I don't want Arena, though it would be fascinating to watch the car wreck. Also, he'd be given license to do something, horrible as it may be. Yet Arena strikes me as Bob's idea of making a splash.
I am not against the REVs picking better but... Really, I find the Arena hate to be hilarious. He is probably 20 times better than any of us would have hoped for in our wildest dreams the day after Heaps was finally fired. Nobody seems to remember that: Jay Heaps is the quality level we can expect Mike Burns to pick. Yet we're all rejecting Arena. Wow, just wow. And I say that largely agreeing with the many critical comments about Arena.
We're not even sure that Burns won't just Per-Soehn-ify all that's wrong with the Revs for another brilliant 5 year slouch to irrelevancy.
I vote we bring in Ray Hudon. The Revs fortunes might not improve but being a Rev fan would be a lot more fun,.
But that would be a more expensive direction....while Soehn fits the cheap, ambitionless, who-gives-a-damn-wake-me-up-in-five-years bill so damn well it's downright irresistible to a Kraft.
You forgot to mention that Paul praised his tactics several times. I figured that we were watching the 2018 edition of the Revs last night the way they were talking up Soehn.
Yeah, I've been saying that for years! I dunno about coaching, but Hudson should be the "community relations" guy, the guy who goes out and talks about the Revs on radio with mainstream sports guys, the human quote machine, etc. The guy has tons of enthusiasm, and even if he's over the top when he calls Kellyn Rowe the next Johan Cruff, he is still entertaining. I want to hear him say, after a gritty win, "Thu laads, they played wi a greet beg haaart, a haaart the sayze of a pegg! (holding his hands open the size of a soccer ball). It was abso-luuuuutely maaah-jeck!"
I can't speak for anyone else, but for me it's just that he's got such a repulsive persona. I don't deny that he'd make us a better team, but I think we should aim even higher. There was a time when MLS wasn't ready for international coaches, but I think we're clearly beyond that now - and I think Arena only looks good in relation to domestic coaches. Remember when Jason Kreis was all the rage?
As I said, I’m happy if they pick better. Otherwise I agree with you. It comes down to what the Krafts want to keep/give up in terms of cost, staff size, team payroll targets and general control. I don’t think they are ready to aim higher (or even as high as arena) but I’m happy to be wrong.
I agree the water is safe for international coaches, though I suspect there's some dynamite untapped talent in the domestic ranks too. Kraft shapes my thinking on all of this. If he goes for a "name" manager, he's got to give the guy some cool toys. I fear a newb manager or a Soehn will get another not-ready-for-prime-time roster.
We need to do something. This franchise is sooo badly mismanaged it needs a relaunch. Part of it has been coaching but the biggest problem, as we all know, is higher up. The Krafts look at it as something else to put in that stadium other than the Pats and nothing more, as we all know. Spend no money, the fools will come anyway. BUT, we have a good core that is only missing a few good players. Spend some money, retire Burns and get somebody that can sign GOOD players and we'd be something. This is the problem What high level coach would ever come here under this organization? Being stuck with the bargan basement players Burns delivers. And why would Burns hire somebody that wouldnt stand for his incompetence? He wont hire anybody that will rock his boat. The Krafts need to get involved and clean house. Let Burns replacement hire the new coach. Turn this sinking ship around NOW
I just wonder that if they hire an outside coach will he bring in his own coaches. Have to think Soehn will take off if he gets passed over but what of Llamosa or Roy?
I disagree. Two different coaches (Nicol, Heaps) have been able to get a team in the MLS Championship, not to mention USOC finals. So, clearly a coach can succeed in this environment. I know that some folks think those were happy accidents, but under Nicol, there was a stretch where we were perennial contenders. And, you can say that without Jones, Heaps wouldn't have gotten to his final - but, the Krafts did get Jones.
Well, the Nicol era was so long ago that comparing it to now would be like politics junkies pointing out that Rutherford B. Hayes never abused twitter to the level of our current president. The league was 10-12 teams, there was nowhere near the gap in payroll between the top and bottom teams, and you actually could draft a guy straight out of college who could be not only an impact player at club level, but a national teamer as well. Yes, the Krafts did splash out for Jones and it got them within a whisker of a championship. But they didn't follow up with anything close to that. Regardless of who the coach is, if they don't commit to building a better team, we will be one and done in the playoffs in a good year.
Being at the Match, I didn't think Soehn's in game subbing decisions were good at all. Why he took out Agudelo, left in an underperforming Nguyen, inserted Kouassi way too late and didn't get a yellow tainted, hot headed Angoua off the field is beyond me.
It’s garbage time, maybe he just wanted to see those players in this game situation as input into offseason roster decisions.
[QUOTE="ToMhIlL, post: 35994581, member: 3921"Rutherford B. Hayes never abused twitter to the level of our current president. [/QUOTE] My beard is the best beard. Everybody says so. Much better than those loser mutton chops on Ambrose Burnside.
Not only is Smug Bruce repulsive but he has a track record of winning when he's got talent. He can't mold a team of misfits into a winner, it's just not who he is. Anyone remember the disaster when he took over the red bulls in '06-'07? They were .500. Not saying the revs are as bad as that team but they sure as hell are no galaxy either. He doesn't have the premier talent he needs on the revs to put them over the top and win a cup. Kei is great and all but he's no Robbie Keane. There is no Donovan on this team. Maybe he would be better at selection and acquire talent in a more efficient way than the current FO (though that's not saying much). Unless they hired him next week and he had a full offseason plus an open checkbook, Arena would make them better but they still wouldn't win MLS CUP with him here IMO.
Be fair there, We won a coin toss. That's the only reason we got him. Not like Burns found him or anything. When it came time to resign him, we let him walk in true Rev fashion.