Pure class, Steve Nicol. Thank you for everything. I, for one, will be following you closely and wishing you well in your future endeavors.
I echo the sentiments of everyone else, even though it was time for him to go I'll always think back fondly of Nicol. Especially because he's the only coach I remember for the Revs to date, since I was too young to watch during the Zenga/Rongen days. Thanks for everything Stevie, best of luck to you.
Glad to be wrong on the prediction he'd be staying. Fascinated to finally see the press corps produce details, including names, of how revs let SN down on signings. why were they sitting on this news? My hat is off to SN if he finally said enough is enough. Maybe he'll be bringing some other team into Gillette to kick butt by mid next season. Worried that the Krafts haven't included Burns in the purge.
Ditto. Here's hoping that the remaining 2/3 of "The Three Stooges" will be issued their walking-papers, post-haste.
To echo what's already been said, while I do think Nicol needed to go, I'll miss him. He's a good solid guy, gave us the best years we ever had as Revs fans, and deserves future success. Good on you, Steve.
Thanks for the memories Steve. Good luck in your future ventures. That Chang tweet sheds a little more light on the situation. Penny pinching owner, always under the salary cap. I'd love to read a transcript of that final meeting with Bob, Jonny, and Steve.
A couple of shots or bounces go differently, and Steve Nicol would have 4 MLS Cups on his resume. Thanks for everything Steve.
I hate to say this, but I can't help but think the Krafts will just give Nicol's job to Burns because he's cheap, already here, loyal and they know he ain't gonna get a better gig in soccer so he'll take it and toe the company line.
A) A big thank you to Steve Nicol. All of had some very good times during his tenure. I still say the 2005-6 Revs was the best collection of talent ever to grace an MLS field. B) It wouldn't surprise me if Nicol was the one who insisted that when it all goes this wrong, you've got to change the coach. C) It would have been nice if we learned about this via an official release instead of a tweet. D) I'm not exactly doing cartwheels over the names Chang is providing. I'm a big Pauleta fan, but he would have been more of an attraction than a game-changer after leaving PSG.
Re: Nicol Fired Hopefully the Krafts are next. Who they put as technical director or head coach matters little if the ownership remains committed to a declining product in a league where the product is dramatically improving. (Mostly) crappy players playing on a crappy surface in a crappy stadium in a crappy location with an ownership hell-bent on maintaining a crappy atmosphere... it doesn't matter whether you put me or Rinus Michels in charge of the first team, it will continue to remain a dead franchise crawling. It's obviously the right decision. Clearly, Nicol no longer had the ability to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear in a league where the quality was consistently improving. But as much as a change needed to be made, the real problems were much, MUCH deeper and changing the coach only will be merely cosmetic.
His annual Africa trips start to make sense now--when a whole list of players from South America gets turned down, why bother going back?
If only the side of Avery John's head wasn't so flat, Nicol would have the MLS Cup on his resume that he deserves.
I've made no secret that I've thought this move was well overdue so I'm glad to see the Revs finally make this decision. That said, I have a huge amount of respect for Nicol and wish him success in this future ventures.
I've had the pleasure of meeting Nicol a few times and he was always a class act. I really liked him as a person and the passion he brought to the game. I always loved seeing Nicol flip out at the 4th official and will never forget Nicol's reaction in the press box against Seattle a few years back. Although he was never able to win the big one (MLS Cup) he did bring the US Open Cup and Superliga to the team and I will be forever grateful of that. He will be missed and I wish him the best of luck.
Burns absolutely needs to be next or this team is going to continue to suck. If you're going to operate on a small budget then you need someone who's way above average at procuring cheap talent. BTW 'mutually agreed' means SN gets a going away present in exchange for keeping his mouth shut about how cheap the ownership of the NE Tax Write-offs has been.
It was said that Nicol was still offered a contract. Obviously, how good or bad that contract was is unknown. But that little detail suggests to me that the Krafts were still reaching for him, meaning maybe it was Nicol who decided to go?? I'm not convinced changes are happening until more heads start rolling. This is gonna be a long offseason.
I personally like Steve Nicol, and I think he was a magnificent player in his day. When most of the league had owners who were closer in attitude to that of the Revs than that of the Sounders, Nicol was able to craft a very fine team from a talented but very thin first line and a bunch of backup stooges, and do so for about half a decade. But the league committed to genuine improvement at exactly the same time the Revs FO/Ownership decided to make the Revs the Oliver Swift orphan boy of MLS, and Stevie was left in about the same position as the Artful Dodger when the Law and Lady Luck turned on him with a vengeance. I wish some 2-3 years ago, when this crap was well piling up, Nicol had resigned on principle, and in doing so would have left as one of the remarkable managers of this league and as the conscience that must speak against the destructive policies of the Kraft ownership. It would have been better for him, and better for this team... ... In any case, best of luck Mr. Nicol, and I hope you find a team with an ownership that does things right by you.
Does anyone have the picture of him flipping the bird in the Seattle press box after he was ejected in 2009?
According to Jonathan Kraft, even if Nicol had decided that he wanted to return, they had decided to move on. In fact, he said the family had decided to let him go mid-season, but thought he deserved the opportunity to finish the season. ...which is dumb. See Saturday's game.
good luck Steve. thanks for all the good years. i wish it didnt end on such a sour note and that you could have gotten a bit of luck and nabbed an MLS cup or two.