The Bonfire | Man Down | S4:E56

The regular season is over so John and Tim get philosophical sitting around The Bonfire. The duo break down the team's 4-3 Decision Day loss to the Columbus Crew at SeatGeek, and John, feeling literary, turns it into a synecdoche for the entire season.The two break down what they didn't like from the loss, including defensive lapses and a lack of passion, but try to find rays of hope, including a strong performance from Robert Lewandowski and the increased minutes seen in this one from André Franco. The two try to avoid getting into talk about the Fire's upcoming first round matchup against Charlotte, but can't help but look ahead to the playoffs and look around them at the Eastern Conference's playoff field.

Decision Day is upon us and the Fire have one more game to play – this one's their only regular season SeatGeek match of the season as they face a radically different Columbus Crew than the team they met in Ohio at the beginning of the year. John and Tim talk about what to expect from the Laurent Courtois-coached side. Then the duo – who may or may not be unofficial co-presidents of the French coach's fan club – are joined by a special guest. Official Friend of the pod Kevin Egan grabs a seat around The Bonfire for the second time in as many weeks to talk about what's at stake for the Fire and why they definitely want to host Charlotte in the first game of their playoff campaign. Then the MLS on Apple TV lead host makes the case for why this is the best date on the schedule ahead of his eight hour-long marathon in the studio on Saturday.

John and Tim are back to celebrate many a return.  The Fire return to their winning ways, Andre Franco returns to action, Jonathan Bamba returns to his early season form, and Robert Lewandowski returns to scoring!  The guys spend time winding through the plethora of attacking options Gregg has at his disposal and how he may deploy them come playoff time against Charlotte. They do take a detour to less positive stations, checking back in on the decision to bench Andrew Gutman for Noah Allen, which inevitably leads to John crashing out about - and stop me if you've heard this one -  roster building!This one has everything you could ask for, the good, the bad, the ugly, the epic highs and lows of Chicago Fire Football. Tune in to hear it all on the latest episode of The Bonfire!

Check out Andrew’s work for Backheeled here: https://www.backheeled.com/who-best-mls-spending-transfers-ranking-every-cso-designated-players/SUBSCRIBE TO THE HOTLINE: https://www.meninred97.com/#/portal/signupTim and John are joined by Andrew Clausen of Backheeled.com as the Fire battle back but settle for a draw in the last (scheduled) Soldier Field game of 2026. The trio talk the difference Griezmann has made for Orlando, both in this game and 2026, what that says about the Fire and Lewandowski moving forward.  After a bit of banter, Andrew then walks through his latest analysis for Backheeled breaking down the effectiveness of the top decision makers in MLS when targeting Designated Players.  He breaks down the methodology, some of the results and of course lets the guys know where Gregg falls in the pecking order. Then focus shifted to the upcoming game against the Colorado Rapids and what could be in store for the Fire as they take on a side that has gotten some good results in 2026 despite serious ‘flux’. Andrew breaks down the tactics of what Colorado wants to do while Tim and John discuss how the Fire may be able to take advantage of the structure (and maybe get a penalty off old friend Miguel Navarro). All this and more on the latest episode of The Bonfire!

After a decade of trying, the Fire finally head out of Atlanta with a win. John and Tim break down the Fire's 3-2 victory over Atlanta United, focusing in on why it might not feel like it's exactly time for a victory lap. From Robert Lewandowski's ongoing scoring drought to concerns with the defense and midfield, there are a lot of questions about whether the team is ready to meet the standards they've set o1ut for 2026. After talking about what they didn't like – and a few things they did, including Anzor Mekvabishvili's strong play in the second half – the duo turn to Wednesday's game against Orlando City, the Fire's final scheduled matchup at Soldier Field in 2026, as Lewandowski is once again set to face off against Antoine Griezmann.

An old friend of the Fire returns as Kevin Egan joins John and Tim around The Bonfire. The lead MLS on Apple TV host and former Fire broadcaster talks about why he's excited by Chicago's resurgence. Talking about his experience in the summer of 2013, when Mike Magee joined and made the Fire a must-watch (and can't-lose) team through through the summer, Kevin tells us why he believes this is "the most exciting time ever to be a Fire fan." He then says why he thinks Saturday's showdown in Atlanta is a "must-win" game for the Fire as they push for playoff positioning, making Saturday's matchup key to the team's ambitions this year.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE HOTLINE: https://www.meninred97.com/#/portal/signupIn their last test against a top team before the playoffs the Fire fall to New England 1-0.. but still manage to clinch a playoff spot!Andrew Gutman returned, Andreas Hanche-Olsen debuted, and the Fire may have found themselves on the wrong side of some questionable officiating yet again. Tim and John get together to break down the consistent issues that keep popping up, If the Fire are really set up for success in a playoff run, and what the attitude inside the locker room might be. All this and more, on The Bonfire!

For the second game in a row, the Fire can't seem to stop themselves from counting down from 11. This time, it's Captain Jack who's sent off after getting two yellows against the Philadelphia Union, his former team, and for reasons to dumb to get into, he'll miss the Fire's two next games. Down a man, the Fire couldn't hold onto the lead that Maren's absolute beauty of a goal gave them. John and Tim break down a performance where the Fire didn't show enough backbone to a playoff spot before looking forward to the possibility of a revenge game against the Revs this Saturday.

We're back - in more ways than one. John is back around The Bonfire, proving to all the doubters that he is, in fact, still alive, and he and Tim break down a pair of impressive wins for the Men In Red. There's a lot to like in the victories over Vancouver and New York City, including the play of Maren Haile-Selassie, fresh off a new deal that will keep him in Chicago for the long haul. John and Tim break it all down as they keep one eye on the impending arrival of the white-hot Philadelphia Union on Wednesday.

The Bonfire is once again burning. Ahead of the Fire's match against Vancouver at Soldier Field, Tim is joined by Joe Chatz to preview the match.With John currently doing whatever the exact opposite of a vacation is, the duo wax poetic about Puso Dithejane's first international goal for Bafana Bafana, before casually mentioning that Robert Lewandowski got a hatty and a yellow for country. The latter matters because it means that he'll be back in Chicago and set to join his Fire squad as they take on the team at the top of the west.