Clint Peay will be the new interim coach for the New England Revolution effective immediately, the team announced Tuesday night. Here’s what you need to know:
- Peay has been the head coach of the Revolution’s MLS Next Pro team, New England Revolution II.
- The future of former interim coach Richie Williams is unknown at this time. Williams, 53, took over as interim coach when the team fired former coach and sporting director Bruce Arena last month while he was under investigation for “inappropriate and insensitive” comments. Arena resigned on Saturday.
- The Revolution also announced that the club has parted ways with assistant coaches Dave van den Berg and Shali Joseph. Both posted messages of support for Arena on social media after he was placed on leave.
Dramatic story
The revolution players refused to train on Tuesday following Arena’s departure. The athlete This came after a meeting in which Williams was asked about his alleged involvement in the investigation of his former boss. Williams described the team’s absence from training as a collective decision in a press conference later on Tuesday.
On Tuesday morning, Revolution interim sporting director Curt Onalfo met with a number of the Revolution’s senior players to further discuss concerns surrounding Williams’ continued leadership of the club. “A lot of players don’t trust Richie to lead the team now,” said one Revolution player. The athlete.
Arena, 71, resigned after an investigation by Major League Soccer confirmed “certain” allegations. Sources familiar with the investigation said some of the questions asked by investigators centered around comments Arena allegedly made behind closed doors and to his coaching staff.
Williams has a long history with Arena dating back to his playing days at the University of Virginia in the 1980s and 1990s, where Arena was his coach. He was an important part of Arena’s DC United squad during the club’s championship run in the mid-1990s and has coached alongside Arena in various capacities in MLS and with US Soccer. Williams joined the revolution in 2019.
Tuesday was not the first time that members of the Revolution team refused to train during this period of internal conflict in the club. Sources within the club also said that assistant coaches Shali Joseph and Dave van den Berg have withdrawn from coaching on multiple occasions since Williams took over as interim head coach.
Williams said Tuesday that he was not aware of Arena’s resignation until the night it was announced. Club captain Carles Gil was scheduled to speak to the media on Tuesday but did not, with the club saying he was unavailable because the meetings lasted too long. Gill is still expected to address the media this week.
The locker room was broken into while investigating the arena. Several members of the coaching staff, including assistants Josef and van den Berg, have publicly expressed their support for Arena. Neither of them has a contract for the 2024 season, and according to sources within the club, neither is expected to return after the end of this season. Sources said Williams and Joseph clashed frequently, being physically separated on one occasion last season.
The Revolution, which sits in second place in the Eastern Conference at 13-9-5, is scheduled to face the Colorado Rapids on Saturday.
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(Photo: Andrew Katsambis/ISI Images/Getty Images)
