SMU/Kentucky

[Hoofprint]

This is a huge game Sunday. We have the same record as Kentucky, but they're 5-1 in conference games - beating the Kitty Cats would be huge for our confidence going into the postseason, and probably would help our seeding in the tournament, too. The CUSA website has Kentucky seeded second at the moment - sure would be nice to knock them down a peg or two.

I know they upset us last year. How have we done overall with them? They're not one of those long-time rivals like St. Louis, are they?

[BleedingRed+Blue]

This is a huge game.

Nice to hear a plug for this game on Dial M for Mustang last night. We need a huge crowd!

[817pony]

If you cant make it to the game, listen to it live at kpni.info/soccer
the site wont be up before Sunday though if you try to go there before then

[RedRiverPony]

We've got soccer broadcasts now? That's fantastic.

I'm going to try to come down for the game, but if not - I'm listening.

GO MUSTANGS!

[stangs07]

I can't wait!

[redpony]

Another pathetic loss by our uninspired and poorly coached team. Do any of you 'sunshiners' believe this team is going to get through the ncaa quarter finals at the rate they are playing? I would be suprised if they even get through the semifinals of CUSA.

GO PONIES!!!!

[Kiper]

You don't actually attend any games, do you?

Paulo da Silva was barely back after an injury layoff, played 10 minutes the other night at UCF and could barely walk out there today, and that was before he got whacked (which should have been a PK for SMU).

Ryan Mirsky has started for four years - out.

Kekoa Osorio - the glue in the SMU midfield has been sick, and was a shell of his normal self out there today.

Take a key starter away and limit two others to virtually non-existent, and a lot of teams can get beat by a very good Kentucky team (they just tied Indiana in Bloomington, too - they're a very good team).

I'm sorry your buddy/dad/uncle/whoever didn't get the job, but get over it. There was nothing uninspired about the way our guys played today. We played a very good Kentucky team and hung with them, despite bringing the proverbial knife to a gun fight.

Keep cheering for losses, if it makes you think your boy would have been a genius coach. We're shorthanded, but we'll win our last game and get in, and from there, anything can happen.

[fejerdk]

Yup. Paulo had a rought time. Check out my photo below.

http://www.douglasfejer.com/SMU/2008-11-02-311.jpg

Doug

[jkflamebo]

put a fork into this team, it'd be a miracle to make it outta the c-usa tourney alive. bring schellas back already

[redpony]

You don't actually attend any games, do you?

You are totally incorrect. I have attended numerous SMU soccer games. I try to attend whenever possible.

[Take a key starter away and limit two others to virtually non-existent, and a lot of teams can get beat by a very good Kentucky team.]

An inspired team is one that manages to play above its’ capabilities when challenged and can successfully play though situations when not everything is perfect or as planned. Somehow they find a way to win.



[I'm sorry your buddy/dad/uncle/whoever didn't get the job, but get over it.
Keep cheering for losses, if it makes you think your boy would have been a genius coach. We're shorthanded, but we'll win our last game and get in, and from there, anything can happen.

Either you don’t read a lot of the messages on this forum or you have a comprehension/memory retention issue. I have stated many times that I don’t have a horse in this race. I just wanted a manager (coach) that had a proven successful national championship pedigree. I think a large majority of SMU soccer fans would agree with me when I say that our current coach does not have the quality or experience that SH had. This was an opportunity for SO to upgrade our soccer coaching staff. Instead, IMHO it has been seriously downgraded. IIRC early in the year there were many people saying that this was the best recruiting class that SMU had in recent years (including SH). Yet, this team/coach is failing to live up to the standards established by prior teams. You can disagree but I call that underperforming.

GO PONIES!!!

[Corso]

Less experienced? No kidding - he's 20 years younger.
Coach will be fine, and so will the Mustangs.

[redpony]

Coach will be fine, and so will the Mustangs.

You must be using the Bill Clinton dictionary for your definition of 'fine'.
If you consider dropping from 15 to 55 in the RPI and from an early season high of 5 to out of the top 30 in the NCAA rankings then yes, we are doing very fine. Hardly an SO dictated top 25 performance.

If we do not get to the quarter finals in the NCAA tournament then I hope you will join in signing a petition to get rid of this inept coach and replace him with one that has a proven national championship winning resume.
I seriously doubt that we will win CUSA tournament let alone do well in the NCAA's. I do not recall in recent years any of our soccer teams being ranked so low or performing so poorly.

GO PONIES!!!

[pony friend]

If we do not get to the quarter finals in the NCAA tournament then I hope you will join in signing a petition to get rid of this inept coach and replace him with one that has a proven national championship winning resume.

Starting a petition is quite possibly the most ridiculous thing you could possibly do. I think the coach is doing the best he can all things considered. The team is young and will be able to develop. Remember that they lost personnel equivalent to 20+ goals from last year's team.

Using the word "inept" is a strong statement. We all understand being disappointed with the team performance, but to use the coach as your verbal whipping boy is over the top, and doesn't serve your credibility very well.

[Buddha]

Coach will be fine, and so will the Mustangs.

You must be using the Bill Clinton dictionary for your definition of 'fine'.
If you consider dropping from 15 to 55 in the RPI and from an early season high of 5 to out of the top 30 in the NCAA rankings then yes, we are doing very fine. Hardly an SO dictated top 25 performance.

If we do not get to the quarter finals in the NCAA tournament then I hope you will join in signing a petition to get rid of this inept coach and replace him with one that has a proven national championship winning resume.
I seriously doubt that we will win CUSA tournament let alone do well in the NCAA's. I do not recall in recent years any of our soccer teams being ranked so low or performing so poorly.

GO PONIES!!!

Bruce Arena and Sigi Schmid and Schellas Hyndman would struggle, too, if their best player quit a couple of weeks before the season to go pro, and they lost Geppert and Oliva right away, then lost da Silva and Mirsky for extended periods of time, etc. Coach McClements took a previously weak program at Vanderbilt and built it into an NCAA Tournament team - winning a conference Coach of the Year award along the way, for which he defeated, among others, our own Schellas Hyndman - and might still be there if the school hadn't yanked the program out from under him. Every time there's a change in coaches, there's an adjustment period. Sometimes it's very quick, sometimes it takes a little longer as the new coach and the team get used to each other. That's what this year has been going on this year while the team has pattled upstream against the ridiculous stream of injuries (I know, every team has injuries, but we've had a lot major ones to players counted on to play significant roles.)

I would say we have to win the Conference USA Tournament to make the NCAAs, and you're right - there's a chance we won't. But Coach is settled into his position now (what did he have, two weeks before he started two-a-days after he got hired?), the team now knows what he expects and a lot of freshmen - including several he redshirted to fortify the future of the program - have gained valuable experience with him and knowledge.

Is he Schellas Hyndman? No, but he doesn't have to be. Coach Hyndman was given a chance at a young age, too (at Eastern Illinois), but he inherited a more veteran - and healthy - team. Coach McClements knows what he's doing, and regardless of how this postseason goes, will be just fine.

(I'll save you a seat at Westcott Field next week if you'd like to come out and cheer for him, rather than just ripping him on a message board.)

[redpony]

Is he Schellas Hyndman? No, but he doesn't have to be.

You are right-he doesn't have to be SH. He has to be better. Perhaps Bruce or Sigi would not have had a perfect season with this team but they would have done better than our current results. I am amazed that you accept a grossly substandard performance from a team that should have been in the top 5 in the nation.
With a little effort and a few dollars more we could have hired a coach with real national championship credentials instead of a 'pseudo' coach that was selected because he would make our players 'comfortable'.
If he doesn't win this year he should do us a favor and get out! Losing is not acceptable to a program that HAD a winning tradition. No excuses are acceptable- all teams play with less than perfect situations. Perhaps you need to start rooting for SFA or TCU.

GO PONIES!!!