Please do and show in fact how they defend the status quo? The reason I called the poster (and now you) on such an absurd assertion was that I know of no poster on this Board who thinks either the roster or Rev management configuration or Rev marketing or our stadium or Cap management, etc, etc, etc couldn't be improved upon. Some of us are less unset by the Rev organizations choices than others. Some are willing to be more patient than others. Some are willing to give the Rev organization the benefit of the doubt in some areas and there are others who posit reasons why they think things might be the way they are. BUT NO ONE is calling for status quo. NO ONE. What would really upgrade the quality of our discussions would be for posters to stop trash talking and casting slurs at the opinions of posters who see data through a different lens than they do. The use of that kind of rhetoric has become normative in the press and in politics and may seem to some like the best way to discuss our team but frankly for most of us it's getting real old.
The only 'facts' as we know them are these: * Pat Noonan is no longer with the club. * Andy Dorman is no longer with the club. * Preston North End has made multiple bids for Taylor Twellman. * James Riley, Willie Sims, and a number of other players are no longer with the club. * Steve Nicol and Paul Mariner spent roughly two weeks scouting players in Argentina just after the end of the regular season. * Chris Albright is now a Revolution player. * The Revolution drafted a number of college players. * The Revolution have not signed any players from outside MLS. Take from that what you will. The Magpie
you think it's possible that Nicol planned on going on vacation to Argentina after the season ended, and the Revs asked him to just say it was a scouting trip? that was semi-sarcastic
I don't know what businesses you've worked in, but the ones I have are all about helping their employees - as long as it helps them make money (or avoid losing money). I think this whole idea of Twellman being disgruntled (and being a problem because of it) is way off base. 1) Twellman knew exactly what the trade-off that he was agreeing to was last winter. 2) So, this year an offer comes in - Twellman knows that he basically closed the door to these types of opportunities. 3) Twellman and agent figure, what the heck, maybe if we jump up and down and stomp our feet, maybe, just maybe, the fans will get riled up and the Revs may just decide to let us go. 4) Revs hold firm 5) Twellman says, oh well, we gave it a shot - I guess we'll just have to stick around and do what we agreed to do. Now, who's going to get me the ball? When players and agents can't get what they want, they try to stir things up in the press and get fans riled up. It's just a tactic - and the Revs management is nothing if not firm in their dealings - which is what I, as a fan, want them to be and I applaud them for it. Twellman's got a very good MLS deal. He'd be nowhere without MLS and, while he may think he deserves DP money, he's not Landon Donovan or David Beckham (and he had a pretty crappy 2006). The way to win a cup is to continually be in contention for it. Typically teams in MLS that have gone into *rebuilding* and gotten stuck in a quagmire. In some leagues/sports there may be some advantage in going down to go up, but not in MLS. I'd guess he's referring to his previous knee injury - which turned out to be a fairly serious one. For the first time in 2008, "never put any faith in things athletes or agents say to the press". Who knows what he really means (after all, the word "fitness" has different connotations around the english-speaking world. In the US, it typically means "health", whereas some other places it is used to mean "conditioning")? After the last time the Revs had a lot of injuries, Nicol made a number of changes (one being shifting the roster from older and/or frequently injured to younger and/or more durable players) which included a more planned, gradual work up to game condition by opening day. So, you might presume that players are not focused on being able to run through brick walls at the start of camp. For the veterans, they are playing almost year round, so some rest and downtime is probably pretty critical for the winter break - particularly when you have the maximum playoff run every year.
No malice intended, Khano is a nice guy. But he's also a bit - to use a more PC term - aloof. And frankly, I would much rather have a team full of "idiots" like the Red Sox than a team full of players who are all business.
Noonan - tough loss, but I don't hold him in as high regard as many so I can accept it. Dorman - ho-hum. Twellman - If he's here, I fully expect him to play his tail off. I just don't think he is the type of person who would dog it. Riley, Sims, etc - each one, no big deal. Collectively, at some point the loss of experience has to hurt. Argentina - I have no faith in Nicol committing to anybody he doesn't get a direct referral from. I have no idea if he has any ties to someone in Argentina, but assuming he doesn't I think it might be a wasted effort. Albright - big gamble with health and not sure how he'll fit. College Draft - I honestly have no idea what to make of any of these players. Lack of signings - not surprising, very disappointing.
So after some of our fans including me (certainly not all of them, but a good number) have become incredibly frustrated with Nicol's defensive tendencies late in championship games, three of our premier attacking players have shown themselves more than willing to move to Europe (Twellman sounds like he would kill someone to bolt). Maybe no one has been frustrated by our choice to sit back more than the players who believed they could have scored the goal that gave us a title the last three years and were denied ample opportunity to do so.
I think this is the first time I've heard anyone suggest we sat back deliberately in the title game last year. I certainly don't think we did, although Houston did push us back in the critical part of the game.