PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland Timbers announced today a group of eight players from the team’s 2010 roster who will not be retained for the club’s inaugural Major League Soccer season in 2011, including defender and team captain Ian Joy. The group also includes Johan Claesson, Brian Farber, Derek Gaudet, George Josten, Ibad Muhamadu, Keith Savage and Ross Smith. “I would like to thank all of these players for their service to the Timbers,” said Gavin Wilkinson, technical director for the MLS Timbers. “To a player, they are quality people and consummate professionals. We wish them the best in their careers.” http://www.portlandtimbers.com/newsroom/headlines/index.html?article_id=1886
Unfortunate but expected. I hope each of these guys finds a suitable team for them in the near future. Their past service with the Timbers is greatly appreciated.
Who is left? [List from droppingtimber.com but I added the demarcation] Possible signings Kevin Goldthwaite Kalif Alhassan Mamadou Danso James Marcelin Steve Purdy Alex Nimo Quavas Kirk Improbable signings Adin Brown Josh Cameron Tony McManus Rodrigo Lopez Doug DeMartin Matt Pyzdrowski Takayuki Suzuki Scott Thompson
As someone who follows both MLS and D2 closely, and has for years, there are very few MLS calibre players in D2. A player like Taylor Graham shows the divide. He's Defender of the Year at the D2 level, and the team goat at the MLS level. With 150 new MLS jobs next year (between adding Portland and Vancouver, and increasing rosters to 30 players), so there will be more D2->MLS movement than usual, but I suspect it will mostly be limited to younger players. If you're a 25 year-old D2 field player in 2010, that's probably where you'll be in 2011. If you're a 24 year-old D2 starter in 2010, you can either start in 2011 in D2, or you can sit at the end of an MLS bench and hope to get some Reserve Division minutes.
I agree. This list above was also arranged by most likely to least likely to sign. Notice Taka and Scot near the bottom. Nimo, in a naive manner, wants to only play in Portland in MLS.
Scot won't be on the roster. They are honoring his service to the club on Wednesday, for all intensive purposes a retirement from his playing career.