Dynamo acquire Omar Cummings from the Rapids for Nathan Sturgis and allocation money

From Darrell Lovell on Twitter:
.@HoustonDynamo will announce tomorrow AM that they have acquired Omar Cummings from the Rapids for Nathan Sturgis and allocation money.

He's 30 now. He was very good in 2010 (when Colorado won the Cup). He was injured a bit in 2011 and hasn't quite been the same player. However, if he gains a fraction of the form he had in 2010 then I think he will help us a lot. He had six goals last year for the Rapids and I think he will help ease the pressure off of Bruin. Cummings seems like he could play a wing type in the 4-3-3 as well, but I'm not sure about his defensive qualities?

Irie mon. Hope he has a successful stint here. If he wants to play, he will defend.

Interesting acquisition. Cummings only made like $90K last year.

Yeah I don't know what to say about this. High hopes.

that price makes this a great add.. hope he fits.

Losing Sturgis and Hainault really hurts our depth on the back line.

Colin Rolfe waived... lost in the details of the press release.

uh.. did i miss something?

Hainault has been given a bona fide offer, but he's exploring options elsewhere. If he doesn't find anything and wants to return to MLS, the Dynamo have the first crack.

He played well with Conor Casey, but struggled after Casey's injury. I like the chances that our coaching staff figures out how to use him effectively.

The chron article about the US v Canada game talked about Hainault coming back to visit his former stadium. I figured they new something.

He did play well with Casey. He was no slouch without him either, but the team without him never included anyone who was noteworthy for finishing. While Casey was better than average his goal scoring exploits prior to the Rapids had a lot of us worried that he'd be a failure.

A lot of people will bring up the 2010 season when he scored 14 goals which was great. But, as the second forward it's always worth noting that he lead the league in 2009 - tied with Brad Davis - in assists. He then lead the Rapids in assists in 2011 even with his injury woes. Casey owes a lot of his goals to Omar.

The final thing is, is that while 2011 was a year of injury, 2012 was a new coach. Comparing Oscar to Dom as to ability to get the best out of players I think most people would bet on Kinnear. Pareja is supposed to bring us beautiful soccer in Colorado, which is a chaotic work in progress. Omar flourished under Smith, and I'd guess that Dom is a little closer to him than to Pareja.

Treat Omar well, he's a good guy as well as a good player.

Frankly a surprise.

I wonder if that tells us we are going after one of the CB in the draft?

Sturgis put in some extremely important minutes this year...we will miss him...good luck Nathan...
Andre may be back but he will be difficult to replace if not...he has been money in the stretch run...Brunner?
excited to see what Omar brings...this may be the speed merchant we have been looking for...although I really liked the Will/Calen pairing in the playoffs...

is this it?

...........Bruin..........Cummings....
......................OBG.......................
Davis....................................Carr
......................Rico........................
Ashe.....Taylor.......BB.....Sarkodie
......................Hall..........................

Ching
Weaver
Kandji
Moffat
Camargo
Barnes
Creavalle
Watson
Dixon
Brunner
Deric

great depth at midfield!

Steve Davis agrees that it's a good move for Houston:

http://prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com/2012/12/23/houston-gets-stronger-with-trade-for-omar-cummings/

my wish list was a capable, speedy partner for Bruin and a true CAM (emphasis on TRUE). 1 down, 1 to go.

the thing is now the CAM doesn't necessarily have to be speedy since you have quick guys on the wing, up front, at the back positions, at CB and in the beserker destroying mid position.

Yup. I also suggested earlier that we needed both - a fast forward and an actual attacking mid - so that we can stop trying to force defensive mids into an attacking mid role.

IIRC, I read something about Chelis saying that he watched MLS Cup and concluded that the teams didn't use the midfield. He was surely referring to the lack of pacing of the game, and quick connections forward, that a real attacking mid can help control. He was right.

I hope that we're still looking for someone whose skills are actually suited for that role. We'll see.

Carr is likely out until mid season at best. OBG stays wide and I think Camargo and Barnes fight for the center mid position. Also Kandji is not signed yet. A lot of work left.

What about the Jamaica connection? Any news on the status of Watson? Aren't all (3) Cummings, Watson and Taylor called up on a regular basis?

I don't know about Watson but, yes, we do have a huge part of Jamaica's talentN which will be a problem this year.

Love this move as Omar is a proven striker, great set-up man. While I agree with @*rey* that we need an AM, I don't think we have to go buy one....if Giles is back to his pre-injury form. He showed flashes this year and with a whole pre-season with Dom, he may be the answer.

It's still an issue for WCQs, but Jamaica didn't qualify for the Gold Cup, so at least we won't lose them for those games.

I agree with El Naranja that Barnes is a possibility and having a full pre-season may make a big difference. But I don't think I saw anything about his play so far to make me think he can control the pace of play -- slow down, not just speed up. After all, he is English. We'll see.

Kyle McCarthy tweets: