Would you take Taylor Twellman back?

Pure hypothetical with zero inside information… let’s say Taylor Twellman comes back to the Revs and says he’ll play the next two seasons for $150,000/year.  Would you take that deal if you’re the Revs?  What if it’s $100,000?  Or is it just time for the organization to move on, no matter how much he’s willing to play for?

On the plus side, if he ever does regain even 80% of his prior form, he’s well worth the money.  On the down side, there’s a decent chance you’ll just be throwing away $150,000/year.

Personally, I think about $135,000/year is what I’d feel comfortable bringing him back at.

Are We Witnessing the End of the Steve Nicol Era?

I mean, the way the Revs have played this year, you have to start wondering, right?  And the way the Revs have played in their last eight league matches is just embarrassing.  In fact, were it not for a 12-minute meltdown by the Seattle Sounders, the Revs would be 0-6-2 in that stretch with a goal differential of -11.

And the schedule is not doing the Revs any favors.  Two of their last four matches are on the road where they have shown little ability to earn points.  Their two home matches are against Real Salt Lake and a Kansas City Wizards team that figures to be fighting for their playoff lives.

I hate to say it, but we could seriously be looking at a team that finishes the year at 7-18-5 and having won just one of their last 11 matches.  Should that happen, would Steve Nicol be in trouble?  Would Kraft Sports make a move?

So, I see we’re playing Dallas this week

The Revs have one win on the road this year.  The Burn Hoops have one loss at home this year.  The Revs have won just one of their last seven league matches.  Dallas has lost just twice in their last 942 games, or something like that.

Predictions?  Mr. Lang has one:

Ten Revs Predictions for 2010

In no particular order:

Prediction #1: The Revolution will lead the league in man games lost to injury. The year hasn’t even kicked off yet, and the list of walking wounded is already long and distinguished.  Taylor Twellman and Matt Reis are already assured of being on the shelf for a significant period of time.  Guys like Cory Gibbs and Edgaras Jankauskas are injuries waiting to happen.  Even someone like Kevin Alston, who was pretty durable last year, has a history of injuries.  History tells us Shalrie Joseph will miss some time simply because he’s become a target of other teams.  I could seriously see Steve Nicol being forced to use something like 20+ different lineups simply due to missing players.

Prediction #2: The Revs will score more goals this year than they did last year. Not sure it’s really likely they could score less.  Seriously, I think Taylor Twellman will play at least a little this year, so that should help.  Zack Schilawski is something of a poor man’s Twellman, and I think they’ll probably generate a little more in terms of goal-scoring from the midfield than they did last year as well.

Mike Burns: Professional Liar

I realize that you can never take snippets of information from coaches and General Managers as absolute gospel.  If the Revs really are in the market for an attacking midfielder, it doesn’t do them any good to announce it to the world, because most player agents have internet access these days.

But honest to God, Mike Burns… who ya crappin’?

New England will have fill the significant hole created by Larentowicz’s departure. Larentowicz and Shalrie Joseph formed one of the top central midfield tandems in the league over the past couple of seasons, forging a bond that saw Joseph lobby publicly for a new deal for his partner several times during the course of the 2009 season and prompted Larentowicz to say he was “indebted to Shalrie for being able to play next to him” after the deal went down. There are choices in-house – Pat Phelan would make the most sense as a like-for-like replacement – but no one player currently on the books can replace Larentowicz’s contribution.

“If (the deal) means we have to go out and try to replace Jeff, then we’ll do that, but we feel like we have guys on our roster that can fill that void,” Burns said.

Abandon Ship!

Women, Children, and Burnsie first!

I’m calling it.  It’s over.

The SS Revolution has hit an iceberg.  Time to abandon ship.

What other conclusion am I supposed to come up with?  Three games against Kansas City, Chivas USA, and the artists formerly known as the MetroStars, and they manage one point?

And with five of their remaining six games against likely playoff teams?

Nope, not buying it.  This is not a playoff team.  Time to start scouting for the draft.

Time to cue Jim Mora:

(Note: The author of this article reserves the right to change his mind should the Revs beat Seattle next weekend.)

Shep Messing is Not a Fan

MLS analyst Shep Messing predicts the Revolution to be the Biggest Disappointment in the Eastern Conference in 2009.  You can go to MLSnet for all of the gory details.

I’ll provide the transcript now, and hopefully the video will be posted at a later date…