Nine games left.

The Fire’s season is over but we still have nine games on the calendar. We have to play them. There’s no way around it.

(Technically it’s ten games, but I’m not counting the Bayern Munich friendly. Given that the club is trying to keep it on the downlow, we’re going to abide by that and just sort of overlook it.)

This is the long hard march to the end. To November, and time off, to the inevitable roster blow-up, to whatever decision is made about Pauno, to whatever fuckery is still in the cards between now and draft day. It’s going to suck and it’s going to take forever. And there might be more bad news before the season is officially over.

We have to do this in manageable chunks. First: Montreal. Then one more game, then almost a month off. We’re almost certainly going to drop points in Montreal, but it doesn’t matter anymore. The only thing we have to play for is Not Last, and you’re best off emotionally preparing to miss that target.

Have your preferred coping mechanisms on hand. Prepare for the worst. Keep moving.

Chicago Fire all-time MLS record vs Montreal Impact: 6W-5D-6L, 24 GF / 22 GA, 23 pts out of 51

Chicago Fire away MLS record vs Montreal Impact: 2W-2D-5L, 13 GF / 10 GA, 8 pts out of 27

Previously On...

Montreal are winless in four games and not feeling great about life. Normally I’d say they were ripe for the picking. But the Fire are terrible, so we’re heading into this game as underdogs, as per usual.

Suggested Lineup

Sanchez; Corrales, Campbell, Kappelhof, Vincent; Schweinsteiger, McCarty; Katai, Bronico, Edwards; Nikolic

I suspect the actual lineup will be closer to last week’s. Because Pauno sure as fuck doesn’t care anymore.

Keys To The Match

#Free101: Rescind the ban on Sector Latino immediately.

Talk About It: Agree to meetings with Section 8 about the myriad issues that have eroded trust between the club and supporters.

Score First: They haven’t been listening to me on this for two months so I don’t expect that to change now.

How To Watch

Television: N/A

Streaming: ESPN+

Final Thoughts

Can the Fire make this worth giving up two hours of our lives? Let us know in the comments below!