Lots has happened and more to come. Here are the current roster of players with a reasonable chance of being on the final 10 man senior roster. (unless there are trades which is quite possible) Regular Roster Brown Pierce Heaps Llamosa Kante Franchino Joseph Cullen Hernandez Cloutier Ralston Nowak Twellman Harris Serna----------------------------15 Developmental Roster Downing Marshall Farias-----------------------------3 Possibly History APC Griffith Rooney---------------------------3 Word has it that at the moment the Revs are in Cap compliance although I don't quiet undersand how that is possible with both Nowak and APC aboard. Obviously we need to cut someone to add a 2nd Keeper. We most likely will cut APC freeing up enough Cap sapce for adding a Keeper and a raise for TnT. I suspect a player we draft whose better than DV Roster quality or a Discovery player could spell Griffths or Rooneys getting cut. How do you see this playing out? We have 4 reasonable draft picks in the first three rounds (9-19-22-29). Hopefully we can get at least one Project 40 player.
I would like to see Griffiths stay with the Revs for atleast another season. I think if he worked on his crosses he'd be a great left-mid.
I see LA, who will be playing in the SunMoon Cup in Korea this sumer asking for Serrna as a strike partner for Ruiz and sending the Revs some young, inexpensive left sided player (s). With the freed up Cap space we sign Moore trading our "difficult" player for a real team player. With Moore and Nowak and Twellman and a new left sideed player we are a stronger, mature and balanced side. Add a few P-40's with the 9th and 12th pick and we are set for opening day.
From what I remember he signed a regular contract and will be fighting for a spot on the 18 man roster. I'm starting to think the Revs are in fact going to try to off load Serna and i can't think of a place where he would fit in better than in LA. They have need the second striker and have a boatload of good quality young players to offer in trade. I agree that Griffith might get to go to spring training but unless something major happens for him and I see him giving up his roster spot to a player who knows how to pass. The list of P-40's is due out today. Hopefully there are a bunch. As far as I'm concerned, the DV Roster pay concept is an insult to those not on P-40 or from wealthy families. $10K doesn't cover lunches--sheeeees!
Does Victorine play on the left? He has size and versatility. We could have used him at a number of spots last year.
Me no seenk so JMM will stay in England. We have no allocation available for a rare-air signing, we would have to trade for one, and we're barely under the cap. God help us, don't send Serna to LA--let's keep him here, and play him up top with TT. They will be ferocious together. We need to off-load a mid or two, now that Nowak's on board. Keep Serna, Wolde, and Griffiths. APC goes, and my gut tells me he's gone already. We *must* get a back-up 'keep, but that's what the draft's for--or maybe a vet will be waived somewhere we can consider who'll play for a reduced salary. Rooney and Cullen are expendable. And if Frias plays more than 90 minutes in regulation in MLS for his career, I'll eat my lunch along with the lunchbox it came in--time to let him go and free up roster space.
I agree w. MIB. A healthy, motivated Serna and a hungry, eager TnT (driven into absolute paroxysms of effort by the dangling of a lucrative Nike incentive-bound deal) would be predatory up front. IF (huge if) Nowak is healthy and spry then the combination with Hernandez, Ralston and "X" on the left will be deadly. With Wolde, Cloutier, Kamler, Griffiths, Cullen and maybe one of the kids in the mix as backups we have terrific depth in a league where that item is considered a luxury. Ditto with the back line. Now we need a second keeper, a possible upgrade at left mid and a happy ship full of motivated, hungry players and we are ready to go. If we churn all this up for the return of Joe Max it strikes me as a serious gamble, particularly when placed atop Nowak and Serna's health and peace of mind. P.S: Did folks see the nice blurb on Steve Nicol in this months 4-4-2. Can't download it but there was praise all around. JIM DOW
I wouldn't rush Cullen out of town. He's fairly young, probably reasonably cheap, and should still see a lot of time if Hernandez and Nowak start. I'm not sure that Hernandez is the person to play as the single D-mid behind Nowak. His holding and distribution skills improved a lot over the last part of the season, but how much ground can he cover in the defensive half? We have 3 players (Joey, Hernandez, and Cullen) who are well suited to play D-mid in a 3-5-2, but not necessarily in a 4-4-2 with Nowak in front of them. It could be worse, though. Playing behind Nowak isn't as bad as playing behind Etch, Cien, or el Pibe. As for the Moore vs Serna debate, I'm sure that they could both contribute a lot to the team, but having Nowak in the middle tips the scales at least a little toward someone with Serna's skill set.
Re: Re: 2003 Roster What would it take to get Hendrickson?? Doesn't he play on the left?? Or maybe Marshall? I always like Hendrickson's size, speed and effort.
The only problem of course of letting LA get Serna is then you have to face the Ruiz-Serna combination three times this coming season....on the other hand you could also be planting a bomb in the LA locker room....hmmmmmm.
I see no problem with Kamlar on the left side. He played well for the Revs in the playoffs and the second half of the season.
Re: Re: Re: 2003 Roster I think Hendrickson is great and would love to see him as a Rev. I like Victorine as well and wish that the Rev's had drafted him when they had the chance a few years ago. What I can't understand is if we send Serna to LA, how can they pay him under their cap? I know Cienfuegos took a huge cut to $50,000. But, they signed Hong and that has to be at the max. How dose LA do it?
Re: Re: Re: Re: 2003 Roster From reading some other boards recently I have seen it mentioned a number of times that Hong won't con't against the cap this year at all. I have yet to see a good reason as to why that may be.
Kamler's a decent player and would make a good backup but he can go for games without getting off a good cross. If we start him there next year we'll still have an unbalanced attack, although Nowak will probably help in that regard.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: 2003 Roster No, I think that was a response to people who posted "how can they sign this guy..." after the season. His salary didn't count for 2002, since he didn't play for them yet. He is also being "sponsored" by the Korean business community, so he should count for the max, the same way Etcheverry, Donadoni, L.Hernandez, Matthaus and others did. He and Cobi Jones count for the max on the cap, and Cien took a big pay cut for '03. There are a bunch of other guys who make decent money, but I don't think they have a lot of really high-paid guys like say, the Metros or the 2002 Fire. Ruiz makes around 150k for example. I don't know the details all that well, but my guess is that next year the Galaxy may have to make some tough decisions if they have another good year. Tom
Thanks Tom. That is a much better scenario, for everyone, than believing MLS is doing something shady behind the scenes.