2016 SRFC Roster Thread

NYRB2 captain, I would say that is the goal.

On paper, our defense is better than last year's. But then again these new pieces have to jive..

 

Pat McLain signs with the Chicago Fire

http://www.chicago-fire.com/post/2016/01/18/chicago-fire-sign-michael-harrington-and-patrick-mclain

 

Kaleemullah has moved to the Tulsa Roughnecks. I liked him as a player and thought he had a lot of potential, but I'm also happy to see the Kaleem fanboys on Facebook become someone else's problem.

 

Not good enough for Sac Republic... Signed by Chicago... I think that says a lot. Good for him back in MLS though.

 

BREAKING: Republic FC transfer Justin Braun and Nemanja Vuković to @IndyEleven.

Read --> https://t.co/ioI27yXkFm pic.twitter.com/VDi0JQabF9

— Sacramento Republic FC (@SacRepublicFC) January 19, 2016

Braun, meh.

Vukovic is a big loss. Am I out of line to say "WTF!?!?!?"

 

So now we've got a 2016 roster thread, but no 2016 roster ... right?

 

For an undisclosed sum? How much would that be at this level of soccer, I wonder?

http://www.sacrepublicfc.com/news/2016/01/14/srfc-transfers-vukovic-and-braun#.Vp6xDr9WTAi

Graham said, "The transactions also provide us with roster flexibility and an opportunity to develop future talent..."
With only 16 players signed, and 10 slots open, they already had roster flexibility. I'm sure new signings are coming given how soon training begins and the last tryout is coming up. I wonder whom they have up their sleeve?

Or, is this just a matter of not wanting to stand in the way of players having an opportunity to move up? If NASL is really moving up.

 

Follow-up from the Bee...

http://www.sacbee.com/sports/mls/article55487270.html#storylink=cpy

"Buckle and Smith have identified several players during off-season scouting trips in California, Mexico and England they think can be key contributors for Republic FC.

“'We are trying to get one or two players over the (contract) line, and there are other ones I’d like to take another look at,” Buckle said. “Certainly preseason gives you an opportunity to do that. But we are not going to rush in and sign players. They’ve got to be right for us.'”

Hopefully the "one or two" are better players from the scouting trips and include at least one fine CB. The others must be coming back for the final tryout.

 

WTF.

Losing Braun I don't care much about, this place always seemed like a stepping stone for him and he didn't really produce like he should have.

But - losing Vukovic sucks, big time. Now we've lost both Daly and Vukovic, do we'll have two new CBs and a new GK, wow, do not know what to expect this season now.

 

I can't remember if da Fonte is a CB, but he, Kiffe, Foran, Motagalvan (40 USL minutes last year) and Klimenta are the only defenders on the current roster.

 

Interesting......Preki leaves, and 4/5ths of the center of the team leaves, too.

Buckle will have earned his money if he can put together a center defense and midfield that competes at the highest levels of USL, in just a (relatively) few weeks.

I have a feeling that with so many new players, that it will take until summer to begin "hitting on all cylinders." Hopefully they can hang near mid-table until then.

 

Da Fonte is a CB and as I understood it was brought in to replace Daly. But looks now like we need another replacement. Foran and Motagalvan are not the quality we need

 

Disappointed to see both Daly and Vukavic gone. Braun meh..like many others I never care for his play either. Wasn't a fan of Foran during his limited time that I saw, so hopefully they have someone already in mind ready to sign.

Lots of new faces this season...time to Buckle up!

 

I think the only player we'll miss is Daly who left because he thinks he'll get to MLS quicker with BS, Vukovic getting more money and a promotion, braun good riddance. Gissie, gonzalez, taublueb, Bonvehi, Gilberto, roro, Mclain won't be sorely missed. I can't wait for the new season - preki's second year team were a bad bunch with no heart. Lets give buckle a chance to show us what he can do with his own team.

 

Correcting my above post. 2015 roster rules allowed 30 players plus five slots for academy players not 26. I think I remember Buckle saying he preferred to manage a smaller roster, but still there seems to be plenty of flexibility.

 

BTW, last year we re-signed Braun and signed McLain in early February. The following were signed in March:

Duckett, D
Gonzalez, ?
Motagalvan, D
Zev Taublieb, FM
Derek Foran, D
Matthias Bonvehi, D
Adnan Gabeljic, F
Joaquin Rivas, F

Those March signings were mostly depth. If last season is any guide starter-quality signings are likely to come sooner rather than later.

 

I doubt we will learn much about that until the 'official' camp begins Feb. 1. As of right now, I think Newton and Da Fonte are the only newbies.

 

Why did both Preki and Buckle think of Motagalvan as a center back, anyway? He'd never played the position before 2015, and it showed.

 

Here are Dom's comments on Centerlinesoccer.com regarding the affiliation and loaning players:

"Center Line Soccer: ...so the organization has had Sacramento Republic FC as its USL affiliate the past couple of years. There didn't seem to be a lot of partnership between the two clubs last season...

Kinnear: "No, there wasn't"

Center Line Soccer: ...How do you see the USL affiliate program working for the Earthquakes specifically, and is there a benefit to it?

Kinnear: "Yes, I think there is, but last year was tough. With the injuries we had and with our crazy schedule, we did not have a ton of opportunity to use it. Only near the end of the year were we able to send Tommy Thompson and JJ Koval and Mark Sherrod to play a few games. There was never a point where we said ‘We are not sending you guys, it is simply that we can't. We don't have the numbers right now since we are dealing with injuries.'

"You do want to be able to send your guys away to gain experience. In the past, I have sent players out on loan, and I certainly see it as a benefit. You are playing and not just practicing, you get to play in front of people, in front of fans, and there is more on the line than just practicing.

"We are hoping this year that we can be, I wouldn't say just a better partner, but an easier partner to work with because we have players we are willing to send there. Last year it had nothing to do with anything other than we didn't have the space to do it. I remember at one point last season we struggled to have enough players for our bench, to fill out the game day roster. I think we had two goalkeepers on the bench for one game, that was tough.

"We are going up there to play them again this preseason, which for me shows the relationship that we have. I like going up there; it's a great challenge to play them. They are a great team and have a great organization behind them. They are hungry for more. But last year, the partnership didn't work out because the bodies weren't healthy enough."

Center Line Soccer: And factoring in the limited size of the MLS roster (28 players) and number of healthy players you had, would you say that sending players to an affiliate would have been counterproductive instead of beneficial at that point?

Kinnear: "You are exactly right. Sometimes the team wants that player, with their game on a Sunday, no later than Tuesday, and you can't always commit a player or players so early in the week because someone else is questionable for the weekend. It doesn't make sense to send anyone. The good thing is that we are close enough to Sacramento that that could happen later in the week, but I totally understand their point of view that they want players ahead of the weekend and not just showing up on Saturday. They want harmony in their squad. I also know they understand our situation, where we can't just send players from here because I might have only 15 guys for training. It just doesn't make sense."

Of course, part of last year's inability to loan players was that Dom carried only 24 players or so at the start of the season, and with injuries and USNMT duties he occasionally had only 18 or 19 player to choose from on game day. He didn't fill up his roster after June, if I remember correctly.

It looks like he will have a full roster going into this season (if he chooses to) but looking it over, I still wonder if there will be any loans early in the season. He may want a good, long look at draftees; they're thin on the backline; Lenny's still injured but I wouldn't be surprised if they continued to carry him as they did with Tommy Muller a couple of years ago; they're deep at GK but we may not want a third one; Alashe is injured to start the year; I think Stewart is not ready to play; and probably any number of reasons that haven't occurred to me.

So, it wouldn't surprise me if the players we currently have on roster make up our starters, including Foran on the backline.

 

Oh, here's the link to the interview:

http://www.centerlinesoccer.com/201...aul-holocher-sacramento-republic-robert-jonas

 

I think the club signed him for the sole purpose of undermining my prediction that our opening day starters are already on the roster.

That's what I think.

You know, there really isn't much information to go on other than what Buckle says. If he's right, sounds great.