Anyone know how to contact the guys at the RSL Show? They asked one of my questions in their last episode, but blew off my concerns. They don't know that RSL has 29 players already (30 allowed), 6 of them being outside backs and 4 GKs! They don't know that you can only have one full year loan to your USL team for roster relief. They don't seem to have a problem filling up the roster with marginal backup players, there's enough of those already. This team needs starters/difference makers. Don't fill up the roster with more backups. I know we'll need all the depth we can get with the glut of tournaments and such this year along with the condensed schedule, but don't limit the roster so that you don't have room to add difference makers. I would agree that the team needs a starting level CB. Maybe even starting level wingers (not convinced any on the roster would start for any playoff teams last year). Plus, Rusnak may be best on the wing and you might have to play him there to get a midfield of Kreilach, Everton and Pablo (arguably the best midfielders) on the field at the same time. Also, I want to know if Jeizon will fit in the new U-22 initiative player slot. How many will RSL be able to have? What kind of DPs could they still sign? Do any of the HGs justify using that designation? It's not hard to come up with good questions to ask this team and I'm not a reporter/media pro or wannabe.
Thanks for sharing this. Always can count on you to get the granular details. Lets entertain this rumor that Sava goes to Boca for $10mm. The reported sell on fee for RSL is 40% so $4mm. Of that, 5% ($200K) goes to the league, so RSL is left with $3.8mm for the "usage of revenue" criteria. $1mm can/will go to GAM The remaining $2.8mm can go to: Existing DP's - where I see DLH maybe saying "ok, then pay Rusnak and Jeizon with this" The "expense it would not have otherwise have been incurred by the club and reasonably represents and investment in the league or club" maybe serves as a way to operate this club for 2021 and/or 2022. New DP - I seriously doubt, with no owner in place, the league is going to approve any significant amount of this potential money to be turned right back out the door.
The general lack of understanding where this roster currently stands really caught me off guard, too. We really only have 2 spots open - and that's assuming we use the Dewsnup loan to Monarch scenario. They all but guranteed the Wood deal, too, but make it sound like he won't be here until Summer which... that's dumb.
I don't know if I can blame Bobby for waiting, he's taking a pay cut to join RSL. I think I saw he's getting paid 2.2m Euros/yr since they are in the 2nd Bundesliga. If he walks away early to join RSL, he won't get that full amount. He's rumored to be a mid-TAM guy, meaning ~$1.1m ($600k-1.6m range). Don't know if starting minutes is enough to get him on the team early. I'm selfishly hoping he get's to RSL soon.
The timing of that rant (which, agreed, very worth a listen and Spence holds nothing back) and the newly published article in The Athletic about Demarcus Beasley and the lack of black people in front office roles in MLS (and sports, in general) was a bit of a spark for me. Andy being replaced by Luke doesn't look good from that perspective. Luke's background is minimal, though, credit to him, he did go get him MBA in the last 3 years (while and RSL player, something I still cannot comprehend) and seems to have leveraged that experience/internship to land this role. Still, canning the guy with actual experience who is also a club legend for a cult hero is bold. Doing so without ever letting the club legend know is just dumb. Make an announcement already. Tyronne Marshall leaving was a family thing, I don't think there is any racial bias (conscious or not) happening there. The club does need to read the room, though, and realize the errors of DLH and what set this whole ownership change in motion and be sure to hire the right people going forward. That we didn't hire Robin Fraser continues to look bad on the club, in various ways. I'm not saying we completely lack diversity - we have one of the few latino coaches in the league - but there seems a significant gap on black representation in the first team/club.
I'd think it would be in everyone's interest if they came to an agreement on terminating his contract early for a fee. Yes, he makes $2.2m Euro's/year, but we're now to March in a season that ends in May. He isn't walking away from 2.2; he's walking away from maybe half a mil (still a significant number) but one that, I would hope, both Wood and Hamburg could agree to split or find a better number for. If sitting on the bench and making 5-10 minute cameos while getting the rest of those paychecks is more important than the next phase of the career, then we're not getting a player to fix our current predicament at both forward and overall. If Wood isn't a starter on this team, god help us all
Good points. I'm hopeful the reason he supposedly already has a locker is because he's joining before May. Anyone know the Covid protocols in coming to the US from Germany?
Sorry for getting off-topic. Also, RSL has 28 players signed right now, my mistake. I'll post in the off-season thread.
From an interview with Sebastian Saucedo in Soccer America: "For the owner, Dell Loy Hansen, to buy in as well was something big, to invest in these kids. They built a school for the kids, indoor soccer fields, dorms, gyms, more fields. It changes your point of view. The kids here, they get our leftovers from the first team. Even though Pumas is a big club in Mexico, they’re limited. The youth teams are not gifted as many resources as RSL Academy. I took that for granted when I was young." Lots of good stuff in there.
Option 2 will not be on the table. Garber and company will never accept it. Neither will I. If DLH somehow becomes the owner, I will drop my allegiance to the organization.
This podcast has served to change my perception of Ellinger. Trey, Dunny and Spence speak very highly of what he did at RSl. However, I noticed a gap in memories in this podcast. The previously mentioned trio gave credit to Ellinger for bringing in KB5. However, Dave later said that Ellinger had the opportunity to bring in KB5 but didn’t act and it was Kreis who made it happen. A lot of water has passed under the bridge in the interim between those actions and current recollections.
Ellinger was considered a good hire. Pastorino came from the Peter Wilt orbit in Chicago which was one of two highly regarded front offices in the league. One of the forgotten stories is how close we came to landing 2005-06 Kasey Keller. That would have been amazing.
There are a lot of moments in that podcast series that shock me and make me appreciate everything uncle Dave did for this club. The stadium building thing is honestly worth a movie script because of how petty, dramatic, and just out right ridiculous the whole thing was. Especially when put in comparison, monetarily, to other stadiums.
I didn’t know at the time that Mayor Rocky was a chief player in keeping the stadium out of Salt Lake City. I always liked Rocky, but a little less now. Another surprise was the vitriol Dave expressed toward the U’s complete lack of cooperation during the early years. Dunny sounded kind of bitter too.
There was a mutual feeling of bitterness between the U and RSL. I remember hearing stories of Kyle Whittingham all but demanding RSL be kicked out of RES towards the end. RSL also had to help pay for new turf at RES as part of the lease deal and a lot of RSL guys felt like the majority of the wear and tear had been caused by the football team. Both organizations were ready to move on when RSL moved out in '08.
Haven't listened to the podcast, but as I recall Dunny blames the RES turf for ending his career prematurely.
I wasn't aware, before listening to the podcast, that RSL held all of their practices at RES during those years. That's just crazy. I played on Westminster's field during the heat of the summer and can attest to how miserable turf can be. I can only imagine how RSL's players felt practicing every day on that field.
Remember how they used to have to scrub the field between football and soccer games? Seems like it turned a bad field into a worse one.
I cleats literally melted my freshman year there during the summer. I played at Rice Eccles as a high school senior (when they had high school games up there periodically) and can attest the field was essentially concrete in the Spring of 07. I remember feeling like we were on a futsal court it was so hard
Dunny flately states that practicing at RES killed the first two seasons. It was more of a factor than Ellinger. One practice session at RES was equal to 3 on natural turf. The guys were physically broken prior to the halfway mark of the season imo. Dunny said that at the halfway mark of practices and games they would immerse their boots and feet into ice chests of Gatorade to keep the cleats from melting. Sometimes they melted anyway.