“As FC Cincinnati transitions to Major League Soccer,” growls the narrator, “our promise is to Ignite and Unite.” Fans cheer wildly on the promotional video. Blue and orange smoke bellows.



“Ignite the passion,” he further explains, “and unite Cincinnati.”



The slogan for FC Cincinnati’s inaugural season rhymes, but that’s just about all it has going for it. Cincy haven’t been igniting much of anything this year. If anything, the club’s front office has been hard at work putting out fires of its own, including the dismissal of their first MLS head coach amidst widely reported discord in the locker room and the early departure of high-profile loanee Kenny Saief. Cincy sit at the bottom of MLS’ Eastern Conference and haven’t shown any significant signs of life in weeks.



Perhaps a more apt slogan for FCC’s 2019 would be the one found on an evangelical billboard about an hour...