This is dumb. Goals scored in England or Germany don't really count for the Fire. Sooo..... He has obviously demonstrated he's a fantastic MLS scorer. That is exactly what the Fire need. I don't care if he couldn't score in 20 games in the Premier League. If I was the wealthy owner of the Fire, I'd give him a raise.
OK, you've piqued my interest with this statement. Why is "NOW" put up or shut up time? after (after a decade of failure and disappointment) is "GTFO" time? Honestly, how much more evidence do you need at this point? Lastly, why is this board still discussing things that'll never happen (and never HAVE happened in a decade of futility) under this ownership? Thanks in advance for your candor.
I never said it was smart. I simply said the argument that he scored everywhere doesn't hold so much weight in my opinion for him to have initially signed to a $1.9 million per year. Obviously he deserves it now considering the season he's had.
My comment was in the context of re-signing the current players out of contract and building some continuity. I meant it as an indictment of the "Hauptman is turning a corner" crowd you see on Twitter, etc. If he is really turning a corner, (and I hope he is, but don't believe it for a second) he'll have to spend some of his own money on Basti and others just to re-sign our current team, not to mention sign a player like Kuba. The GAM/TAM from tanking this team and selling all our talent for the last few years is all gone. Obviously "put up time" should have been the year he bought the team.
Well, your opinion doesn't hold so much weight in reality. The Polish league, as I understand it, is a decent analogue for MLS, as would be the D2s in England and Germany. I, regrettably have to give NRod props for this signing. He saw a player that has been successful everywhere and, unlike yourself, realized he'd be successful here also.
To your first sentence I'm quoting here, all I'll say is that there has been no facts in evidence of any effort to maintain continuity. And in building this year's team, the blunt instrument of throwing millions at CMF, & hoping it'll stick likely won't work again in 2018. (Irrespective of whether the cash comes from TAM, or from his father in law's pocket.) Also, you saying that you hope for Andy to spend his father in law's money is tantamount to hoping for Sofia Vergara to give you a hummer tonite, with your wife's approval. To your second sentence quoted above, I agree. It's a fool's errand to take the stance that Andy should change his ways a decade into his ownership of this team, IMO.
Dude I'm not knocking anyone. I'm just simply saying the initial salary. He's def shown worthy of it. But a year ago I'm sure most would feel so-so about paying nearly 2 million for a guy who was a success only in Poland/Hungary. The only knock might simply be he's a not a big name that DP's were typically designed for.
I'm busting your balls a little bit because you are basically admitting that Nelson Rodriguez is smarter than yourself and that will be greeted with ridicule around here. A year ago, a huge number of people showed up at O'Hare to greet Niko. I'd have to disagree with your statement about most people being so-so on his signing. Here's a smattering of the reaction around these (usually pessimistic) parts: In the interest of fairness, here's some negative posts: I also quoted this because it tickled my fancy:
I don't mind being wrong. Is this guy a big star in Poland or Hungary? Or was it just a dedicated set of fans who really welcomed his arrival? That's great of course. I don't follow any MLS teams but I have a fondness for Chicago and DC as cities so i hope they do well. And glad of Nikolic's success.
It'd be great if his standing for Hungary improved due to his MLS performances. I think they only have like 1 forward who plays in Germany and he seems average at best.
<Kirk>KAHN!</Kirk> This is a silly comparison. Vergara is married. I doubt her husband would approve.
Legia Warszawa is a popular club (his last club) and has a good amount of fans here in Chicago. I'd attribute that to a lot of people showing up to greet him.
For those of you who haven't guessed, he is available for free, since he left Wolfsburg yesterday. This is the biggest f'n no-brainer in the past 10 years for the Fire, since the signing of Blanco. The team of: -------Nikolic-Urena---- Katai-Bastian-Kuba ---McCarty-- Edwards Lilliard/Marcelo/Kappelhoff (two of the three) Hasler would be pretty damned good. With: Martinez, Herbers, Bronico, Campos, Corrales, Collier and Mo Adams on the bench. We would be a good goal keeper from being a contending team. Assuming Urena and Marcelo are any good, this could be a very good team. Of course, Paunovic would bitch and moan at both Katai and Kuba for reasons unknown, would bench Lilliard and play Bastian in the back with the "creative" Bronico starting. If this happens, letting DeLeeuw go makes a bit of sense. I would still prefer to see DeLeeuw on the team as opposed to him not being on the team (and way more than Urena). We were paying DeLeeuw almost $600,000 Kappelhoff $600,000 (assuming he is gone) Solignac over $350,000 Movsisyan $1,900,000 (although I doubt we paid any of that) Pay Kuba about $2,000,000 (less than Bastian, and about the same as Nikolic, and more than Katai) and the Fire would make half that back in tickets and jerseys and advertising. Again, I suspect that Nikolic and Bastian and (maybe) Campos will receive green cards this year.