Because I Hate Steve Sampson (Sort of)

In spite of a recent post promising to maintain a sense of proportion about athletes - and, by translation, coaches ought to be included in that - I have yet to shed my personal distaste for former LA Galaxy coach, Steve Sampson, I'd argue this apparent backsliding deserves an exemption for one reason: it's not so much that Sampson offends me as a human being as I can't believe people still hire him to coach. Based on my observations, the man can't coach.

As such, I read with more than a little pleasures some passages against Sampson that appeared in a Daily Breeze article (topped, as usual, with those wonderful ads for The Wild Goose) on the Galaxy's (near-) return to contention under Frank Yallop. The article's reporter, Nick Green, can't get any current Galaxy players to dish dirt, so he takes the liberty of "reading between the lines":

"...[When] players talk about what Yallop has brought to the team it's obvious what the Galaxy lacked under his predecessor."

[SNIP]

"Sampson was given to micro-management in adversity, with players second-guessing themselves and their roles on the field. Do something wrong and an irate Sampson was likely to haul a player off the field quicker than you can say 'take a seat on the bench.' And Sampson was a political animal, given to playing personnel off each other in an effort to motivate them."

"The straight-shooting Yallop is none of these things."

Ah. I could read that kind of stuff all day. Just do us all a favor and don't let that man coach again...unless, that is, someone sends him to Columbus with their current team, thereby totally discrediting him.

(#######)