Podcasts
Is Ownership to Blame for some Sporting KC Struggles?
The hiring of Mike Burns as Sporting Director has opened a larger conversation around frugality from ownership that may have cost the team a title.
For the Glory KC is back with the 92nd episode of the show!
Sporting Kansas City had a busy week both on and off the field. Primarily, this week’s episode is focused on the off the field matters due to recording schedules. We’re heading out of the country early in the week and may be taking a brief hiatus from podcasting, so be sure to subscribe to the podcast to catch when the next episode comes out.
This week, Sporting KC introduced Mike Burns as their new Sporting Director and he and Peter Vermes covered a lot of interesting topics at the introductory press conference. There were budgets (the largest ever), staffing updates, player signing plans and more.
Then things got really interesting when Sam McDowell of the KC Star sat down with managing owner Mike Illig and Peter Vermes to get deeper into the weeds. He has a must-read article outlining the utter lack of a budget since 2020. It sheds a new light into who is to blame for how things have worked around Sporting KC the last couple years. Vermes isn’t guilt free, but Sheena and I go over the ways things have been handled that were beyond Peter’s control.
I’m personally thankful for this ownership group rescuing the Kansas City Wizards and doing an amazing rebrand, building a soccer specific stadium and all the success they’ve brought over the years. But that story Vermes told about ownership passing on a DP striker in 2018 because they were already in first place, makes me think there would be a third star about the crest if things were handled differently.
This is quite the story from Vermes about being in first place and trying to get a player a few years ago but ownership backed out.
'Why would we do this, we're in first place?' – #SportingKC owners, apparently.
According to PV, they've learned from that mistake. pic.twitter.com/LIy7vq0P0j
— Chad Smith (@PlayFor90) July 3, 2024
The hope is, going forward, ownership gives the budget and gets out of the way and lets the soccer minds handle things. And if they are given a fair shot to fix some things they weren’t given a fair shot at before, and they don’t fix it, then ownership can step in and make a change.
Listen in for all the details and quotes.
We also briefly discuss Sporting KC’s loss to the Colorado Rapids but move quickly to the Missouri side of the border to talk the Kansas City Current. Unfortunately, the losing on the Kansas side trickled over and the KC Current’s unbeaten run came to a rather uninspiring end against the Orlando Pride. The fans in the stadium were lighting up the ref, but was it really the refs fault?
Plus, a fun little Temwa Chawinga/Vlatko Andonovski story that is inspiring for KC’s future.
In the Digital Crawl, go quite a bit deeper than usual on a few topics, including:
- USMNT bombing out of Copa America
- Is the USMNT good enough?
- Does Gregg Berhalter lose his job?
- Logan Ndenbe injury update!
- SKC II results and an all-star call-up
- CPKC stadium hosting the NWSL Championship
- Lots of little KC Current stories
- And Bradley Carnell is fired in St. Louis
Here is a rundown of topics (and approximate start times):
- KC Current Media Game – 2:18
- Does Sporting KC have an ownership problem? – 8:29
- SKC lose to the Rapids in Colorado – 46:33
- KC Current’s streak is over vs Orlando – 55:58
- Digital Crawl – 1:17:48
Upcoming Schedule:
- Sporting KC vs. FC Dallas – Sunday, July 7th @ 7:30 PM
- SKC II at Tacoma Defiance – Sunday, July 7th @ 9:00 PM
- Sporting KC vs. FC Dallas (US Open Cup) – Wednesday, July 10th @ 8:00 PM
- Sporting KC at San Jose Earthquakes – Saturday, July 13th @ 9:30 PM
- SKC II at The Town – Sunday, July 14th @ 7:00 PM
We recently turned on “Listener Support.” Don’t feel obligated, but if you have a few spare bucks and are a fan of the pod, we’d appreciate your donation.
As a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled dot com is giving away 30 days of their amazing, independent American soccer coverage for free. If you decide you want to turn that into a paid membership, they’ll give you 10 percent off too. Just follow this link!
Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.
You can find For the Glory KC wherever you get your podcasts. Search “For the Glory KC” and be sure to subscribe! Here are some helpful links:
Spotify | Apple | Amazon | iHeartRadio | Castbox |
Be sure to like and subscribe to the podcast. Five-star ratings and reviews will help others find the pod. On Spotify you can review on the mobile app by clicking the three dots. On Apple Podcasts, it’s much easier. If it’s not quite five-star worthy yet, feel free to let us know in the comments or on Twitter (@PlayFor90 or @ForTheGloryKC). Sheena essentially runs our FTG Twitter, so that’s a great way to get her takes.
Also, you can find the podcast on all the social media platforms: @ForTheGloryKC on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook or you can email us at ForTheGloryKC at Gmail.
Transcript from Revoldiv available after about 24 hours. Click the link, then search “For the Glory KC” for a free transcription (or you can transcribe any podcast you’d like).
Recent Comments