Newman Already Planning Next Season for Sockers
Ron Newman has less trouble making game plans than holiday plans. After coaching the Sockers to their seventh indoor championship, he would like to take a vacation to visit his grandchildren in England. Finding time is another matter.
Newman already is addressing questions about next season. Each year, the Major Indoor Soccer League gets a little more competitive and, Newman’s job consequently becomes more complicated.
Newman, busily trying to figure when he can schedule his time off, is aware he’ll be in the thick of things again soon. “It won’t take long,” he says “for bloody September to come around.” That’s when the Sockers begin training.
In the meantime, Newman will renegotiate his contract with owner Ron Fowler and President Ron Cady, renegotiate the contracts of his players with help from Fowler and Cady and decide who should stay and who should go.
Never a dull moment.
Newman has one wish. “I’d like to see the whole team get two years younger.”
With an average age of just more than 27, it’s fairly young as it is. Still, there may be a number of changes before the first ball is kicked next season. The Sockers’ first order of business is preparing for the league’s free agent draft. The deadline for teams to submit a list of their eight protected players was midnight Tuesday.
The Sockers haven’t released that list yet, but it likely included goalie Victor Nogueira, midfielders Branko Segota and Brian Quinn, and defenders Kevin Crow and George Fernandez. Candidates to fill the other three spots are forwards Paul Wright and Zoran Karic, midfielders Paul Dougherty and Waad Hirmez and defender Ralph Black.
Karic is an interesting study. He was the Sockers’ leading scorer during the regular season and tops on the team in game-winning goals and hat tricks. Yet he also led the team in penalty minutes and developed a reputation for voicing his opinions rather forcefully to the referees, putting himself in Newman’s doghouse at times.
Dougherty, a third-year player, was better last season, scoring 40 regular season goals as compared with 22 this year. But he lifted his game in the playoffs to earn the unsung hero award.
After spending more than half the season with the Lazers, Hirmez happily returned to San Diego. His strengths are his powerful shot (15 goals in 19 games with the Sockers) and his popularity with the fans.
Wright, 19, is still a project. With his outstanding speed, he has potential but will need to improve his skills to contribute on a consistent basis.
Black, one of three Sockers who played in all 48 regular-season games, filled a gap left by the departure of Fernando Clavijo. If not protected, he could be a valuable commodity in the draft.
Another big decision facing the three Rons is what to do with their goalies. Zoltan Toth was the MISL goalie of the year in 1988 with a 2.94 goals against average but missed most of ’89 after undergoing foot surgery for bunions. Nogueira stepped in and earned this season’s goalie of the year award with a lower GAA (2.86) than Toth. Toth still has a year left on his contract, but the Sockers can’t afford to keep two high-priced players at the position.
With all these decisions swirling, Newman also will attempt to bring in several new players to keep the enthusiasm high.
“You always want a little bit of fresh blood,” he said. “I think the fresh players this year helped us in the playoffs.”
And the Sockers, who played the full seven games in both the semifinal and the championship series, needed it. With the team down, 3-2, in the semifinals against Dallas, Fowler made a speech, saying in effect “If you quit on me, I see no reason not to quit on you.” The team looked worn out, beaten.
“There were a lot of guys playing alibi soccer,” Fernandez said. “Passing the buck, not wanting the ball. When Ron Fowler came in and talked to us it put everything in perspective.”
And so the Sockers won the next two games to advance.
Then, after taking a 3-1 lead in the championship series, the team tripped in Game 5 in front of a sellout crowd at the San Diego Sports Arena and was subsequently routed in Game 6 in Baltimore, 7-0. By the time they won Game 7, most players welcomed vacation.
“It’s kind of a relief,” Crow said. “Emotionally and physically, a lot of guys on this team are burnt.”
Which brings up Steve Zungul. At 35, he is at retirement age for this sport. But people told him the same thing last year, and his playoff performance was a big reason the Sockers pulled through.
Zungul, who scored 17 playoff points, has said he wants to play next year. Where he fits into the Sockers’ plans remains to be seen.
“I think that will be up to Steve in a lot of ways,” Newman said. “He’s another year older. It’s easy when he’s fit as he was at the end of the season. But preseason, when he has put on a little bit of weight and gotten a bit lazier . . . “
If retirement is Zungul’s choice, he leaves with fresh memories of hoisting the championship cup and sipping champagne.
“He’s coming off a wonderful playoff series,” Newman said. “He’s finished at the top.”
There were signs this year that league parity is just around the corner. Many praised Baltimore Coach Kenny Cooper in the Sockers’ locker room after Game 7. He made smart acquisitions last summer, constructing a team good enough to finish first in the regular season.
The league salary cap should make it increasingly difficult for the Sockers to float above the other teams. And the law of averages indicates this team can’t continue to win forever. But the Sockers’ methods of motivation have worked nicely so far.
“When you win you’ve always got to find new challenges to get your game one notch higher,” Crow said. “We’ve been able to do that.”
After financial difficulties nearly prevented the MISL getting started in 1988-89, regular-season attendance for the Sockers dropped to 8,383 a game, from 8,996 in 1987-88.
But playoff attendance jumped, perhaps indicating a brighter outlook for the future. The Sockers averaged 10,079 over seven games, compared with 8,885 in eight last season.
The return of the Cleveland Force following a one-year hiatus will give the league eight teams and should help provide stability.
TEAM OF THE DECADE MISL champs of the ‘80s:
1989: Sockers
1988: Sockers
1987: Dallas
1986: Sockers
1985: Sockers
1984: Baltimore*
1983: Sockers
1982: New York*
1981: New York
1980: New York
*--Sockers won North American Soccer League indoor championship.
