Revs Current Roster - A work in progress

Yeah, I agree. We all want someone to blame, but the Revs front office structure allows for blame to be diverted and unassigned. The only thing we do know is that the decisions made, by whomever they are made by, have been really bad.

Unfortunately is seems as though they have set up this front office in a way that none of them need be held accountable by the media or fans. This allows some people to be protected from blame, and it's rather pathetic.

 

That's why all those bums need to be thrown out, every single one of them!

Nicol, for the reasons everyone seems to be talking about in every other post. He's lost the team, he employs questionable-at-best tactics and substitutions, and there is very little doubt that he had a big say in all the personnel decisions.

Burns should be fired because he is totally inept at the logistical back-end of signing players. Some of this is intentionally vague, but can anyone honestly point to even one positive thing he has done in his entire tenure here, other than change his name to "Michael?"

Bilello should be fired because he is the COO of a "business" that is in shambles and is the Brockton Rox compared to the Boston Red Sox when viewed alongside the rest of MLS. How many COOs also have two other jobs anyway? Maybe he should cut back to just those other two. And being in charge of the business side of things, it just seems fitting that not one person under his chain of command even noticed that they announced a player in the lineups who had been unceremoniously dumped several months ago... How can we expect the fans to pay attention and follow the team when the employees can't even be arsed enough to do it?

 

At this point I DON'T want to blame anyone. Thats looking backwards. I want a solution. If the people involved can recognize what their doing isn't working and institute corrective measure---great. If they don't then they need to go.

FWIW, changing the management team doesn't mean things will get better. Ask Toronto and NY fans. Changing people isn't the critical point. Recognizing what isn't working and making appropriate constructive changes is what gets results. It's clear you and most posters want scalps. I don't give a shit about scalps. I want improvement in how they build the roster. Mistakes have been made. OK, take corrective measures. Does the current management team understand where they got off track and where changes need to be made? I would be surprised if they don't. Can they make the necessary adjustments? TBD.

 

I want blame for the sole reason of replacing people who have failed at their jobs. The front office has proven to be incapable of fixing inherent problems over the last 4-5 seasons.

I has ever suggested change for the sake of change. I suggest change because they have failed to build a quality side over a number of years. I think we all recognize what isn't working. They have had a sever lack in their ability to bring in quality players through any means (draft, international signings, trades etc...). I don't give a shit about scalps either. I give a shit about having people capable of making the right decisions. It's fairly obvious that the structure of the current front office cannot make the right decisions, because they've failed time and time again for a long time.

 

Doc, you really think that there should be no accountability? None whatsoever? The reason people may be looking for change is because, um, y'see, things aren't working out so well under the status quo for the last four, yes, four years.

You often cite NYRB and LAG as alternatives (when it comes to spending) and Toronto when it comes to change. These are extremes. No one argues that change for the sake of change is not good, and changing things too often and too quickly isn't going to work either.

Niether is the case here. Our management team has been in place a long time. Nicol is the longest serving coach in the league and the longest in Boston-area sports. In all of North American sports, there are probabluy less than 10 people who have been on the job as long.

Results speak for themselves. This is niether a hasty nor rash decision.

It is time for Burns and Nicol and Bilello to go. Period.

 

One of the problems with this discussion is semantics. I dislike the word--"Blame" because it represents a limited way of looking at something that's not working effectively. I have always endorsed "accountability". All situations need to have some one at whose feet the buck stops. Where I diverge from most posters here is that over a long career of high level management responsibilities I've found it more effective to help key personnel understand how they can improve their performance rather than replace them. What hasn't worked for the Revs is clear. Those responsible either can or can't modify how they do their job or they can't.

I know most posters here feel the entire Rev management team should all be replaced. They may think this seems like an effective way to improve an organization but in my experience it rarely produces anything other than an extended period of chaos. (granted my experience has not been with a sports franchise). What usually works better is to get the management team to recognize where they have been ineffective so they can improve their way of doing business and if that doesn't work get rid of the principle management person responsible (Director of Soccer Operations).

As I've opined in pervious posts what's not been working seems obvious. The Revs knew they need upgrades but their attempt to bring quality reinforcements didn't work because even though the players were proven high enders their bodies were well past their "sell by" date. It would seem the Revs have modified that approach since across this season. IMO, this seems to demonstrate they have recognized what didn't work and have adjusted accordingly.

IMO they are moving in the right direction. Is it enough? Does their need to be changes of one or more key parts of the team? I don't know. I do think that wholesale replacement would be counterproductive. As I've said before, if anyone needs to be replaced I'd start with Burns who is DIRECTOR of SOCCER OPERATIONS

If I were making the decision I would likely give the current management team till early in next years season (game 10) to have made the necessary changes to turn things around. They will either have effectively retooled or they will not. They will have fielded a team that shows it can win consistently of they will not. I know I'm in the minority but that's what I would do.

 

I follow the logic but disagree. The coaching has been bad too (and the physical training/care). The improvements have to come at multiple positions.

I think "blowing things up" is a known in sports and certainly soccer outside USA. When a team gets relegated a bunch of players go and often multiple in management. Your method isn't wrong generally but may be wrong for this situation.

At any rate, after 4 years, I'm convinced the management just isn't taking the suggestions to heart.

Blow it up.

 

You may well be right. I can only go with what has worked well for me as a military Commanding Officer, Inspector General, Surgeon General and Civilian Medical Center CEO. When it come to how to effectively manage a sports franchise I'm just as much amateur of the rest of the posters on this Board

 

It's comments like these that make you my least favorite poster on this forum.

 

I don't see much direction with this team, certainly not in terms of style of play or team building. It's a lot of casting about. Some claimed the club had positive direction late last season. Some believed Domi and Dabo were exactly what the team needed and not washed-up old players. What the Revs have been is a team that doesn't work. The defense is too porous. The midfield can't hold possession or create. The forwards don't pose much danger.

I think you're right about where to start making changes. Yet that change is meaningless if the Director of Soccer Ops isn't truly put in charge and allowed to build the organization. The Revs do not have adequate scouting or a deep enough player development system.

And the DSO should be given sole discretion on whether to make a coaching change. I suspect Nicol would bristle at a diminished role with no direct say on player acquisition, making his replacement a necessity.

That actually touches upon the main problem with the Revs. Nicol effectively runs the show. Burns is his executive secretary. So I don't get giving Nicol 10 games into next season when he's failed to retool during an ugly three-year decline. At the very least, Nicol's job as it exists must be fired so that a better organizational structure can be put in place.

 

Maybe there should have been a wink there to call me out on my own amateur status, which I will happily grant. However, I think the patient progression has clearly not improved results. It has been tried and failed for a number of years in succession. Even an amateur can see that.

 

I just love to poke a stick in your hornets nest any time I get a chance

Seriously, I see this as an opinion discussion board of amateurs who post as if they were knowledgable professionals. Hopefully most don't take all this back anc forth debating too seriously and recognize we are all really clueless. I know I am when it comes to how best to build, manage and coach a professional soccer franchise.

 

How is any of what you say here not a semantical debate?

 

Geroge, doesn't Monty have a point? Even if we give everyone in management a pass, and say that their ineffectiveness has been the result of infrastructure problems which are being fixed (more money for scouting, more money spent on players, etc.), hasn't the culture at NER devolved to the point that winning is no longer in our blood?

Doesn't something dramatic have to change so that the players and the fans feel like it's a new day? It's not like the military, where you have 300 years of tradition to draw on.

 

You may well be right. Sometimes a new key player with fresh perspective can really breath life into a situation. In this case I see it as an option rather than a necessity.

I'm not sure what it would take to jumpstart the franchise back towards it's mid 2000's form. I do think the only thing that will have a major impact on the fan base is a SSS. As to reenergizing the players I just don't think "blowing up" management is the best course. Signing a major DP? Getting a new Director of Soccer Operations? A new Coach? A few months in the sun playing golf and then joining up with a full squad heading into preseason? Not sure what it would take but I think a revamped roster heading into a new season is usually all it takes to get players juices flowing.

When I step back and view the past three years decline it's easy to see how things went wrong and how some were avoidable mistakes and some were just bad luck. Has management learned from their miscues? I think so. Will it be enough to save their jobs. I'm not sure. If I'm Mr Kraft I may see the situation as you post above--ie make some major changes to revitalize the system. I'm OK with that.