Today might be a quiet day in international soccer, with the Confederations Cup on break until tomorrow, no qualifiers, and very little in the way of international club ball. For the Ocean City Barons and general manager/head coach Neil Holloway, however, today means EVERYTHING. A match-up vs. USL-2 squad Real Maryland looms large as the Barons look to progress to the third round of the US Open Cup and face MLS giants D.C. United. One of three PDL teams left in the tournament, you can’t help but pull for local squad, made up of local high school and college products. One thing stands out about the Barons, though. Every season, Coach Holloway and the Barons organization consistently deliver great results, fun at the beach (their grounds, Carey Stadium, is right at the OC boardwalk!), and the constant development of next year’s stars. I was able to talk with Coach Holloway about the Barons, the Union, the Confederations Cup and everything else in between.

If you aren’t opposed to an hour trip down to the shore, a little Kohr Bros. ice cream, some good soccer, and a funnel cake or two. Get to Carey Stadium by 7:00PM and support the Barons as they strive to get a shot at D.C. United.

Your recent win over Crystal Palace Baltimore was branded an “upset” but was it really? The Barons have a history of Open Cup success and having had CPB’s number in 2007, was it just a matter of execution?

It was an upset in the fact that we are a PDL team with young high school and collegiate players on our roster and they are supposed to be the professionals.  Although the 3-0 score was emphatic, however, and may have surprised a few people, it certainly was no surprise to me.  I was very confident going into the game with the fact that we knew more about them than they knew about us.  We had done our homework and came up with a plan that was perfectly executed by our team of young talented players.  I believe we have assembled one of the best PDL teams in the country and I feel we would be able to not only compete with, but be a handful, for many professional teams. 
 
The Barons program has created some complete professionals over the years – most recently Montreal’s Tony Donatelli, Rochester’s Ryan Heins, Miami FC’s Chris Williams – what is the secret to the Barons development success?

I would say that we have created these players. We have given these players the opportunity to grow and learn in a professional environment in some of their most important years as a player.  We have always been one of the most competitive and professionally run PDL franchises in the country, and it is in this setting that the players you
mentioned were given the opportunity to gain invaluable experience.  In Tony [Donatelli]’s first year with us he was far from the complete player he is today. He struggled playing in the middle in and we could only use him on the outside.  When he came back for his second summer with us, he had grown as a player and knew what the PDL was all about.  That is when he really came on strong, playing in the middle, and becoming a goal-scoring midfielder. Big Chris [Williams] came to us as a talented, yet raw player, having never really played in such a competitive setting.  Playing alongside John Thompson [assistant coach] really helped Chris and he improved with every PDL game he played. Heinsy [Ryan Heins] has been a Baron his whole life as a youth player and then with the PDL squad. His work ethic and desire made him the player he is today.  He played with the PDL team all throughout his college years.  He was not always a starting and impact player on the team during his freshman and sophomore years, but he was in the right training environment to continually learn from the older players.  He worked his way into becoming a permanent starter and leading of our team in his senior year. We are proud of all the players that have come through our program and that have been a part of the team throughout the years.

With that crop of USL-1 professionals, who should we be watching for coming out of the Barons organization?

There are quite a few to look out for…

JT Noone will be one to look for in the next few years.  This is his first PDL season with us, but I think this summer is really going to propel him and possibly help get him into the MLS draft. Ryan Richter has all the attributes to become a top player. Tunde Ogunbiyi has already caught the eye of the Nigerian Olympic set up [Red Bulls draft pick, Babjide's brother]. He is a mountain of a man and will go on to play in MLS or in Europe. Karl Reddick is the captain of Boston College and can play at the next level.

Then, there is an even younger crop of players.  Kevin Curran is not even in college yet and he is starting games for us!   

With former coach Mike Pellegrino on to new things, you are back on the sideline after two years of concentrating solely on your general manager position. Has the transition been smooth? Does it feel like you picked up right where you left off?

Yes, it has been a very smooth transition.  It feels good to be back on the sidelines and working with the players on a daily basis.  It does feel a bit like we are picking up where we left off as I have  John Thompson as my assistant again and we work well together, just as we did when we played.  I had an extremely good record as a coach when we first moved the team to OC, so after a few years behind the scenes it feels good to get back to winning ways.  Although my time concentrating on the front office and off the field activities proved to be successful, as we received 2008 PDL Organization of the Year, we felt it was a disappointing season last year on the field so I decided to get back to what the Barons stand for and get a young and hungry team with desire and great team camaraderie.

You have partnerships with both Reading FC and Inter Milan. What exactly do those entail?

The Reading FC partnership is a formal agreement we have with Reading FC and their Community Trust.  I know a lot of people at Reading from my days there.  For the last 4 years I have been taking Barons youth teams and players over the Reading to train and play with and against Reading’s Academy players.  Just this past EasterI took 5 U17 & U18 players over and they spent the week training and learning at the Academy and got a real behind-the-scenes look at what it is like to be a professional player.  We continually exchange coaching ideas and philosophies.  Coaches from Reading come over for a few weeks in the summer and work with all the players in the Barons Academy and I spend time there observing their training methods every winter.

Our relationship with Inter Milan is more of a close friendship.  Last summer, Inter Milan’s youth team came to NYC and we were invited to play them.  We took our U17’s and tied 1-1.  Since then, we have maintained an open relationship with the Inter Club Facchetti of NJ and myself and John Granese [owner of the Barons] were invited to accompany them to Milan this past February, where we visited their training facilities and watched the Milan derby (which was a fantastic experience!).

What kind of long-term goals do you have for the Barons? Playing in Carey Stadium and Ocean City has there ever been thoughts of relocating the club somewhere closer to the metro area? Especially now with the Union in town.

The long term goals of the Barons is to continue to be a leading PDL franchise and spread the game of soccer to as many young players as possible through our youth club and player development. We are slowly, but surely, spreading the word about what the Barons do so we will continue with our mission.

We have no desire to move from Ocean City.  We have one of the most desirable locations in the country for a minor league team.  Who would not want be by the beach and have a stadium a few yards from the boardwalk on the Jersey shore? Fans can watch the MLS Union in Philly and then when they come down to the shore, watch the Barons, and see the stars of the future.

Do the Barons prevail vs. Real Maryland tonight?

Yes.  I believe we have the desire and more importantly the players and team to beat Maryland and go on to play DC United. Some of these players may never get an opportunity like this again, so we must grab it with both hands.

With the Philadelphia Union starting play in 2010, how do you feel this affects the Barons and developmental soccer in this area?

I think the Philadelphia Union will be fantastic for soccer in general and I fully embrace and support the Union as I feel the Barons can only benefit from this.  It will bring more attention to the game in general and the more people that talk about our great sport and take an interest and help promote soccer the better off we will all be.  

Is there any possibility of some sort of an affiliation with the Union?

I would love to sit down with the Union and discuss the possibility of some type of affiliation.  After all, the Union should be looking at us as this is where they are going to get their home grown local players from.  If we can continue to do our job and help develop the local college soccer players to the next level, then the Union will benefit from this. 

What do you think about the recent hiring of Piotr Nowak as team manager?

It was a very good appointment; a smart choice as he knows all there is to know about the MLS.  He was a great player and is a very good coach. I am sure having now worked within the USMNT set up he has gained some great insight.  I wish him all the best and hope that we can provide him with a few players. 

Let’s throw out a hypothetical. You are in Piotr Nowak’s position. What type of players would you look to snap up?

I am sure he has his own ideas of what he needs to do to produce a team that the passionate Philadelphia fans will be proud of.  It will be tough to throw a team together that will hit the ground running and be successful from the get go, but it can be done. Just look at Seattle.  I would definitely try to get some local names on the roster to give the fans a sense of affiliation and everyone loves to see a hometown kid make good.  So maybe he should look at JT Noone?  More of a proven name would be Bobby Convey as he has the playing experience and the ties to the Philadelphia area. Maybe one day I will be thinking about what players to bring in to play for
my Union!?!

In building a club, where would you start? A leader? A solid defense?

I think you need all three! Leadership comes from the top so Nowak will probably look to an older player that he knows well and can rely on to be his voice on the field.  

Every good team is built on a solid defensive unit.  A top GK is always nice too.  [Marcus] Hahnemann just got released from Reading last month, maybe he is looking to come back to the US, but he is from Seattle.

And with the “Beckham Rule” in the MLS, let’s try and bring in a big international name… [Andrei] Shevchenko’s wife is from the US?

If you had to pick an American international to bring to Philadelphia and build the team around, who would it be?

I have already mentioned Bobby Convey, although he hasn’t gotten the call up to the national team in a while. Eddie Gaven is from New Jersey, right? [A former Bull Neil! Can't do that...can we?]

A native of England, what are your thoughts on the state of the Three Lions inching closer to South Africa 2010? Is Fabio Capello getting things done?

[Fabio] Capello has done a fantastic job.  England will be in South Africa 100%. They will probably seal the deal in their next game against Croatia. Capello has done well because he does not listen to all the hype in the crazy English media.  He just picks who he believes is in form and picks a team rather than just the so-called best 11 which [Steve] McLaren was guilty of. Under Capello, England are learning how to win, and winning is a habit, so if they continue in this vein of form they will be a favorite in 2010.

How do you think the USMNT will fare in the rest of the Confederations Cup?

I don’t think the Confederations Cup really means too much.  It is really just a dress rehearsal for the World Cup.  It is good to play competitive games against some top nations, but result wise the US may struggle.  They were extremely unlucky in the game against Italy today.  It was a great performance with 10 men and an amazing effort, but that is what I am talking about when I said Capello is teaching England how to win…the Italians always know how to win and they have done that twice against the US now, as today’s game reminded me of the 2006 World Cup game when the same thing happened to the US.  It will be a Brazil vs. Spain final, with probably Spain winning.

Neil, thank you for your time and thoughts. We wish you the best of luck tonight and over the rest of the season. Hopefully, we can check back later and see how things are going. Maybe after you shock DC United and the rest the American soccer community…