Clint Peay, Dave Romney Talk About Revs' Collaborative Approach

Peay: “We want to make sure that everything that we do, there's buy-in with the players."

Photo Courtesy of Spenser Powell

Interim head coach Clint Peay has taken a collaborative approach to leading the New England Revolution.

Peay was elevated from the second team on Sept. 12, giving him seven games to solidify his tactics and team before the start of the playoffs. Given the short timeframe, Peay has welcomed player feedback.

“We want to make sure that everything that we do, there's buy-in with the players,” Peay explained. “There's an understanding of what we're trying to do, there's clarity, and so that's why there's collaboration with the players.

“We want to understand what they feel like they're capable of doing and what we are capable of doing as a group. We want to make sure that we have those discussions, look at film, talk it through, and then as we think about moving forward it's definitely something where we have to say, ‘All right, what helps us as we look to play in the playoffs? What's the core identity of this team, and maybe how do we get back to that?’”

Although he has liked it, Dave Romney noted that it has taken some time to get used to the collaborative approach.

“Definitely different,” Romney said. “I think it’s something that the guys have taken a liking to, and it’s been a nice collaborative process. It’s very important to remain cohesive, even with a lot of people putting in their opinions, and I think we’ve done a better job this week figuring that out.”

Of course, Peay’s job has been made more difficult by a myriad of absences. This has played a role in the team’s tactics and lineups.

“You constantly have a changing squad with guys coming back from injury, guys going out with injury, and just trying to put the best team on the field and the best formation,” Romney said. “It’s nice to be cohesive and play the same formation week to week, but sometimes that’s not what the health of the squad presents. [Peay has] done a good job managing that.”

This week poses a big challenge as the Revs are heading to Nashville. While Gustavo Bou and Henry Kessler are back on the field, the team will be without several players, including Ian Harkes, Andrew, Farrell, and DeJuan Jones.

The Revs aren’t focusing on who won’t be there, though. Instead, they’re committed to putting together the best possible performance.

Romney explained that Thursday’s media availability had a late start because “we were just doing a defenders’ meeting, looking at clips and how we can clean ourselves up.”

One possibility is that the team might deploy a different formation.

“No matter who you have on the field for us, it’s going to be difficult,” Romney said. “You kind of have to give away one thing if you’re going to stop another, but thankfully we’ll have three big center backs potentially.”

In the end, the Revs are coming together as a team as they prepare for a tough game on Saturday.

Romney said, “We’re going to do the best that we can with what we have this week.”