Mike Gaire San Jose, Calif. To Ridge Mahoney: Why on earth do you think Lothar Osiander deserves another season as coach of the San Jose Earthquakes? What has he done apart from trade one of our very best ever players for a couple of old “has-beens,” one of whom he has then played out of position! I wouldn’t pay him in washers! Ridge Mahoney: Mike, I, too, disapproved of the Mauricio Wright deal and regard him as an excellent player, but the cold facts are he cost the Clash/Quakes goals through his indifferent play and he’s done the same thing a few times for New England. He refused to follow the coach’s instruction and that was that. I think the QuakesÆ terrible season is as much a function of injuries and poor player performance as it is of coaching. And it’s true the team has to live or die with whom the coach picks. But remember this: Lothar wanted to trade an allocation for Clint Mathis and the league basically snuffed that deal. He also tried to get Jan Aage Fjortoft when the league preferred San Jose get a Mexican player. You could fault him for that, but since Fjortoft never showed up, it’s impossible to judge that scenario. Azizi turned out to be a bust; he was a gamble that came up craps. Cerritos, for all his talent, is childish and played only nine games. Doyle, the captain, missed a lot of games, too. Travis Mulraine obviously has a lot of talent, but he can’t be judged until he plays a second season. He might be a solid defensive mid or he might turn out like Wright. I saw Osiander imprint a system of play, and most games I witnessed, the team played with effort and commitment. Most of the players seemed to believe in his doctrine, and that’s a major improvement on Laurie Calloway and Brian Quinn. He put together a pretty good team in L.A., but was able to build that team from scratch. It’s much harder to take over someone else’s players, especially with the limited player movement in MLS. That’s my rationale for giving Osiander another shot. I can certainly understand your point of view, the team’s record is indeed terrible. Thanks for your observations. (If you have a question for a Soccer America Magazine editor, click “Q&A with SA Editors” in the left column of the home page under “Interactive.”)