Pascal Jansen Named NYCFC Head Coach

[413Blue]

Is Pascal the best coach hire -- and the best received coach hire -- since Patrick? Ronny and Dome were both great coaches, but the fans didn't really take to either of them until they had success. Pascal is a great coach -- especially for this roster -- and seems to have sold the fans pretty quickly.

I, for one, am very happy with Pascal so far. He really fits the roster and it's easy to see why he develops young players well. He has a no-nonsense, firm approach that veteran players will quickly tire of, but young players should greatly benefit. I really enjoy the confidence and swagger he has the team playing with early in the season.

So far, so good.

Assuming he leads us to some success (but not a Cup), my final opinion will be based upon whether he sticks around long enough to really build something and actually have some ownership of squad. If he simply comes in for a year and a half, squeezes a bit more out of Lee's roster than Cushing did, and runs back to Europe I'll be disappointed.

 

[LionNYC]

Is Pascal the best coach hire -- and the best received coach hire -- since Patrick? Ronny and Dome were both great coaches, but the fans didn't really take to either of them until they had success. Pascal is a great coach -- especially for this roster -- and seems to have sold the fans pretty quickly.

I, for one, am very happy with Pascal so far. He really fits the roster and it's easy to see why he develops young players well. He has a no-nonsense, firm approach that veteran players will quickly tire of, but young players should greatly benefit. I really enjoy the confidence and swagger he has the team playing with early in the season.

I think it's just a matter of that nobody really wanted Nick Cushing around anymore. Plus, he was the only manager since Kreis to not lead us to the playoff during a season. So, Pascal is playing a little more attractive football, saying the right things, and even with a poor roster, is doing okay.

When Vieira came in, it was after Kreis and a failure of 2015 so anything would be better. Then with the sustained success, fans demanded more sooner, so when Vieira left and Dome came in and struggled a little, we were fast to be Dome out. Same thing with Ronny.

But if we struggle does it go to Pascal out or just Sims/Lee (probably just Lee) out?

 

[LionNYC]

100% meaningless but the only player (current or former) that Pascal follows on Instagram on the NYCFC roster is Birk Risa.

 

[Cohibax]

I don't think Pascal will be here his entire contract.
Full article

 

[CCMore]

I don't think Pascal will be here his entire contract.
Full article

Whyyyyyy. Bummer. In all honesty, would you hire Peter Vermes or Jim Curtis? A coach who’s aspirations are long term tenures in MLS?

 

[Fantazma]

Whyyyyyy. Bummer. I’m all honesty, would you hire Peter Vermes or Jim Curtis? A coach who’s aspirations are long term tenures in MLS?

it limits the pool though to pretty much only US based managers. which is not a bad thing, but i feel like the good ones are just few an far in between.

 

[gbservis]

Whyyyyyy. Bummer. I’m all honesty, would you hire Peter Vermes or Jim Curtis? A coach who’s aspirations are long term tenures in MLS?

I'm a no on Curtin, he's too defensive. It would be like going back to Cushing ball. If we want a coach that will stay longer I'd rather they look internally at guys like Mehdi.

 

[LionNYC]

it limits the pool though to pretty much only US based managers. which is not a bad thing, but i feel like the good ones are just few an far in between.

Or European managers who don't have children or have adult children

 

[ZYanksRule]

I'm listening to Tom Bogert's podcast right now, he said something that I don't think has been reported before.

He said when NYCFC FO wanted to fire Nick Cushing, they faced significant pushback from CFG main office because CFG loves Cushing and when CFG finally relented, David Lee was told he could make the move, but if it doesn't work he'd be the next one out the door.

EDIT: That anecdote is at around 57:45 of this clip.

 

[KevinJRogers]

I'm listening to Tom Bogert's podcast right now, he said something that I don't think has been reported before.

He said when NYCFC FO wanted to fire Nick Cushing, they faced significant pushback from CFG main office because CFG loves Cushing and when CFG finally relented, David Lee was told he could make the move, but if it doesn't work he'd be the next one out the door.

Interesting. Funny thing is, it did work, and Lee is out the door anyway.

 

[ZYanksRule]

Interesting. Funny thing is, it did work, and Lee is out the door anyway.

I wonder if our NY-based office being correct in this assessment gives us more leeway in the future with other decisions. It's a massive move to go against CFG and fire a CFG lifer. And when it works, you would hope it will engender a little more belief and faith in the operation here.

 

[CCMore]

Interesting. Funny thing is, it did work, and Lee is out the door anyway.

Semantics, but technically Lee left on his own accord and wasn’t “fired” by CFG

 

[KevinJRogers]

Semantics, but technically Lee left on his own accord and wasn’t “fired” by CFG

True. And I'm one of those who believed, up to now, he just got a great offer from Sporting which he just couldn't refuse.

But now I can't help wondering whether he had a sword of Damocles hanging over his head. That's a really tough spot to be in, especially if you've been somewhat hamstrung by CFG and doing the best you can in spite of them rather than because of them.

I don't know if that's the case, but if it was, it would really, really suck to be put under that kind of pressure, especially if it was all the time rather than over one big decision.

 

[mgarbowski]

I wonder if our NY-based office being correct in this assessment gives us more leeway in the future with other decisions

I sadly expect that any confidence that decision generated left with Lee.

But now I can't help wondering whether he had a sword of Damocles hanging over his head.

I think it is likely this was a factor, but more in a "I did it. It worked out. FU goodbye you're not putting me in that position again" sort of way.

And, I'm also thinking back to the leaks a few weeks ago about how David Lee was responsible for all the good player decisions and CFG for all the bad ones. Add this disclosure to the mix, and Lee either has dirt on Bogert, or they're blood brothers, or Lee has the most sophisticated back channel leaking network in MLS, or Lee really was all that and a bag of chips and it's gonna suck when he's gone and CFG exerts more control.

 

[KevinJRogers]

I sadly expect that any confidence that decision generated left with Lee.

I think it is likely this was a factor, but more in a "I did it. It worked out. FU goodbye you're not putting me in that position again."

And, I'm also thinking back to the leaks a few weeks ago about how David Lee was responsible for all the good player decisions and CFG for all the bad ones. Add this disclosure to the mix, and Lee either has dirt on Bogert, or they're blood brothers, or Lee has the most sophisticated back channel leaking network in MLS, or Lee really was all that and a bag of chips and it's gonna suck when he's gone and CFG exerts more control.

Hmm. Could be a mix of all of them, although I'm leaning toward the bag of chips theory, or some pretzel rods, at least. Either way, we'll find out soon enough.

 

[gbservis]

I sadly expect that any confidence that decision generated left with Lee.

I think it is likely this was a factor, but more in a "I did it. It worked out. FU goodbye you're not putting me in that position again" sort of way.

And, I'm also thinking back to the leaks a few weeks ago about how David Lee was responsible for all the good player decisions and CFG for all the bad ones. Add this disclosure to the mix, and Lee either has dirt on Bogert, or they're blood brothers, or Lee has the most sophisticated back channel leaking network in MLS, or Lee really was all that and a bag of chips and it's gonna suck when he's gone and CFG exerts more control.

We’ll have a much clearer picture once they announce the next sporting director. What’s strange is how long it’s taking if the plan is just to send another company loyalist. Then again, maybe they have so many internal candidates that they feel obligated to run a full interview process just to keep everyone satisfied that they were considered for the position.

As for the Bogert angle, I don’t see any real downside in helping Lee circulate his possibly revisionist take on his NYCFC tenure. Bogert gains an executive who owes him a favor and might be more willing to share information down the line. And even if Lee’s version of events isn’t accurate, there’s virtually no risk. CFG doesn’t talk to anyone anyway, so Bogert isn’t jeopardizing a meaningful relationship, nor does he have to worry about them publicly contradicting him, because they never communicate with anyone in the first place.

 

[ZYanksRule]

Speaking about the lack of communication, how do we not even know the name of the acting sporting director since Lee left? Whenever we lose, we'll have to give the league our offseason roster decisions pretty much immediately -- who is making those decisions?

Can you imagine any other sports team in New York City having this situation and not revealing who is serving in that role? This team gets away with murder because no one covers them; imagine if they started to get some coverage one day.

 

[mgarbowski]

As for the Bogert angle, I don’t see any real downside in helping Lee circulate his possibly revisionist take on his NYCFC tenure. Bogert gains an executive who owes him a favor and might be more willing to share information down the line.

The downside is I think Bogert cares about being right. And honestly, if Bogert is telling the public that "sources" plural are telling him positive stuff about Lee and it's just Lee, then Bogert can go FRO.

 

[gbservis]

The downside is I think Bogert cares about being right. And honestly, if Bogert is telling the public that "sources" plural are telling him positive stuff about Lee and it's just Lee, then Bogert can go FRO.

So if we take all this as truth, Lee was forced to sign a bunch of players he felt were a poor fit, leading to a roster he found frustratingly suboptimal. Cushing then struggled with the roster Lee knew was bad, and as a result, Lee pushed CFG to fire Cushing. That's downright diabolical.

 

[LionNYC]

Arguably the best first season for a head coach in NYCFC history. 5th in the regular season, Eastern Conference finalist.

Only other argument is Dome in 2019 (first full season). 1st in the regular season, Eastern Conference semifinalist.