QUOTE=Soccer Doc;25194810]For all those who think Bob Kraft doesn't care about the Revs: Frank Dell'Apa @frankdellapa Close Robert Kraft gave Revolution send-off for Tucson pre-season trip. Told me he is committed to giving team what it needs to succeed. Retweeted by NESoccerToday.com[/QUOTE] And on opening day he will be attending or tuning into: anything but the Revs. Wow! He actually met with the team! He has to know by now that the majority of his former soccer customers have checked out just as he has; this is nothing but keeping up appearances. Is this the first time he ever met with the team? Talking to the guys for 2 minutes doesn't equal a speck of shit. Ill be more impressed if he actually shows up when they are playing, or visits training, and most importantly,... Catches up with the rest of the league in his commitment. Doc, I get the sense that you posted this only to be provocative. It worked!
He was probably coming from or going to some meeting and someone he was with pointed out that those guys over there are the soccer team he owns.
He actually has gone to training before. He meets with the players a couple times a tear. At this point, I'm torn as to whether Kraft is really being honest. I see two scenarios right now. 1. Kraft is being honest. He's really loyal to B+B and actually thinks the FO shuffle will work. He doesn't believe in big DPs because he sees them as the type of unsustainable spending seen in the EPL. However, he is working on an SSS because he sees it as a necessary part of a sustainable business. He isn't as into the Rev as much as the Pats, but he's committed to making them a competitive organization like all his businesses. 2. He's lying. He just doesn't care enough. He tells B+B to specifically lie to us in order to sell tickets. For me, it will be more apparent in two months when (if?) we hear legitimate stadium news which one is true.
Thats how I see it with the first option being by far the most likely. The second option may appeal to the jaded NNN's on this Board but it makes absolutely no business sense.
Either way he's a terrible owner. Even if the first one is true, his team fell behind the times and he didn't realize it. I would prefer this team be a leader in terms of implementation. In the first scenario we're a follower, and we'll always be playing catch-up to other teams in the league.
C'mon Doc, it makes a little sense. Scratch that, it makes a lot of sense. Tell people there is going to be a SSS/DP/Good Team/etc to get them to come to the games, sell the broadcast rights and some advertising. Never follow through. Maximum return on minimum effort.
I think both scenarios seem unlikely to be honest (I know...I proposed them ). There's just a lot of contradictory data. The second just isn't good business. In business, you want to build a sustainable customer base. Scenario 2 just completely disregards that objective and isn't sustainable long term. Since Kraft "digs" sustainable business, it seems wholly unlikely that scenario 2 is true. It seems much more likely that he just hasn't payed attention much over the last few years. During that time, the league passed him buy without his realization. Now he either has to play catch-up, or watch his team wither and die. Extreme ignorance seems much more likely than some conspiracy in which there are top down orders to fool the die hard fans.
Bob Kraft isn't ignorant. He owns two sports franchises. No one will argue which one is his prime interest but the Revs represent a significant business investment and I sincerely doubt are off the Kraft radar. As someone astutely pointed out awhile ago he a football team owner and it would appear he hasn't adjusted to being a soccer team owner. He's tried to manage the Revs with the same principles he has used to manage the Patriots. It would appear he's counted on the Evil Midget (SG) to bridge the gap. Obviously the system the Krafts have had in place since MLs 1.0 has not adjusted to the advances in MLS in the past 4-5 years and has fallen short. It would appear--and only time will tell if these appearances represent real change---that the Krafts are aware the their management structure needed changing and that he's indicating he understands it's going to take more than words to get this roster back to being a contender. My analysis of the data points currently available strongly suggest that last season represented a major wakeup call to an owner who like to win and who has awakened to the fact that his junior franchise was in triuble and needed a substantial rebooting. Time will tell if my analysis is correct. I stand ready to back up my analysis with modest bets with all comers: a cold bottle of water for me against your choice of cold beverage
Your a scientist (sort of). In science, you make can only make predictions based on previous results. I can see that you think things have changed, but it's way too early to say so definitely. Can we at least wait a few months, see how the stadium thing pans out, and see how the ownership reacts during the opening months of the season before we declare that Kraft has had a wake-up call? There just isn't enough discernible "hard" evidence at the moment. If his words turn into action, I'll be the first one to admit that I'm wrong and jump on your bandwagon. But I need to see action first.
How can you say all this, Doc, when the people who should have been fired were actually promoted? Then, these Bomars proceeded to let go what quality they did have and replaced them bargain basement players and rookies with apparent talent but no experience? I know the season hasn't started but on paper, I see that we are even more pathetic than last year. If we come out competitive in the first few games I'll be pleasantly surprised, but if we come out of the gates and get completely outclassed, in a way where one does not even know where to begin to turn next, I -for one- will not be the least bit surprised. In addition we have no depth to speak of.
Not true, not even close to true. Variables have changed, and as such any scientist would predict a change in results.
Your gonna have to define the parameters a little more clearly, because to me, you've already lost this bet. Firing Nicol and promoting BBH, without bringing in any proven leadership from outside the organization is, in my mind, not a substantial reboot. It is reshuffling deck chairs on the Titanic.
What variables have changed? B&B still have leading rolls in the organization. We don't know if the "changes" they've made even exist. There's no material evidence. btw, I'm not talking about on-the-field performance here, just the FO and Kraft
Steve Nicol is gone and Jay Heaps is out of the booth. Sunil is gone. There are changes. (I'm not saying that those changes rise to the point of fixing anything, I'm just saying that attempting to use hard science to prove a point like this is folly)
Sunil Gulati is no longer the Revs' absentee President. He was a major bottleneck at getting anything done, so that change is more than cosmetic.
2/22 Revs v Gals, pre, in and post game chatter First big test of the new and improved New England REVVVVVVVVVOLUTION! Going to take a guess they start in a 4-4-2 with [LINEUP-4-4-2]Cardenas, Sene, Rowe, Benny, Shalrie, White, Cruise, Barnes, Soares, Alston, Reis[/LINEUP-4-4-2] I think you will also see a lot of the Simms and Joseph pairing in a 4-5-1 type formation. Not sure how healthy Lozano is or Guy for that matter. I think Heaps will take a long look at White over the next few days. For me its a not brainer. He is better than Nyassi and Boggs and probably brings more to the table than Guy. I think Cruise logs a lot of minutes as well. it would be nice to win this game but this team is far from a finished product and Heaps needs to take a long look that the trialist to see if they are upgrades over what is not on the roster. with 4 International spots open I bet they fill 3 and the 4th during the summer. 4-1 Gals
Re: 2/22 Revs v Gals, pre, in and post game chatter Moving this in here, since Doc had set this up as the thread for the tournament.
Re: 2/22 Revs v Gals, pre, in and post game chatter Thats fine, just thought it would be better to take each game on its own and use Doc's thread for all the games in the tourney
Just a reminder that tonight's game (8pm ET), and all the games in Tuscon, will be streaming live on MLSsoccer.com MLSsoccer.com to stream 19 preseason matches February 22, 2012 MLSsoccer.com
Watching Garber on this Crew / Desert Cup pre game show, He is good, He is no Kraft, he really does have a long term vision for the league and the country and he is going about executing it. I don't know how most of you feel about the soccer don, but i think he is legit. The contrast between what he has to say and what Bilello and Burns were spewing is like night and day.
#Revs lineup vs. @LAGalaxy: Reis - Tierney, Lozano, McCarthy, Barnes - Feilhaber, Joseph, Simms, Rowe - Brettschneider, Sene #LAGalaxy Starting XI: Saunders; Keat, Meyer, DeLaGarza, Dunivant; Noonan, Sarvas, Beckham, Magee; Buddle, Cristman