Tampa Bay Rowdies 2018 Season in Review

Strap yourself in, we’re going on a roller coaster ride

photo by Matt May/Tampa Bay Rowdies

There’s entirely too much that happened in the Tampa Bay Rowdies sophomore season in the United Soccer League. I will try my best not to make this wrap up a dissertation.

During the mid-season, Tampa Bay Lightning beat writer Joe Smith wrote a fine article in The Athletic detailing some of the misfortunes and mishaps. Smith had valuable insight, but in reality, it only felt like 25% of the story. The Rowdies 2018 season is pure 30 for 30 fodder.

The Rowdies sophomore slump was more than just a slump. Rather, it involved a coach firing, a shocking managerial decision, a star’s departure, referee chicanery, a rotating cast of characters, delinquency, and somehow managing a late season playoff run that would ultimately run out of steam. Did I miss anything? OH yeah! The Tampa Bay Rays baseball franchise bought the Tampa Bay Rowdies.

To make this piece more digestible, I’m going to break up this season in sections, in a somewhat chronological order. Let’s start at the beginning.

High expectations meet underperformance

photo by Matt May/Tampa Bay Rowdies, beware of the Sophia Vergara curse Mr. Campbell

In my season preview article, my headline stated that the Rowdies 2018 season was a now or never strike gold or go home campaign. The Rowdies’ three stars, Cole (36 years old), Schafer (34), and Hristov (33), were all on retirement watch to open the season. Head coach Stuart Campbell was coming off a season where the Rowdies had just missed making the conference final after a war with New York Red Bulls II.

The Rowdies had an offseason where they retained many of their quality players while bringing in intriguing new names to bolster their attack. It was now up to Campbell to keep the Rowdies towards the top of the table to compete for a title. The Rowdies opened the season 4–2–0 (W-L-D) with one glaring loss being a 5–0 drubbing at the hands of the dreaded Red Bulls II. The panic would ensure soon afterward. The Rowdies would lose 4 straight games in late April through mid-May including an embarrassing Open Cup loss to a Jacksonville Armada club that plays in the NPSL. If you want to know what the NPSL is, I would like to know as well. The game was played at what looked like a local park.

Actual image from the Rowdies’ loss to the Armada

From a speculation standpoint, it appeared that Stuart Campbell had lost the locker room. Faces of frustration and disdain were worn by club veterans Cole and Schafer during this losing stretch as the team mustered 0 goals in 4 games.

On May 17th, only 10 games into the USL season, the Rowdies parted ways with Stuart Campbell in the midst of his 3rd full season as head coach.

A Shocking Promotion and Departure

photo by Matt May/Tampa Bay Rowdies

Neill Collins was the starting center back in the ugly 1–0 loss to the Jacksonville Armada. Collins has been a fixture of the Rowdies backline since he signed with the club in 2016.

Collins was Mr. No Days Off. A tall imposing bulldozer in the middle of the park who isn’t agile or nimble, but you weren’t likely to beat Collins in a physical battle. He was also a leader on the pitch. A quality that owner Bill Edwards thought would translate to a managerial role. Collins already held a UEFA A coaching license (which in the soccer world just sounds impressive). So as Edwards did with Campbell, he insourced Campbell’s replacement.

The true shock was that Collins was an every game starter for a back line that was plagued with injuries. Collins was named head coach the day after Campbell’s departure and coached his first game a day later. The result was an impressive 2–2 draw against a defensively elite Pittsburgh Riverhounds side. The Rowdies played with more energy, but still made sloppy mistakes and were far from a polished team with a new identity. It would obviously take Coach Collins time to adjust to managing his team from the sideline than on the field.

The Rowdies than suffered their biggest blow of the season. 1st Team All-USL midfielder Marcel Schafer left the Rowdies on June 22nd, to take on a Sporting Director role with his former club VFL Wolfsburg. While this was the right move for Schafer to take the next step in his soccer career, this would not make Collins’ job any easier. But misfortune wasn’t done playing with the Rowdies yet…

Rogue referees and feuding teammates

infamous referee, Guido Gonzalez, the undisputed master of the unneeded yellow card followed by five separate facial expressions and three uncontrolled hand gestures to relay a message of not giving a shit

Before Schafer left, he would be one of three victims of a straight red card. The three separate reds managed to influence three crucial Rowdies home games.

Schafer, Leon Taylor, and Junior Flemmings, all three key players to the Rowdies attack saw straight reds in the first half of games for some maddeningly questionable fouls.

The Rowdies drew ATL Utd 2, 0–0, in Schafer’s red card game.

The Rowdies lost to Penn FC, 1–2, in Taylor’s red card game. The game was tied 1–1 before the red card was issued.

The Rowdies drew NY Red Bulls 2, 2–2, in Flemmings’ red card game. The Rowdies led the game 2–1 when the card was issued.

Entering July, the Rowdies would then be forced to release one of their starting defenders and a backup goalkeeper after the two had a domestic violence dispute. Ivan Magalhaes, who had to step up when Collins was promoted, was released along with goalkeeper Martin Reynares.

To take stock of the Rowdies roster losses to this point, the Rowdies lost David Najem to a season-ending injury early. Jack Blake was sent out on loan. Collins went from player to coach. Schafer left for Germany. Magalhaes and Reynares were released for conduct. And finally, Tam Mkandawire would announce his retirement in late August before he could make his 100th appearance for the Rowdies.

To make up for the losses the Rowdies would have to scrap together a number of players. Collins was inserting players in and out of his lineup game after game as new guys entered the fray.

A new calvary and late-season playoff push

photo by Matt May/Tampa Bay Rowdies

The Rowdies signed 10 players during the course of the season. Many became permanent fixtures in the lineup.

The starters for the Rowdies in game 1:

GK: Mizell

DEF: Collins, Gorskie, Najem, Portillos

MID: Cole, Blake, Schafer,

ATT: Nanchoff, Hristov, Fernandes

The starters for the Rowdies in game 33:

GK: Vega

DEF: Gorskie, Diakite, Morad

MID: Oduro, Cole, Taku, Poku, Fernandes

ATT: Guenzatti, Taylor

Not only was the change of coach a dramatic overhaul for the club, but the change in personnel resulted in a variety of mixed results. Some of the additions panned out, others did not.

The signings the Rowdies made during the season is as follows:

GK: Vega

DEF: Diakite, Morad, Porter

MID: Poku, Taku, Oduro

ATT: Taylor, Chavez, Bonomo

The midfield additions all became permanent starters. Diakite and Morad were fixtures on the defensive side. Vega was brought in late but started every game he was available in. Bonomo suffered an injury. Chavez was signed in the dying embers of the season and saw a couple appearances mostly as a sub. Taylor saw some playing time when he was initially signed but disappeared for a stretch until the end of the season.

The Eastern conference became congested at the playoff cutoff line. Despite some fleeting performances midseason, the Rowdies had just enough points to be in the mix for a late-season run. August was a particularly rough month where the Rowdies had accrued a 6-game winless streak(starting with a 2–2 draw against Red Bulls II in late July). The Rowdies turned it around and won 4 of their next 5 games. The quality of teams they faced in their 6-game winless streak and their 4 wins in 5 games run had an effect, but the Rowdies appeared to be a more confident team. Collins was able to field a more consistent starting lineup.

The late-season flurry would be all for naught as the Rowdies lost 3 of their last 4, including one heartbreaking last-second draw to end their season in 12th place. The Rowdies finished the season 11–15–8 (W-L-D).

Statistical comparisons and anomalies

photo by Matt May/Tampa Bay Rowdies

It’s hard to point at one glaring weakness as the Rowdies regressed in several areas offensively and defensively. Outside of the wholesale changes, the Rowdies struggled with personnel roles and finding the right pieces to make a complete team.

On the offensive side, the Rowdies scored 44 goals compared to 54 last year. Hristov led the team with 7. Flemmings led the team in assists with 5. Flemmings also had 6 goals making him the most statistically productive offensive player. Schafer attributed 4 assists (in 13 appearances) to be second on the team before his departure.

Joe Cole played 300 fewer minutes and saw 4 fewer starts this season but his production went down after a fantastic 2017 campaign. Cole had 4 goals and 2 assists this year compared to 7 goals and 5 assists last year. Cole turns 37 years of age next month.

The Rowdies struggled to find a consistent goal scorer. Hristov, who owns the record for most goals scored all-time for the Rowdies (60), had a modest season. Hristov recorded a career-low 19 starts in his fifth Rowdies season. Hristov was subbed out of 10 games, a career high, and recorded 1,000 fewer minutes this season than last.

The Rowdies offense ultimately suffered from lacking complementary players with chemistry to put the passes together and create easy goals. When the passes did connect, the Rowdies lacked a consistent confident finisher like Paterson or Hristov in 2017. Flemmings was the Rowdies best finisher but needs to be played into space or get an accurate cross in the box to get his shot off. The conversion rate for Hristov and Paterson versus Flemmings and Guenzatti illustrates the Rowdies finishing struggles this season.

2017: Hristov 39%, Paterson 25%

2018: Guenzatti 13%, Flemmings 11%

The Rowdies faults defensively were mostly a result of injuries and retirements. The only stat you need to know is that the Rowdies were desperate enough to sign Kyle Porter and start him 6 games.

The Rowdies only found some defensive stability once they had a defensive core with Oduro at defensive mid, and Gorskie, Diakite, and Morad on the back line. The Rowdies didn’t have this lineup in place until August 8th when they drew the Charleston Battery 0–0.

Here are a couple bullet point factoids and stats that are of interest:

The Rowdies scored nearly half of their goals after the 60-minute mark.

The Rowdies failed to score in 10 of their 17 road contests. The Rowdies had only 1 clean sheet on the road.

The Rowdies were 6th in the league in total shots. T-20th in conversion rate.

The Rowdies passing numbers from 2017 to 2018 didn’t show any significant differences.

The Rowdies had 27 less yellow cards this year at 60. Cole had 10 yellows this season, a career high. The last time Cole was over 5 yellows in a season was with Chelsea in 2006 when he had 7.

Player evaluation and speculation for 2019

photo by Matt May/Tampa Bay Rowdies

There are several questions hovering over the Rowdies offseason prospects. First and foremost, will the Rays ownership have any impact over who the Rowdies acquire? The perceived effect of the Rays owner funneling his money into the Rowdies would come with the expectation that the Rowdies budget would increase with a more wealthy owner. Stuart Sternberg’s net worth is 800 million.

Player retention is another major question for the Rowdies. Who do the Rowdies hold on to? Who walks? Since there isn’t any league transparency with the length and dollar value of contracts, it leaves fans with only room to speculate. Most of the time I assume players are on 1-year deals.

There are a number of players I’d hope to see the Rowdies retain for 2019. My list is as follows:

DEF: Diakite, Morad, Najem

MID: Oduro, Fernandes

ATT: Flemmings, Bonomo, Morrell, Taylor

There are some fringe players who I would be fine with the Rowdies retaining, but I wouldn’t be dismayed if they went elsewhere. That list includes:

Gorskie, Rozeboom, Curinga, Poku, Nanchoff.

I expect Cole and Hristov to retire, but both may be back in 2019.

Finally, there’s the cut group. The guys that I would not want to see next year:

Porter, Lachowecki, Taku, Vingaard.

What I like about the players in my retain list, none of them are above the age of 26, which means they have room to develop and grow their game. The Rowdies have typically been known to be an older team, especially with its star players. The Rowdies have a lot of younger players on their current roster with immense talent.

If the Rowdies can find some talented midfielders to complement their dynamic attackers, there’s a really good core roster to build from. The midfielders the Rowdies need have to be proficient on the ball and be able to get the ball deep into the attacking third. With good ball skills and expert decision-making added to the midfield, the Rowdies already have guys at forward who can both playmake and finish. Flemmings and Bonomo are proven finishers. Morrell and Fernandes are both dynamic playmakers who can spread the field. The Rowdies need a Cole-Schafer type duo who can command the middle of the field and allow a dangerous offense go to work.

If the Rowdies defense lined up with Najem, Diakite, Gorskie, and Morad, as the back line, then the Rowdies would have a great defensive core to build around. A couple of depth players and you’re golden. Oduro as the young defensive midfielder has a lot of potential to be a great player.

Last year I mentioned it was imperative that the Rowdies find young players to alleviate the pressure off of Cole and Schafer. Now with Schafer out and Cole likely out, the Rowdies are poised to enter a new era with a new coach. 2019 will be a true infrastructure test of team management and coaching. I look forward to the offseason roundup and will be back in 2019 with a season preview and possibly more if any major signing news breaks.