I stole this image from a Flikr stream created by “thisguyprints”. I hope he doesn’t sue me.

A few weeks ago I took out my frustration with the 2008 season on the Galaxy front office, sending a lengthy e-mail to my season ticket rep and laying out my conditions for renewal. I turned that e-mail into this post from September 10th. Basically it came down to a cost-benefit analysis and raising the costs would not increase the benefits, so I would consider bailing.

First, fill out the full contingent of bonus games. I realize these games aren’t guaranteed. That’s the nature of “bonus”. But last year I saw Chelsea (a preseason, undermanned, not in form Chelsea, but Chelsea nonetheless). I saw Pachuca. Twice. Hell I even saw Steve Cronin make like 12 saves in a US Open Cup match. This year I saw… a crap US Open loss.

Second, don’t raise the prices of season tickets for next year. It would be the height of fan abuse to make us sit through two garbage seasons and then raise the ticket price, especially when it is pretty clear the team in making a mint off of jersey sales, touring Asia, and the wretched, wretched Pan-Pacific Championship (can we please just kill that now – it is nothing but excrement masquerading as futbol).

Well, the good news is that I wasn’t the first person to whine about this (or act like “a baby” as Justin put it so pungently in the comments) so the Galaxy is doing two things. First, all unused bonus-game tickets will have their value refunded to the season ticket holder (STH) at the end of the season. (This was also noted by Justin.) Further, if the Galaxy performs a miracle over the last five games and makes the play-offs, then the bonus game tickets function as playoff tickets.

Second, the Galaxy is not raising season ticket prices this year, at least not for renewals. (The website is coy about prices for new season tickets, covering its bases by noting that prices are for the 2008 season.)

So. Problems addressed. I’ll probably renew, unless other factors in my life interfere.

On the other hand, a blog reader who wishes to remain anonymous has noted that the Galaxy front office is having some internal communications problems.

I phoned my ticket rep today, cause I noticed that the Season ticket renewal is up on the website, but I hadn’t received an email. [These went out this week. -ed.] They explained to me what was going on but they were accepting renewal deposits.

Then here’s the kicker, I was asked for a 25% deposit. I asked the ticket office why I had to give them so much money upfront when I could do it on the website for 100 bucks a ticket. Finally, after a debate, they let me put the deposit down for 100 bucks a ticket. The deposit they said they were going to start asking for was well over double the 100 buck deposit.

And it’s true. But it’s actually worse than the reader experienced. If you are buying new season tickets on-line the deposit is $100. If you are a renewing STH and you want to buy ADDITIONAL season tickets, then the deposit is 25%, which in every case is more than $100. So, if you are a first-time buyer you slap down $100. If you are a renewal (which any marketing major will tell you is your source of greatest profits because (1) they keep coming back and (2) you aren’t spending any money on acquiring them as a customer) and you want new seats, you have to give up 25%.

I suspect that this isn’t the end of the world for most people, but it does highlight a glaring inconsistency within the front office in the way it is treating it most loyal (by definition) fan base. With all the changes recently I don’t know if this is something that slipped through the cracks or is a deliberate strategy, but it is certainly annoying and is ruffling some feathers. The front office might want to look into this.

UPDATE: Kenny in the comments notes this,

No price increase? What are you talking about. I got some stupid email that I had some secret Mission Impossible mission to renew my tickets. So I check it out, and sure enough tickets went up by $70! FU AEG.

And he’s right! Almost. My tickets went up $81, not $70, including all fees. Oof. Ticket prices increasing is to be expected on some level, but after this year and the fact that my rep assured me the price was the same makes this a bit of a kick in the teeth.

Alexi Lalas‘ firing was at least a year too late and was a laughably inept hire in the first place. Lalas was good at many things, like being a salesman extraordinaire, doing color commentary, creating funny ESPN Sportscenter promotional spots, even defending for the US MNT. But his history of running teams in MLS was about as lustrous as the attempts to market the Ford Edsel to Americans or the Chevy Nova to Mexicans (Nova = no va = it doesn’t go).

Perhaps AEG thought he didn’t have enough time in San Jose because it became Houston or in NYC during the run-up to the Red Bull acquisition to be accurately evaluated in terms of his GM-quality. However, I would say that the sacking of Bob Bradley was a flare-lit tip-off that Lalas’ personnel acumen was as sharp as a soup spoon made of soap. About the only good thing Lalas accomplished was firing Steve Sampson.

Now, in fairness, a GM, unless s/he’s a brilliant soccer mind, should probably not be dicking around in personnel matters. That’s what a Direct of Soccer/Futbol is for. And I suspect that Lalas was fairly adept at actually selling tickets, elevating the Galaxy brand, and managing sponsor relationships. If only he didn’t have to have left a trail of smoking landscapes and twisted wreckage to get to that point.

And at this point we find ourselves. As Tim Leiweke said in the Daily Breeze,

“I think because of the Ruud situation, it was an opportunity to once and for all look for a fresh start,” Leiweke said. “Alexi’s been with us a long time. I’m very appreciative of everything he’s done for the Galaxy. That one is painful. We haven’t made the playoffs for two years running, and we’re headed for a third year. You can’t blame Alexi entirely. I do think we need a fresh start.”

Fresh start indeed.

Which brings me to AEG. Who, exactly, was responsible for bringing Lalas to San Jose, New York, and Los Angeles? Who, exactly, dealt with the crew that brought Ruud Gullit on board? (And who, exactly, has final responsibility for the skating abmomination masquerading as an NHL team called the Los Angeles Kings?) In short, when, exactly, does Leiweke get the ax as well? If you can’t blame Alexi entirely, can you also blame Mr. Leiweke?

Anyway, if the idea from AEG’s point of view is to have a global brand and therefore global brand-type revenues from the Los Angeles Galaxy, maybe they should concentrate on putting a product on the field that people will actually want to watch. Having David Beckham and Landon Donovan on the same team is great! Having them play on a team that plays enough eye-bleeders to require me to have a standing appointment at the optometrist after Galaxy games is a sure way to become a global laughing stock.

So maybe what they do is get away from this star-struck notion that a global brand deserves a global coach and understand what works in MLS. The foreign coaches who win in MLS are intimately familiar with the American game and with MLS itself. They know how to operate within its constrictures, they understand the personnel, they understand how to build a stable team. Gullit, with an impressive player pedigree, but a decidedly mixed history as a coach, was simply not the right guy for this job.

On the other hand, I think Cobi Jones will make an excellent head coach in MLS. I even think he’s ready enough to be able to have an impact over the next 11 games. If he does, I bet he stays for next season. But if, for whatever reasons that isn’t in the cards, then there are other guys who are good options. Paul Mariner at New England. John Spencer at Houston. I hear Bruce Arena’s free. (Joking. Sort of.)

What do you guys think? Who should be the next head coach? What makes a good MLS coach? Is Cobi ready? Will this have a salutary effect on the team heading into the last 11 games? Let it rip in the comment!

I may be liveblogging the game — I’m out all day, so we’ll see how much energy I have. I need to get some liveblogging practice in before Euros, when we’ll be liveblogging all of the games over on our brand spankin’ new Euro page at World Cup Blog. (Stop by and say hi and vote for your favorite team.)

But now the point of this post: The Offside is starting up player blogs for specific, very popular players, and we’re looking for a Beckham blogger. Beckham blogger: n. Somebody to write a blog devoted to David Beckham.

I would love to see it be done by a reader of this blog, because I’d personally love to see it in the hands of somebody who loves the player, the team and the game. And not necessarily in that order. I know there’s somebody out there reading this who fits the bill.

If you’d like to see what’s involved, you can check out our first player blog, the Cristiano Ronaldo blog, which has been up and running a couple of weeks. I think Ale, our CR7 blogger, finds a good balance between all the aspects of the player and his play.

And no, this will not change how I write this blog, although I do see myself linking to the Beckham blog on a regular basis when we cover the same topics.

This isn’t a paid position, but it’s fun. If you’re interested, drop a note and a sample post to our editor Daryl at daryl[at]theoffside[dot]com.

Looking forward to blogging with you!

More fun stuff from our commenters.

Yesterday we heard from the Beckham hater. Now the Beckham-lovers. (Or at least fans.) This one came to us via Diane, with a little help from Mag.

Best quote:

“I’d rather run out naked at Old Trafford than stand in front of four people playing golf.”

The original source is a TV program, “The Real David Beckham,” which came out in 2000, back in his ManU days. The other golfer is Beckham’s friend Dave Gardner.

Something about the expression on the face, maybe?

Let’s go wonkish and head to a business website for some basic terminology:

Authority is seen as the legitimate right of a person to exercise influence or the legitimate right to make decisions, to carry out actions, and to direct others. For example, managers expect to have the authority to assign work, hire employees, or order merchandise and supplies.

Compare that to

Responsibility is the obligation to accomplish the goals related to the position and the organization.

So, basically, it’s best for an organization to align the obligation to accomplish goals with the ability to make the decisions to do just that. Make sense?

Why is this important again? LA Times soccer reporter Grahame Jones has this to say about the Franchino trade. (Scroll down to the bottom of the linked article)

So the questions here are: Just who made this trade? Did Galaxy Coach Ruud Gullit know anything about it? Was another 30-something (Franchino will be 32 in August) with a troubled history really what L.A. needed?

It appears that Gullit is not totally in the loop on the transaction front. Last week he was asked about the acquisition of defenders Scott Bolkan and Vardan Adzemian and their subsequent loan to the Portland Timbers. Gullit looked blank. He had never heard of either player.

Troubling signs that things in Lalas-land really have not improved over the chaotic last two seasons.

Small wonder, too, that the dark storm clouds of rumor about coming upheaval and change continue to gather on the horizon.

We went through this last season, remember? The odd midseason upheavals that Frank Yallop seemed unhappy with, and not quite on top of, and not able to work into the team, but was unable to stop? Is the same thing hapening again?

Nothing against Franchino, who may turn out to be just what we need, but…

Maybe it’s time to send AEG and Alexi back to school?

And I am sure the paparazzi completely deserved it.

As a mom, I’m quite impressed with his fine motor skills. Do you know how hard it is to do this when you’re three?

(It’s a youngest child thing. My baby has also always been quite old for his age.)

This version came from Kickette. My first thought was “Photoshop,” but here’s another angle from TMZ.

(Fear not, Beckham fans. I’ll post something Beckham-positive real soon. And I will be getting to some heaven help us pregame stuff also.)

Landon Donovan apparently did an interview with Telefutura after the game. I’ll let Soccer y Futbol tell you about it:

“Some may not like it, but we are the giants of MLS.”

But Donovan quickly catches himself

“Then again, we have missed the playoffs two years in a row.”

Because yeah. People aren’t laughing at our team nearly enough yet.

Please treat her extremely well and leave lots of nice comments, because I’m also counting on her to guest blog when I go to Europe at the end of the month. So if you drive her away before then, I’ll be really ticked. I’ll be back on Monday.

Thanks, Jen, and welcome to LA Galaxy Offside!

P.S. The picture was just waiting for me when I did a google image search. I consider it an omen.

My second was to think, “Well… The world is a strange place. I suppose it’s possible.”

Tell me what you think. Here’s what it said:

Hi Laurie,
I am a reader of the offside and a supporter of [European team.] I am also beginning to follow the MLS as well. I help moderate a North American [team] forum and earlier today we had a [arch-rival team] fan trying to troll our board. Among the usual garbage that they say, he was also a fascist and mentioned a bunch of teams with right wing supporters such as Chelsea, Rangers, Lazio, etc, but also mentioned the Galaxy. I had to stop and laugh at this and commented how that might be the silliest thing I’ve ever read. He said however that there is a group of fascist fans at Galaxy games, around 10 and growing he said. I was wondering if you were aware of any such group? Thanks for your help!

The reason I didn’t dismiss this was the “10 and growing” part. Ten’s not a lot, especially in a stadium that seats, what, 27,000? But it could be the start of something. Or it could just be ten maladjusted people coming together. Or it could be a complete fabrication — one troll’s way to get attention.

What do you think? Anybody heard anything along these lines? Or can we file it under “garbage rumors”?