This is the first of a two part interview we conducted with the CEO of Ralph’s Mob, Jason Bruzzichesi. Ralph’s Mob is an independent supporters’ group for the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
John Frusciante (JF): When the Rowdies sacked Ricky Hill and brought in Thomas Rongen what were your thoughts?
Jason Bruzzichesi (JB): Losing Ricky was both hard, but at the same time, we all knew there had to be a change. I think we went something like 11 games in a row without a win, and considering the level of talent that we had on the team at the time, there’s no way you could sit back and think that there wasn’t going to be some dramatic changes. Ricky has been a part of the Rowdies going all the way back into the 80’s, and to be honest, we won a championship under his coaching, so it’s hard to say goodbye. At the same time, it was pretty clear that finishing 8th overall was simply not good enough for this team.
So there was a period after when Coach Hill was released, we speculated on who would come in. Would it be a big name? Would they elevate Stuart Campbell, who has been a very good player coach in his own right? Or would we end up with Gunter Kronsteiner after his mistreatment by the Strikers? We really had no idea. A few people were bandied about, but when the announced Farrukh, the list got a lot shorter. As soon as Coach Rongen’s name was floated, there wasn’t a person who disliked the hire, which for a group of opinionated soccer fanatics, was incredibly rare. Everyone had positive things to say, that he was passionate, thorough, professional, and a real teacher of the game – somethings that we felt Ricky lacked at times. It was everyone’s opinion that Tommy was a great hire, and every clip or interaction that we’ve seen with him has only gone further towards reinforcing that excitement that big things are coming.
JF: What does Thomas Rongen bring to the team that Ricky Hill didn’t?
JB: Sorry, I kinda stepped all over the second question with the ending of the first one. However, as a fan, you don’t get to see a lot of the intricacies of what goes on behind the scenes. Even though the NASL is an incredibly intimate and fan friendly league, there are still some things we simply aren’t privy to. There are times that we felt like Ricky had a dog house for certain players, and it was a shame that even though they were incredibly talented, they didn’t see playing time as often as we as fans would like. Speaking with coach Rongen, you don’t get that impression at all. You feel like he’s going to put players out there with drive and determination to bring their very best, and if they’re not up to performing, they sit until they can prove otherwise. You get a sense of professionalism with him – not to say that you didn’t with Ricky, but it’s just a feeling that the stakes are higher, even in practice, or during a scrimmage. Almost a fatherly figure standing from the sidelines, silently demanding nothing less than a player’s very best. I’ll admit, as a player it must be intimidating, and at the same time inspiring to work with a coach like that.
JF: What style of play do think Thomas is going to implement?
JB: From what we hear, Coach Rongen will have an attacking style that will be a departure from the possession styles we’ve seen in the past. I’m expecting a faster pace, more precision passing, opportunistic level of play from now on. So instead of knowing it’s going to be the standard 4-3-3 every game, we don’t know who or what we’re going to see, but if it’s anything like the conditioning we’ve seen in the off-season, I can imagine that any team that isn’t in their peak physical condition, is going to get ground into the turf (which looks amazing, by the way).
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