A Peek At 2010, Henry, Priorities, and Management

By: Dave Martinez | October 28th, 2009

While at yesterday’s final grass installation, there was a rare positive vibe with the team, not just for the Arena’s near completion, but for the season to come. Whether it was players, management or press, everyone seemed to look towards the future with longing eyes.

A lot of the hot button issues were discussed, and others simply insinuated. But here are a few small pieces of change I picked up from being there yesterday. Enjoy:

THIERRY HENRY

Everyone wants to be the first to break the Henry to RBNY headline, so you can only imagine that his name was ballied about like a French beach ball. Each question was met with possibly the most guilty expressions a person can make. Stover. Williams. You name it. So just out of basic reasoning here, yes, this rumor seems to hold water. There seems to be some sort of communication with Henry that they are simply not allowed to discuss.

Big Apple Soccer was able to delve into Henry a bit more, with team captain Juan Pablo Angel. Angel was surprisingly candid on the subject. Check it out – it’s a great read.

RICHIE WILLIAMS

Williams is definitely a front runner for the head coaching position. Look no further than this quote from Erik Stover: “I think he’s done an outstanding job. It’s a pretty tough position to take over. Obviously morale was very low, we had a lot of injuries and he showed his mettle. For my money he should be a finalist and we’re going to work through that.” Though a 3-3-2 record doesn’t seem like a big deal, it is when you take into consideration that he took on a 2-16-4 team that was completely and utterly demoralized. Williams was allowed to act as a key spokesperson yesterday, speaking to the media candidly, and being a face face for the RB organization – all of which are excellent indicators of his worth in the eyes of the team.

JEFF AGOOS

I can’t remember the last time in any sport that a current part of the teams management was spoken of as an afterthought. Stover and company continuously referred to a rigorous and delving search for their next General Manager at every turn. Maybe Agoos was already shown the door and I missed it, but rest assured; 2009 will be his last season in New York.

PRIORITY SIGNINGS

Besides the constant dodging, bobbing and weaving of Thierry Henry questions, Richie Williams did state that a top priority signing for the offseason is an effective central attacking midfielder. And that is music to the ears of the long suffering fans.

All in all, the team seems to be going through a retrospective of their four year reign as owners of the New York franchise, and, learning from their mistakes, have begun a complete restructuring of the current system. It is a great move for a franchise that just wants to forget 2009 and bask in the glory of a new home in 2010.

And it isn’t just the management that is changing; the mentality seems to be as well. Red Bull has mentioned the dreaded Metrostars monicker more in the past two weeks than in the past 4 years. Players of past glory like Youri Djorkaeff and Tab Ramos have been linked to possible positions in the Red Bulls franchise, and familiar faces like Tony Meola, Mark Lisi and Claudio Reyna keep popping up as well.

All of this is pretty amusing; the best thing that could have possibly happened for this team, this year, was for the campaign to finally be over. Now, in offseason mode, the Bulls have a head start on steering this ship in the right direction. Do you think they will get it right this time around? Share your thoughts.