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Staff Roundtable: Off-Season Topics

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We've done a few of these roundtable things in the past, but we're bringing them back as more of a regular feature in 2016. Each week, a few members of the staff will weigh in on the topics of the day. This is our off-season edition. For this week, we've tapped Andrew Harrison, Robert Vega, and Sean Rollins.

Let's get to the questions:

What move do you think Orlando City should have made this off-season but didn't?

Andrew: The biggest regret I think that Orlando City will have about this off-season is failing to sign a DP forward. Larin may have shattered all records last season as a rookie but with teams having learned how to play him and the potential for the dreaded ‘sophomore slump' in 2016, the decision to not sign a big name may come back to haunt them.

Robert: I really wish they would have changed things up in the front office, if only just to keep things interesting. Outside of that I would have liked to see some depth up front. Cyle Larin scored a lot of goals, but he still has a lot to learn before he can be considered a complete player. While there is a lot of reason to be optimistic about Larin, there is also a lot of potential variability in his performance. If Larin slows in his progression or misses any chunk of time, the variability only increases. Bryan Rochez has promise, but less certainty. Pedro Ribeiro is slower than my daughter when she’s trying to walk backwards. Beyond that, you’re looking at rookies or trying to stick Carlos Rivas there again.

Sean: The club should have signed some more MLS experienced defenders. The team lacks depth and quality in the back line. That could be a problem this year especially with no clear number one in net.

Is the 2016 team going to be any better depth-wise than 2015? Why/why not?

Sean: 2016 will have better depth mainly because of OCB. The fact that players that don't play often with the senior team will be getting regular minutes will have them better prepared when called upon. Also, there are a couple homegrowns at OCB and the club probably has rights to some of the younger OCB guys, so they can sign them to MLS contracts if needed. This means there's probably actually more players available throughout the season than what's on the senior roster.

Robert: Yes. That's probably as much an admonishment on last year's depth than it is a statement about this year's. With the Antonio Nocerino signing, the depth in midfield is much better. But there are still concerns. I already talked about the forward situation above. Defense is roughly the same as last year, but goalkeeper is thinner. The big difference, though, is simply the existence of OCB. This year, there's a whole pool of players who will be playing full time and available to help the senior squad when needed.

Andrew: As anticipated, heading into this off-season, the club has gone out and tried to fill in some of its roster weaknesses. An example, the signing of Kevin Alston from New England. The versatile defender can play both wing-back positions (which is important in Heath’s system) and it provides depth at that position where we were so desperately lacking at times last season. However, overall I am going to say that we ultimately haven’t made the improvements we need to. By taking recognized FIFA breaks we are compressing our schedule, which means more double game weeks, and, by having some players play for OCB as well as Orlando City, I expect that come mid-season we will look tired due to a surprising lack of depth all over the pitch.

Who are your two breakout players for 2016 and why?

Robert: Carlos Rivas and Rafael Ramos. I recall seeing Rivas early on last year and thinking about what a lost puppy he was. I felt like giving him a snack and scratching him behind the ear. As the year went on, he started getting more comfortable and started to show some of what made him attractive in the first place. Don’t get me wrong, he still has a way to go, but he did put in some beautiful crosses and I still get a warm feeling when I think of the free kick he rocked against West Brom. He may struggle for playing time initially, but long seasons have a way of working that out. Ramos was similar. He had some games where he simply lost his head, but he also showed a good bit of skill on the ball. Both of these guys are so young, that I look at these glimpses as signs for the future as opposed to the proverbial blind squirrel finding his nut.

Andrew: My breakout players for this season are going to be Trinidadian Kevin Molino and Canadian Richie Laryea. Despite Molino having played for the Lions since 2011, those new to Orlando City didn’t get a chance to see what Molino can bring to the team after an early season injury. After a long lay-off and a lot of time training and building up muscle, I expect Molino to be a game changer for the team this season. I am also pegging midfielder Richie Laryea as having a great season, as I think he has the resources to excel here in Orlando (with his close friend No. 9 Cyle Larin) and after an 11-goal, seven-assist season during his time with the University of Akron last season, I believe that he will offer another avenue for scoring and providing assists for Orlando’s playmakers this season.

Sean: The first one may not be a surprise, but Kevin Molino. Since Kevin barely played last season and it was his first MLS season, I'm not sure he would be considered to have broken out yet. After a year in the gym (a place he was previously afraid of), his upper body will be stronger and that was the weakest part of his game. I think he's bound for a big year. The second one is Bryan Rochez as a super sub. Obviously he'll be playing behind 2015 MLS Rookie of the Year Cyle Larin, but we saw glimpses of what Rochez can do last season and I think he'll make himself nationally known this year as a super sub.

Last season, the Lions didn’t get their first home win until May 17. Who is Orlando City’s first home victim in 2016? Do the Lions get that W on opening day against RSL?

Sean: I think the Lions will be able to beat RSL in their first game. RSL has struggled since Jason Kreis left and much of their team is still quite young and inexperienced. Plus, their core older guys like Kyle Beckerman, Jamison Olave, and Chris Wingert are getting up there in age and I think will begin to show signs of deterioration.

Andrew: My call for the first three points of the season will be the second game against the Chicago Fire on March 11. I believe the first home game will be a cagey affair against an improved Real Salt Lake side who will already have some competitive games under their belt due to their participation in the CONCACAF Champions League and with no team wanting to lose the first game, I expect Orlando to play for the draw while they find their feet as a team. However, I don’t anticipate the team taking as long as last season to grab three points since the Chicago Fire come to town five days later and, with them having a new coach, recently losing their talisman Harry Shipp, and not much traveling support, I thoroughly expect three points from this game.

Robert: I think it will be against RSL. The key difference between this year's opener and last is the comfort level of the team. There had to be some real pressure for this team to perform last year with it being the first ever MLS game in front of a full Citrus Bowl. This year, the team should be more comfortable. RSL is coming off a pretty weak year, so if you're talking about making the playoffs, this is the type of team you need to beat at home, when the Citrus Bowl is full. Again.

Call your shot…how many points does Orlando City earn in 2016 and is it enough to make the playoffs?

Robert: I'm actually going to take this a little backwards. I think the team will make the playoffs. Last year, excluding NYRB, the gap between second and sixth place was four points. That's it. Four measly points. Columbus came in second with 53 and Toronto pulled up the playoff caboose with 49. The Western Conference was similar. The gap between Vancouver (53) and Sporting KC (51) was only two points. So, with all that said, I think Orlando is going to come in with 50 points and squeeze into the playoffs.

Sean: I think they'll get 41 points and miss out on the playoffs. I just don't see where the team has improved enough to make a jump. I think if they can stay healthy and national team call-ups don't hurt too much, maybe they can get up near 48 and sneak into the final playoff spot.

Andrew: I'm probably going to be in the minority here but I say they get 47 points and don't make the playoffs. One reason: I think the compressed schedule with hurt us throughout the season as a whole (even though I like that big name players will see more time for the Lions). Another: I think that other teams around us have just gotten better.

* * *

Well, that's it for this week. Feel free to offer your rebuttal to any/all of our answers or give us your own in the comments section below.

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Reflecting on Eight Years with The Mane Land

A look back over my time with The Mane Land (so far).

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Nick Leyva, The Mane Land

As of last week, I have been a contributor at The Mane Land for eight years. That’s longer than I’ve ever been at any of my actual jobs in my life. There are literally only a couple of people who have been with the site longer, but I’m still amazed at how long it’s been. This is not to say I’m going anywhere, but rather I wanted to take the opportunity to look back at the past eight years, and look ahead to the future.

Unlike some, I didn’t come to be a supporter of Orlando City until it was announced that the club was joining MLS. At the time, I was contemplating picking a club to follow in MLS, but being in Tallahassee, there were no nearby options at that time. I considered FC Dallas and D.C. United, given the two were geographically closer in proximity to me than any others. Fortunately, it was literally while I was considering my options that the announcement was made regarding Orlando City’s jump to MLS. It was an easy decision.

As I do in many aspects of my life, I immediately started researching my new club, which led me to the content being produced by The Mane Land. There was also an article on the site titled “Join The Mane Land Staff.” I had often over the years internally bemoaned that I rarely used my Bachelor’s degree in English, and the desire to write welled up in me so much that I emailed the staff. 

In response, one of our former editors, Andrew Marcinko, contacted me and said “I think your voice would be a great fit on TML.” He asked me to submit a Fan Post (those went away with our presence on SBN), and then another piece for review. Following that, our founder and managing editor, Michael Citro, emailed me to welcome me to the staff. I had no idea at the time how big a part of my life this blog would become.

I started out writing Monday’s Lions Links — often one of the more difficult days to write — and a feature piece. It’s been many years gone by now, but there was a time when the feature piece was “Pride Pub,” an ongoing series that paired craft beer and good food based on Orlando City’s opponent. I can tell you that the research for that was very enjoyable, and I still use some of the recipes I found to this day.

Eventually, I started contributing more match coverage and analytical pieces. Staff came and went, but I never thought to leave since I was enjoying myself. Sometime after that, I was promoted to senior columnist, for which I’m grateful. I can without reservation say that I’m a better writer thanks to my time with the site, and from working with such excellent staff.

In November of 2016, Michael asked if I wanted to give co-hosting The Mane Land PawedCast a try. My first recording was for Episode 71. We just recorded Episode 354, and with the exception of maybe two or three episodes, I have been on every single one of 283 episodes over the last six plus years. Michael and I have spent a lot of time talking on and off the podcast over the years, and I’m proud of what we have produced and to call him my friend.

We recently added an Orlando Pride-specific podcast called Skopurp: An Orlando Pride PawedCast. For years we wanted to give the Pride the time and attention the club deserves. Now, it is a reality, but one that I ask you to listen to and share. I’ll even put out that although Michael and I are the current hosts, we merely consider ourselves stewards and are hoping to get others to come onboard and eventually take it to the next level.

When I started with The Mane Land, the site had just made the move from a free WordPress site to the SBNation network. It was a big deal, and for many years it was a good partnership. Of course that all came to an end not too long ago, and our blog went the independent route thanks to the incredibly generous support of our readers and listeners. In fact, if you want to be one of those supporting our efforts, please go to our Buy Me A Coffee site to become a member. The move has allowed a flexibility we didn’t have before, but I really want others to have the same sense of joy and accomplishment that I have as a member of our staff. 

At one point we had nearly twice the staff that we do now, and as you know, many hands make light work. The opposite of that is also true. I genuinely believe that there must be others out there with the same passion for Orlando City as I have — with the same desire to have their voice heard, whether through the written word or on a podcast. I promise you there is an opportunity to contribute here with us. Our internal discussions are informative, engaging, and often funny. Please consider joining us, as I did eight years ago. I haven’t regretted it and I know you won’t either.

I want to thank all of those who contributed to The Mane Land over the years. There are many that I am still in touch with, though they are no longer a part of the staff. Of course, the current staff are a pleasure to work with, and I appreciate their dedication to what we are trying to do.

Finally, I want to thank the readers and listeners over the years. From those who regularly comment on our articles, to those that I’ve personally met at matches or even randomly on the street, you are a big reason that we do all of this. You are a big reason why I’ve been doing this for the better part of a decade. it is always a genuine pleasure hearing your thoughts or simply sharing a moment of joy together — U.S. Open Cup final, anyone?

So, thank you. I look forward to many more years of this journey together.

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The Mane Land Announces Membership Program

Maximize your Mane Land experience with our new TML membership program while supporting our independent efforts.

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Hello, readers of The Mane Land and listeners of our podcasts. Before you start reading this, please note that the most important part of this post is at the end. So, don’t stop until you get to the bottom.

You may recall that when we left SBNation to become independent, we really weren’t sure the best way to go about that. Many of our readers and listeners generously offered to help us make that transition, but we still weren’t sure the best path forward, so we took a poll.

The poll was pretty much split down the middle between those who preferred a one-time, Kickstarter-style campaign (which we did, and those of you who stepped up to help completely blew us away!) and those who favored a Patreon-style, subscription-based membership with extra perks. In fact, the member subscriptions option got a few more votes in our poll.

The folks who took part in our GoFundMe fundraiser were fantastic and are now immortalized on this very site on the “Our Founders” page. But we had always planned to give folks the option to choose whichever method of support they preferred and we tried to communicate that throughout the process. It took a little longer than expected to get up and running, but our membership subscription program is now in place! (You may notice the fancy new banner ad about it on the home page, echoed below.)

Supporting TML helps build a better TML for you to enjoy, so you’re really subscribing to your own Orlando soccer fandom.

Part of that delay was thinking up something that didn’t encroach on the benefits we gave our Founders. Those folks helped us get started and deserve the exclusivity of the perks they got. The other part of the delay is that there just aren’t enough hours in the day. (However, for you guys, I’m willing to be cloned.)

We have utilized the popular Buy Me a Coffee platform to run this program. You can find the basics here. The Mane Land premium membership program includes three tiers of membership, as well as the option to click on the “Support” tab for those who just want to help us out whenever, without joining the program or adding any recurring “appointment-based” payments to their budgets. We love that feature of Buy Me a Coffee (or “Buy Us a Beer” in our case…you drink what you like).

For those who do choose to become members, we hope we have provided value and we are planning to add benefits along the way, in addition to providing special giveaways, events, etc. (more on that below). We have also provided subscription options — with monthly or annual memberships. The annual cost essentially gives you 12 months for the price of 10.


Current Benefits

The current membership benefits depend on which level of support you choose — Homegrown Player, TAM Player, or Designated Player level. Each level includes all benefits from the lower tiers, with additional benefits for each higher level.

Homegrown Player: This is a basic set-it-and-forget-it level of support for The Mane Land, providing a way for our readers and podcast listeners to contribute to the success of TML‘s independence goals. We want to compensate our current volunteers, replace lost income of those who previously received small stipends from being part of the SBNation network, add photographers, attract new writers, and expand our coverage. Additionally, each Homegrown Player Level member will be recognized in a Lion Links column, which is still typically our most widely read post of each day and one of the top daily links columns among soccer sites. Homegrown Player Level members will also be included in any future prize drawings we have or events we host and may be subject to future benefits as they are added.

TAM Player: In addition to Homegrown Player benefits, TAM Players will receive a new weekly e-newsletter in their inbox (unless you opt out…some people hate email). These will be informal missives from myself, other TML writers, or a combination, discussing what’s on our mind regarding Orlando City, the Pride, OCB, or soccer in general. Think of it as an extra post from our site that may cover multiple topics. Additionally, you’ll get a 10% discount from our web shop items that we control (presently, that means everything except our listed MLS Shop items). We will definitely have more benefits coming for this level soon and will look for opportunities to include additional benefits as they become available.

Designated Player: This limited availability level of support includes all perks from the Homegrown and TAM levels, but it goes beyond. Your discount at our webshop (for items we control) will be 15% off. Additionally, we’ll send you Zoom links to watch us “make the doughnuts” whenever we record the podcast. This includes when we interview guests. You’ll see how the sausage is made behind the scenes and everything that we say, some of which will end up on the cutting room floor before the final podcast is sent out. This includes both The Mane Land PawedCast and SkoPurp Soccer: An Orlando Pride PawedCast. And after two months of membership you can commission a bonus episode of either podcast simply by letting us know what topic you want us to cover. Think of this as an extended Ask Us Anything. We’ll do a whole show about your topic and you can even join us to discuss it if you wish.

The DP Level will certainly have additional benefits tacked on as we move forward. It is currently limited to 40 members but could be expanded slightly depending on demand and our Zoom attendance.


Future Benefits / Benefits Under Consideration

While we won’t be able to schedule these due to the random nature of items falling into our hands, there will be periodic prize giveaways in drawings that include all of our members, regardless of level. The catch is that you get one entry per level of support, meaning Homegrown Player Level members will get one entry per prize drawing, TAM Player Level members will get two entries per drawing, and Designated Player Level members get three entries for prize drawings. Some of the kinds of items we have come across in the past include match tickets, trinkets, posters, scarves, and so on.

We are planning to add a message board to our website, well…soon-ish is the word that comes to mind. The plan for the message board is to build our community and further the discussion about the club. As part of this, we’re planning an exclusive, members-only area of that message board that TAM and DP members can access. This will be a place our staff can share informational nuggets we can’t necessarily write stories about for various reasons and interact with our members on a daily basis.

Other things in the works include meet-and-greets/watch parties where you can chat with TML staff members and catch a road match with a bunch of like-minded Orlando City/Pride fans while we all cheer on the team together. There may also be other informal outings with one or more members of the staff, organized fantasy leagues, random Zoom calls for Q&A sessions, and perhaps even some organized group outings for Orlando City / Pride matches, national team games, etc.


The Most Important Part of This Post

Remember at the top of this post, when I said the most important part is at the bottom? Well, that seems like a long time ago, now, so it’s OK if you’ve already forgotten.

The most important part of our membership program is you. We want your feedback so we can make this program something that interests and excites you. We want to know what you like and dislike about this program. We want to know if there are some things we didn’t think of that interest you. If you like what we’re offering, tell us! If you hate what we’re offering, we want to know what you’d prefer instead or in addition. If you want to go drinking with Dave, we can probably arrange that, but it’ll be a unique tier and we’ll have to figure out the cost of that.

No idea is too crazy to suggest, even if it’s too insane for us to actually offer. Let us know what you want from your subscription and we’ll see if that’s something we can do. We’ll make it easy for you by putting the form right here below this post, which is now concluded.

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Welcome Home!

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Where do I even start? When we were told in January that SBNation was pulling its support of The Mane Land and other MLS and NHL blogs — and many podcasts — I was devastated. The site had become my new baby in September of 2014 and after eight and a half years, I wasn’t ready to let it go.

I was in a pickle. I couldn’t afford to lose the monthly stipend I had been getting from SBNation to manage the site and provide a steady stream of content. It wasn’t that it was a huge monthly sum, but it mostly covered my car payment. That car was purchased when my salary was higher. The pandemic hit my day job like it did to many, and after a four-month layoff, I got my old job back but not at the same rate. So, imagine taking a pay decrease at work and then, on top of that, losing the amount you spend per month on your car payment. There was simply no way to launch The Mane Land independently, I thought, because I simply couldn’t cover the startup costs. Even with some generous offers from the staff to pitch in, there simply wasn’t a way.

Once we took the news public, there was an outpouring of support on social media. We appreciated both the pledges to help out that we got from the community and the signal boosting that the national media gave blogs like ours. Those national folks rely on local reporting for background.

Encouraged by this outpouring of public support, I met with the TML staff and we threw some ideas around. We polled our Twitter followers to see how our community would prefer to show their support. We got pretty close to a 50/50 split between those who wanted to provide a one-time donation via a Kickstarter or GoFundMe crowdsourcing effort, and those who would prefer some sort of premium subscription add-on service like Patreon or Buy Me a Coffee.

We didn’t get a lot of responses to that poll, but we decided as a group that since the results were so similar, we would offer both and let the public choose one path, the other, or even both. (Stay tuned for news soon-ish on the premium subscription level, but rest assured, everything you’ve been getting for free at TML will remain free!)

I was, admittedly, skeptical that we could raise enough startup money to create a private business, pay for hosting a new site and two podcasts (having long wanted to give the Orlando Pride their own unique show), registering a domain, paying for some design work and consulting, and any unexpected expenses that might come up. However, I thought we’d at least give it a try.

Then the amazing Orlando City, Orlando Pride, and TML community got involved. You guys pushed us past our bare minimum goal in just four and a half hours when our fundraiser went live on March 1. We reset our goal and you met that by midnight. We reset our goal again, to the dream total we discussed on our initial staff Zoom chat and you met that by that first weekend.

Stunned. Humbled. Amazed. Touched. All of these words apply to how that made us feel, but they don’t quite cover it. I think we all felt an enormous responsibility, as well. We felt a mandate to provide you the best site and the best coverage we can.

We got everything we needed to run the site for two years, even if we don’t earn a penny after our launch — and we plan to try, via advertising, a Patreon (or similar) program, an online shop, affiliate links, and anything else we can think of. But we decided to leave the GoFundMe open through the end of March, just in case there were folks who wanted to contribute but needed to wait for payday, or if more people wanted to become founding members of this new site.

Now, here we are. You guys did this. We’re here because of you. And this site isn’t quite what it will become. I’m still learning my way around WordPress, after being away from it for years. There’s more to build, and some of the things you’re seeing on this site now will be improved in the future. We’ll continue to tweak it, add things, and upgrade as we go.

For now, I just want to welcome you to your new online home. On behalf of our entire staff, I thank our founding members, who are now immortalized on this site in our founders section. If you weren’t able to contribute to our transition from SBNation’s network to an autonomous and independent, new version of The Mane Land, you can thank the folks on our founders page, because without them, we wouldn’t be here. And if you still want to help out, we’ve got more things on the way.

Vamos.

Michael Citro
Managing Editor

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