For the first time under Steve Nicol's reign, New England Revolution training camp opened on Wednesday morning with the focus on players and coaches who weren't in uniform and on the field.
The most obvious absence was Nicol himself. The Revolution head coach is in Honduras to scout for new signings, according to newspaper reports out of the Central American country. Team officials did not explain why Nicol was away from training but said he is expected to return on Friday.
But there are others who have left and will not return.
Andy Dorman signed with Scottish Premier League side Saint Mirren in early January, while Pat Noonan signed for Aalesund in Norway last week after his contract was not renewed. James Riley left for San Jose in the expansion draft, while Avery John turned down a contract offer from the Revs earlier in the offseason.
The departures have altered the core of a side that hasn't experienced many personnel changes over the past few seasons.
"It's different," Revolution captain Steve Ralston said about returning to training without those players. "It feels like maybe they are away with the national team and they'll be coming back at some point. But they aren't coming back."
Revolution right back Jay Heaps said his team will suffer from losing Dorman and Noonan because the pair had "dynamic personalities" and lengthy tenures.
"You still expect them to be here," Heaps said. "It's tough. It'd be one thing if we got better. We didn't get better by losing Pat."
Heaps said that while he placed his faith in management, the changes will have an impact on the team.
"Obviously, it's tough [to see them go]," Heaps said. "We've kept the group together for a while now. It's out of our control."
Despite the changes, Ralston noted that much of the core remained and the lone goal of lifting MLS Cup would remain the same.
"What else is there," Ralston queried. "We've won the Eastern Conference four times. We don't want that. We won the U.S. Open Cup. We want to win MLS Cup."
The departed players weren't the only players to miss out on a light session designed to work on the squad's conditioning.
Three players are away on international duty. Taylor Twellman and Michael Parkhurst are off with the United States national team in preparation for next Wednesday's contest with Mexico in Houston, while Adam Cristman is with the United States U-23 national team in preparation for CONCACAF Olympic qualifying.
Gambian developmental players Abdoulie Mansally and Sainey Nyassi are stuck in Gambia awaiting visa clearance to return to the United States. Khano Smith missed training due to an injured adductor.
The team will train twice more this week at a local indoor facility before entering its first full week of training next week.
Kyle McCarthy is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
