Indy Eleven's General Manager Peter Wilt held a press conference yesterday to announce the team was firing its coach, Juergen Sommer, early in the team's second season as a minor league professional soccer team. It seems Wilt and the team's owner, Ersal Ozdemir, weren't satisfied with the team's record (7-13-15). The team's assistant coach, Tim Regan, will assume the role as the team's new coach.
WTHR's sports analyst Bob Kravitz wonders if the Indy Eleven hasn't bitten off more than it can chew. They're so focused on marketing, getting a taxpayer-built, multi-million dollar stadium and becoming a major league soccer team that they seem to forget they're just a minor league team in the start of their second season. Kravitz spoke to Sommer, who was frustrated that the team's management is ignoring the fundamentals, such as having a practice facility, a full staff and basic lockerrooms for players:
"It's frustrating - disappointing, really - that the vision was so short-sighted and more of a popularity contest than an active building, foundational process," Sommer said Tuesday night. "When you start with nothing, it's going to take time. We don't have housing for our players. We didn't really have a medical training facility. It was one construction trailer for 24 players, six staff people, no showers, no bathrooms. It takes time to build those things and those things matter in sports. Those are things that have to be addressed.
"Obviously, I didn't want to see it come to an end like this. You at least want the opportunity to take something you started from the low ground and get it up and running. It's as if we were trying to run before we walked. You've got to be honest with yourself: You get into a professional sports league, it's a lot more competitive than ownership and leadership give it credit for. It requires a lot of work to get there. We were trying to be competitive with what we had, but it wasn't going to come overnight, and I think that's what folks were looking for. It doesn't work that way. Sports are hard, hard work. We don't have the resources or the personnel to do that, so you do your best day-by-day. But some people are more inclined to treat it like a popularity contest."
12 comments:
I have to hand it to Kravitz when it comes to his wonderment that perhaps Indy Eleven hasn't bitten off more than it can chew... no one is better at seeing the obvious and seeing it in hindsight. Sommer adds it all up for those of us who knew the truth long ago of the Turkish Master of Pay To Play: It's as if we were trying to run before we walked.
Keystone Construction owner Ersal Ozdemir thought he could buy and create an organized team like a Betty Crocker cake mix the way he buys Mayor Greg Ballard, most of the Democrats and Republicans on the City Council, and many of our Democrat and Republican State legislators.
When I think "Indy Eleven", the first thing coming to mind after grabbing the vomit tray would be payoffs, bribery, public relations, gimmicks, naming rights, and all the accoutrements that go with a great big lie being foisted on Indianapolis. I never think "professional or even semi-professional sports or sports organization". Never.
Indy Eleven is synonymous with hype marketing, of an unproven & unknown product; to camouflage its perverse priority, a public treasury raid.
What about the concept of trusting your people and giving them a little breathing room to work? A good sports coach isn’t like some fancy latte drink you toss after a couple of sips. This is where egocentric bosses get into trouble. They want to micromanage everything from the top. You hire a professional because you need and want to trust his experience and ability. If you want to coach yourself, then coach yourself. But if you hire a professional don’t cut them before they have a chance to work their magic. What magic do they think a revolving door of coaches will produce?
Anon 8:47 misses the point entirely whereas Pete Boggs and Anon 7:22 totally get it. Revolving doors and coaches have nothing to do with it. Indy Eleven is nothing more than a raid on public funds using "sports team" as the vehicle for the fraud.
Winning on the field has secondary importance. Winning would help Ersal Ozdemir achieve his real goal, Indy Eleven to have a lavish deal on a smaller scale like the Colt's have - A stadium, a practice field, etc. The key piece would be Ozdemir would risk very little of his own money.
The facts as laid out by Juergen Sommer, concerning a lack of practice field and basic player facilities proves to me at least that Ozdemir was not willing to place his own money at risk to provide these player basics.
"Springtime for Hitler" It was never supposed to succeed, just take in little old ladies money.
It appears Ozdemir is taking pages right out of the FIFA operating handbook. Get a minor league franchise and give away tickets so it appears you have sellouts. Sign a TV deal with a local station who incidentally lost its major network affiliation. Shake down the public treasury for a new sparkling stadium for your minor league team. Take as much public money as he can get away with and build a stadium with his "own" construction company, and stuff the remainder into his pockets. Fold the team and walk away leaving an empty stadium.
Obtain Underpants. ??????. Profit!
Well.... here is my .02. I have played for 40 years and coached for 15 at the youth level. I am a Colts sth and an Indy Eleven sth. I invest in both because the event (win or lose) is something that my family will enjoy and the experience is worth the expense. The Colts have a great venue and GameDay experience. Winning does help but is not the end all die all. Now if they lose all of the time.... maybe they have some empty seats or can't command the ticket prices. As far as the Eleven go... they are filling (or selling) tickets. The experience is great especially at a low cost. The stadium is not a very good one with poor layout for the volume of people moving through. Eventually they will have to win or they will lose some of the fair weather fans. With attendance being what it is the Eleven have been investing in better players. This has not resulted in wins. The team suffer from repeated late breakdowns on defense and has difficulty scoring. I like Sommers but when has a locker room or practice field determined winners and losers? Many of the teams beating the Eleven are much worse off. Personally I think they need to show they can sustain attendance over a few years before talking about a stadium. I would have given Sommer the remainder of the season to see if he can generate some wins.
This story shows clearly that Ozdemir is not investing in his own team. Too much talk (marketing for a new stadium), not enough action (success on the field).
Like it or not Descent facilities are directly related to recruiting success and retention of talented players. The same can be said of any business, it's office amenities and its employees. Of course this whole thing can be easily spun into a story about how desperately the city needs to help this team if it will have any chance of success.
Please click this link ....Pack the Bags of the "Indy Eleven" and send them back to Turkey!
I have no idea if he was an effective coach but Sommer's words are the most articulate and insightful comments from a just-fired coach in recent history. I hope the State Legislature and the Ballard/next administration reads this. It takes time to build a competitive and financially sound team so please be judicious with tax-payer dollars.
The Turkish Jerk will not increase his investment into a losing proposition such as sports. Not until he gets a significant bump on his government EBT card. Without assistance semi, or pro sports is a not a winning investment. I had season tickets last year and hated every minute of all five games I went to. I will never watch anything past H.S. soccer again. Without a doubt the best way to spend your summer sports dollar is to go to Victory field and watch the Indians. The venue is fantastic, the atmosphere is fantastic and the family value is fantastic. Let him take his crappy team some place else. Or better yet, let him build his own stadium and continue to grow his team into championship material, reap the benefits of his success and vast in his own greatness...again some place else. Hey Kentucky, you got a semi-pro soccer team down there? You want one??
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