The Bruce Allen/GM Thread

[mcgraw238]

9 minutes ago, BatteredFanSyndrome said:

 

Yeah, he has this innate ability to have tremendous passion that nobody else can see through his actions.

 

And apparently those of us that don't buy into the tremendous passion bit are not real Redskins fans. The fact that ownership supports this garbage is pathetic. 

[veteranskinsfan]

His worst answer was about being close to making the playoffs by only being two games away.   If any of us expected any useful comments from him we were only kidding ourselves.   Teflon Don continues to enjoy his spot at the top of the Redskins food chain.  "We are all in this together" means do not blame me, just blame everyone including front office, players, coaches, etc. but leave me and the Danny out of it.

[justice98]

The press corps had one shot at it and overall, they blew it.  None of the antagonist columnists are ever around, like Loverro or Sally Jenkins, when you need 'em. Hell, Jason Reid woulda come in handy yesterday. Grill that sucker.

[London Kev]

2 hours ago, Skinsinparadise said:

If we recall before the 2017 combine they came up with the Scot grandmother story so lying isnt beneath them if they want to try to kill a story. Clearly they know the Dan interviewing coordinators story is a mess for them.

 

But if he is being coached like a politician, you go on message where you purposely repeat things to go on theme.

 

So with Bruce it was "I am not the guy calling the shots" its Doug, its Jay. But mostly Doug, Doug, Doug. And lol I know u guys in the press and fans love Doug so u won't attack that dude! Gotcha!

 

This was the reason I didn't like Doug's appointment.  My fear was, and still is, that Bruce/Dan will turn the memory of Doug Williams as a Superbowl hero into the (almost certainly false) memory of him being the doofus who messed up the team and had to be fired.

[XtremeFan55]

If Bruce really had passion for the Redskins then he would be working around the clock....sleeping in his office....trying to build a winning culture by example....hiring people better than him and trusting them to do their jobs.....doing everything he possibly can to achieve the one goal of all teams...to win Championships.

 

In other words he would be a team player and understand and acknowledge his weaknesses and compensate by giving charge of those areas to the best people he can find all in the best interest of the team because he has ‘passion’ and wants to do everything in his power to win.

 

Instead...we see a man who is insecure mainly due to incompetence so he hoards power and influence out of fear of losing his lofty status.   He hires weak subordinates who are no threat to his job and who themselves are weak and will do whatever is necessary to keep their jobs.  So Bruce rewards these weak underlings with Senior Vice President titles and job security as long as it benefits himself.

 

Bruce using the word ‘passion’ is just an empty phrase to spew out occasionally to the media as a way to hide behind failure.

 

I really believe Bruce is in this position because he loves and craves the position of power and the lifestyle that comes with it.  The League Meetings...the Combine...the Senior Bowl....etc...which gives him the opportunity to drink and party like an aged frat boy who never grew up.  No one wanted Bruce for years after Tampa Bay and no one will hire him again after his Redskins gig.  He knows this so like all politicians his ‘passion’ is really for himself and staying in power for as long as he can.

 

For that I blame that imbecile, Dan Snyder, who like the Emperor with no clothes is so gullible that he can’t even see nor understand that he is parading around buck naked while Bruce runs his team to the ground.

 

This is beyond sad.  This is beyond frustration.  This has become so bad that we are entering the stage of open arm revolt.   All you ‘diehard’ fans who cannot see what is happening and continue to support, rationalize, or condone such dysfunctional management....I don’t feel sorry for you...I am actually angry with you since you prevent real change from ever happening by continuing to support this management by going to games and buying merchandise.

 

Our hope is that next year the stadium will be empty...that fans will stop buying jerseys....that DC, Maryland and Virginia will be smart enough to not build Dan a stadium until Dan proves that he is competent enough to run a major league team........that people will stop caring enough to send shock waves to Redskins Park that will cause the upheaval necessary to turn this around for good otherwise the NFL will be dead in the Nations Capital.  My 2 cents.

[DC9]

I truly think that they did well yesterday (the beat reporters).  They had a good plan and did a good job.

 

Here's the thing a lot of you aren't taking into account - Bruce hasn't spoken in what, 4 years?  

 

You don't go out and absolutely destroy someone like that.  You try and give him some softballs (Alex Smith) then you move in.  As they were getting close to moving in Wylie started to smell blood so he called it.  That's when the last question was asked, and it was the only question with balls.

 

So - what did that interaction earn?  Bruce speaking at the combine - where you'll have some sage in the room.

 

Chess not checkers, men.

[RandyHolt]

Did he conduct his press conference in a seating portal?

 

Mind as well have been from a seat in a portapotty with the crap he was spewing.

[Mr. Sinister]

56 minutes ago, mcgraw238 said:

 

And apparently those of us that don't buy into the tremendous passion bit are not real Redskins fans. 

 

Meh, there hasn't been a real Skins fan in almost 30 years. We've all been trapped in purgatory, eternally playing out the same horrible nightmare/death scene over and over again, lol.

[bakedtater1]

2 minutes ago, Mr. Sinister said:

 

Meh, there hasn't been a real Skins fan in almost 30 years. We've all been trapped in purgatory, eternally playing out the same horrible nightmare/death scene over and over again, lol.

Define a real skins fan

[FrFan]

Manusky sitting in the meetings to pick up his replacement !!!! 🤢

[RandyHolt]

Manusky: "No, I really don't like him either.... "

 

You cannot make this stuff up.

[Mr. Sinister]

Just now, bakedtater1 said:

Define a real skins fan

 

I have no definition. 

 

"Real [blank]!" has never had any meaning to me, in any realm, and imo exists solely to serve as an affirmation of ones own biases

[Warhead36]

The 7-9 record is a mirage. We're closer to a 3-13 caliber team than 13-3 caliber.

[justice98]

One other thing that came out was him trying to further explain the "we talked to the Bama guys" fiasco regarding Rueben Foster. 

 

Now, correct me if I'm wrong or misinterpreting, but he said words to the effect of they ask their players not to say anything.  Basically, sticking to the story and saying the Bama guys were lying, but were doing what they were told.

[mcgraw238]

Just now, justice98 said:

One other thing that came out was him trying to further explain the "we talked to the Bama guys" fiasco regarding Rueben Foster. 

 

Now, correct me if I'm wrong or misinterpreting, but he said words to the effect of they ask their players not to say anything.  Basically, sticking to the story and saying the Bama guys were lying, but were doing what they were told.

 

The easy answer was that Bruce was doing what he does best...lying.

[justice98]

43 minutes ago, mcgraw238 said:

 

The easy answer was that Bruce was doing what he does best...lying.

 

Which is expected, but he's doubling down on calling his guys liars.  That's the part I'm getting at.

[mcgraw238]

17 minutes ago, justice98 said:

 

Which is expected, but he's doubling down on calling his guys liars.  That's the part I'm getting at.

 

Yes, you are spot on. 

[KDawg]

21 minutes ago, justice98 said:

 

Which is expected, but he's doubling down on calling his guys liars.  That's the part I'm getting at.

 

Bingo. 

 

I saw that, too.

 

"Oh, well, we told them not to discuss it".

 

"But they said they didn't talk to anyone".

 

"Right. Because we told them not to discuss it {read: We told them to say they didn't regardless}".

 

So he basically admitted that he endorses lying and uses it routinely enough for him to not even second guess saying that.

[wit33]

26 minutes ago, justice98 said:

 

Which is expected, but he's doubling down on calling his guys liars.  That's the part I'm getting at.

 

huh? 

 

Two Bama guys stated speaking to the team and two publicly said no. Could potentially be a case of each player interpreting a message by the team in their own way. 

 

My guess is team told Bama players not speak to media and certainly don’t get in to details of conversations had with team about Foster. How each player decided to answer questions was their choice to a degree. 

[DJHJR86]

17 hours ago, Skinsinparadise said:

I just re-listened to it. I think there is a small giveaway on it. Bruce talked about how the fans saw how good the team was in the first 10 games

 

 Now that's a departure from what we typically hear which is the first 9 games.

 

Connecting more dots, Finley said that Jay even recently complained about the Texan game being stolen because of the missed call on Doctson. 

 

Also, Jay tends to correct people when people say the season went south when Alex got hurt by saying no it was when Colt got hurt.

 

I think they genuinely believe that they can win with Colt albeit are concern about his durability.

 

My point is I bet Bruce is selling Dan that they really went 7-3, considering the botched call in the Texans game. And Colt would have led them to the playoffs.

 

Also his lines about being in the middle means you are on the verge of taking that next step up.  As if u can't slide from the middle downward.

 

I think we got a window into how he sells last year in the building.

 

This is even more of a reason to fire him because he's the idiot who traded for (and extended) Smith.  

[COWBOY-KILLA-]

Satan himself could not have done a better job. Brucey being Bruce. The thing is he ain’t going anywhere so this thread is a hope and a prayer..I guess it’s useful to vent. 

[Skinsinparadise]

2 hours ago, justice98 said:

The press corps had one shot at it and overall, they blew it.  None of the antagonist columnists are ever around, like Loverro or Sally Jenkins, when you need 'em. Hell, Jason Reid woulda come in handy yesterday. Grill that sucker.

 

I just re-listened to it again, they were parsing the interview slowly on 106.7.   Some new observations:

 

Michael Phillips was on fire, he asked the toughest questions IMO. He went into the firebruceallen hastag, he followed up on the Lafemina issue, etc. 

 

In defense of some of the beat guys, Bruce is notorious for shutting out reporters/media people he doesn't like.  So he's a dude who won't forget if you push him in his mind too far.  I think overall they did well but the interview was too short.  And too much time for me on Alex.  I didn't mind the stadium questions considering I think his future is interlocked to what happens with it.  

 

Bruce didn't flat out say Manusky was in on the Bowles interview, he sort of darted his way around that specific question and talked about the point in general -- leaving room to the imagination that it could just be the micro assistant interviews (which would make sense since they'd be working for Manusky) like the ones for secondary coaches, etc.

 

For the person here who said Bruce revealed that he's not making coordinator choices -- re-listening to it I don't think you can pull that from this -- what we got out of it is he's not going mega micro by picking the sub-coordinators for the coordinator.  Which I'd expect.  For example, Dan wants Gregg Williams but doubt Dan cares who the secondary coach is under Gregg and will leave that to Gregg. 

 

He really wants to pat himself on the back for the Alex Smith trade - "a no brainer" he called the deal.  In an odd way, Alex being lionized as a good guy who was befallen by tragedy -- has given a nice vibe and deservingly so for Alex with a lot of good will for his well-being.  It strikes me that Bruce is feeding off of that.  

 

My first impression on first listen was he purely wanted to make people think Doug, Doug, Doug so they aren't focused on him. But one of his answers to the fan discontent drill came off to me like hey fans you are blaming the wrong guy.  Doug is the defacto dude running personnel not me.  Jay is coaching the team and not me.   But I trust my good pals Doug and Jay to turn this around.  

 

The game plan from Bruce was clearly to me, hey fans you are focused on the wrong dude.  I am going to politely blame Doug and Jay for this and then prop them back up as the solution.  

 

Based on what Bruce said yesterday along with other things that has been said by beat guys based on what they are hearing -- my guess is this is Bruce's rap behind the scenes.

 

The Alex Smith trade was great.  We went 6-3.  Heck Dan you know I always shared Jay's passion for Colt who almost drove us to victory against the playoff Texans team but we got screwed by the refs.  We've built a really good defense but they fell apart when the offense fell apart.    We just had some bad luck.  The Alex trade was brilliant and our draft was good but we were befallen by Alex's injury and all the other guys we lost.  Still with all of that Dan we were only 2 games from making the playoffs.

 

Dan I know fans are upset and you might feel compelled to make changes but here is why you'd be wrong.   We are close, if you don't take my word for it ask Jay. Also I am knee deep in the stadium work, you really want to start that whole thing from scratch.  Just stick with me, give me this year and you'll see a playoff team and I think I'll have your stadium, too.  And as for the fans, they might be upset at me but I'll be the conquering hero at the end of the 2019 season when we are in the playoffs let alone me bringing you the best stadium in the world.

 

 

 

[Skinsinparadise]

If Bruce Allen is to be trusted, and he isn’t, the Washington Redskins “are close” to becoming a contender. The unembarrassable huckster who serves as president of the Washington Redskins answered questions publicly for the first time in well more than a year, and it went about as you’d expect. According to Allen, sales are up, and morale is at an all-time high. Next, he’s going to tell you to buy a Veg-O-Matic or dial 1-800-Mattress.

 

It was pure pitchman spiel. Allen fancies himself the big closer, but in fact he is a decade-long loser with a 59-84-1 record who has presided over a decline in attendance so precipitous, it has alarmed the league office. All he has to sell is something old as something new. In answer to fans’ irate question of what entitles him to keep his job under these circumstances, Allen just pattered and declared his “passion for the franchise.” Hey, you know what? I have a passion for cooking. Maybe I’ll take over a local restaurant, so I can give the entire community ptomaine poisoning.

 

Unhappily for all, Allen remains more firmly in charge of the Redskins than ever, and he isn’t going anywhere, except maybe to the bottle-christening of owner Dan Snyder’s new monster yacht. That means the Redskins aren’t “close,” not at all. Not really. They are stuck where they’ve always been with Allen: in mediocrity. Worse, you sense they seriously could deteriorate given the front office disorder he has created. The really good teams thrive on emotional truthfulness. Allen is nothing but an empty sloganeer and office politicker, and you can bet the professionals in the building hear his jargon for what it is.

 

At the Senior Bowl on Tuesday, Allen grinned and chuckled, and uttered cliché after buzzword. But everyone in the organization has to wonder who will get it next. He’s like Stephen King’s clown Pennywise, holding out a string and saying, “You want a balloon?”

He professed a smiling confidence in vice president of player personnel Doug Williams, yet it was reasonable to hear a distinct note of setting him up as a fall guy, using him as a human shield. Williams and his staff “have to find some better players. We have to find some healthy, better players to come in,” Allen said. This is the man he left totally out of the decision to trade for quarterback Alex Smith, thus making Williams a bagholder for decisions he is not even empowered to make.

 

...What Allen either will not acknowledge, or is too self-regarding and oblivious to realize, is that the hostility to him is not really so much about losing. It’s about how he takes people for such saps. The Redskins have had low cycles and even bad decades before, without alienating their season ticket holder base and incurring such anger. The current regime’s fakery and the cheap flim-flam — the notion that people will buy anything — is what’s so riling. Because what lies underneath it all, at the bottom of Allen’s jabber, is contempt for the customer.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/redskins/bruce-allens-contempt-for-redskins-fans-is-clear--he-thinks-theyre-buying-this/2019/01/23/f086d270-1f2c-11e9-8b59-0a28f2191131_story.html?utm_term=.a00183540104

 

[justice98]

Was there any mention during the presser about the training staff, facilities, why the rash of injuries for several seasons?  Bruce brought up the injuries several times, but nothing I can recall about what, if any, steps they were taking to address that.  Or if it was just dumb luck....year after year.

[XtremeFan55]

I am not fooled by this management anymore when it comes to FA or the draft.   There is no player out there that is good enough to turn this around that the Redskins have a chance at getting.  The Chiefs aren’t letting Mahomes go.  No decent free agent would dare come here except to get paid and Redskins are cap strapped and can’t even be a major player.  Drafting in mid 1st round won’t bring in an impact player plus I can’t even trust that they can identify an impact player even if it ran them over in a tank.

 

Then the issue with injuries.  Jordan Reed might have talent but he is hurt every year and basically just a part time player.   You can’t build around him nor depend on him because he misses too much time.   Seems the same with many other players like Thompson, Williams, Jamison...etc...  They should have noticed this and traded some of these guys when their value was sky high yet they didn’t even have the vision to get something out of Kirk Cousins before he fled the asylum.

 

Gregg Williams used to say one of the criteria in keeping players is availability.  

 

Don’t get fooled again.   Nothing that happens this offseason is going to change the results a year from now.  The Redskins can’t even win the offseason anymore.  

 

This ship is dead in the water. But it can be salvaged.  Dan would have to man up and do something that appears impossible.

 

First....he needs to build a world-class facility like the Viking just moved into last Spring which cost Wilf $1 billion.  Build it and they may come because they will see the commitment plus it will give off the vibes of a first class operation.  Dan should have done this years ago.  Their facility is a joke and any talk about passion for winning is nonsense every time I drive past Redskin Park.  It’s a joke when something that important gets neglected and then Dan goes off and buys himself expensive toys.  He is showing is real priorities.   Me first, team second.

 

Second...Dan has too wake up and see Bruce for what he really is which is incompetent and a laughing stock among the league.  I can’t believe the amount of faith he puts into Bruce who hasn’t produce anything ever.  Someone needs to do an exorcism on Dan if that is what it takes.

 

Third....Fill the football side with experienced football people.  Do what Jacksonville did with Tom Coughlin.  Find someone who may not want to coach but has extensive knowledge of the NFL who is well-respected among the coaching fraternity who can bring the people.  I thought Bruce Arians would have been perfect for that.  Then also find that guy that has a talent for finding talented players.....they next Bobby Beathard....to be GM.   Doug is not the guy.  He is here because he once won a Super Bowl with the Redskins and therefore another icon from the past to hopefully appease the fan base.

 

Fourth....they need to humble themselves and realize that without the fans they are nothing.   While they can ignore the fans now because of the TV revenues they will soon be hit with reality when the negotiations begin with less interest in the NFL than the past.  With less TV revenues some day....plus concussion lawsuits....plus entering a new culture that is shifting away from traditional sports....revenues are going down which makes fans in seats more important than ever.  The $ 3 billion franchise value has peaked and will someday begin declining and Dan’s House of Cards could very well come tumbling down.