Revolution Dismiss Joseph and Alston From Camp

First of all, let me say that it’s good to be back.

My laptop is fully functional and behaving in a predictable manner, and I even found time to re-optimize my phone so that it works as originally intended. All in all, it was a pretty good weekend in technology for me.

A lot has happened since the last time I wrote, so I won’t bother trying to recap all of it. Instead, let’s focus on the here and now:

Various team and media sources have reported that captain Shalrie Joseph and all-star defender Kevin Alston were sent back to Boston from Orlando for “disciplinary reasons.”

The team won’t comment further, but obviously the speculation machine has been operating at full capacity.

After last season’s suspension for failing the league’s substance policy (read: he was apparently busted for marijuana), the announcement that Shalrie was being booted from camp for breaking the rules has every heckler from here to LA cracking weed jokes. Known MLS twitter comedian @ZombieJaqua even started using #ShalrieSentHome to keep the joke running (his first one was the best, though: “Shalrie Joseph sent home from Revs training camp already? Too much “puff puff” not enough “pass” to satisfy coaching staff apparently.”)

It turns out that we can’t claim something so high-profile as being busted for smoking illegal substances, because Shalrie himself cleared up the confusion via twitter. Through his account, @ShalrieJoseph21, he said: “All day at the movies hanging with @D_Barnes25 n @Kalston30 just got busted waiting for da second movie, so we had to buy new tixs.”

Really?

It hasn’t been confirmed (or denied) by the team that this is the actual reason for his and Alston’s dismissal, but at this point it’s the only plausible explanation we have. This raises obvious questions, not the least of which being: “why didn’t Darrius Barnes get in trouble as well?”

One also has to wonder if this is something that really warrants a dismissal from camp. Even if the team wanted to keep this internal, their absence from the training center was always going to be noticed by someone and then reported, and now the organization’s silence is allowing the peanut gallery all the free space it needs to fill with meaningless conjecture and possibly-insulting foolishness. Does punishing two grown men for trying to sneak into a movie seem worth the possible backlash?

That said, this is a massive gaffe from Shalrie and not the sort of behavior the Revs are looking for out of their captain. The team is coming off of an abysmal year and describing the squad as “in flux” would be far too kind. Let’s not forget that, until the final few weeks of the season, Shalrie himself wasn’t exactly having a banner year either.

Plus, not to beat a dead horse, but this looks especially suspect after last season’s suspension. Joseph is a 32-year old man and entering his ninth year in the league – he needs to be better than this. There has to be some kind of situational/contextual awareness. Alston’s mistake can be explained away as immaturity, but Shalrie should be one of the leaders showing him that such actions are not the way to conduct yourself as a professional, not functioning as an active participant.

Revolution Sign A Frenchman

I was fully prepared this morning to put together a scathing litany decrying the lack of offseason activity in Foxboro. I was tired of reading about other teams making trades, signing players and discussing possible picks, and I was going to let everyone know how I felt.

Then the Revs announced the signing of French defender Didier Domi and totally stole my thunder.

Domi is a left back who will “add leadership and composure to our backline,” according to Director of Player Personnel Mike Burns. He’s played throughout Europe during a fourteen or fifteen-year career, starting out at Paris Saint-Germain and making stops at Newcastle United, Leeds United, Espanyol and Olympiacos.

Newcastle United being my favorite club in Europe, I had the opportunity to poll several Magpie fans for their memories of Domi. Most remembered his goal against Sunderland in the ‘99/’00 season (not surprisingly), but it would appear that the manner of his exit is a bit hazy.

@NUFCThreatLevel: He was a great Left Back…went a bit mental and thought his religion demanded he move back to France. If I remember correctly.

@MarcSDuffy: I had high hopes for Domi at NUFC. Made a great start too but never kicked on.

@JoshuaHeppell: I remember his goal vs the M*ckems. Legend. Shame he turned into a prick.

@JamesFoth: he was a greedy little bastard, turned up at Leeds a few years ago.

None of this says much about how he will do in New England. Plenty of players have been spoiled or erratic in their youth only to become grounded and mature professionals later in their careers. Furthermore, I’ve only been able to confirm that Domi departed Tyneside on sour terms, not that it was due to any wrong he committed.

Beyond that, it would appear that he had a bit of ability about him during his time there, and that was also on display in Paris, Barcelona and Piraeus. This addition looks to be a good one from any point of view. Domi will give us an experienced option at left-back and perhaps serve as a mentor for the emergence of Seth Sinovic, along with the experience that Burns is hoping for.

The next big moves will probably be made on Thursday in the SuperDraft. Especially considering this pickup, I’m expecting the Revs to go with a forward. Will Bruin and Corey Hertzog would both be welcome additions to the forward line, and are likely to be the best strikers available when New England picks.

Long Absence

Hey guys, sorry for the long hiatus but it’s been a roller-coaster couple of weeks.

First, the Christmas holiday obviously cut into my ability to write. It was a good one spent with family and friends, and as has been the case since back when I was in college, I was awash with a feeling of homesickness once I returned to my dingy little Brighton apartment and monotonous job the following week. So my inspiration waned, and then that weekend was the New Year.

I went home again, and thus didn’t have the time to write…again. Then I came back to Massachusetts ready to break through the wall and get back into the rhythm of things! Instead, I came down with the flu, which I’m still fighting right now.

In the meantime, I was supposed to participate as the Revs representation in the SBNation mock SuperDraft, which didn’t happen due to severe flu symptoms. The draft did go on without me, though, and you can find the results here.

So I want to apologize for my slovenly work rate in the last few weeks, and I promise that starting this weekend I’ll be back on the horse. I hope everyone reading had a great holiday, and may the new year be better than the last.

– S