I spoke with the president of the Ohio Machine John Algie about the season so far and about being a second year expansion franchise.
1. How do you evaluate your second year in the league?
Overall, I have to give us a negative grade. Our struggles on the field have been well-documented and our record has not been indicative of the talent we have on the roster. That said, there are plenty of positives to build off of, such as an increase in corporate support in Central Ohio, an extremely positive & loyal fan base, and high-character, talented players that are giving their all on the field and are doing everything they can to improve every day. We planned to build a talented, young team that would grow together and that is what we have done. We expected a bit more short-term success than we have had so far, but the medium- and long-term prospects for this team have not changed and the future is bright.
2. What are the differences between this year and last?
Roster continuity has been a major problem this season. Injuries to some key players aside (every team has to deal with those), I felt like we were shuffling guys in and out way too much at the start of the season. It’s hard for players to know, understand and embrace their roles when there is constant juggling. We also have a much younger team than last year. We were very quick to bring in virtually all of our rookies at the same time this year at the expense of some of the more veteran players – and not that that’s a bad thing, it just makes things a little different and more challenging than last year.
3. What went into the decision to not make many impact moves at the trade deadline?
We like where we are at overall. We have a lot of first- and second-year players, and we have a pretty good arsenal of college picks next year. With basically every team still in playoff contention, there weren’t many opportunities to grab a high-end veteran talent without over-paying. There were a lot of relatively unproven younger players that were available, but we have plenty of those right now and there will be more opportunities to juggle things in the offseason. We also didn’t want to overtax our coaching staff by bringing in a bunch of new players to evaluate down the stretch, or by shipping out guys they haven’t had a chance to look at yet. That said, we had an opportunity to shore up our defensive midfield a little bit with a very talented local product in Gerry Reilly, so we’ll bring him in and see what he can do to help us.
4. What has the reaction been to Peter Baum choosing not to play?
We’re focused on the players that are here now as part of the team and we’ll worry about other guys in the offseason.
5. What needs to improve going forward?
Consistency & decision-making. We need to establish a depth-chart and stick to that game to game as much as possible. From there, we need to forge an identity and then play to that identity for an entire game. We’ve seen flashes of what this team is capable of, but we have only seen a handful of complete games. Mistakes are OK and are going to happen; the key is to identify those mistakes and avoid repeating them game in and game out. The preparation and attention to detail that our new coaching staff is putting in should go a long way towards meeting those goals.
