Support

After watching the actual events that led to Pablo Hernandez's ejection a few more times, it is pretty difficult to see how the fourth official arrived at the conclusion that Pablo deserved red. Even with two days of space, I remain annoyed by an awful performance by an American refereeing crew. I have come to really enjoy the U.S. Open Cup, warts and all, but if it becomes yet another CONCACAF-type tournament that is determined through dodgy officiating, then I have better ways to waste my weeknights.

Life goes on and my love for Julius James still grows a little bit more each day. Stouffer carried the following quote from DCU's resolute center half after Wednesday night's disappointment:

“I want to thank the fans, the diehards, for still supporting us,” said James. “This is a really tough time for us and especially for them. We try really hard, you know. We train, we have our families, and the most important thing is that we satisfy the fans, and we haven’t been doing that this year, and I just want to sincerely thank the diehard guys for still coming and supporting us.”

I am a bit surprised by the comment, because DCU's fans have not -- as a general matter -- been transmitting a positive vibe for much of the season. Supporters have turned on players and have been quick to boo; enough so that Steve Goff's consistently sarcastic and patronizing tone seems to be a valid reflection of the fan base. At the same time, it would be unfair to paint supporters with a broad brush. Most of those at RFK on Wednesday night were fully behind the team and everything shouted at the players walking off the field at halftime was words of encouragement. It was, no question, a small group, but a group firmly behind the team.

It was, in other words, a fully different contingent of fans than those who seem to populate message boards shaking their fists with angry remonstrations and declarations that they will no longer back the team and no longer care if they stay or go. For those outside of the club, reading this drivel would leave the impression that DCU fans are generally arrogant in their ignorance of the game, with outlandish expectations to boot. But as James seems to make clear in underscoring the point to media folks after a gut-wrenching loss, this may not be the side of supporters that the players are actually exposed to.

Supporters -- die-hard, ridiculous, fantastic, and pathetic all at once -- are what makes the games matter. I am constantly amazed by how much people are willing to sacrifice and how much effort people are willing to expend on behalf of an athletics team. I love Charlton as much for its supporters -- fantastic authors, brilliant minds, great people -- as for its history and its promise. I have come to become attached to Accrington Stanley largely out of a fascination at the resolve displayed by the team's supporters that the club will not only survive, it will flourish, if for no other reason then the steel of their collective will.

I arrived home today to a package from a member of the management board of Banbury United. Inside was a shirt signed by some of last year's squad members and a wonderful note thanking us for our sponsorship of a player. It was a nice gesture and something that resonated deeply: not only are Banbury's supporters willing to take on the responsibility of running the club, but they also do not shirk their responsibility to insure that the fan base continues to grow (regardless of how ridiculous the address is on the other end of the conversation). I have been similarly impressed by the supporters of the Blyth Spartans and Scotland's Stanraer FC. Everyone I have communicated with at these clubs has been, without exception, devoted to their teams and unfailingly kind in welcoming any interest expressed in their squads.

Supporters can do amazing things. Portadown FC, for example, reports that it was able to secure the signing of ex-Glentoran player Shane McCabe, in part, because of the financial support received from the Portadown Supporters Society. And, of course, supporters groups have managed to acquire a number of clubs to shepherd them from financial ruin, including two I am marginally involved with at Ebbsfleet United and Stirling Albion.

Similar levels of passion and tangible support would be most welcome in the DC area. Both DC United and Crystal Palace Baltimore appear to be facing imminent threats to their continued existence (at least in the area). The existence of these clubs, as well as of Real Maryland, offers invaluable opportunities to American and Canadian professional soccer players to hone their craft and make their mark on the sport. Indeed, this point is driven home by the recent experience of Real Maryland's center half Mason Trafford. I think Mason played every minute for Real Maryland this season and, in the games we saw at Richard Montgomery, he consistently showed well on the back line. His profit on it was a chance in Europe (Finland):

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: David Noyes

301.933.6460

gm@realmaryland.us

September 2, 2010

Trafford Finding Feet in Finland Real Maryland CB Makes Move to Europe

USL Feature

Thursday, September 2, 2010

By NICHOLAS MURRAY

His season with USL-2’s Real Maryland over, Monarchs center back Mason Trafford knew he wanted his next move to be to take a crack at breaking in with a European team.

With IFK Mariehamn in the Finnish Premier Division, the 24-year-old Canadian is getting that opportunity.

With help from his agent, Trafford’s highlight video gave Mariehamn’s manager Pekka Lyyski a chance to see the player, and from there he was brought in for a trial. On Sunday he signed with the club.

“I’m really enjoying the new club right now,” Trafford said via e-mail. “The club is a very tight-knit group - the management, the coaching staff, and the players all have a good relationship and that has made the transition much easier for me. Everything has been very professional so far, and I think that has allowed me to settle in and feel comfortable right from the start. I feel happy here, Mariehamn is a small city but very nice, and everyone has been good to me so far.”

Trafford has arrived in the middle of a relegation fight for Mariehamn, which currently sits in 13th place of the 14-team league, two points behind Oulu and FC Haka with six games remaining. In his debut on Monday, the side lost 3-1 to league-leading HJK Helsinki, but with games against Haka and bottom club Lahti part of the remaining schedule, the opportunity is there for the side to stay up.

After the season he just went through with Real Maryland, it would appear as though Trafford has gone from one tough situation to another, but Trafford himself believes he and a number of his Monarchs teammates learnt a lot from this season.

“Although we didn’t have success as a team,” Trafford said, “I think everyone involved came away having learned something, and hopefully myself and some other players can find success after a disappointing season.”

Trafford, who was with the Vancouver Whitecaps for the 2009 USL-1 season, certainly thinks his experience with the Monarchs helped pave the way for his new opportunity.

“I think I have become a better player as a result of my time in USL-2,” Trafford said. “RMFC allowed me to develop parts of my game and parts of myself that I couldn’t develop while I was at the Whitecaps. I was able to find a regular starting place at my preferred position, and also take on more of a leadership role. I have to tip my hat to Coach Anthony Hudson for bringing me in and having confidence in me. He also provided me with a different perspective on how to play this game, which I think helped me with my confidence and has prepared me during my time so far in Finland.

“It’s tough to find a place where you feel comfortable and a place that is suited to your game. I came away from USL-2 feeling like I had added an element that wasn’t there in Vancouver. And it led me here, to IFK, which is what I wanted to get out of the USL season, so in that respect I think my time in USL-2 has to be seen as a success.”

It may not be the EPL, but it is a hell of an achievement for a guy who had to play professional soccer at a high school football field in Rockville, Maryland. And, but for fans showing up and supporting the team, even that meager opportunity would not have been available.

Travesty

A few things at the outset:

DC United did not lose tonight's U.S. Open Cup semifinal against the Columbus Crew because of the refereeing of the match. United lost the game because they could not convert two beautiful chances on goal -- one from Andy Najar and one Dejan Jakovic -- and can not do enough in the attacking third to profit off dominating possession and slick ball movement.

Pablo Hernandez dives. He does so ridiculously, shamelessly, and most importantly, unnecessarily.

Pablo Hernandez also deserved the red card he received for kicking out at Danny O'Rourke.

With that out of the way, I watched the Crew's game against Santos Laguna and, while the refereeing was not good, much of what was complained about by Crew supporters appeared (to me) to be unjustified.

On the other hand, tonight represented the single worst refereeing performance that I have witnessed this season at RFK. And it does not make sense to me. I have seen games called by Chris Penso before (he was the head ref for DCU's US Open Cup game against Dallas where he tossed Onalfo -- justifiably) and while I might quibble with some calls, he has been generally a decent referee. Not tonight. Penso lost control of the match by repeatedly and egregiously applying different standards for fouls. Eddie Gaven dove as brazenly as Pablo Hernandez in the game and yet received calls for almost every theatrical dive. Crew players went through United players on challenges and with elbows up on 50/50 balls and fouls were repeatedly waved off. At times Penso would glare at the United player on the turf. The most ridiculous moment for me came in extra time when Hedjuk launched two studs up tackles immediately in front of our seats -- a tackle that had earned yellow cards when similarly made by a DC United player early in the game. Not only was there no foul, let alone card, awarded, Hedjuk rolled around on the ground after missing the second tackle with a cramp and Penso stopped play.

I think it is generally poor form to question the integrity or impartiality of a referee, but Penso's performance, a referee who hails from Ohio, was so awful and one-sided tonight that it is impossible to believe that he is that incompetent.

And I have no doubt that others perhaps saw things differently. But we sit on the field at field level and have the same line of sight as the referee. What Penso saw was often the mirror image of what we saw. Some calls are close and our perception of events might be wrong. But it happened so often and so ridiculously tonight that I don't think I am wrong on this. It was consistent, it was frequent, and it was obvious. And the one word that each of us had on our lips while exiting the stands will be familiar to Crew supporters: "travesty"

Ya ne znhaio

More proof I know nothing:

Luke Varney scores in his first run out with Blackpool.

Perhaps another of the EPL favorites for relegation ought to spare a thought for the rest of the Charlton striker cast-offs: Izale McLeod's available.

Chris Dickson, alas, now plies his trade in the lower divisions in Cyprus.

The Premier League Paradigm

The British tabloids are afire with the vultures circling Aston Villa. Aston Villa is the only American-owned club in the EPL that doesn't seem to be disgracing Americans and Martin O'Neill's squad was fun to watch. Now with O'Neill gone and Randy Lerner trying to make the club more fiscally sound, Villa's hopes for a Champions League run seem to have evaporated.

'Arry has now come to sniff around the brilliantly talented Ashley Young. Should Young leave, Villa will go from battling for continental football to fighting to stave off relegation. And if expectations are lowered from success to survival, well, Bob Bradley's the guy to deliver for you (perhaps explaining how BB has now become the bookies' favorite for the job).

If Ashley Young leaves, Spurs are apparently not able to offer a more lucrative pay packet... just an increase from 65,000 pounds a week to 70 grand a week.

Unbelievably, a mere 5,000 pound a week increase in Mr. Young's wages would constitute half of the highest total salary paid for any player on the EPL's new entrants from Blackpool. A 10,000 pound a week salary ceiling in the EPL seems insane, but if the club is focused on investing in the team for the purposes of long-term success (an important objective as any Pompey supporter can currently attest to) then there is little to criticize. Still, the austerity leads to bizarre results.

Like, for example, Charlton needs an additional striker. Nigel Clough doesn't rate former Charlton flameout Luke Varney. Enough so that he is willing to let Varney go with only one fully fit attacking player on the squad -- the American teenager Conor Doyle. Charlton is reported to be one of the few teams interested in giving Varney another shot, because, who knows, maybe he'd be effective on the wing or up front in League 1.

So, there it is, a deal that makes sense. Charlton have a need, Derby County want to rid themselves of an underpeforming squad player on the books, it is a match made in lower league football. Except, the Tangerines are also on the lookout for someone who can put the ball in the back of the net. And what better candidate then . . . Luke Varney? That can't be right.

With Charlton reported to be close to wrapping up the signature of Dagenham's Paul Benson, most Addicks would appear to be happy with an outcome of Varney going elsewhere and a proven goalscorer (even if only in League 2) on his way in. It is, as they say, a result.

Cups

Cup competitions elicit conflicting emotions in me. For Charlton, I am nonplussed about quick exits from the Carling Cup, the FA Cup and something called the Johnstone Paint Trophy. Getting back to England's second division is all that matters and insofar as any of these competitions distract from that essential goal, better they be gone and forgotten. But the actual losing to lower league and non-league teams is fairly embarrassing and not terribly heartening.

For DC United, on the other hand, the U.S. Open Cup offers the club's only real shot at glory. United has, of late, shined in the competition and the Cup has provided the most entertainment on offer to supporters over the last three seasons.

For the lower division teams in Scotland and England that we are connected to through player and kit sponsorships, the Cup competitions provide the only possible opportunities we have to see a match televised. Last season, Accrington Stanley's improbable FA Cup run gave us the chance to see them on the FSC; a pleasant surprise even if the result was disappointing. Stanley's upset of the Championship side Doncaster netted the club a second round Carling Cup match with the Toon at home today and, although Stanley bowed out of the competition, they did so after putting up a good fight. A late Sean Hessey strike gave Stanley the opportunity to equalize but Chris Turner's shot went awry and Newcastle moved on.

In the league cup in Scotland, two lower division teams took the scalps of SLP squads in the second round of the CIS Insurance Cup. Avoiding the Drop's Fuse's Ross County knocked out St. Mirren on penalty kicks and our own Raith Rovers forced Hamilton Academical -- which lost to Ross County in the second round of the Cup last year -- out on Tuesday.

Accounts from Stark's Park indicate that The Living Legend Gregory Tade may have missed a sitter and later failed to convert a penalty, but in a knockout Cup competition it does not matter how many goals you win by, only that you advance.

Ross County and Raith join three other second division sides (Falkirk, Dunfermline Athletic, and Queen of the South) and one third division side (Brechin City) in the final 16 of the competition.

Raith has got off to a roaring start in their league campaign, taking all nine points from the first three fixtures with a combined scoreline of 9 to 1 (with new recruit John Baird accounting for four of those league goals). Promotion back to the SPL for the second time in the club's history is undoubtedly more important than progress in the CIS Insurance Cup, but I am certain that all the club's supporters don't care to differentiate. Good times are good times. Let them roll on.

Let it rain

Fatherhood continues to offer unexpected surprises. We are just back from Nationals Park after watching Carlos Zambrano put in a serviceable performance. Tyler Colvin and Starlin Castro also showed why hope will spring yet again in 2011. Watching the Cubs actually play decently was not the surprise -- the fact that our two-year old enjoyed herself at the game and danced around every time it drizzled down was awesome. We were able to enjoy eight innings of baseball before I headed off mom's complaints of keeping the little one out too late by leaving (before our little girl asked to leave; her parting words: "Bye Bye Chicago Cubs, See You Later!"). We were also spared Carlos Marmol's nervy ninth inning.

Walking from the metro station to the stadium, our daughter was skipping to the game. She must genuinely enjoy the prospect of getting into ballparks, because she was similarly pumped when going to RFK. After pulling off the East Capitol exit onto the straightaway to the stadium, she started clapping and singing to herself "we're going to a soccer game, a soccer game."

Most DC United supporters who post their thoughts on the internets have pulled no punches opining how awful the team has played, how poorly the front office has performed, and how dire the team's stadium situation is. There is no question that it has been a bad season. The reputation of a number of the players formerly held in high esteem by the club's supporters has taken a hit and management is openly mocked, but, truth be told, I have enjoyed going to games this year much more than last season. It is not just the revelatory play of Andy Najar and the quick development of Bill Hamid. Just as importantly, it is all the things the club has done to make the experience more enjoyable for fans.

There is simply no question that I will renew our season tickets for next year. The only real question is how many more tickets I will have to budget for. We use every ticket we can. In response to a undeniable problem, the food has improved at the stadium (Ledo Pizza is a particular favorite for the little one, as are all the ice cream choices). ATM service is better. We are extremely grateful for the continued focus by the team on insuring that we can take our daughter to the stadium to a safe and friendly environment. When a drunk fan got too aggressive during the Milan exhibition match, security quickly defused the situation while reasonably providing the fan an opportunity to compose himself and enjoy the rest of the game.

The club has also done quite a bit to make sure that the players and staff are seen in the community. The opening welcome for Coach Onalfo at Black Finn's was great. As was this year's Meet the Team Day. The team publicizes well public appearances by the players and, for their part, the players seem to meet this responsibility with some enthusiasm. Team officials also make sure that at least some players make themselves available after every game for autographs; something that is immensely important to every family of casual fans who have sat around us during this season (it was a bit surprising to see Bill Hamid initially decline to take a sharpie from a DC United staffperson on Sunday after his clean sheet, but I was heartened to see the young man think better of it, grab the marker, and wade in towards all the kids awaiting signatures on Family Day).

As season ticket holders, Sunday's game represented our allocation of Field Passes and this was also a nice and wholly unnecessary touch. The team has not asked us to pay for the Milan or Pompey friendlies, nor have they asked us to pitch in more for U.S. Open Cup matches at RFK and they went even further by giving season ticket holders the field pass opportunity without additional charge. Being on the field to watch practice is a neat, albeit fairly boring experience. Just getting to see the players up close running through drills -- watching, for example, Hamid come out for crosses hit by Troy Perkins -- was fascinating (to me). For our daughter, she got to meet Freedom, Screech, Slapshot and other DC area mascots up close.

The mascots alone were enough to get her through the game. When it began to pour down, she simply curled up under a poncho and went to sleep until the second half.

For the adults, we were treated to a solid DC United performance. Allsopp slotted home his opportunities -- something that United strikers haven't done very much this season. Boskovic and Hernandez directed the game well through the center of the field and were complemented nicely by Najar's forays forward. The team looked committed. The introduction of Stephen King for Boskovic with over half an hour to go in the game made the match closer than it needed to be, but the game was still comfortable for United with Hamid having little to do.

Perhaps I am just wired differently, but Sunday afternoon at RFK provided a nice outing for my family. We enjoyed the game, we enjoyed cheering for United, we enjoyed the result, and we enjoyed the atmosphere. Not much more could be asked of the club.

Back to School

Part 2 of the soccer weekend was the University of Maryland's exhibition opener against St. John's at Ludwig Field. A quick check with the two-year old (are you sure you want to watch more soccer?) and we were off.

Again, Towson is a long way from College Park, and we did not get to campus until the second of the three 35 minute periods played. The Red Storm begin the season with a number 17 preseason ranking; the Terps began at number 6. The game itself was not close.

At first blush, Maryland seems like it is going to be a very, very good team. We missed Greg Young's goal off of a London Woodberry cross and we missed the link up between Jason Herrick and Karou Forbess that resulted in a Casey Townsend goal.

But what we did see was Ethan White impose himself and dominate in the center of the backline. We watched a right side featuring an aggressive London Woodberry at fullback and Sunny Jane flying down the wing (at one point in the third period, Jane attacked the Red Storm defense with five or six stepovers into the goal box). We saw a very strong change of pace option up front with Jordan Cyrus and Matt Oduaran.

In short, we saw a lot of good things, all of which bode well for the upcoming season. The team appears to be even better than we would have anticipated.