r/FCCincinnati • u/Over-Kaleidoscope700 • 12h ago
A letter to Pat
Dear Pat,
You took the reins of a team at its lowest point. Three consecutive last-place finishes, zero hope, zero desire. A dysfunctional team with little to no true leadership, exhausted fans, and a city expecting nothing but losing season after losing season for years to come. In your first year, you brought real change, immediately leading this team to not only our first winning season but also our first playoff berth. I traveled to Philadelphia to watch this team finish out the season. Shook hands with Ray Gaddis on the sidelines, thanked Chris and his family on the concourse, and met the Celentano family at the supporters’ bar.
The year after that, you led the team to something most of us would’ve never dreamed of two years prior - a Supporters’ Shield. Our first piece of hardware, a TQL Stadium that was a virtually impenetrable fortress, and a team with passion and desire.
The season that followed was much the same. The team, with some notable changes (Alvaro, we miss you and your thighs), continued to perform at a high level. While no hardware came home with us, the team still looked promising, and you continued to demonstrate how we needed to prepare game by game. I’ll never forget seeing the lineup before the Miami home game in the beloved sword formation for the first time and coming away with a 6-1 win at the Teeq. Pure bliss! No trophies this season, but we could all see the desire was there and the dream was alive.
On to the Evander era. A mostly new team. Supporters’ Shield challengers still, or at least playoff contenders. Investment. And what most of us continue to hope for — change. We finally beat Columbus in the playoffs! And then 2026 rolls around. We somehow managed to still be contenders for the top four spots in the conference pre-World Cup, but it was obvious that something needed to change. That break offered us something that, in a normal season, we would never have had: the opportunity to consistently practice something different. Something new. And we saw that you saw the same thing! We played against Burnley following the World Cup break and demonstrated that we could perform in a different formation, with rotated personnel, and still put on an exciting and ultimately victorious performance. We all had hope that we could see more of that tactical flexibility from you. What followed was just 4 wins from 15 games. Two losses to an in-state rival. One released captain figure. Four new first-team players. Favorable circumstances like a short-sided Montreal team and a heavily rotated rival. Four wins in 15. Zero change. Zero hope.
Pat, I do not proclaim myself to be a tactical genius. I do not think that I know your players better than you do. You work with them every day; I do not. I can continue to tell my wife that I’d love to see what this team could do in a 4-4-2, a sword formation, with actual center backs in the backfield, or with an actual striker pairing up top (sorry Kenji, I swear you were drafted as a left back?). But the fact of the matter is, you are the one being paid to do this job. I’m not the professional, you are.
And truthfully, hearing your press conference where you said “we don’t need new strategies” has taken away any remaining hope I had. Sitting through that rivalry game where we created 24 chances, but not a single one looked promising until the final five minutes, should have told you that yes - we clearly do need to change something.
But you continue to tell the media, the fans, and the team that we need to stick with the status quo. As a fan, that statement hurts almost as much as the 2-0 loss at home. It proves what those of us in the stands have felt for weeks now: that there is zero hope for change. Zero hope for a playoff run. Zero hope for positivity. Zero hope that we may hear Mr. Brightside at home again. Zero hope that this team will lift a trophy in this lifetime. Zero hope that the investment this team has made will result in change.
With all that being said, we will continue to show up and support this team. The Bailey will still dance. The beer will still flow. Not because we have hope, but because we love this city and we love this club. I beg of you to rethink your position on change, because this team needs it. Regardless of what is happening in the locker room, we need you to make a change. And if no change is made by you, I fear that the biggest change at the end of the day will need to be you. While I have no hope that this team will change, I do hope that you read this note and put the team before your ego.
Regardless of what happens in the future, you will always be remembered as the man who changed the trajectory of our club. We will always thank you for that. All we ask for is one last change.
Sincerely,
An FCC Fan with very little hope left
