Conor confirmed yesterday in the AZ (local paper), that he won't renew his contract for the FSV this summer, and will possibly leave in the winter break. He was asked if he could imagine renewing his contract this summer, and he said, "Nein!" He was thereafter quoted as saying, "If you're not in the 18, and don't get any chances, then you can only keep training and have to look to see what's possible in the winter break" He was asked if there has been any interest from any teams signaled to him or his agent, and he replied, "No comment!" He's quoted as saying, "I am fit and I train well, but I'm not in the team"---"I don't have any explanation for it." Apparently he and Klopp haven't spoken about it either. Today's AZ is reporting that Heidel (general manager) met with several players about their futures... Otto Addo confirmed that he was one of them, and the paper speculated the CC was probably among them as well, given his feelings. Heidel said that he didn't tell them that anyone definitely had to go (as is the practice at many clubs), but discussed their prospects. It's been reported that the 05ers will be buying between 3-5 new players in the winter break, by the way. From the AZ (yesterday): Von Ulrich Gerecke "Ob er sich momentan vorstellen könne, seinen im kommenden Sommer auslaufenden Vertrag zu verlängern? "Nein!" Kürzer und klarer kann Conor Casey nicht sagen, wie es derzeit in ihm aussieht. Und er geht sogar noch einen Schritt weiter. "Wenn man auf längere Sicht nicht im Kader steht und keine Chance bekommt, dann kann man nur einfach weiter trainieren und muss schauen, was in der Winterpause möglich ist." Folglich wird der Angreifer, der in dieser Saison bisher insgesamt erst 27 Minuten in zwei Spielen auf dem Platz stand, sich wohl demnächst mit Trainer Jürgen Klopp und Manager Christian Heidel zusammensetzen bzw. nach einem neuen Klub suchen. Auf die Frage, ob sich schon Interessenten bei ihm oder seinem Berater gemeldet hätten, sagt Casey nur vieldeutig: "Kein Kommentar!" Seit seinem Kreuzbandriss im Sommer 2005 - verbunden mit einer fast einjährigen Pause - hat der 25-Jährige in Mainz kein Land mehr gesehen. "Ich bin fit und trainiere gut, aber ich bin nicht dabei", sagt Casey, der bei den drei vergangenen Partien nicht einmal in Klopps 18er-Kader stand. "Dafür habe ich keine Erklärung." Und mit Klopp habe er seine Situation auch nie besprochen - das klingt nicht gerade nach herzlichem Einvernehmen."
I don't think Klopp ever got over the time Casey hurt his knee with the USMNT. I forget whether it was a match with Mexico or a Gold Cup tourney, but there was one that apparently Klopp wanted Conor to skip and of course, Conor did not and came back injured. I hope he finds another club within Germany. Despite the injuries and his difficulties at Mainz 05, I think Conor can be an effective striker in the Bundesliga. I mean that as starting for a mid to lower table club or off the bench for a contender. I'll wish him luck wherever he goes. He was nice enough to exchange a few e-mails with me when he first came over to Germany with my club, Borussia Dortmund.
I know there was talk about him coming back to MLS to play for Colorado. I don't know if that was simply conjecture based on the fact that he's from there or if there was legitimate interest. At this point, it might make more sense for him to do so, in order to get back to a regular starting role and get into form. He's got the size and experience to go back to Europe if and when he's succesful in MLS.
How so? I said that him arguing with the coach (because of who Klopp is) most likely wouldn't end in the coach putting him in the doghouse, in fact it might show he has some fire in the belly. It's CC who wants to leave, not the team wanting him to. Therefore, the situation hasn't changed. CC thinks he's fit and ready to play, but after nearly a year of not playing Klopp doesn't think he's ready. Can't really blame a coach for not wanting to bring in a player to play who's not fully match ready, when we're in the middle of a relegation fight, IMO.
Todd -- for what it's worth, it's pretty clear that the relationship between Casey and Klopp is bad, with the result that Casey is very likely to leave -- as some predicted a short while ago.
I would love to see him in Colorado or even Columbus but I just don't think it's likely. By the time MLS kicks off it will be between 15-18 months since his last match and given that he's healthy and it itching to play now, I don't see him waiting any longer. His best option would be a european club.
At this point, I think we all wish him the best and hope whereever he moves next he can (1) play a lot (2) be productive and (3) stay injury-free It seems less likely now, but there is certainly still a chance for him to play a role in the 'who's our big forward for 2010' debate on the National team.
Maybe I should post more stuff, like the tv interviews of "Flutlicht" where Klopp was asked which players have the most potential for the spring... Klopp named CC. And so forth. It's totally normal... as Klopp said himself... that when 11 are picked from 25 that the other 14 are unhappy. You're right perhaps that the relationship is bad from Conor's side right now... but it's not from Klopp's side. It's a normal coach/player thing in Europe for the the coach to say to a player who thinks he's ready..."you're not". Heck in that same article there's complaint from Dimo Wache, our keeper/captain, about being left out last week (and it was the right decision... Wetklo played very very well in his place, Dimo's nursed a knee for awhile). Granted CC thinks he's ready, but if you'd seen the 27 minutes that CC has played this year which I've seen in person, you might agree with Klopp... he certainly didn't look ready to me at all. Which is completely understandable with all the time he's missed and some bad injuries. Which is why he's been sent to the reserves. There were people predicting he'd be in MLS right now...and he's not there---are they wrong?... I've never predicted whether he'd be here or not... just that Klopp isn't forcing him out like a "authoritarian German coach"---as others were saying. He may leave but he's not been kicked out in a fight with the coach. He thinks he's matchfit, the coach doesn't... so he wants to leave. He's welcome to try his luck elsewhere, we sure haven't gotten a lot of production from him... some nice moments and plenty of potential, and I'd like to see more from him. But some times these things don't work out obviously.
Dude, as far as I remember, either last season or earlier in this one, Klopp said if Casey could find a buyer, he could go. When did that change??
it takes some players 27 minutes to get into the game...I'm assuming this was more than one appearance?
IMHO, it's probably less about whether CC or the coach thinks he is "fit and ready" than whether the coach thinks CC is good enough. That's always been the issue for CC when in the BL.
So, whom will Mainz be buying in this winter transfer period? Klopp seemed to have settled on Edu and Imre Szabics at forwards. I thought Damm looked good early but he hasn't featured much lately either. The defense is pretty solid. That leaves creative midfield?
I saw this game as well (it was on Gol TV in the US) and I thought Conor just didn't see much of the ball. It wasn't like he had a bunch of bad touches out missed any sitters...he was just rather invisible. I would call it par for the course for being his only 27 minutes of the season so far, though he certainly (and apparently) didn't earn himself any more chances with his play during those 27 minutes. My thoughts on Conor are that he is a decent player who unfortunately seems to still be adjusting to top level (i.e. international or Bundesliga) defenses. He is probably the best finisher in training on the US men's national team (as evidenced by other player's comments about how he can consistently place the ball in the upper or lower 90 under relatively low pressure in finishing drills, and other USMNT players said he was the best they've seen) but when the defense turns up the pressure Conor seems to lack the speed of thought or instincts to create the space needed to get a shot off. I think some additional seasoning may do the trick, as at that level it appears that there are certain movements forwards make to get space...the type of stuff Ronaldo and Crespo use to get a shot off. Hopefully Conor picks up some of these traits.
http://www.yanks-abroad.com/content.php?mode=news&id=2495\ His agent Steve Kelly reveals there are two current offers on the table and a deal could be reached as early as this coming Monday. A six month loan is not an option, only a full transfer.
Theres also rumors that RSL wants Casey too and that their coach, Ellinger went to Germany to talk Conor into coming back to the States. Earlier in the year, Conor was rehabing in SLC.
I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure the evidence of Conor Casey being in SLC was very thin and definitely suspect. Earlier in the year, a poster came on with a story from a friend who said some soccer player named Conor Casey was rehabbing in Park City. The whole thing sounded bogus to me. But I think the part about Ellinger going to Germany to try to talk to him is on much more solid footing, right SP?
Conor was actually rehabing in Park City, thats legit. However I have actually contacted Conor's agent in Europe and he told me there is very little chance Conor comes back to the States. Oh well.
Well......as I've learned the hard way, when it comes to contract negotiations you can believe almost NOTHING that is said before a deal is made. If true, though, that is a shame.
I believe you, I really do. It's just that in the process of negotiations it isn't always in the players best interest to divulge details. Sometimes it works in their favor to send out bad or misleading information. Agents use the media and the public to their own advantage in many cases. Just sayin'.
Really? As a natural skeptic, I'm always interested when rumors turn out to be true. Do you have a source on this (that he was rehabbing in Utah)? If you can't post it or let us know where the info came that's fine, I'll trust you if you say you do (not that it matters anyway). Just kind of curious.