Leading Canada to Victory!

I know this is over a month late, and was released before I started this blog, but last weekend's appearance of Peter Montopoli on Soccer Saturday motivated me to at least add another voice out there to this. In his interview with Gerry Dobson, Montopoli (along with other members of the CSA in the past) left me with little confidence that anything is going to change with our men's national team. Dobson's first point blank question was the status of Dale Mitchell as the head coach and the urgency to replace him. Now let's first point out the obvious - Dale Mitchell coached our under 20 team in their World Cup that we not only lost every game but scored ZERO goals. As the Senior coach his only wins are against Martinique and St. Vincent, and the team that was touted as our best ever failed to qualify for the world cup and with games still to play (for pride!) some of our best players refused to return to duty. Montopoli's response to Dobson was that there is no rush to find another coach and they'll review this matter in the next few months when the board meets. I feel like the next thing he'll say is now is a good time to invest and not to worry Canada is running a surplus - my point being is it seems like every time I see or hear an interview with any of these guys it's like listening to Federal politicians - they can't answer questions, or circle around it and give an answer where you just sit there and think, "is this guy a $#%&%ing idiot??"

I had already downloaded the CSA strategic plan for 2009-2013 and read it again (and again today) and had to read their document on our "wellness to the world cup" - especially since Montopoli says that the response to these has been positive (well ok, maybe amoung 7 year olds and beach soccer players). It's hard to go through it and feel positive or confident that anything that is written is actually doable. Their set of goals to 2013 are getting $25 million in budget, CMNT World Cup qualification, a medal from the CWNT, a world cup bid for the womens world cup and a million+ players playing in Canada. This first thing that bothered me about this report was that it was released WHILE our CMNT was still playing games for the 2010 World Cup. So they've been eliminated, everyone can see that Mitchell is not the right man for the job, so they release a "strategic plan" saying their goal is to qualify for the 2014 World Cup! PHHHEEEW. Thank god they cleared that up. Thank god I have this report that gives me no clear idea how they are going to double their budget. Not long ago there was a report released that outlined what the CSA 2009 annual budget is. I don't want to say it's shocking because I think everyone knows how little the budget is, especially for the CMNT is. But it's shocking to think that the CSA actually thinks they can qualify for a world cup in their current state. Like I said before, it's just like politicians who can never admit that their are in the shit or the cause of it. Not long ago there was a quick blog written about Australia's path to the world cup that sheds light on what it really takes to have success.

You compile all this info and it's a bit depressing. A board that doesn't see a reason to fire their head coach - and if you ask me, I would not be surprised one bit if you see Mitchell still as head coach for the 2009 Gold Cup. A budget that is so far out of whack, with money allocated to Beach Soccer and a loss in gate receipts (well ... that's not surprising after their brilliant marketing for the Canada gamin Montreal).

This is the time get this right. We have some great players whose talents will go to waste in this current state of the national program. Clearly I am just venting because it will probably take someone way up to make a real change. Hopefully with this sport in the spotlight in Canada more than it has been in my lifetime, someone will come along and do it right. Until then ... SEE YOU ON THE BEACH!!!