The "Thoughts That Don't Require Their Own Thread" Thread IV

Glad to see sublety still works... But hey, if you can fool her, a fitba player who may or may not have rocks for brains doesn't stand a chance when it comes to getting punk'd!

 

When we've got a former League of Ireland best XI on the roster?

I'm not sure how Irish 1st matches up with Scottish 3rd, but Ryan Guy might be a measuring stick for what we might expect.

 

You know what's kind of sad? We've had more bye weeks this season than we've scored goals.

 

With 4 games played, the Revs earned the victory against the Fire. Of the other 3 games, SKC, PHI, and FCD are all top 5 teams in their conference. Sene has been out due to injury and Bengston missed a game for national team duty.

We could also acknowledge that the Revs are leading the league in goals conceded too, but that might cause spontaneous combustion or cardiac arrest.

I'm willing to wait to see where the Revs stand at the end of the month.

 

Thank you, Shitcago for denying the Pink Cows points today.

 

Watching US v Guatemala U-17s in Panama and liked what I saw on that Corey Baird goal off a beautiful cross from the left mid Rabin. Future is bright for some of these kids as they sit atop their group.

 

Huge error by the keeper on that goal, but I agree with you. This team has some unbelievable technical ability. Their passing is outstanding, they know where to put their first touch, and they are not afraid to take players on. Should be a good match against either Mexico or Honduras in the quarterfinal.

 

Agreed, the keeper completely misjudged it but volleying it on frame deserves credit. The technical play is fun to watch as was the speed. The left mid left his guy in the dust. Really hope we beat mexico or Honduras to make a nice statement there's plenty of talent in our youth ranks.

 

Rubio Rubin*

 

Not sure where to put this but my thoughts and prayers go to the victims and their families after the Boston Marathon explosion this afternoon. Truly horrific scene at the finish line as we speak.

 

Good article, although it is hard to make a fair comparison between MLS and Liga MX. The point of MLS clubs being in the same ballpark on the top end of the salary range is valid, but Mexican clubs have way more resources. The mid-tier Mexican players make a lot more than they do here.

Here we are salavating over maybe being able to bring in a couple of guys who make $150,000, in Mexico, the guys who don't even make the game day roster probably make that.

 

Previous 5 games for Stade Brestois below.

1 goal in 5 games. Sound Familiar?

This has gotten their coach fired and the team firmly entrenched at the bottom of the table where they will be appropriately RELEGATED for their incompetence.

Games left? Marseille(A, 2nd), Rennes (10th), Montpelier (A, 7th), Sochaux (17th), Paris(A, 1st), Nancy (18th). Clearly they need to take points in the Sochaux and Nancy matches both because they are the only ones they are likely to get and those teams are also near relegation.

At any rate, the REVs are still <1/6 of the way through their season, I am sure the optimistic view prevails. Still, even though I will miss access to local Ligue1 games, I have become a believer in RELEGATION. Bring it to MLS!

Brest 0 1 Toulouse
Lorient 4 0 Brest
Brest 1 2 Lille
Bastia 4 0 Brest

Brest 0 1 Reims

 

Right. Ask fans of relegated teams how much they like relegation.

 

That's nonsense. Promotion/relegation gives meaning to a seasonf or cellar dwelling teams. Fans of relegated teams respect promotion/relegation because it gives meaning to all of their games, and it also gives them reason to celebrate when they're promoted or avoid relegation.

 

Well, in this country where soccer is far from being established as a permanent fixture on the sporting scene outside the top league, being relegated is basically a death sentence.

Promotion the way MLS has done it with some teams is fine, but dropping a crappy team down so their marquee attractions would be the Rochester Winos instead of Beckham's Galaxy (Shhhh.. don't tell anyone he doesn't play for them anymore) is just insane.

On the other hand, it does give some sort of accountability to the teams that there is serious penalty for being crappy year after year after year. I'm lookin at YOU, Tronna, but I could also be looking at Foxboro FC just as easily....

 

To be sure there are winners and losers in relegation systems and it does add interest for fans of bottom-table teams.

But, when a team w/o great financial resources gets relegated, it can be pretty ugly - if you have to drop salaries to meet expected drop in income, it can be a long road back, or even a downward spiral.

 

Or you can be like Rangers, mismanage your financial resources into administration, then get liquidated and have to start over at the bottom of the pyramid. So much for "too big to fail"!

 

I'd rather ask owners. You pretty much captured it in your next post, below. They don't like it and it motivates them to stay out of the bottom. "We'll hang on to Jay Heaps and see if he can grow into the job next year" takes on a totally different perspective when that next year will be down a division, all of your good players will have excercised escape clauses AND you will lose all of the television money. Brest is a team without great financial resources.

As for fans, I don't want them to go down but it's bringing real meaning to their last 6 games.

Agree.

But when a team with great, but perhaps under-utilized, financial resources realizes it could get relegated, it can solve the problem for the team or the league. Either they use those resources or they are gone. Problem solved.

I've now pushed the "you want them to spend tons of money on players" button. Not the case. I just think it could change the view on scouting, head coaching, assistant coaching and player acquisitions. It could add some urgency to player selection so that they conclude they can't wait until the next (and then next again) window to sign an impact player. You'll say that urgency will lead to wasted money. I'll say a lack of urgency gets you relegated which loses you a ton of money.

At any rate, I'm about to be (I suspect) a fan of a relegated team. I'll get back to you on how reality differs from theory.

 

So what's the story behind the orange armbands?

 

REPPED!

 

They're in support of Kevin Alston and his fight against leukemia.

 

4/22/13

NE Revolution (Team) SoG = 13
Thierry Henry SoG = 13

Sorry, but I'm still a little ticked about this last game.