Paul James on his Crack addiction

**BearcatSA** · 02-19-2012, 11:43 AM

Wow, this is quite the epic. For now, Tam says it best:

You would have to ask the other parties involved about it to really know that side of the story

This whole thing needs a "Fifth Estate" style investigation. In the end, I am more profoundedly saddened than angered by what I have seen.

**dbailey62** · 02-19-2012, 05:25 PM

Originally Posted by Free kick

Yes, but do we have figures. That was my initial point. Do we have figures for what coaches of other u20 team national teams make. U20 national team coach is not a high profile position and there are no prominent coaches with track records who take on these job. That doesnt mean that there arent good coaches out there coaching u20 teams rather that its more like an apprenticeship position for coaches and as such, you wont see good salaries for apprenticship jobs. I cant think of any u20 coach with a track record in coaching. Rather, its viewed as a stepping stone opportunity.

You guys might be right that its ridiculously low wage but without knowing what the market rate is for that position, the claim is invalid. On the surface, it seeems to me that there are very few people who would turn down an opportunity to make 47k a year for job that might entail 6-8 weeks of work per year.

Its not like the senior team boss. The job of the senior team coach is different. We do know some idea of how much they make (eg.: Capello's monstrous 10 Mill$ contrcat). We do know that there are some high profile individuals with a track records (ie.: Capello, Hiddink, Klinsman, Eriksson .....etc). We do know that there here many more competitive fixtures on the calendar (eg.: WCQ, continental championships, freindlies) for the senior team. So you can make fair caparaison when it come to what the CSA is paying Stephen Hart.

Edit: here is what i suspect, that 47k probably pales in comparasion to what a coach in similar position makes with national of one those wealth western countries and/or prominent soccer super powers. But i wouldnt be surprised if this figure is not out of line with what a U20 coach makes in say, Ireland, Korea, Japan, australia... Etc. Then what about some of those third world counties who always seem to do well at the u20 world cup, i soemhow doubt that their FA are so flush with cash thatbthey can pay their u20 coaches well. I read Declan Hill's book (the fix) and i some how doubt that Ghana's u20 coach is well paid and yet, they're a powerhouse in the world at the youth level.

You can't compare a third world nation. In may places on this earth, 47k would allow you to live like a king.

In Canada, 47k to coach a national team is totally insufficient. Who says it's a six to eight week job anyway? If it is, it shouldn't be. The coach should be working year round. The coach should be allowed to travel the nation and the world scouting players and whenever possible working regional camps on behalf of the CSA.

A national team job is not a part-time job .... or at least, shouldn't be a part-time job.

**Grizzly** · 02-19-2012, 06:35 PM

The salary issue while important if we want to attract good coaches in the future is a bit irrelevant in this case (other than refuting James' claims to poverty and not being able to afford treatment). James was actually pretty well qualified to be a U20 coach. In fact, in almost every area of coaching expertise he was better qualified than our current MNT coach: played both professionally and internationally including short stints in Mexico and England plus playing in a World Cup, A level coaching licence, extensive coaching experience (maybe not on a world class level but still had impressive university and CSL experience), an MBA in football industries. Plus, when he is not busy attacking people his football commentaries were often brilliant, possbily the best I have heard from a Canadian analyst and far beyond anything I have ever heard from Hart. James has a brilliant football mind in my opinion if you take away the resentment against certain people and players in general.

On the face of it James was not a bad hire, I think someone with his credentials would be a good candidate for a youth coaching post in Canada even now. What should have immediately disqualified him though is his involvement in a match fixing scandal regardless of whether you believe his account of changing his mind after the game or not. Someone who has been involved in match fixing should not be involved in coaching soccer again regardless of how good a coach he is and especially not a youth coach. I am pretty sure if it was revealed that SAF or Hiddink or some similar coach were involved in match fixing at some point in their career (and it was made public) that they would be banned from soccer. It is a line you can not cross, it points to some extreme moral failings and possibly psychological ones as well and it is shameful that the CSA appointed someone as a youth coach who crossed this line. Drug addiction and mental health issues cross all lines of society but I would wager that people involved in criminal acts like match fixing have a far higher rate of such things than those who are not. As such it can not be such a surprise that someone involved in such acts later turned out to be a drug addict. Even ignoring the concept of not employing someone involved in cheating as a sports coach, a background like that should really cause an employee to wonder whether such a person has the psychological profile to be working with children and the ethical background to provide a good role model.

I would think the CSA was not aware of his drug problems when he was hired. Paul claims that at some point someone within the CSA sent him an anonymous brochure about rehab and uses this to accuse the CSA of being aware and not helping him. Like many of James' stories it is hard to know if it is true, but even if so does it mean the CSA as a whole was aware that their U20 coach was a crack addict or that maybe one or two staff members may have suspected/heard rumours that he had some issues with drugs or alcohol? I suspect the later is closer to the truth if there is any truth to James' story about this at all. Regardless whether they knew about drug issues or not, the CSA never should have hired someone who had participated in criminal and corrupt acts in relation to soccer matches as a youth coach.

**Free kick** · 02-19-2012, 06:42 PM

Originally Posted by dbailey62

You can't compare a third world nation. In may places on this earth, 47k would allow you to live like a king.

In Canada, 47k to coach a national team is totally insufficient. Who says it's a six to eight week job anyway? If it is, it shouldn't be. The coach should be working year round. The coach should be allowed to travel the nation and the world scouting players and whenever possible working regional camps on behalf of the CSA.

A national team job is not a part-time job .... or at least, shouldn't be a part-time job.

But it is a part time job. The next U20 WC is in 2013 and qualifying wont be held until winter or spring of 2013. What do you suppose the current coach (Valerio Gazolla) is doing right now? Or tomorrow? Or the rest of this year? Plus that reported figure of 47K that PJ got is probably 55-60K in todays dollars. One would get extremely bored if you didnt have something else to keep you occupied in life. This kind of job would suit perfectly someone like Jason DeVos or a current assistant coach of one of the pro clubs. They would not likely miss a beat from the current media jobs or coaching duties in order to take the reigns of the national U20 and they could leverage from their current job and networks, the scouting component of the job. So 50-60k is pretty good extra pocket change for this kind of opportunity.

Sure, we all would like to see everyone make more money. But i'll bet that more people would be flabergasted if they were to learn that our national association is paying someone a six figure salary for this kind of job.

**Rudi** · 02-19-2012, 07:28 PM

^ The current U20 coach is Nick Dasovic.

**Free kick** · 02-19-2012, 07:37 PM

Originally Posted by Grizzly

The salary issue while important if we want to attract good coaches in the future is a bit irrelevant in this case (other than refuting James' claims to poverty and not being able to afford treatment). James was actually pretty well qualified to be a U20 coach. In fact, in almost every area of coaching expertise he was better qualified than our current MNT coach: played both professionally and internationally including short stints in Mexico and England plus playing in a World Cup, A level coaching licence, extensive coaching experience (maybe not on a world class level but still had impressive university and CSL experience), an MBA in football industries. Plus, when he is not busy attacking people his football commentaries were often brilliant, possbily the best I have heard from a Canadian analyst and far beyond anything I have ever
heard from Hart. James has a brilliant football mind in my opinion if you take away the resentment against certain people and players in general.

On the face of it James was not a bad hire, I think someone with his credentials would be a good candidate for a youth coaching post in Canada even now. What should have immediately disqualified him though is his involvement in a match fixing scandal regardless of whether you believe his account of changing his mind after the game or not. Someone who has been involved in match fixing should not be involved in coaching soccer again regardless of how good a coach he is and especially not a youth coach. I am pretty sure if it was revealed that SAF or Hiddink or some similar coach were involved in match fixing at some point in their career (and it was made public) that they would be banned from soccer. It is a line you can not cross, it points to some extreme moral failings and possibly psychological ones as well and it is shameful that the CSA appointed someone as a youth coach who crossed this line. Drug addiction and mental health issues cross all lines of society but I would wager that people involved in criminal acts like match fixing have a far higher rate of such things than those who are not. As such it can not be such a surprise that someone involved in such acts later turned out to be a drug addict. Even ignoring the concept of not employing someone involved in cheating as a sports coach, a background like that should really cause an employee to wonder whether such a person has the psychological profile to be working with children and the ethical background to provide a good role model.

I would think the CSA was not aware of his drug problems when he was hired. Paul claims that at some point someone within the CSA sent him an anonymous brochure about rehab and uses this to accuse the CSA of being aware and not helping him. Like many of James' stories it is hard to know if it is true, but even if so does it mean the CSA as a whole was aware that their U20 coach was a crack addict or that maybe one or two staff members may have suspected/heard rumours that he had some issues with drugs or alcohol? I suspect the later is closer to the truth if there is any truth to James' story about this at all. Regardless whether they knew about drug issues or not, the CSA never should have hired someone who had participated in criminal and corrupt acts in relation to soccer matches as a youth coach.

Thats interesting because after reading the book, leaving aside the drug revelations and his state of mind, i am less impressed with his capabilities as a coach today than i was before reading the book. Yes, his resume, playing exprience and studies are good and better than our current coach. But i was disppointed from what he espouses as basic philosphies of the game.

Prior to now, i always figured him to be a reasonably qualified candidate for any professional coaching position in canada right now. But from what i gathered after reading the book is that he is a proponents of the values and philosphies of a bygone era in canadian soccer. One the quotes that stands out in my mind is where he stated (i believe it was Jason devos) said that that all PJ knew was how to run the guys. And yet, thats exactly what i gathered throughout the out the book that he stood for and that this is all he knew, fitness and work rate. That may have worked under Tony Waiters in 1986, but is sure as hell aint going to work today. And we are still the only team to have gone to the world cup and not scored a goal and he claims that we were a very fit team. Thats all well and good, but i am sure so was the opposition. You cant win playing like chickens with you heads cut off in the modern game. Not even in Concacaf.

I now understand why he had success at the university level. At that calibre, if you are team that is fit as hell you will probably have success given that you are playing players and opposition who are juggling multiple priorities and are in an environment where you wont find the most gifted talent.

I am more and more thinking that its high time that we rid ourselves of the 1986 experience and its legacy. Yes, we made it to the world cup but it wasnt a successfull world cup. And it has yielded a legacy of personel and people that espouse the values that that are less relevant in today's game. Reading the book has made me come around to this line of thinking. Is it any wonder that all of our top four pro clubs are coached by foreigners?.

**Free kick** · 02-19-2012, 07:38 PM

Originally Posted by Rudi

^ The current U20 coach is Nick Dasovic.

You are correct. Forgot about that one.

**dbailey62** · 02-19-2012, 07:57 PM

Originally Posted by Free kick

Thats interesting because after reading the book, leaving aside the drug revelations and his state of mind, i am less impressed with his capabilities as a coach today than i was before reading the book. Yes, his resume, playing exprience and studies are good and better than our current coach. But i was disppointed from what he espouses as basic philosphies of the game.

Prior to now, i always figured him to be a reasoable candidate for any professional coaching position. But from what i gathered after reading the book is that he is a proponents of the values and philosphies of a bygone era in canadian soccer. One the quotes that stands out in my mind is where he stated (i believe it was Jason devos) said that that all PJ knew was how to run the guys to death. And yet, thats exactly what i gathered throughout the out the book that he stood for and that this is all he knew, fitness and work rate. That may have worked under Tony Waiters in 1986, but is sure as hell aint going to work today. And we are still the only team to have gone to the world cup and not scored a goal and he claims that we were a very fit team. Thats all well and good, but i am sure so was the opposition. You cant win playing like chickens with you heads cut off in the modern game. Not even in Concacaf.

I now understand why he had success at the university level. Sure, at that calibre, if you are team that is fit as hell you will probably have success. Given that you are playing players and opposition who are juglling multiple priorities and are in an environment where you wont find the most gifted talent.

We've learned a lot about Paul James over the last week or so.