Prior to the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the Canadian Soccer Association finally made their decision to hire Dale Mitchell as Canada's National Team Head Coach, replacing Frank Yallop who stepped down over a year ago, as well as interim coach Stephen Hart. The decision to hire Dale was far from unanimous though, as Brazilian Rene Simoes was the other main candidate being put forward. As somebody who followed this situation from the outset, I would like to comment from a personal perspective.
Frank Yallop left the job just as the 2006 World Cup was starting. The World Cup generated huge interest across Canada, with tremendous media coverage. Even a match-up as unremarkable as Sweden against Trinidad generated considerable interest here, and I remember wondering what would it be like if it was Canada playing Sweden instead. That's not that far fetched, and in fact we should expect Canada to finish ahead of teams like Trinidad and Tobago.
So as the World Cup proceeded, and interest and media attention grew, my thinking was that the decision on Canada's coach should be made as soon as possible. Obviously you need to exercise due diligence, but it should still have been possible to announce a coach within a matter of weeks of the tournament ending. That way you could capitalize on the World Cup buzz, and demonstrate a desire to get the new coach in right away, giving him ample time to prepare his squad to qualify for the next World Cup.
Looking at the candidates, at least domestically, it clearly came to down to a choice between Stephen Hart and Dale Mitchell. Now I'm not averse to bringing in a foreign coach, but they typically come with a high price tag, which means a lot less money available for preparation and games. That was the case with Simoes, so realistically I thought we were better off going with a domestic coach. And while Stephen Hart has done very well as interim coach, I thought because of Dale's playing background, his coaching successes at the U-20 level, and his understanding of the CONCACAF region, that he had earned the job, and that he should have been put in place as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, that didn't happen. The World Cup enthusiasm died down and it was nearly a year before the decision was made to hire Dale. And even then, it was done with almost a slap in the face, thanks to all the focus on Rene Simoes and his success taking Jamaica to a World Cup. It made it seem like Dale was being hired as second choice, which is no way for him to be starting, especially since to my mind, he was the best choice from the outset.
By the time Dale finally was hired, his focus had to remain on the U-20 World Cup, leaving Stephen Hart in charge at the Gold Cup, where he certainly did very well. But if Dale had been hired last summer, then a new U-20 coach could have been brought in, and Dale would have had an extra year in charge of the senior team.
That brings me to the topic of the CSA Technical Director position, which has been vacant for some time. Apparently, Simoes was offered both the TD and the coach position, which I find ridiculous. Having one person do both jobs is something that was tried with Holger Osieck, and through no fault of Holger's, it didn't work. The two jobs need to be kept separate. The TD's focus is on planning long-term development, possibly at the expense of short-term results, while the coaching position is entirely results-based. When Holger wasn't getting the results with the national team, it began to undermine his role as TD. So the fact we were even thinking of going down that road again, seemed ludicrous.
The role of TD is as critical as the senior men's head coach, so they shouldn't dilly dally with that either. They need to get somebody in, and give that person some leeway.
I would also suggest that the CSA has an opportunity to establish a player-development task force, to utilize the people we have in this country, like Tony Waiters, TDs from the provinces, and former players now in the business world, who can offer advice. It's something that Basketball Canada did, getting people like Jay Triano and Ken Shields involved. We need to take advantage of the resources we have.
Something else they could do with the TD position is to first bring in a foreign consultant to evaluate our situation and lay out a plan. That could then be implemented by somebody domestic who is perhaps better positioned to negotiate the politics of the Canadian soccer landscape. They did this in Australia, and also in the US with Carlos Queiroz.
So while the hiring of Dale Mitchell as head coach could have been handled better, the CSA still has the opportunity to make positive strides forward with the Technical Director position. And hopefully, now Dale is done with the U-20s, he and Stephen Hart, who will be his assistant coach, can work together effectively and continue to evolve the national team program as we approach World Cup qualifying.
(April 18, 2007) Canada Club Soccer concluded its first Club Symposium this past weekend in Toronto. The event attracted fifty-six technical and administrative leaders from clubs across Canada representing a membership of over 75,000 players.
