Yanks Buying a Danish Club to Play Young Yanks?

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It seems like those jerseys have names on them, some of which are semi-visible. Have at it, sleuthsters!

 

Needs more Hamlet references...

 

Gardner was on the TopDrawerSoccer Show (podcast) with Travis Clark. Honestly I'm not super impressed with this plans and ideas, but have a listen if you want to hear a bit of his philosophy.

http://thetopdrawersoccershow.libsy...ican-players-w-jordan-gardner-of-fc-helsingor

 

Yeah, I'm very bearish on this whole concept.

They need to:

(a) convince worthwhile prospects to sign for a Danish third-division club
(b) do a really good job developing them
(c) find a way to sell them for decent money even though the transfer history of the Danish lower divisions has yielded very, very few transfer fees of any real size
(d) all while avoiding a situation in which the locals show up with torches and pitchforks because they feel ownership isn't prioritizing the club's success

It just feels like a real long shot.

The timing is also unfortunate. Gardner has talked about how American players are having trouble getting opportunities in MLS. In 2019, that is not true to nearly the extent it was 3-4 years ago. Improving academies, the USL reserve teams, and more club & league execs coming to their senses about MLS' place in the global picture has really changed the landscape.

If I were Gardner, I'd focus on players who are unattached to MLS academies and who don't have a clear pathway forward. The problem is, these guys are also being recruited by MLS academies in many cases. And if they are decent prospects, they will likely get offers from bigger clubs with better developmental track records than Helsingør.

 

there's 30+ USL teams now...plenty of "worthwhile prospects" out there in the USA....

all they have to be is good enough to get the team from 3rd-2nd....if they aren't good enough for that...c'est la vie...but I doubt that would be a big ask to find players good enough for that....

 

I wish this was genuinely as good as were sold on Grant Wahl’s podcast but I just doubt it. The niche to our fan base was the idea of developing Americans, then the idea of that was subsequently sold to New Zealand, The UK (as a whole), and now also Canada in recent media efforts. It seems like a guy who knows how to stir the pot in fan bases without a lot to back it up. Namazi has stepped out of the picture, and he’s so close to the situation that if he doesn’t trust it why should I?

 

Players only good enough to move the club back up to the 2nd division aren't going to bring in a transfer fee. That's the problem.

Gardner's group views this as an opportunity to make some money as a middleman between the US and larger Euro clubs. A bunch of things have to happen for that to be a reality, and all of them will be quite difficult to pull off.

To make matters worse, Omid Namazi has already left the club. As the former US U18 manager, I was wondering if they would try to leverage his personal relationship with a variety of prospects to try to sign some of them. I guess that's not happening.

 

In the podcast he said they already sold a player to a SuperLiga team, but I couldn’t figure out who it was.

 

Interesting, that's about $150k.

Not a bad price for a 25 year old in the second division.

 

So what's the current list, in terms of Americans here? Is it Bailey, Bowers, and Rafanello? Anyone else? That's an interesting cross-section, certainly.

 

Lost 2-0 in the 1st round of the Danish cup to AB 1889 last night. No Americans were named to the team sheet.
Interesting side note that AB has (I think) two Americans in their academy now:
Ike Garcia(?) and Rowan Browne

 

They won today 6-2 but color me skeptical that none of the yanks at all have debuted.

 

They are in first place in the Danish 2. Division. However it sounds like they are the only professional team at this level and the only American that has played any minutes so far is 31 year old Collen Warner.

 

I think there are more than just Helsingor who are professional. AB, B93, Hellerup, Frem are and i think most of the others are at least semi-pro

but yeah... your underlying point stands. It’s a bit odd

 

They're not a lure for Americans of any quality, prospect or vet, w/ their ceiling in the Danish 3rd division. Getting relegated was a huge blow, at least temporarily, to Gardiner's strategy. Ideally would have splurged a little and bought a club w/ more upside.

We'll have to wait until they're at least back in the 2nd division to find out if the idea is working. Then they could get promoted to the top division in a season and subsequently be in the shop window for leagues of note in Europe. As of now signing a few American players seems like more of a placeholder, for connections, and to not look like a phony.

 

Honest question, has the lower levels of Europe every been closed to Americans?

This guy is attempting to solve a problem that doesn't really exist. His idea is that he will provide an inroad to the lower levels of Europe that will allow player to work their way up.

I mean, there have always been American players in second division teams of Norway and Sweden. These teams would love to sell American players if there were suitors. Sometimes they do.

 

I'm sure the goal is to eventually make the top flite and do it there.

Danish teams are on the continent and their clubs have a better recent history selling to quality leagues. No Superliga club has made it part of their strategy to buy Americans seemingly until Hobro has done it recently, after Gardiner publicly announced his idea.

MLS isn't established as an amenable seller's league yet, even if they've made some strides in the area. It's very much happened on a club-by-club basis, with most not earning the benefit of the doubt yet. Otherwise that would be the ideal route for players to start their career.

 

They should sign freddy