Pretty sure the Crew took in two former German-based YAs: Ryan Coiner and Jacob Thomas. Coiner had a good goalscoring record in the lower divisions of Germany over a few years, while Thomas had a reputation as a speedy midfielder.
Ryan Coiner. He showed some real promise in Germany for 2-3 seasons with Union and Holstein, came to the Crew with hope, showed a little bit of talent but ultimately really didn't produce much, and subsequently retired after being traded to the Fire. It was a weird. I think I read where he simply lost intrest in the game and wanted to explore other avenues in his life.
I think you're mixing up Ryan (who also used to post on BS, nice guy) with Jacob Thomas. Both went from Germany to the Crew, but Ryan didn't even play half a season in MLS before retiring. Thomas was very popular here in Braunschweig, by all accountgs also a nice guy, but I never talked to him personally, but he was never a goal scorer (his finishing was always dubious, still he was very fast and always played with heart). Thomas played 2 seasons for the Crew, and while he wasn't stellar there he played much more often than Coiner did.
If he's not getting first team minutes this year than he should move on elsewhere. He's dominating the regionalliga and deserves better.
Those were his first two goals this season. Last season he had 15 in 29 games. By no means bad, but not exactly out of the ordinary.
I think it was the most in his region. Plus, Wooten re-signed with Kaiserslautern this offseason. I think that was he chance to go elsewhere.
He was shared second (top scorer was Wiedenbrück's Mainka with 18 goals). And Wooten actually tried to go elsewhere - he had a trial with Saarbrücken, but wasn't offered a contract.
I have not been able to report much of late, because I have been extremely busy, but I thought I would give a little info now and fill in more later. Wooten is training with the first team and it looks like he will be getting a chance soon. Kaiserslautern's offensive punch has been anemic and best. With the injuries and lack of goals, Kurz is looking to try something new. It looks like Nemec is back from his long term injury and Wooten is going to get a look as well. I have a slew of articles to translate and will get to them when I get a chance.
Wooten scored another goal in a 2-4 loss to Gladbach reserves today. http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/...lautern-ii-130_borussia-mgladbach-ii-957.html He now has 3 goals in 9 games.
It was via a penalty. I don't know if he created the opportunity that lead to the penalty but he took the kick.