GM candidates

and you should have ended there

 

Supposedly he's remaining with RBNY in an advisory type role, so I'm not sure if he's really looking for a job. He'd obviously be a major upgrade over Burns, but why would he want to come to the Revs? To work for an owner who doesn't care and isn't willing to spend the money to put a competitive team on the field?

 

It's one thing to judge a player or a coach. We can tangibly see what they do on the field and with results. You can tell which coaches tactics are not working, or clamor for a certain style of manager. You can wish to have a certain type of player. But even in those cases, where tangible evidence for fans is abundant, we are often wrong.

Now, we are expected to suggest a GM? A job that you can only really judge in hindsight. You can only truly understand the success/failure after a GM has done is job in any specific situation. None of us know the qualities it truly takes to be a GM, we can only know when one has done a good or bad job by the results they have for your team. Since we have no idea how they would do in any other situation, nor do we know the actual inner workings of actually being a GM, suggesting potential GM's has got to be the most useless exercise a fan can do. We have no idea who would be good at any potential GM or FO position.

We know Burns sucks, because the team has steadily gone backwards since he has been elevated over the years. There is a correlation to bad results. However, we have no idea how a guy who was just relieved of his duties in New York, a team with vastly more available resources, would fair in a situation like this. The two situations are only similar in sport, but that is where the comparisons end.

Yes, Burns out....but I have no idea who is in. Nor would I ever pretend to know who would do a good job here, because it is as futile as trying to understand the complexities of the universe.

 

Kraft-Dehors, no need to be so harsh on the topic point, it's a legit discussion point. At the same time, you're right that it is pretty hard to make any kind of meaningful comparison.

As it often seems with this team, "anything" is better than whatever we have. The homeless guy who sleeps on Boston Common isn't going to demad that his dinner of pheasant under glass must be free-range, cruelty-free, organic pheasant. For the Revs, surely this guy would be a step above Burns, for no other reason that he has worked in an organization that takes things seriously, the fact that he knows people in high positions with other clubs, the fact that he has a larger context of the job and how one might go about fixing things (i.e., he wouldn't have had the Moreno episode that defines Burns' tenure), and a bunch of other things. These are reasonable assumptions that we can make.

OTOH, what is his personality like, how well can he work with little or no budget compared to RB, how persuasive can he be when it comes to convincing others in the organization (especially those above) that they should implement his ideas? No one, other than a RB insider has a clue.

The bottom line is that Soler, or Peter Wilt, or any other name out there who has had at least some success in a similar role with another club is not likely to be hired. As long as a coach in a totally different sport can be the deciding factor in getting a job for a first-timer with no experience whatsoever, things are never going to change.

Bob Kraft is like Chairman Mao during the Cultural Revolution of 1968: Ideology trumps competence every single time. Mao's minister of agriculture grew up in the city and had never seen a cow in his life until he was appointed to the job. But he could recite the quotations of the "Little Red Book" backwards, forwards and sideways, so that was enough for the job. Sound familiar?

 

I agree with all the points you make after the first paragraph. I didn't even consider the point that Kraft philosophically won't pick anyone that we come up with anyways.

BUT, I can't see how this is a legit discussion point. Sure, for a message board it is great mental masterbation. Heck, I'll even join in on the discussion just because work is a effing bore this week, and there is not point in discussing the rest of this putrid season. However, I guess my rant stems from the OP's post in another thread where he scolded someone for suggesting Burns be fired, and told them they they should suggest someone to replace Burns. Which, on it's face, is laughable egomaniac bullshit. Maybe I should have referenced the genesis of his thought when it came to this nonsense, but, well, there you go...

 

Once the REVS, "GULP" give fans the right to vote, etc...We can suggest Mickey Mouse..it won't make a difference.

I know I truly harp on this a lot..but, IMO, Clubs should not be "owned" by some Billionaire Despot! It goes against everything that a "CLUB" embodies.

That being said...keep the discussion moving, let's see if Sepp Blatter, once he's out of FIFA..Maybe he'll like a job working for Kraft? I mean, Sunil embraced it! LOL

 

Since we want someone with experience, and the Kraft's only hire former Revs employees, the obvious choice for the job is Alexi Lalas!
<ducks>

 

I actually wouldn't hate it. At this point, there's only so much a GM can do with the limited budget that Kraft is providing. At least Lalas would be a good media presence in the market. He's a name that people know, he's extremely outgoing and personable, and can hold his own with the idiots on WEEI or the Sports Hub. He'd be a great marketing tool for this team. It also doesn't hurt that he has a history with the franchise.

 

I agree with this completely.

 

Once again, like with any decent candidate for the job, why would he want to work for the Revs? I dont' think he's itching to get back into GMing a team after the debacles with the SuperClubs in LA and NY. I'm also assuming that he's pretty content being ESPN's number one studio presence for all soccer related events. I could be wrong, but I don't really see why Lalas would want the job.

 

Bazinga!

 

All true, but Lalas' role at the other clubs was not really what a "real" GM should be doing, and I honestly don't see him being a huge step-up from Burns. What he could do, and would be absolutely fantastic at is being the "face" of the Revs. He's witty, articulate, and has an engaging personality that he would be the perfect spokesman for the club. Sonny Kraft wouldn't have to bother with the difficult interview questions from one of his "media partners" and go with his fall-back mantra that "a lot of kids are playing soccer these days."

Lalas would be perfect for this role. Or Ray Hudson.

 

Honestly, if you're gonna go the "former-Rev who's now a TV personality that could be good, but who might also be a train wreck" route, I'd rather see Eric Wynalda.

 

A pretty good reference? Sure, if you are applying to business school.

That is exactly what you just said. In almost the exact same words. You are suggesting that asking for Burns is not productive, but suggesting a replacement is.

Suggesting a replacement, for a position we literally know nothing of how to operate beyond the results we see at the end, is far more counterproductive than suggesting a GM be fired for failing at his job for a number of years.

_______________

Also, you ask for someone "qualified" or with "experience". Honestly, within the context of MLS, what does experience even mean? Hanauer, Klopas, Kinnear, Largerway, Vermes, Doyle didn't have any prior MLS FO experience when hired as GM/TD. What does experience even mean? If it's a previously fired GM, then why should we clamor for someone who has also failed in a previous job? If it is someone who happened to play in the league, well that is thousands of players of the league, and how exactly does that make someone better than someone from outside the league?

Of course we want someone who is qualified. Wouldn't that be the hope for any position on the team? But how would we ever possibly know who is qualified? We literally have no idea who is qualified. Which is why this entire exercise is nothing more than fan messageboard sillyness. Which, by the way, I'm totally for. However, in the boycott thread, you told someone that it was counterproductive to suggest Burns be fired, but instead suggest a replacement. That is the opposite of reality.

 

Now see this I could probably get behind, because at least we can understand the tangible effect Lalas would have on the team. Sure, none of what I/we want from him would reflect onto what actually happens on the field, but at the very least he would make sure this team was more visible than it already is.

It could be a complete and utter hilarious failure of a shitshow....but I'm pretty sure it would increase their brand presence in the area.

 

To quote another poster, "A pretty good reference too"

 

What's all this talk about "limited budget"? We've signed 3 DPs in the last 16 months and at the end of this year the Revs were "right up against the cap". Right?

 

Actually, Bob Kraft, in a rare acknowledgement that he is even aware of the Revolution, said this himself at the time Heaps was hired. I don't recall the exact words, but it was basically that.

A reference is anyone who knows your work and can vouch for you int he context of the job you are applying for. We have all used various people in our past for this whenever we have changed jobs, so Heaps would be no different. What is curious is that there is no commentary from within the soccer community on Heaps as a manager. The guy played in the league for 10 years and obviously a lot of people know him. Maybe they hated him as an opposing player, but respected his firey competitiveness? The kind of guy you want working for you, but you hate him when he's against you? If anyone has those kinds of views, you'd think comments would have come out somewhere down the line. Either that, or everyone was scratching their heads saying "huh?" but weren't going to comment publicly on that.

 

I think Alexi actually enjoys the whole spokesperson thing. That would be a legitimate reason to take the job.

 

I thought he was quite the assclown running things in NJ and LA. But if he came here, he would be our assclown.