Who would be canidates with strong st. louis ties to join our new expansion team... considering this is still in two years who may be draft eligible? Obviously, Brad Davis Taylor Twellman Steve Ralston Noonan are the big names. Also, will our owners be willing to post competitive money to keep up with the Red Bull and the Galaxies purchases? Finally, does this confirm gallagher and busch combining to create a youth team?
Let's not get ahead of ourselves here. Davis, Twellman, Ralston, Noonan would all very likely be protected in an expansion draft. I would like to see the move to bring McBride back to MLS if the Fire doesn't get another DP spot for him.
The timing might be perfect for Friedel or Keller to return to the USA....... I am assuming Slobo will not play for us?
Until we are officially granted a team, this is all I'm gonna say: We should make a trade for Twellman or Noonan. We have to get one of our USMNT boys. The MLS can work out the details.
i'm hoping we can entice bobby convey to come back home from reading, to fill our first DP slot. oh wait, wrong expansion city section ...
Preki for manager. Twells OR B McB. Twells is more "homegrown" than B McB - and there's that whole McB being the (injured) captain of Fulham... think an MLS squad could wrangle a captain from an EPL side? While we're dreaming, I'll take a rehabbing Wayne Rooney as the striker. hard-nosed, working-class, loud-mouth.. he fits the rough-and-tumble midwest profile.
If things continue to go well for Mike Sorber and the National Team, I can easily see him as a head coach for a Saint Louis team in 2 years time. As for players, you would have to understand that most of the STL players would most likely be protected in any expansion draft. Definitely Twellman and Noonan. But I could see the likes of Brad Davis, Steve Ralston, Will John or even Tim Ward making their way back to STL. Unless of course we trade for Twellman or Noonan. Furthermore, I don't know how wise it would be to bring McBride into the fold. He is 35 right now, and by the time a team here starts in '09, he'll be 37. He *might* have one season in him, so that's a slight possibliity... but definitely not worthy of a Designated Player spot (as much as I like the guy).
Good call on Sorber, I think he would be great. I think if Twellman or Noonan or any of the other players mentioned want to come home than we need to try to make a deal to get them. Having homegrown players will definitely get the area fans to the games.
Don't foget Klein in LA, Rhine in Dallas, DiRaimando is on Colorado's developmental squad I believe, possibly Jewsbury from KC (although I think KC is closer to his hometown of Joplin), and go ahead and throw Will John in there too. He's on the KC's developmental squad (although he IS from KC). Fun thread!
We should also keep an eye on the two Kreamalmeyers - one of them is still young, and one of them currently plays for the Portland Timbers (and used to be with RSL, but he wanted more playing time).
Seriously, though, Vedad Ibisevic is an interesting left-field possibility. When he's gotten playing time, he's racked up solid scoring totals on mostly second-division French and German sides (16 goals in 38 games total; 6/13 of that for PSG). With him on the team we'd instantly have a Bosnian fanbase.
Not exactly. Now that almost every team has a unique owner, MLS doesn't do whatever it wants as much as it used to. Individual owners have more at stake financially and don't turn the other cheek if something is good for one of their other teams like AEG and Hunt used to do.
Tad ,the Younger, is playing tomorrow around 4:30 in Collinsville. So far he's had a pretty good week, 6 goals and 2 assists. Okay a really good week. Luke, the older, should come back strong next season after finally getting some rest for the stress fracture he had early on. I know both of them would love stay here and literally play at home.
That's right, forget the Catholic schools, represent for the Public High League! (Vedad played for Roosevelt, only pro player to come out of St. Louis Public for decades.) Seriously, though, that would be really smart to instantly fire up the local Bosnian fanbase, and Vedad is only about 21-22 right now, so he'll still be coming into his prime in 2 years.
Isn't there another local Bosnian playing for SLU currently (Dado Hamzagic)? He might be ready to go pro in two years. (See P-D article here.)
KD, I was at the SLU game last night, and most of the home games last year. I would be surprised if Dado became a professional player. Obviously, there's still time, and he's going to get much better coaching during his time at SLU under Donnigan than he got in HS, but from what I've seen, he hasn't been that impressive. Definitely not to the level of Ibisevic, of even Vedad Alajic, who played for St. Mary's and SLU. Ibisevic would be great, but I am not sure who has his contract; did Alemania Aachen loan him to Hoffenheim, or did they sell him? Aachen will likely stay in 2.Bundesliga next season, but Hoffenheim are sitting on 1 point after four games, so they may get relegated. I would assume if he got sent down with them, he may be more inclined to moving (but may still want to stay in Europe). A few people have mentioned Keller and Friedel. Well, neither of them would be here for too long, most likely. Chicago's starter, Matt Pickens, would be a nice pickup. A young, solid 'keeper who is somewhat local (grew up just outside St. Louis in Washington, MO and went to St. Francis Borgia and what was then Southwest Missouri State).
If they can land Vedad Ibisevic, it would be a fantastic acquisition from a team standpoint and marketing standpoint. A few of you mentioned that already. On that same line of thought (and I know STL is not Chicago as far as #'s of hispanics, but there is a decent population here), how about a Mexican International. Jared Borgetti for a year or two?? Another way to build an ethnic fan base that is viable in St. Louis. And, with that last name we could probably convince a few of our Italian friends to get behind this team. Add two St. Louis natives to the mix and you've got 18,500 in Collinsville for every game. I'll take Twellman and Davis.
What does the All St. Louis Team look like right now, Not a bad team, but could use a real quality center back and also a center mid, offense looks pretty lethal if you ask me, however defense would be an issue as is! Coach: Mike Sorber, (various other candidates with St. Louis ties are out there however most are at Collegiate level, Freitag at IU, Cal's coach name escapes me now) Starters G: Matt Pickens (technically a St. Louisian if looking at broad metro area!) D (3): Frankie Simek (Sheff Wed.), Bobby Rhine (FC Dallas), Chris Klein (Galaxy) M(5): Steve Ralston (Revs), Luke Kreamalmeyer (Portland Timbers), Patrick Noonan (Revs), Brad Davis (Houston), John DiRaimondo (Rapids Reserves) F 2): Taylor Twellman (Revs), Vedad Ibisevic (Aachen, loaned out) Bench Mike Ambersley (Rochester Rhinos), Lawrence Olum (Portland Timbers, went to MO Bap.) Tim Ward (Crew, went to SLU), Jack Jewsbury (Wizards, went to SLU), Will John (Wizards, went to SLU), Mike Banner (Fire, went SIUe), Brian Grazier (at SLU, local, might be drafted after graduation)
If he does go pro, he would already be in the MLS system by the 2009 season. Regardless, he could still be a possibilty at that point depending on how much the other teams like him. Oh boy. Hamzagic is probably the most talented player SLU has at this point (along with Angus). I truly believe that he will turn some heads when next years combine comes around. Secondly, if anything: Donigan is Hamzagic's problem. That man has not been able to implement what Dado has to offer ever since he joined the team. The worst of it was playing him as a lone striker for a while. I have not had the chance to see him play this year, but last year the offense was nonexistent when Dado was off the field. Hamzagic WILL get a shot at the pros, at least! Alemannia had to sell Ibisevic because his contract had a clause that released him if a more lucrative offer came around (smart boy/manager). They were not willing to let him go and in fact got into it with their new coach over the matter. Hoffenheim is a small team financed by a German software billionaire (Chelsea-like). They are currently building a brand new 30,000 seat stadium; Hoffenheim has a population of approx. 3,500!!!! My guess is that Ibisevic is making twice as much at Hoffenheim than he ever did at Aachen (+/- € 200,000). Considering the recent additions to the squad (€20+ million), they will be a Bundesliga side within the next 2-3 years. Sure they can, if they are willing to pay him in the neighborhood of $300,000 a year. Of course they would also have to make him want to trade a potential Bundesliga side for an MLS expansion team...