There are plenty of tangible reasons why Mike Burns should no longer be the GM. Can anyone think of one good reason for him to stay? I can't.
at this point Biello should be fired for not firing Burns and letting him lead the search for a new coach
As fans, our criteria for what makes a good GM is far different than that of the people who really matter--the owners who pay the bills. We want a guy who is savvy, knowledgeable and experienced enough to know what kind of players we need, to actually get them, and to manage the cap-um, I mean budget-efficiently. And all of that is the foundation of a competitive team on the field. What the bosses want is a guy who will work within the budget (financial and staff) they give him, not ask for more, even if he needs it to do better in any of the areas in the previous paragraph. Don't rock the boat, make the team competitive enough so it isn't terrible, and keep saying "we tried" if anyone tries to ask.
The wags among us might note that Burns hasn’t done a very good job on the “make the Revs not terrible” front. But what do we know?
Revs press conference summary: https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2019...ike-burns-addresses-media-wake-friedel-firing Just so bad --- how many times has Burns not been 'able to get it across the finish line' with player acquisitions of note. Just so sad. I'm down to watching the Revs like I watch most other teams --- 4 minutes of highlights from MLS.
I don’t know how tongue-in-cheek your use of the phrase “people who really matter” was intended. I believe that for (nearly?) every other team in MLS the consumer/customer/fan is a major stakeholder. Only in NE do we find a different paradigm. We are all so comfortable acting like capitalist consumers with company’s big (as Big as Amazon) and small (as small as one person plumbing, electric, etc. companies.). But for some odd reason we can’t insist that Bob Kraft should take his customers seriously as stakeholders... (maybe not what your post meant but it has been said on this forum a million times).
No, all I mean is that the people who are the ultimate decision-makers on whether that blithering dolt is doing a good job or not. It sure seems that none of us do, not even the thirstiest Kool-Aid Drinkers. But the Krafts, in fact are satisfied, otherwise they would be looking to make a change there too. It really doesn't matter how much we kick and scream about his total incompetence. If Bob Kraft is happy that he doesn't make the the team lose too much money, then there will never be a change.
Be sure to watch the video (about 7 minutes long) embedded in that article. Wiebe and Warshaw discuss Friedel's firing. Even they think Burns should be on the hot seat.
Right Tom, that has basically been the job description. But it might be different now because the team is nowhere near "competitive enough". In fact it's now a laughingstock, due to neglect. And we know the Krafts hate embarrassment. Friedel was a disaster. But I doubt Blooter told him he'd only have 3 central defenders to work with this season.
All of the nonverbals (and verbals) from Jon Kraft and from Burns, and at times from others in the #NERevs mgmt chain, clearly show a distaste (to put it mildly) for adult fans who wish to engage the team as intensely as do fans of other major sports teams.— A Casual Fan (@A_Casual_Fan) May 10, 2019 To me (at least), seeing that obvious preference constantly on display from both Jon and Mike would indicate (again, at least to me) that Jon and Mike are in the wrong business - a business that depends on engaged fans (i.e., fans who want to chat at watercoolers). #NERevs— A Casual Fan (@A_Casual_Fan) May 10, 2019 It is painful to see Jon and Mike year after year twisting themselves into pretzels pretending to want to operate as sportsmen when they really dislike much of what comes with having a truly engaged fanbase. #NERevs— A Casual Fan (@A_Casual_Fan) May 10, 2019 They seem to be much more comfortable thinking of the #NERevs as tranches and subassets and non-cash gain/growth opportunities and small change arbitrage plays - and then managing those.— A Casual Fan (@A_Casual_Fan) May 10, 2019 At the same time, they likely have a model that shows a long term success outcome (whatever that is, who knows) achievable solely via these or like methods, shielding them from ever actually needing engaged ("watercooler") #NERevs fans. They've seemingly doubled down on it today.— A Casual Fan (@A_Casual_Fan) May 10, 2019
Doubling Down on Incompetence, and Doubling Down on Contempt for the Fans, may be one way for the Krafts to have "fun" when the Orchids are not at hand..... but in terms of the future of their franchise it is Doubling Down on a Death Wish.
Want to get their attention? Stop going. I have not been to a game in years and will not go again until there's something to see. He who shall not be named was worth going to see. Taylor Twellman was worth going to see. JJ was worth going to see.........who do we have now? Nobody!
I would say Gil is worth going to see, but I too have stopped going, just not worth the trip. If the ownership doesn't really care, why should I? Trying to balance that with being a fan, but it gets easier and easier to stop caring when you keep on seeing the same BS behavior from the leadership of the Revs. AND lest we forget, even with the win, we are tied last place with an expansion team who has a game in hand on us. AND Orlando, 1 point in front of us has THREE games in hand on us.
Yes, if you want to take the longer view on it, I'll give you that. My point was that given the situation in early May 2019, no player in their right mind would sign a big contract with the team.
The problem with Burns' stance is that it seems to presume that he has the right to keep his job as long as the overall record is 'okay'. Hmmm, he didn't take that same view (nor should he have) when he let Steve Nicol go. Nicol could easily have made the same argument: don't just look at the last few years, look at the whole tenure. But, that all ignores the reality of the business, i.e., what have you done for me lately? Burns has already had a tenure far beyond the norm in that position, with results far less than the average. I would say that when your team is in a steady and dangerous decline (which Burns has continued to fail to notice, or at least acknowledge), that this is really a two-strikes and you're out situation. When Burns did need to fire Nicol, it was critical to get the replacement right. I wouldn't say hiring Heaps was a total failure (it worked for a while), but it was a very risky one - and when a calculated risk goes wrong, there should be consequences. After all, he is the one who went out on a limb ... for his friend/associate. Then he followed that with another failed home-run swing. That seems to confirm that his inclination is to go for hirings that are both safe (familiar, limited concessions/changes necessary) and risky (lack of significant head-coaching experience) - and that haven't worked. Two strikes and he should be out (and that doesn't even go into all the other non-head-coach hiring blunders).
great post..... but unfortunately it is a reality of the Krafts' soccer business to ignore not only us [who would expect otherwise?] but also reality
Good phrasing. The presumption that having an overall W-L record that is 'okay' seems to be a philosophy embedded up and down the Revs org - one that excuses subpar performance (sometimes chronic subpar performance) on a wide range of aspects that are visible and important to typical sports fans. That being said, it is also possible that Burns is being held to a very stringent standard - one where "okay" isn't even close to good enough - on other aspects of running the Revolution enterprise that are less visible to fans; or that aren't tied to W-L record. It's possible he is measured very critically, and may well be succeeding on those. However, it is hard to imagine with specificity/precision exactly what those "other" aspects are, given that they would need to be rather far removed from the team W-L record (since there is some level of correlation between financial performance and W-L record.). Another example - some aspects like community engagement and charitable efforts by the Revs seems to be looked on favorably by fans, but I do not think they are in Burns job scope. So, that leaves a shrinking pool of candidates for what these "other" aspects could be.
When Brian O'Donovan was the "General Manager," he was more of a business manager, and not what we tend to think of in terms of a sports team GM. I can see if his performance would be based on business metrics like attendance and overall P/L. Burns, less so. He is more of a typical sports GM, where he is clearly involved much more on the player side, even if there is some ambiguity. Regardless if he's the one going grocery shopping and Friedel is the chef, if the meal tastes like warmed-over Alpo, both of them are to blame. I can't imagine how you can shield Burns from several years in a row of sub-par results, no matter what the circumstances.
But, the fact that we are pondering what is and what isn't just illustrates to me their lack of transparency and the their keeping us in the dark. So for that reason alone, they suck!
#NERevs Part Ways with General Manager Michael Burnshttps://t.co/x8HOlJZ83r pic.twitter.com/mGg5KnfDnr— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) May 13, 2019 https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2019...volution-part-ways-general-manager-mike-burns