Newman Getting Kicked Around : Critics Say Coach Walks a Fine Line With Tactics

Al Davis might have more friends in the National Football League than Sockers Coach Ron Newman has in the Major Indoor Soccer League.

“There is a thin line between being a borderline genius and a borderline idiot,” said Baltimore Blast Coach Kenny Cooper, “and Ron borders on both. He has won so many games that he has got a little punch drunk. When he’s on top, he’ll jab you and rub it into you. He defies a lot of the coaching tactics that say you don’t run up the score. I played for Ron and know him as well as anybody, and he is different.”

Even coaches who Newman had considered his supporters have condemned his decision Tuesday to bring in a sixth attacker with three seconds to play and the Sockers leading the Los Angeles Lazers, 7-4, at the San Diego Sports Arena.

This was the third time this season and the fourth time in the past two seasons that Newman called a timeout to pull his goalkeeper and bring on an extra attacker in the final seconds of a one-sided San Diego victory. It was the first time the move incited a fight among players and fan unrest that resulted in an ugly scene in which ceramic cups were thrown at players.

The other two incidents weren’t pretty:

--Against Wichita on Jan. 3, Newman called a timeout in the final minute of a 9-0 victory.

--Against St. Louis on Jan. 11, he called a timeout with nine seconds remaining in a 10-7 victory.

The most successful coach in the history of indoor soccer regards this procedure as the strategic prerogative of a coach.

“The motive is what’s important,” Newman said. “I’m not trying to run up the score or put the other team down. I’m a perfectionist, and once I’ve perfected this move and am happy with it, I won’t have to do it again. Just recently I spoke to other coaches such as Alan Hinton (Tacoma Stars) and Alan Merrick (Minnesota Strikers) about this kind of move and they supported me.”

That support has turned into widespread contempt.

“That timeout was totally unnecessary,” said Merrick, who watched the Lazer-Socker game on television. “Last night, I thought it was in bad taste. It has to be deemed as rubbing salt in a wound.”

Those that have experienced Newman’s strategy first-hand are predictably upset.

Lazers Coach Peter Wall called it “bush” and added that “you would never see that in any other sport.”

Wichita’s Roy Turner said he was shocked.

“I thought, ‘What in the hell is he doing?’ ” Turner said. “I didn’t see any point in it. I have no time for it. Everybody admires his team, but he hasn’t added to his popularity cause by doing this. “

The St. Louis players were livid.

“Some of their players were coming up to us after the game and apologizing,” said Steamers defender Steve Pecher. “They said, ‘Don’t kick us. It’s not our fault.’ He (Newman) was an idiot last year, and he’s an idiot this year.”

Pecher played on the Kansas City Comets when Newman pulled a similar move in the playoffs last season.

Said Cooper: “Ron’s record speaks for itself, but the feeling around the league, among players and coaches, is that they are disturbed by it. Unfortunately, Ron won’t see the brunt of it as the coach. It’s his players who will feel it. It may cost him some players one day.”

The Sockers will have to face a series of revenge dates:

--Sunday in St. Louis.

--March 2 and April 4 in Los Angeles.

--March 9 in Wichita.

Most of the Socker players feel uncomfortable commenting on moves made by their coach, but they have expressed some concern. “It is a cheap shot,” said a player who asked to remain anonymous. “It’s ridiculous. Maybe it doesn’t bother him (Newman), but it bothers the team. We look like greedy players and we are not. English people are greedy, even against their own guys.”

The players also are quite aware of the possible repercussions of Newman’s decisions.

“I know we’ll get the (stuffing) kicked out of us when we go to St. Louis,” Sockers midfielder Juli Veee said after the St. Louis game.

There are probably posters of Newman circulating in locker rooms throughout the league.

After the game Tuesday night, Wall said: “They have to come to L.A. and it will be a blood bath.”

Wednesday, he said: “Our players are talking about vendettas.”

There is much hope around the league that things will come full circle for Newman.

“What goes around comes around,” Cooper said. “When he’s (Newman) on top, he’s one way. He likes to see you get a little upset. And the man is a winner. But when he loses, he’s another way. He’s not a good loser. He feels that nobody has any right to beat him.”

Newman won the North American Soccer League outdoor title with the Dallas Tornado in 1971, the American Soccer League title with the Los Angeles Skyhawks in 1976, NASL indoor championships with the Sockers in 1981-82 and 1983-84 and MISL championships in 1982-83 and 1984-85.

Including playoffs and this season, Newman has an indoor record of 153-57. The Sockers are 23-7 this season and are once again running away with the league.

“Maybe I haven’t had enough experience at being at the other end of the table,” Newman said. “I have been there, but maybe I’ve forgotten what it feels like. I can’t relate to being in another position and don’t know how I’d feel about it. It’s something that seems a long way away.”

Although many in the league are criticizing Newman, Sockers owner Bob Bell is standing by his coach. “Although in principle I agree with Ron (Newman) on this matter,” Bell said Wednesday, “I’m hoping he’ll decide not to do it anymore. If I thought Ron was purposely doing it to belittle and humiliate the other team, I would react differently.

“The reality is that it doesn’t matter. But when people (Socker opponents) continually overreact and start kicking players, they’re blowing it so far out of proportion. When other teams look at it with such vehement animosity, it’s not worth it. Ron is the coach and he makes the final decisions, but I have asked Johan (Aarnio) to talk to him.” Aarnio is the assistant coach.

With the benefit of hindsight, Newman said he would not have brought in a sixth attacker in the final three seconds against the Lazers.

“I didn’t expect that reaction,” Newman said. “I don’t want to get players injured and fans that hot. The problem was the timeout. I didn’t call it, and I don’t know who did. I was holding the goalkeeper’s jersey and Fernando (Clavijo) should have just run on the field.”

That still doesn’t explain why Newman wanted to use the extra attacker with three seconds remaining in a game that has been decided.

“In practice the other team knows what you’ll do,” Newman said. “Whenever there are a few seconds left, in either the game or a quarter, we would bring on an extra attacker. Sometimes we don’t do it because of the reaction of the other team. Their attitude is having a direct effect on the way we play. I can’t do anything about that.”

What does MISL Commissioner Francis Dale think about all this?

“As long as he follows the rules,” Dale said, “how a coach operates is his decision. He has to live with the competitive pressure of the other coaches. If it is truly an insult and he is rubbing salt in the wound, as commissioner, I could do something. But normally, I only get involved when there is a complaint or something.”

Dale added that if Wall’s comment about an upcoming “blood bath” was a direct quote, he would have to look further into the entire situation.

“There is a fine line there,” Dale said, “and I don’t want people to incite riots.”