Revolution Newsstand - October 18
Written by supahrevs on October 18, 2009 – 11:15 am -
Last night was one of mixed emotions at Gillette Stadium, to say the least. The Revs greatly improved upon last week’s performance against Columbus, but once again couldn’t find the finishing touch and could only earn a 0-0 draw with bitter rival Chicago. That result, paired with others around the league, leaves the Revolution in a four-way tie (no joke) for the final playoff spot entering the last week of the regular season. Overall, seven teams will vie for three remaining postseason berths next weekend, meaning that the tightest playoff race in MLS history will truly come down to the wire.
Of course, the other bit of news providing mixed emotions was the resignation of long-time assistant coach Paul Mariner to pursue a coaching opportunity abroad. Everyone within the Revolution organization is thrilled for Paul and the opportunity that this provides him, but we’re nevertheless sad to see him go on both a coaching level and a personal level. Not only is Paul a brilliant coach who greatly aided the development of each and every player to wear a Revs jersey while he was here, but he’s also a great man. You’ll be missed, Paul.
For all the news regarding last night’s game and Paul Mariner’s resignation, here’s today’s newsstand …
1. Revs draw casts Paul Mariner (Boston Herald)
2. Draw keeps Revolution in playoff logjam (Boston Globe)
3. Nicol assistant Mariner resigns (Boston Globe)
4. Tie leaves Revs in a bind (Worcester Telegram & Gazette)
5. Fire, Revs screech to a scoreless draw (MLSnet.com)
6. Revs show improvement in tie with Fire (MLSnet.com)
7. Fire show grit in draw with Revs (MLSnet.com)
8. N.E. 0-0 Chicago: Revs struggle (Associated Press)
9. Fire And Revs Share The Spoils In New England (Goal.com)
10. Revolution Assistant Coach Paul Mariner Resigns (WBZtv.com)
11. NE Revolution Assistant Paul Mariner Resigns (Goal.com)
For those wondering what last night’s results around the league mean for the Revolution’s playoff hopes, it basically means that the club’s postseason fate is now out of its own hands. While the Revs will certainly do themselves a world of good to earn three points in Columbus next weekend, they’ll need other results to go their way in order to reach the MLS Cup Playoffs for the eighth straight season.
We’ll have a full breakdown of all the postseason scenarios tomorrow …
Posted in Revolution Newsstand |
October 18th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
Mixed emotions? What are you smoking? Last night was terrible.
A coach of Paul Mariner’s quality leaves an MLS club to become an *assistant* coach for a club in the *Championship*? Obviously we’re happy for Paul, but doesn’t this speak poorly to the current state of MLS? Not to mention the void this creates for the Revs.
As for the loss (excuse me, draw) last night, sure the effort was there. But we were just obviously lacking the quality necessary to both create chances and take them. Stevie Nicol deserves consideration for manager of the year with what he’s gotten out of this group of players. The fact is we needed to win that match last night.
Finally, it’s Fan Appreciation Night and the Krafts couldn’t be bothered to remove the Patriots lines from the plastic pitch? Are they so out of touch that they don’t know how tacky that looks?
October 18th, 2009 at 11:00 pm
Last night was not terrible! I hate to say it…but Chicago is good, they’re a tough team and we didn’t let one goal in. True there were some close calls..but we put up a good fight and came close to scoring ourselves. Yeah 0-0 sucks…but we have to look at the team we played before we talk about the outcome. I’m sorry..but yeah a tie, especially 0-0 sucks..but at least we didn’t lose and they played very well.
October 20th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
Hey Cooper - You question “mixed emotions,” and then you say you’ve got happiness for Paul, but are feeling sadness about the current state of MLS and the void in the Revs coaching staff. Isn’t that the very definition of “mixed emotions?”
And while the gridiron lines are atrocious, I am guessing that there wouldn’t be enough time to remove them from the field given there was a Pats game the very next day (Pretty sure the lines were not there the week before against Columbus).