Quote:
Originally Posted by oldschoolcalgary
a huge amount of credit to Soccer Canada. I was a little unsure of Herdman, despite his incredible success coaching the Women's side, as the Men's side was just a different animal...
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Nope, the credit 100% Herdman, full stop.
The CSA are terrible gatekeepers for soccer in this country. The highly political backstabbing and meddling behind the scenes (and sometimes in the locker room) at the CSA saw the MNT go through 7 coaches in 10 years from 2007 to 2017.
After searching for a full year and wooing Zambrano to take the job, one faction of the CSA didn’t like him not wanting to take their advice on rosters and style and he lashed out at them. Not long after had him out after lasting a year in the job, but not after more infighting.
The CSA had to save face from facing another long embarrassing coaching search where they get turned down at every turn. So they basically forced Herdman to take the job overnight. It was sudden, handled terribly (big surprise)and risked the gains Herdman had made in 7 years with the women team, a team he took over after the CSA cheated out on the WNT, assuming they were still a top team and just had to show up, but got their doors blown off in 3 games in the WC in 2011. But, the CSA did it not because Herdman was the top choice of the CSA, it was because he was already in the building and the easiest short term fix to save face for the organization from having to start all over in a search.
It will be interesting if the debacle and incompetence that the CSA is as and has been for the last 3 decades, is brought up in the months up to Qatar (barring disaster this next week) by the national press. The team itself is a feel great story but that’s thanks to the players and Herdman, in spite of the CSA, not because of it.
John Herdman is a great coach, great leader, inspiring positive caretaker of the MNT who has coached up, and had this team of players believe in him and believe what can be achieved, as he did with the women, and all that success is on him for taking a forced role and making more of it than anyone could’ve expected.