Sporting Kansas City announced Tuesday that the club has extended Peter Vermes' contract as Manager and Technical Director through the 2019 MLS season. Below is the full press conference transcript regarding the announcement, including remarks from Vermes, Mike Illig of the Sporting Club ownership group and Sporting KC President Jake Reid.
Sporting KC Manager Peter Vermes
Opening remarks…
First and foremost, I’m extremely humbled and appreciative of the opportunity to be the steward of this incredible franchise on the technical side for another three years. I’ve had an incredible experience the last 10 [years]. The progression of this organization in that short period of time in this league has been obviously incredible, and it’s been well-documented in a lot of different ways. I’m extremely proud to be a part of that, and the fact that I can be here for another three years is an incredible honor.
I would like to thank Neal Patterson, Cliff Illig, Greg Maday, Pat Curran, Robb Heineman, Mike Illig and all of their families. They’ve been incredible to me over the past 10 years. It’s been an exciting several weeks in this process of getting to this place today. I’ve also learned a lot, and I think that our relationship is one that is appreciated very much.
As I look forward, the incredible thing to me is that we’ve attained an amazing level at this franchise. If I can be as unbiased as possible, I should say that it’s a model franchise of MLS. The fact that I’m able to be a part of it and continue on in this project and take to to what I believe is the next step — it’s an incredible opportunity. I’m excited and I look forward to it. I would also say that I’ve been very fortunate in my time to not only be a part of this club, but to have a staff that has been incredible. Two guys I work with closely on a regular basis are Kerry Zavagnin and Zoran Savic. That’s not to minimize the contributions of the other staff members I work closely with, but those two guys have been an integral part of the success of this organization, and I’m excited to continue on this venture with them as well.
Over the last so many years, I’ve been able to create a great relationship with [Sporting KC President] Jake Reid. He is incredibly committed to not only this organization, but to taking it to the next level. I’m excited about his passion and his desire to do so, and I think the next few years are going to be pretty special. I’m excited about that as well.
Finally, I’ll say that we have an incredible staff here. I think we have a lot to do in the future, and it’s going to take a lot of hard work, but I think we’re primed to take this next step.
On if he has recently been contacted by other clubs or national teams…
In any high-performance business, there are always a lot of things that can be rumbling around, if you will. But at the end of the day, I’ll use the same line I used when I did my [U.S. Soccer] Hall of Fame speech: I’m exactly where I want to be, so the other things really don’t matter.
On taking Sporting KC to the next level…
Hopefully we can win more championships. One of our biggest goals when I started here was we had a focus on one specific thing. If you look at the league, there have been ups and downs of the (teams) over the course of their history. One of the things that has happened since we as a coaching staff took over is a steady climb, but it really hasn’t dipped below. And our objective is to constantly stay competitive within MLS. It’s no surprise that we aren’t going to be a team that is going to out-spend the superpowers of the league, but we’re going to try to do it smarter and more efficiently all the time. The main objective is to be extremely competitive and to continue to win.
Jake and I actually had breakfast this morning, one of the things we were talking about was culture, which is one of the things we have that is incredible here. The first thing we think of when we talk about our club is winning, because that’s the business that we’re in. So when I say “the next level,” it’s to continue on that winning piece, but there are also other pieces of the organization that are really important to us. Obviously you have the business side, and we want to continue to get better there.
The other side is we internally have to get better when you look at the three properties we have on the technical side with the senior team, the Swope Park Rangers and the Academy. We have to be an organization that is developing players from within. We’ve already done that, but I think we want to get to a place where the majority of our roster in the future is made up of players that we’ve developed. That is a huge, huge piece of the long-term success in this organization. It’s one thing to stay competitive; it’s another to develop from within. We’ve already shown some signs of that, but we have to get to a place where we’re developing the top-class player.
On the path to staying competitive in MLS…
Every year that I’ve gone to the ownership group and I’ve asked them to increase our (transfer) budget outside of the cap, they’ve always been very willing. I think we’re in a position to compete from that perspective, but we’re always going to look for different players than other teams. And when I say “other teams,” I should be more specific about the higher-spending teams. That doesn’t work within our model.
Putting that aside, the biggest thing for us is you have to be able to develop players from within your organization. If there’s something that we understand really well as a coaching staff, it’s that as players have come and gone over the years within our team, the biggest adjustment based on our model of play has been acclimating and how fast they can (adjust). What we have seen over the last few years when a lot of the Academy players come train with us, is their foundation is our model of play as well. Their acclimation period when they come train with is a lot more seamless than the players who join us from outside who haven’t gone through that process. For us, the future is in the Academy and the Swope Park Rangers, because we feel that’s going to be the recipe for success in the future.
As I said earlier, we have to be better mining players. If you just take New York and Los Angeles, the dense population that they have just in the area where their venue is in comparison to what we’re picking from, it doesn’t even compare. So we’re going to have to be better and more efficient with what we do. But it also lends itself to the model that we’ve created and implemented over the years. All of us on our staff have grown with that and have continued to evolve, and that’s going to be the focus as we continue to go forward.
The one thing on the technical side is that it never stops. We have to continue to look for the next player, and it goes for every single position. At the same time, what we’re seeing is that our staff members are being plucked away as well. It’s something that we have seen over the years, and we just have to make sure we are developing those people as well.
On acquiring talent through the Designated Player market…
The perfect example is this past summer window. We were extremely active. But what has happened in the international market is there are players who are just overpriced. And one of the things we’re not going to do is spend money in a way that’s going to hamstring us in the future based on a player not coming to fruition or us just spending our money on one player. So we’re going to look for players who are going to provide us the opportunity that we’re looking for, and it’s a really simple one: someone who we can get a lot of value out of who we find in a different marketplace, as opposed to the very large transfer fees and high salaries. It’s not like these [highly priced] players aren’t valuable — they’re valued incredibly. It’s more that we have chosen to reward players who have been successful within our club and have tried very hard to keep those guys around.
At the same time, when players have ambition within our club and they decide there are some other challenges that they would like to try that are not here, we have also stayed very true to our philosophy that we would help them try to meet those challenges — all based on the fact that it would be good for the club and the player.
As you’ve seen players at our club come and go — either they’ve gone over to Europe or they’ve surfaced back in our league — it’s not for the sake of us just wanting to get rid of those players or because someone was wiling to offer a high transfer value. It’s also because we’re trying to work with them and meet the challenges that they’re working for based on their ambition.
As we move forward, we’ll continue to be very active in the market. We are right now. I’m hoping that there will be some announcement’s imminent in regards to some acquisitions that we’re looking at, but as you guys all know, they take time. The hardest thing in this league to do is to acquire players. It’s definitely not easy, but at the same time, we’re extremely active. Brian Bliss in our player personnel role has done a fantastic job with the amount of players that he looks at on a daily basis. We look to make those acquisitions, but they have to serve a very important purpose for our organization, and we won’t jeopardize our philosophy, we won’t overspend, and we won’t sacrifice the team for any of those players.
On taking personal pride in his tenure with Sporting KC…
I’m very proud to be a part of this organization. I said it in 2013 and I’ll say it again: I’m right where I want to be. I’ve been very fortunate to be given some incredible opportunities, and I’ve been able to work with some great people. I’ve learned a lot through this experience, and for me the most exciting thing is to continue to be a part of this project. When you get to sit around five owners who are incredible entrepreneurs themselves, and the fact that they have become so passionate and committed to the game of soccer over, it’s a dream come true. This is what I’ve always wanted for the game, and the fact that I have a chance to be a part of it is fantastic.
His remarks on the fatal plane crash involving Brazilian club Chapecoense…
The soccer community is incredibly small. It’s worldwide but it’s incredibly small. From Sporting Kansas City, we’d like to wish the club, all of the families of those players, and all of the people on the plane our well wishes and our prayers.
On how the Chapecoense tragedy makes him more grateful as a soccer coach…
When any of those types of things happen, it always makes you think about your life and your family. And my family is Sporting Kansas City as well, it’s not just my immediate family. As I said, the soccer world is extremely small. When something like that happens, you absolutely think about it. Believe me, as a player I’ve had some close ones. It makes you think, for sure. At the same time, it makes you reflect on some other things — how fortunate I personally am that I’ve been a part of this game my whole life, and more importantly the people I’ve come across who I’ve had a chance to work with has been tremendous for me.
Mike Illig of the Sporting Club ownership group
Opening remarks…
On behalf of Sporting Club — the Pattersons, the Illigs, the Currans, the Madays, the Heinemans and Sporting Kansas City — it is my pleasure to announce the contract extension of Peter Vermes through the 2019 season. We have a long history with Peter going back to 2006 when he came on as our Technical Director. Since then, Peter has proven to be the key factor in the top-down implementation of our vision to define and commit to a system, to create an attractive style of play, to effectively manage the roster and to be a perennial contender for championships.
It is the perception across the global soccer community that Peter is a head coach and a manager first, and a technical director second for Sporting Kansas City. By title, that is Peter. But that is not who Peter is to us. We view Peter as a CEO of the technical and player enterprise at Sporting Kansas City. Signing Peter Vermes to an extension is a very important step to the success of our organization. As a result, our approach to getting this deal done has not been that different than the approach from other high-performance businesses take in working out contracts with key executives. In this instance, I ran point with our owners and worked with Peter for a number of weeks, having several conversations about his new contract — which I must say, was a rewarding experience and one I will cherish.
In extending Peter, we will build on Sporting’s past achievements and continue to focus on brining additional championships to Kansas City.
On the timing of announcing Vermes’ contract extension…
Our intent to do something with Peter this year was important. Our first conversation around (contract extensions) were very early in the season. We didn’t want to let the process get in the way of Peter’s day-to-day job as a technical director and manager. So we let things wind down toward the end of the season and decided to go from there.
On competing with high-spending MLS teams…
There’s no question that we aren’t going to compete with New York, LA, Toronto and Seattle [in terms of transfer spending]. With our system, we have to be smart and we have to rely on the strength of Peter and his staff to do what he has done and get value out of players that other teams haven’t. The likes of Aurelien Collin and Krisztian Nemeth — those types of players. I always refer to Peter as the reclamation project or the rehabilitation project of those players. You’ve got to credit Peter and the staff to recognize the talent and potential of those players, get the most out of them, and create value for them beyond their tenure here in Kansas City. That is a huge component to our model, and it’s why Peter is like the CEO of our technical and player enterprise. When it comes to money to compete on the DP market, we are stepping up the budget on an annual basis. Peter has had the freedom to go after players. I’ll let Peter speak to that, but it hasn’t been for a lack of financial ownership commitment.
Sporting KC President Jake Reid
Opening remarks…
First of all, thanks to the ownership group. I’ve been here six and a half years of the 10 they’ve owned the franchise. The commitment to the team, the city, and making sure that we have the best facilities and fan experience has always impressed me, and it’s something I never take for granted.
Clearly Peter’s on-field performance and record speaks for itself. Some of the things we take for granted are with the facilities we have that Peter has helped develop and be a huge part of — from Children’s Mercy Park and Swope Soccer Village to the National Training and Coaching Development Center which opens roughly a year from now. We’ve got three facilities that are best-in-class. Most teams would be happy to have one of those — we have three.
Peter’s commitment to the entire structure of the club — not just the on-field side but making our Academy, youth systems and business side connected as well — are some things you probably don’t see as much of him doing on an outward basis, but they are vitally important. From my role, I can’t speak highly enough about how well he works to make sure all of that incorporates and works smoothly. We are excited for the extension of his contract and look forward to many great years to come.
On the timing of announcing Vermes’ contract extension…
Very quickly after the season ended, it was a quick sit-down and we were all very much aligned on what we wanted to do. We were aware of what else was going on in the soccer community and I think for us, that was just unique timing. This was something that we were focused on at the start of the season, and we dove in as soon as the season ended.
On the state of MLS and American soccer…
I think it’s great. I think the league has continued to be on a very steady rise, at least since my time in the last six and a half years — and certainly well before that. For us, the league has always been fantastic in expansion by choosing markets that make a lot of sense and are going to match up with the criteria that we’ve see has worked. Over the last couple of years, the league has had great success both from stadium openings and crowds to atmospheres and cities rallying behind them. We don’t necessarily spend a lot of time concerned with who’s coming in and what cities are coming in. Our focus is always, how can we enhance our experience and make sure Kansas City is rallied behind what we’re trying to do as we connect with the membership base.
