Chicago Fire drop another one, end night as worst in league

The result of Saturday night's soccer game at Toyota Park - the Chicago Fire lost 1-0 to expansion Orlando City SC - meant little to the home team.

The only item of relevance is that the Fire did add to its team record for losses in a season.

"Of course everyone is down," said Fire forward David Accam. "It's difficult. The best thing is we have a game again (Wednesday at Montreal), so we have to keep ourselves up and go again on Wednesday."

The Fire (7-16-6, 27 points) had little chance of making the playoffs before the game, even less afterward.

What means more is how the Fire approaches this off-season.

The Fire finished the night as the worst team in MLS, virtually assured of missing the playoffs for a fifth time in the last six seasons.

Change is needed, and in some form it will come in the off-season. But the Fire will have to tread carefully with any changes, because one of its problems over the years has been seemingly constant change.

So starting at the very top of the organization, the Fire will have to answer the simple question: Does it know how to become a successful franchise?

It's a question that must start with owner Andrew Hauptman.

It's a question that chief operating officer Atul Khosla will have to answer.

It's a question that Fire coach and director of soccer Frank Yallop, should Hautpman decided to bring him back for the third year of a three-year contract, will have to answer.

At long last, how can they get this right?

Yallop chose not to talk about the off-season just yet.

Accam didn't want to talk about off-season changes either.

"That question is for the coach," he said, "but obviously we need more help. If you're getting the same result every game - even though we play well - it's the same result. I think maybe, maybe we need help."

So do many Fire fans, who continued to protest the club's losing ways. Many wore black. In Section 8 they waved black flags with a white skull and crossbones on them.

Two requests to Major League Soccer for comment on the Fire's failures and the fan protests were acknowledged but not answered.

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