So the deal fell apart on salary considerations and not because of Bliss's comments? Another good story ruined.
Grossman...........SUCKS!!!!!! Balchan..............SUCKS!!!!!! DUKA.................SUCKS!!!!!!! Our FO's ability to do their job and find half talent as swipes to fill our roster.............SUCKS!!!!!
Wouldn't be surprised if they're looking to dump Oduro, it seemed like any patience with him had been worn out towards the back end of last summer. Bit of a donkey but he's got goals before and that kind of pace to stretch teams is something I think we've lacked for a long time. Also, and probably more likely, given that they've recently brought in Lindpere and especially now with Larentowicz, perhaps even trying to unload one of their d-mids Pause (which would be hard to believe and obviously a non-starter from our end) or Pardo (also, no thanks).
When we took up Duka's option was it for one year? If so at this point we haven't done much this off season he probably won't be back out of mutual dissatisfaction. Trade him for as high a draft pick as we can get keep the salary for a year and get something good for him. Either that or do something to make me believe we can win this year.
Oduro improved a lot last season, but he's not a good enough finisher to be anything other than a bench option. I think Chicago knows this and that's why they brought in another forward last year, but I don't see any reason for them to dump him unless they like someone in the draft.
Which means no one has bitten yet. Why did we tip our hand two weeks ago? When everyone knows you're desperate to get rid of a guy, his value immediately plummets.
This for me reaffirms what I just wrote, it's time to move on. He and Robert seem to have a mutual disdain for each other keeping that in the clubhouse won't do any good for the team this year. Turn him into Manneh, Zavaleta, or Hurtado and I'll be fine with that we need to get this chapter over with though.
Yup. For what it's worth, Ives also mentioned Duka's salary as being a sticking point for a few interested teams. He thought the Crew might have to eat some of it for a deal to happen.
The league's not too big. I expect it's an open secret and has been for some time. Heck Duka left the field in a noticeable huff and we've been talking about it for a while. I think Bliss was making one last attempt to get Dilly to shape up. He's not the first nor will he be the last coach/GM/TD to do something like this. Now Bliss may have been dumb here. But he might not be either. I'd expect the salary is the biggest issue--a lot of money for a guy who hadn't really proven himself yet, when he had the chance.
Likewise, we've had a few turn out better here--like Hesmer and Danny, and Gaven. To me it's more proof that the draft is a cr*pshoot.
According to Jardy, we're talking to Chicago about Oduro and allocation money for Duka. Not a bad move.
Oduro makes $112k and fills a need as a bench option with speed at the right price. Also, we get to dump an overpaid, injury prone malcontent on our biggest rival. I think it's a pretty good move.
Meh I've never been overly impressed with Oduro, he needs to be on a break to score, he doesn't seem to do will when in traffic. I doubt we'd get much money either because they've already balked at Duka's salary.
Lasted image of Oduro was both NorOnTours I've been to there, he torching our squad. That was not cool to see in person.
But the trade frees up an international slot for them, which could be an incentive. Oduro isn't the best finisher in the world, but no one you bring in as a bench forward is going to be. The only possibly better alternative would be drafting someone, but you never know what you're getting there. Oduro is a known commodity to the FO, and we now their stance on drafting "unknown commodities."