And that simple answer brings us back to the main question, if it's so simple and so obvious to so many people, then why haven't the Krafts fired him!?! If, as seems to be the case, just about everybody agrees that the GM should be doing a better job with building the team, then it seems pointless to debate how well the GM is doing. This question should also have a simple answer, and if the answer is not that he still has his job because the owners think Burns is doing a good job, that the team is doing as well enough with Burns in charge, then what is the answer? Did Burns save Robert Kraft's life back in 'Nam?
Well, he counts as an "international" because he's Japanese, but he was already in the league with Vancouver. Remember in pre-season training camp in Arizona when they were trying to be coy and referred to him as "Mister X?" I still preferred the name "Secret Asian Man," but it isn't like they went out and scouted Grampus Eight, Kyoto Purple Sanga or Yokahama F Marinos to see what kind of players they might convince to come over.
This also bring us back to another main question, is Burns the problem or are there constraints on Burns imposed by Kraft (or Bilello ha,ha) that prevent Burns from being more successful in acquiring international talent? I am sure that Burns has yearly objectives (right, I can be sure of that, can't I?), but I do not know what they are and how they are weighted. As a fan my objectives for Burns might be different from what his manager has set as his objectives. Other GM related questions: 1. If Burns is constrained, then why would he want to keep the job? 2. If Burns is replaced and the constraints remain, who could do a better job at signing international talent? 3. Why would somebody want the job Mike Burns has if there are constraints? I can easily think of legitimate answers to these questions. 1 and 3 can have similar answers. The answer to question 2 is nobody. There is so much that we do not understand about the Revs FO and the Krafts involvement with the Revs that it is all simply guess work and frustration projection. If you are Bob Kraft and you look at the Revs in 2015 what do you see? Is it enough to make small changes? Is it enough to make big changes? Are you feeling any pressure at all to make changes? Has anything in 2015 given you the impression that something needs to change?
You see an asset that is growing in value thanks to the investments that others are making (Giovinco, Drogba, etc.) and thanks to forces beyond your influence (popularity of USMNT), and that asset is growing in value despite minimal investment from yourself. Thus, why change? Maybe with the Pats the propaganda of him being a "sportsman" is true, but it's been clear for years that he has no interest in the actual game of soccer and fairly lukewarm interest in whether the Revs win or lose. But his asset is gaining in value, so no need to change anything.
This has long been part of how I see the truth. Answering my own questions I would also add that he sees a team that probably did better at the gate, better at concessions, season tickets, looked better on TV, increased revenue, made the playoffs but got a bad call late in the game (hey, anything can happen in the playoffs), increased Patriot Place traffic and customer conversion (just a guess), hosted a USMNT game, had some international friendlies, sold more jerseys (just a guess), functioned on its own autopilot without crashing, stayed out of his hair, did not negatively impact his reputation, had no negative press, no (or reduced) negativity at MLS owners meetings and made him money. All in all a pretty good year for the Revs. No need to change a thing (that might include keeping Jones around as that seems to be an enabler of the autopilot). Only pain or a change of heart/priority will lead to some of the changes that some people around here want. IMHO, that kind of pain is far away and is easily managed if it ever kicks up enough to be noticed and a change of priority seems unlikely to me.