Like I said, feel free to share whatever It is you feel you know about my time coaching in China, be my guest?
Yes, I was hired to be the assistant Coach for Chinese first division club Shizazhuang Ever Bright by my close friend and mentor Afshin Ghotbi, I was also hired as head coach for the second team, for the 2016-2017 Afshin who is a former UCLA Collegiate player and graduate and we worked together in Burbank running a club called AGSS, from 1997-2003 Afshin was responsible for bringing the first American (John O Brien) to the famed Ajax of Amsterdam Academy in the mid 90's, we had another American player David Johnson who played for the US U17 National team, U20 National team who we ended up at Dutch Eredivisie Club Willem II.
My experience in China was there like any other experience had It pros and cons, cons being Im a single dad with an 10 year old daughter whom I promised that she could fly to China 3 times during the season to see me, this was also included in my contract, my daughter has a a compromised immune system, where she has to receive consistent breathing treatment to combat her Asthma, in the end I decided that due to the poor air quality in China, It would not be a good idea to bring her to the Hebei province, I was having a tough time being away from my daughter and she was as well. I returned on vacation from the Chinese new year and my daughter broke down crying, my time away was far more difficult for her than I had realize, I promised her then that once I returned to complete my contract in China if at anytime she wanted me to come home, all she needed to do was let me know, she did so Ione evening in March of 2017 and I flew home the next day.
Afshin and I have remained friends, I recently attended his ex wife funeral In Rancho Santa Margarita with his dad, the team in China has since then gained promotion to the Super league and are currently sitting in 4th positIon. In 2017 I then was hired as the Technical Director for Arsenal in the DA, the DA also took me away from my daughter a great deal, as our offices were in Temecula and training fields in Norco, plus we had difficult away games at Vancouver Whitecaps, Portland, Seattle sounders, Sacramento republic, Real Salt Lake, etc..in the end that wasn't a good fit either
I started with LA Galaxy OC now Liverpool FC in January 2018, but decided then that I needed to spend more time with my daughter and as such did not wish to be in a leadership position, my daughter is now much older and as such I have been recently (A month ago) promoted to Academy Boys director, our goal moving forward is to change the culture within the Academy and like any new challenge/project It has been challenging, but I live for challenges and always strive to view challenges as something beneficial, I fully understand the youth soccer landscape and my intentions are to do my best to serve our families to the best of my ability.
That reply went deep, did a lot of appeal to emotion. Long post that if you break it down, is more selling. Actually very intelligent on how to deflect from a ton of issues and using a using a human shield. It actually forces me to almost look like a total ahole if I bring up a counter to what you posted. Good job. No one said you were not an intelligent guy, sometimes, as demonstrated in this post, you over analyze everything. You still keep selling yourself even in the middle of trying to explain one specific topic. Pretty crazy skill: I’ll just state that I am still friends with many people I fired or have made firings due to following orders above my pay grade. Kicking it with someone you worked with, doesn’t mean it was all good. It also wouldn’t explain your attempts at other jobs, based in other countries after the fact. It also doesn’t explain comments you have made to coaches.
So as the director of the academy, a club admin and in a “leadership” position, will you openly answer the following?
A) Have you, or other staff, ever told kids you are part of the actual Liverpool Academy in England. Not “associated” but actually part of the Liverpool Academy ?
B)Have you coached coaches to tell them they will being making trips to England to train with the Liverpool academy?
c)Have you or staff ever told kids/parents they will be traveling to Europe to play academy teams?
d) Have you or your staff ever been coached by 3rd party vendors on how to sell parents?what was the penalty for not attending these “trainings”?
e) Have you been okay with club decisions on bringing in coaches, then firing those coaches after a year and giving the teams to other staff?
f) how did the club obtain the field space in Santa Ana? Are you aware of anyone helping obtain those fields? Is this person still employed at the club? Do you know what happened to players from the teams brought in who use to utilize those fields under a different club name?
g) are you aware of any coaches threatening to sue the club over wrongful termination?
h) are you okay with how young foreign coaches are being utilized at the club? Have any of those coaches not had visas renewed, after not having calls/messages returned? Do you know of these coaches have always been paid in full?
i)are you aware of ANY coaches that have been terminated and not paid- even after fulfilling contracts?
j) are you aware of any coaches who have slept with a player’s parents and still allowed to coach at the club?
K) have staff ever been told how to create their own corps? If so, could that be an attempt to circumvent new State employee classification laws?
l) Has the club ever used the AYSO curriculum created by Paul Bright to train staff? Have these videos ever been the required curriculum for Training players on a weekly basis at the club? Has this program been implemented even as recently as last season?
M) Have coaches been required to sign and have full rosters by the end of December? Are there any penalties for not meeting this requirement? Are there any “bonuses” for meeting this requirement? Are these bonuses ever withheld or not paid out?
N) Are coaches required to train on certain days and times as 1099 contractors? Does the club require coaches to practice at certain fields? Are there any consequences for coaches not having the ability to meet the scheduled times and dates? Are coaches given the ability, as 1099 contractors, to modify Training schedules?
O) Have you ever told coaches you wanted to leave the club? If so, why were the reasons you wanted to leave and why have you had a change of heart?
P) Do you know if coaches are forced/required to cover games, camps or practices without compensation or full compensation?
Q)Are you aware of ANY staff being fired by text and without being compensated for their full contract?
All just hypothetical questions. NO WAY a coach or club could possibly raise so many questions. You can answer the hypotheticals if you want.
