Chapter III ? The good, the bad, the good again, and then the ugly
In case you were wondering, it didn't get better than that. I guess when she said she wanted my offer in writing she meant it. But once that was settled, she proved to be an asset. The rest of the month of March was full of ups and downs. Soon after the Toronto game, Johnny Leveron suffered an injury in training that would keep him out for 6 weeks, leaving us with only Brad Rusin and Bryce Alderson as CBs, and the latter would have to step up his game to fill for Leveron while he was out. However, things got worse on our first game without Johnny. We were playing at home to Columbus, and Kenny Miller had nodded in a delightful cross by Hameur Bouazza when, 9 minutes into the game, Brad Rusin lunged in two footed on Jairo Arrieta. "
Brad, what the ****?" I told him as he walked past us and down the tunnel. "
I'm sorry coach, I really am... I thought I could get the ball". He would be suspended for three games but, most importantly, we had a lead to protect and no centre backs available to play. The players on the bench were looking at me to see what I'd do now. I believe these are the truly defining moments. If you're hesitant in this kind of situations, your hesitation spreads to your players, who lose confidence in your leadership, and it can all go down **** creek in a second.
"Mike, you're in for Angelos" I told Klukowski, while I motioned for him to come closer.
"Tell Kenny to sit a bit deeper but to be ready to hit them on the break. I know you don't play in the centre, let alone as a right centre back, but I have the utmost faith in you. And try to keep Bryce focused, any minor slip and we're done." Mike nodded in agreement and walked onto the pitch while Charisteas made his way to the bench.
What happened after that was well beyond my expectations. Twice before half time Kenny Miller found the back of the net on the break, once assisted by Bouazza and the other time by Steven Beitashour, another of our acquisitions. After the break, Miller hit the target for the fourth time, again assisted by Bouazza, and although Columbus clawed one back through Dominic Oduro with 5 minutes to go, there was no way back in it for them. It was a massive, morale lifting win, all the more so if we consider the circumstances. That was the
good.
Then came the
bad. Without Leveron for at least a month and a half, and without Rusin for the next three games, I was forced to sign a centre-half. Three of my four senior CBs were out, and although I promoted teen defender Bob Bridge to the first team, he wasn't anywhere near ready to play for the team, let alone start. As we had reached our salary-level player limit, I had two choices. I could either sign a young-ish defender on a reserve contract or place Leveron on the disabled list for six games and use his spot on the roster. Ironically, I would end up doing
both.
We had a two week break before a game with Houston and I had given the lads a break until the 12
th. I decided to enjoy those 2-3 days as well, as the break applied to me, too. Or so I thought?
[random ringtone]
"...hmmmmmmmm..."
[random ringtone again]
"Jesus ******* Christ, who the **** is it calling me at... oh, it's 2 in the afternoon. How much did I drink? Oh god..."
I picked up the phone. "
Who is it?"
"It's Amelie. What happened to you, are you ok? I've been calling you all morning-"
10 lost calls. Ouch. She doesn't like it when I do that. "
Yes, yes, I'm sorry, I've had a rough night. What can I help you with?"
"You can't help me with anything, I'm calling to help YOU. The revs just waived Fagundez"
"I'm trying to get some sleep, just call me lat... wait, they did WHAT?"
"They wai-"
"Yes, yes, it was a rhetorical question. Get in contact with his agent, let him know I'm interested ASAP"
"I already did, he's coming over to my place to discuss terms, he'll be here in 20 so you better hurry. Oh, and I had Rick move Leveron to the D List to clear space for Fagundez, but he's waiting for your approval."
"20 minutes? That's not enough time, I need to at least have a shower."
"That's why I've been ringing you all ****** morning, you drunk fool. Grab some clothes and come here, if you hurry you can have a shower at my place"
"What's with the name calling, I'm your bo-".
She hung up. She can be irritating, but god, do I love that woman. She is bold, aggressive and isn't afraid to take the initiative. And I'm not talking about *** here. Anyways, two hours later we had agreed terms with one of the hottest prospects in the league, and while we don't play with an AMC he's versatile enough for us to reconvert him to a forward or a winger. We'll see.
That's the other
good. Now comes the
ugly. Our next game was against Houston, an evenly matched game, but it's in the middle of the international break. Half of my squad was away on international duty, including my keeper, three fullbacks, a winger, a striker and a central midfielder, plus Alderson and my other young CB. I asked to postpone the game to no avail, even though the Houston coach supported me. My criticism of the league earned me a suspension and the game had to be managed by my assistant. It ended in a 1-1 draw, with our goal being scored by Charisteas off a pass by Hector Jimenez. I'm guessing it's not going to be the last time that the FIFA calendar and the MLS calendar get in the way of each other.
After the Houston game we finally signed a centre-half, 6ft 3 Gambian Emmanuel Gomez, formerly of Toronto. At age 22, we could sign him on reserve terms, and although he'd never be good enough to play under normal circumstances, he might just be a decent stop-gap measure.
The final game of the month was an away game at Chivas USA. We started off well with Charisteas taking full advantage of a defensive lapse to put us 1-0 up. The second goal came quickly as Carlos Borja scored an own goal after a corner, but things gut messy when 40 minutes into the first half Lee Young-Pyo got himself sent off. This time it was Kenny's turn to sit, as Charisteas was proving a handful for the Chivas defense, and although Salmeen scored an own goal to put our victory at risk, the Greek frontman scored with a glancing header just after the break to secure the three points, even though Chivas would claw one back near the end.
All in all, March wasn't a bad month, but whether our makeshift defense would hold on for much longer remained to be seen. We're yet to keep a clean sheet, and with Alderson and Gomez as our starters, I don't see that changing any time soon.