When New England Revolution head coach Steve Nicol leads his team out of the locker room on Sunday at Pizza Hut Park, he will take his place on the sideline against the Los Angeles Galaxy for the second time in an MLS Cup Final. But Nicol's experience at the highest levels goes well beyond that one game three Novembers ago just outside of Boston.
A former Scotland national team player and veteran of what is now known as the English Premier League, Nicol has been in professional soccer for about 25 years, starting his career at age 18 when he signed with Ayr United. After 467 appearances for Liverpool Football Club, during which the team won four English League titles, three FA Cups and the 1984 European Cup, Nicol is no stranger to the "big game."
So what does the man with the thick Scottish brogue plan to do to psych up his team? Try nothing.
"You're really trying to keep things down, keep it as normal as possible," Nicol said after his team's one-hour workout on the stadium field at Pizza Hut Park on Saturday afternoon. "Obviously there's a lot more stuff going on with the media, but you have to approach it with the right attitude, do your bit, and then get yourself back to the hotel and get rested."
After so many years spent in the upper echelons of the British soccer world and a four-year stint at Notts County as a player/manager, Nicol brought his game to the United States. He became a player/coach with the Boston Bulldogs in the D3 Pro League, but was clearly on the radar at the Revolution's front office. Nicol's first MLS experience came at the tail end of the 1999 season, winning two games as an interim head coach.
Nicol went back to the Bulldogs for the next two seasons, before finally being recalled in 2002 when he joined the Revs full time as an assistant. A coaching change early in the season left Nicol as the top man again, taking over as interim head coach for the team's last 21 games of the campaign. He hasn't looked back since, and neither have the Revs.
Two key elements to Nicol's success throughout his career have been his fierce competitiveness and work rate, combined with a sharp sense of humor.
"I think [my competitiveness] does effect [the players]," he said. "If it can help them, that's great. I think the majority of the guys we've got have that competitive spirit anyway. If some of mine rubs off on them, well that's a bonus."
The Revolution players seem more certain that their boss's fighting spirit tends to trickle down.
"His competitiveness is unparalleled, like nothing I've ever seen before," said rookie midfielder James Riley, who has blossomed under Nicol's tutelage. "Especially seeing him on the bench at times and being right next to him."
Forward Taylor Twellman, the league's Honda MVP and winner of the Budweiser Golden Boot, agrees, and also sees that Nicol is drawn to players who exude similar qualities.
"You can just see it in everybody's faces in the guys he's drafted and the guys he's brought in," Twellman said. "It's a bunch of guys that are competitive and they want to win and they'll do anything they can and they play hard for 95 minutes and that's all attributed to Stevie Nicol and the way he coaches."
And part of the way he coaches is by using humor to get through to his players.
"It's about as important as it possibly could be to have a good sense of humor in this game, because there are times during seasons when you need it," said Nicol. "Things don't always go according to plan."
"The humor is definitely fantastic; it keeps it light," said Riley. "When it's time to have fun we have fun, and when it's time to get down to business we can do that as well."
Jonathan Nierman is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
