Well as we don't have a game to talk about this week, I'm wondering what the chances are that Montreal would fire a GM before his first year is up and how much money they'd have to eat to do that.  Also, now with this whole talk of Collaros wanting out of Hamilton and Masoli now the guy, I also wonder whether he's salvageable on another team, or if he's become Willy damaged.

9 minutes ago, Jacquie said:

Popp left the team in a mess, Chapdelaine was forced on him as HC but everything is Reed's fault? No way will he be fired after 1 year. 

What has Reed done to justify a second year? Poor QB management, poor roster contruction, firing two coaches two thirds of the way in. Lots of negatives, name ONE positive.

1 hour ago, rebusrankin said:

What has Reed done to justify a second year? Poor QB management, poor roster contruction, firing two coaches two thirds of the way in. Lots of negatives, name ONE positive.

I'm basically being devil's advocate here but how much of that is due to the mess he was left with by Popp? We don't know what their cap situation is like and how that affected their roster. To paraphrase Doug Berry - maybe that was the best they could afford with some of the contracts they had. Given the way the Als were playing is it a surprise that Chapdelaine was fired especially since he was forced on Reed? The offence was struggling to say the least and that can be put on Chapdelaine's shoulders as well (his offence, he was calling plays). As surprised as people were about Thorpe being fired, I wasn't after thinking about it. Remember how Thorpe reacted when Reed was named assistant head coach over him - he tried to resign and go to Edmonton. Who knows how he would have reacted to being passed over as interim head coach. I can't help but wonder whether Reed felt he couldn't trust Thorpe. Based on some things that were said by current and former players it makes me question whether Thorpe had the respect of the team.

Here's a question for those with long memories - how many GMs have been fired after their first year? 

5 minutes ago, Jacquie said:

I'm basically being devil's advocate here but how much of that is due to the mess he was left with by Popp? We don't know what their cap situation is like and how that affected their roster. To paraphrase Doug Berry - maybe that was the best they could afford with some of the contracts they had. Given the way the Als were playing is it a surprise that Chapdelaine was fired especially since he was forced on Reed? The offence was struggling to say the least and that can be put on Chapdelaine's shoulders as well (his offence, he was calling plays). As surprised as people were about Thorpe being fired, I wasn't after thinking about it. Remember how Thorpe reacted when Reed was named assistant head coach over him - he tried to resign and go to Edmonton. Who knows how he would have reacted to being passed over as interim head coach. I can't help but wonder whether Reed felt he couldn't trust Thorpe. Based on some things that were said by current and former players it makes me question whether Thorpe had the respect of the team.

Here's a question for those with long memories - how many GMs have been fired after their first year? 

Mike Kelly

2 hours ago, Jacquie said:

Popp left the team in a mess, Chapdelaine was forced on him as HC but everything is Reed's fault? No way will he be fired after 1 year. 

How can you say that? You don't know how Wettenhall thinks. 

1 hour ago, Rich said:

Mike Kelly

IIRC he wasn't actually the GM. Didn't Bauer actually handle that role. I know Murphy reported directly to Bauer, not Kelly.

Edited September 19, 20178 yr by Jacquie

6 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

How can you say that? You don't know how Wettenhall thinks. 

Wettenhall hired him. Do you think he would fire him that quickly?

I can see Reed getting the axe... the Als need to start with a clean slate.   

8 hours ago, USABomberfan said:

Surely nobody though would let Kavis Reed come back as GM next year.  I'd pull the trigger and ship him and nearly everyone on staff out at the end of this season and start fresh if I had any plans to rebuild the crater out there in in MTL.

You would need someone at the top with intelligence and vision, and I'm not sure such a person exists in the Alouette organization.

53 minutes ago, Jacquie said:

Wettenhall hired him. Do you think he would fire him that quickly?

I have no idea what Wettenhall would do & neither do you. 

The Wettenhalls ... are we getting the old man or one of the heirs running the Alouette show? The Los Angeles Lakers became a different team (in a very bad way) when the siblings took over the team - - huge different in judgment and management skill 

15 hours ago, Jacquie said:

I'm basically being devil's advocate here but how much of that is due to the mess he was left with by Popp? We don't know what their cap situation is like and how that affected their roster. To paraphrase Doug Berry - maybe that was the best they could afford with some of the contracts they had. Given the way the Als were playing is it a surprise that Chapdelaine was fired especially since he was forced on Reed? The offence was struggling to say the least and that can be put on Chapdelaine's shoulders as well (his offence, he was calling plays). As surprised as people were about Thorpe being fired, I wasn't after thinking about it. Remember how Thorpe reacted when Reed was named assistant head coach over him - he tried to resign and go to Edmonton. Who knows how he would have reacted to being passed over as interim head coach. I can't help but wonder whether Reed felt he couldn't trust Thorpe. Based on some things that were said by current and former players it makes me question whether Thorpe had the respect of the team.

Here's a question for those with long memories - how many GMs have been fired after their first year? 

Point is Reed should not have been hired as GM in the first place there.  It may not be protocol to fire a GM after year one, but you're only going to see that franchise tank worse and prolong the inevitable, especially if Reed now that he has the coach's hat refuses to give that up too.

As I pointed out before, Popp got lazy and was putting old timers in big roster spots on this team and sure, you might need a year or two to fix it, but what Kavis is doing is only exacerbating the problem.  If he doesn't have plans to dump Durant, Willy and scout better o-line prospects as well as get a head coach who he's committed to give a long enough rope to (and I don't think he does), he should be fired by season's end.

Popp's big problem was that he wanted to coach as well as be the GM and he's a poor to terrible coach. 

Popp's problem is that he can't find and develop QBs.

1 hour ago, TBURGESS said:

Popp's big problem was that he wanted to coach as well as be the GM and he's a poor to terrible coach. 

Yup, and he certainly struggled finding a coach to work with once Trestman left.  So long as Trestman stays in Toronto, I don't think the Argos will have to worry about him pulling stunts like that.

 

I really think the Wettenhalls should sell the Als though.  Don't get me wrong, they've done a lotta good over the years.  I certainly respect anyone who's willing to sacrifice their own paychecks to make sure the fan community can keep their team.  But at some point you can't keep bungling hires in your front office, running coaches out of town and just overall tanking the team without suffering from fan apathy ... at some point.  I just think there's a good case to make that MTL needs a new owner.

1 hour ago, USABomberfan said:

Yup, and he certainly struggled finding a coach to work with once Trestman left.  So long as Trestman stays in Toronto, I don't think the Argos will have to worry about him pulling stunts like that.

 

I really think the Wettenhalls should sell the Als though.  Don't get me wrong, they've done a lotta good over the years.  I certainly respect anyone who's willing to sacrifice their own paychecks to make sure the fan community can keep their team.  But at some point you can't keep bungling hires in your front office, running coaches out of town and just overall tanking the team without suffering from fan apathy ... at some point.  I just think there's a good case to make that MTL needs a new owner.

Good luck with that.  The Als are one of the most worthless pro sports franchises in North America.

6 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

Good luck with that.  The Als are one of the most worthless pro sports franchises in North America.

Actually I have heard rumors of local interests in them.  But old man W seems to be too stubborn to part with the goods.

I do wonder though if there's any clauses in the Als' charter with Montreal that would forbid them from becoming a public shareholder-owned team like us or the Riders.

Edited September 19, 20178 yr by USABomberfan