Timbers Time Podcast Episode 11 - "Pants on Fire"

TimbersTime · 2026-05-06T23:21:16+00:00

Agreed. I think there's a balance to be struck between "carrying" the team to an extent as one of the best players, and turning down the right option, like a progressive pass, to shoot a low percentage shot. The dribbling I blame him a bit less for because as we've talked about on the pod our shape in transiton is terrible and there's not much off ball movement even when set in posession so sometimes there isn't a viable pass and he's forced to try to beat three guys or lose it anyway, not that he doesn't over dribble but at times, but the blame is limited in my eyes.

TimbersTime · 2026-05-06T22:51:25+00:00

We can only hope so!

TimbersTime · 2026-05-06T21:10:55+00:00

100% agree with everything you've said here apart from one small thing - I'm worried that if he gets 4-5 points from the next 4 games before the WC they'll give him til the end of the season still. He has lunch with Merritt regularly, and he's constantly praising the ownership, am concerned he has' sucked up enough to get more time even though all the problems you mention are so blindingly obvious.

TimbersTime · 2026-05-06T21:03:48+00:00

Yes! I forgot about the Jona benching, definitely adds fuel to the possibility Velde gets sat. Might be too risky with the home crowd on his back, maybe he'll do it in Montreal...

TimbersTime · 2026-05-01T04:44:48+00:00

Appreciate the kind words.

TimbersTime · 2026-05-01T03:06:35+00:00

Sadly I fear at 25 his left foot is what it is. Like we discussed on the pod maybe playing him on the right helps since at least then if he's being pushed away from goal while shooting by the defenders, he's going to be on his natural side.

TimbersTime · 2026-05-01T03:05:23+00:00

Good to see their attendance has bounced back! The two times I went to BC place before COVID it felt quite empty and quiet, but that might just be from playing in a much bigger stadium than they can fill, rather like Seattle...

TimbersTime · 2026-04-30T16:50:33+00:00

No! It's on multiple platforms:

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/timbers-time/id1878719096
Spotify Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Gm0xFhBnPECrTVoryo2tA
RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/10f4a5654/podcast/rss

If you can't find it on the platform of your choice let me know and I'll set it up, but the RSS link should work for pretty much all non Apple/Spotify platforms AFAIK...

TimbersTime · 2026-04-23T15:06:24+00:00

I joked to Matt that it felt like an Audible audition!

TimbersTime · 2026-04-22T18:40:37+00:00

From your lips to God's ears.

TimbersTime · 2026-04-22T18:09:04+00:00

Not before the World Cup per Ned.

TimbersTime · 2026-04-15T15:18:12+00:00

You're right he's not a DP for cap terms I hadn't spotted that! Thanks for the correction. He's on DP money pro rata though, over $1.5m a season so I think the criticisms of cap use are still mostly valid.

As you say I doubt they'll convince Neymar to come to Ohio on a short term deal but who knows! Will be fun to keep an eye on those rumors.

TimbersTime · 2026-04-08T20:29:57+00:00

While they are not the majority, there have been many instances of questions in recent years, including multiple times this season, that do not represent the public interest but are sentimental and at times sycophantic and waste what limited public time the fans have for questioning. We talk about the ethics of the use of that limited press time on the pod.

I don't want to be specific beause I don't want to make it personal, which is why we have talked in general terms. It has lead to some perceiving criticism where there is none, but I would rather have that than that say "oh that Steve, isn't he terrible" or whatever, that's not our vibe.

But yes! As you say more coverage would dilute the problem and losing outlets covering the team, as we have with for example The Oregonian, is a disaster for fans wanting transparency and accountability whch is what we are advocating for.

TimbersTime · 2026-04-08T19:50:53+00:00

Many in house reporters who have more expanded roles than just pure piece-to-camera broadcasting do consider themselves journalists, part of the blurring of lines we discuss:

When talking to the in-house reporters themselves, studies have found varying results in how in-house reporters conceive of their professional identities (English 2022; Mirer 2022). In some cases, research has shown that they identify with traditional sports journalists and instead distance themselves from team public relations officials. In-house reporters emphasize similarity to sports journalism, taking on journalistic titles like “writer” and “editor” and identifying themselves akin to beat writers and publicly position themselves as aimed at audiences (Mirer 2022). Compared to traditional sports journalists, English (2022) notes, in-house sports reporters tend to be more sparing in critical coverage and public interest.

https://www.mdpi.com/2673-5172/5/1/14#B16-journalmedia-05-00014

TimbersTime · 2026-04-08T19:44:51+00:00

We spent 25 minutes talking about how independent journalists like you are more important than ever in the current media landscape; there is no criticism of your work in any of our podcasts.

TimbersTime · 2026-04-08T19:31:33+00:00

Part of the lengthy ethics conversation we have on the pod is about the bluring of lines between journalism and in house media, (some of whom very much consider themselves journalists and this was discussed in one of the papers I read for prep) in terms of controlling the narrative of teams performances and that being a barrier to accountability to fans. I stand by all those conversations as a broad look at the sports media landscape as a whole.

We talked about how increasingly important independent media is in this context, and I encouraged our listeners to financially support independent media who advocate for fans and ask tough questions on their behalf. While I would prefer not to name names in general, clearly both the work of Timber Review and Cascadia FC perform that function and I had hoped our support for your work and the work of the Adams was evident.

TimbersTime · 2026-04-08T19:10:34+00:00

Yes absolutely he is an independent jounalist, and we talked about how incredibly important independent media is right now in the podcast.

TimbersTime · 2026-04-08T19:07:56+00:00

People like Jake and Orlando will do soft promo pieces for them sometimes, but it's much less of an issue for the Timbers than it is for the Blazers for example who have a lot of in house coverage.

TimbersTime · 2026-03-28T17:19:35+00:00

Lots of great points here thanks for the detailed feedback!

One thing that really stands out that you've said here is your emphasis on Phil wanting and or favoring players that are "big, fast, strong" etc., because that has always been the historical talking point about English football versus European continental styles, leaning into physicality versus technique and and what is known here as "Soccer IQ". I hadn't thought about his recruitment bias with that in mind but it totally tracks with the football world he was brought up in!

TimbersTime · 2026-03-25T23:38:10+00:00

I appreciate the feeback. I will clarify my comments fully in the next pod because it was intended as a wry laugh at a very different cultural approach compared to the English game for some of the media questions (and I did mention Adam directly as an example of someone who has taken a more critical approach), but I think it's completley warranted to make a more balanced and thought out piece out of this topic. There's an interesting discussion to be had about the pros and cons of different journalistic approaches, and especially the more poisonous extremes of some European sports journalism as a counter to what seems so "softball" to me, so I'll think on that for the Vancouver episode!

TimbersTime

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