So the latest news out of ThornWorld is:
If you haven’t been following how this blew up over at Stumptown, the tl:dr is;
- The news broke.
- Obviously, losing two centerbacks and signing only one looks careless, so
- Lots of angst ensued, especially when Sophia Smith appeared to respond angrily on the socials, reigniting the perennial “Ohnoes! Smith will flee!” paranoia that is endemic in ThornsFanLand, and also
- Opening the “why/who did this” can of “GM? WTF?” worms the lack of real information from the club has kept current. At which point
- Someone named “Sarah Teubner” tweeted out something that suggested that current Thorns “director of recruiting, who’s also the youth sporting director and academy liaison” was the “assistant GM” responsible, leading to the inference that
- Mike Smith – who is listed at those positions – was, in fact, the ACTING general manager, which, however,
- Was strongly denied by one of the Stumptown commentors who has had correct inside information from the club in the past, who, instead,
- Suggested that the “Acting GM” is some sort of hydra-headed combination of LeBlanc, Smith, and Carlos Martinez-Gloria, current Director of Soccer Operations.
To make this all even weirder, the original “Mike Smith is Acting GM” source, Teubner, changed her Twitter profile minutes after tweeting the initial suggestion.
When she first did her byline identified her as associated with the Thorns Academy. Now…
Are we deep enough in tinfoil-hat land yet?
Here’s the thing.
I handed Hubly a solid “D” for 2024, with the comment:
“Can she fix this? Hubly’s relatively young so, yes she could. Will she? She didn’t last season after a generally poor 2023. Admittedly, playing KenBall made everyone look pedestrian. But this was making dumbass rookie mistakes, so fixing it wasn’t rocket science. Hubly is a veteran professional, and that’s a fundamental skill. No excuses.”
Hubly is practically the Platonic Ideal of “replacement-grade”. On a well-constructed squad she’d be depth, third (or lower!) on the centerback chart. She’s a squad player.
But everyone needs squad players! So what this comes down to is:
Did Hubly or her agent ask for stupid free agent money? If so, it makes perfect sense for LeBlancSmithMartinez-Gloria (or whoever…) to let her walk. A bidding war for Kelli Hubly? GTFO! That’s Dumb Business 101 (provided you DO have a replacement-grade centerback signing in the works or nearby…).
But, Did she make a perfectly sensible contract ask and the Acting GM(s) blew her off? Especially knowing – as they should know – that if Hubly is a squad favorite, an emotional-support-centerback and locker room glue it’s a net negative for the club? That’s Dumber Business.
The REAL problem with this is we don’t – and won’t – ever know. Which gives rise to stuff like this: “…this was a personal decision from (LeBlanc), not one based on what’s best for the club. Disturbing (to say the least) that she still had input, let alone the power to make the decision. Owners are clueless….Buckle up cause of what I’m hearing about the next GM hire is true 😬”
Which is something we’ve heard before, when Natalia Kuikka was let drift into free agency then lost to Chicago. The same sort of thing that we’ve been hearing about how “LeBlanc is Bad-at-GMing”.
This club radio-silence that produced this Kremlinological social-media/rumor-mill tea leaf reading is just foolish. It foments fan angst without gaining the club security.
Talk to the fanbase! Hold a weekly presser! Give out what you can…”we’re interviewing (number) GM candidates but have one we’re looking hard at…we worked with Kelli and her agent but couldn’t agree on contract terms that worked for both sides…”
How fucking hard is that?
Plus it keeps the Thorns in the news, and whets fan appetite for the coming season.
I swear. New owners and all, sometimes I think this club still never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity.
C’mon, Bhathals! This should be easy as selling cold beer on a hot matchday!
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Agree completely! STF is getting annoying because we have no news so it is all rumors and speculation. In the military we were cautioned “Consider the source;” but to your point we are getting nothing from the organization. Zilch!
On Hubly I agree, with the backline we have letting her go seems pretty crazy, but then we don’t know what is going on. For all we know they could be tying the bow on signing Naomi Girma and then everybody will be happy.
I get the panic. In the Army we were taught that in the absence of information from the Army sources the GIs would invent the most nutzo paranoid rumors, and that if left unchecked could lead to real morale breakdowns. So I don’t see the problem being Stumptown; the problem is the FO. If there IS no source, rumor and speculation will run riot.
Same with Hubs. Without knowing the circumstances we don’t know if it was good financial sense (she wanted more than she was worth and the FO has a replacement already picked out) or pretty crazy (no to both).
Again; it’s on the FO.
It is not that I think STF is annoying its that I am getting annoyed because I get lost in what you call “the social media tea reading,”
This is all on the front office and I have reached a point of I can’t look anymore. I have been checking in everyday hoping to see something. I think I will give up until January.
I had a good Christmas though. Happy New Year!
One thing that is driving the community crazy is that we simply don’t have a GM right now. If we had that, I could feel better about the lack of information because the assumption is that someone is piloting the ship. But since we are flailing about wondering if something will happen, all we can do is read into the tealeaves and social media posts and do our best to interpret them. Being on vacation helped, but now I’m left wondering if the Thorns are going to try running a 3 back defense with 3 CBs, one of which hasn’t played in a couple of years. Good times!
Based on the tea leaves I’m reading my guess is that, as I said in the post, that the club is “GMing by committee”; it’s some mashup of LeBlanc, Smith, Martinez-Gloria, and possibly even Norris and probably Gale. So there IS some sort of hands on the wheel…we just don’t know whose and the whole thing seems very pawky and unhandy.
Kind of “same difference” , but, yeah. Not really very promising.