Socker Management, Coaches Try to Patch Their Differences

The Sockers’ owner and president got together with the team’s coaching staff for three hours Tuesday evening and tried to mend a rift that developed over how three remaining roster spots would be filled.

Apparently solved was a difference of opinion between Coach Ron Newman and President Ron Cady over whether to sign free-agent midfielder Paul Dougherty.

Cady said decisions were made during the meeting as to whom will be offered contracts for the final spots, but would not say whether Dougherty was among them. He said details would be announced at a press conference today at 2 p.m.

Cady and and owner Ron Fowler also took exception to a story that appeared in Tuesday’s San Diego Edition of The Times that quoted two team sources who contended there has been a split between management and Newman for a couple years. The sources also said that disagreements between Cady and Newman have been so strong that Cady would like to get rid of Newman but can’t because the team keeps winning championships.

“Most of the stuff was as fallacious as I’ve ever seen,” Fowler said. “I think it’s a case in which people who don’t know everything that is going on put two and two together and come up with seven. It’s complete bull----. When other people speculate on matters they know nothing of they come across as complete Bozos and I think that’s what happened.”

Added Cady, “Why would we want to get rid of someone who has won eight championships?”

Fowler said disagreements have cropped up between Cady and Newman, but that he has never seen “a situation where two professionals don’t at some point differ.”

Cady waffled as to whether he has had disagreements with Newman. At one point Cady said he has had “normal” differences with Newman.

“I call them normal differences in managing a professional team,” he said. “I call them normal differences in running a business.”

Those differences apparently reached a boil earlier this week and a meeting was held Monday night to discus the matter.

“We had a meeting just to air some differences that we’ve been having over some time here,” Cady said. “It was just a little hiccup in Newman and my relationship and I think we got it all aired out.”

Later Cady said he has never disagreed on a personnel matter with Newman in the three years he has been club president.

“For the three years we (Fowler and Cady) have been running the club,” Cady said, “Coach Newman and I have always agreed on every single roster member.”

The Dougherty situation appears to be another personnel matter wherein Cady and Newman have disagreed. On Monday Newman made it clear he wanted Dougherty for the team but that the decision was not his.

When Fowler was asked about the Dougherty situation on Tuesday, the owner did not deny that a rift existed between Newman and Cady, but said he casts the deciding vote when such a difference occurs.

“The guy who writes the check gets to make the final decision,” he said.

Cady also took exception to what he saw as an underlying tone of the quotes in Tuesday’s story which suggested that the Sockers have won three championships under the Cady-Fowler regime in spite of the two.

“We have been involved with and have run the club the same way for three years,” Cady said. “And my relationship with Newman has been the same for three years. If they’re saying that the team has won in spite of the way we have managed the club, I would have to disagree.”