A Falcon once more, Matt Ryan now has to build a winner instead of passing his way to victories. It's a new challenge for a former player who was once at the top of his profession and finds himself back there, this time with a fresh set of questions. Can he build a winning Falcons team? Will he overcome his lack of experience through smart hires and savvy management? Who is he going to hire?
I mean, I think we're doing really good job [sic]. I want to remind everybody where we at [sic]. We're in the second year of our rebuild. If somebody told us, all of us, in September that right now we're going to be with a score [record] 19-14 - all of us, we would sign it up right away, right? So, we're seeing a lot of growth.
One thing I'm 1000% sure of I know how to build a team, I know how to build a club and we will do that. The big thing is how we learn from the bad spells. That's when we also can see when we go 1-0 down how do we react as a team? The best teams just continually move on. They still run hard, they still do the same thing. There's no doubt in that.
Just over five weeks after Arne Slot's Feyenoord had lost a tight Conference League final by a goal to Roma in 2022, they suffered a 7-0 home defeat by Copenhagen in their first pre-season friendly. Some of the Dutch club's internationals were on holiday, seven of their starters from the final would leave that summer and Copenhagen were well ahead in preparations, but even so, the scoreline was bruising. It felt as if Slot had to start all over again.
Washington moved on from Beal shortly after making him one of the highest-paid players in the league. However, the team's decision to ink the star to the deal sent waves around the league, but not for the right reasons. Many labeled the team's decision to sign the Florida product to a long-term deal as a mistake, especially considering the fact that the playmaker managed to negotiate a no-trade clause within the deal.
Many players have come and we are working on that work. We are on the road and hoping that efficiency and forcefulness will bring us closer to the results that we are not having. On the coach's side we have to look at the positive side and correct what we have to correct. We have to improve the defensive part. The team has started scoring in every game but we have to improve to sustain the games.
The Athletic reported earlier this week that the team has contacted several active members of other MLB clubs' front offices, including Cubs GM Carter Hawkins, Diamondbacks assistant GM Amiel Sawdaye, and Dodgers senior VP Josh Byrnes. The report also indicated that these are by no means the finalists for the position, though it did note that former Twins general manager Thad Levine has not, at this time, been contacted by the Nationals.
Adam Gaudette has signed a two-year contract worth $4 million with the San Jose Sharks, while defenseman John Klingberg joins the team on a one-year, $4 million deal.
