With the triumvirate of ineptitude running the show, and a weak and incomplete roster, can anything else than a wooden spoon be a realistic expectation?
I tell you what, watching 'Sunderland 'Til I Die' has not been easy for me. I feel that they could drop in the Fire and the story would be scarily similar.
More like a decade of futility. Ever since Peter Wilt and Bob Bradley left, the club has never been the same. I never understood why they let go of fan favorite GM Wilt. He built the expansion team and the stadium, hired the coach that won them a couple of championships and had a healthy loyal fanbase with an ethnic Polish component that catered to one of the larger soccer loving communities in the area. They rewarded him by letting him go, setting the stage for the club's downward spiral and futility.
Reviving this thread to bitch about the incredibly crappy home schedule they have slapped together. Why the f*ck are the first few Fire games at noon on Saturday? The Fire play at 12:00 on April 20th. The Red Stars play at 2:30. What are they smoking? (getting the first "4/20" joke in there). It is like they are trying to drive fans away from attending the games. There are 5 home games in March and April! 4 are at noon and 1 is a Friday night March: March 9 March 16 March 30 all 12:00 noon Saturday games. Three home games in March is insane. April: April 12: Friday night game (why?) April 20: 12:00 Saturday game. Red Stars receive the "normal" Saturday afternoon start time. May May 8th: Wednesday night game. May 11th: The first Saturday night game is three days later. Two home games in three days? May 25: 2:30 pm Saturday game (the first "normal" time for a Fire game) June: June 22nd, the second home Saturday night game. Only one home game and three games and one home game in the entire month! (The idiot Gold Cup runs from 6/15-7/7, final at Soldier Field, so that cannot be the reason why) July: July 3rd, another Wednesday night game (fireworks, perhaps?), three days before the Gold Cup final in Chicago. July 13th, Saturday night July 17th, yet another Wednesday night game July 27th, Saturday night A month with not much else going on and two Wednesday night games. August: August 10th, 8:00 p.m. Saturday night start (not nationally televised and against Montreal, so no reason to have start at 8:00 p.m., if it was against a West Coast team, that might make sense) August 17th, 7:00 p.m. Saturday night start Only two home games, but four away games, including Houston (why can't the Fire play in Houston in March?). September: Sept 14, Saturday 2:30 game (makes sense) Sept 29, Saturday 4:00 game (makes sense) October: No home games, as the season ends* for the Fire on October 6th in Orlando (again, why is it that we could not play in Orlando in March?) [*except for MLS Playoffs and MLS Cup 2019, of course!] So: 3- Wednesday night games 1- Friday night game 6- Saturday night games 4- Saturday noon games 3- Saturday afternoon games This is just stupid. I am likely to miss half of the games, even with season tickets. (I guess I am stupid, as well)
They save on the light bill. This could be the first legal tailgate in Illinois history. Or cut their losses
Stupidly MLS schedules games in Chicago in march and april. The only justification for afternoon games then is that it would be even colder at night.
Teams like Atlanta, DC, Cincinnati, Orlando, the LA's, Houston, Dallas, San Jose, Seattle, Portland and Vancouver should get home heavy March schedules (with Nashville, Miami and Austin joining that group soon). And don't play as many games in DC, Houston, Dallas, et al in late July and August - especially before the sun goes down. Once the league composition is settled I think MLS should have a fairly static schedule from season to season to allow fans to plan travel more easily and build tradition. It'd be great if you had recurring fixture dates for clubs that could be planned around. And not that anyone asked or cares what I think but I think 32 teams in MLS should be the goal, split between MLS East and MLS West. Play home and home in your conference for a 30 game schedule (or play everyone once for 31, alternately home and away each season). MLS Cup should be a 32 team World Cup style tourney at the end of the season, seeded by order of finish. There should be 4 host cities, west coast, mid-west, mid-east, east coast to allow fans to see a whole bunch of games. (And the final should always be played at Soldier Field <wink wink>) US Open Cup and MLS/Liga MX tourneys for the summer. Get rid of the damn euro friendlies that eat up prime summer dates. True story - I met Don Garber at the Gold Cup final when the US beat Panama and had him cornered for about a minute in the club area. The way his smile dissolved to terror over that minute as I sped-talked my way through my proposal is burnt into my brain. It's right up there with the time Joe Crede got far more "fan experience" than he ever imagined at SoxFest one year. (Or that time Walter Payton refused to give me an autograph and I screamed to everyone in Enchanted Castle that Neal Anderson was there.)
I already moved all my March tix to other dates and complained vociferously to my ticket rep about three March home games. I hate missing games (yes..even the fire) but I am simply not going to those and have to plan ahead.
So what you're saying is we will finish at the bottom in attendance this year, if it wasn't for Precourt trying to move Columbus to Austin and pissing off their fans, that would be back-to-back years at the bottom..
We started (first 10 games) at 3-2-5 11pts, which was pretty bad. Looking at this years schedule we could get off to a worse start 2-2-6 8pts. @ LA (L) vs. Orlando (W) vs. Seattle (L) vs. NYRB (L) @ Toronto (T) vs. Vancouver (T) vs. Colorado (W) @ NYCFC (L) @ Montreal (L) @ LAFC (L) #NRodOut
If I recall correctly, last year was worse -- something like 7 home games before the warm weather came. Afternoon games are necessary due to the weather in March and April. With afternoons at maybe 40-60 Degs or evenings anywhere from about 30 - 40 Degs, it's an obvious choice. How many fans do you think would show for those colder night games? But there's another consideration, how much will the scheduled games conflict with youth soccer games? Many youth leagues play on Saturday morning/afternoon in the Spring through early summer. So, those early starts also probably lose attendance because of families attending their kid's games. I guess the people who put together the league schedule aren't the smartest people on the block.
As for the roster, we're going through the same MO as last year -- short on players. Sure, there was quite a few guys that were brought in on a gamble or too just occupy a roster spot because we were short on player's last year. No problem with jettisoning them. But the team has also seemed preoccupied with ignoring the draft and failing to develop/keep the players they do draft. I guess funny money is more important than having a reasonable roster size. The result is that we are only 1 or 2 injuries away from being in dire straits. Perhaps they should rethink getting rid of some of the players who could provide some needed depth.
We had 4 before May (2 in March and 2 in April) We had 7 before June (3 in May) This year we have 5 before May (3 in March ans 2 in April) This year we have 8 before June (3 in May) So, no this year is worse
Considering we only have 22 players (and three are keepers) we barely have enough to field a game day roster 18 players. So if our "A" time stay healthy we finish in the top 6 of the conference, if we lose 2 or three of them to injury we will finish in the bottom three of the conference, This is ALL on NRod, because he did these last year and say it was his fault, but yet here we are again. #NRodOut and Take Hauptman with you
Thank you, I was just about to write the same thing. Also, we have the idiotic 12:00 noon start times in March and April.
Yes we have had those games in march and april before. They were stupid to play in Chicago outdoors in march and april and once again add to their reputation of stupidity.
I have never been more apathetic to a start of a season than I am now. My emotional connection to the team is just gone. Yes, I will still watch away Fire matches and attend several home matches, but more as a supporter of soccer in the US. I have a set of MLS teams that I strongly dislike and will always cheer against. As much as I try, my passion for the Fire is currently gone. I really hope that I can once again ignite the spark and become a true supporter again. I just have an extreme dislike and absolutely lack of respect for certain individuals involved with this team. Until they are no longer associated in anyway with the Fire organization, I cannot bring any real connection to this team. I respect the players, but until I see real changes that specifically involve the removal of Nelson Rogriguez, Pauno and Andrew Hauptman, I will never again give my absolute support to this team. As someone born and raised in the city of Chicago and a fan of Chicago outdoor and indoor soccer since the late 70's, it pains me to have such apathetic feelings towards a start of a brand new season and the only real team this city has. I truly was hoping for a brand new USL Chicago team. That hope is gone. My hope is that the new Fire ownership involvement (49% at least) can rid itself of the dry rot that is Nelson Rodriguez and build a new foundation of soccer in this city. Until then, I will continue to be a supporter of all levels of soccer in the US and a strong supporter of the US National Team. I just need a true local team that I can respect and give my full support towards!