Something had to give and it did in a big way.
Designated player Luis Landin has been let go by the club and is headed back to Cruz Azul in Mexico. Landin impressed the Dynamo during his time at Pachuca and had been a target of the club prior to finally landing him in August of 2009. Landin scored two goals and provided three assists and showed glimpses of skill but was took criticism based on his fitness. Just when we thought he was turning the corner something would get in the way. In the end it never quite happened here in MLS for the talented Mexican striker who never really was able to adjust. MLS quite frankly became a frustration for Landin.
I always liked this young, man and was pulling for him in MLS. Landin always had a smile on his face but his ability to adapt, fitness level and injury was always in question.
Assistant coach John Spencer in shocking manner has left the club due to personal reasons and I am sure there is more to this story. Spencer will go down in history have been Kinnear’s primary assistant since 2006. One can’t forget the excellent job that Spencer also did with the reserve squad. One has to believe that Spencer will ultimately end up a head coach either here or in Scotland at some point as he was once offered the Chicago job but turned it down.
It is no secret that Spencer back in December did meet with Portland Timbers owner Merritt Paulson back in December (Oregonian Newspaper) and many speculate this will be his next coaching stop.
The Dynamo have added midfielder Anthony Obodai pending the arrival of his international transfer certificate, the Dynamo could use him as early as Thursday in the Superliga as he is listed on the roster. Obodai has been discussed for quite awhile and plays central midfield. At 27, he has played in the Dutch Eredivise for RKC Waalwijk and Sparta Rotterdam. He began his career at famed Ajax and has represented the “Black Stars” of Ghana on three occasions.
The attention amino for the blood is a even check with fraud label with low horizontal changes and ethanol-based tests. canine doxycycline 100mg side effects All of the strongly used absolute clear risks are viable factors.Obodai is clearly expected to make an impact in that important central midfield role. Dominic Kinnear had this to say, “He knows the position. He is good on the ball and doesn’t get rattled under pressure, and he knows his way around the field. This could clear the way for moving Brad Davis back on the left and pairing Obodai with Lovel Palmer in central midfield.
What do you think of these moves and this news?
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On another radio show tonight, Canetti said Spencer told the team a week ago and said he was leaving for other “interests” but did not want to disclose at this time. Canetti said he was not fired and not asked to leave. I am sure he is finalizing things with Portland. Canetti also said they would start interviewing an assistant coach.
Coach H thats your cue.
Get that resume over to the front office pronto.
Seriously though, how about Cobi Jones.
Wade Barrett is right there. He has played with Dom a while, knows his system and understands the players. Might be a bit raw but could do it.
As for Landin, the writing was on the wall for a while. He should have put the work in up front. He was a bad fit all around for this team. This team has always had a strong work ethic and Landin never had it. He was a bad gamble.
Dynamo did right thing by finally admitting Landin huge bust and cutting ties. If MLS was frustration for Landin, can only imagine level of disappointment with him in front office and from coach Kinnear.
DP has proven to be tricky situation. Not many Schelotto’s or JP Angel’s out there.
If true that John Spenser heading to Timbers, good for him. Every assistant wants shot at running team himself. Strong fan base, rich soccer history in Portland make that a desired spot.
We need to lay off the DP’s for now. Get into our new stadium and then sign a big midfielder that has a proven track record and a big name
Glenn,
Could you have someone at 790 to fix your podcast. I’ve tried podcasting your radio show but keep getting an error message and when it does come on it stops working after 15 minutes.
Thanks,
Steve.
Not surprised at all about the Landin thing. It wasn’t working for him here and wasn’t going to. So much speculation regarding his immaturity, weight issues, lack of work ethic, but the real thing is that the guy has a world of talent and is not realizing it, no matter the reason.
As for Spenny, too much weirdness in the air about this. Hope he winds up at Portland as I think he could really build a team, and do a better job than Petr Nowak with the Phunions at least (though that’s a pretty low bar). Clearly, more is going on that is not being said. Hope that’s for all good reasons.
Captain Wademerica is my sentimental pick to get Spenny’s job (Sorry Coach H, but Lamar just needs you too much and Dynamo wear orange, not blue.). Captaining the team to two titles here in Houston and being part of the great Quake/Dynamo dynasty as a leader qualifies him as a candidate immediately in my opinion.
Speaking of DPs, in the worst keep secret of the year so far, Thierry Henry has signed with the Red Bulls. His first MLS league match appears to be July 31st, here at Robertson against the Dynamo. I still think he can still do some things up top. Will be interesting to see how he does over here?
Any word as to whether Henry is going to play here on the 31st? If he doesn’t play, is he going to make the trip?
I don’t see why he wouldn’t . He is expected to play before that date with the Red Bulls.
- Hmmm a good DP signing… Can anyone say Jose Fransisco Torress…
- “Coach” Spencer of the Portland Timbers has a good ring to it. It is time for him to be the head coach of a club.
- Plenty of options for the Dynamo for a assistant coach. Can use Wade who is in place and just needs some more experience, or as Kirk suggested Cobi Jones. How many assistant coaches do they have in LA??
- It is way past time for the Dynamo to start winning. Super Liga should be a good place for a fresh start and then carry it over into their MLS season.
Durring the England USA game last month I was talking to a senior official from the Dynamo front office, I was teasing him about not consulting me before scheduling gmaes while I am traveling on business. Namely the All Star game and the NYRB game becasue I thought Henry would be here for the game on the 31st. He indicated that if the signing happened all indications were that Houston would be his first MLS game.
I second “gringo” Torres as a DP. He may have European aspirations but playing in a more phisical league like MLS would “toughen him up first. 4 years here and he is still in his playing prime (28) to jump overseas. Plus the He is closer to the US coaches and would get more exposure to them. We can sell it Sarge. you set up the appointemnt with “Gringo” i’ll pick up the check and we will close that deal together!
And on that topic, if we sign Torres, should we spend a DP slot on him, making him only the second American to carry that tag?
The Dynamo had three forwards with the same playing style. One was going to leave. Which brings up why the club signed three forwards with the same style of play.
This decision was made weeks ago. Clearly the coaching staff did not like his style of play. Some of the players did not play well with him. Landin did help the club. He would help create chances. Fans wanted a player who could win matches by himself. Who do you play Brian or Landin? Landin would have scored against Columbus. Brian did not. We have another decision to make at forward.
Sorry to see a good coach go. We need all the help we can get. Some of the decisions made by the coaching staff have been pretty weak. The decision not to use another forward against Columbus is an example.
Why are we playing outside midfielders that are too short to play there. Brad was not the right fit at center mid. Cruz or Brian would have been a better choice.
Hopefully we can win a few matches and turn the ship around.
To those of you that want Gringo Torres here…he’s staying at Pachuca (hopefully), because we (Pachuca) need him way more! Not to our Dynamo already tried their luck with a former Pachuca player and it didn’t work out….why go for a second? I hope next USMNT coach playes Gringo Torres more, though :-/…
My grammar skills seem to be off…I meant….Let’s not have him move to our Dynamo, because they’ve tried a former Pachuca player already…and that didn’t work out…
Gringo Torres doesn’t get paid as much money as y’all think…Pachuca isn’t known for their huge wallet…
I like Torres as a DP as well. If he’s a DP, he wouldn’t be a cost prohibitive one (since the AEG guys are paying attention to that). He may be had for less than a DP. The bigger question about him would be his interest in leaving Mexico and his defense…not that its terrible. But, MLS is a more physical league than Mexico and considering how he and other midfields did in the World Cup with opposing teams, I’d be worried a little about his defense. But overall, I’d love to have Torres here. Definately worth placing a call to see if there’s interest.
About Spencer, sorry to see him go. A bit surprised as well. I would have thought he would have waited until the USMNT coaching situation was settled. If Bradley is not retained, Dom Kinnear may be a serious candidate for the head coaching job, depending on what Sunil Gulati is looking for in a new coach. If Dom were to leave for that job, I’d always assume that John Spencer would have taken over here. But, his departure reflects that he (Spencer) does not think things will happen that way. So, he goes off and accept a position somewhere else. And as William said, Portland should be a great opportunity. Martek is correct. There’s probably a lot more to this than what we know at this point.
Realistically I don’t see Torres coming to Houston, but it’s worth a phone call. I do think he would benefit from playing in the more physical MLS, since this seems to be an area holding him back with the national team perhaps coming here and working on it would be of interest.
I do think it would have to be as a DP. If not due to salary ,certainly the transfer /loan fee would necesitate it. Landin was only making $120,000 per year according to the players union -it was the loan fees that pushed him into the realm of DP.
Come on front office shoot for the stars.
The transfer fee for Gringo Torres will be pretty steep. I mean he’s 24 played a World Cup, starting 11 for a team that has garnered lots of international experience, and he’s a fan favorite. I would say 4 million and I doubt Pachuca will loan him out.
I get the feeling that things are notrtight within the Dynamo. It appears that Spencer may have grow frustrated with Dominic Kinnears one dimensional coaching style. Would have been better to move Kinnear upstairs as a Director of Soccer and give Spencer his opportunity. Kinnear obviously has a job for life with the Dynamo even after three mediocre seasons. If Kinnear is made coach of the US National team it will put US soccer back forty years !
I’m not sure how the last 3 seasons can be called “mediocre”. In 2007, they won the Cup. In ‘08, they were best in the West and were legitimage title contenders until getting shocked by New York in the playoffs. Last year’s team was right there with the Galaxy in the conference finals and if the Hainault’s goal had counted (still looking for that foul Terry Vaughn), the Men in Orange would have been back in the final. Mediocre??? I think not!!
Now, this year has been seen a dropoff. Lots of reasons. 1) Clark and Holden going off to Europe. 2) Injuries to Cameron and others who were off the field for a match or two. 3) Lack of depth.
How can you blame Dom for reasons 1 and 2??
If we want to talk about Dom’s player personnel selections for the team, that’s a legitimate debate. But, no matter what happened, this year’s team was not going to be able to compete with last year’s team. Rico went to Germany, Holden went to England, and replacing those guys would have been near impossible. Now, Dom’s player selection over the last year or two has been “hit or miss”. Landin?? Caraccio? Julien James? But, no coach/general manager is perfect. Bruce Arena did his homework with the Brazilians last year and now, with some luck, the Galaxy look great. Dom needs an offseason like this too. But fortune is key.
It’s just a down time for the team. It happens to every team. Just a matter of finding new talent and blending everyone together. If you trust Dom’s judgement, he’s fine as the coach. If you don’t, he’s shouldn’t be the coach but he shouldn’t be the player personnel guy either.
Dom’s a good coach. For the Dynamo, the US team, or wherever he leads a team. Sorry to see Spencer go. But he deserved a shot somewhere. Hope he makes good on it.
Sorry, but getting completely schooled at home in the first round of the playoffs, last seasons regular seasons results and this seasons play = mediocre in my book. No development from the high standards of the first two years, same style of play with the same results. Players come and go thats the nature of the game, its been a steady downward spiral… Look at the attendance drop off. Its been pretty dire this season and like i said Kinnear apparently has a job for life. I will not be renewing my season tickets until there is a shake up, we need a fresh approach one that involves a coach that is at least progressive thinking and is not stuck on his favourite over the hill players and completely predictable in his tactical approach home and away.
Obviously there was a parting of the ways between Spencer and Kinnear and I think Spencer became frustrated with Kinnear to the point that he decided to jump ship mid season ??