Meta

Announcing BIR Email Notifications!

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With the big switchover from WordPress to my new webhost a couple weeks ago, one of the things I overlooked was my email subscription service. With the old site, this was taken care of automatically, so I never really had to do put any effort into it. After reading a bit more about how to run a legitimate big boy blog over the past few days, though, I realized this was something I needed to address.

Therefore, after some trial and testing, I’m happy to announce the simple yet effective BIR email notification system. By subscribing to this list you will receive an automatic notification whenever a new post goes up or an announcement is made.

To sign up, simply click here and enter your name and email address (or visit the ‘Subscribe’ page via the top bar OR fill out the form in the right sidebar).

Thank you for reading and for your continued support of the blog!

Andrew Goode

Where Are They Now?

Where Are They Now? 2016

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I haven’t done one of these in a while, so I’ll start it off with the highlight that motivated me to write this.

Tyler Arnone has begun his second season with Real Salt Lake’s USL affiliate and fired in this goal over the weekend:

He’s made the transition from attacking midfielder in college and with DCFC, to his current role as a defensive mid/right back.

Elsewhere in MLS, Kofi Opare has carved out a niche as a part-time starter for DC United, but his attempt to gain eligibility for the Canadian national team was unsuccessful because of a recent FIFA rule change.

Adam Bedell is currently a free agent. His last notable action came last fall when Orlando City loaned him out to Danish club HB Køge. He scored a hat trick on his debut and followed it up with a late winner in a DBU Cup match:

[Goal sequence begins at 0:45]

Wonder what the chances are that he’d be interested in a summer stint in Detroit to stay in shape…

Keith Lough continues his sojourn in the Scottish lower leagues, making his current home with Penicuik Athletic. His two goals from this current season:

Others

Fabio Pereira last turned out for Brazilian side Uberlândia Esporte. Joey Dillon continues his young career with Arizona United. Shawn Claud Lawson will play in the NPSL Midwest in 2016; unfortunately for Michigan Stars 🙁 Knox Cameron and Kevin Taylor will also play in City’s division this season – as part-timers for AFC Ann Arbor.

In happier news, Josh Rogers joins the City coaching staff as an assistant, and Bret Mollon may be right behind him. Finally, Will Mellors-Blair spurned the MLS Draft to pursue a playing career back in England. He also is the most positive and inspirational tweeter known to mankind:

wmbtweetz

end

Stats & Analysis

2016 Preseason Roster Analysis

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Much to my frustration, DCFC has been releasing player information at a snail’s pace this preseason. With my season preview due out in a month, it would be pointless for me to wait until the all the players have been announced to write a roster piece, only to turn around a week later and repeat what I said in the team portion of the preview. Therefore, I’m going ahead with all the info available to me at this particular moment (Sunday, March 27th), although there’s a pretty good chance that this piece will be outdated soon after it comes out. Oh well, on with the show.

As of today, the only players to have been announced are those who are returning to the club, so there aren’t any mysterious and exciting newcomers to introduce. If some of the rumors floating around are true, however, there will be much more to talk about a month from now. Here’s what we DO know (special thanks to Sean Grogan and his handy roster tracker):

FORWARD/STRIKER

Returners: Wade Allan, Tyler Channell

Key Departures: Will Mellors-Blair, Zach Myers, James Murphy

Position Overview: Arguably the position of greatest need, City loses the two best forwards to ever play for the club in Will Mellors-Blair and Zach Myers, who missed the 2015 season and will no longer play due to concussion concerns.

Consummate professional and team leader Wade Allan is back for his fifth year with the club, and I’m very interested to see if Tyler Channell’s tremendous progression in college will carry over into his second year in the NPSL. As a junior in 2014, he recorded a respectable 6 goals and 6 assists for SVSU, but he exploded as a senior this past fall, tallying 19 goals, 14 assists, and was named the D-II Midwest Player of the Year. Several other quality options will no doubt be added to the roster in the coming weeks, but Channell will get his fair share of playing time and may become a regular starter if he can maintain his current trajectory.

***[UPDATE 3/28/16]*** The club announced the signing of Jordan Kalk today. He played with Lansing United in 2014 and 2015 and led SVSU in goals this past season with 20. A very good pickup but more attackers are needed

WIDE MIDFIELD/WING

Returners: Cyrus Saydee, Jeff Adkins, Tyler Stephens

Key Departures: None

Position Overview: April is still a few days away, but City already has a quality starting midfield in place. Cyrus Saydee (now on Twitter!) can fit in virtually anywhere, but his home is at the wide left spot where he regularly embarrasses would-be tacklers with his dribbling and ball-control skills. The wider field at Keyworth should play into his strengths, giving him more space and time to operate. Cyrus + more time on the ball = bad times for defenders.

Jeff Adkins, now free of his Michigan Bucks purgatory, will provide pure speed and attacking ability on the right flank.

The position was a bit of a problem area in 2015 after the early season departure of Tommy Catalano, but a full year’s worth of Adkins would be a welcome solution.

Tyler Stephens can play at a number of spots in midfield and defense, but I’ve listed him at right mid for now. He began last season as a depth player but saw more and more time as the season went on.

CENTER MIDFIELD

Returners: Dave Edwardson, Troy Watson, Matt Ybarra

Key Departures: Latif Alashe, Kevin Taylor

Position Overview: Central midfield has become an area wanting for a bit more depth, but certainly not for quality. One slot will be filled by Dave Edwardson, my presumptive favorite to become team captain. The other will belong to Troy Watson, a complete unknown at this time last year who appeared in every match and quietly turned into a consistent starter and fan favorite for his quality defensive midfield play:

watson

Matt Ybarra is also back, meaning we’ll get plenty more use out of this video:

FULLBACK

Returners: Zach Schewee, Alex Isaevski (Injured Reserve)

Key Departures: None

Position Overview: The good news is that both of last season’s starting fullbacks return. The bad news is that only Zach Schewee will begin the season healthy. Alex Isaevski is currently recovering from a recent surgery, so it would be unrealistic to expect to him to see the field until the second half of the year at the earliest. Assuming Schewee slides back over to his natural left side, right back becomes a key area of immediate need.

CENTERBACK

Returners: Seb Harris

Key Departures: Josh Rogers

Position Overview: Not really enough data here. Seb Harris is back and will see plenty of time here and at right back. More bodies are obviously needed, and it would be nice if one of them was a vocal presence given the loss of Josh Rogers.

GOALKEEPER

Returners: 404 Players Not Found

Key Departures: ???

Position Overview: Ask again later. Bret Mollon may be coming back, he may be coming back strictly as an assistant coach, he may be injured, or he may be gone for good. Alex Bouillennec may or may not be coming back as well. It would be great to have at least one of them on the roster, but nothing is known at this point.

TEAM OVERVIEW

Every position is currently a position of need, but forward and goalkeeper are 1 and 1A in my estimation, followed closely by centerback and right back. I’d feel very good going into the season with the current starting midfield, and any further additions there would only bolster my confidence.

Ben Pirmann mentioned earlier that the club will be housing players (probably 4) again this season, so I’d expect to see some big splashes over the next several weeks since none of those players have been announced. 2016 may give us the most roster turnover we’ve had since City’s very first season, and given the club’s reputation now as compared to then, many of the new acquisitions should be of a high caliber and cause for excitement.

Meta

Hello Again

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Welcome to Boys In Rouge 3.0! A couple of weeks ago I decided, on a whim, to move my domain from WordPress to another webhost, thereby giving me total control over design, customization, advertising, and all other aspects of my site. The technical details aren’t very interesting, but what I’ve basically done is the internet equivalent of buying a home that I was renting.

All the posts I’ve ever made are completely intact, and I’ve re-grouped them all into new categories that should make them easier to find. You can click the “Categories” menu on the sidebar to view them, and the search function can be accessed by clicking the magnifying glass in the top right corner of the page.

If you’re a relative newcomer to Detroit City FC or BIR, I’d recommend checking out the posts in the “Story of the Club” category. There you’ll be able to read about all the significant matches, players, and moments from DCFC’s birth up to the present.

I started the blog because I wanted to express my thoughts and feelings about something that had become very special to me, but what kept me going and motivated me to do more was the incredibly positive response and words of encouragement that flooded in from the very beginning (and have continued).

It’s been a tedious, time-consuming, and sometimes deeply frustrating process to essentially rebuild the site and get it to look the way I wanted, but I feel it was worth it and I’m extremely happy with how it turned out. Thank you for reading and I look forward to seeing you all at Keyworth this summer when our beloved Le Rouge take on teams from seemingly every town in Michigan with a traffic light and a post office of its own.

DCTID, Allez Le Rouge, Rouge et Or Forevermore,

Andrew Goode

end

State of the Club

State of the Club 2016

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Previously:   SOTC 2014   SOTC 2015

About this time each year I like to take a big-picture look DCFC as a whole and the direction in which it’s headed. This year is a little different because, rather than just general thoughts and speculation, I have some actual hard numbers on which to base my opinions.

I’m speaking of course about the recent news that the Keyworth investment campaign drew pledges from 527 individuals totalling $741,250. From everyone I’ve talked to, I believe it’s safe to say that this number exceeded most peoples’ greatest expectations. Personally, I was elated when the $400k minimum was met, but to come within a hair of the upper goal of $750k is an absolute triumph.

The overwhelming success of the campaign is not only a testament to the incredible supporter base that the club has built over the past four years, I think it’s also a sign of its growing clout as an organization. A little less than a year ago, following the 3-0 Open Cup drubbing at the hands of the Bucks, one of the main points of discussion was how City had the fans and passion, but Dan Duggan had the investors and money.

With last year’s signing of Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers as the club’s first ever title sponsor and now this year’s wildly successful stadium investment campaign, however, we have some strong data points that suggest that City now has some financial muscle to go along with its rabid support.

If you divide the investment total of $741,250 by the number of investors (527), the average individual pledge comes out to a little over $1406. According to Alex Wright, there were even several five-figure investments made. It’s a far cry from the patronage of an Illitch or Gilbert, but it’s definite proof that not all of City’s supporters are broke 20 and 30-somethings as is often portrayed.

“I have a diverse and robust portfolio, including holdings in several Asian markets wooooo!!!”
“I have a diverse and robust portfolio, including holdings in several Asian markets wooooo!!!”

Success on the business side of things inevitably leads to the subject of jumping to a professional league. Whereas the big question a couple years ago was “If?” it’s evolved into a matter of “When?” and “Where?” Using all the information available to me, I’m ready to stick my neck out and make a prediction:

Year: 2020

League: NASL

I’ve long thought NASL would be the most logical next step for City, and I think it would take something significant to change that path. As I’ve mentioned before, the league seems to be the preference of a majority of supporters because it would provide us with the best balance of being on a bigger stage while allowing us to maintain our underdog, small-club ethos.

The USL is rapidly becoming a de facto MLS reserve league (if it isn’t already), and the issues with its parent organization are well-documented. Those issues aside, the amount of money needed to put a new team into MLS is staggering, and even if a sugar daddy/mama  could be found, there remains the hurdle of new stadium construction (see: Beckham, Miami). Putting THOSE issues aside, one should look at this week’s debacle concerning the re-branding of Minnesota United as a cautionary tale of how the league dictates to its members. I can only speak for myself, but playing at the “top level” is in no way worth it if you have to sell your soul and identity to get there.

Getting back to the matter at hand, there are two big developments to watch for in the near future. The first is stadium expansion. This year’s renovations to Keyworth and next year’s presumed installation of a new playing surface are obviously first on the docket, but if attendance continues to rise at its current rate, ownership may choose to augment the stadium and bring it to its maximum size of 10,000. This would give the club a plausibly-sized home ground in the event of a move up – the current average NASL stadium capacity is a tad over 13,000.

Second is the shift to full semi-pro status via the playing of players. This would end City’s reliance on college talent and serve as a stepping stone on the path to full professionalization. This isn’t a requirement to joining a pro league, but I think it would be a wise move as it would help to attract and identify players that could form part of that first pro squad and ease the transition between the NPSL and a higher division.

There are also two major prerequisites that are beyond the club’s immediate control. One is the USSF stipulation that all Division II clubs have an owner who is worth at least $20 million and controls at least a 35% stake. Second, and this isn’t by any means a given, the league has to actually want you. The current focus of the NASL appears to be the establishment of a west coast presence, but with one of its marquee clubs – the aforementioned Minnesota United – set to depart for MLS in the near future, there will be a Midwest void to fill. Detroit would be a logical replacement, but logic and American soccer don’t always go hand in hand.

In any case, what matters most is continuing to do what we do – creating our unique home atmosphere, bringing it to away matches, representing and supporting City in every strange and creative way possible. The success of the Keyworth investment campaign is just the latest in a long line of accomplishments that are the results of hard work and dedication. We’ve built the club we want, and the only thing to do is to keep building.

end