News: Revs to Announce New Head Coach Tuesday... (from 2011, Heaps hire)

I'm not saying Burns is responsible for all of the teams problems. But I think his position is the key to tying many elements of creating a winning team together and his record in that regard is dismal.

As someone who ran a organization with over a Billion dollar budget I learned that the single most effective way of making improvement in your organization isn't with sweeping changes but by identifying a key focal point that seems to be gum-ing up the works and replacing them with new blood. As best as I can deduce from the information available in the Rev organization that key position is the Director of Player Personnel.

I don't buy most of the smack thrown toward Rev ownership. The money seems to be there to support a team to sign players including DP's. The intent seems to be there to build a SSS and create a better game day experience. The rhetoric last year seemed to suggest they recognized the need to upgrade how the team was managed if the Revs were to regain their standing as a top tier team. All of these things are reasonably true of ownership. What is also true is they failed to follow one of the most basic management principles --- when your management team isn't getting the job done just reorganizing won't resolve the problem---you need to weed out the weak link(s) and replace him/them with good, proven people if you want to improve outcome.

When the Revs reorganized over the winter I was pleased that they seemed to recognize they had a problem. I was less than pleased that they didn't make an upgrade in Dir Player Personnel position--but I was willing to give their vision a chance. Well, the jury is in. Yes, as Bob K pointed out there have been improvements in many aspects of the system. However, the decision making process stemming from the office of the Dir of Player Personnel is still way below MLS standards and dramatically below the level of ability required to pull together a top tier roster for a franchise that is fiscally conservative.

Bottom Line: This on field product with never regain top tier status in MLS with Mile Burns as the Director of Player Personnel.

 

From the link I could read "Revs to announce New..", and for one brief and brilliant moment I saw it all unfold "...Management: Burns, Bilello, and Heaps gone in move by Kraft to reverse years of failure". Then, hope piling up on desperate hope, it continued: "International search for proven figure is underway, as Kraft declares that 'The Revolution deserve the chances afforded to the best of MLS, just as The Patriots deserve the chances afforded to the best of NFL". In related news, Jonathan Kraft announces an agreement signed with the City of Somerville for the construction of a 24,ooo seat SSS. Ground breaking to start Nov.7th."

So I put down the pipe, crawled out of the Opium den, splashed in an icy river, drank a gallon of strong coffee, all to better read what followed the link......... You Bastards.

 

Doc, I could not possibly agree with you more with your assessment of how businesses need to identify the root of the problem. Obviously we have a fundamental disagreement with where we think the problems actually lie.

I really can't see how you can make the argument that the money is there. Even though they spend to the Salary Budget, they are still near the bottom of the league almost every single year in total payroll. Some years that is only a marginal difference, but on aggregate, they are at or near the bottom over the course of any time period that you probably would like to choose.

The biggest issue I have with them spending near the bottom of the league on payroll, is that they are one of the few franchises in the league that control all of their costs. They own their own stadium. They own all of their own practice facilities. They are subsidized by other major holdings of KSG. They have concession deals that are coupled with the Patriots and other events at Gillette. They have been able to piggyback on the Patriots to have broadcast deals so they don't have to pay for games to be broadcast. The number of teams that have all of these costs controlled are small, albeit growing. There is really no excuse for them to be at or near the bottom of the league in spending when they have these costs controlled, they have one of the richest owners in the league, and they are in one of the largest markets in the league.

For me, the problem is rooted much deeper than just player personal decisions. There is a fundamental problem with the way they operate their business. Other than controlling costs, there are few things they actually do well. Their marketing/promotions each and every year are almost laughably bad. Their fan relations and PR department have made major gaffs over the course of the years and soured relations with a lot of very passionate fans. Also, and I know building a stadium is (all joking aside) really hard to do, but again, they are at or near the bottom of the league in terms of teams that have achieved this. From all aspects of business development they have either stagnated or gone backwards over the course of the years. Their broadcasters, and maybe this is just personal taste, are horrendous.

Ok, that makes me realize one thing: The broadcasting thing is actually one thing they have done right almost from the beginning. They were one of the first teams to have all of their local games covered on local network TV. I could complain that the quality of the broadcast was bad and behind the league for a number of years in the mid 2000's, but I will give them credit for being ahead of the curve in the beginning. So, that is one thing they have done right.

I definitely agree with you, but I also believe the on field product will never "regain" top tier status with the way the business is structured from the top, down.

I know it's been said, and argued, that the "dynasty" years were built somewhat out of luck. I believe they got lucky in some aspects of how they were able to build their team, but I give them a lot of credit for bringing in some of the best players the league has ever seen through player personal decisions.

However, the league changed. The league changed drastically. If you look at MLS in 2007, which some will argue was the last great Revs team, the league landscape is completely different. The league had 13 teams that year, which meant a couple things. First, the player drafting pool was deeper by the mere fact that there were less teams picking. Also, 8 of 13 teams made the playoffs for a 62% rate. In the years prior to that the percentage was even as high as 80%. There were also no DP's for other teams, and the salary cap (seemed) much stricter.

So, they operated in a league that was much more closed and controlled, and the chance for success was much greater. BUT...you still have to win the games, and I completely understand that. There were a number of teams that were laughing stocks during that time period and could't find even a single season of success, let alone 5-6. So, I give them credit for working within league parameters to be successful and taking what was given to them. That is the mark of success.

So, don't misunderstand what I was just saying. I was using that to preface just how drastically different the league is now as compared to what it was like when the Revs were good. Now, you have a couple teams that are spending over 10 million dollars per year on salary. Obviously money doesn't buy success. Just look at Toronto or even Philly. There are a number of bad signings across the league from Rafa Marquez on down the line. Trust me that I understand that throwing money at a problem doesn't solve a problem.

However, since the league has changed, and spending money is a real option to subsidize success, it is an avenue that the richest clubs probably should at least consider. The Revs, owned by one of the richest owners in the league, in their own stadium, consistently have one of the lowest payrolls in the league. So, clearly they haven't even tried the avenue of trying to spend more money. You can say that they have signed DP's, but they really haven't gone the extra lengths to bring in marque players that, may help build their brand off the field, but more importantly impact their play on the field.

I know that you want them to "regain" their status as a top tier club. I do too. But I don't think they can do it by operating their club fiscally the same way they have since day one. The league has changed, and the Revs have been left behind. I'm not asking for them to go buy the next Henry, but they need to identify better marque players AND pay for them. There is a clear problem at the top, and it reflects in all aspects of their business, not just player personal.

 

Doc, I agree with what you are saying in theory about replacing the bad part that's gumming up the works, but it this case, we have a house with clapboards made of that cheap particle board that rots when it gets wet. The rot has been there for so long that the under layer is also rotted. Replacing Burns would be a nice cosmetic change, like new freshly painted cedar clapbords on the house would, but a the end of the day, if the under layer is rotten, pretty soon those new clapboards are going to rot too, from the inside out.

A new GM would be all fine and dandy, but the organizational philosophy has to change overall if he is to be successful. No one can build a good team when their own self-imposed "salary budget" tells them they can't get a $200,000 player during the transfer window, even if he, like Toja and Bengston, won't really pay off until next year.

 

Well though out post, but in my opinion this year's team was the most talented roster they've had in five years. Agree?

 

I don't. I think it is more of the same.

 

Interesting. I don't know. There are lots of individual bright spots on this team. They just can't pull it together... but they are moving in the right direction. I think the difference is that the bright spots on this team are all young / in their prime. Not injury prone or on the verge of retirement like they have been in the past. This team is definitely building towards something. Not just a bunch of veterans out there to limit damage.

 

Five years includes 2008, a team that had Ralston (until injured), Twellman (until injured), Parkhurst, Larentowicz, Heaps, plus Shalrie & Reis (5 years younger). Beyond that it was a mess. This team is a little stronger 1-24 than in '08, but there are obvious difference makers missing, even though we thought some of the 2012 crew would perform better than they did.

 

That '08 team won the SuperLiga tournament, defeating several Mexican teams in the process.
Besides the aforementioned players, Dube scored some goals, and the Gambians made contributions. They were the last good team we had here.

 

Okay, I'll play.
Here's what I said:

- they've hired a coach who doesn't really have any expertise in player acquisition, has few cycles available for it and probably isn't interested in taking on that task right now. So, I think the coach is "the coach", not the GM, not the personnel guy, etc., etc.

- I think Burns clearly does have the job of finding and acquiring players now and that wasn't so clear (if it was the case at all) in years past.
- I think Billello's role is more clearly defined, because the roles of Burns and Heaps are.

Why do I think they are performing better (and I'll emphasize that I'm not saying they are performing "well", just "better" in some sense):

- Our foreign player acquisition has been "better" IMO, despite a number of failures.
- We've done better with league allocated players (I don't want to hear about luck, because if you aren't going to factor in "bad luck", you can't discount "good luck"). Whatever, we didn't overplay or jump to soon with our allocation spot and used it at the right time for Toja. We jumped on Nguyen when he became available. We made a reasonably good decision to sign Simms.
- We've expanded our academy teams.
- We've started participating in a more organized pre-season schedule vs. MLS team, which provides a lot more stability to the preseason training.
- Heaps committed to developing a more possession-oriented style and I think he's made impressive progress towards that goal.
- Heaps committed to looking at players in different roles and, although there's been limited success, the development of McCarthy is a significant one - he's a player who has all the mental/physical tools to be an outstanding centerback within a few years.
- They committed to getting the team younger, more athletic and more durable. I think they've done that very well and made the tough decision to unload Joseph when it became apparent that he was in serious decline.
- They've freed themselves of all "problem" contracts and because of that, they'll have tremendous financial flexibility as they continue to remake the roster.
- They've got a team that is capable of playing a more attacking style that is much more entertaining to watch than the last few years.

 

Ok, I'll agree that, that sort of organizational structure is important. However, the guy they selected is clearly inept. So it really negates any structural organization that was put in place.

To be honest, other than a title change, I don't really see how Bilello's role has really changed all that much, nor how he has been given more specific responsibilities. Obviously we don't know what goes on behind the scenes, but on the face, it doesn't really look like anything has changed here.

I honestly don't really believe this at all. Look at their foreign players this year: Lozano, Cardenas, Sene, Bengston, Runstrom, Lechner and Imbongo.

Sene has been a hit. Cardenas has been decent. We are still waiting for Bengston to really be able to show anything, so jury is out on him. But the rest of them are just the flotsum and jetsum that we have seen throughout the years. I'd argue that Cardenas/Bengston/Sene are no better than Lekic/Caraglio/Zerka. So, what has changed here other than names? Certainly not quality.

I purposely left Moreno of that list. That is evidence alone that they are no better in foreign player aquisition. That has to go down as one of, if not the biggest gaffs in club history. Maybe even in the league history. That was a complete debacle from the start, and just further shows the ineptitude of how this organization assesses foregin players, and how they go about signing them. That was really embarrassing for the organization, and I've got to believe any credible organization would roll heads for such a move. Burns should be fired for that move alone.

Well, it isn't just about luck. But a huge determining factor in this is their relative position to be able to select the players. Feilhaber and Nguyen were available because of how bad they were last year and the year before. Sure, they have actually made the selections, but until last year, they reallyu weren't in position to be able to select any of these quality players dating back a number of years.

So, that wasn't so much a conscious decision as it was a decision born of circumstances. Sure, they had to make the conscious effort to make the selections, and they deserve credit for that to some extent, but it really comes down to situational circumstances. Situations they were really never in under Nicol.

Certainly a good move.

That is all subjective. I can't honestly say that flying 6 hours to Arizona is any better than flying 2 hours to Bermuda. I just can't put much stock into anything preseason, as the gains you get from it, happen on an interior level that we will never know. Not necessarily from playing in a preseason tournament.

Well, other than his words, the "commitment" has fallen a bit hollow. Their possessive gameplay has not improved much at all. They've had moments of individually exciting play in the midfield and attacking thirds from players like Rowe, Nguyen and the like, but as far as a true possessive game, they really haven't taken any strides forward.

I certainly think that assessing players strengths and weaknesses is important, and even more important is being flexible enough to put them in the right situation. So, in theory, that is good. However, we saw Nicol moves players out of "natural" positions all the time. So, that isn't really any advancement.

As far as McCarthy goes: we are going to have to agree to disagree. I honestly think he is a deplorable centerback, and don't see where he can improve. He is not strong, takes poor angles in tackling and containing, doesn't mark well, and is worse on the ball in the back than he was in the middle of the field. Obviously there are growing pains, but to me, he has regressed from the start of the season, and I don't see any real qualities at centerback.

Nicol got the team younger in about 2008-2009...and look where that went.

Getting younger doesn't mean anything if you aren't bringing in quality. Garbage in, garbage out. You need good players, not old or young players.

They ALWAYS had flexibility. So, how is that a change?

A "more attacking style" that has yielded the same inept possession as the last few years, and a handful of more goals than last year. This "attacking style" is like the Wizard of Oz. I'm sorry, but it's a myth with this team.

 

I think the keepers from this year are clearly better than last year's top candidates.

Sene has probably about as many as Lekic, Caraglio and Zerka combined.

Caraglio and Bengston are in a similar position, where they haven't/hadn't done much yet, but provide a tantalizing glimpse at what the future might hold. But, the big difference is that where Caraglio's history showed a significant injury issue, Bengston's history shows, I'd guess, among the world leaders in international goals during 2012!

There's no doubt Bengston can score and score in bunches, the only questions are whether he can translate that into MLS and Rev goals. I'd be willing to bet that he's the one player on the Revs that every single MLS team would love to have if he were available. I don't think we would have said that about Caraglio.

Cardenas/Zerka, pretty much equivalent in value IMO. I liked Zerka, for a general level of competence [that was greatly lacking], but Cardenas is a much more dynamic player. He's still very young and he may show a lot more consistency in season two, when he's more acclimated to MLS.

IMO, Sene >> Lekic; Bengston >> Caraglio and Cardenas ~= Zerka.

 

I'll give you that Sene is better than Lekic. I never loved Lekic. He was very limited. Sene is too, but in other ways, and he did bag a bunch of goals before injury. Plus he is much younger.

...and so can Caraglio. He has 16 goals in 29 matches for Rangers in Chile this year, and no real spells of injury. So, clearly their assessment of his injury history was off. The two players are essentially a wash.

That's totally unsubstantiated.

The only things Cardenas has over Zerka IMO is age and quickness. Zerka was a much smarter and effective attacking midfielder. His touch and passing were light years better, and he was much better positionally than the often lost looking Cardenas. I would take Zerka any day over Cardenas. Zerka would start on this team regularly. He is better than Rowe at this point. Cardenas is a squad player.

Sene has proven to be the best player of the bunch in MLS, for sure. However, to this point, Bengston and Caraglio, in the context of their time with the Revs in MLS, are literally the same player. Also, IMO, Zerka was a much better player in his limited time than Cardenas is now.

On the whole, I just don't see this years group being really any better than last years, even with Sene's goals.

 

Interesting article by Gary Neville where he discusses his thoughts and actions on potentially becoming a manager himself.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...t-good-managers-great-ones-failed-before.html

 

My two cents - is that Soccer Doc is spot on. How many years must we endure of the 'just wait for the team to gel' before we realize that the 'groceries' that are being bought aren't good enough and whoever is buying them needs to go. We continue to buy on the cheap and continue to get less quality out of our 'improvements' than any other team. How come that is hard to understand?

 

I think KO did a good job of outlining the general take about the Kraft organization and much of what he posits may be true. Note the maybe. We are all drawing conclusions based on observations and assumptions based on the data available about what the organization has done in marketing, stadium building, DP singings etc. These are observational realities that can't be dismissed. Where I step back from drawing conclusions about how the Krafts view their soccer holdings is in the WHY? of how things have unfolded. To think that a Sportsman and Businessman and Proven Major Franchise Owner has handled the Franchise the way he appears to have just doesn't make sense to me. Call me dumb if you want but I have a track record that proves my instincts in such matters is seldom too far off the mark. I could (and have) posit various reasons why Mr Kraft has followed a very conservative ownership style (MLS 1.0) while other teams have moved on to MLS 2.0--3.0 but just like all those who Dis him I would only be offering a guess. I will however render what my gut tells me is the likely realities underlying what we all have observed.

The Krafts didn't know anything about owning and running a soccer franchise. Thats why they hired the Evil Midget. For the first decade (please don't nickle-dime me on the number of years) we had reasonable attendance and progressively improving on field results. At the same time other teams were starting to build SSS's and the teams entering the League were building their franchises bigger and better based on what had been learned by the teams that had gone before them. The league started adding DP's and some teams because of the decisions made by ownership seemed to be following a much greater--"deep pocket"---than others. The League was clearly no longer MLS 1.0. So why didn't the Krafts make the necessary changes to keep up with the other franchises as they evolved into MLS 2.0?

I go back to my first assertion: The Krafts don't know how to run a Soccer franchise. From startup days they had a key advisor in the Evil Midget and an internal management structure left on their won to run operations. I suggest that Sunil was to busy building his other empires to give the Krafts the sage advise (assuming he had the capacity to do so) they really needed and the internal organization was dysfunctionally designed and staffed by people of marginal ability. This combination of poor management design and leadership not only resulted in the franchise not keeping up with the rest of the league but in fact allowed the franchise to flounder in many ways. We do have many reports of the Krafts approving signings of DP's and having a strong commitment to building a SSS and yet his day to day managers have just not been able to execute his intentions effectively. It's been clear to me for years that the Krafts don't know how to run a soccer franchise and need to hire someone who does. As to those currently in the job. Is Brian B up to the job leading this franchise to the next level? That jury is still out. If he can get us a SSS in the near term that will go a long way in showing he has the ability to get things done. One area of his responsibility that will tell me ---can he or can't he do the job---is what he does is dealing with the key players below him--namely Burns and Heaps. Their hiring and firing is not My Krafts job--It's Brian B's. What will he do when he looks at Burns track record on who he has signed and who we have targeted but he's not been able to sign? What will he do when he evaluates all aspects of Heaps first year as coach? Is he a major league GM or not? IMO the jury is out. I'm on record as to what I think he needs to do on the Burns and Heaps issue.

I will posit another opinion: A lot has been said about the Rev organization not doing much to market the team or really push to keep up with other franchises because their cheap. I disagree. I believe some of the reason for their slow progress is as I outlined above. But I think there is even a more pragmatic reason---the Krafts know until they get an urban SSS they will get little return from aggressively trying to build the fan base. For now ownership seems content to try to field a competitive team, avg 14K attendance and muddle along until they have their SSS. I truly believe with the opening of their new SSS they will rebrand and put on a true media blitz. Thats a no-brainer business move.

Anyway, thats my take
The Karfts don't know how to run a soccer franchise and until now have not had sufficient quality of leadership in their management structure to get the job done. Yes, that is the Krafts fault and they did take some corrective action. Last off seasons reorganization was intended to correct some of the problems. I'm still concerned that the level of management leadership in the organization may not be up to the task. This year will tell me a lot about Brian B and his ability to be a top level GM

 

Does anyone think Brian Bilello would currently have the same position of President for any other MLS Club? If he were to be let go does anyone think we'd see him hired by another club under any capacity?

 

How is it that the "jury is still out" on Brian Bilello's ability to cut it with regard to "leading this franchise to the next level"?

Bilello has been with the New England Revolution for seven seasons, the first six as the franchise's Chief Operating Officer and this year as its President. As COO of the Revolution, Bilello was responsible for overseeing "all aspects of the team's business operations, including sales, communications, marketing, broadcasting, special events and operations". As the Revolution's President, "Bilello oversees all aspects of the club's operations, including both the team's business activities and its soccer operations". Additionally, during his tenure with the Revolution he has been charged with "establishing the club's strategic vision and plan and fostering its implementation across the organization", as well as "cultivating new soccer fans - specifically, Revolution and Major League Soccer fans - in the New England area, while offering the highest level of service to existing fans".

In what way, shape, or form has Brian Bilello satisfactorily and consistently fulfilled the tasks listed in his job descriptions over the past seven years? In point of fact, in most of the areas falling under the purview of his job responsibilities, Bilello has proven himself an abject failure.

Bottom line? Brian Bilello is every bit as responsible for the torpor the New England Revolution finds itself in as Mike Burns is. They both must be shown the door in order for there to be any hope of reversing the franchise's fortunes.

 

I like a lot of where you are coming from in your post. There will always be a large amount of unknown with a privately held business. We can, and do, make certain assumptions, but that doesn't make any of them right, no matter how much evidence we think we have. I'm not going to agree with every assertion you make, but it's reasonable and rational.

This part of the post, at least IMHO, is the most accurate (even though ironically, this is the part that is most conjecture lol). I've used the marketing aspect complaint as a way to pile on in the past, but I've never really gone out of my way to base an argument on in (unless I was in a really bad mood )

ANYWAYS, enough about me, I think your assessment is spot on. While you could make the argument that their stadium woes are their own problems, which to a large extent they are, I really do think it's pointless to market this team in their current location. I am of the opinion that you cannot build and grow a soccer franchise in the Revs current situation. Gillette is just too inconvenient for too many people in the area, and not close enough to enough people to be a convenience to a large enough potential fanbase.

The one thing I will take issue with in this aspect is their aptitude for marketing and branding this potential product if they do move into a new stadium. From their halfhearted campaigns in the past, it's hard to be confident that they would have any real idea of how to do it. Now, with that said, some of that has a lot to do with not putting forth the sort of effort necessary because of the current situation. Still, I have a hard time imagining this organization understanding what they need to do to do it right. That is where my reservations lie, but I'm confident that if they are spending hundreds of millions on a stadium, that they will spend a few million on a complete rebrand the right way...by hiring a firm that knows what they are doing.

 

Well, to be fair, Doc does bring up a good point that Bilello had to operate in a position below "The Worldbank Genius". I'd be willing to look past the first 5-6 years of his work with the Revs as he was essentially working under one of the most inept people in US Soccer.

 

The notion that Sunil Gulati's portfolio of responsibilities with the Revolution included his concerning himself with sales, communications, marketing, broadcasting, and operations efforts on the local level within New England is ludicrous. As a result, to suggest that Brian Bilello's hands were tied in these areas for his first five to six years on the job is equally preposterous.

There's no reason to believe that Sunil Gulati's primary influence on the Krafts' operation of the Revolution over the years was being wielded in any areas beyond securing US National Team matches and nternational friendlies for Foxboro, as well as his thoughts on international player acquisition. To think that "The Worldbank Genius", as you've dubbed him, would even deign to waste his self-perceived brilliance addressing the mundane local, day-to-day operational concerns of the Revolution flies in the face of what we know about the self-important charlatan.

Sorry, but from where I'm sitting, Bilello wasn't just some put-upon underling constantly finding his best efforts stymied by a meddlesome superior for his first 5 to 6 years with the Revolution. Rather, he was an, at best, mediocre COO who is now only too willing to have his underwhelming performance in the job explained away as being the result of supposed Gulati interference. Yet another excuse from an abysmally moribund (dis)organization and, apparently, some Revolution supporters who are willing to buy into such far-fetched reasoning.

 

Well, that is where the fundamental disagreement you have between Doc and I. We believe that from a marketing and promotions perspective, there really isn't much this franchise can do in their current situation. Since the future of growth is dependent on building a new stadium (in our opinions), then the only major efforts a COO or President should be focusing on is that. All other efforts would only potentially take away from the energy expendable to work on a stadium, and wouldn't increase any market reach in the region.

I also don't subscribe to the notion that Gulati was only here to secure National Team matches. There is almost a direct correlation to Gulati's increased influence within the Revs to the decline in USMNT matches at Gillette. I guess you could argue that he was bad at his job then, but I think that would be a bit disingenuous. Gulati was obviously here to consult and direct this franchise economically. If that you are trying to deny that, then I'm not sure you understand Gulati's roles anywhere he has ever been.

I'm not saying all this to suggest Bilello has been good at his job, but merely that other than building a stadium, there isn't much within his job that really even matters. This franchise will only ever grow longterm with a new stadium. So, to complain about the lack of effort he has put towards marketing the current product, is a giant waste of time. If you want to argue that Bilello has failed to build a stadium, then have at it. I'll follow you down that path until he actually does. But complaining that he didn't waste money trying to prop up a product that was never going to sell in the first place? Well, that just doesn't make much sense at all.

 

Bryan may be right about Bilello but your above comments are at the root of my "jury is out" assertion. I can tell you this though--this coming year will be a defining year for Blilello because he's going to be faced with TWO really critical decisions which are his sole responsibility. He's going to need to address both Heaps and Burns's ability to meet the standards of MLS 2.0 plus. Burns management of the Marino affair last year should have gotten him canned. OK, they were in and organizational transition so he got a pass (which I think was a serious mistake). Heaps gets a pass because this was his first year. I think both Blooter and Heap jobs are on thin ice. Anything other than a dramatic improvement in both their performances should get them replaced. If Bilello fails to pull the trigger and replace one or both with a major upgrade he's the light weight Bryan in B-Town asserts. If he has the stones to cut out the weak links and bring in some real muscle he will get my backing.