To say new Boston Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine is a little different than Terry Francona is to say that Rex Ryan has a somewhat different media approach than Bill Belichick.  Well, perhaps, the Valentine-Francona gap isn’t that large, but it is something new for Red Sox Nation to adjust to. Will the Valentine way work?

If it’s possible to be both optimistic and skeptical all in one thought, then I’ve managed when it comes to this subject. The optimistic side of me says this—Valentine’s blunt approach and his unwillingness to cover for his players with the media is exactly what this team needs right now. The current roster abused the right to be covered for when they partied away a playoff berth in the clubhouse last September. The skeptical side of me says that this isn’t San Diego, where a manager might be needed to call players to accountability. In Boston you have a huge fan base and vitriolic media establishment that’s more than ready to do that, and a smart manager can effectively use both the fans and press to his advantage in a Good Cop/Bad Cop routine.

So which is it? I think for the coming year at least, perhaps the next two, the Valentine approach will be what’s needed. There’s simply way too much justification going on among the players about the root causes of last September’s collapse. And I’m sorry, they were not injuries. Losing Clay Bucholz and Kevin Youkilis are a valid excuse if you want to talk about a minor fade to the wild-card and losing the first round of the playoffs. They are not a reason why a team that went 81-42 in the middle part of the season and looked every bit a World Series team would suddenly go 7-20. I love Clay and Youk too, but nobody’s that good. Valentine will bring an accountability that Francona had been around too long to suddenly start instilling now.

But over the long haul, I think there’s no question that a manager has to have Francona’s outlook on things. Answer every question as blandly as possible. Have the players’ back under any and all circumstances, even if on occasion that means you look foolish defending the indefensible. Turn the clubhouse into a refuge from the madness and create an environment where talent can relax and thrive in a baseball culture where it’s difficult to do that.

Francona’s players abused the opportunity their manager gave them. Valentine can restore order, but in time he’ll need to relax if he wants to have real long-term success. Given that the new manager is 61 years old, that’s not likely. Which makes it good that he’s only signed to a two-year deal.

FANFEEDR HOT TAKE

Red Sox Hot Take/ Are The Red Sox A Likeable Team?

I had an e-mail exchange today with a longtime friend of mine who is also a Red Sox fan. He’s a cradle Sox fan, while I’m a convert (circa 1996), and he lamented the lack of players on the current team that you can really root for. It wasn’t a question of whether to root for the team, but any fan who doesn’t live on a steady diet of Kool-Aid will admit to themselves there are times when you root for a team because you really love the players, and other times when you root for them just because it’s your duty. In the wake of the fried chicken fiasco, have the Red Sox at a phase in their history when the latter is true?

FANFEEDR HOT TAKE

Red Sox Hot Take/ Why Dice-K Needs To Make It Back

Daisuke Matsuzaka is steadily working and trying to get back on the mound for the Boston Red Sox. The righthander is working in the bullpen and while he feels his mechanics are “way off”, in the words of manager Bobby Valentine, his arm is feeling better. Valentine has no plans to use Dice-K in a spring training game, but an eventual return to the rotation is seen as a solid possibility.