I have to say, JCO has really done a job on the Fire and Guppy in particular. He has put our GM in another difficult position. However, we have more leverage here than we think. First a few observations: 1. The unprofessionalism in this league is getting way out of hand. From MLS bending over backwards to help certain teams financial/player situations to giving other rules a wink and on and on. It all started at the top and the Mickey Mouse business is slowly staining everything. Have a contract with a team? No problem! My wife wants to move so I have to uproot an entire franchise. Does your dad/mentor coach a team? No problem, you can follow him around whenever you want, contract be damned. To say JCO didn't tap Conde on his way out is to deny that JCO moved to the Red Bulls. 2. Conde is under contract with the Chicago Fire. Period. 3. Conde HAS to play this year. Somewhere. And here is our leverage. Conde can't sit out a year because it would damage is chances to participate in Colombia's World Cup Qualifying campaign. Not only that, signing a contract and then wanting out after 6 months because your coach moved on shows a shocking immaturity.......the kind that European teams really, really frown on.......primadona atttitudes like this won't get you the big money in Europe. He has made a big mistake already. 3. RBNY has very few players (like almost none) that are equal to Conde in trade weight. 4. We probably don't want Altidore, even if they offered him. What? If you get Altidore it is basically a cash deal because he won't be around long. Yep. Anybody with eyeballs knows this guy is not long for this league. Not only that, a quick look at the calendar shows a busy summer internationally.....Olympic Qualifying, midsummer World Cup Qualifying, the Olympic Games, Fall World Cup qualifying........you get the idea. Say he lights up the Spanish or German Olympic Team, what do you think will happen next? Options: 1. Trade Conde to NYRB, cave to his wishes, but for a price. Like Dane Richards, Kovalenko, cash and a draft pick or two is what we ask for.....take it or leave it. Richards is the only player on that roster worth grabbing other than Angel. They just don't have a ton of talent to pick from. 2. Get a third team involved for a three-way. Preferably, a team with little brain power but lots of cash. The Galaxy fit the bill nicely. And they just had a defender retire at age 23 or something. Trouble is, how many players on the Galaxy are worth giving up Conde for? And are any GM's dumb enough to get involved in this mess? Lalas is........... 3. Tell Conde to act like a pro and play out his contract. In the meantime, any $$$$ from MLS and Europe should be looked at closely. 4. If he sulks, he sits.......in Colombia, in his Chicago apartment, wherever. Like I said, Conde pretty much has to play this year and this should not be underrated. 5. Release Conde from his contract and keep his MLS rights. I am not sure how the league rules apply, but this should be looked at. This way, you don't reward the tapping, wink and a nod nonsense from JCO. 6. Sell him overseas to Mexico/Europe/South America. If JCO still wants him he can buy him from that club. Conclusion: If Guppy ends up trading Conde for Stammler, a goalie we cut and a bag of soccer balls he should be sacked immediately for imcompetence. The leverage he didn't have with the JCO issue he does have with Conde. Tell RBNY to back up the truck and start unloading........Richards, a shytload of $$$$ and a draft pick and maybe Kovalenko as a sweetener.
nice...........I have looked at your posts in the past. You are a great troll. Not offensive enough to get red carded, not smart enough to write something witty.
If we have to lose Conde, I wouldn't mind either getting Kovalenko back or getting Richards, but I would hope we get something in addition to either of them. Until the Conde news, I really thought our offseason moves were turning in a positive direction.
Just wondering what 3-way options are out there. KC just lost EJ. Is there anything the Redbulls have that KC might want? Conde for Zavagnin or Conrad would be fair. But of course, KC would have to be retarded to do that.
Shooter was trying to foster a relevant discussion and hollowfish went out of his way to derail that concept. Don't blame shooter for calling him out.
My recollection, when he signed with the team, was that he wanted to play for the US national team. Or was that just hot air, too?
I think you can pretty much take every word out of his mouth and give the same credibility as the ink he put on his contract.
I am not trolling here, but there is one thing that seems to be wrong in Guppy's statement. Conde is not have a contract with the Chicago Fire. He has a contract with the league. I know it seems minor, but this isn't like other sports.
Meaning what, the league will mandate that we send him to New Jersey? I mean, I know this league does whatever they can to help your pathetic excuse of a franchise, but I doubt it extends to this. He's ours to with as we wish. Sorry, I know you all have already decided on the list of players we are expected to take off your reserve roster, but we aren't that dumb. We'll see if our esteemed GM is though.
Just a thought here - but how is NYRB doing on cap space? I wonder if there is a "poison pill" option to leverage our deep cash position and increase Conde's salary to the point where NY couldn't afford his contract without cutting other players. Not saying it's a great idea - this discussion is just more interesting than my job. Who knows - maybe if we pay him more he'll forget his BFF JCO.
Ives' new post about Conde mentions a more lucrative transfer that could have sent him to Argentina. If he truly was, "disenchanted about being in Chicago," because that transfer was possible, it shows a willingness on his part to play for someone else other than Osorio, and a market for his services. So the idea of holding onto him until a fair international transfer or league trade is possible is not out of the question. http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/2008/02/monday-mornin-1.html
I just don't see a three-way as a likely outcome. I listed that as a possibility and GM's are paid to come up with the right combinations. The number of players out there that are of the same caliber as Conde is very small. If you include only defenders even smaller.
The first thing to establish is how much of the $300,000 transfer fee was paid by Chicago and how much by MLS.If we paid most -if not all, then thats just the starting point of any negotiations.I dont think 7 games into a contract warrants a reduction in transfer price, if anything I would think it increases the transfer value.If Chicago paid the full price for his transfer then it is us-not osorio-Not MLS-and not RBNY-who took the risk of signing conde.He was an unproven commodity in MLS-Chicago took the financial risk-if others in MLS want him they need to pay the piper.Conde could have been a failure-but the Chicago Front office took a financial risk in signing him-Osorio did not. My attitude is if NY is interested they need to first compensate Chicago on the transfer value with a slight markup.Only then can trade negotiations begin-and only then will players like Dane Richards seem like a fair trade.If NY doesnt want to pay at least $350,000 then no deal.Plain and simple Cash first then talk trade.
I am not to worried about a guy who starts a post off with a bunch of baseless opinions desiring to present them as facts. YOu want some cheese with your whine? Besides we already have Conde discussion thread. Take it there.
I did not say that, but you like to make wild statements. Maybe the league will force a trade like with crazy Luis Hernandez deal to LA. Most trades that the Fire have made have been for draft picks and money, so I guess that is always an option. All I was getting at with my previous post was saying that the statement that Conde is signed with the Fire is wrong and that could create a problem. JCO was actually signed by the Fire and look at what happened there. We have to wait and see how this turns out.
Probably just a lot of hot air..........like just about everything else with these Colombians. As far as I know he just came to the States last summer. That means he is years from a green card. Even if he marries an American it still takes a lot of time.
Dear Wilman. If you try sometimes You just might find You get what you need. Very sincerely; Me P.S. The only person who has let you down is Juan Carlos Osorio.
You're wrong by intent... Players' contracts are only co-signed by the league, if you will...the teams themselves own the rights to the player under the terms of the contract itself.
200k, Richards, and a draft pick. We'd be gutting our defense the same time a conference rival would be filling a hole with one of the best in the league at that particular position. Sorry but if they want to plug a hole, we get to plug a hole.
lolzzzz that just cheered me up. yea this sucks cuz i really doubt RBNY will want to trade richards, but they really don't have anyone else i'd be interested in. It's gonna be hard to fill conde's shoes.