Robinson has no regrets As coach
Say this for Carl Robinson. If his career as the Vancouver Whitecaps’ head coach is coming to an end, he hasn’t lost his sense of humour.
“What’s the adage,” Robinson said after the Caps’ practice session on Friday. “You’re hired to be fired. Never unpack your suitcase. That’s another one. And an old friend told me to leave it by the front door. Mine’s been there for five years.”
It’s pointed out to Robinson that’s three coaching cliches in one answer.
“I know,” he said. “Not bad.” Neither is his team. But that’s not really the point any longer.
Despite another decent season for the Whitecaps under Robinson’s watch, there’s a growing sense this will be his final season coaching the team. Whether it’s his choice or the club’s is the next question and that will be answered over the next couple of months.
But whatever happens next, the consequences of losing Robinson are immense for this franchise. Over the last five years he’s established himself as the face of the franchise. He’s also created consistently competitive teams despite the penurious ways of Whitecaps ownership.
This year has been no different. But in his sixth season with the Caps it sounds like the burden of trying to do more with less is starting to catch up to the skipper.
“The expectations are sometimes a little high based on who we are and where we are,” Robinson said. “I’m OK with that and I keep it positive for the players. The last four years we’ve been in the playoffs three times and in two semifinals. For a team like us that’s a phenomenal achievement.
“I never fault (the players). They always give me everything they have. We lack certain things. We know that. But we don’t lack effort, heart and character. What we do lack is other things.” Make of that what you will. This Whitecaps’ season has been a mirror image of the five that preceded it under Robinson. The team works like farmers. They grind out some impressive results. But they don’t have the high-end talent to break through the ceiling they’ve created for themselves.
This year, the Whitecaps are one game over .500 heading into tonight’s showdown with San Jose. They’re also one point out of the playoffs despite sitting in the bottom third of the league in payroll. In Robinson’s six years to date, he has a cumulative record of 63-57-42, and his teams have never been more than four games over .500 or more than five games under .500.
Ownership, meanwhile, has never given Robinson the resources to compete with the league’s best teams. And the gap between the Caps and the rest of the rapidly expanding MLS is growing each year.
The club has just sold young phenom Alphonso Davies for a record transfer fee and what they do with that windfall becomes a huge moment for this franchise.
In a news release, co-owner Jeff Mallett said the Caps are, “committed to investing 100 per cent of the funds back into the sporting side of the club.”
That should mean the arrival of at least a couple of impact players next year. But it appears that’s too late for Robinson.
“I’ve loved being here,” said the 41-year-old Welshman. “My family loves it here and I’m really proud to be the manager of this football club. I enjoy coming to work every day and the day that doesn’t happen will be the time for me to change.
“I’ve got no problems because I know the world of sports.”
Just as his players have come to know him. Kendall Waston came to the Whitecaps in 2014, Robinson’s first year, as a raw centreback from the Costa Rican domestic league. He’s since developed into one of the best defenders in MLS and you don’t have to probe too deeply to get the big man’s feelings about Robinson.
“When I came here I was a different player,” Waston said. “Robbo is the best coach I’ve ever had. It’s not only on the pitch, it’s outside the game. He’s a great person. As a player it’s not many times you get to know a coach like that.”
This off-season, Robinson dealt for striker Kei Kamara, a proven goal scorer in MLS who also came with a high-maintenance tag.
“He’s a players’ coach,” said Kamara. “It’s worked out well. He said one of the major reasons he brought me in was because of my personality. We haven’t clashed and I’m glad that hasn’t happened because I probably would have been traded again.”
Still, it’s those relationships with his players that give Robinson his greatest satisfaction.
“When you see players like Kendall develop,” he said. “You see players like Nicolas Mezquida and how he’s grown over five years. Jake Nerwinski. Cristian Techera. That’s why I’m in the game. I’m not in the game for any other reason than making players better. Some people will accept that’s good enough. Some people won’t.
“When it ends I’ll be able to look back and say I’ve done everything I can to make these players individually better and collectively better.”
And that brings him peace as he awaits his future.