Ten coaches who could be the perfect fit for an MLS vacancy Sasho Cirovski, University of Maryland Phillip Cocu, formerly Fenerbache, PSV Eindhoven Robin Fraser, Toronto FC assistant Jose Mourinho (!!!!), formerly Manchester United, Chelsea, Real Madrid Pat Noonan, Philadelphia assistant Tab Ramos, US U-20 National Team Ante Razov, LAFC assistant Josh Wolff, USMNT assistant John Wolyniec, Red Bulls II Kerry Zavagnin, Sporting KC assistant Other names I've seen floated... David Moyes, formerly Sunderland, Manchester United, Everton Jason Kreis, US U-23 National Team Steve Ralston, formerly San Jose Andre Villas Boas, formerly Chelsea, Tottenham Alan Pardew, formerly West Brom, Crystal Palace, Newcastle United Sam Allardyce, formerly Everton, Crystal Palace, England Eric Wynalda, Las Vegas Steve Nicol, formerly New England Paul Mariner, formerly Toronto FC, Plymouth Argyle Anyone you like? Anyone who's name we should add? Favorite candidate? Likely candidate?
Took your list narrowed it down to who I would not mind seeing hired. Group A would probably not be interested however probably the most capable. Group B would be more likely considered/interested. Razov, Frazer, Zavagnin and Wolyniec are probably the most qualified of that group Group A Phillip Cocu, formerly Fenerbache, PSV Eindhoven Tab Ramos, US U-20 National Team Jason Kreis, US U-23 National Team Andre Villas Boas, formerly Chelsea, Tottenham David Moyes, formerly Sunderland, Manchester United, Everton Group B Robin Fraser, Toronto FC assistant Pat Noonan, Philadelphia assistant Ante Razov, LAFC assistant John Wolyniec, Red Bulls II Kerry Zavagnin, Sporting KC assistant Steve Ralston, formerly San Jose Eric Wynalda, Las Vegas
If Burns is allowed to pick the coach it will be the cheapest one available, probably with no head coach experience, and the whole cycle starts again. Burns has to go first. No good coach would come here if Burns is still in charge of signing players. He won't/can't do it and the new coach will fail too.... Burns is the real problem here and why the owners cant see it is beyond me.
I keep reading people say Burns needs to go because he hired two bad coaches. While true, that's not the root of the issue. The root of the issue is that no one connected to MLS wants to work with Burns from a player acquisition standpoint. Combined with Kraft's cheapness, any coach who comes to New England will be hamstrung in his ability to execute any coherent plan. This limits Burns to hiring people who have no experience and are looking for their first coaching opportunity - willing to work under those conditions. Burns needs to go, not because he hired two bad coaches, but because he created a toxic culture among his peers that left him no other options. Any move Burns makes - whether it be a player or coach - will cost the Revs more than it would cost any other team, because no one wants to be here under these conditions. As much as I like some of the names on this list, they all seem so unrealistic for this team. Everything just seems so hopeless. We're going to end up with Brad Feldman and just be happy that we have a team. Anyway, Hartford Athletic drew 11K+ in their first home game, so I guess there's that.
When you interview for a job with a company, you are trying to learn as much about the job and the company as they are trying to learn about you. You ask questions to figure out if this is a place that you would like to work. Is this a fit? You try to decide if this is a job where you would be set up for success, could grow your skills, would be supported, and be could be successful. You have a career path/plan and you try to figure out if this job would move you forward on that plan. You weigh what this job has to offer vs. known risks/rewards, vs.other opportunities might be out there or might soon be available that could be better for your career. Before and after your interviews, you talk to people who have worked for this company before or who currently work there to see what they have to say. You ask them the same sort of fact finding interview questions that you asked at the interview, plus informal "soft" questions. All that said, what would a coach with a solid career/track record have to hear in order to be interested in the New England job? I think it would be fun to come up with a list of interview questions that a candidate would/should ask when interviewing for the Revs head coach role. Here are some basic interview questions that I often ask: How would you describe the ideal candidate for this job? Why is this position open? In this case we know, BF was fired. Why didn't it work out? What could have made the last guy (BF) successful? Did you try to provide these things? What will make my experience in this role any different? How will my performance be measured? What are my short term and long term performance goals? What is the best thing about working here? What needs to change? If I was in my office at 8 PM on any given night, what would I see? What are the immediate challenges? If you are interviewing with the person who will be your boss, in this case Mike Burns you could ask: What is your dream job? What is next on your career path? What are you doing to get there? How can I help or how will I impact your ability to meet your goals? What would you like to change? What makes this place special/great? What are your challenges? Why are they challenges? When you raise these issues what happens?
I really don't want former MLS players at this point and I really don't even want to see an American coach. Give me a durn furriner who is a total coaching nerd and has the game embedded in his DNA.
I'd be fine with anyone on that first list. I'm OK with someone who doesn't have head-coaching experience if they come with some solid credentials otherwise. Wynalda would be a riot.
No MLS players. Either a college coach (so we can build our youth system and establish a future, even if our senior team isn't immediately producing) or a foreign coach (so we get better habits instilled). But it's all pretty moot if Burns is still in place.
All of those guys that have coached or assistant coached in MLS + Tab Ramos + Wynalda: they should be considered insane and stupid for coming here unless they get some fundamental FO changes in behavior and ownership commitment of significantly higher spending, contractually (IN WRITING!). The same is only a little less true of NCAA coaches that have the opportunity to watch MLS more closely than Foreign based coaches. It leaves only one or two names that could at least argue, “I didn’t realize...” Since we are keeping Burns and Kraft around, apparently, I wish for Marcelo Bielsa. He isn’t available that I am aware but would be tremendously entertaining if he took this job. He’d only last 6-8 weeks into the season. I believe he is genetically incapable of « toeing the line ». If he felt Kraft, Biello, or Burns was doing something stupid, he’d speak openly about it. It would be very enlightening.
Any coach that would take the job in the current structure isn’t a qualified candidate. If they knew enough to understand how to be successful they would know enough to stay away. So get whoever you want another time and hope that with three strikes against Burns the Krafts have the sense ask actual soccer people for advice. At that point, perhaps they realize that they can fire Bilello and Burns and bring in someone like Moyes to do all three jobs with a low level business person to fill in some of the gaps from Bilello’s job. Fire three. Hire one. Save money and improve the product.
A yes man, does what he's told, never questions his leaders, no aspirations above and beyond this one job, needs the players to not see him as the enemy...sounds like Michael Scott.
OK I'll bite. Anyone who's trying to make a calculated career move won't touch this job with a 10 foot pole. So that rules out most of either list. Personally I'd love to see Big Sam, just because I think he'd tighten up the D and I don't think you can succeed as a team without first keeping the ball out of your own net. The backup choice is Mariner - mainly because he'd probably take the job. Building a program or having a sound long term plan I think is out of the question with the current management & ownership. My guess is they try to overpay for Ralston because overpaying would be the only way to convince him to potentially commit career suicide by coming here.
Man, this is certainly an unexpected twist... Heard from one source that the #NERevs are struggling to find many viable candidates for the head coaching job in wake of the Friedel firing. Guess the team's reputation precedes it #MLS— Michael Lewis (@Soccerwriter) May 10, 2019
If only there was some way for the Revs to signal that they were going to change things. Like, by getting rid of a certain general manager....
It's like trying to find someone to helm The Flying Dutchman. You've gotta be desperately close to dead to opt for that career move.....
I think even new coaches are realizing taking the NE job signals the end of a career before it starts
Watching Mike Lapper's interview, I might not be too upset if he were to take over as head coach, at least for the rest of the season. He's got more coaching experience than Brad and Jay. He was very transparent, and saying a lot of the right things in this initial interview. He already knows the players, and has repoire with them. and I'm assuming he'll take the job. Burns NEEDS to go. But I don't mind if Mike Lapper stays.
Lapper is welcome to stay until/unless he proves he is also toxic. The best we can hope for is a coach who will get a sum greater than the parts. However, with this Front Office (Burns, Biello) and this Ownership, any coach will struggle to supply consistent above average results across multiple seasons. The parts will always be too few (open roster spots) and below the ever increasing average in an otherwise improving league. The guys who should have been fired are here for life apparently and we have to suffer through it. Nice "Fire Mike Burns" chant out of the Fort last night. Either Feldman and Mariner agree or they were taken totally unawares. There was a brief moment of silence from them that made it even easier to hear the chant.
personally I take this tweet with a grain of salt. It comes one day after Brad was fired. I was not expecting to hear about a hiring until mid/late June while the team is off for 25 days. To me if Lapper is hired full time or given the interim coach tag until the end of the season, that is a good indicator people are slamming doors in Mike's face.
A lot of people have expressed this view, but I don't agree. Any potential coach with any gravitas will negotiate the terms of the job. Friedel did this and got his scouting department (which IMO was a major step) and assurance of money to spend on DPs. For a new coach, those terms may include replacing the GM, getting a real reserve team, etc. ... plenty of possibilities on that list!
Well, that's the point... Mr. Big Time will come in for the interview, impress them with his knowledge, and when it seems they are interested, he'll ask for certain conditions, like a real reserve team, more resources, acquisition budget guarantees, commitment to fill all roster spots, etc. Then Burns will say, "...Ahhh, yah, look at the time, I got another meeting in 10 minutes... It was really nice to meet you and thanks for your time. We'll be in touch."