Conor Casey on the move?

You summed it up well.

Today's Kicker reports that 2nd BL team Spvgg Greuther Fürth might be interested in picking Casey...

Furth is currently on 3rd place, a promotion spot. They have the leading scorer of the 2nd BL, Christian Eigler, but not too many good strikers otherwise.

 

What's weird is that (if my translation isn't wrong, which it probably is) they're quoting a club official on how Casey would have better chances elsewhere.
That's never a good sign.

 

There is only one quote from a FSV Mainz 05 official in that article.

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"US-Coach Bruce Arena hat ihm gesagt, dass er noch die Möglichkeit hat, auf den WM-Zug aufzuspringen, wenn er regelmäßig spielt. Das wollen wir ihm nicht verbauen."
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I would translate it this way:

"US coach Bruce Arena told him that he has still the chance to jump on the World Cup train (=roster), IF he plays often/regularly. We don't want to stand in the way (literally: build a wall) between him and this chance."

You are right, this implies that Casey may have better chances to play regularly elsewhere.

You can see the reasoning behind that; Mainz 05 has three strikers who have delivered their share of goals in the first part of the season (Auer, Ruman and Thurk have all 5 goals, I think, which is definitely okay for a team fighting relegation), and during the season they added Zidan, who scored not as much, but added something new (speed and more dribbling skill) to the Mainz attack making it more unpredictable.

Therefore the competition for a spot is difficult, and a player returning after such a long injury would probably have to wait for an injury or weak phase of at least one or two of the other strikers. This might happen, of course. But to say that there might be other clubs (e.g. in BL 2) where one might get games faster is not an unresonable assumption.

 

so the implication is that Mainz is looking to get him off their books? Or to loan him out?

 

I wouldn't question the reasonableness of the notion. But the truth of it would simply intensify that it does seem to indicate a loss of faith from the folks who provide a pay check. Generally, when your employer notes that you'd be better off elsewhere, it's a good time to seek a new employer.

 

I chose my nick to honor the member of the 1954 team, playing for Spvgg Fürth. Although - or maybe because - I really didn't know much about him at that time. But I liked the name.

One reason is obviously that my birthday is in Mai/May

But I guess the similarity to the famous author of adventure novels, Karl May, is another important reason why I chose it. If I had despised the writer totally, I probably would not have done it. But I was a big fan as a kid...and I have read it again as an adult, and I must say that it still has some part of the old magic. And whatever one thinks about the quality as literature, May's life and psychology makes him a fascinating person and case study.

 

No clear indication about that in that article.

But yesterday's Kicker article that talks about a possible interest of Greuther Fürth in Casey makes a reference to that question:

"Speziell Casey würde sich auch zu einem Zweitligisten ausleihen lassen, um nach seinem Kreuzbandriss den WM-Traum mit den USA wahr zu machen. Problem: Der SpVgg ist ein Leihgeschäft zu wenig. Noch zumindest."

The context is that Fürth is looking right now for a striker among the reserve strikers from a few BL 1 teams; and Kicker names Casey and two other strikers from BL 1 (Frankfurt and Duisburg)

My rough translation:

"Particularly Casey would also agree to a loan deal, to still make his World Cup dreams true with the US team, even after his torn ACL. The problem is: A loan is not enough for Fürth. At least yet."

I.e. Fürth wants a player who will help them right now, but also in the long term. And will commit to them for some time.

One possible interpretation of that:
If there is a problem because of that, this could mean, that either Mainz or Casey would not only just agree to a loan, but they would prefer it to be a loan. Maybe Casey is still more hopeful to return to Mainz and make it there. Maybe Mainz still has enough trust in him to want him to return. Or they see the chance that Casey might play at the World Cup and improve his market value, so that they will cash in more on him in the future, than they could get now from Fürth if they sold him.

 

And then there's this thread on the RSL board that says someone named Conor Casey, who plays in Germany, was in Salt Lake City rehabbing...

 

Yeah, but there have to be hundreds of Conor Casey's who play in Germany.
I think his injury is simply really bad tiiming for him as far as this cup is concerned, as it's difficult 1. to come back from it at all, 2. to get back to full strength 3. to overcome the anxiety about it 4. to move to a new team and mix with unfamiliar players and 5. to do all this quickly enough to convince Arena that non of it is a problem, especially when you're a maybe guy.

 

Casey has a chance, slim, but a chance.

For those who want to write him off, I suggest watching some video of Ching and Twellman playing for the USMNT.

 

good point.

 

something no one has mentioned is that there was another striker (brazilian, Rumolo) in the mix in addition to thurk, auer, ruman, zidan. but he just this week decided to stay in brazil and get out of his contract, he had some other reasons but presumably it was mainly due to lack of playing time and no way to break through. mainz let him go. (a shame, he seemed to have some real potential). zidan will also (unless something changes) go back to bremen at season's end (as he is on loan to us).

so basically, this may affect casey in a couple of ways. 1. there's one less striker in competition. 2. maybe fsv will be less tempted to sell (who knows about a loan) conor on. tough to say. if he can come back, not that it'll be easy, but he's just a benny auer ankle or knee twist (or dip in form) away from the lineup...

 

and i always say, hey at least Twellman/Ching have managed to score... while not looking like red cards waiting to happen, to boot

plus, why is Bruce so crazy about this guy...can't he give chances to the likes of Buddle , Herc, etc..

 

At least Ching bailed us out of some of the early qualifiers with some timely goals...though he hasn't really wowed me of late. Twellman and Casey have done nothing for the MNT to convince me that either of them deserves a roster spot.

 

Now if he could only learn to finish...

 

I'd totally agree... especially against the likes of the big, physical defenders of Italy and Czech Republic.

 

Are you joking? If so, disregard and that's not very funny. If not, first of all, I sincerely doubt there are "hundreds" of Conor Caseys who play in Germany. Second, I doubt there are many Conor Caseys who play soccer who are rehabbing from ACL injuries in the US. Third, I doubt there are many Conor Caseys playing in Germany who would like to play in the MLS. Conclusion: it is highly likely that this is the Conor Casey that we think it is. The only other real possibility is that the guy is lying. This seems unlikely as well, given that he's not a soccer fan and would have had to do some serious research to come up with Casey's name and the resulting joke wouldn't be worth it. But I guess it's still a possibility; certainly more likely than that it's another soccer player playing in Germany rehabbing from an ACL injury in the US who wants to play for RSL.

 

Mainz coach Jürgen Klopp said in todays kicker that they will probably sign another striker if Romulo goes back to Brazil. I don't think they have a surplus of strikers at the moment.

 

"I'm Conor Casey."

"I'm Conor Casey, too!"

"I'm Conor Casey and so is my wife!"

 

I'm Spartacus.