shut down a Kaka. So, a guy that I’m high on and I want to have back in a Union jersey.
Are you high on him as a center back?
I’m high on him as a soccer player, but I do like him as a center back. I do. And I’ve had discussions — our end-of-the-year meeting was a good one. We talked about his impact in the midfield was good, his impact as a center back was more. You look at the results, we won a lot of games when he played center back. That’s when we did our most damage. It opened his eyes a little bit. I told him, national team picture-wise, he could be a center back in this next World Cup cycle, he’s that talented. So, Mo is a guy that I believe in, I’m high on, I’d like to have back, and I guy that I want to see in a Union uniform.
Are there any guarantees with Vincent Nogueira and Cristian Maidana that they will return?
Both of their end-of-the-year meetings with me were awesome. There’s always questions with foreign players: Are they happy here? Is it a hard adjustment? Vincent loved every second of it; I was pleasantly surprised to hear that. Frustrated with not making the playoffs, he wants to be in the playoffs for the fans. He’s a guy who I’m very high on, I think he’s one of the best midfielders in the league — easily. He’s a guy who probably still flies under the radar a little bit in our league for how talented he is. He mentioned contributing more goals and assists which, obviously, that would help, too.
Maidana, same thing: He loves it here. He’s hungry, he wants to be back, he wants to be in a Philadelphia Union uniform. We talked about getting more goals and assists out of him because he gets himself in so many dangerous spots, it’s got to add up, too. I want him to be an 8 goals and 12 assists guy. He’s got the assist part down. I need goals, though, from him too from that spot. He agreed. He set the bar at 10 goals, and I said, “I’ll take 7 or 8, that’s fine.” But, he’s hungry, he’s eager. When he’s healthy and fit, he’s as good as anyone too in that No. 10 role in our league. It’s just a matter of keeping him constantly going. We’re going to have him — he’s not going back to Argentina this offseason, which is a huge advantage for us so we can monitor him. He will be a guy that is working on his fitness every day. We can’t have him be injured, play six great games, then be injured again. It has to be this steady flow of, you know, I want 34 games out of him.
The goalkeeper situation — do you expect all three guys to be back?
Probably not, if I’m being honest. I think Andre Blake needs games. I think he’s a guy that’s a great candidate to get loaned out and get games, and get those 30 games. Zac is a guy who had his best season. He has value in our league, he’s respected in our league. We’ll see on that one. Again, I don’t want to reveal too much, but there’s interest in Zac. And Rais is a guy who is angry, I’ll just say, about how the season ended, and he’s motivated to come back and prove to our fans that he is that world class goalkeeper. He can’t just be judged on the one play against Chicago, I think that’s unfair to him. He’s disappointed by it, he’s stressed by that play, but I think it will motivate him for the next season.
On what’s changed for him personally now that he’s head coach:
It’s the same, you know what I mean? I know that sounds boring (but) I still got out of the car with my three kids and one of them fell and hurt her knee and I had to pick up the stuff — it doesn’t change anything from the day-to-day. But, I’m telling you man, the walking around the city now, the shouts that you get out the window of “Good job, Jim,” “Tough one against Seattle, Jim,” — you know, it’s hitting me, it’s starting to hit me that, you’re in charge and there’s a big responsibility that comes with it. There’s a lot of weight, especially in a city that’s hard on their sports. It’s a good way to be, though. I respect the way our fans are, I respect everything about it. But, at the same time, I don’t want to talk too much because it’s just talk, and our fans are tired of talk, they just want to see results. But it’s changed my life drastically.
On being in a different position this offseason versus last season
For sure. And on the role, I can tell you the head coach’s role is a completely different one than the assistant’s. I think back to all the assistant comments I made and I almost don’t like myself for some of the things that (I) said, you know? Because it’s not as simple as — you know, there’s a lot more that goes on, a lot more phone calls, a lot more dealing with the players. Keeping 30 guys happy, it’s a challenge. The responsibility now to bring in players is on me — and to get the right guys. There’s no margin for error because we’re not a club — as Jay Sugarman will tell you — we’re not a club who’s going to get three DPs at $7 million, it’s not happening. So, find a way to win. In some games, we’re bringing a knife to a gun fight, but it’s my job to figure out how to get those results.
Say what you want about whether you think that Curtin is the right man for the job, but I love his honesty and candor. I’m rooting for him to do well.
Seriously. That’s a fantastic interview.
It’s a breath of fresh air compared with Nick Sak’s canned responses…
True. Actually, Nick is at his best when he cuts loose. Yeah, he’s had some canned ones the last few months, but man, he’s fun to interview when he goes uncensored.
Great interview indeed, and I love the way he deals with media. HOWEVER – 2 concerns I got from this:
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The Jay Sugarman comment. Wow. I think we all knew this, but it’s still painful to hear it so concretely that we are not going to spend with the big boys…ever.
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“Bigger, faster, stronger.” I’m still afraid that because we can’t pay the big salaries, we’ll just look for big bodies. A defensive-minded coach like Curtin, has the potential to turn us into the Stoke City of MLS. I pray to God that doesn’t happen. I want to see entertaining soccer, not just 1-0 grind out, park-the-bus wins.
Man, I love this guy he shots from the hip and he is no bull sh**er! God help this man find the way to the Cup! P.S lock Nick in the Office.
I also enjoy hearing Curtain speak. I hope I enjoy watching him manage this club for years to come.
If he gets the support he needs in the FO, things could be better.
Looking at these questions, the only guarantee this off season offers is it’ll be as transformative as the last 2. Hopefully with different results
Why does Okugo want an offer if Curtin says he’s been working his way to Europe now? Someone help! Make it stop!
I would be o k with the idea of Okugo going overseas gains experience and maybe even some nation team time. Later down the road with the Union holding his rights he returns the triumphant son and leads our team to victory!
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Give him up now and hope he comes back a valuable veteran
“In MLS now, you look at the type of forwards that’s working, it’s the Dom Dwyer, Quincy Amarikwa, kind of pain in the ass, can run forever, stocky and fast, and just annoying to play against.”
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Don’t we already have Wenger, Cruz and Hoppenot? If anything, the stocky and fast, annoying forward is one of the things we have in abundance. Granted, none of them are as good as Dwyer, but short of Dwyer, I can’t think of any (reasonably affordable) player of this type who is significantly better than the ones we already have. What we need is a forward with some finishing skill–like a younger Connor Casey.
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And regarding the Okugo situation, I’m kind of pissed that Curtin and the FO are essentially offering him the minimum improvement possible on his contract (the “bona fide” offer Curtin refers to). They’re not even trying to keep him. Also, can someone explain how the Union maintain his rights even if he doesn’t accept the extension?
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Curtin is a great guy, and it’s awesome that he has such a no-bullshit attitude, but the offseason hasn’t even started yet and he’s already making the wrong decisions.
On Okugo, I believe if the team that owns his rights offers him a “bona fide” contract and he still chooses to walk overseas that the team retains his rights. That means if he goes overseas for 3 years and decides to come back to MLS, he comes back to Philly or another team would have to trade with us for his rights. If he goes overseas and a team over there decides to buy him, they buy him from (technically) MLS but philly would get a big chunk of the signing money as allocation money.
You are correct with respect to the first part. By offering him the contract, they maintain his rights should he return to MLS.
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As for the second part, since he is out of contract, he leaves MLS for free, making him a more attractive player to European clubs who might sign him. There will/would be no transfer fee to acquire him from the Union or MLS.
Thanks for this. I like when youse post stuff on the weekends.
Look. I’m just going to put it out there- piss some of you off along the way- whatever- make of it what you want.
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The language we use matters– as it shows us the thinking behind it. How am I supposed to buy into bigger, stronger and faster? This is archaic language and passe and a dead way to apporach the game. They are distinctly American words that mean not good enough. Futbol is a game of timing and intelligence and problem solving and yet we are constantly coming back to this notion that bigger is better.
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Bigger, stronger, faster have their place in the game but we need technically gifted and intelligent players. We need clinicians. Being a good, not great striker is about timing, intelligence, off the ball movement, seperation, inspiration, NOT creaming your pants when the moment comes to earn your money. This has NOTHING to do with bigger, stronger, and faster. David Villa is not bigger, he is not stronger and he is no longer faster. He’s a scrawny punk who is brilliant and clinical. He is the prototype. This language we use is all wrong and Damn why can we not move away from it and the thinking behind it.
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Lastly, if they let Okugo go for a penny then piss on them all down there by the river. More entrenched american septic thinking.
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Okugo may not be the best DM in the world but I watch european futbol incessantly and have done a good bit of studying from people who know the way the game needs to be played and he is the prototype for the way the game needs to be played. He is a brilliant problem solver on the field. As I’ve said multiple times before, he does in one touch what everyone else seem to need to do in two. Is he perfect? No. Is he young? Yes. Is he exactly the man for this club for the next 10 years? Without question. Pay him. Make him know he is vital to the growth of the club. This wishy washy bullshit.
+1. You want to be a better team? Give Okugo the money he deserves.
I don’t have any arguments with your points, per se, but I do want to offer some counterpoints, as it pertains to Curtin’s comments and the situation of the Union specifically.
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Regarding size, you’re right, the game as a whole is moving toward more technical players. And we have some of those—Nogueira and Maidana being the most obvious, but also people like Ribeiro, who has size and skill—but the Union has two issues to deal with in this regard. First of all, MLS as a league is not there yet, and in order to compete physically, the Union needs its fair share of tall, strong, and fast. Second, it’s all well and good to say we want to be more technical; it’s another thing entirely to lure those players to our league and to our team. David Villa comes from teams that have won literally everything. He is, or was, a world-class player. We don’t have the resources to attract a David Villa, so how can we compete? Small, technical strikers that are talented aren’t looking to play in MLS. Words aren’t enough to make them, even if the words we use do have power.
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As to Okugo, what it sounds like to me from Curtin’s comments, is that Okugo wants to try Europe. The Union would like to keep him, but in this case, it doesn’t sound like the issue is money. Okugo wants to test himself abroad, full stop. The Union will do all that is necessary to retain his rights, but it seems from my perspective that there isn’t much point in doing more, beyond symbolism.
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Anyway, like I said, I agree with your comments to a point, but think they don’t all necessarily apply in this case.
I myself prefer to see more deviousness in the Okugo Affair. His benching for the biggest game in franchise history wasn’t because he suddenly fell behind Edu in the depth chart while his form did not suffer. They re-upped Ray around then so they had to have talked to Okugo. What happened? If it were as simple as Curtin says, why is Okugo not saying that but instead saying he wants to stay for a nice offer? Ultimately I think you’re right: Sak sees Okugo as $$ – either allocation or ours if we can afford him – if he returns.
I appreciate your response and recognize your points Jeremy. They are valid and grounded. My arguments tend to be theoretical and deconstructive in nature. The skepticism is its own mission to dismantle traditional ways of thinking about the game.
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Trying to put the classical english literature theory meaning and value degree to work.
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I do think the Okugo situation is symbolic for some of the disfunction seen in this franchise though. There is no spin that makes sense about benching him. I would offer him an excellent raise to show good faith. If he chooses to go abroad then so be it.
Jeremy, I think the points you need to look at in regards to Joel’s comments are the teams still in the playoffs.
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New England. Pressure, guile, technique. Nguyen, Rowe, Kobayashi, Davies, Bunbury.
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New York. Henry, Luyindula. BWP. No burners there. No big bodies either.
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LA. Embarrassed a big strong RSL with off the ball movement and clinical counterattacking. Soccer IQ was off the charts in that game.
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Seattle. Martins and Dempsey aren’t the biggest, nor the fastest, though Martins has impressive quickness.
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Dallas does have Perez banging around up front, but they are a small, technical team in midfield and that is what makes them unique and a handful to play against. They are the closest team left in the playoffs to a bigger, faster, stronger team with the pace of Escobar and Castillo to go with the brute force of Perez and Akindele. Still, without the technical savvy of Diaz and Ulloa, it all falls apart.
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My point, and I think Joel’s, is that the top teams in MLS have already moved past the bigger, faster, stronger model.
Thank you Eli. This is exactly direction MLS is taking. Curtin really needs to study and learn league trends. Not to follow along mind you but set the trends. I would like the big dp signing at striker.
Yes; when are Union going to spend like LA, NE, SEA, or NY? Or more like RSL & FCD? Style must fit talent.
Obviously spending is in different places, but those who are winning in MLS are not doing it through the bigger, faster stronger route. New England is the model for me. Almost entirely built cheaply through the draft and with trades within MLS, Jones was the first time they really splashed any cash. Between that and what SKC has done in recent years, it is clear that teams don’t have to be in the top tier of spenders to have a major impact in MLS.
That’s fair. And I am all in favor of raising the team’s soccer IQ. I’m just not sure how easy it is to do. NE has been this slow-percolating group that has finally come together. Most of those players have been there for a while and the team’s been mediocre. In the other squads, they are all enlivened by big names (Henry, Keane, Donovan, Martins, Dempsey) that make the players around them more than the sum of their parts. Bringing in someone not at that level isn’t going to do the same. I think the hope would be that our smart guys (Nogueira, Maidana, etc.) would work in tandem with a forward more mobile than Casey to do that.
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And one other point: size and speed are not mutually exclusive to intelligence and skill. Wanting size does not necessarily imply not wanting technique.
You’re just playing devils advocate now. This conversation is becoming silly. You have to either spend money or commit to patiently waiting on a group of players to come good. It’s one or the other (preferably both, as in the Galaxy’s case). Just arguing to argue wastes our time.
And Henry is a small guy? Look at him vs almost anyone else on the pitch. Look at NY’s starting defenders Olave 6’3″, Roy Miller 6’2″,Sekagya 6’3″, Miazga 6’3″,or midfielders Alexander 6’1″, Eckersley 6″. NY for one has not moved beyond having big guys.
I agree with Jeremy here. I get that technical players would be best, but those guys don’t come cheap. The best at an affordable price appear to be guys we have like Nogs and Chaco. A guy with the smarts of a Bobby Keane just isn’t going to happen for us, I don’t think, unless we get lucky. You look to build with better athletes first and get technical when the opportunity is there.
One intriguing thing I read last night in the aftermath of that RSL asswhoopin’ was that their GM, a guy very good at putting great teams together on a budget, has a contract that expires this year. I’d like to see the Union talk to a guy like that to help build a better Union Roster.
And the German national team was made up of small guys. Not. ( except for Lamm) I get your point, but size does not preclude skill and vision on the ball. Just look over the last few years of MLS AllStar games against whoever. In every case, the EPL team or Bayern Munich were much larger than the MLS All Stars team. Would you say the bigger team were all no skill bruisers?
Excellent comments, Joel. It appears that Jim Curtin is too focused on attributes like size and speed, and not enough on skill. If this is the mindset he is bringing to player acquisition and lineup choices, I fear that 2015 will be another huge disappointment for Union fans.
brilliant comments
I love this site
also love Curtin’s approach to the media; really hoping it works out for him
This M’Bolhi talk about proving himself disgusts me. He is overrated. A wold class goalie, doesn’t bounce around 4th tier European teams. He had one good game against Germany and that was it. My hate does not come from his mistake it comes from Sak wanting to ruin another player on the roster that was quite good. We all know who that is. And it comes from the fact that M’Bolhi is not better than MacMath. MacMath has a much, much, much higher ceiling that M’Bolhi can ever dream of.
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Curtin is not a straight shooter or honest. Okugo has made it known he is reluctant to go to Europe. And carlos Bocanegra was not ever successful in europe. Nor was any other American. Success is not starting for a midtable team. Success is leading teams to silverware. Clint dempsey comes kind of close but definitely falls short. Okugo wants real success in Europe not the crap I was talking about before. Also Michael Bradley, almost counts as a success but he never was a mainstay in Roma’s starting 11.
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This team is doomed for failure if we keep having all this player movement come from the better players on the team. There were some good acquisitions last off season but there is still dead weight that needs to be let go and some players that need to be brought back.
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This is a similar reaction to Hackworths hiring, yay change! Yay transparency(or so we thought). I really hope Curtin succeeds but as long as he is Saks puppet, it’s hard to believe a word he says. And let’s just be honest for a few seconds. Any other MLS team would drool at having a young goalie like MacMath and a young but veteran presence like Okugo and actually use their homegrown players and here the BRILLIANT Nick Sak and his puppet Curtin come along and push them out of the club. You don’t want to spend millions on DP’s fine, I don’t care! But don’t buy a 28 yr old goalie and tell me he is the better option to the 22 or 23 yr old MacMath, who proved himself to you.
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So I guess it comes down to Sak. And until we get him out of his position, the organization will continue to shoot themselves in the foot.
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Thanks. Rant over.
Seems a little drastic/unreasonable. Success = leading team to silverware, cmon guy. I think thats a lil harsh.
Not harsh at all. Just realistic.
Matt, Your comment brings to light what is most disheartening about this interview and the fate of any would-be Union fan. Curtin is now speaking like the dead-beat FO and incompetent Sak… “We’re bringing a knife to a gun-fight”… Ok, so we all get it now the honest-to-a-fault coach is saying get real Union fans we just don’t have the money to buy a team to beat Seattle, HOWEVER when we play Seattle for a trophy (possibly the only trophy we will play for in the next half dozen years) our deadbeat coach sits one of his best players in Okugo and throws a bunch of nobodies on the field. They will be nobodies in your mind too this time next year. If our plan is to not spend big money then we need to cultivate our players from league minimum wage and then utilize them as their value is surging just before having to let them go because we can no longer afford them. Sound familiar. This was the one game to use Okugo and Curtin blew it!!! I will never forget it. We did not bring a knife to a gun fight. We brought a trusty cross-bow to a gun-fight had one shot at the heart and put the weapon down before pulling the trigger. Curtin chose to use a knife at a gun-fight. That is his analogy, but let us not be confused we had better weapons but he chose NOT to use them. So why should a would-be Union fan care? Pfeffer may emerge as the next bargain basement excellent player. We may get a chance to make the playoffs again. By his proven failure, Curtin could again keep this youngster on the bench then whine to the media that we lost because we don’t have the weapons to compete with the big money players coming in. Then we’d blink and Pfeffer is gone because we can’t afford him. That is the issue. There is no hope with this type of thinking. Bigger-stronger-faster? Don’t get me started with that… Wow! How’s Chelsea doing? Barcelona looks good don’t they? Bayern Munich looks good too. Philly Union yawn. ZZZzzz
Unfortunately Sakiewicz is the cold bucket of ice water that brings everything crashing back to what this franchise is. We need a GM over Curtin and Albright and Sakiewicz out of the way. Curtin talks a good game about not BSing the fanbase but the biggest BSer is still pulling the strings. When that changes then perhaps I’ll feel better about the hazy direction this franchise is going. We need skilled clinical finisher (s). We need owners and investors who can get it done. We need managers and coaches with the IQ and pedigree to get it done.
So just my take on things
Amobi is gone (bad)
Nogueira and Maidana are back (good)
Macmath is gone, Blake is loaned and M’Bohli is back (eh)
Edu is gone, Carroll is back starting next to Nogs (VERY bad)
Union are fairly significantly under the new salary cap limit, and VERY significantly under other teams total salary number (bad for foreseeable future)
No reason to think that Curtin won’t bring in another mid if Okugo is gone and he wants Edu in back. He rarely used Carroll, one big improvement over Hack.
My feeling is more from what the FO has done, especially if we bring in an (fairly) expensive Forward, Carroll will be the cheap option, with Lahoud as a backup. I don’t know that Curtin will be totally in control of that decision. I tihnk he wants Edu back too, but if its gonna cost some money, we aren’t going to do it.
I agree. I don’t think Carroll’s still here next season. He was clearly phased out and given a curtain call late in the year at home. During a pre-game chalk talk before the Open Cup final, Coach Sorber was asked what the offseason priorities would be for the team. The first answer was a forward of course, but the second target area was CDM. Seemed a little odd at the time, but with Okugo likely to leave and Edu being transitioned back to CB (it seems), what’s left? Nogueira may get a new partner.
The commonality I find in all these comments as varied as they are is that JC’s answers do not inspire confidence that he probably can consistently lead the club to the playoffs. If he doesn’t, the CEO will have hired & fired 3 coaches in the first several years of the franchise.
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