¿So, are we still trying to sign up more guys? JD did say that he has more targets lined up! Does that mean we're looking in the Target® of player markets? Will we try to trade some of our existing guys? I have heard an unpleasant rumor to this effect, but my source was not as reliable as hot dog on a stick, so I'm hoping that it's bogus. And who should we dump in the offseason? My nominees for guys to pitch on the ash heap starts with: John Doyle Frank Yallop Scot Sealy Cornell Glen Ryan Johnson Maybe we can trade those last three for a sixer of lukewarm beer? GO QUAKES!! - Mark
Yes I would! Of course, my opinion doesn't count for spit, but I'd take Pat for sure. I bet his salary is lower, and he can play outside mid or forward. He's at least as good as any of our current forwards, excepting the Mighty Wondo of course. He'd make a decent backup outside mid, which we need now that we have stupidly given away Robles. Really, our outside middies are Convey, Gjoey, AA, and um ... RJ. Not so good bench depth there. GO QUAKES!! - Mark
Before Sept 15 I hope we can get an experienced LB so Convey can move back into midfield. As much as some are calling for Morrow, I don't think Frank will play him there and I have to say I agree (just not enough experience when giving up one easy goal could mean the difference between playoffs or no). If Bobby gets one more yellow in the next 3 games then he'll miss a game (that's assuming he hasn't gotten his grace reduction yet... which he may have since the Quake site has him at 5). I'm thinking another YC is super likely when he's playing LB. That's a scary propsition. Get us a servicable LB!
Serviceable LBs are as rare as hen's teeth in the US -- probably why Heydude had such a lengthy career with the nats. Thus, I'm not holding my breath on that. Personally, I'm hoping that Beita can play LP...
We gotta dump someone soon to make room for a backup Goalie. Scott Sealy could go since he doesn't contribute much to the team anyway.
Beta has the potential to be an above average RIGHT back. Justin Morrow may or may not turnout to be a quality left back. He has the wheels and the size to make it happen, but he certainly hasn't gotten enough minutes this season. Nah! We can put Joe on the six week IR. We could put Ike and Corrales on six week IR as well. Frees up some space for us without actually cutting anyone. The GK we borrow from the pool may not take up a roster spot either. It's pathetic that we aren't going to use Andrew Weber for this. One wonders about whether or not Andrew spent any time in the Quakes capacious dog house. (I treat my dog better than that!! Woof!) We could, and no doubt should, put Eduardo on season ending IR. It would free up a space for us, and it would allow Eduardo to take as much time as he needs on IR to get fully fit with no pressure. He keeps trying to come back, perhaps before he's really ready. Thus he keeps getting injured again. But Doyle may well be looking to make some more moves. Which troubles me. We haven't made good use of many of our players. Who will Doyle dump? No doubt a youngster. No doubt, someone with upside and promise. There's no way Doyle will dump Sealy, Glen, RJ, or AA. He'll dump someone useful like ... no. I'm not going to print it. I don't want to jinks anyone. GO QUAKES!! - Mark
For what we get for the amount we pay them, Alvarez and Sealy should both be waived or traded away. Of course, that goes for Glen as well. There was a time when RJ played with passion - that's gone now, and I've been waiting every game to see him come back. But he's playing like he doesn't want to be here anymore. Time for him to move on too. I'm still hoping we can bring in a forward that can score some goals. I'm hoping the FO goes after players like Kamani Hill, who would definitely be an upgrade from our current Forwards and help the team immediately.
At the STH state of the union talk, in discussing Joe & Jon, Doyle mentioned that Andrew Weber "was not ready".
John Doyle wouldn't recognize the differences between "not ready," "MLS Starter," "La Liga Star," and "Past His Use By Date." JD's opinion on what constitutes good versus bad players is no more valuable than yours or mine. Frank is only a half a step ahead of us. Come on! This is the team that ditched Ramón Sanchez and Javier Robles. With these two clowns, it's not about how well a guy plays, it's about how well he takes orders. No wonder some of our guys look like zombies on the pitch. Yallop wants a Stepford team, Doyle just can't find his ass with both hands and written directions. Andrew was ready. He didn't start in USL because he sucks. The few games where he got a chance he showed that he's good enough to start. $&%# JD! GO QUAKES!! - Mark
We should go for Hendrie. Great replacement for BMac. How to make that happen.....Hope some other team in MLS that needs a centerback wants DeMerit and needs the #1 allocation. We say fine, it's yours but you must haul our high-priced trash away too, ie Ryan Johnson or Scot Sealy. We want in return an international spot (if we need one--can't remember if we do) or if not a 2nd round pick in some draft in the next 3-4 years. We get cap space we need and rid of a roster-spot wasting player and a we get to sign a good player in return. It'd leave us a little short on forwards, but that's okay. We have Arturo Alvarez who can play there if we get desperate.
How about we free up the cap room by trading Alvarez to anyone willing to take on his salary? I honestly don't care if we get anything else in return except the cap relief.
This. Notice what happened in LA when a talented young CB is paired with a reliable veteran. Nooooo sillies the answer is not get beat by the quakes again.....well not entirely . but there are benefits.
Not exactly clearance shopping, but Kamani Hill seems to just be floating out there in limbo now: Kamani Hill’s career reaches the limbo stage As Matt noted the other day, Kamani Hill was reportedly released by Vitória Guimarães after one season primarily spent on loan in the 2nd division. Much speculation had centered on some training he had done with San Jose of MLS, with the conventional wisdom having the former UCLA Bruin returning stateside to join his hometown(ish) club. However, according to USA10Kit, Hill is in fact still under contract for 2 more years with Vitoria. Given that new manager Manuel Machado has indicated that Hill isn’t part of his plans, this may leave the 24 year-old attacker stuck entirely: his current club doesn’t want to play him, but they aren’t letting him go for free, and San Jose (and other MLS teams) won’t pay the transfer fee to get him. It’s a tough break for the Californian, whose career never was able to take off after joining Wolfsburg. He did have two caps in 2007, but he has made just 13 first-time appearances as a professional. It's a shame to think what's going to happen if another team doesn't go after him. He's literally wasting away in Guimarães.. at best he'll be loaned out to Division 2 in Portugal if another team isn't willing to pay his transfer fees.. I wish someone could put a number on exactly how much that is, because if it's anywhere close to the salaries we're paying our current forwards we should still try to go after him.
There are two options here really. Either an MLS side is willing buy out his contract (which MLS may not allow, even if Lew were willing to pay for the contract buy out), or Kamani himself is willing to buy out his contract. Seems silly of Guimarães. He's not in their plans, they can't make anything off of him, and he's costing them salary. I hope this works out for him in the long-run, and better yet, for us in the short run. I'd take Hill and dump both Sealy and RJ without having seen the kid play. Oh, option 3, he continues to languish at Guimarães. (Do they get any money for loaning him out? or does someone else just eat his salary?) GO QUAKES!! - Mark
Convey's old club is having a look. http://mobile.readingfc.co.uk/dsb/readingfc/articleDetail/0,,10306~2141432,00.xml
It sounds like his best position is attacking midfielder and just off striker. With Geovanni and Stephenson on the roster now it looks like there just wasn't room (or money) for him here. Too bad, he would have been a good pick-up. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/r/reading/8960159.stm
Here's the list of all the free transfers from the UK's players union. Demerit and Hendrie are on the list but I don't recognize anyone else. Although on a free transfer, these guys would still command a sizable salary for MLS standards. But would any of them be worth a look from our FO for next season given that we'll offload some salary in the expansion draft (and hopefully the release of Sealy, Glen, and AA)? http://www.givemefootball.com/pfa-transfer-list?class=Free+Transfer&name=FullName&count=50&page=1
I want Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink just because of the name. By the time the TV commentator finishes reading his name, Glen will be offside 5 times or miss 6 chances already.
REYKJAVIK (Reuters) John Arne Riise (29) to end an adventurous professional career in Major League Soccer. http://www.vg.no/sport/fotball/norsk/landslaget/artikkel.php?artid=10027024 Here's the Google translation: I've seen Riise play a few times with both Liverpool and Roma and he is quality. Great motor and knows how to put himself in scoring positions. He'll probably sign a 2 year extension to his contract which would put him at 34 by the time he'd be available to sign with MLS. It's great that European players actually want to play in the U.S., though they need to be educated that LA is not a nice place to live. All they need is a weekend trip to San Jose and they wont want to leave a la Hucks.
Guy has a cannon for a left foot. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pe52mPMtgRM"]YouTube- Alan Smith Injury[/ame]
Wonder if it's Demerit?? If so, wonder what we got for him... http://www.chicago-fire.com/news/2010/09/major-player-announcement