Next Coach Cup
Our fearless, delusional leadership is busy spending "concentrated time discussing who fits the
vision we have," dragging in the EFCOGs and apparently leaving no domestic stone unturned. All this
in hopes of having a new boss installed in a month (they "hope" — I remember last years' debacle,
so you'll grant me a little skepticism).
I find it somewhat surprising that of the quarterfinal contests, the only one that could be
described as "close" was the Colin Clark v. Richie Williams matchup. I suppose that could either
speak to the relative strength of the survivors or the sad lack of quality in the candidate pool.
Regardless, now that we're down to a final four, I expect things will take a turn for the more
competitive, though each of the remaining contestants has some glaring weakness that might mar
their bid.
The original field of 34 is now down to 8 as the group stage and first round of knockout matches
are in the books. Just one of the matches went to penalties, with Twitter breaking the deadlock
(what, you're not following me?) to send Earnie Stewart through to the quarters and end the run of
dark horse candidate Wilmer Cabrera.
And on to the knockout stages we go...
There were two big surprises in the group stage. The first would be Wilmer Cabrera storming
out of the qualification matches and running away comfortably with his group. The second would be
Preki's dismissal.
Let's think about this for a second.
The qualification matches are over, and it's time to move onto the big dance. We'll have eight
groups of four with the top two advancing to the round of 16. One vote per group. Voting closes in
two days (Thursday), and the knockout rounds begin the next day (Friday).
poll by twiigs.
We'll kick off the DC United Next Coach Cup with a rapid-fire qualification round. Most rounds will
have 2-3 days of voting, but for the qualies, it's just 24 hours. And the choices here are
terrifying. I've deliberately paired them by "ick" factor (somebody nominated Onalfo, so I had to
throw him in the pot.
Sadly, DC United is smack dab in the middle of the same quag they were mired in last year, and it
falls to me, your humble blogging buddy, to fire up the machinery of the Next Coach Cup for the
second year running. Starting next Monday, we'll start voting potential bosses off the island, but
I need your help.
A week's worth of anonymous internet polling have left us here, with two candidates remaining in
the Next Coach Cup. Both have had relatively smooth paths to the final, though you've got to wonder
if the combination of ABMOD and Benny's fragile...
The quarterfinals are in the books. Twenty-eight candidates have been eliminated, leaving us with
just four survivors to compete for the prestigious DC United Next Coach Cup. Let's not pull an FO
dithering and hemming-and-hawing extravaganza, shall...
Anybody else read Loney's description of Preki... "But he can't run an offense, can't start the
right forwards, can't put in the right forwards, can't find the right forwards, can't keep a roster
consistent, can't keep his players healthy, and only...
The Round of 16 is in the books, and more highly-regarded names have fallen by the wayside. I'll
weave in the recap of the last round as we set the stage for the next. Voting for the quarterfinal
round ends Wednesday night, so get your votes in now,...
The group stage is now in the books, with a few notable names getting tripped up at the first
hurdle as the field narrowed from 32 to 16. Now things start to get really interesting as we move
to the single elimination phase of our program. While my...
Time to kick off the DC United Next Coach Cup with the group stages. In true, bloated, FIFA
money-grubbing fashion, we're going straight for the 32-name jugular. Some of these are serious
candidates, others are waaaaaay out of left field or half in...
