I was starting to lose hope during the end of the Nicol era and the day Burns and Bilello were hired all hope was lost. I gave up supporting this team. I knew Heaps was going to be a terrible hire and aside from the cup run sparked by Jermaine Jones he has. Overall record: 65-67-38 Without Jones: 49-62-31 The very definition of mediocrity right there. But with almost making the playoffs this year, hitting the post a bunch, increased attendance and Copa America revenue why would they ever make a change. Like everyone else has said, the current status quo is good enough. Nothing will ever change. That is why, for the first time since Mike Burns was still on the team, I did not attend a single game this year. And only probably watched a little more than half on TV. I just don't care anymore. And it has become so explicitly clear Kraft doesn't either. I could go on a long-winded rant about why Heaps and Burns deserve to be fired but I won't. I could pick apart the inexcusably pathetic quotes that Burns spewed in that article but I won't. I could explain why winning the blind draw for Jermaine Jones might be the worst thing to happen to this team in years but I won't. I. JUST. DON'T. CARE. The majority of those that attend Revs games and contribute to the team's revenue think this product is fine. Competing year in, year out to be one the best teams in MLS does make a difference to them. Even some of those that do follow this team closely are OK with Heaps and Burns coming back. They think mediocrity is good enough. But those that have been around long enough and see the growth of the league and what other teams can accomplish know damn well Robert Kraft is the worst owner in MLS. That Brian Bilello is better off stocking jerseys in the pro shop. That Jay Heaps should take his Coach K backed resume to another profession. And that Mike Burns' ambitious drive and articulate communication skills would be best used asking people "paper or plastic?" Krapathy lives on. The Revs will continue to wallow in mediocrity. And hardly anyone, outside of the faithful here and handful of those on twitter, will do anything about it. Not the media. Not the majority of those who make up the team's growing attendance. Not Don Garber. And most importantly...not Robert Kraft.
It took him three years to finally acknowledge scouting people are being hired around the league. So I fully expect Burns to know about the USL partnerships by 2025 or so.
I have not posted for a while since giving up as a STH after 16 years. I have not purchased a ticket since then but have usually attended 2-3 matches per year since then as comps or freebies, but now feel the obligation to speak. If the truth be known perhaps 50% of the final game tickets were sold or sold at close to face value or even season ticket value. Their are a number of NCAA Division l Men's teams with larger coaching staff's the the Revs. Don't allow yourselves to drink the "kool Aid", the Revs do not have the roster to compete in the current MLS. Their coaching staff is neither dedicated, nor capable of developing young talent if it happens to "drop into their hands" Scouting of players internationally has been going on aggressively by most other MLS teams for a number of years, the reason that the Revs made the finals was not only that JJ made an impact as a player but that he set a tone of professionality in practice that Jay Heaps is neither capable of or considers necessary and finally, we the soccer public of New England have tolerated this and continue to be ripped off by the Krafts who are interested in no more than having some product to entice people into Patriot Place. When Jonathan Kraft's son decided he didn't want to play soccer seriously any more several years ago, the "Die was Cast" You will feel after giving up as STH like you have just been through a divorce, but it fades. The anger dissipates and you will soon find other soccer to follow. It is a tragedy for NE Soccer fans who have great tradition and loyalty but have bee Burn(S)ed and thrown on the garbage heap(s) by the Kraft organization.
I don't have beef with them finally getting attendance back to the level it was 19 years ago, but the point is that, if that's the only thing that matters, then having a good team on the field becomes less and less important. It vindicates the incompetence of the on-field product to say that business is good, no matter how bad the team is. Just like everything in Kraftville, there is no urgency whatsoever in signing at least two top level players who will be difference makers on the field. There will be plenty of time to discuss this in our off-season, but what we'll likely see is the usual castoffs and draft picks, maybe one mid-level international signing (if we're lucky) perhaps a trade for a guy at the Teal Bunbury level of contribution, and lots of "well, we tried, but it's really hard" talk. The fact that the team is doing well at the gate just adds insult to injury.
Heaven forbid that someone in the FO figures out that the attendance has typically moved in inverse proportion to team quality. Next year, we'll get a whole squad of Tony Frias III's. Then, again, maybe someone has figured it out and that's why Heaps still has a job
I'm not all surprised Heaps is remaining as coach. But I did allow myself to fantasize from time to time. Don't expect many changes in the roster either.
You are not alone, likely a common occurrence among participants here. For some, it is fantasizing about a different coach, others about different ownership, for others it is about a new logo, others about a stadium, others about a GM, others about USL or other partnerships. For some it is fantasizing about the results on the field, regardless of the other items listed.
It's time the New England Revolution updated their logo. Nothing major, mind you. Simply the addition of a motto to their current mark: Mediocritatem Regnat in Perpetuum
The Krafts are so so so fortunate (and skilled) that they have managed to build a machine that keeps on tractor-beaming in a fanbase that has a heavy heavy component of inattentive-and-uninformed-and-uninvested-and-preadolescent-and-transient fans - regardless of results. That sort of fan base fully flies in the face of the "conventional" fan bases wrapped around all the other professional sports teams in Boston. It would be a sight to see if any of the Sox, Pats, Celts, or Bruins fanbases were to turn their collective gimlet eye towards the Revs. Imagine a daily conversation about the Revs with enough meaningful scale and penetration into the collective social fabric of Boston, happening in the same way fans engage in discourse and debate of their "love/hate" for those other teams actions, all day every day, in multiple mass media and social media channels. Sports talk radio would blow up. The #NERevs twitter hashtag, which some think is already at times a cringeworthy fellowship of the miserable, would put its former self to shame when it goes incendiary. The list goes on... Yeah, it would be hard to take your eyes off it, kinda like how it is hard to look away from a car crash or train wreck. In the timeless words of PJ O'Rourke, "You’d have to watch the entire Mexican air force crash-land in a liquid petroleum gas storage facility to match this kind of thrill." I wonder if the Krafts ever entertain/worry about the remote/outside possibility of that sort of dynamic ever happening - that they somehow get a rabid fanbase -- and all air cover and standing pat is taken away from them. Perhaps that is in their long-term business strategic plans, in their "exit criteria" i.e., "if that ever happens, we're selling because we will have been "found out" -- which could tarnish our "benevolent owner" reputation/legacy built on the backs of the Pats record -- and, doing what it takes to compete for real on the field is NOT the game we want to be playing with this MLS franchise."
I am sure everyone has seen the ESPN article: http://www.espnfc.com/new-england-r...-as-revolution-coach-despite-missing-playoffs I completely agree, seeing this is just terrible. Michael Burns is like, hey if we get another 5 changes to win a championship in 20 years, then we're good. I guess that's kinda like, well we are fine at Gillette, and if we get a new stadium that's ok too. I love those Patriots lines anyway, it helps refs mark 10 yards on free kicks. Or, maybe, so what if other teams have a reserve league team and scouts and stuff, we'll get there eventually. Ugh. I can't believe I renewed. Again. Just like 97, 98, 99, etc..