I'm so glad you repeated this three times, I guess I didn't get it the first two times. There have been a few players who have indicated that due to turf or low-ball offers that they didn't want to come to New England, but it's a long stretch from that to "No One." This is a frustrating and bizarre situation, but I think it's hilarious that many have taken the situation as validation that the FO sucks or that no one wants to play for us. If the guy did sign a contract and renege on it, there aren't a lot of scenarios I can think of where this is the Revs' fault (OK, Pepe, here's your transportation voucher for the mule team to transport you to New England). Now, whether this player should have been signed in the first place is far more up for debate.
Apparently not everybody got it, because the same questions are being asked and the lame explanation of 1) BBH don't care; or 2) BBH don't try, keep getting floated as if they made any sense. BBH said when hired/promoted/re-organized that they wanted to hit the ground running and be aggressive in the international market. They took scouting trips and have continuously informed us that they were in dialogue with players. Yet the Revs are still playing catch-up to the rest of the league this off-season putting together a roster. Good saense would suggest that they have failed on a number prospective acquisitions and now they are scrambling after whatever scraps remain. As far as the 'NO ONE' is concerned, just for starters is there another organization within MLS that has a worse reputation, worse history of respect of their players, or a worse 'soccer environment'? If Benny was a free agent as opposed to a subject of the allocation draft would have he considered the Revs? How many of the college draft picks that are on this team if surveyed at their draft year would have listed the Revs? Who was the last impactful player the Revs acquired by another means rather than the draft, dispersal, or allocation? (Allow me the mulligan on Perovic, seeing that was a colossal fluke).
Although Twellman and Dempsey brought the Revs offensive success for several seasons I'm beginning to believe that they did just as much damage as good to this club in the long term. The damage was not intentional. It's just that KSG saw the success they got from a few draft picks rather than spend the $$ on talent both US born and Int'l. It's evident that KSG must think why can't they do that again? Fortunately for MLS fans the league has evolved greatly in a short time. Unfortunately KSG has not or is not willing to recognize MLS 2.0 and adjust business tactics. It's going to be very interesting around here once Tom Brady and BB are no longer with the Patriots organization. I wonder if KSG thinks they'll be able to draft another Hall of Fame QB before spending top $$ on a free agent....perhaps after they go 1-15 and have the first pick in the NFL draft. It may be too late by then too. As a Pats fan also the situation with Revs scares. Seems foreboding. Just find a proven striker, sign him and put an end to this misery!
Thanks for the well thought out, non-attacking response, repped! I still don't agree, although I suspect we aren't as far apart as we seem. IMO, most international players don't have much of an idea of the culture of a club in MLS when they sign, short of where they stood in the table the prior year. I think the inability to sign players has a lot more to do with the low-ball mentality (which doesn't seem to be the case with Moreno as he claimed to be pleased with the money).
You know, this song never made any sense to me until right now. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-RCV_X-xyY&feature=related"]Revolution 9[/ame]
I would contend that particularly in Colombia, where there is a vast history of players entering MLS, that knowledge of the league is better than you think. Especially for players who have the same agent representation. I would venture to guess a few agents have steered their clients clear.
Well, a terrible NFL or NBA team can get a real star with the first draft pick. It happens quite a bit, since in those sports, that is pretty much the only way players enter the league, aside from a handful of Europeans inthe NBA. Everyone at Revs-land seems to know intellectually that we need to do things differently than we did 10 years ago, but viscerally, no one seems to really be able to do it. If they even copycatted what several other teams are doing on a relatively modest budget, they would be a lot better. But the one trait that I have heard about KSG over and over is that they are very much a "not invented here" organization. They'd rather dig in their heels and keep doing things that aren't working than admit a good idea could have come from outside. And that is criminal in any organization.
FWIW, listening to the Far Post web cast today they said that both the Revs and Once Caldas were surprised that Moreno is "staying." They seamed to hint/suspect that maybe the comments where made before Moreno signed with the Revs and just coming out now. Either way they said both clubs where looking into the reports.
The above assertion goes contrary the statements made by John-boy Kraft last Fall when he said ownership recognized things weren't working and changes would be made to insure improvement. HOWEVER It appears from what we've seen so far this off season little seems to have changed. I know it's still offseason but frankly I very much not impressed with that's been done to improve our roster.
Doc, they always say the right thing, and they intellectually know certian things, but their actions don't follow their words. Examples of the "not invented here" syndrome would be their whole approach to the "restructuring" of the FO last fall. If they brought in a GM who had success elsewhere, a coach who had success elsewhere, FO types in various business functions who were successful elsewhere, I think everyone would have seen it as a step in the right direction. Instead, well, we all know what happened. Even people who thought Ralston was too green to be the head coach never imagined what they'd get. This is like the Cultural Revolution in China in the 1960s. People would be put in positions due to their loyalty, not competence. That's how you get a Minister of Agriculture who grew up in the city and had never seen a cow in his life! That's who the Revs are. New ideas, especially those from outside are not welcome!
The above doesn't make sense from a business perspective. I'm baffled by their inability to "get it". The Krafts are not dumb people. I don't buy the "they don't care" argument even if it might be their caring is only about the Revs as an investment. The key people that have managing that investment are driving it into the ground. They have to know that. As businessmen that demands action and yet so far we have seen little or no changes. I'm perplexed
The core tone of my posts are really unchanged. I have always stood for accountability for results in all aspects of the franchise. For me this franchise has been in constant flux since it's inception and seemed to be headed in the right direction until Twellman got his bell rung. Until then I'd been willing to give the organization the benefit of the doubt in most matters since the franchise was evolving with the rest of the league. However since we lost Twellman I've not seen or read anything that says the core of the organization has the skill or the insight as to how the grow the franchise and it's on field product. I've been opining for the past three years as a key to improving our product is we have needed to change whoever was responsible for finding, signing and CLOSING the deal on talent upgrades. I have always felt that person was Burns.
The general manager of Once Caldas, Duvan Vasquez, announced on Colombian radio on Monday evening (Feb. 6th) that Moreno was staying, four days after the Revs' announcement that they had signed him. The official Colombian league website then ran that story that he was staying yesterday. Once Caldas pretending not to know anything about the situation or the comments is a joke. At this point, it doesn't matter--the bloom is entirely off the rose, the guy doesn't want to be here, and when you look at how many times he's been shipped out on loan in the last five years, he doesn't like staying anywhere too long. The worst thing that could happen now is for them to force the guy on a plane at gunpoint, he lands here, feels how cold it is, doesn't want to be here anyway, and tanks it until we can cut him in the summer. It was a horrible signing to begin with noting the history of this player and this may just be some sort of a blessing for the Revs. Of course, then we still have the same nitwits lining up the next signing.....
I almost agree with this. The Krafts may not really care a whole lot about soccer, but they pride themselves in NOT running bad businesses. If there is a perception that one of their businesses isn't being run properly, they're not happy. They may be slow to react to something like the Revs because of it's low profile, but they probably aren't happy when attendance dips dramatically or ST renewal rates decline. And the whole reshuffling of the organization last fall? I bet that the meeting the Krafts had with B&B was NOT a happy affair. I'm almost sure the rhetoric was "this is your last shot." That said, I'm still unhappy with their stewardship of this team. They're too slow to react, and that's unacceptable. They just aren't good owners.
Ya but you used to give them the benefit of the doubt time and time again, and seem to be reaching a new epiphany that things really are THAT bad here. Obviously if you're that unhappy with Burns, as you should be, you also have to be unhappy with the person who promoted him.
Doc, since you really are a real doc, I'm sure you've encountered people who know logically all the things that they should do, but for whatever reason, they can't make the connection to actually do it. You're right, it makes no sense whatsoever that the Krafts would invest in a business and let it die on the vine like it has. They are the polar opposites of the meddlesome sports owner like George Steinbrenner, who didn't see success until he finally stepped out of the way and let competent people run things. There is a fine line between being hands-off and total absentee. From Day One, it was the coach on the field who was the most powerful in terms of shaping the team's identity. It's fine if you have a good coach who will be there for a while, but the early years proved how bad that theory was. It did work for a while under Nicol, but when it came time for him to go, there was no infrastructure. They may think they are doing the right thing by letting their "soccer people" make the decisions, and generally, they would not be wrong. However, when you got guys like Burns calling the shots, you see how ridiculous this idea is with no checks and balances. As our ex-gaffer might have said, "Make Borns? Arre ye jooken? He cannae fegger oot hoe tae tay ess fooken shoelace!"
There is one key person, and one key person alone: Bob Kraft. Mike Burns...or Brian Bilello...or Steve Nicol...or Jay Heaps are not the ones driving this franchise into the ground. This franchise has been drivin in the ground since day one. The buck stops with Kraft, and he has never done anything to improve this product.
They can pride themselves all they want on not wanting to run a bad business. Donald Trump thinks he is a savvy businessman, too. It's easy to be a savvy business man when you either marry into money or swindle people out of money to create capital wealth and invent your brand. The fact is, they have never run this franchise as a good business. It has lost customers since day one. That is bad business. Their marketshare has dropped. That is bad business. They took a product that was desirable, and turned in undesirable. That is bad business. It watches it's competition grow and strengthen around it, while it practices inaction. That is bad business. All this genuflecting about how savvy a businessman Kraft is, and hypothesizing on the "business" meetings he has with his employees is a joke. It would be different if the B&B regime was really any different than what we've seen out of this franchise since it's inception, but in reality, this is just par for the course with the soccer side of KSG. Kraft is the one who hires these people. He signs their paychecks. He has final say on anything he wants. Claiming he is a good businessman, and then admitting that they've always been slow to react (while their team is dragged through the mud) is a total contradiction. If he had any sense on how to run this particular business, they wouldn't be in any of the positions they are in right now. He has more resources than any owner in the league, and yet, this franchise has the least amount of resources at it's disposal. Face it, maybe Kraft isn't so savvy after all.
I'm right there with you George. Although with the benefit of hindsight this pattern can been seen to go back for many years - perhaps to 1996 - the whole situation still seems absurd. But ask yourself this question: If Burns remains in place, and the Revs start the season woefully undermanned and unprepared, and ... Burns remains in place ... What can you conclude about the organization?
FoxSports is now (Feb. 8th) reporting that Pepe Moreno staying in Colombia is a certainty. They use the same quotes as before, but they analyze it a bit more in terms of what his staying means for Once Caldas as a team: http://www.foxsportsla.com/datodeld...no-calidad-del-Once-Caldas-20120208-0044.html José 'Pepe' Moreno no se irá a jugar a los Estados Unidos. El delantero, que tenía propuestas de ir a la MLS para el New England Revolution, finalmente se quedará en el Once y será otra alternativa en el ataque. "Esta ciudad me encanta y no quiero ser desagradecido con este equipo que me abrió las puertas. Quiero luchar por el título", dijo Moreno. Aunque el ofrecimiento económico era bueno, Pepe quiere luchar por la estrella con el Once Caldas. "Hay equipo y quiero pelear por un puesto acá", indicó el atacante, que se recupera de una molestia muscular que no le ha permitido actuar en lo que va en este 2012.