Have you had an ACL repair? Because I have. It is highly invasive, a long recovery and they tell you up front you may not get back 100% of what you used to have. I'm sure he'll play again and play well, but I'll take a take a cartilage snip any day of the week. If he got hurt playing for the Revs, then at least he'd be playing for the Revs. He got hurt playing for another club after the Revs signed him because they wanted to save some money. Welcome to the pitfall of that plan. A player can always get injured, but he doesn't have to get injured playing for another club. God forbid we maybe, you know, learn from it.
Nothing in the history of the franchise points to those guys learning from their mistakes, other than the "we don't often try to sign players because we suck at it" mentality we're all so used to.
I know this...the team as currently constituted is weaker then the team that underachieved last season...I can't see anything to tell me differently
Exactly. Hopefully the Revs will learn from this and not take this chance ever again. Your season ends in Oct/Nov time frame. The smart, logical and best move for any team is to use from then to basically the end of Feb but ideally early Jan to sign players, get them reps during presesason, familiar with their new teammates and ready for MLS. Hell they got it right with Goncalves when they had him in training with the team in Sept before they offered him a contract. Revs are always looking to save a dime and it backfired on them
We haven't gotten any direct quotes from Kouassi so it's not a lock that the FO didn't try to get him here on a transfer fee. Europa league games versus early season MLS play...unless we are paying him a lot more than he's currently getting I can see the players thought process here. I thought there was something from Billelo that said they tried to get him in sooner and he wanted to stay with Sion till the end of his contract? Can't remember 100% and it would be nice to hear from Kouassi but he has bigger issues to deal with now. Really sucks that this happened. We need to do something now as this was clearly an acquisition the team was counting on contributing significantly for the stretch run. Might as well get someone who can come in and be a starter in March. We need punch in the midfield, and though Caldwell tries he is too small to be an enforcer. I think Daigo is done as an impact player, Dorman is gone, Farrell not shifting to the midfield, Jones ship has likely sailed (would love to eat my words) - we need help.
This is the thing... there were at least a few reasonably competent players available as free agents this winter, and while you can argue that none of them would be the long-term answer, if you can get a guy who can start and play reasonably well (average level for his position league-wide) for a salary that won't break the bank, why not do it? Part of the problem is that the Revs take so long to sort out the major pieces, by the time they get around to filling in for depth, it's too late.
So let's assume that Kouassi will be able to play in 7 months. That'll be September. And we signed him to a multi-year deal so he'll be hear in the 2017 season. So the Revs have a big hole in midfield, however it's a temporary hole that they believe will be filled in 2017 (or maybe even in September/October 2016). Sounds like the perfect situation for.... A LOAN. Now, who might have players that could come in and immediately contribute for us? Maybe a club that we already have a relationship with? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/André_Martins Unfortunately Uri Rosell is already loaned out until 6/30/16 (no appearances)... maybe we could grab him at that point, or earlier if we finagle.
While I have a different view of complaining and blaming than you, I'll hazard a guess that many people felt this was a lackluster offseason that was shaping up to have inadequate additions to strengthen the squad by opening day. Still, they had done far more than last season and we've all gotten used to expecting less from the REVs; so people tried to put a lid on their concern and frustration and focus on the 2 things they actually had done. When that key, DP signing went done with a knee injury the lid came off. But, the frustration was already there, boiling under the surface.
I'm like everyone else in that I'm hoping the Revs have at least another signing coming, but I'm not sure I'd reconfigure all my plans because of this. He will be back, just a month or two later than he would have been. If they were looking for a forward, for example, I'm not sure I'd want them to can that plan and look for a dmid, who may end up being surplus by the end of the season. And, when this happens to the Pats, Broons or C's, the mantra is "next man up". Not with Revs fans, though. We're entitled to more. An ACL replacement (standard treatment) is as strong or stronger than the original tissue. And, knee injuries are not more frequent on turf than grass, regardless of the anecdotally-based opinions. Further, since this isn't a meniscus injury, the issue with an ACL isn't about shock absorption - playing on turf or grass isn't a significant factor. In fact, turf has the advantage of being a more regular surface (assuming it's of good quality and is installed properly). It's not going to develop divots, or give way because it's too soggy or someone carved it up with a slide, etc. Yes, I have - that's why I'm a little passionate about this issue. My knee had been giving me problems for years and I finally tore it. After the surgery and recovery (yes, it is a long process - about a year for us amateurs), my knee was and is better than it had been in 20+ years. I'm going in on Friday to have a meniscus repair on the other one and I almost wish it were an ACL, because the long-term prognosis would be much better. With meniscus, you're losing something that's not coming back. An ACL is a replacement - a fully equivalent (or better) one. By that thinking, we should hold players of out pre-season matches. And, they could (and do) get hurt in practice, so coaches should minimize them too. They said they tried to get him early, but the transfer fee asked was excessive. Sion play a home/home in the Europa Cup in a couple of weeks, and if they were to be eliminated, that fee would likely be substantially reduced. That's a reasonable thing to wait on IMO. And, yes, you're right - the player himself may not have wanted to yanked out of a prestigious tournament where he's playing a key role.
I think that paying Revs fans are entitled to expect the club to carry a full roster. That's not too much to expect. We could say "next man up" but after two injuries, "next man" is Mr. Empty Roster Spot.
Bingo. There's a huge difference in the situations mentioned. None of those other teams keep open roster spots.
Good luck with that, I hope it goes well. I had a torn meniscus repaired in 1986 and it took me a couple of weeks to get walking and a couple more months of rehab, the knee was stronger than it ever was. Maybe it was because I put in the work on rehabbing it, and also worked on the rest of me during that time, but I had an extra step and felt that I was just a little quicker than I once was. Of course, that was a long time ago...
Anyone else think that the Revs do more to improve their team than the Pats, Bruins or Celts? I'd be thrilled if we were entitled to the same effort that those teams do. When's the last time BB said the Pats weren't looking to do any major signings because they didn't see any players available who would "move the needle" in terms of the fan base?
No, it just means that it's a bit foolhardy to buy a guy and then let him work five months for another club. Injuries are part of the game, so when you buy a guy (particularly someone slated to be your top wage earner) make sure he's playing his games for you.
Jay Heaps gave an update on Kouassi today: https://t.co/HqsMC1PQD8 #NERevs— Jeff Lemieux (@jeff_lemieux) February 10, 2016
If you look at NYRB and how they went about preparing for Miazga makes you cringe when you think of the quotes regarding Soares from what is now 2 years ago: http://www.espnfc.us/major-league-s...lls-are-prepared-for-life-without-matt-miazga But, reading that story from leamiux and I can't help but feel the following: Now the quote is "but Sion was reluctant to part with their captain". Reluctant to me means - the transfer fee was not high enough to help Sion backfill quickly or too close to the deadline for them to find a replacement. It is a two way street when you deal with transfers. And of course they would not want to lose him for the rest of Europa. But that fact are the Revs are coming for him because they must really WANT him to make the Revs better. That is how soccer business works. We want now - we gotta pay now. So, of course Sion wanted to get everything they wanted. So did the Revs get everything they wanted? They felt they could survive without Kouassi until July and still be in MLS playoff hunt and hope lightning strikes in a bottle? They wouldn't have to pay the salary for these next 6 months? Why even announce as a pre-signing then? Why not just strategically wait until the summer to do the deal? Help ticket sales? Try and be like LA when they announced Gerrard was coming? Someone else was trying to buy Kouassi? Try to force Jones hand? What if the word out of his surgery is he is really going to be a Rossi going forward. Was it a smart timing move on the Revs to sign him when they did then? If he got hurt in Tucson or Gillette - then at least it is a as a Revs player. Sad for the player - but I am personally not buying the "we wanted to be nice guys" and let him finish his Europa campaign. Soccer is business unfortunately and I think they savvyness backfired (or showed the lack of experience in this department - especially since they have not done transfers enough) Probably just in a grumpy mood today.
Well, that part I think is easily answered. The Revs presumably are aware they're getting skewered among the hardcore fans, and that if Jones leaves they're going into the new season without being able to meet last year's product. They may even be seeing poorer season ticket sales as a result. So announcing Kouassi responds directly to that issue. It's not a perfect remedy of course, but it's better to try to staunch the season ticket sale bleeding now rather than hope that a surprise summer signing creates enough of a rebound to compensate early season sales losses.
I was think about this last night as well. Why announce the signing? At some level I wonder if it was to appease the fans. Many of us complain that they never give us any info so we think that they are not doing anything behind the scenes or they are not accomplishing anything behind the scenes. This showed us that they were doing something and the announcement could have played many roles in the Jones saga depending how you look at it. This time they announced something. I think it was the right idea and I hope that this does not scare them away from making similar announcements in the future. The problem is not that they announced something. The problem is that they allowed Kouassi to continue to play for Sion and he got hurt. I hope that they can see the difference. We will never know, especially with the way events have played out, why he was not signed immediately and why he was allowed to continue to play with Sion. The lesson here is that they took a risk. A financial risk. The gambled. I would say that the odds were in their favor, but this time it did not work out. We do not know the terms of the gamble, but it certainly looks to me like they will pay half a season salary to a guy who will probably not step on the field. Is that half a season salary more or less than a transfer fee would have been?
I wonder what daily sales figures were between the Kouassi signing and the announced injury. Also, the same figures for the 30 or 60 days prior to the announcement. That would be interesting to know.
For a risk-averse organization that likes to measure to the point of 99.9% certainty, they sure took a big risk. Sure, the odds are in their favor that he plays through the rest of the season fine, but in this case, that tiny sliver of a chance did come true. We don't know how much Sion would have taken for him to leave immediately, but it would be interesting to know how it compares to a half-year's salary that they will end up having to pay while he rehabs.
I generally skewer Kraft over his penny-wise pound-foolish ways of running the Revs, but I think what the Revs did with Kouassi is entirely reasonable. The player likely wanted to play in the Europa league and to spend a large amount of money in a move that might piss off the player and also negatively impact the salary cap seems unnecessary. The part I'll skewer Kraft over, is that because he runs such a shoe-string operation (no scouts), Kouassi was our only signing projected to make an impact. If we were bringing in 3 Kouassi-level players (since we have 3 DP spots), then losing one would be unfortunate but not crippling. But when all your eggs are in one basket...
Why announce the signing? Because without it, they are the only team in the league without a DP. They still are, but at least they can say for certain one is coming. Without Jones, I think ticket sales ARE hurting. My ticket rep has been calling me relentlessly (I won't take his call because of the way he spoke to me last time we talked, and nothing has changed since then).
Neumann, Herivaux, Kobayashi, Brovsky and Rudy aren't "Mr. Empty Roster Spot". The empty roster spot issue is totally irrelevant in this situation. Anyone who the Revs signed for spots 25, 26 ... wasn't going to be filling in for a missing DP. It's not that the Revs don't have anyone who can play the position, but any time you lose a star-level player, its very unlikely you'll be able to have someone close in quality to fill in. Still, the next guy in line has to do his best - which is what Sox, Bruins, Pats and C's fans expect. Funny, even though many posted comments about how frustrating it was going to be that we'd have to wait for the summer window, I don't recall many thinking this was a bad deal because of the risk of injury during the pre-contract period. I sure someone did, because no matter what the Revs do, someone will find fault with it. They are always getting skewered by hardcore fans, that's nothing new. Once again, the Revs are darned if they do and darned if they don't: we plead with some news that they are actually working on something, then when they do, we're looking for all kinds of alternative motives it. Anyone wonder if maybe the reason the announce it was because it was almost certain to come out very shortly anyway, after it was a done deal with Sion and Kouassi? It's not the like the Revs would have been able to sit on it until June, then spring a big summer surprise on us. In fact, the secret lasted all of about 3 or 4 days after BB dropped his teaser IIRC.
Couldn't filling those spots be an integral part of the "build carefully from a stable core" plan? In addition to the academy, a way to identify promising players that may one day become members of a future list like the one you just produced? Maybe it could be a goal to fill these spots and have at least one guy per year develope enough potential to "own" spot 24 or better... I think the signing approach fell within acceptable limits IF you imagined they were successfully identifying and signing multiple other promising, compete-to-start players which hasn't been proven. As I said elsewhere, I put a lid on that since they had finally done something AND any comment to that effect would have been damned as negative complaining. BB, with 20/20 hindsight, might have wanted to reconsider that tweet.