Clearblue is not an agent people, but he does have pretty good access to a sampling of the U.S. "soccer community..." The Magpie
Look, if Clearblue has the names of the "high ranking administration" officials who leaked Valerie Plame's name to Robert Nowak, I'm sure the whole country (well, not quite the whole country) would appreciate it if he just came forward and spilled the beans. What were we talking about again?
Well, to get back on track... 1. Revolution recently had a tryout, and from what I understand, training camp opens up in the next week down at Foxboro. 2. At said tryout, there are conflicting reports as to whether Richie Baker (attacking midfielder out of Ireland) was in attendance. There's some photographic evidence to suggest he was, but there have been conflicting reports suggesting he might not have been there, if the Revs know about him, etc. In short, there's a great deal of confusion as to the situation and precous little clarity. Thing is, he's pretty much the only thing to talk about at this point - there's just nothing coming out of Foxboro. Granted, the Patriots have probably kidnapped Brad Feldman to help out with the Super Bowl media effort, and historically the club has been a black hole in terms of information during the off-season... but there's not much in the way of "hot stove" talk to discuss. Thus, why I spend a few extra minutes trying to track down information about some trialist from New York who probably last played in high school and would be lucky to make the Irish Village amatuer side ;-) The Magpie
Yes, clearblue's right: Richie Baker was at the tryouts last Thursday. Baker, who is indeed short in stature (a quality player; very good overall skills), is the chap in the aforementioned photograph.
OK, so which one is he? Could he be the wee man 4th from the right? The guy in the center with #21 in white looks a little like his mug shot, but that guy looks like he's got a bit of a gut to be a real player. At least I figured out which one is Brilliant... Tom
Actually heard back from a member of Shelbourne's front office. They also confirm Baker is the guy pictured 4th from the right. You know, all the interest and speculation related to Baker would seem a bit funny and perhaps overboard under ordinary circumstances. However, when you consider he's pretty much the only player spoken of in terms of an outside (MLS) acquisition by the Revs to this point. That's a good bit atypical considering the number of players we usually hear about come off-season... hey, this could be a good thing. It will be interesting to see how things play out. The Magpie
FWIW, RevsNet checked with a member of the Revolution Front Office today who would neither confirm nor deny that Richie Baker was at the try out the other day.
You probably hear of more players comeing in on the offseason than I do, but it seems that the bulk of the players that I heard about last year weren't brought in until Nowak's retirement. Did anyone who was at the tryout notice the play of the mysterious "4th guy from the right"? Is he even worth signing?
thats what I'm thinking at this point too...I'm guessing he won't come close to pushing Cancela out of his spot and if he is more of a wing player, Ralston has always been solid and with Kamler and possibly Dempsey on the left I can't see a need for a third player there. Unless this is the beginning of a project for a replacement for Ralston...?
I don't think it's all that nuts. Here's a guy who seems to have dropped into our lap. (Did the Revs recruit him? If so, I didn't read it here.) According to the Shels fans, he can really play. Time will tell, obviously, but if he's that good a player, Nicol will find a place for him, regardless of who else is on the bench. In all likelihood, Dempsey will need a little grooming to step into the line-up, and as SN said, who knows where he will fit best? As far as Baker's size goes, isn't he about the same size as Robert Pires? But why all the cloak-and-dagger stuff from Revs management?
1. They just like to play things close to the vest. 2. He's really a pretty good player and they don't want someone swooping in for him. - or - 3. Both.
Answers for nothin', and the tickets ain't free Choose from below: A) They don't know B) No one told them C) They can't be bothered to find out D) They are too busy to find out E) It's all Patriots, all the time, baby
Also don't completely discount the possibility that they're keeping things on the hush-hush to avoid generating interest from other teams and thereby to avoid the need for having to use a Discovery spot to claim him? Just a thought...
As one coach who used to call this same plot of land his work address: "I'm in the business of collecting information, not giving it out." I said it before, and I'll say it again: Steve Nicol has a lot in common with Bill Belichick.
We must recognize that we will be seeing one or more of the Rev starters playing a lot of National Team matches this summer and that means depth. Possibles: Noonan TNT Ralston Kante (non US) Joseph (non US) Brown With an 18 man senior roster SN must figure out who---might---be gone and who can play where. One thing about Dempsey is that he seems to be spmeone who can play many roles. Just how flexable Baker is might be key in any decision the Revs will make about hs value to the team. George
As a Shels fan, I hope Baker goes on to do well well over there. He can be a bit lazy at times, but he's got class when he wants to show it and is always a guy you'd rather have on your side then against it. Ronnie O'Brien seems to be very popular over there with you guys and I'm guessing Baker is capable of making as big an impact from what I've seen of the two of them. I'll probably be in America around summer time, maybe I'll get a look at Richie in action
I didn't mean should we sign someone who plays his position. I meant, based on his play at the open tryout, is he a good enough player that we should sign him?
Second-hand news I play on a team with several Irish guys and I asked if anyone knew of Baker. One guy who follows the game pretty closely (even though he's an Evil Manc) knew him as a Shelbourne player and said he'd seen him play a few times. This is his take: He scored a "hatful" of goals for Shels, and is a "typical Paddy" (his words, not mine), meaning a tough, hard nosed player who won't back down to a challenge and has a big heart. He's not that small, a lot more the size of Steve Ralston than Johnny Torres. He's definitely an offensive player, and has played up front as well as in an attacking mid role. My friend Padraig wasn't sure if he was a left sided player or not, but definitely a two-way player. Sounds like Nicol's kind of guy! So, given the need for versatality, how about playing Baker and Ralston on the wide sides, and moving Kamler in Central D where he has more than enough speed. If Baker can play 3 midfield positions as well as up front, Noonan can play outside mid or up front, Kam can play in the back and wide left, Joseph can play either A or D mid, not to mention central D, we all of a sudden have ourselves some options, given the inevitable suspensions, injuries, call-ups and whatever else prevents us from going the whole season with the same starting 11. Tom
Interesting point about Kamler. With the loss of Cullen our depth in terms of fairly skilled players who can play a number of positions went down fast. Most of our best players are specialists (Twellman, Brown, Cancela, Ralston) who can't really be moved around without wrecking their equilibrium. Ralston may not fit this category but he is small for defense and is one of the players who will be off most likely. So multi-positional players like Kamler, Joseph (possibly) and Franchino become even more valuable. Maybe even Heaps and Leonard as well. If Baker (I thought it was Barker) is able to contribute as you suggest we might actually get better overall with just an internal shuffle of sorts. JIM DOW