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Goalie-benching coach gets himself red-carded
Posted by Fired Fred on October 22, 2007 4:35 PM
Put me in the Hope Solo camp. After the precocious young star keeper for the US Women's Soccer Team ended up on the bench to watch her team get shelled by Brazil, she ripped coach Greg Ryan a new one.
The talking heads on ESPN were falling all over themselves to criticize her for being honest. I'd subscribe to her newsletter if she had one. Awww, she wasn't nice to her coach because of his boneheaded decision, boo hoo hoo.
Goalie-swapping Greg finally got the richly-deserved firing he fully earned by pulling Hope from the squad based on a hunch. Yeah, I know, I want coaches to take chances, but Greg's got all the sense of timing of a busted watch. See ya Greg...
Sunil Gulati, president of the United States soccer federation, declined yesterday to second-guess Ryan’s goalkeeper decision, but he noted that the top-ranked Americans were undefeated before the Brazil match.Yeah, ya think? Hope shredded Greg for blowing it on a really big stage, and he retaliated against her. She's not going to win any sportsmanship awards, but she might help the team win a World Cup again.
Gulati said he would not characterize the goalkeeper switch “as a right or wrong decision,� but “obviously the result of the game was not what Greg was looking for.� He seemed to lose the confidence of some of his players.
Can't say that about him. I know, 45-2-9 for Greg's career, that second L was a killer though.
Image courtesy ESPN, the Worldwide Leader in bloviating