For those of you who have a life outside of soccer, unlike me, you may not have heard about the colorful “Town Hall Meeting” held by the New York Red Bulls front office last Friday. With the recent firing of head coach, Mike Petke, drawing the ire of many Red Bull supporters, team management elected to host a Q&A session with 300 season ticketholders to smooth things over. Now that the dust has settled and the skirmish in Jersey has concluded let’s take a look back at the spectacle that was the Red Bull Town Hall Meeting…
Overview:
If you have yet to experience the insanity, I will briefly summarize the event as a circus, a zoo, hostile, surreal. Here is a link to the audio in its entirety.
A Who’s Who of the Red Bull Town Hall Meeting
Ali Curtis, recently appointed New York Red Bulls Sporting Director:
Mr. Curtis took the brunt of the audience’s attacks, and rightfully so. His first move as Sporting Director for the club was firing the most beloved and successful head coach in team history. Ali rarely answered questions directly and concisely, instead electing to dodge and speak in well-rehearsed corporate babble. Curtis’s impersonation of Muhammad Ali with the rope-a-doping of questions was remarkable. However, the one time he did elect to answer concisely, it was essentially the one instance supporters wished he would have been more thorough.
A fan asked “What the f**k is allocation money?” Ali essentially provided a definition that may as well have been penned directly from an MLS Headquarters textbook; “Allocation money is awarded by the league office that allows you to have an increased budget, salary budget.” End of answer. Huh? Well ok?! Thanks for clearing that up, Ali.
While Red Bull in all actuality is a giant global corporation, the fan base doesn’t consider the team they support to be of the same ilk. Naturally, the perfected use of corporate buzz words by Ali was not appreciated. How many times can one person say “best practices” or “waking up and working hard” or “passion” at one single event? I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised considering upon his retirement as an MLS player, Ali spent three years as an analyst at JP Morgan. It doesn’t get much more corporate then that.
Side tangent… Is it simply part of the deal that the higher you climb the proverbial “corporate ladder” the more sanitized, safe, diluted, and phony you have to become? Maybe it’s just my abrasive and direct approach to life in general but I really can’t take seriously a guy who answers questions without ACTUALLY answering questions.
Jesse Marsch, recently appointed New York Red Bulls Head Coach:
Marsch and David Beckham share their favorite dinner recipes with one another in 2007.
Jesse Marsch sure does mean well and I am looking forward to seeing him perform as head coach. I have always felt that he was given a raw deal by that nut in Montreal, Joey Saputo. He was a battling, no-nonsense type player on the field, and has a similar mentality on the sidelines.
As the rowdiness ensued, Marsch piped and stated; “Despite the angst in the room I love this!” Unfortunately, however, he then followed it up with this nugget; “You get to voice your opinions. You should. You’re fans, you’re paying customers…” Oh no! Paying customers?? That didn’t go over well. A rambunctious attendee replied “We aren’t customers, we are supporters.” Ouch… Foot in mouth! Similar to his “this is an energy drink” comment made at his introductory press conference. In case you haven’t realized, the energy drink aspect of the team isn’t revered by fans.
When asked “How do you define success?” Marsch set the record straight;
“Having a process is what you’re asking about, ok? It starts with the commitment that we have to each other. Corporate I don’t know what that means. I know what soccer means. I know what team means. I have been lucky to be around people who understand what this sport is about, what this game is about and ultimately what a real team is. Ok? I don’t necessarily put the cart before the horse.Ok? We have to start now… What’s our first day together gonna look like? How do we set the tone for who we are going to be? How we talk to each other, how we work every day. Ok?” He continued, “You don’t start by saying ‘we are going to win the MLS Cup this year.’ Talk is cheap. It’s about now in a slow process having small goals, 5 games, 10 games, get to the playoffs, What are the playoffs like? Who do we play? How are we going to dictate games? How are we going to put games on our terms? Who are we? What’s our identity? That’s the process. At the end I will accept nothing less than winning. I want to win MLS Cup, absolutely but I can’t just sit here and say ‘alright we are going to win MLS Cup’ because that’s bull shit. That’s bull shit.”
Well said, Mr. Marsch well said. Such honesty is refreshing in comparison to some of the other nonsense spewed from the panel. It’s difficult not to appreciate Jesse’s spirit and ambition. Hopefully his take no prisoners approach as a player will result in success as a head coach.
Luis Robles, New York Red Bulls Starting Goalkeeper:
Luis was the one guy on the panel that the fan base would rally around and support. It is one hell of a gesture and a testament to his character that Robles offered to show up at such a heated gathering. He even threw in some comedic relief. One fan in particular was ornery, loud, and full of piss and vinegar, often interrupting Ali Curtis in midsentence. Robles interjected; “How did you develop that voice? Because I need that voice on the field.” The crowd ate it up.
Luis would later reiterate that professional soccer is a business and certain business decisions (like Mike getting fired) are out of the player’s control. Despite the turmoil he and his teammates are looking forward to working with Jesse and Ali, a sentiment that seemed sincere and truthful.
Marc DeGrandpre, New York Red Bulls General Manager:
Marc didn’t add much substance to the meeting. He merely spouted off the typical boring corporate jargon that the crowd detested. For example, his reply to supporters asking about the team not refunding season ticketholders who wish to cancel their packages was remarkably lame and weasel like. To paraphrase, his excuse essentially was “every other team in the New York market has a no refund policy and so do we.”
The highlight of DeGrandpre’s appearance was not anything he stated, but a question from a season ticket holder named Greg directed at Marc; “I know it must kill you to see Bruce Arena win a third MLS Cup.” The crowd cheered emphatically. For those of you unaware, DeGrandpre’s first stint with the club was when then head coach Bruce Arena and the team “mutually parted ways” after the 2007 season. Just one and a half seasons in as the team’s manager. Arena, the most decorated coach in American soccer history, subsequently went on to win 3 MLS Cups with the Los Angeles Galaxy.
The Supporters:
Man o man was this group revved up and ready to go! The question shouted most often and directed squarely at Ali Curtis, was simply, “WHY DID YOU FIRE PETKE??” In all caps, yes! One fan in particular did not appreciate Ali even uttering Mike Petke’s name, as the young chap screamed… “Don’t even f**king say his name!”
A few other gems from the crowd…
“It’s shameful you brought Luis out here to be your flak jacket.”
In reference to the snow playoff game that was cancelled vs DC in 2013:
“Mike Petke was shoveling the snow like a common grounds person even though he was the coach.”
“Nothing enrages me more, we aren’t small children, cut out the god damn marketing speak. When you give us a direct answer we’ll appreciate it.” The fan continued, “But stop making it god damn flowery, so just be direct.”
My personal favorite season ticketholder of the evening was Mark Egan. He let it rip; “For a team owned by a beverage company, the food and beverage lines are preposterous.” The crowd applauded loudly. Egan continued, “For a stadium in Jersey surrounded by nothing the parking sucks too. And I don’t think it would take a 300 page plan to sort it out.” For those not aware, since taking the gig as RBNY Sporting Director, Ali Curtis, has thumped his chest about the 300 page business plan he constructed that will supposedly take the team to new successful heights. That was quite a nice jab Mr. Egan.
Egan furthered his comments, “I work on wall-street and once a year people get fired if they don’t do what was expected of them. If they do, they get bonuses and they get paid more money. And I think why most of us are here tonight is to tell you, Ali, that what you have done sets a bad spirit. And we don’t like it. We like Mike. We thought he did a great job. And we think that you and your first moves in your job are doing a poor job.” Well stated, sir. The “bad spirit” comment in particular is spot on.
My Two Cents:
In all honesty, if given enough time I whole heartily believe Jesse Marsch will be a successful head coach with the Red Bulls. And I know this may sound like blasphemy coming from a Red Bulls fan and all, but I even think ultimately he will be more successful than Mike Petke. Regardless, Jesse has a tough fan base to win over and will forever be in the shadow of Petke.
To be quite frank here, Ali Curtis really isn’t the cold hearted villain some Red Bulls fans project him to be. He seems like a decent and well-intended human being but I am not so sure even winning an MLS Cup would suffice in winning over the Red Bull faithful. Unjustly cutting the heart out of the club, which is truly what Petke was to the fan base, is a bad business move. While the town hall meeting was a good gesture to mend fences, any positive vibes that may have previously existed between fans and the organization have since been soured.
