http://www.vg.no/sport/vaalerenga/her-er-spissen-vaalerenga-sikler-etter/a/23412642/ Rough Google Translation:
Someone alerted me when this popped up a few days ago on a few Norwegian tabloid-ish papers. Therefore, I didn't mention anything of it. However, VG Sporten, tends to be one of the more reputable news outlets in Scandinavia. They've hit the nail on the head a few times when dealing with American players -- example they broke that Mix Diskerud was headed to NYCFC a day before US outlets caught wind. With that said, there's probably some legitimacy to the interest Valerenga, one of the bigger Norwegian clubs, is showing in Brown. According to the article, it has been denied by Valerenga that the club's Managing Director is in route to the US to finalize the deal. It also mentions most would prefer a player who is a little more of a finished product but the price tag on that player is more expensive. They want a long-term solution. Coincidentally, the striker Brown would "replace" Kjartansson was rumored at least twice this off season to Columbus but he eventually settled on a big pay day from a Chinese Superliga club. I fine with cashing in on Deshorn as long as there is a plan in place to replace him soon. Doyle seems the most obvious but can we really wait until the summer if we sell Brown now?? My head says, no. Let's hope if Brown is sold an incoming transfer is next in line.
Am I crazy, but is a 6th place Norwegian Premiere League team really a step up or even lateral for Brown? Sure its Europe but its a UEFA coefficient ranking of 26th out of 54 countries, roughly on par with Serbia and Bulgarian leagues. I guess the faint hope of Champions league or Europa Cup may have a pull as well. If it's not a rumor, and I think (and hope) that's all that it is, then perhaps its some combination of the RFO desperate need for cash and Browns desperate desire to leave?
As negative as I can be I think this board tends to find the most conspiratorial reasons for what the FO does. in this case, if the offer is good enough, the Rapids should see Brown. That's our path to compete in this league, find good young players, develop them, then sell them and use the cash to find the occasional Torres/Ramirez/Doyle. I don't think we have to assume the FO is "desperate for cash". From Brown's POV he knows Pablo wants to play the 4-5-1 and Doyle is a likely signing. If that occurs, where does he play? He'd be battling Sanchez, Powers, and Serna for the right winger spot (assuming Ramirez at left winger and Torres in the center most of the time). The real concern is if we sell Brown in the next couple of weeks and we don't sign Doyle (or somebody similar) until summer, do we really think Badji can handle being the guy for 3+ months?
hence, the desperation. we clearly are not competing by any meaningful metric as it stands. not writing off Ramirez or even Torres yet, but its sad that's the best list we can come up with. A so-far major bust of a DP and a guy that hasn't played a minute yet. And a guy that may or may not materialize.
I think it is a good sign that the Rapids seem to have more than one iron in the fire at the same time. It seems to show that there is some sort of master plan.
It makes you wonder if the Brown and Doyle deals may be related. If Brown were sold for a pretty coin...would they then turn that money around to pony up a transfer fee to expedite Doyle's exit from Wolves?
Having seen the Tippeligaen numerous times tracking Yanks, it all depends where you land. Clubs like Rosenborg and Molde could easily be comparable to upper tier MLS sides while clubs like Odd BK and Stromgodset have show flashes of being "MLS-caliber". With the growth of MLS, the Tippeligaen has been surpassed by MLS. It's not a bad league per se just a little top heavy with a bunch of mediocre clubs underneath them. What moving to Norway does, though, is give you more accessibility to the rest of Europe. It's not uncommon to see the better players transfer to Russian, Danish, German (Bundesliga and Bundesliga II), Dutch or Belgium clubs. Recently several Jamaicans have thrived in Norwary -- Demar Philips, Luton Shelton, Dane Richards, Rudolph Austin, Dwayne Kerr, etc. So it's a move that might strike a cord with Jamaica's manager and propel Brown into more regular call-ups.
What do you consider "pretty coin"?? As far as I can tell, the highest transfer fees paid by Norwegian clubs range between $1.3-1.7M. Safe to say, on the open market, Brown's sale would not fetch that kind of cash. I'd say he's more in the $400-500K range. But.................... as you eluded to that $400-500K may be just enough cash to entice Wolves to let Doyle leave his contract earlier or buy out the remaining portion of his current deal.
I did a little test fellas. I posted on the Rapid's FB wall a link to the story. Let's see how long before it's taken down. Edit: It lasted all of 2.2 seconds. It appeared on the wall and I refreshed as it was gone. Things that make you go hmmmmmmmmm.............. https://www.facebook.com/coloradorapids/posts/10204041348573564?notif_t=like
It is up as of 2:10 pm mountain time. Maybe they saw that we were monitoring it and decided to put it back up. Or that it fits right in with the other wall comments - you know, the ones accusing the Rapids of cheating and calling them out for lack of online kit inventory.
I don't think it is related to the Doyle deal. By my best guess Doyle is the delay in the Doyle deal, if you are making a lot of money, have a new baby, and a prospective job change for a pretty big cut in pay along with a good chance of getting burned in a dumpster fire what exactly is your motivation to hurry up the deal? As long as the potential deal to keep me working after my contract is up wasn't going away I would stall as long as I could. Re. Brown I wonder if he has the requisite percentage of recent National team call ups/caps to get his work permit?
You can sneeze and gain citizenship in most Scandinavian countries evident by the decent increase in immigration to those countries. Deshorn would have no problem gaining the necessary visa(s) to working in Norway. It's much, much easier than the United Kingdom. His employment would not be hinged on national team appearances.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm. OK I'd really like DOYLE to be here, playing, before this and I am unsure if Badji is Brown quality. Maybe it'll be a summer transfer and Brown will score 10 goals before he leaves R
Thanks for clarifying the work permit situation, maybe because most of my EU news comes from the Guardian UK I mistake the E in EU for England instead of Europe and assume one size fits all? ;>)