Todd Dunivant Named New York City FC Sporting Director

[Gotham Gator]

... I wonder if he was apart of the bid to make Sacramento the expansion side a few years back and what in the end sank them. With his background as president of the club and history of creating competitive teams, I hope he has the spine to stand up to the CFG network and do what’s right for the club.

He was there at the time. The bid failed as their main investor to pay the expansion fee and invest in the Club walked when things were close to the finish line.

 

[Fake Jew]

I agree it's better than a B- for sure. Dunivant is coming from the USL, but he's very ingrained in all US domestic soccer with experience with USL, MLS, and the USMNT. Compared to an internal CFG/European candidate, in addition to not being beholden to the mothership, Dunivant comes with some very significant advantages:

• Familiarity with operating within capped systems and even the concept of a salary cap not being completely foreign, as it would be for someone from Europe
• Extensive knowledge of the US talent pool - he certainly knows USL, but I'm sure he was tracking MLS players too. We could actually see a return to the days of an occasional quality MLS/USL depth signing.
• A strong connection to the domestic US soccer network - We can't underestimate how much of an insiders club US soccer can be. MLS front offices are stacked with guys who share backgrounds with Dunivant. If you have a good player on a decent deal that needs a move for one reason or another, who are you calling first, a CFG stranger in David Lee or the guy you played against in MLS or went to USMNT training camp with?

I'm with you that I prefer this more than someone like Vermes or Curtin. I'm honestly pretty excited about Dunivant.

For whatever it’s worth David Lee isn’t a CFG guy. We poached him from Red Bulls funnily enough.