Cunningham decision in days, Helsingborgs IF (Sweden) interested

I've said all along that I thought he would wind up in the Swedish 1st division. IF Helsingborg made an offer for him in August, but MLS turned them down. However, I guess this means that his trial at AGF didn't go well.

Then again that's a huge bump in salary for Cunningham who was working off a contract he got in 2000 as I understand it. He was making around 60-80K before. That new contract though would kill the Crew with the Salary Cap unless McBride leaves and/or Mais and Clark retire. Might be best if the Crew traded him to a club with more salary room if he did come back.

 

DC could certainly use a quality forward. How about Cunningham for Etcheverry? We can even throw in Hristo.

 

If Cunningham stays I have no problem with it. However, if he stays at that salary and we do not get rid of the big mais or Clark or some of these othe big salary guys we are shooting ourselves in the foot. We have 5 draft picks in the first three rounds, and an allocation. We have every oppurtunity to bring in younger, cheaper talent. Still I doubt that our current front office will do that.

 

I'm not so worried about the salary cap with the draftees because most of those are going to be P-40/DP unless goes after say Ngewyn. I think Wingert will even be a P-40 for at least a year the way Eski was. The big problem comes with the allocation and 2 disocovery options when the Crew want to use those. Will they have the money with Cunningham's big increase in salary without cutting Mais and Clark or reducing their salaries to well below 60K. Plus I would assume Chacon's salary couldn't be covered in order to bring in new talent.

I don't know, I'm assuming Mais makes around 150K and Clark anywhere from 80K-100K based on past performance and seniority. We know Hejduk makes around 200K and McBride is max salary. Chacon I'm not sure about. I think he got a new contract after his MVP season and it's in the 100K range as well. I think that's all our over 100K players.

IMO, Clark and Mais should both retire anyway, if not, they should be cut and Chacon shouldn't be back anyway. However, everyone and their mother knows Greg won't cut either Clark or Mais since this organization attaches themselves to it's aging players. I got to admit I feel some attachment to them as well. Good guys and they played some great games for the Crew in the past, but I can feel that way as a fan, a coach can't let that stuff get in the way of winning. They have both used up their usefulness to the Crew and should be gone. Maybe Cunningham coming back would force Andrulis' hand here some. Though, IMO, he'd trade Cunningham before cutting either Clark or Mais. Most here, I would imagine, would agree with that nonsence too.

 

lets us not forget that for the olympics we are going to be missing buddle, martino & akwari; and during that same time there are some WCQ'ers that will no doubt remove mcbride and frankie from the squad...we once again will be crushed by call-ups to national teams...we HAVE to have depth this upcoming year.

and if you remember greg's initial plans were to play all three strikers <mcbride, buddle & cunny> at the same time on the field but due to injuries and call-ups he only got the chance twice <the first and last game of the year> and both of those games we played pretty well...

still $160,000 <or thereabouts> is a lot of money.

 

It seems quite low if you put it in per week.... just under £2,000 a week.

not important at all, but slightly interesting

 

Where do YOU work, buddy? I'll take that meager salary if you don't want it...

 

haha, i'm talking for a professional player who has a career that is essentially finished when you are in your mid 30's.



And not really to nit-pick, but the team is usually called just "Helsingborg" or in long form Helsingborgs IF.

IF stands for "Idrotts Förening" which means "sports association" (basicially the same as FC)

or to make it even simpler, they are also known as HIF.



also, Helsingborg's website (www.hif.se) has nothing about JC at all.

 

Cunningham now close to re-signing with MLS. Could still change, but an announcement likely to come soon.

 

this weekend?

 

If Cunningham does choose MLS, seems the Crew won't have to worry right away about the salary cap according to Bergin. However, come March something will have to be done to get Cunningham's big raise in there.

http://ussocceruk.com/news/CatTypeId=2&ContentId=1152

 

interesting.


especially considering the source.


I bet Greg had a "sorry it didn't work out" roster spot.

 

Poor babies...I guess they can't get a regular job, just like you and me, the minute they retire from the big-bucks gig

 

This is interesting. I guess it makes sense. After the draft now you at least get a few months to train and see what you have got before you make any irrational cuts/trades.

 

If Jeffy re-ups with MLS, that means two big salaries. From a cap standpoint - unless the Crew are allowed to be creative - I just don't see the club being able to afford BMB and Jeffy.

 

Hopefully Blackburn will solve that problem.

 

Can someone explain how the Crew would have salary cap problems? I cannot figure it out.

 

The easy answer is no, nobody knows.

But it's also easy to make some assumptions:

1) We were at the cap limit last season, pretty much like everybody else. We had to clear cap room and even may have gotten some "relief" to bring in Williams.

2) If Jeff C's previous contract was for $60-80k, and is now going to be $150-180k, then even dumping Williams does not change the fact: we either are over or are very close to over.

Now:

I think what your question may REALLY be is "Where is all that dough going", and the answer is, of course, pure speculation. Feel free to make it up like everybody else.

My version is this: Maissoneuve, Clark and Presthus. All are long-service veterans, and all are well paid by MLS standards.

Now Hejduk ain't cheap, and ditto Paule, but they're not going anywhere. Hopefully.

Now add into this the fact that we will be bringing in two allocations, a discovery and at least one decent SI. None of whom will be cheap.

Then throw in that we really need to give Buddle some loot, Martino too.

So however you break down the money (and please - be my guest) there's some serious maneuvering to be done before we can bring in anything much more than a couple P40's and a third round draft choice.

 

i know mcbride makes the league max.

and frankie has gotta be close to the max?

 

Sorted yours out too.

 

Not true. The former money managers at Enron and WorldCom needed work. Perfect for the MLS salary cap.