Here is a challenge for the SNE Brigade (See No Evil) and other more realistic fans of all things Revo. There is a month left in a season not quite yet completely lost, but well on its way on the track to oblivion. You may not have quite given up the dog for this season, but you know you must look ahead to next year and hope there is not a repeat performance of this mess. You have decided not to sell, move or fold the franchise for another year. You're also not going to start to pump actual cash dollars into it, but you might spend a wee bit more for appearances sake. So you are now Bob Kraft. Put on your blue oxford dress shirt with white collar, complete your windsor knot and put on that navy blue captain's blazer with the padded shoulders. What are you going to do with the woe begone soccer team of yours. What are you going to do with: 1. Lou Imbriano, the Super Bowl ringmaster, who has overall responsibility for the product since it was basically turned over to the Patriots front office. 2. Sunil Gulati, the mysterious figure from the East promising a man on a white horse. Do you still entrust your soccer empire to a part-time head? 3. Craig Tornberg, the ticket salesman cum figurehead GM? 4. Steve Nicol, the coach that gets to pick the players that can belly up to the bar? 5. Paul "Ancient" Mariner, the comedian/assistant coach who apparently is much more entertaining himself than anything we ever see on the pitch? 6. Brad Feldman, who wears many hats, and somewhat curiously is listed as the team's marketing director? They even have one? At least there is one hat that he wears that has required no work since no marketing is ever done (and do not confuse marketing with another of his hats, media relations). 7. The players? Who stays, who goes. It is all yours. Now what are you going to do, realistically speaking, with it.
BF it is way too early to start this thread. How unfair! This team is going to win it's last five, make the playoffs and win the cup! You just wait and see. I can't believe you would entertain such discussion at this time. Just unacceptable. And I resent calling the team "the dog." These are fine human beings who, frankly, aren't responsible for anything. Clothing, personal hygiene, etc. Someone ELSE is responsible for all of that (poor guy or gal). Everything that has happened this year was fated by the gods and there isn't one thing the people you listed could have made a single whit of a difference to. Lastly, what is wrong with "repeating this mess?" This team is only 5 points from a playoff spot! That's not bad. Why do you insist on looking at it as "last?" You have to learn to understand that only 5 wins and being 5 points from the playoffs is really very good. MLS has parity you see and this is what parity means. The REVs could have won any given game (if a sniper had simply killed all of the other team BEFORE they scored). So please, ask the moderator to remove your silly thread. The REVs will be MLS Cup Champions for 2004! Go REVS!!!!!
OK, Frank, I'll bite. I don't wade into this invitation because I think I know anything, so feel free to disagree. Firstly, there is little that can be done from the top to change the current situation. Even if the stadium was filled to capacity for the remaining home games, I don't think it would change the outcome. New players can't be had at this time and even if we got some, they wouldn't 'gel' in time to make an impact. So, however the season ends, we begin looking at 2005 as soon as the final whistle blows on 2004. Lou Imbriano - He's probably very good at his job and just needs a little incentive and some soccer sense. I'd give him a year end bonus for reaching a certain attendance level. I'd also contact the local colleges and universities to find him an intern or 2 - ideally a soccer player/fan in the business/marketing field. Sunil Gulati - I think his real job is to bring the big international games. He may have a few contacts that help - or not. But I don't think he contributes or detracts from the Revs one bit. Craig Tornberg - I am really not sure what Craig does so it's hard to say if he is doing well or not. I get the impression that he is responsible for game day issues and travel arrangments. I think I'd save a few bucks this year by skipping the overseas pre-season and be sure to participate in the MLS pre-season tournaments. It seems to work for the other 9 teams. Steve Nicol - Nicol stays for 2005. I think he is under contract for 2005 anyway. He gets to hear that he has had his stinker season and needs to right the ship. The injury bug is an excuse that can buy you one bad season, but not two. Paul Mariner - This is Nicol's call. Brad Feldman - Imbriano, Tornberg and Feldman will meet with me (Mr. Kraft) weekly as they are the combined brain trust on the business end of the Revolution. Together they will have to develop a plan to assess and address the attendance problems. They can all have a bonus if they get it right. The players - Well, if I am Mr. Kraft then this also become Nicol's call. One of the things that I think can be done by the Krafts is looking for some additional 'soft' money that can be used to sweeten offers to players without busting the salary cap - sponsorship deals similar to the ones that Hong Myung-Bo and Adu have gotten. Even a couple of $50,000 deals could help win someone (like Jeremiah White) who turns their nose up at a Developmental Contract. But, seein' as you asked, I'll give you my player thoughts as well: First is the expansion draft. We get to protect 12 so I'll pick - Baker, Brown, Cancela, Heaps, John, Joseph, Leonard, Noonan, Pierce, Ralston, Reis & Twellman (If I understand the rules correctly Dempsey and Dorman do not need to be protected). That means we expose Brillant, Franchino, Kamler, Howie, Llamosa and Moore. That gives us 3 SI's to start with and a workable line-up to build from. I would NOT be looking for a wholesale make-over of the team. We have been down this road before and it was not successful. These guys are a serviceable line up to build from. Priorities become finding some experienced (but not old and slow) defenders and speed in the midfield/forward area. I am assuming that this season will, at the least, earn us some high draft picks if not the You Suck Allocation. So Nicol gets a working vacation scouting talent before the 2005 draft. I would also tell him that he needs to use any allocations before the season starts or convince me otherwise. Your turn.
Reasonable answer Coach. I agree that we will not see a new coach or any significant changes in management. As to players going or staying the key will be to keep and select players with speed, who will play well in SN's style of play and who will blend well together. As we have seen this team has shown almost no chemistry this year. Just for information sake---does anyone know if the Revs still have an allocation on the books? We had two before the 2004 draft and I think we traded one during the draft leaving us with one. One thing that needs to be factored in our dialog about the expansion draft is the expansion of the roster and creation of the reserve team system. Word awhile back was thta rosters would be increased by at least 4 slots (maybe all DV slots), SI or TI's would be increased and that the cap would be increased. My guess is that teams that keep a solid core of players that play well together will do better than teams that try to do a dramatic make over.
As for the coming Superdraft, I got my Soccer America today and I see 3 Senior defenders on the Preseason All-Americans. Kevin Goldthwaite from Notre Dame a left footed 'attacking back' would definitely fill a hole C.J. Klaas from Washington powerful 'fireplug' Guy Melamed from Boston College 25 year old center back with experience on the Israeli youth national teams Goldthwaite and Melamed sound like they are worth looking at. Seein' how I'm playin at being Mr. Kraft, I'm gonna send someone to have a look. I also liked reading about Boyzz Khumalo who is 'crafty and explosive' in midfield.
Do the Revs have a scout? Nicol obviously has no time. Who is responsible for making a draft list? How do they rate players? How about scouting overseas? Do we have anyone actually watching college games? A-league games? PDL games? If not, it seems like it might be cost effective to hire one or two people to do so.
Murphy had been given credit for a lot of the scouting done in previous years. I have no idea who's filling that role now.
I would have a meeting with Lou, and ask him to outlay his accomplishments from when he took over vs. now. What was his function supposed to be? How is attendance, overall public visibility and buzz in comparison. Have "sponsorships" increased at all under Lou's watch? Answer those questions and we will see where we stand and whether he gets to keep his job. Again, what exactly does the man do for us? I have a hard time determining if he is "successful" at this if we don't know what he was supposed to be doing. And no, it would have to be more than just persuading the USSF to hold a couple of games in Foxboro. I would ask him what his short- and long-term strategery is for crowd building. What worked in the past, and what changes were made from that policy and why? His assignment would be to meet with his counterparts around the league and share information on specific crowd-building efforts that have worked in other markets that could work here with a minimum of effort and money. See below on players. The same rule would apply here. We pretty well know what went wrong, but let's figure out an overall philosophy toward style of play that is both entertaining and successful, and from there, identify the players we need to acquire, identify who to jettison and work to get those players from the minute the final 3 whistles blow in the Revs last game of the year. Look at the contributions of every player and position and group the players into the following categories: 1) Keep no matter what 2) Would like to keep, but could be cap casualty, 3) May keep if we can't find a better upgrade at the same cost, 4) Only keep if we can't get anyone better, 5) Goodbye, and thanks for the effort. You can have your game jersey as a souvenir to show your grandkids. This is Nicol's call, but I would want him to do the same kind of evaluations I would do with other personnel: What did you hope to accomplish, do you feel you did, what can you do to improve, what would you do differently. Brad is a talented, hard worker and could contribute in many areas. I would ask him to define his role, what he enjoys the most and least of his many hats. I would also ask him to rate his performance in those areas. From there, I would relieve him of his duties in at least a couple of those areas, depending on the conversation, so that he could concentrate on what he does best. Then I would hire one person to do the other job(s) Feldman currently does. Well, there's plenty that has been written in other threads of who we would keep or expose in the expansion draft. My thinking is that we have a decent core of players, but a few severe weaknesses. In some cases, we may have to trade value to get what we need most, or use our allocations and off-season wisely. In any event, the minute we are eliminated from the playoffs/playoff contention is when the 2005 season starts. I don't know what kind of scouting system the Revs have in place, but whether it is Nicol, Mariner, Vanole, or whoever, they must see as many college games as possible either on TV or in person, speak with college coaches and get to know them and their players, and scout the US U-whatever programs to the hilt. They also need to develop contacts in other countries, particularly Latin America and the Caribbean, where you can still find skilled players who would jump at the chance to play in MLS. The problem with our "Brit-centric" staff is that they tend to lean toward certain types of players. Not that it was a bad idea to bring in guys like Baker and Dorman, but it seems that Howey was a gamble gone bad. Would they be as willing to take the same kind of risk on a Central American of similar pedigree? As the Grand Poohbah, Jefe, Sultan, and Supreme Ruler of Kraft Soccer Inc. I would start here, and re-allocate some of the funds spent on our seemingly top-heavy front office and put it into hiring another marketing person (see Feldman comments), more ticket sales people, and increase the budget to provide for more talent scouts. From there, I would make it clear that turning around the good ship Revolution is not an overnight process, but in three years time you will see a better team on the field a lot more people in the stands and a lot more public "buzz" about the team. Oh yeah, I'd make the kits better too Tom
Let's presume that I really am Bob Kraft and that the legends about him being such a wise CEO are actually true. The day after the 04 season ends I would have a full-dress (food, walks along the lake, massages) meeting/retreat with all of the aforementioned individuals, save the players. In preparation for this I would ask them to define their jobs, write a self-evaluation, say what might improve and what should change. I would also write one, with short and long term goals and I would ask myself, what do I really want out of owning this team anyway? Having done that, if my views were garbled or unclear I might well turn the whole project over to Johnathan, who actually seems interested but, regardless, I would go along with being as honest and forthright as possible. So we would all arrive having done a fair amount of soul-searching and, hopefully, thinking about what has gone down over the past nine years. I would start the meeting by stating my goals, my hopes, my committment and my limitations; i.e. the bottom line. I would have researched how all the other MLS teams are run and compare each to ours. I would ask all the appropriate people (including myself) why we do things differently than say, DC or Chicago and so on. By the end of the meeting I would hope to have accumulated enough information and material to begin to construct a grid to measure every aspect of this operation against the competition. Not Arsenal or Real, just MLS. If, say, the Galaxy, have four paid scouts, why do we have (X - whatever # we've got). If beer costs $4.00 at Columbus, why do we charge $8? I would certainly want to know what each team actually spends on all aspects of their operation. I would ask the coaching staff to rate each player against the others in the league as well as their potential. I would also ask an outside evaluator to look at both the players and coaches, although I would keep that private, just FMI. Having assembled all this info I would set standards and goals for every individual and aspect of the entire Revs operation, given the budgetary limitations that I had established. If people came up short, I would ask them for solutions and/or sack them. If they seemed to be doing well, I would reward them. Finally, I would have to be willing to change myself and, if I thought it would be helpful to the interests of the fans, players and soccer generally in New England, I would a.) pledge more $$$ to the operation or, b.) look for an ownership or partnership group that would do so. JIM DOW
Jim Dow for CEO! I would ask the coaching staff to rate each player against the others in the league as well as their potential. Fernandio Clavijo had something like this on white boards all around his office. There was a board for each team, with all the players organized by specific position (left MF, center back, etc.), and their status (TI, SI, p-40, etc) designated. There were also stacks upon stacks of video tapes, presumably of games involving those players. Now that I think of it, if you are looking at increasing the emphasis on scouting, you could do a lot worse than to have Ferndando in charge of that part of the operation. Tom
I would continue to emphasize the transition to a more youthful team. The addition of Dorman, Brilliant, Dempsey and Baker have brought more energy to the team. They need to continue down this road. Rosterwise, it will be a challenge to figure out how they can keep Dorman, Brilliant and Baker - who may all be SI's next season. I would explore trade options for Twellman and Noonan. I like them both, but I don't think they are well-paired. Neither has the speed to put a little fear into defenders. As always seems to be said around this time of year, the young guys need to be loaned out somewhere so they can get significant playing time over the winter. As for the draft, get Charlie Davies and a young, 2-way defender with size and speed. Simple as that.
Well, it begs the question: will our younger players stick around? Baker's contract is up at the end of the season from what I recall, the same being the case for Dorman. I think it's entriely fair to suggest that both might find better opportunities playing for clubs other than New England: Baker back in Ireland, and Dorman, perhaps for a lower-division English club. Brillant might also have options outside of MLS if he's only signed a one-year contract. If the Revs continue to falter over these last few weeks, they might have some added motivation to look elsewhere. The Magpie
Imbriano either works for the Revolution or for the Patriots, but not for both. If the Revolution are a true professional operation, then the person incharge should spent his fulltime on them, not also have duties with the Patriots. It would be better if he stuck with the Patriots and a soccer administrator with a passion for the game was put incharge. What does Gulati really do? I would make him a consultant, nothing more. He has not added anything tangible and I wonder how many full timers to sell tickets could have been hired for what he is being paid? Does the title make the man or the man make the title? He should spend all of his time doing what he is supposed to know best, which is selling tickets. If the Revolution finish strongly, he could be invited back. If they don't at least make the playoffs then he needs to go. The games have not been entertaining and the results have been poor since he came on board. He should most likely go, even if Nicol is retained. Take his microphone away as he is an awful broadcaster. Hire some with a good record to do the marketing. Keep him in public relations where being a shill is a plus. Joseph and Dempsey stay, along with either Twellman or Noonan, but not both since they do not work well together. No one else is untouchable.
The idea is that since the Patriots are a guaranteed sellout, he doesn't have to do much for them. That's what he is, regardless of titles. Mariner? How can anyone not intimately involved with the team evaluate an assistant coach? You can't.
It looks like Dempsey may need to be protected. I assume with all the play time he has gotten this year and winning the rookie of the year (it will happen), that next year he will no longer be a P-40 player. from the ask Peter thread: https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=3192520&postcount=104 (Wish we had a GM like this)
That seems reasonable enough, but has there ever been a written explanation of when a player graduates from P-40? I could see this based on starts or playing time, so that a guy like Dempsey who has been in the lineup every game he's been healthy would certainly graduate, but someone who was a 70th minute sub every 3rd game would probably not. I don't ever recall seeing anything like this laid out, and I remember Fernando complaing that someone had a guy who was P-40 for 4 years and one of his guys had graduated. There was no consistency in the league whose rules are etched in jello. Tom
I think early on there was a set of rules re P-40 that put a limit on senior team play to keep the status. Of course in those days P-40's were often playing as a P-40 team and were regularly being farmed out to A-League and PDL teams. Now those options are gone and their developemental options are with the senior team. I doubt that he will be pushed off the P-40 list after just one year no matter how much playing time he's had. With the reported consideration of the league starting a Reserve Team System next year the Jello Rules may just turn into Cool Aid.
If that’s true, then you might as well sell the whole lot to someone in Rochester, Houston, Seattle or God only knows where, cos the Revs will not make it here in this current situation. Then, a new ownership group will form an A-League club to play in Farmingham or BU or someplace, with the understanding that they will be "promoted" in 5 years, and when a proper ground is built. So in a few years, we can start fresh with the new Boston Bulldogs and be rid of the Krafts' incompetence once and for all. Right, but El Grando Franco said it has to be under the current regime, so … Even if you got a couple of flats in a local complex and let developmental players live rent-free for the season (and also had a nutritionist work with them to make sure they weren't eating unhealthy crap), you could go a long way with young players. Especially since the reserve team is going to take a bigger role next year, you have to look at these guys not as players who may nip the odd goal for you this year, but someone who can/will be a first teamer in 2 years. Lou Inebriano needs to go. The man knows nothing of soccer, and is too busy showing his bling ring to anyone who will cares, which of course does not include me, or most Rev supporters. Sack the bastard and hire 6-7 competent professionals in various front office roles with his wage packet. Did you just say 'strategery' ? With a vocabulary like that, you could be President of the USA ! Don’t sell your self short in merely wanting to run a football club ! That's all I need to read. If you were, or if he were you, we would have a very different situation on our hands, to say the least I wonder if he has every really asked himself about this . But turning it over to your idiot son is no way to enhance your reputation as a 'wise CEO' . At the end of the day, the Revolution are a textbook example of how to not run a successful business. Some day, someone may be laughing about this, but right now there's nothing funny about it. Cheers, "Red"
The team's results and the style of play have all gotten worse since he came on board. Someone must take responsibility for this, and if not Nicol, then the first team coach. Twellman and Noonan do not play well together, and Mariner must also take some responsibility for this since as a former striker it should be his specialty. This could be another situation where the head coach is retained but he is told that he needs to make some changes to his staff or it is he that must go.