Smyrniotis

[Watchmen]

Looking at the current state of the Canadian MLS clubs, it feels like there may be multiple openings for a manager at the end of this season. As well, I think there's the possibility at least one of them will take a long, hard look at Smyrniotis as an option.

So with that in mind, which one would be the best fit and/or which one do we think he'd consider taking? Or would he simply stay at Forge?

[Big_M]

at this point all three teams are likely to keep their coach for 2025...montreal is very close to making playoffs herdman is only a year in and the team has done much better than last year and whitecaps should finish top seven in the west and got their third straight canadian championship victory

smyrniotis should have had a shot with montreal sometime in the past few years and hopefully gets a shot in mls soon...of the canadian teams montreal seems like the best fit for him

[Watchmen]

2 hours ago, Big_M said:

at this point all three teams are likely to keep their coach for 2025...montreal is very close to making playoffs herdman is only a year in and the team has done much better than last year and whitecaps should finish top seven in the west and got their third straight canadian championship victory

smyrniotis should have had a shot with montreal sometime in the past few years and hopefully gets a shot in mls soon...of the canadian teams montreal seems like the best fit for him

Vanni and the Whitecaps goal was top 4, and Vanni publicly stated he expected to win a playoff round or it wasn't good enough. They've been poor at home all year, they're struggling badly down the stretch (they just no-showed at home vs Portland and Seattle), and Vanni admitted they were lucky to win the VCup. If they keep him, it's because ownership is too cheap to buy him out.

TFC is going through a regime change and Herdman is now being plagued by the drone scandal. I don't think it's out of the question he's gone.

Montreal might make a managerial change because Joey Saputo.

[Unnamed Trialist]

I get the point of the thread @Watchmen but I'd ask the question about the 3 Canadian MLS coaches: is any good enough to coach a second division team in a top nation? 

Herdman wouldn't get a sniff in Championship and same with Vanni in Serie B. I don't know Courtois as well but he's a novice still.

Same with Smyrniotis. If you want an upgrade you have to pay for it but that's not the MLS way. As a Caps fan, to be clear: yes, definitely need an upgrade on the bench but they won't pay for what they need.

Edited October 4 by Unnamed Trialist

[Watchmen]

4 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

I get the point of the thread @Watchmen but I'd ask the question about the 3 Canadian MLS coaches: is any good enough to coach a second division team in a top nation? 

Herdman wouldn't get a sniff in Championship and same with Vanni in Serie B. I don't know Courtois as well but he's a novice still.

Same with Smyrniotis. If you want an upgrade you have to pay for it but that's not the MLS way. As a Caps fan, to be clear: yes, definitely need an upgrade on the bench but they won't pay for what they need.

Sure.  My point with Smyrniotis and starting this thread was - we know 2 of the MLS teams lean towards cheaper options (Montreal and Vancouver), and might be interested in giving the winningest manager in the CPL a chance.  TFC might be a bit more of a stretch, since they just did the whole "hire a guy popular with Canadian fans and hope it works".  And at the same time, I think there's a number of us that would like to see if Smyniotis can cut it at a higher level and if he's goal is to one day manager the national team then I think he definitely has to step out of his current comfort zone and prove he can do it at a step up.

I will say, from a Whitecaps perspective I think if they hired him it would go over rather poorly.  There's definitely a desire to see someone a little more experienced rather than trying to elevate someone from a lower level or hiring an assistant, which is literally all they've done in the MLS era.

[Unnamed Trialist]

6 hours ago, Watchmen said:

Sure.  My point with Smyrniotis and starting this thread was - we know 2 of the MLS teams lean towards cheaper options (Montreal and Vancouver), and might be interested in giving the winningest manager in the CPL a chance.  TFC might be a bit more of a stretch, since they just did the whole "hire a guy popular with Canadian fans and hope it works".  And at the same time, I think there's a number of us that would like to see if Smyniotis can cut it at a higher level and if he's goal is to one day manager the national team then I think he definitely has to step out of his current comfort zone and prove he can do it at a step up.

I will say, from a Whitecaps perspective I think if they hired him it would go over rather poorly.  There's definitely a desire to see someone a little more experienced rather than trying to elevate someone from a lower level or hiring an assistant, which is literally all they've done in the MLS era.

If Bobby deserves a chance in MLS then he deserves it in Austin or San Jose as much as any of the Canadian teams. I don't like the idea that he applies for jobs he can drive to, or represent a comfy option. As I see it, if he really has the ambition it should be international. And if he doesn't want to leave Ontario or whatever because of his family or kids or living room furniture, then I don't want him as my coach. 

As for Vancouver, now that the roster is decent, an upgrade in quality would be right for manager. Tactical, positions, possession. Reading game situations. It will depend how far they go in these playoffs, although winning the Voyageurs Cup may be enough regardless.

[Watchmen]

4 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

If Bobby deserves a chance in MLS then he deserves it in Austin or San Jose as much as any of the Canadian teams. I don't like the idea that he applies for jobs he can drive to, or represent a comfy option. As I see it, if he really has the ambition it should be international. And if he doesn't want to leave Ontario or whatever because of his family or kids or living room furniture, then I don't want him as my coach. 

As for Vancouver, now that the roster is decent, an upgrade in quality would be right for manager. Tactical, positions, possession. Reading game situations. It will depend how far they go in these playoffs, although winning the Voyageurs Cup may be enough regardless.

Sure. My thinking was only that it might be the Canadian teams who are most likely to come for him, and which of them would he take. If any other MLS team offers him a job, he should also take that.

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

He's had a few interviews now for not just MLS jobs but also the CMNT one by all accounts. Think what probably holds people back from hiring him for bigger and better things would be doubts over what happens once he can't use his Sigma connections to stack the deck in his favour. Think the CanPL coach that has shown an ability to somewhat overachieve with a group of players he didn't necessarily even want under the circumstances would be Phillip Dos Santos. He also has prior experience in MLS that Smyrniotis doesn't. No way in a million years would TFC hire him as head coach straight from the Valour but he's shown enough to land a Next Pro or assistant gig somewhere in MLS then work his way up from there.

[BearcatSA]

4 hours ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

No way in a million years would TFC hire him as head coach straight from the Valour but he's shown enough to land a Next Pro or assistant gig somewhere in MLS then work his way up from there.

Maybe, never say never, but his ceiling at a higher level is like his brother, as an assistant.

 

[Watchmen]

5 hours ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

He's had a few interviews now for not just MLS jobs but also the CMNT one by all accounts. Think what probably holds people back from hiring him for bigger and better things would be doubts over what happens once he can't use his Sigma connections to stack the deck in his favour. Think the CanPL coach that has shown an ability to somewhat overachieve with a group of players he didn't necessarily even want under the circumstances would be Phillip Dos Santos. He also has prior experience in MLS that Smyrniotis doesn't. No way in a million years would TFC hire him as head coach straight from the Valour but he's shown enough to land a Next Pro or assistant gig somewhere in MLS then work his way up from there.

That's why he has to get out of Forge.  Next Pro would be fine too.  But he has to take another step forward if he wants to be the CMNT manager one day.

[nolando]

Sounded just like early Dan Aykroyd in the prematch interview today. I can almost hear Don Cherry saying, "Good Canadian kid." Gotta love him.