http://www.dcunited.com/index.cfm?section=main&cont_id=165182 While the article speaks of harmony, I'm a little disturbed by the blurb at the end. I'm distrubed because the article mentions the "activation" of the agreement, and the person going from United isn't a coach, it's our player personnel guy. With Leverkusen's acknowledged interest in Convey, and the rhetoric about how DC United would be gaining coaching insight, this smells a little like Leverkusen cherry-picking United's players in exchange for allowing Donovan to stay in MLS a little longer. I really hope I'm just being overly suspicious. -Tron
i inferred the article to mean that dave was going there to sign and formalize the agreement. i would guess there is some need for a "kick off" meeting as with any project. this isn't really the time for our coaches to be exchanging or travelling to germany, we need them here to get us going. i expect we will see the benefits next fall after the season when our guys and coaches can be exposed to BL in season.
I don't think so R&B. Look at these words from the article. It's already signed, they're going for a different purpose. -Tron
even if it is signed beforehand, it doesn't seem odd to me that dave would go over first and kick the process off, it just doesn't seem very ominous to me. not only that, the person writing the piece may have just worded it so it seemed odd. i don't know, it is usually not possible to be too paranoid in the world of football, so you are probably right to be suspicious and my sunny, trusting nature will just get me in trouble
I think a lot of us will be suspicious of this agreement for some time to come. But I don't imagine that we will lose Convey or anybody this season, and as for Bobby, I don't expect to see him have a long career at DCU. We'll be following him on FSW in the near future.
"AND THEN THERE WAS ONE John Harkes remains the lone trialist in United camp this week. Hudson, John Trask and Dave Kasper have met with Simon Toselli, Denio Medeiros, Joseph Devidze, Eric Ozinek, Jose Gomez, Michael Karim and Lugens Cajuste thanking each for their efforts, yet excusing them from pre-season training." i guess none of them fit the bill. too bad. i thought toselli did well in some of the preseason matches. and with devidze being a georgian U-20, i thought he had some upside. oh well.
I'd think of this more as a beefed up version of the everton-columbus deal. We will send some boys over for 3 month loans when we're off season to fill the gaps for leverkusen if they get injuries or problems. they send us assistant coaches. Why pay 1 million for an unknown quantity like Bobby Convey when you can get him on loan with no obligation for 250,000, which, btw is a win situation for everyone involved, including the fans. I'm loving watching Mcbride score for everton. And I'm sure Bobby would love a 3 month vacation to Deutchland. Best of all, this loan system really increases the possibility of MLS profitability, which is a very, very good thing. And if you were really paranoid you'd say they made this deal not to get bobby, but to get ADU in 2 years.
Is it just me or was there an inkling of a possibility of a hint that there would be stadium benefits? Tim