I really like how he has shaken things up too. The squad we had last year (as a whole) clearly wasn't good enough as the results showed. Like OldFan says, its too early yet to know if the right changes were made but I am optimistic.

I like the appearance that Rennie is bringing in 'his' players to fit 'his' style. He appears to be responsible for this year's squad and results. Last year it seemed that TS was bringing in players for TT to work with and it was hard to tell if the players that were brought in, were the players that TT really wanted.

Aside from Barbara, I think most of the guys he's bringing in from the Railhawks are guys he believes do things the right way, and we're most adept at adjusting to his tactics/style.

Therefor he knows he'll have guys in training that will do things how he wants them to be done, and can shown others what is expected of them......they also providide great pressure on the starters ahead of them, to buy into Rennie's system, as they know there are guys right behind them, willing to play the style he requires, if they aren't willing to do so.

He's certainly got no intention of just handing anyone a free spot.....even when speaking of the acquisition of Barbara's rights, he referenced him coming off the bench.

The reason we did shite last year was due to really poor management and coaching. Looking at our squad compared to others in MLS and it wasn't that far behind some teams that made the playoffs, the main problem was a lack of depth at the back and midfield, all issues that rennie has addressed. I am fairly confident that we'll do well this season, i think we'll go close to the playoffs and with a little luck might just sneak in their. The main thing that will do us in this year is the fixture changes, meaning we play the west more which is clearly the stronger coast at the moment. If it had have been a balanced schedule I'd be putting money on us now to make the playoffs.

^I agree with that, but I would measure success more on winning the Vs Cup and/or the Cascadia Cup. I fear this is where we'll fall short. Carolina never did much in the US Open Cup under Rennie.

saltybugR said: the argument that the Caps will play more games with western team-- which is a stronger division in MLS-- due an unbalanced schedule and hence, make it more difficult to make the playoffs is a worthy point of view... BUT the Caps will be doing far less traveling and that should more than makeup for playing more games against the stronger west teams-- add 2 more quality MF and the Caps can make a run for the playoffs

All of our oppoents will have less travel as well so I don't think that our lessed travel will give us any help.

Seems to act decisively. :)

Chris said:

ynwasouthside said: ^I agree with that, but I would measure success more on winning the Vs Cup and/or the Cascadia Cup. I fear this is where we'll fall short. Carolina never did much in the US Open Cup under Rennie.

I couldn't disagree more with this. Measuring success on a 4 or 6 game tournament? You're going to see weird things happen based solely on the sample size. That's the problem with determining champions in a playoff. You could have the flu sweep through the Caps dressing room in early May. Dave Gantar could get assigned to all of our games. Any number of things could happen that could see an upset in in a 2-leg semi or final. Over the course of a 34 game season, however, these things tend to balance out. A playoff spot is a vastly better indicator of the club's success than a win streak in May.

I could be wrong, but I think you're talking about measuring improvement. And I agree with this.

My comment was simply that making the playoffs, but missing out on the Champions League and/or consolation of the Cascadia Cup would not feel as good for me, as if things go the other way around.

Let's face it, TFC, Montreal and FCE are not very good. We should take this trophy.

To each their own, I guess. If you don't make the playoffs in MLS, you're not a very good team. I'd rather see the team be consistently good enough to be top 5 in the conference.

As for Carolina not being very good in the US Open Cup, I believe they only appeared in the tournament twice under Rennie, and likely would've been facing tough opposition. He probably didn't prioritize the tourney as much as he will the V's Cup, because the path to victory led through places like Seattle.

V's cup and the Cascadia will certainly be priorities for Martin.

I'll be surprised if he doesn't bring us one of the two this year, and a playoff spot.

(#)confidence.

I want them to be competitive in those tournaments, but if they lose I won't necessarily see it as a failure.

Yup, agreed Martin Rennie has been very busy this off season. All these new players seem to have Rennie's fingerprints all over them which makes me wonder just what the fuck is Tom Soehn doing these days?

Royalcity said: makes me wonder just what the fuck is Tom Soehn doing these days?

That's not a new thing, either.

Montana said: We'll be in the playoffs. Book it.

My expectations are basically the same, a challenge for a playoff spot is fair in my opinion.

I just want to share a quick thought on something about Martin Rennie. As we know, Jarju's contract was terminated earlier today. After a bunch of people claimed the front office had more of an input/influence on player signings and who stays and goes than Rennie, we can now say this is probably not true. This appears to be Rennie's team, and this excites me for one reason only, we have a manager with balls and that's massively important. Coaches/managers who are gritty and say it like it is are what bring teams instant success.

Let's take Juventus as an example. The last few years, we've gone through quite a few managers since Calciopoli (Ranieri, Ferrara, Zaccheroni, Del Neri) and they lacked one thing: A winning mentality, leadership, and not taking the s**t from anyone. In comes Antonio Conte, who a lot of people doubted because he was a young, inexperienced manager. Our team on paper looks inferior to the Milans and Inters of the league, yet here we sit top of the table half way through the season and have the longest undefeated streak in club history.

If you listen to this guy and see what his philosophy is, you see that this guy is similar to Martin Rennie, this is why I expect a significant turnaround for the Vancouver Whitecaps. We have a manager who cares, who has a great staff backing him up, he isn't a pushover, and most of all, he has the ability to build his team.

Say what you want, a good team starts from the top. Our front office may have taken some criticism but they did a lot of things right as well. The coach is what comes next. Without leadership from the gaffer, the team falls. That's a big reason why we struggled last year. Now that we have a manager who fits all of the criteria along with a team who can contend for a playoff spot, I say we're almost set for the 2012 season.

Time to bump.....

Those watching his tactical choices..is he using the players most effectively ?

How are the players taking to rennie?

I'm very satisfied so far. Managers like this almost always succeed and most importantly, the players seem to love him and that makes a massive difference to morale and performance.

In Rennie We Trust.

Agreed ... in this on-demand world we push for too much now. Fact is that I'm going to, try and, give Rennie at least 10 games to prove himself. Not only will he need all of pre-season, and the first few games, but he also needs time to fix anything he gets wrong the first time.

The thing people need to remember is that he's not going to be perfect, no one is, but the measure of the man will be he's ability to learn from mistakes and correct them. If we (and the organization) give him the time to do that, then we can build a manager that will bring us the greatness we so desperately want to see.

I want to push for a playoff this year, but more importantly, I want to win the MLS cup in the next 5 years!

Looks who's on the bandwagon.....welcome aboard.

Montana said: Looks who's on the bandwagon.....welcome aboard.

I am starting to support Rennie as much as I supported Teitur. I am certainly on his bandwagon for now. Although, I have plenty of ankle tape if I have to jump off if the season gets off to a poor start.

I say if he doesn't score 7 points from the first three games - we look for a replacement.

Montana said: There's a reason Tom Soehn was kept around.

Don't even joke about this!!!!!!

...and you know TS is already in Bobby's ear..."just a tweak Bobby, just a tweak." #-o

OldFan said:

slamo said: I say if he doesn't score 7 points from the first three games - we look for a replacement.

I do not agree with mid season manager sackings.

Even if we started the first ten games with 3 wins, 3 ties, and 4 losses I would be very pleased with the progress. I am certainly not looking for a one season magical turn around.

I'm fairly sure the original comment was sarcastic.

Brenton said:

OldFan said: Even if we started the first ten games with 3 wins, 3 ties, and 4 losses I would be very pleased with the progress. I am certainly not looking for a one season magical turn around.

Considering that would be a massive improvement over last season and that pace spread over a season would likely get us in the play-offs, I would also be very pleased.

Through 10 matches last year we had eight points and a goal difference of -3. This despite going without Hassli, DeMerit and Harris (our two biggest salaries and our biggest chunk of MLS experience pre-Vagenas) for large parts of that.

Given what we hope a much deeper squad, adding four points to that is, mathematically, quite a reasonable target. But again, I'm waiting at least until I can watch the Orlando games to jump on any bandwagons.

12 points in 10 games would have been 39 points on the season. We would miss the play-offs but be challenging for them. While I appreciate the optimism around here, I think that's a realistic goal.