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Report: Porter signs long-term contract extension with Timbers

Caleb Porter

Photo by ISIPhotos.com

By DAN KARELL

The Portland Timbers have rewarded Caleb Porter for the impressive job he’s done in his first year in charge.

According to a report in SI, Porter has signed a five-year contract extension to remain the head coach of the Timbers, after leading them to first place in the Western Conference making him one of the front runners for the Major League Soccer Coach of the Year award. The Timbers have not yet publicly announced the deal.

Following disappointing finishes in their first two years in MLS, the Timbers turned to Porter last August after parting ways with John Spencer. The report states that Porter took a pay cut to join the Timbers from his last job as head coach of the University of Akron men’s soccer team, but it’s likely that the new contract includes a higher salary.

What do you think of this report? Excited to see Porter signing a long-term deal? Do you feel that he’s the MLS Coach of the Year?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Perhaps a bit off subject but is it correct to say that MLS pretty much blocked a move from Portland to get Mix? I believe that was the rumor at one point but wasn’t sure. If so I think he would have fit in at Portland well. Also would be kind of crazy considering how much the league spent on Dempsey when I’m sure Mix would have been a fraction of the proce.

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    • Kind of. Mix wanted to have a contract with Portland not with MLS. So in the end it was Mix that nixed it. In the end they ended up signing Valeri so it all worked out.

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  2. good decision by Portland, all parties involved deserve it. Right now, even though they are the best in the West, Portland’s roster is relatively “low budget” compared to their competition. No disrespect, just admiration for getting so much out of so little! It will be really interesting to see how he builds a team over the next few years; especially once Merrit Paulsen (sp?) opens up the account..

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    • Would like to see there youth teams, do they have any?, play a similar system to what Porter is doing. Let the cream rise to the top and have Portland spoon off the top and sign homegrown players. Matter of fact I would like to see every team do this..it only raises the level of the league, but the USMNT player pool too.

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  3. He emphasises possession. He looks at the international standard of the game and that is not England. Look at the results for yourself. The more teams play possession build-up play with a focus of getting the ball and players into the penalty area the faster MLS will evolve to a world class league. Porter carries the flag and leads the way. Congratulations Porter and Portland fans.

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    • I am seeing more and more teams in MLS making more shorter passes into the penalty area, more through balls, and that Ricardo Clark assist against Montreal was sweet and a prime example of what MLS should consistently look like. There were players near the penalty area, player with ball had options, and chose to make a sweet back heal pass for a GOAL. MLS needs more of that go for it type of play into the penalty area.

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  4. Porter is a five tool coach:

    He can motivate

    He can do the X and O thing

    He has vision

    He learns from his mistakes

    And most importantly he has an eye for talent AND puts people in places to succeed where others would fail to notice
    Case in point — Will Johnson. Kreis saw that Johnson was not cutting it as a wide player. Porter saw that Johnson could be a very good number 8 in his system. Voila !
    MLS needs at least 7 or 8 more Porter-heaps- Kreis level coaches plus a much higher cap before the league takes off. Wish it would happen faster but I’m liking what I see ….

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  5. Smart move by the Timbers. Definitely one of the top coaches in the country right now. With how Heaps has turned around the Revolution and with Porter, Petke, and Jason Kreis the MLS has some really good young up and coming coaches that will serve the US well in the coming decades. The future of US soccer is looking brighter than ever.

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    • they should leave to europe, the younger the better and come back when MLS is the sh*t. American coaches need to go learn from Europe and even argentina, argentina produces a lot of good coaches.

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      • They would probably be killed in Argentina:-) Just kidding, Sanfran415 put down the pitchfork!

        If a Euro team takes a flyer on one of them I say you have to leave. I believe that Mid tier English Championship and certainly Bundesliga.2 – which I admittedly don’t watch but have seen more of the Bundesliga the last few years- is a good MLS comp. Do you leave to coach Ipswich when you are succeeding and growing soccer in your country though? That’s the question.

  6. MLS needs new coaches, new ideas, new theories, new philosophies. Im tired of the same kick ball in every MLS game. Yallop, sigi, hamlet, and list goes on, need to go over seas when they have nothing to do and study some soccer tactiics from the great ones in europe. Every coach does that, hopefully expansion teams like nycfc, orlando, miami get new coaches. Kudos to impact, portland, even new england and red bull for getting new blood. MLS can a be a stepping stone for any coach in the world, if you make it in MLS, then you can make it some where else.

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    • I was a Caleb Porter skeptic after the Olympics disaster, which Klinsmann appeared to eagerly let happen. But Porter has made a believer out of man. The guy did not take the easy route by staying as a college coach, but took the bull by the horns, and a lower-tier bull at that, and has done a great job. I would love to see him take over the USMNT after WC 2014.

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      • I’m excited about Porter as well, but it’s far too early to think of him as the next USMNT coach. He hasn’t even had one full season in professional ranks

      • JK could be thinking 2018, but he won’t get that chance if he goes belly up in Brazil next year. I’m sure Bradley was thinking 2014 as well.

  7. I hope he has a built-in release clause to take over the USMNT when the time comes. And, come to think of it, I wonder if Porter might have been tipped off that Klinsmann is going to the contract extension that he in recent weeks has been campaigning for.

    P.S. Did SBI as a joke photoshop the green tie Porter is wearing with the blue shirt?

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      • I admit, I have pretty bad taste. But I would bet 50 cents that David Beckham would never been caught (at least in public) in brown pants, blue shirt and green tie 🙂

      • LOL…It’s all in the eye of the beholder. Truth be told, I have rocked that look to a summer event: Light tan suit, green tie and similar shirts so that it why I defended it (something I could wear (June – August). 🙂

      • The checkered shirt with the solid tie in those colors is a bit risky. Got to be hipsterish enough to pull it off. I’m sure Portland has enough qualified professionals to make the call.

      • See, that’s a fair assessment. I definitely get the prove it to me first people but those who think a freaking miracle Sean Johnson fustercluck makes Porter unqualified at the int’l level are flat insane and delusional

      • +1 classic case of US Soccer fans jumping the gun & getting all excited about the new guy! Porter is certainly one of the best coaches this year in MLS but lets curb the national team talk until he has an actual resume of professional achievements.

    • I think you’re being sarcastic, but if not, he’s been there and done that. It didn’t go that well (although I’d love to see him try again).

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      • What didn’t go well? Sean Johnson coughing up a stoppage time shot that anyone but a convalescent would have stopped? Yeah, big failure. Gotta love revisionist historians.

    • He’d be the perfect guy to coach our u-23 team for qualification to the 2016 Olympics. No way they’d not make it with his genius at the helm.

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  8. I think the bigger story here is that Porter took a pay CUT to join an MLS franchise from Akron. Lowballing the new guy. MLS can’t be taken seriously if it’s paying less than a college team.

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  9. It’s a smart move by the club. He is definitely the coach of the year – just compare Portland’s record and style of play pre-Porter and with Porter at the helm.

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    • I think his salary at Akron was in the $350,000 range. President of Akron University said it was worth it because he was the best soccer coach in the country. Sounds like the Pres knew what he was talking about.

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    • A number of College soccer coaches get paid more than their MLS counterparts. It’s because of all of that money from TV contracts in other sports that they won’t pay to college players. They have to spend it somehow; why not coaching wage inflation!

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      • Wait, huh? The MAC has a TV network? A TV contract? If you are referring to the venerable Tuesday night MACtion good sir, I kindly ask you to cast aspersions elsewhere, my betting habit craves those games for easy covers.

        And no, college coaches do not on average make more than MLS counterparts. Do the math.

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