I’ve spent the last few days trying to figure out the words to describe the feeling I felt, sitting inside Red Bull Arena on Saturday night, as I watched manager Mike Petke, a former player, speak to the crowd via video presentation about the resilience, passion, and commitment. I truly had no idea what may come next. I knew it wasn’t a player acquisition, since sporting director Andy Roxburgh had confirmed that Red Bulls would be placing all their betting cash on the current group that has battled it’s way to a mostly disappointing follow up to last year’s Supporter’s Shield season.
RBNY: As Long as We’re Breathing, Metro Lives On
Let’s frame this up a little bit, just to make sure you, fair reader, understand just what the Metros mean to many supporters that have been kicking around this club since their first match in 1996.
This was supposed to be the MLS version of the New York Giants, Yankees, Knicks, or Rangers. Those clubs are beloved. That love is passed down through generations, and many supporters will tell stories of Tony Meola’s heroics, or that season Juan Pablo Angel lit up MLS for 20 goals, or that night when Thierry Henry scored on Olympico. I know that this writer intends to tell these stories to my hypothetical child. It bridges the generational inheritance that MLS, a young league by world football standards, seems to so desperately miss.
So let’s talk about the nod to the past. It’s been 8 years since Red Bull GmbH bought the Metrostars, and summarily rebranded them to fit in with their own sporting culture. The man in charge of this transition was on Marc de Grandpre. I won’t go too much into the history de Grandpre has had with this club, but his departure was fairly unceremonious, and his recent return to the club as Head of Business Operations filled many with a bit of trepidation, despite being successful at KIND Snacks, and IMAX.
However, this writer’s eyes were raised by an incredibly open and candid interview done on the podcast Seeing Red by Mark Fishkin and Dave Martinez. He addressed the direction of the club honestly, and even though he all but confirmed there wouldn’t be a third metro-designed kit, there would be a nod to the past. This writer, for one, even though I was skeptical, hoped that he would make good on that promise.
Let’s talk about promises broken by the current set of boy scouts heading up the club. Andy Roxburgh promised three moves, and instead the Red Bulls only made one, a straight up trade for forward Saer Sene. Even though Sene is a mountain of a man, and scored a goal vs CD Fas in Champions League play, he has been largely unimpressive in the limited MLS minutes he’s earned. Some are willing to give him a mulligan because he hasn’t played many minutes in nearly two years, but I’m not sure that’s justified. That said, that’s a promise broken by Foxy Roxy.
Next, you have Mike Petke, a Metro folk hero, speaking about building a program more in line with the successful organizations of Sporting Kansas City and Real Salt Lake. With the success of NPSL’s U-21 Red Bulls (the won their league’s championship), one thought that building their own USLPro side was right around the corner, and although that’s something Petke wanted, Roxburgh confirmed that will not be happening this year. Another promise broken.
Let’s get back to Saturday night. There were announcements and reminders coming from press people like myself, reminders from supporters groups to their membership, and it all created a buzz. There was Dino Neral’s tifo design, featuring a message aimed at the club’s new noisy neighbors. With NYCFC coming into MLS next season, one could feel the rising tension in the Red Bulls fan base. But, enter Marc de Grandpre, and on Saturday night, in a presentation that was part playoff rally and part statement to the nouveau riche Blue Team, a banner, designed by long time supporter Garry Redman, was unfurled. One would think that such a minimal gesture would not get much reaction, but it meant so much to the fans watching the banners drop from the corners of the arena. At first, there was some mild clapping, for the end of the video presentation, but as the banner dropped, the applause became a seemingly unattainable roar that continued into the start of the match and right through Bradley Wright-Phillips’ first goal of the night just thirty seconds into the match.
For those looking for those seminal moments, maybe one has to look no further than the word of one Marc de Grandpre. This club made a statement. The Metros are going nowhere.
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