View Full Version : Pope to Southhampton?
andylovesoccer
31 Jan 2005, 09:36 AM
Stole this from the NYT via the MetroScum board
from today's nyt:
Major League Soccer is close to a deal that would send the veteran defender Eddie Pope of the MetroStars and the United States national team to Southampton of the English Premier League, according to a person close to the negotiations.
Pope, 31, the MetroStars' captain and highest-paid player last year, was in California last week training with the national team for its World Cup qualifying match against Trinidad and Tobago on Feb. 9.
The MetroStars open their preseason training today in East Rutherford, N.J. Any deal would have to be completed today because the transfer period ends in Europe. The transfer amount was originally $1 million, but M.L.S., which owns all player contracts under its single-entity system, said it wanted $2 million to $3 million to part with Pope.
Pope became expendable when the MetroStars acquired Jeff Agoos, another veteran defender. Several M.L.S. clubs expressed interest in trading for Pope, and a deal was close with Real Salt Lake, an expansion team, before Southampton came into the picture. The Saints are near the bottom of the Premier League and recently hired a manager, Harry Redknapp, from rival Portsmouth in an attempt to stave off relegation.
Asked to comment on the potential deal, M.L.S. Commissioner Don Garber, in an e-mail message last night, said, ''I can't comment on that one.'' Jack Bell
Sachin
31 Jan 2005, 09:36 AM
Like I said over there: EPL = MLS Retirement League.
Sachin
CHICO13
31 Jan 2005, 09:48 AM
Maybe it's just me but I don't see how Agoos is going to hold up on that crap turf at the swamp. For a player with a history of back and calf problems, that turf's a mutherfu....er. If Pope rolls out of town, I fully expect Esky to put on a show. Thank You Nick Sakashitz....
andylovesoccer
31 Jan 2005, 10:26 AM
My question is does Southampton buy into MLS' $2-3 million price tag? Does that end up being a deal breaker? Or does MLS swallow their pride and take the alleged $1 million being offered? Guess we will find out soon as the window closes tomorrow.
John_Harkes_6
31 Jan 2005, 10:28 AM
That would be one hellacious break for the Metros - getting an allocation and $285K of salary off the books for a player they don't even want :eek:
sregis
31 Jan 2005, 10:30 AM
My question is does Southampton buy into MLS' $2-3 million price tag? Does that end up being a deal breaker? Or does MLS swallow their pride and take the alleged $1 million being offered? Guess we will find out soon as the window closes tomorrow.
i'd think a figure somewhere in the middle would be reasonable.
neilgrossman
31 Jan 2005, 10:32 AM
Maybe it's just me but I don't see how Agoos is going to hold up on that crap turf at the swamp...
I think Agoos will be happy on any turf that neutralizes speed advantages.
DigitalTron
31 Jan 2005, 10:37 AM
While I'm not really a Southampton fan, they did take Keller on loan and now are pursuing Pope, so that's encouraging. Frankly, I'd love to see Pope in England, it'd be thne reward he deserves, and I just never got used to him wearing that Metros jersey.
-Digital
Lowecifer
31 Jan 2005, 11:34 AM
Today is the last day of the transfer window, so I suppose we'll know soon enough if this latest move to England for retirement has come to fruition.
:D
mkpage
31 Jan 2005, 12:09 PM
Back in March 2002 I was in England for a week to watch some matches and of course drink several pints of British Ale. It's sort of a long story, but my father has a connection to the former business manager of Sunderland, back when they were still in the Premiership.
Over beers the night before the Sunderland/Newcastle derby, Sunderland's business manager and I were talking about various US/MLS players they had their eye on. First on their list was Eddie Pope. He also mentioned Convey. Sunderland thought very highly of Pope's technical/atheletic/leadership abilities, but the knock on him was his proneness to getting injured.
Had Sunderland not been relegated after the 2002 season, I suspect the Black Cats would have made a play for Pope.
Mildly interesting that if three years later that if Pope makes it to the England, he'll be wearing red and white stripes, but with Southhampton instead of Sunderland.
gocaps
31 Jan 2005, 12:19 PM
That would be one hellacious break for the Metros - getting an allocation and $285K of salary off the books for a player they don't even want :eek:
And they could then spend all that money on a player the quality of a Sergio Galvan Rey...
Seriously, this is a break for them in one sense - they get the money off of the books. However, Pope - when healthy - is a known quantity for them. He's a good athlete, an excellent man-marker, good in the air. And easily their best defender.
Now they'll have to go out and find a defender who is both as athletic and as good a man-marker as Pope (not easy to find at all) AND an organizer to hold that group of young, overrated wing defenders together. Can you imagine Old Man Agoos centering a three-man backline with Parke and Leitch? Or a four-man with those 3 and Kenny Arena? The Metros would have some serious player scouting to do.
Or to put it another way:
Metros defenders-------> http://www.accboards.com/newboard/images/violent.gif<------Moreno, Esky, Gomez, and Adu
penubly
31 Jan 2005, 12:24 PM
hmmmm....
no link, google doesn't turn up anything, can't find the story on stated papers website....
Total bunch of Crap? :mad:
gocaps
31 Jan 2005, 12:49 PM
hmmmm....
no link, google doesn't turn up anything, can't find the story on stated papers website....
Total bunch of Crap? :mad:
I'm beginning to wonder...don't see it anywhere.
Quote from Metros board:
Can't find one, but the story's in the Sports Briefing section on page D6 of the 1/31/05 NYTimes.
Tweaked
31 Jan 2005, 03:29 PM
As being reported on the Yanks Abroad website:
Despite a published report in today's NY Times, Southampton Football Club has denied contact with MLS over the sale of MetroStars central defender Eddie Pope on the eve of the closure of the international transfer window.
"I can confirm that we have had no contact with Eddie Pope," Southampton's Jo Dalton told YA. "There is absolutely no truth to that rumor."
http://www.yanks-abroad.com/content.php?mode=news&id=000500
Sundevil9
31 Jan 2005, 06:50 PM
Well it is the NYT after all.
They might have just misunderstood when he said " I had my contacts in South Amboy."
prk166
31 Jan 2005, 09:13 PM
Well it is the NYT after all.
They might have just misunderstood when he said " I had my contacts in South Amboy."
:D
Ya, I hadn't seen a peep about Pope on the Saints emaillist I'm on so I figured it was either some last minute craziness by Harry or wasn't even worthy of being called a rumor.
Knave
31 Jan 2005, 10:08 PM
Pope to Real Salt Lake is apparently more like it.
http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?p=4062289#post4062289
Th4119
31 Jan 2005, 10:53 PM
How does the transfer window work with people in different countries?
For instance, it's very early morning February in England now, but early evening in California.
Are there any exact rules? Players location? Pursuing clubs location? Selling clubs location?
DutchFootballRulez
01 Feb 2005, 01:46 AM
Pope to Utah...
Mathis, Andy Williams, Kreis, Pope... I now understand the link to Madrid..
MLS Galacticos...
gocaps
01 Feb 2005, 10:47 AM
Pope to Utah...
Mathis, Andy Williams, Kreis, Pope... I now understand the link to Madrid..
MLS Galacticos...
Andy Williams is only a "galactico" if we're talking about headcases and MPF.