PST: Soler canned over bad performance reviews

Dear Erik Soler,
Don?t let the door hit you on the way out.
Here?s a case of Red Bull for your troubles,
Anonymous

That is basically the executive summary of a story on BigAppleSoccer.com that cites league sources saying the former New York Red Bulls sporting director and general manager lost his job because of poor performance reviews.

As the story goes, Gerard Houllier ? head of global soccer for the brand ? started asking questions. From the story:

The questions were directed at management-level individuals within the New York organization and dealt with the approachability of Soler, if he was ?hands on? in the office, what the morale of the staff was like and even ?How often was he in the office??

In the words of one source, Soler ?got buried? in the responses from the staff, especially in terms of his work ethic and performance. There was also an apparent backlash to the spending of the franchise and the lack of returns on the field and in the stands. The Red Bulls have yet to win a major trophy, a shocking statistic given that they were one of the league?s inaugural franchises in 1996.

It?s fair to ask questions, but this does seem like a bit of a hit job. (As a Red Sox fan, the story reminds me a little bit of how the Boston Globe invariably runs a negative story about whatever manager the Sox ownership recently fired.)

Alexi Lalas has an opinion about how it?s all going down, with which we agree somewhat:

Practically speaking, however, that?s an impossibility, but we wouldn?t be shocked if Soler feels like he got the short end of the can. You wonder: Does he want the team to win MLS Cup this year to prove he could put together a roster or is he hoping they fall flat without him? Regardless, we wish the best for everyone in the situation. It?s not pretty and we?d rather stop writing about it.

Source: http://prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/18/so-long-and-thanks-for-nothing-erik-soler/related/

tulsa news scalloped potatoes the ten commandments charlton heston moses tulsa shooting doug fister