Photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIphotos.com
The Jay Heaps coaching era in New England is officially underway.
Heaps was introduced as New England Revolution head coach at Gillette Stadium on Wednesday, taking over for the ousted Steve Nicol.
Heaps retired from playing for the Revolution in 2009 and was most recently a color analyst for the team's television broadcasts. Despite not having any prior coaching experience, he emerged from a list of candidates to replace the longest-tenured coach of a single team in league history. He'll be the second-youngest coach in MLS next to D.C. United's Ben Olsen.
"As we went through a comprehensive search and spoke with candidates with a variety of backgrounds and experiences, Jay stood out with his vision for the team, his desire to move the club into the future and for his positive attitude about impacting change," Revolution president Brian Bilello said in a statement on Tuesday. "Coupled with everything we already knew about him personally and his competitive traits we've always admired and respected, he emerged as our clear favorite and number one choice as our next head coach."
Video of Heaps' press conference and other notes from around the league are after the jump:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XM7rzE1BHV0]
KELLER WINS SAVE OF THE YEAR
Kasey Keller has secured another postseason accolade.
After earning MLS Best XI and Goalkeeper of the Year honors, Keller won the league's Save of the Year award for the second straight season for his effort against San Jose in his final regular-season home game.
Keller came up with four stops on a single sequence to rob the Earthquakes and win the majority of voting fans' admiration (41 percent). He beat out two stops by Portland goalkeeper Troy Perkins and a save by New York Red Bulls midfielder Teemu Tainio to win the honor.
CHIVAS GM TALKS RELOCATION
Chivas USA is on the hunt for a new home and its own stadium, and general manager Jose Domene addressed the issue in an interview with MLSSoccer.com.
When asked about talks that have been had with representatives from Pomona and Santa Ana, Domene said: "We're still looking. We haven't signed anything with any city. We're happy at the Home Depot Center, where they treat us very well, but at the end of the day, it makes sense for us to have our own stadium. We're going to move to some place that makes sense for the club and Chivas USA. We're still searching and looking. We have had conversations with those cities, but not just those two."
CREW WRAP UP BEST RESERVE RECORD
There's no playoffs to crown an official champion of the MLS Reserve League, but the Columbus Crew finished the reserve season with the best record after topping D.C. United on Tuesday.
Columbus took advantage of an early Austin da Luz red card to hand D.C. a 3-1 defeat. Joseph Ngwenya gave United a lead after the club was reduced to 10 men, but non-roster player Walter Chevez, Emilio Renteria and Bernardo Anor strung together unanswered goals to account for the scoreline.
At 9-1-0, Columbus finished atop the East Division and was two points better than the West Division champion Seattle Sounders (8-1-1, 25 points) and five points clear of the Central/Mountain Division champion Chicago Fire (7-2-1, 22 points).
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How do you think Heaps will fare as head coach? Think Keller was a deserving winner? What city do you think would make a good home for Chivas USA? Do you think the Reserve League served a good purpose in its first year since being reinstated?
Share your thoughts below.
There is a stadium in Santa Ana. I bet it would sell out (although it only seats about 5K)
San Diego would be perfect
Nope…always LA. From Pasadena to Carson. MLS OG….No artificiality here
So cheap they won’t provide the media with any new pictures of him either. Same picture every time.
Move Chivas to Las Vegas.
I read your article, I know a lot. Thank you.
And still Carson Galaxy of Los Angeles just saying
What a heap of crap
The Santa Ana Goats of Los Angeles….
There could be a tremendous rivalry with NY and Garber knows it…Sell the team!
Revs and DC in a battle for cheapest organiztion in American soccer
He’s a super really big wall!
I really wish the Krafts would get on board with this MLS thing. If a city like Kansas City can go from almost soccer wasteland to sudden Mid-America Soccer Mecca, New England sure as hell can. It’s a shame. Good luck to Jay Heaps, though his hiring speaks volumes about the Revs as an organization.
So happy for Kasey Keller. It’s been a pleasure watching him perform at such a high level here in Seattle the past three years. He went out in a way most professionals could only hope fore, and he thoroughly deserves all the accolades he’s getting after his final season.
Oddly enough, I had to give up my tickets to that game, so I missed out on experiencing that amazing save sequence against San Jose. It was the one home game I missed all season.
The Revs are CHEAP and if he doesnt have the ability to sign players that can turn the club around, then he wont be able to do it.
Its not clear if Nicol ever got the support he needed or if he just made bad choices. I really hope Heaps has worked something out with management or it will be same ole same ole
The negativity surrounding the Revs sucks. I’m just gonna wish him good luck and reserve judgment for a bit. Jason Kreis did it and won a ring. Ben Olsen is essentially did it with some success. So why not Jay Heaps?
He’s tall!
In other words, Jay Heaps was the cheapest coaching candidate available.
He’s big!