If I had any open questions on this issue they have been resolved. Sorry Jay but it's time to go--period---end discussion
When is his contract up? That is probably the answer to the question of when. [saying this with the real hope that I'm wrong. The same way I was wrong when I thought we would never put our ring in the hat for Kei]
Sounders confident they can "pull off" playoff entry, but aiming far higher October 18, 2016, 9:24PM EDT Ari Liljenwall Fortunately for Heaps, he is not held to quite so high a standard...
Heaps will be Mismanager next year. Burns will be ruining the FO next year. Kraftotopia is mesmerized by the Brady Bunch, and there ain't no care left over for the hapless Revs Minnows stuck on some island which is all Gilligan and no Mary Anne [and certainly no Professor].
I'm reading a book that has nothing to do with sports, but in a chapter on strategy, I found this quote: I couldn't agree more. Heaps got lucky with Jones and made it to the finals. But he is not a great coach. Ironically, the chapter starts by talking about Coach K. I like Heaps. There is a chance he might become of great coach, someday. I don't know if the Revs can afford to wait and find out.
An effective franchise would have made its transitional decisions yesterday and announced them today. I guess we can hope that KSG can only measure once a day and won't announce Burns's and Heaps's departures until nine days are up. Unfortunately, it's equally likely that they decided to give them another chance. After all, this is the first time we missed the playoffs in "years".
I think Heaps had the ability to change the mentality of the team and improve them to a certain point. When they reached that level, I don't think he had much left in the way of new ideas - and when the players realize that, you start to lose them, because they *know* something more is needed. Every day that passes without any announcement makes me think even more that Heaps will be back.
Oh, he'll definitely be back... Let's look at his legacy here: Year one, took over a terrible team, no playoffs. Year two, made the playoffs but lost in the first round to KC Year three, acquired Jermaine Jones, got hot at the end of the season and went to MLS Cup Year four, was in pretty good shape with 2 weeks to go, limped into the playoffs and finished 5, lost at DC Year five, struggled through most of the season, played better toward the end, but couldn't beat the two worst teams in the league away and missed the playoffs. Yeah, we're moving backwards, and all we have to do is get to the Chicago/Columbus level and it will be a nice bell curve.
So, what you are saying is that in the short period of time that he has been at the helm, he already has 3 MLS playoff appearances, one of which end as a MLS Cup Fimalist; and has 3 US Open Cup runs to at least the quarterfinals, once of which ended as a USOC Finalist. Sounds kinda impressive when teed up that way. Certainly something the marketing team could leverage to increase ticket sales.
Seriously, who thinks that anything will change for next year? Isn't the best bet that the FO remains untouched, and the only player acquisitions willbe
Burns should have been fired in 2012 and he's still here, so I'm resigned to the fact he's never going anywhere. The best the fans can hope for is a coach who can work miracles like Nicol did for a while, or stumbling into a generational player.
I'd be very surprised if anyone gets fired. If they do make changes now is the time to do it. In Revs fashion they will probably do it a day before the first draft in Dec. and not higher anyone before the superdraft
They are probably in discussions with the recently fired Walter Zenga to see if he will take the job, and only then will they sack Heaps. Coach Zenga's first order of business will be to get on the phone with Sunil Gulati and tell him why we should get an extra allocation, and this time, he wants him to get us better players than David Nakhid!
Interesting on the broadcast and post game: Mariner: What ifs? What if Jay changed the system sooner, What If Jay had changed the wrinkle with the way Agudelo played with Lee Thought this dialogue between host Kevin Walsh and Shalrie was quite interesting - and objective and well done - in post game: Kevin Walsh: (On Kei's integration and not enough productivity) Was their not enough leadership from Heaps or the leaders on the team- why didn't someone speak up or was it not enough? Shalrie - Not enough players did not do enough leadership roles on off the field. Leaders were missing on the field. As a captain, I had to have hard talks with players to motivate or change things on the team - did not see that from Tierney or Lee or Jose. Walsh: Why didn't Kamara speak up or does being a journeyman makes that harder? Sharlie: Being a journeyman does make it harder - coming into the team mid season and try to be a leader is hard for Kamara. Walsh: You know who is a leader and who isn't - even if they are wearing the armband and they are not displaying any leadership skills, right? Shalrie: You definitely know it, but at the end of the day it stems from Jay Heaps. Jay is the head coach and manager. Walsh: And Heaps has to take responsibility Shalrie: Without a doubt he has to. And I am sure he will for not getting us into the playoffs this year. Heaps will be back next year. The good thing is that "out there" in tvland, twitter, and cyber space - people are now recognizing and questioning Heaps abilities and lack thereof as a coach, manager, tactician, and motivator. That will pile on the pressure to Heaps and it will ramp up and expose him very early next season. Especially based on decisions that Heaps will make this offseason on existing and any new players, how he lines up players individually and the shape of the entire team, and what are his subbing patterns - all things that he has clearly struggled with for his entire tenure, and has not looked like he is getting better. [sigh]
I know this horse has been dead for a long time, but that's the kind of stuff we would get from JJ. Wouldn't it be nice to bring in a guy who has that kind of "leadership qualities?" Even when Steve Ralston was here, he was not the rah-rah type of a leader, but everyone respected him as a "quiet leader," a guy who wouldn't get in someone's face, but a guy who would have a quiet, one-on-one conversation with someone. Come to think of it, didn't we have a guy who was the captain of the reserve team (leadership qualities, anyone) for a major European club? Whatever happened to that guy anyway? IIRC, Kouassi wore the armband for his Swiss club, so maybe he can step up? All I can think of was when they gave the local kid the armband in 1996 and he was definitely not a "leader." Francis Okaroh was. Geoff Aunger (captained his national team) was. John Kerr was. Joe-Max Moore was. But not the guy actually wearing the armband. That is the most depressing statement yet, and I find little comfort in knowing that, now, this time for sure, they are going to "hold him accountable" for the poor, underachieving results we are sure to have in the early part of the season. As any half-competent spin doctor will tell us, if just one of of those losses turned into a draw, or one of those draws turned into a win, we, and not Philly, would have made the trip to Tronna last night to get a good hiding from the Maple-Laffs! Next year, SSDD. Instead of starting fresh with a new coach, we're gonna let Heaps stay on board until May, and then make a change? And only then, in the best-case scenario, we will claw our way back to the point where we can hope to have a home knockout game, instead of a best-case scenario of living up to our potential with a first round bye....
Definitely agreed - look at this note about Arena: http://www.espnfc.us/club/la-galaxy...sent-and-future-on-display-as-it-sees-off-rsl When asked earlier this year to explain his team's collapse at the end of last season (one that ended in the knockout round), Arena cited a lack of depth, and so he set about fixing that aspect of his team. In came the likes of Jelle Van Damme, Ashley Cole, Nigel de Jong, Mike Magee and Jeff Larentowicz. Those moves got most of the headlines. Players like Boateng seemed an afterthought. And Donovan wasn't even a thought at all. It's clear that even after De Jong's transfer to Galatasaray, Arena has that depth now. All we heard was that we need new goalposts.
I don't think pressure is a good thing in this kind of situation. Pressure led Heaps to play his veterans to death and never get around to developing his young players.
New England Revolution confirm Jay Heaps will be back as coach https://t.co/PHAl5Nhlyw pic.twitter.com/iLMs3x9gjm— The Boston Globe (@BostonGlobe) October 28, 2016