kevinfootes Posted August 27, 2006 Share Posted August 27, 2006 I konw that one game doesn't make a season, but how long does Donnigan have if SLU doesn't make the NCAAs this year? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetorch Posted August 27, 2006 Share Posted August 27, 2006 IMO he should've been gone already. The requisite excuse of his players leaving early for the pros doesn't explain his lack of any game planning. Not making the tourney this year could be a deathknell for the program. Unfortunately the team is not as talented as we were led to believe, losing our next 4 games is a very real possibility. Even with a poor showing in the non con SLU should still contend for the A-10 championship. That is not nearly good enough though, we should be contending for NCAA titles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billsboys Posted August 28, 2006 Share Posted August 28, 2006 >IMO he should've been gone already. The requisite excuse of >his players leaving early for the pros doesn't explain his >lack of any game planning. Not making the tourney this year >could be a deathknell for the program. Unfortunately the >team is not as talented as we were led to believe, losing >our next 4 games is a very real possibility. Even with a >poor showing in the non con SLU should still contend for the >A-10 championship. That is not nearly good enough though, >we should be contending for NCAA titles. Dan is the best coach and recruiter in the department. For some reason he put together a brutal non conference schedule. The point is to make the Ncaa's and then see what happends. He has a lot of young guy's out there. They will be fine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted August 28, 2006 Share Posted August 28, 2006 Did anyone see the game and have a report thanks Official Billikens.com sponsor of H Waldman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
courtside Posted August 28, 2006 Share Posted August 28, 2006 Skip, I was there. Not pretty. Before I discuss the game, glad to see we have the obligatory comments above....which usually consist of someone flying off the deep end and someone unrealistically positive. The truth usually is in the middle as in this case. If you are to rip Donigan, then you need to praise his first few years as head coach and his yrs recruiting as assistant....can't have it both ways. And to the other end, losing at home in opener to a much improved UIC is still unacceptable, period. The game: SLU lacks a creative playmaking midfielder, and a ball holding midfielder. And a top of line finisher. SLU played a TON of people....plenty of counted on veterans were yanked, and frankly deseverdly so. DiRaimondo played well....tough to find too many others. Several times in first half SLU had a lot of infighting and bickering, mostly DiRaimondo, Angus and Viviano...not a good sign. Angus' tackle late in first half was 1) late and 2) open boot, both feet....not a lot to say about it, it was dangerous and borderline red card, and he got one. Changed the game....however....up until that point SLU was uninspiring. Early second half SLU came out very strong....but where was it in first half??? Played well a man down....until UIC converted one of their handful of chances. Gasparovic did not play....Hemzagic was pulled early and often. Tim Ream and Jimmy Holmes played significant minutes...mostly uneventful...but they will be very good future players. Grazier played the full 90 I believe. SLU didn't control the midfield well enough....only offensive threeat was bringing it up through DiRaimondo who played on both left and right side and brought it up wide. His set piece serves were better than ever. Guffey almost had a header that banged off the bar on a corner. SLU does not have a lot of size other than him. Patterson was active later on...too little too late. Homles offers much needed speed....where SLU has a need. Still piecing together lots of players....the big game challenges will come quickly. Had SLU not played a man down for that long...they probably would have won the game, or at very least tied...but those are the breaks....certainly not going to judge after one game. .....I did like the effort to play less long balls forward. It was not a great start to season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billsboys Posted August 28, 2006 Share Posted August 28, 2006 I don't think my post was over the top. They played a man down half the game. Dan is the best coach and recruiter in the department. Thirdly, the non conference schedule is very tough and the team play's a lot of young guy's. Lastly, barring a major set back, we will win the conference and make the NCAA's. When you make the tournament anything can happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted August 28, 2006 Share Posted August 28, 2006 i would think that donnigan will head to siu. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLUBALLS Posted August 28, 2006 Share Posted August 28, 2006 Pretty much agree with what courside said. -Patterson: bench him. If a ball wasn't rolling to his feet or within 3 feet of him, he wasn't going to do anything. Give me a hungry freshman who will at least apply some pressure to the opponent's backline. You apply pressure to make it a bit more predictable for everyone else behind you. First Defender. Soccer 101. -Really liked the Hayes kid when he came on. Very composed for a freshman entering his first game. Much like Viviano in the back. -Why is Spiess taking any free/corner kicks? Those three straight two-foot high line drives he hit were pathetic. Just have Johnny D take them. -Wilmering was the man and impressed me with his leadership on the field, especially his vocal outburst asking veryone to give it their all in the last five minutes of the second half. -Like to see more of Wysnewski(sp) and Holmes up top just to see what might happen. Holmes didn't get a lot of balls straight to his feet or have enough space to expose people with his speed. He might have had a couple 10 yard runs but you only caught a brief glimpse of his speed. -We have no creative midfielder as courtside said and UIC's tall, lean, black center mid was exactly what SLU needs. -Ream had a few solid tackles but still made a couple errant passes. I still like him though as he just looks like he enjoys being on the defensive side of the ball, much like a forward who likes heading straight to goal. -All I want is some sort of passion in the kids who are playing. If we play 11 freshman, so be it. Someone has got to be hungry out there. I could have accepted a 1-0 loss being a man down, but the disengagement and disjointed play I witnessesd was hard to accept from SLU. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted August 28, 2006 Share Posted August 28, 2006 Dan is not even close to being the best coach in the department. While he is a good recruiter he is not the even the second best recruiter in the department. The top two recruiters in the department are clearly Shimmy and Champion. As for Donnigan overall, his tenure can best be described as a disater. He has taken a program that was a consistent top ten program, that has a soccer history similar to UCLA's in basketball, and turned it into a team that is now not even a tournament qualifier. All while having maybe the best on campus facility in the country. He should have been gone after last season. His tenure at SLU is the soocer version of Matt Dougherty tenure as b-ball coach at UNC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted August 28, 2006 Share Posted August 28, 2006 >His tenure at SLU is the soocer version of Matt Dougherty >tenure as b-ball coach at UNC. I just had that same thought the other day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Rich Posted August 28, 2006 Share Posted August 28, 2006 >I don't think my post was over the top. They played a man >down half the game. Dan is the best coach and recruiter in >the department. Thirdly, the non conference schedule is >very tough and the team play's a lot of young guy's. >Lastly, barring a major set back, we will win the conference >and make the NCAA's. When you make the tournament anything >can happen. THIS IS NOT AN ANTI SOCCER POST. BB your posts in support of Dan sound painfully similiar to the post in support of Brad the you deride with much enthusiasm. Your excuses for Dan, such as youth, are not acceptible for Brad. By making excuses for Dan, are you causing the soccer program to be mediocre? You would appear to be something of a hypocrite....... THIS CONCLUDES MY NON-ANTI SOCCER POST. PS I wouldn't know DD if I met him on the street and have no clue as to whether he's a good coach or not (much the same as Billsboys should feel about Brad) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted August 28, 2006 Share Posted August 28, 2006 thanks ... not a good result under any circumstance. I have been a DD proponent ... but if this season turns out without a decent trip to the NCAA tourney ... I may be doing an about face. We cannot continue to lose to teams that we should be beating rather easily, especially at home. Official Billikens.com sponsor of H Waldman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinfootes Posted August 29, 2006 Author Share Posted August 29, 2006 Praise him all you want. The last couple of years have been bad and this year is off to a bad start. SLU fans have about 40 years of being a ranked team and a national power. A .500 record can't be tolerated. As somebody else mentioned, they have the best facility in the country. Since you usually only play 18-20 games, each one counts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lobo Posted August 31, 2006 Share Posted August 31, 2006 The past 3-4 years DD has not put a winning team on the field. His teams seem to lack cohesiveness, consistency and the desire to win. SLU probably has the best college record in the country and under DD it is slowly being pissed away -- intolerable. If he dose not make it to the NCAA tournament (which I feel he will not) then he should be released. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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