Morning Coffee out of the Freezer

FREEZER CALL: Okay, so thinking about it, it makes sense to publish the Freezer on Fridays. There are a few reasons for this, but mainly it allows us to consider the midweek games for the Freezer, and set the table nicely for the weekend. Your recommendations in the comments are most appreciated as we go forward. The previous week's Freezer is here.

OVERSEAS REPORTING: Congratulation to Hoops for keeping the Scottish race alive. Kevin G and his gang have been good friends to us, so we're glad to see some good fortune go the way of his lot. Further, the official Unibond Premier League team of the DCenters, Gateshead F.C., are solidly in with a shot at promotion, as they currently sit third in the standings, which puts them in the playoff (if I understand the promotion system at this level correctly).

SEE ANYTHING YOU LIKE? Sideline Views reports that Chivas is interested in a D.P., having traded away their D.P. rights to New York. Let's see, what teams haven't used their Designated Player allocations? Oh wait, didn't we get one from Colorado for Christian Gomez? I'm not sure if we could trade it, but if we could, and this is just speculation, is there anything you might want out of Chivas? There's some talent on that squad...

Wednesday International Coffee from... What was that waiter's name?

UNITED OPEN AGAINST WIZ: Goff has the scoop yesterday, I think, but it hits the main pages of the Post today. United open on the road March 29 against Kansas City, and then the home opener is against Toronto. No, it is not too early to begin speculating about how many points United should get out of those games. But... man, March... that's like four months away. Oh, my head is hurting. Now, when are those CONCACAF Cup games going to be?

CONGRATULATIONS TO CELTIC, NOW QUIT BORING ME: Good to watch Celtic advance into the round of 16 again in the Champion's League, but what a dreary game that was. Celtic looked very pedestrian in their attack, what there was of it, and Milan looked positively disinterested for most of an hour. I'm sure our friends over at Lord of the Wing will call it as they see it once they talk about the match...

HEED ARMY IN TACTICAL RETREAT: It's been far too long since we checked in with our friends in Gateshead, and sadly the news is not good. The official Unibond Premier Division team of the DCenters has dropped three matches straight. That being said, the strong early season start still has them at fourth in the table, and there's time and matches for the points to be made up. Still, the HeedArmy is invoking language that sounds perilously close to "Fight for the Shirt!":

In all the game was there for Gateshead to take, yet we showed the fight of a Buddhist monk at prey time. If the Heed really count themselves as one of the teams that can gain promotion from the UniBond some fight and heart need to be injected in to the players.

C'mon HEED, step it up!

Checking in Overseas

As you know, The DCenters have sort unofficial partnerships with a few other blogs. Let's check in to see how our friends are doing:

HEED ARMY MARCHING: The official UPL team of the DCenters, Gateshead FC, currently have won all of their six league matches and sit third in the UPL table (with two games in hand). Needless to say, the famous (and fabulous) Heed Army is thrilled, so we encourage you to support the team of Ray Hudson's birthplace by checking in with The Heed Army. Matches against Matlock Town and current top-of-the-table Guisely promise to be good tests as the march to the Conference North continues.

HAIL HAIL AND FORZA: Celtic is also top of the table, having not lost a league game. Our friends at The Lord of the Wing sound just as measured as we do during a winning streak though, and we defer to their sangfroid:

We have a big week this week. Two away trips, which potentially could end wie two defeats but we go in to it wie confidence and goals. There's no sense of fear as whisper it for all oor faults we are no a bad side and an entertaining one at that

Measured, but confident. I like that.

Everyone likes some good HEED ARMY

I received an update from our friends at The Heed Army on the Official Unibound Premier League team of the DCenters, Gateshead F.C. (yes, the birthplace of former DC United head coach Ray Hudson). I actually got this email a little over a week ago, just after we disposed of LA in a certain someone's MLS debut, and since then Gateshead have neatly disposed of Eastwood town with a tidy 3-1 away result. So to give you the update, please welcome Davie from the Heed Army:


Hello to all the DC United and Footballs across the pond, first of all I’d like to say a big well done for winning against Beckhams LA Galaxy. Just goes to show one player doesn’t make a team!!!! Although he is rather good.

Gateshead’s Unibond Premier league season is just around the corner and the Heed Army are expecting a good season from our boys. There has been a few comings and goings in the playing squad as with any team in the close season, but the return of Gateshead Legend Steve Bowey from York City (pictured - right). Bowey’s return has made the midfield a real danger zone for any opposing team, add that with another new signing of former Newcastle United midfielder Jamie Mcclen.

With Bowey attacking flair and Mcclens tenacity, Gateshead’s passing game will surly rise to another level. Gateshead also splashed the cash this summer by singing Graeme Armstrong From Dunston Fed for a reported £5000, not a great amount but at Gateshead ‘s a big transfer fee. Armstrong (pictured) has scored over 83 goals in 3 seasons at Dunston and will sure find the back of the net for ther Heed Army. Our Pre-season started well with a win away to Morpeth town, but a week later Gateshead suffered a 5-0 defeat away to Conf North Side Harrogate Town. Sadly the next Friendly’s away to Newcastle Benfield and to Hampton & Richmond end in the Heed Army being beat 2-0 and 1-0.

Yet Against a Newcastle United XI which had first team member Shola Amiobe and Ablert Luque in there starting line up, Gateshead Matched and out played for much of the first half. 3-3 was the final score Davie Southern, Jamie Harwood and Graeme Armstrong all netted for The Heed. The Newcastle United game was a great night and it was Paul Thompsons Testimonial Game after 10 years of great service for Gateshead.

Paul is 8 goals away from becoming Gateshead all time goal scorer. Yet Gateshead players don’t get the same kind of money that Premier league players get, he gave half the gate money away to a charity for a little girl Tilly Lockey who lost her hands to meningitis, A great gesture from a great player and man.

A new addition to the Heed Army Blog is Heed Army Blog TV, we hope to show Gateshead FC fans enjoying the games and having a good sing at the match. We start our season away to Eastwood town On Sat the 18th, The Heed Army have a full coach traveling down to give our boy’s the support they deserve. Hopefully it will be the start of a great season for Gateshead and the Heed Army!
All the best and Heed Army to all!!!!!!!
- Davie from the Heed Army Blog!!

Everything in Context

CONSIDER CHRISTIAN GOMEZ: Charles Boehm at MLSNet on Christian Gomez, and how he's handling being marked out of the game.

Just as his team broke their losing streak with a four-point haul from last week's two home matches against New England and Chivas USA, Gomez showed signs of resurgence with a nimble goal against Chivas - and those around him noted a shift in his demeanor.

It's a good read, and ultimately a positive vibe, although I will personally note that after Gomez got the goal, he then went right back to some odd passes that Chivas easily took the other way. If he's truly broken out of the slump, we won't know until after the game against Houston.

CONSIDER FIRST YEAR HEAD COACHES: Just for kicks, a look at how Tom Soehn compares against DC United coaches from the past.

The graph above shows overall points-per-game (PPG) for all of DC United's first year head coaches for the first 10 games of the season. "Match 0" is the final number of points per game they finished at the end of the regular season. Shoot outs were considered draws. The gray line of Tom Soehn actually perfectly matches, so far, the blue line of a coach named Bruce Arena.

So what's the take away from this? Note the difference between the points-per-game between Game #10 and Game #0 (the end of year result). All first year head coaches other than Ray Hudson saw results in the final two thirds of the season better, on average, than the first third. I'm not going to draw an conclusions regarding MLS Cups from that data, but I find it interesting. If Tom Soehn is still averaging around a point a game after DC's tenth game of the season, it is still no reason to panic. Apparently all of our coaches other than Hudson, even Rongren who inherited a great team and started at a pretty good clip at the start of the season, see better results as the season goes on.

I don't think this is a deterministic thing. Certainly if United drops the next five matches you can panic. But even if United is mediocre through June, it tells me that you can't conclude that the season is pretty much consigned to the same level of mediocrity. Similarly, I note that Ray Hudson had the second highest PPG of first year head coaches in 2002, and we all know how that ended.

The season, despite being only 30 games, is longer than we think.

CONSIDER DC UNITED: I sent over a small write-up to our friends blogging on Gateshead FC to try and explain what this United business is all about. They were kind enough to post it. Vamos United, and Heed Army!

Heed Army to All, Yes Indeed

OR... WHY DO WE HAVE A LINK TO A SEVENTH DIVISION ENGLISH CLUB OVER ON THE BLOGROLL?

About two weeks ago I got an email from a guy named David. He had stumbled upon the site, and wanted to trade links between the Heed Army blog and The DCenters. In full confession, I had never heard of Gateshead, or Gateshead FC, but I went over, took a look, and figured why the hell not. I'm always a little careful, since I don't want to link to any fan site whose supporters fall into the racist, bigoted, violent types, but the Heed Army, despite the somewhat right-wing assigning of ranks and militaristic nature, seemed harmless enough. Not only that, I was taking a perverse joy in finding not only a European based team, but an English soccer team, that even Kansas City would outdraw on most nights. Take that Euro-posers!

I am now ashamed of that last sentiment. As a soccer fan, even in DC, we take a lot of crap from people at times. Not from true sports fans, but just on a daily basis of "Yeah, I'd rather watch American Football," by well meaning people who can patronize through the rare talent of being able to pronounce capital letters. What must it be like to be a fanatico for a low-level team when you are surrounded by elite clubs everywhere around you? I mean, as I've learned, Gateshead is only a few miles away from Newcastle's grounds. Do fans of EPL teams regard these fans as minor amusements, the same way a Yankees fan would regard a fan of the Savannah Sand Gnats? How odd it must be to devote yourself to a team that seems so far from the top within your own country... within your own county even? How odd... and how inspiring.

Suddenly, I realized that I admired these fans. They are devoted to their team, and passionate and hardcore as any. They demand excellence from their manager, and their ownership. They, too, are waiting for a new stadium (a new 5,000 seat one should open for the 07-08 Season).

I've often written that saying of any team "here are the best fans in US Soccer" is silly, since the best fans, the honest fanaticos, are everywhere in MLS and the USL. I also happen to believe that DC United has more of them than most, and are better organized than most, but I'm not going to say that our most passionate fans are better fans than LA's, or RSL's, or even New York's. Add the Heed Army to that list of fans, the elite passionate supporters whose devotion must be regarded with awe and, perhaps, a bit of fear.

Once I realized this, I knew that, at some point in my life, I want to see this team play at their new stadium. I'm not heading to Europe anytime soon, but when I do, I want to make a pilgrimage to Gateshead and greet the Heed Army. I want to see the Angel of the North (above right) that is shown in their emblem. I'd like to see Steve Salvin and Davie Southern (left) humiliate Matlock. And perhaps grab a drink at the Newcastle Quayside. And I want to thank the Heed Army for reminding me, once again, what it is I love about being a true passionate supporter of a team. Heed Army to all, and good luck. I see that Wigan Athletic once passed through this conference, and I imagine some year soon you'll cross paths with Leeds.