Gavin Wilkinson to return as Portland Timbers manager in 2009

By: Bob Kellett | September 24th, 2008

We learn today that Gavin Wilkinson will return as the manager of the Portland Timbers. After a dismal season in which his team finished at the bottom of the USL First Division table, Wilkinson received a public vote of confidence from club owner Merritt Paulson.

“He’s an easy guy to point the blame to,” Paulson said. “He’s coached his way through a very difficult season this year, and the results are not indicative of his performance as a coach.”

The results are not indicative of his performance as a coach. Interesting statement there. The public discourse presented by Wilkinson in the media most of this season was that his team was underachieving. Apparently Paulson has bought that concept and bought the idea that the blame lies with the players and not the coach.

Mind you, these are the same players that were brought in by the coach, who also moonlights as the team’s general manager when he isn’t busy running a youth soccer club. These are the same players who started the season with three straight wins and then apparently decided it was time to underachieve. These are the same players who were shuffled out night after night and asked to play a style of soccer that didn’t match their individual skills set.

The coach gets a free pass even with a two-year regular season record that hardly indicates he can be a successful manager at this level. The Timbers under Wilkinson are 21-18-19. They have scored 58 goals in 58 games. Take away the five victories last season against the California Victory and you have a manager who has guided his team to a 16-18-19 record with 47 goals scored in 53 games - hardly an indication that this is a manager who is going to deliver sustained success to this franchise.

I can understand why Paulson is sticking with Wilkinson. The 2007 season was somewhat magical and there is always the hope that something like that will return again (can we play Austin 5 times next season?). I also understand that Paulson is not a soccer guy. He wants to win and he has invested money in this club like no previous owner, but who would he hire to replace Wilkinson? I think he realizes that he doesn’t have the knowledge to answer that question, especially since his general manager also serves as coach.

So we are headed toward the third season under the Wilkinson regime and the question to ask is something you hear a lot in politics: are we better today than we were three years ago? The answer is mixed. Yes, we are better off without Chris Agnello around. Yes, we are better with Paulson as owner. No, we are not in any better position to win a league title or to be consistently one of the top teams in the USL First Division. We are back where Agnello started: bringing in a whole slew of new players. We are back hoping that the coach/gm has the skill to identify the right players and that they’ll buy into Wilkinson’s boring, defensive-first mentality. That might work for a season, but in the end it isn’t how to build a franchise. The good teams in this league keep a core group of players (better than the six named in the article today) and add pieces. They don’t blow up their rosters every year. The Timbers tried that this season by bringing back their core and adding some high profile pieces. And it didn’t work. Wilkinson’s message wore thin. Other teams figured out the game plan. The game plan never changed. The results speak for themselves.

Was it the players or was it the coach/gm? Paulson’s siding with the coach/gm so I guess the question is irrelevant at least until we ask it again next season.

One last thing, I find it highly dubious that the strategy moving forward is to reduce the number of players on the roster so that more money can be spent on quality players (like Taka!). It wasn’t the numbers that hurt the team this year. It was the structure of the team. Carrying four keepers was absurd. Not having any depth in the backline bit them in the ass. Having too many players with similar skills in the midfield did nothing to help the feeble attack. The good teams in this league carry large rosters because they know that injuries happen and that there are crazy schedules that demand a lot from their players and that some of the guys they are investing in today won’t develop into contributing players until a few seasons from now (how many players have the Timbers truly developed over the years?). Think back to the days of Bobby Howe when the Timbers had the thinnest bench in the league. Every season there would be a few games when injuries and suspensions would force the manager to play his starters way too many minutes, often out of position. There’s a reason the Timbers faded in the playoffs during that era. The players didn’t have the legs. Be prepared to see that again starting in 2009.

Be prepared to see more of the same in 2009.