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Ladies Man: Coaching Carousel
In the latest installment of the Ladies Man column, Goal.com's Giovanni Albanese Jr. discusses how Sky Blue FC got it right with its fifth coaching hire in 14 months.
Jul 21, 2010 2:36:00 AM
By Giovanni Albanese Jr.
One would think that the coaching position for the lone Women’s Professional Soccer champion would be a desirable job. Think again.
In just 37 games (including playoffs), Sky Blue FC has gone through four coaches, and it appears that the Piscataway, N.J., based franchise has a curse -- at least when it comes to its coaches.
Ian Sawyers had the honor of being the first head coach of Sky Blue FC. Sawyers' background in coaching was unquestioned, leading the Stanford Cardinal women’s soccer club to its best single-season win total in the program’s history. He also had stints at the W-League’s Sacramento Storm, as well as the Bay Area CyberRays (later known as the San Jose CyberRays) where his club won the inaugural Women’s United Soccer Association championship in 2001. Sawyers also won the WUSA Coach of the Year that same year.
But Sawyers was suspended indefinitely by the Sky Blue FC ownership, and later fired when the two sides couldn’t see eye to eye.
One coach down, just six games into the inaugural WPS season. Next up, assistant coach Kelly Lindsey got the nod as the next head coach.
Lindsey played three seasons under Sawyers for the CyberRays and Sky Blue FC CEO Thomas Hofstetter, at the time of the signing, said, “Kelly is definitely a person we want to retain in this organization.”
Even team captain Christie Rampone got a good vibe. After the team’s first game under Lindsey, a 2-1 win over the Boston Breakers, she claimed “I think it’s a different team. You see a lot of smiling faces out there.”
While Hofstetter claimed that Sawyers and the team, players, management and ownership “did not fit our culture,” perhaps something similar was going through the mind of Lindsey who, just two games prior to the opening round of the playoffs, jumped ship.
It was the pure definition of karma. Sky Blue FC showed Sawyers the door; Lindsey, virtually an extension of Sawyers, left Sky Blue FC scrambling at the most inopportune time -- with the club making a playoff push.
According to Hofstetter (at the time of Lindsey’s resignation), “She left without saying anything to me. She gave us a letter and didn’t say anything and walked out … We are shocked. We didn’t see it coming. We didn’t expect it.”
So, if you’re keeping count at home, that’s 18 games, two coaches down. And with Sky Blue FC making its push for the final playoff spot, undoubtedly they didn’t want to mess with the team’s chemistry. What to do? Make Rampone the player/coach.
Under Rampone, the team’s success has been well documented. Sky Blue FC squeaked into the final playoff spot with its 7-8-5 record and proceeded to defeat the Washington Freedom, St. Louis Athletica and Los Angeles Sol, all on the road, to claim the 2009 WPS championship.
However, going into the 2010 season, Sky Blue FC wasn’t going to continue with its player/coach strategy. They couldn’t, with Rampone taking some time off after giving birth to her second child. So through 23 games, including playoffs, Sky Blue FC had gone through three coaches. Next up was Pauliina Miettinen.
Miettinen had a resume that included playing for the Finnish national team, as well as coaching a Finnish Premier League club and helping out the Florida State Seminoles during its 2005 NCAA run that took them to the semifinals.
Under Miettinen, Sky Blue FC was experiencing one injury on top of another. Carli Lloyd, Tasha Kai, Rampone, Jenni Branam, Karen Bardsley and others all missed time this season as the reigning champs played mediocre soccer.
Through 14 games, Miettinen hasn’t been fortunate enough to have a game with her preseason projected starting XI. After coaching her club to a 5-6-3 record with the parts she’d been given by GM Gerry Marrone, she’s not fortunate enough to have a job -- even if her club was holding onto third place in the standings.
“Her hard work and passion for the team and the game were never in question,” said Marrone of Miettinen. “Sometimes a situation simply does not work out. That is part of the learning process involved when it comes to professional sports.”
Also out of a job is assistant coach Anne Parnila, who was serving as Miettinen’s assistant coach.
Keeping track of our Sky Blue FC coaching carousel, the club has gone through four coaches in just 37 games. But the fifth head coach could be the one that sticks it out for the long haul.
Rick Stainton, who was also part of the coaching staff with Miettinen as an assistant, was named the team’s head coach on Monday. One thing Stainton has over the previous four coaches -- local ties.
Stainton is a New Jersey native. After attending Green Mountain College in Vermont, he coached Brick Memorial High School (NJ) boys soccer; spent a couple years coaching Green Mountain College’s women’s club; was the head women’s coach at Caldwell College in New Jersey; and was an assistant at Rider College in New Jersey. Additionally, Stainton was the keeper coach for the New Jersey Wildcats of the W-League in 2009.
Sky Blue FC finally got it right. In WPS, having the local ties is key. Yes, a team wants to have a coach that knows what he or she is doing, but to have a local tie helps with the off-the-field obligations all clubs need. In addition, Stainton’s local wherewithal will allow him to scout players with greater ease than a coach from California, Nebraska, Finland or anywhere outside of the Garden State could do.
Marrone took over as Sky Blue FC general manager since Sawyers was relieved of his duties and has done little wrong in the decisions he has made. Sure, the team hasn’t performed to the level he would have hoped, but he’s not afraid to admit to his mistakes.
Firing Miettinen was admitting to making a mistake. Doing it now allows Stainton enough time to establish his game plan and make a push for a playoff spot. This season, at least Sky Blue FC will have 10 games to make something happen, instead of the two it had after Lindsey left in 2009.
They did it last year, and overcame a lot to go on and win the championship. Time will tell if they can do it again this year. This time around, however, injuries may derail the defending champs chance at repeating. Nonetheless, Stainton is confident.
“I know we can achieve great things going forward,” said Stainton, “both on and off the field.”
Goal of the Week
Eniola Aluko, Atlanta Beat - All the Beat needed was a goal with the way Hope Solo played in the nets on Sunday if they were to record their first WPS road victory. They got it early, courtesy of Aluko. In just the seventh minute of play, Angie Kerr sent in a perfectly-placed chipped pass from 40 yards out. Making a diagonal run, Aluko ran onto the ball which fell to her foot and she sneaked it by Sky Blue FC keeper Kristin Luckenbill to notch the lone goal of the game.
Everything on this score was played to perfection on the offensive side of things. Take a look at the play unfold here:
Save of the Week
Alyssa Naeher, Boston Breakers - Already trailing the Washington Freedom at home 1-0 in the early going, the Boston Breakers needed a boost. They got it in the 17th minute when Naeher robbed Nikki Marshall -- who had put the Freedom on top in the third minute -- on a breakaway chance. Sonia Bompastor sent a long ball over the top that Marshall ran onto. With only Naeher to beat, Marshall tried sliding a low strike past the Boston keeper but Naeher came off her line and stoned Marshall, keeping the score at 1-0.
Boston would go on to come back from the one-goal deficit and beat the Freedom, winning their third consecutive game, 2-1.
Take a look at the save here:
Quote of the Week
“We tried a 4-3-3 tonight; back to the drawing board, I guess,” coming from Philadelphia Independence coach Paul Riley after his team got shutout by the Gold Pride on the road, 2-0, Saturday night. Riley tried a new formation to see how they would match up with the Pride, seeing if it would have any success if the two sides met on Sept. 26 for the championship. In week 14, it didn’t work -- but they were without stalwarts Lori Lindsey and Amy Rodriguez. Maybe at the WPS Championship it will.
For more on Women's Professional Soccer, visit Goal.com's WPS page and join Goal.com USA's Facebook fan page!
In just 37 games (including playoffs), Sky Blue FC has gone through four coaches, and it appears that the Piscataway, N.J., based franchise has a curse -- at least when it comes to its coaches.
Ian Sawyers had the honor of being the first head coach of Sky Blue FC. Sawyers' background in coaching was unquestioned, leading the Stanford Cardinal women’s soccer club to its best single-season win total in the program’s history. He also had stints at the W-League’s Sacramento Storm, as well as the Bay Area CyberRays (later known as the San Jose CyberRays) where his club won the inaugural Women’s United Soccer Association championship in 2001. Sawyers also won the WUSA Coach of the Year that same year.
But Sawyers was suspended indefinitely by the Sky Blue FC ownership, and later fired when the two sides couldn’t see eye to eye.
One coach down, just six games into the inaugural WPS season. Next up, assistant coach Kelly Lindsey got the nod as the next head coach.
Lindsey played three seasons under Sawyers for the CyberRays and Sky Blue FC CEO Thomas Hofstetter, at the time of the signing, said, “Kelly is definitely a person we want to retain in this organization.”
Even team captain Christie Rampone got a good vibe. After the team’s first game under Lindsey, a 2-1 win over the Boston Breakers, she claimed “I think it’s a different team. You see a lot of smiling faces out there.”
While Hofstetter claimed that Sawyers and the team, players, management and ownership “did not fit our culture,” perhaps something similar was going through the mind of Lindsey who, just two games prior to the opening round of the playoffs, jumped ship.
It was the pure definition of karma. Sky Blue FC showed Sawyers the door; Lindsey, virtually an extension of Sawyers, left Sky Blue FC scrambling at the most inopportune time -- with the club making a playoff push.
According to Hofstetter (at the time of Lindsey’s resignation), “She left without saying anything to me. She gave us a letter and didn’t say anything and walked out … We are shocked. We didn’t see it coming. We didn’t expect it.”
So, if you’re keeping count at home, that’s 18 games, two coaches down. And with Sky Blue FC making its push for the final playoff spot, undoubtedly they didn’t want to mess with the team’s chemistry. What to do? Make Rampone the player/coach.
Under Rampone, the team’s success has been well documented. Sky Blue FC squeaked into the final playoff spot with its 7-8-5 record and proceeded to defeat the Washington Freedom, St. Louis Athletica and Los Angeles Sol, all on the road, to claim the 2009 WPS championship.
However, going into the 2010 season, Sky Blue FC wasn’t going to continue with its player/coach strategy. They couldn’t, with Rampone taking some time off after giving birth to her second child. So through 23 games, including playoffs, Sky Blue FC had gone through three coaches. Next up was Pauliina Miettinen.
Miettinen had a resume that included playing for the Finnish national team, as well as coaching a Finnish Premier League club and helping out the Florida State Seminoles during its 2005 NCAA run that took them to the semifinals.
Under Miettinen, Sky Blue FC was experiencing one injury on top of another. Carli Lloyd, Tasha Kai, Rampone, Jenni Branam, Karen Bardsley and others all missed time this season as the reigning champs played mediocre soccer.
Through 14 games, Miettinen hasn’t been fortunate enough to have a game with her preseason projected starting XI. After coaching her club to a 5-6-3 record with the parts she’d been given by GM Gerry Marrone, she’s not fortunate enough to have a job -- even if her club was holding onto third place in the standings.
“Her hard work and passion for the team and the game were never in question,” said Marrone of Miettinen. “Sometimes a situation simply does not work out. That is part of the learning process involved when it comes to professional sports.”
Also out of a job is assistant coach Anne Parnila, who was serving as Miettinen’s assistant coach.
Keeping track of our Sky Blue FC coaching carousel, the club has gone through four coaches in just 37 games. But the fifth head coach could be the one that sticks it out for the long haul.
Rick Stainton, who was also part of the coaching staff with Miettinen as an assistant, was named the team’s head coach on Monday. One thing Stainton has over the previous four coaches -- local ties.
Stainton is a New Jersey native. After attending Green Mountain College in Vermont, he coached Brick Memorial High School (NJ) boys soccer; spent a couple years coaching Green Mountain College’s women’s club; was the head women’s coach at Caldwell College in New Jersey; and was an assistant at Rider College in New Jersey. Additionally, Stainton was the keeper coach for the New Jersey Wildcats of the W-League in 2009.
Sky Blue FC finally got it right. In WPS, having the local ties is key. Yes, a team wants to have a coach that knows what he or she is doing, but to have a local tie helps with the off-the-field obligations all clubs need. In addition, Stainton’s local wherewithal will allow him to scout players with greater ease than a coach from California, Nebraska, Finland or anywhere outside of the Garden State could do.
Marrone took over as Sky Blue FC general manager since Sawyers was relieved of his duties and has done little wrong in the decisions he has made. Sure, the team hasn’t performed to the level he would have hoped, but he’s not afraid to admit to his mistakes.
Firing Miettinen was admitting to making a mistake. Doing it now allows Stainton enough time to establish his game plan and make a push for a playoff spot. This season, at least Sky Blue FC will have 10 games to make something happen, instead of the two it had after Lindsey left in 2009.
They did it last year, and overcame a lot to go on and win the championship. Time will tell if they can do it again this year. This time around, however, injuries may derail the defending champs chance at repeating. Nonetheless, Stainton is confident.
“I know we can achieve great things going forward,” said Stainton, “both on and off the field.”
Goal of the Week
Eniola Aluko, Atlanta Beat - All the Beat needed was a goal with the way Hope Solo played in the nets on Sunday if they were to record their first WPS road victory. They got it early, courtesy of Aluko. In just the seventh minute of play, Angie Kerr sent in a perfectly-placed chipped pass from 40 yards out. Making a diagonal run, Aluko ran onto the ball which fell to her foot and she sneaked it by Sky Blue FC keeper Kristin Luckenbill to notch the lone goal of the game.
Everything on this score was played to perfection on the offensive side of things. Take a look at the play unfold here:
Save of the Week
Alyssa Naeher, Boston Breakers - Already trailing the Washington Freedom at home 1-0 in the early going, the Boston Breakers needed a boost. They got it in the 17th minute when Naeher robbed Nikki Marshall -- who had put the Freedom on top in the third minute -- on a breakaway chance. Sonia Bompastor sent a long ball over the top that Marshall ran onto. With only Naeher to beat, Marshall tried sliding a low strike past the Boston keeper but Naeher came off her line and stoned Marshall, keeping the score at 1-0.
Boston would go on to come back from the one-goal deficit and beat the Freedom, winning their third consecutive game, 2-1.
Take a look at the save here:
Quote of the Week
“We tried a 4-3-3 tonight; back to the drawing board, I guess,” coming from Philadelphia Independence coach Paul Riley after his team got shutout by the Gold Pride on the road, 2-0, Saturday night. Riley tried a new formation to see how they would match up with the Pride, seeing if it would have any success if the two sides met on Sept. 26 for the championship. In week 14, it didn’t work -- but they were without stalwarts Lori Lindsey and Amy Rodriguez. Maybe at the WPS Championship it will.
For more on Women's Professional Soccer, visit Goal.com's WPS page and join Goal.com USA's Facebook fan page!
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