Quaranta Sidelined :: Moreno Impresses :: Convey Transfer Talk :: W. Post, 2/19

[sch2383]

French clubs Olympique Marseille and Lyon and Dutch team PSV Eindhoven have expressed interest in United midfielder Bobby Convey, a source close to the situation said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52453-2004Feb18.html

Of those 3, I would rather he go to PSV, I think it would improve his game the most.

I don't know if I would rather he go in the summer or the winter window. If he goes in the summer, we get the transfer fee, but if he goes in the winter we will have him for our run to the championship.

[mellon002]

Surprise surprise, the Dutch are interested. I like this because more competition means more money when the check comes around. He's going to go this summer.

[CHICO13]

I wonder what a fit, happy and motivated Moreno can mean to this team?

[Sandon Mibut]

First off, big ups to Goff for the updates. Nice to see him writing the nuts and bolts stuff about United after his colleague bogarded the glamor Freddy stories and the trip to Florida. As much as I enjoyed all the Freddy stories, Goff understands there's more to the team than one player.

Any of the three teams listed would be a good place for Convey to continue his development. The good news is that in France and Holland, there won't be the work permit hassles he faced in England. And, with the state of flux in which Spurs are, there are no guarantees that they'll bid for Bobby this summer.

I love London, but I think if I had a chance to live in the South of France, I wouldn't pass on it. I'm officially rooting for him to go to Marseille.

Postive news on Jaime tempered by the sobering news on Santino. The air in the Tino baloon is rapidly deflating.

[appoo]

Originally posted by Sandon Mibut
Any of the three teams listed would be a good place for Convey to continue his development. The good news is that in France and Holland, there won't be the work permit hassles he faced in England. And, with the state of flux in which Spurs are, there are no guarantees that they'll bid for Bobby this summer.

IMHO the French league is a better league in terms of depth than the Dutch league. Plus the weather is a bit better so there would be less risk of injury.

[Lowecifer]

If Convey is transferred he should go where he has the best chance to play significant minutes. PSV will be a difficult XI to crack, but you never know.

What is interesting is that all three clubs are near the top of their respective leagues.

[Atouk]

Originally posted by Lowecifer
If Convey is transferred he should go where he has the best chance to play significant minutes. PSV will be a difficult XI to crack, but you never know.

What is interesting is that all three clubs are near the top of their respective leagues. Will PSV be any tougher than the others? Lyon is the current holder of back-to-back championships and has done well in the Champions League (currently lead group A ahead of Bayern Munich, Celtic, and Anderlecht). That's good stuff.

I met several really cool Lyon fans while staying down there during the Confederations Cup, so have been half-pulling for them since then. If we have to lose Convey to one of those three, that'd be my preference.

[JoeW]

Always good to see info from SG who has his finger on the pulse.

Terrible news about Quaranta. If there was someone who would have benefited from a lot of PT and getting off on the right foot this preseason, it would have been him. About the only positive (and it's a slim positive note) is that with a crowded frontline, it gives more PT for Cerritos, Moreno, Eskandarian, Stewart and Gros to show Nowak what they can and cannot do. So Nowak can make decisions about who to acquire.

As for where Convey goes (if he goes)...my feeling is that both the Dutch and French leagues play a style of soccer that would be good for him. It's not overly tactical or negative, doesn't put a premium on physical effort (though that is certainly there) but there's a lot of attacking flair, emphasis on technical ability, some very good teams (that just don't match up talent-wise against richer clubs in richer leagues in the UK, Italy, Germany and Spain). And while Convey wants to go to Europe, I'm still not certain he'd take the jump now. I think--with the WC qualification cycle started--there is a good chance he may decide that the advantages of being domestic (and easily available for any callup and camp) may mean worth waiting until 2006.

[somebody]

so does this mean Tottenham are no longer interested?

[Atouk]

United is also considering a midseason trip to Germany

Eh? We don't have a game between Saturday, 7/17, and Saturday, 7/31, but isn't the All-Star game in the intervening weekend? Don't we play ever other available weekend from 4/3 to 10/16?

Our US Open Cup play is slated to begin 7/20, according to the US Soccer site:
http://www.ussoccer.com/events/competitions.sps?iType=262

Would we really fly to Europe for a mid-week game between two league games? Or would we leave any All-Stars behind and do it between 7/20 and 7/31?

[Sachin]

Maybe we're going to knock out one of the teams in the Champions League final and then take their place, WWF style.

Sachin

[EdTheRed]

Originally posted by Sachin
Maybe we're going to knock out one of the teams in the Champions League final and then take their place, WWF style.

Sachin

Wait a minute...it...it...can't be! THAT'S DC UNITED'S MUSIC! Oh, no, they've got the steel chair...oh, this is, this is terrible! DC United has knocked out Manchester United! ManU never even saw it coming!

[Jose L. Couso]

It is a shame Quaranta got injured. I hope he recovers and is back soon.

Good to see Moreno is doing well. I hope he manages to get back into the team.

The teams after Convey are all good teams so any of those teams will be good for Convey (Marseille and PSV are in the UEFA Cup after getting eliminated from the Champions Cup in the last group round. Lyon are in the Quaterfinals of the Champions and face Real Sociedad of Spain). But if Convey's transfer will not be until the summer, he could still wind up in Tottenham (which he probably prefers anyway because of the language).

Bring on the English & German teams!

[somebody]

Originally posted by EdTheRed
Wait a minute...it...it...can't be! THAT'S DC UNITED'S MUSIC! Oh, no, they've got the steel chair...oh, this is, this is terrible! DC United has knocked out Manchester United! ManU never even saw it coming!

:D

[sch2383]

Originally posted by somebody
so does this mean Tottenham are no longer interested?

The work permit issue would still exist. There is no way of being sure that the Home Office will grant him the exception and I don't think he qualifies for the automatic permit as per matches played.

[ursula]

Originally posted by CHICO13
I wonder what a fit, happy and motivated Moreno can mean to this team?

Could be the biggest story of the year for the team, including if Convey transfers.

[GoDC]

Originally posted by ursula
Could be the biggest story of the year for the team, including if Convey transfers.

Bigger than Freddy, come on Skip, nothing is bigger than Freddy.

[Haig]

Originally posted by sch2383
The work permit issue would still exist. There is no way of being sure that the Home Office will grant him the exception and I don't think he qualifies for the automatic permit as per matches played.

The window for work permit consideration is the prior 18 months, right? Convey is as near an automatic starter as we have now, and his versatility ensures that he'll be on the field in upcoming games. Surely he will have played around 75% of the games in the period from February 2003 to August 2004.

Even if he hasn't crossed that threshold, his play has been so strong that the appeals reviewers shouldn't be able to find fault. He has certainly improved in the last six or twelve months.

[Atouk]

Originally posted by Haig
Surely he will have played around 75% of the games in the period from February 2003 to August 2004.If it's 18 months (I think you're right), he'd make it after WC 2002 moves outside of that window. Convey played in all three Confederations Cup games and all five Gold Cup games. We haven't played anything else that "counts," have we? That's 8/8. So, even if he doesn't play in either of the two WCQs in June, he'd still have played in 80% of relevant games by then.

Even if it's two years, he's played in 8/13 as of now and probably 10/15 as of June, so you'd think that would get him the waiver.

[shawn12011]

Originally posted by EdTheRed
Wait a minute...it...it...can't be! THAT'S DC UNITED'S MUSIC! Oh, no, they've got the steel chair...oh, this is, this is terrible! DC United has knocked out Manchester United! ManU never even saw it coming!


"DC United really laid a real slobberknocker on Man U!"