Sean Donahue issued a short announcement last night over at New England Soccer Today explaining that New England Revolution officials have denied the reports he gathered from his source concerning the way the Monsef Zerka contract situation was handled. Through the media relations department, the team asserts that they made efforts to keep the Moroccan winger at the club.

The New England Revolution have finally begun the process of solving their issues at forward this week with the acquisition of Colombian target man Jose "Pepe" Moreno. The 30-year old striker joins the Revs on loan after a short stop with Once Caldas, where he scored 7 goals and 4 assists in twenty matches during the second half of 2011.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

U.S. Soccer released its ballot for the National Soccer Hall of Fame on Tuesday, with 31 former players -- and 12 first-time nominees -- making the final ballot for the Class of 2012.

Among the first-timers are former U.S. goalkeeper Tony Meola and captain Claudio Reyna.

Today, US Soccer came out with their list of candidates available for selection to the US Soccer Hall of Fame. On that list are two current coaches of Sporting KC. Head coach and technical director, Peter Vermes is on the list again, as is assistant coach, Kerry Zavagnin, in his first year of eligibility.

Today, US Soccer came out with their list of candidates available for selection to the US Soccer Hall of Fame. On that list are two current coaches of Sporting KC. Head coach and technical director, Peter Vermes is on the list again, as is assistant coach, Kerry Zavagnin, in his first year of eligibility.

Thursday marked yet another MLS Super Draft, but it was one with huge significance throughout Revs Nation: the players selected would be the first under new head coach Jay Heaps. Massive amounts of excitement were attributed to the fact that the Revs had their highest pick in almost a decade at #3, and with several holes to fill, this year's Super Draft was of utmost importance.

Mere hours after Mike Burns indicated that the New England Revolution would be finalizing the transfer of two South American players today, the team announced this morning that they have signed Colombians John Lozano and Fernando Cardenas. Both will count as international players and will be added to the roster when their P-1 Visas and International Transfer Certificates have been processed.

Coming off its worst season on record, there's no doubt that the Revolution will have to maximize every available opportunity to help them get back to respectability. After selecting three established MLS players during last month's Re-entry Draft, their next chance to bolster the roster arrives on Thursday with the SuperDraft.

With a week to go before the start of its preseason, the Revolution announced that it had signed midfielder/forward Fernando Cardenas and central defender John Lozano to deals for the upcoming season. Both players last featured with Colombian side America de Cali, which was relegated to the second division last month.

In a move that baffles me, the New England Revolution have named the color commentator on the team's television broadcasts as their new coach.

I am shocked that with so many good coaches available, hello Garry Smith, that the Revs would hire a coach with no professional coaching experience.

The New England Revolution announced Tuesday morning that the club had named Jay Heaps as head coach. Heaps, who played 11 years in Major League Soccer as a defender, including nine with the Revs before retiring in 2009, becomes the sixth coach in Revolution history.

Jay Heaps was named head coach of the Revolution on Tuesday.

Jay Heaps is now the new boss of the New England Revolution (photo via Boston Globe)

It didn't take the New England Revolution that long to find a replacement for Steve Nicol. Today the club announced the hiring of former defender Jay Heaps as their next manager.

The 35-year old Heaps is just two years removed from playing for the Revolution, where he spent 11 seasons.

If first impressions matter most, it is hard for New England Revolution fans to take much solace in the recent organizational reorganizational announcements.

The Revolution is viewed as being stuck in MLS 1.0, while the league has largely moved on to MLS 2.0 (or more.) Apparently, Revolution ownership seems to agree, with Robert Kraft suggesting: "Major League Soccer has evolved significantly in the last few years and while we felt we had a structure in place that had worked well earlier and led us to success, the last two years did not live up to our expectations"

However, addressing such fundamental league changes by redrawing lines on an organization chart seems more like this feels more like a reboot than a system upgrade.

If first impressions matter most, it is hard for New England Revolution fans to take much solace in the recent organizational reorganizational announcements.

The Revolution is viewed as being stuck in MLS 1.0, while the league has largely moved on to MLS 2.0 (or more.) Apparently, Revolution ownership seems to agree, with Robert Kraft suggesting: "Major League Soccer has evolved significantly in the last few years and while we felt we had a structure in place that had worked well earlier and led us to success, the last two years did not live up to our expectations"

However, addressing such fundamental league changes by redrawing lines on an organization chart seems more like this feels more like a reboot than a system upgrade.

Today's post starts in New England, where the Revs announced some rearranging of roles in the front office. Mike Burns and Brian Bilello are remaining with the club, but with new titles and new responsibilities. Bilello has been named President of the Club, with responsibilities on both the player and business sides.

The New England Revolution announced this morning that they have re-organized their management structure in an effort to facilitate an upswing in club fortunes after two dismal seasons. Basically, it looks as though the Revs have heard some of the criticisms levied at them about the opacity of their front office chain of command - or at least they came to realize on their own that it's muddy, confusing, and ineffectual.

Two weeks ago I put up a piece making a case for Mike Burns, or at least for giving him some slack in the coming months as he puts on the coaching search. I let everyone know that a lot of the criticisms we level at him for the construction of the squad might actually be misplaced, and while I can't say he's going to be great now that Stevie Nicol is gone, I also can't say there's a lot of evidence to say he'll be catastrophic.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – It would be a skyscraper-sized understatement to say that the Revolution fell short of expectations in 2011.

Between the five wins (franchise low), the 58 goals allowed (second worst in MLS), the negative-20 goal differential (the second worst in MLS), a nine-game winless streak (tied a franchise high), and.

I'm certainly not the first one to look at possible replacements for Steve Nicol since his departure two days ago. Several of our fellow Revs outlets (most of which are listed on our blogroll to the left) have already put some names out there, some good, some bad, and some baffling.

I'll get to that.

Yesterday, it was announced Steve Nicol would no longer be the head coach of the New England Revolution. The decision was made after a meeting between the inimitable Scot and the Revolution's investor/operators (read: owners), Jonathan and Robert Kraft, and was described as a "mutual parting of ways.

One thing is clear, many New England Revolution fans want to see some change this offseason. Big change.

But let's be honest. Bob Kraft isn't going anywhere. Sunil Gulati is probably not going anywhere. (Though I'm not sure anyone would notice a change.) And guessing what happens to Mike Burns or the front office is really only good for setting the #Revs hashtag in Twitter on fire.

Mike Woitalla of Soccer America writes of the age and size (or lack of) in the modern midfielders.
A player who still needs a ride to practice from his parents scored his first Major League Soccer goal earlier this month. Diego Fagundez, who turned at 16 last Valentine's Day, made his MLS debut as a 66th minute sub and scored 20 minutes later against Chivas USA.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Attempting to bolster the New England Revolution's still struggling attack, the Revs today announced the signing of French-born Moroccan striker Monsef Zerka. Zerka will be officially added to the Revolution's roster pending P1 Visa approval.

"We are looking forward to Monsef's arrival," said Revolution Vice President of Player Personnel Mike Burns.

Despite on and off field struggles that are frustrating New England Revolution fans, players and administrators alike, there's a belief that one ray of hope exists in that the team has MLS stalwart coach Steve Nicol.

Steve Nicol is the MLS coach with the most storied playing career and has become the longest tenured MLS coach around with this time in New England, most of which was rather successful.

One of the difficult parts of the whole three games in six days is trying to keep up with our regular features. But, we're on a great network, and in this case The Bent Musket reminded me of the Sunday 1PM game against the New England Revolution. Let's just ignore the future game for a moment and pay some attention to the whole issue concerning their supporters' groups battling with the front office.

Tonight, Real Salt Lake begins it's attempt to become the first team since the 2000 LA Galaxy to win the CONCACAF Champions' League/Cup. A US team has made the finals for the first time since the format changed for the 2008-2009 season. The first even since LA's run to the finals in 2000, when the entire tournament was hosted in Los Angeles.

The Soccer Hall of Fame may be trapped in the Phantom Zone, but that doesn't mean there aren't players to enshrine. So, let's look at this year's ballot!
...wait. Can you? You sure can't here. No, this site hasn't worked for a dog's age.
Oh, okay, the Fed has the list.

Today US Soccer announced the nominees up for the US Soccer Hall of Fame. On the list are four former Wizards players. Included in the list is one current member of the Wizards staff, technical director and head coach Peter Vermes. Vermes played in eastern Europe and MLS during his playing career at both forward and defender.

Today US Soccer announced the nominees up for the US Soccer Hall of Fame. On the list are four former Wizards players. Included in the list is one current member of the Wizards staff, technical director and head coach Peter Vermes. Vermes played in eastern Europe and MLS during his playing career at both forward and defender.

While it might be tempting to pencil A.J. Soares and Stephen McCarthy into the New England Revolution's starting XI based upon their standout collegiate careers and impressive MLS Combine performances, Head Coach Steve Nicol and Vice President of Player Personnel Mike Burns aren't quite ready to anoint them starters just yet.

It may be a total shot in the dark, but if you ask Mike Burns or Steve Nicol about their assessment of the recently-concluded calendar year, they'd both probably say that 2010 didn't quite go they way they had planned. Just a wild guess.

But, I would bet my sweat-stained orange crush Tea Men t-shirt that a losing record, the retirement of Taylor Twellman, and the early-season suspension of skipper Shalrie Joseph weren't on the agenda as 2010 opened.