Post by SpaceSocaPlayaX on Dec 15, 2013 12:17:59 GMT 8
After having a few days to reflect on the Malditas' misadventure at the 27th SEA Games, I've come to the conclusion that this journey was doomed from the very beginning.
Backtrack to the onset....Most of these girls arrived later than expected, not because of the NCAA Post-season or Academics, but because their flight tickets were either cancelled or voided while they were at their respective airports. This happened to almost all the girls coming from the states. Unfortunately I have yet to figure out the reasoning behind this, whether it was on Nierras, the PFF, or some other inside influence. Either way, it looks unbelievably incompetent. Whoever was behind that should be embarrassed and be relieved of their duties immediately.
So now these girls have missed out on a day or 2 days of training/preparations because of this debacle.
Fast forward to Manila Camp....With most of the girls now in the Philippines, you would think the focus would purely be on the training, working on in-game tactics, basically getting the team chemistry back....Well, not exactly. Some of it was. The other half was spent doing PR appearances. Melmac Sports' head Mel Macasaet had this brilliant idea of having the girls run around (like they weren’t doing enough of that already), meeting up with Globe's CEO Ernest Cu, Toby's Sports' President Toby Claudio, and Senator Pia Cayetano. Now, I'm all for making the Public Relation rounds, but not at the expense of team preparation.
Speaking of which, the training was very "impaired" and instead of doing any actual teaching or coaching, Nierras would just yell throughout the entire session for the sake of possibly hearing his own voice. I mean, he was joking around with the players. It’s clearly shown on the videos posted on the team’s Facebook page. The team focus wasn't evident.
The overall schedule itself was disorganized and chaotic. Everything was done last minute. After most of the evening training sessions, instead of going home and resting, the girls would have to wait for Nierras to deal with his other “issues” (Stallion-related) before heading back to the condo, which was anywhere from an hour to 3 hour wait. Again, I’ve said this before in a prior post….Being a National Team Head Coach is a full-time job. How Nierras can find the time to deal with his UFL team’s “problems” while dealing with the most important competition for the Malditas is beyond me.
This would ultimately lead to the girls questioning his leadership.
In Myanmar....At this point, the “rift” between the girls and Nierras has surfaced. Some of the girls have already expressed their displeasure with the tactics being implemented, even going as far as ignoring portions of it.
Things came to extreme blows during the Vietnam game, when a clearly shown on-the-field shouting altercation between Nierras and forward Jesse Shugg intensified, prompting the outspoken coach to make a highly questionable substitution, removing both Shugg and Monika Lee from the game.
We can only imagine if there was any additional altercations in the locker room after the game.
The bottomline is...Nierras has been "exposed". With his huge ego, his unconvincing tactics and blatant favoritism towards certain players (I’ll let you guess who I’m referring to), he has lost the complete respect and trust of the girls. They have zero belief in his ability to coach. The guy is cheap. This is something I don't think he will ever recover from.
I hope the Philippine Football Federation, in particular the PFF president Nonong Araneta, General Secretary Atty. Ed Gastanes and Technical Development Department Head Aris Caslib, will conduct a thorough evaluation on Nierras’ performance (on and off the field), not only during the Southeast Asian Games, but also during the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers and the AFF Women’s Championships.
If the Azkals head coach Michael Weiss has to be subjected to these standard formalities, then I think our Women’s National Team head coach should be no exception.
I believe the overwhelming evidence will show that it’s time for a new voice to take charge of the Women’s National Team. Nierras has had his opportunity, now it's time for a more deserving coach to get theirs.
Backtrack to the onset....Most of these girls arrived later than expected, not because of the NCAA Post-season or Academics, but because their flight tickets were either cancelled or voided while they were at their respective airports. This happened to almost all the girls coming from the states. Unfortunately I have yet to figure out the reasoning behind this, whether it was on Nierras, the PFF, or some other inside influence. Either way, it looks unbelievably incompetent. Whoever was behind that should be embarrassed and be relieved of their duties immediately.
So now these girls have missed out on a day or 2 days of training/preparations because of this debacle.
Fast forward to Manila Camp....With most of the girls now in the Philippines, you would think the focus would purely be on the training, working on in-game tactics, basically getting the team chemistry back....Well, not exactly. Some of it was. The other half was spent doing PR appearances. Melmac Sports' head Mel Macasaet had this brilliant idea of having the girls run around (like they weren’t doing enough of that already), meeting up with Globe's CEO Ernest Cu, Toby's Sports' President Toby Claudio, and Senator Pia Cayetano. Now, I'm all for making the Public Relation rounds, but not at the expense of team preparation.
Speaking of which, the training was very "impaired" and instead of doing any actual teaching or coaching, Nierras would just yell throughout the entire session for the sake of possibly hearing his own voice. I mean, he was joking around with the players. It’s clearly shown on the videos posted on the team’s Facebook page. The team focus wasn't evident.
The overall schedule itself was disorganized and chaotic. Everything was done last minute. After most of the evening training sessions, instead of going home and resting, the girls would have to wait for Nierras to deal with his other “issues” (Stallion-related) before heading back to the condo, which was anywhere from an hour to 3 hour wait. Again, I’ve said this before in a prior post….Being a National Team Head Coach is a full-time job. How Nierras can find the time to deal with his UFL team’s “problems” while dealing with the most important competition for the Malditas is beyond me.
This would ultimately lead to the girls questioning his leadership.
In Myanmar....At this point, the “rift” between the girls and Nierras has surfaced. Some of the girls have already expressed their displeasure with the tactics being implemented, even going as far as ignoring portions of it.
Things came to extreme blows during the Vietnam game, when a clearly shown on-the-field shouting altercation between Nierras and forward Jesse Shugg intensified, prompting the outspoken coach to make a highly questionable substitution, removing both Shugg and Monika Lee from the game.
We can only imagine if there was any additional altercations in the locker room after the game.
The bottomline is...Nierras has been "exposed". With his huge ego, his unconvincing tactics and blatant favoritism towards certain players (I’ll let you guess who I’m referring to), he has lost the complete respect and trust of the girls. They have zero belief in his ability to coach. The guy is cheap. This is something I don't think he will ever recover from.
I hope the Philippine Football Federation, in particular the PFF president Nonong Araneta, General Secretary Atty. Ed Gastanes and Technical Development Department Head Aris Caslib, will conduct a thorough evaluation on Nierras’ performance (on and off the field), not only during the Southeast Asian Games, but also during the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers and the AFF Women’s Championships.
If the Azkals head coach Michael Weiss has to be subjected to these standard formalities, then I think our Women’s National Team head coach should be no exception.
I believe the overwhelming evidence will show that it’s time for a new voice to take charge of the Women’s National Team. Nierras has had his opportunity, now it's time for a more deserving coach to get theirs.