The Steve Nicol era has come to an end in New England.
The Revolution announced on Monday that they have parted ways with their long-time coach, who had been the head man at Gillette Stadium for a league-record 10 seasons. His career record in that time is 112-108-81, good for second in Major League Soccer in overall career games coached (301) and fourth in wins behind only Sigi Schmid, Bob Bradley and Bruce Arena.
“Robert [Kraft] and I met with Stevie today and we had a productive discussion about this past season and the direction the club needs to go in the future,” said Revolution co-investor/operator Jonathan Kraft in a press release. “We all agreed a change of direction was needed to reverse the trend of the past couple of years. Stevie was a successful head coach and a tremendous ambassador for the Revolution for the past decade and set a high standard for success, leading us to four conference titles in six years. We thank him for all of his contributions.”
The Revolution have missed the playoffs the last two years, but that can’t tarnish the shine of Nicol’s first six seasons in charge. From 2002 through 2007, the Revs made six consecutive Eastern Conference Championships and went on to the MLS Cup in 2002, ’05, ’06 and ’07. New England lost each time in heartbreaking fashion, including a 1-0 defeat to LA in 2002 in front of more than 61,000 fans at Gillette Stadium.
While the Revs still haven't tasted MLS Cup sucess, they did manage to take a major trophy when they won the 2007 US Open Cup. They also won the 2008 SuperLiga, the only MLS club to claim that title.
“I’m very thankful to the Krafts for giving me the opportunity to be their head coach,” Nicol said in the release. “I’ve had some great times and been involved with some great players and great people. My family will always remain part of the Kraft family.”
New England have announced that they will immediately begin the search for Nicol's replacement.
