Not going to argue about the tampering charges (I'm sure that happened) but I thought its in Sirk's book where he interviewed Robert and McCullers in the parking garage after the Cup game about them having to make the hard choices of the expansion draft while Sigi was celebrating with the players. My understanding was as soon as that final whistle blew it was no longer Sigi's team.
Porter wants a pocket winger , i agree he plays like he could play centrally or even perhaps outside back but idk if has done this things previously or would play well in a different position . It’s just hard to fathom paying 500k for a back up winger. now Pedro usually plays 90 but Diaz has not so that is who Mokhtar would sub in for . Idk if we get this rumored guy but we need another winger for sure as of now the Mentzingen kid probably makes the team although we could also draft another winger . I’m excited that we could still possibly add more quality players. Even if we don’t we are at least looking and the future is bright . I really wish the USL questions would start being asked until Bez drops us a nugget
Well, I am sure his salary would be well below $3 mil. Likely he would be a TAM guy. Zelarayan was what, $7 million & makes over $1.5? That's just under 1/4th of the transfer fee. If the that's the case, Pena would be pulling down around $600k in the same ratio. Perhaps a bit more. While I admit I am a bit fuzzy on this whole "the transfer fee counts to determine the player's salary/DP status" thing, I thought that was only if TAM/GAM is used in the fee. Last time we had this discussion, didn't come to the conclusion it was an "unwritten rule", as the rules state DP status is based on salary, not acquisition costs. Anywho, given the fact the Haslam's apparently paid out of pocket for Zelarayan (no TAM/GAM), the fact we get at least $4 mil in TAM, plus GAM, plus funny money for losing Argudo, and missing the playoffs, plus some Steffan cash left over, we likely could pay down this dude (or Santos) to resolve any DP issues. As to where he fits, he seems to be in Mokhtar's ballpark, reserve winger. I do not mind having 4 guys capable of starting. Though I admit, I would prefer another CM/DM or a 2nd striker.
On the face, the de Pena rumor seems like just that, a typical rumor with not much substance. But that's with the thought that Crew roster finances stick at the current level. If the ownership group is opening up the checkbook, I could see it making sense. It appears that Porter wants to press and counterattack so Bez is building the team with speed and we're likely to see a lot of minutes for reserve attackers. Keep the legs fresh. I could see a sub pattern of 2 attacking midfielders and a fullback for game states of chasing a result. Right now, there's only Mohktar as an option for the attacking midfield sub. As for Mohktar's role, I agree with ZMan that the jury is still out. It's hard to see exactly how he fits or what he brings to the table to justify his minutes/salary. I will say that while he doesn't have the speed of Diaz or Santos, he does have a quick decision making game that I would say we typically want to see from our DMids transitioning to the attack. I could see that shifting to the attacking mid with Diaz/Santos and Lucas applying the speed of the attack in front of Mohktar. I'm hoping with a full preseason and improved chemistry, we see more from Mohktar. Last year, Mohktar was bouncing between being the transition point with just Santos, Diaz (or whoever subbed in for Diaz), and Zardes in front of him or him being one of the attack options in front of the transition point (which I think doesn't truly fit his game, especially at the speed Crew were looking to move). I think this year, we might see him as the transition point more, with better attacking options developing in front of him, including fullbacks that should provide more attack than anything we were getting last year. But if evidence of improvement/fit is scarce by the summer window, I might be calling for a transfer then.
We've also been over the fact, numerous times, that because of the expansion draft rules that year and the fact that the Crew had a championship team roster, we had very little wiggle room in terms of who we had to protect and ended up needing to expose. We were always going to lose someone meaningful. Much of this had to do with the the requirement to protect a minimum number of international players. We had to protect Andy Iro and Emmanual Ekpo, for example. Or, if we had exposed one of them, we would had to have protected a different international player that ended up being on the exposed list. We could have protected Evans, but another domestic player would need to have been exposed: Hesmer, Hejduk, Carroll, O'Rourke, Rogers, Marshall, maybe Moreno (if he had a green card then; I don't recall). Pick your poison. In retrospect, maybe we should have protected Evans and left O'Rourke exposed. Of course, we won the Supporters Shield in 2009 with O'Rourke starting 26 games.
I don't even think it was tampering with Sigi. He was out of contract and by late in the season the Crew wanted to extend him. But Seattle wanted him too and he was free to listen to their offer. He wanted to be on the west coast so he went to Seattle.
So Seattle gave Columbus $500,000 in cash plus a big pile of allocation money in return for being allowed to sign a coach who was not under contract. This would be because, apparently, they just wanted to do something nice for the Crew?
Not sure if this has been posted- but Aidan Morris was called up to the US U-20s. Columbus Crew SC was listed as his club, so I imagine we get the official announcement soon? https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/20...-player-training-camp-and-two-games-vs-mexico
I do not think there is the same level of interest and i have no idea on the players contract situation . It’s just a rumor so it’s hard to say
Interesting, and I barely remember that. I was there then and I remember his move to NY after he resigned in Chicago. I remember the sentiment of surprise (and some contract weaseling) at the time. I wrote many of the press releases back then, but if I were to guess - my memory is vague - we sent out one about the resignation and didn't include the compensation details in any official capacity. I believe it was the GMs that let that part slip out to the media.
Are they that positive about Diaz? I'm hopeful and mostly like what I've seen, but I'm far from completely convinced that he is a star starting winger.
From what I remember,Sigi was in negotiations to renegotiate his contract but the Crew kept putting off resigning him until after the season. Seattle offered him a contract and Sigi said bye bye!
It's a tough call. Hang out with the great people in the backwater flyover land of Cowlumbus, or bask in the adoration of fascist/racist fans in the worlds greatest and most important city?
Well the player was quoted talking about MLS is a young exciting league and that it is a good life decision to move to America.