This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Sandy • A portion of the Real Salt Lake fan base has grown increasingly irritated with coach Jeff Cassar's delivery in postgame press conferences this year. Following Wednesday night's 1-0 loss to the Portland Timbers, RSL's lengthy playoff streak was all but snapped.

Cassar said he wasn't frustrated with the way RSL played. As his comments were relayed to fans via social media, the anger spewed following each loss this season surfaced once again. For some time, fans have wanted Cassar to voice frustration himself. Some wanted anger, which some believe to be passion. It's been a recurring theme, but certainly not exclusive to RSL or Cassar.

Fans have blasted the second-year head coach when he doesn't say what they want to hear.

After Friday's training session, I told Cassar of those voicing their opinions on his postgame comments this season.

And here's what he said:

"Well, listen, we have to be thinking for the next game. Obviously no one is happy about a loss, no one is happy about not qualifying for the playoffs. But, we still have a job to do. I have to get as much as I can out of these players. They know. We talk. Because I don't say it to the press, doesn't mean it's not discussed within our team. I don't need to air our talks with everyone. That's not what you do.

"I'm a positive person, but everyone knows we need to work on things, we need to get better at things. I'm not sugarcoating it so people think we're happy with what's going on. But we have to move on, you've got to prepare for the next game, you've got to learn from your mistakes and sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't, but you've got to keep doing the right things, keep going the course and I think we've made some good strides in areas and [some] areas we haven't, but no one's happy. Of course not."

Cassar continued discussing RSL's transitional year in 2015, taking a step back and hoping the lull isn't an elongated one. And he touches on change, which could be a central theme to yet another RSL offseason.

"We've tasted success. We've had success for so long," he said. "This was a step back, but sometimes a step back can also have you step forward in some areas. There's areas we need to improve — on the field and off the field — and we're going to address those as soon as the season's over and we're going to look to get better in every area; both in the staff, both on the team and we'll address those when the season's over."

-Chris Kamrani

Twitter: @chriskamrani