Claudio Reyna Departs NYCFC; David Lee Promoted to Sporting Director


People are going to take a lot of quotes from him like, "Oh, you didn't think you could do that here?, You didn't think that existed here?" and try to dig at CFG. And that might be true. Or it could be false and he just wanted a change. Many things about this decision are possible, which is why it's so important to hear from someone in CFG about this decision.

Was it as much a team decision as Claudio's? Are the priorities changing? Were there issues with his contract? There are a ton of questions that demand answers, and we really need answers to those questions if CFG doesn't think we're all fools. I don't know what to think yet, but we certainly need real reporting about what led to this.
 
It sounds like Lee was heavily involved in player acquisition. That's great. What about the other stuff that seems like it's more in Reyna's wheelhouse? Building up the academy, working connections to give USL stints to our homegrowns and young players, maybe even working US soccer connections to get to players like Keaton?

I'm not sure if promoting Lee is a longer term, considered plan to shake things up, or a desperate bid for stability. Everything I've heard suggests the latter to me but I'm seeing a lot of gaps in our technical department right now. We live in interesting times.
Also probably worth asking up front - what would Lee do if he had a son with a European passport who could be the next big thing lol
 
People are going to take a lot of quotes from him like, "Oh, you didn't think you could do that here?, You didn't think that existed here?" and try to dig at CFG. And that might be true. Or it could be false and he just wanted a change. Many things about this decision are possible, which is why it's so important to hear from someone in CFG about this decision.

Was it as much a team decision as Claudio's? Are the priorities changing? Were there issues with his contract? There are a ton of questions that demand answers, and we really need answers to those questions if CFG doesn't think we're all fools. I don't know what to think yet, but we certainly need real reporting about what led to this.

The only quote i found telling.

“Obviously, the stadium and training facility are incredible infrastructure investments that make it special. There’s going to be no shortage of interest from staff and players wanting to come play for Austin FC.”
 
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The only quote i found telling.

“Obviously, the stadium and training facility are incredible infrastructure investments that make it special. There’s going to be no shortage of interest from staff and players wanting to come play for Austin FC.”

Yep, that quote and this one could be viewed as a shot at NYCFC depending on how you look at it/if you're looking for reasons why Claudio felt this was a better opportunity than NYCFC:

“It’s obvious (Austin FC) have an ownership group that’s committed to doing things right,” Reyna said. “It goes without saying that Austin is an amazing city. There’s a thriving soccer community, a large Hispanic fan base as well that is passionate about the sport. Of course, being able to work with people like Josh Wolff made it much easier for me to make this jump.”
 
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Yes but like a tell people on reddit, different markets have different levels of red tape. Its still much easier to build something in an orlando than nyc. Red bulls failed cosmos failed and we are failing. The west side stadium was killed off too, barclays took long time to build and changed many times from original plans. The islanders (not nyc but still state) are still getting sued and they broke ground already. The realities of the two cities are very different. Especially when building something not realated to housing.
100% but again I think your making my point more.
 
100% but again I think your making my point more.

Then I don’t get the point of Orlando then? By stadium standards pretty much every other team is In “better” position than us. We all knew that since day 1.
 
This was not a mutual decision. This was a Claudio decision.

If I had known this in September, I wouldn’t have re-upped knowing what I know now. This club is now run out of Manchester. There’s no use having a sporting director anymore.
So a dumpster fire, just like what many of us thought?

If true, we really aren’t a separate club under a corporate umbrella, were an extension of the mothership. Fantastic, and just what we all always feared.
 
This was not a mutual decision. This was a Claudio decision.

If I had known this in September, I wouldn’t have re-upped knowing what I know now. This club is now run out of Manchester. There’s no use having a sporting director anymore.
So a dumpster fire, just like what many of us thought?

If true, we really aren’t a separate club under a corporate umbrella, were an extension of the mothership. Fantastic, and just what we all always feared.
 
This was not a mutual decision. This was a Claudio decision.

If I had known this in September, I wouldn’t have re-upped knowing what I know now. This club is now run out of Manchester. There’s no use having a sporting director anymore.

Are any decision, front office wise, make exclusively in New York?
 
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This was not a mutual decision. This was a Claudio decision.

If I had known this in September, I wouldn’t have re-upped knowing what I know now. This club is now run out of Manchester. There’s no use having a sporting director anymore.

and here I thought this was happening already.
 
This was not a mutual decision. This was a Claudio decision.

If I had known this in September, I wouldn’t have re-upped knowing what I know now. This club is now run out of Manchester. There’s no use having a sporting director anymore.

The only club run out of NY now is QBFC.

Technically the Cosmos too, but, yeah.
 
I don’t care where decisions are made. I care if they are made for our benefit or CFG/Man City. And I’m to believe that Claudio stayed 5 years after getting Lampard withheld, and 4.5 after being forced fed Pirlo (wanted by neither he nor his coach), then suddenly can’t accept his lack of independence because what, exactly that’s new or different or even half as bad as either of those?
And why does Lee, who is British but not a CFG guy (we hired him from the Red Bulls) and has a stellar MLS resumé, stay if his position is an irrelevancy?
 
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I don’t care where decisions are made. I care if they are made for our benefit or CFG/Man City. And I’m to believe that Claudio stayed 5 years after getting Lampard withheld, and 4.5 after being forced fed Pirlo (wanted by neither he nor his coach), then suddenly can’t take his lack of independence because what, exactly that’s new or different or even half as bad as either of those?
And why does Lee, who is British but not a CFG guy (we hired him from the Red Bulls) and has a stellar MLS resumé, stay if his position is an irrelevancy?
Lee has always been the Cap guy on the team - that’s been known for a long time, at least the last two years because I recognized him at the free training visit when I went back in early 2018 and knew his role then - CFG will always need a Cap person on the team whether NY or Manchester is making the decisions. And it’s much easier to keep the same guy on board who’s made past/future trades of GAM/TAM than it is to find a CFG analyst to pick up where he left off. Lee gets a new title and pay bump and he’s the face of the position that never makes press releases. Not sure what hard to believe about that? A quick look at his LinkedIn and his experience definitely does not scream ready to be a SD/GM - his elevation reminds me of the character Carter in the movie, In Good Company.

I trust K Kjbert and his information that something has recently changed in the org to drive a wedge between Reyna staying/wanting to leave that is directly tied to his authority and decision making (or removal of).
 
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I don’t care where decisions are made. I care if they are made for our benefit or CFG/Man City. And I’m to believe that Claudio stayed 5 years after getting Lampard withheld, and 4.5 after being forced fed Pirlo (wanted by neither he nor his coach), then suddenly can’t accept his lack of independence because what, exactly that’s new or different or even half as bad as either of those?
And why does Lee, who is British but not a CFG guy (we hired him from the Red Bulls) and has a stellar MLS resumé, stay if his position is an irrelevancy?

I would say that's what "being run out of Manchester" means. The implication there is that the people in the CFG/MCFC front office building may not make decisions purely for the benefit of NYCFC, or even be measured and judged on the same things we or a local group might care about.
 
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