Update on St. Pauli's Gibbs strategy: http://www.kicker.de/content/news/a...pieltag=33&spielpaarung=&turnier=&gruppe=6695 Kurios erscheint angesichts der finanziellen Engpässe außerdem, dass der FC St. Pauli den Vertrag mit Abwehrspieler Cory Gibbs per Option (zu Zweitligabezügen) bis 2004 verlängerte. Da es vor drei Monaten noch als unmöglich galt, den zuverlässigen Defensivmann zu Zweitligabezügen zu halten, dürfte die Vertragsverlängerung ein taktischer Schritt sein - ein riskanter. St. Pauli spekuliert darauf, den amerikanischen Nationalspieler trotz Vertrages nach Saisonende zu transferieren und dadurch eine hohe Ablöse zu erzielen. Essentially: "It is curious that FC St. Pauli would extend defender Cory Gibbs' contract per option (at 2. Bundesliga wages) through 2004 in light of the financial squeeze [ed. note - through relegation]. Since it was said to be impossible as recently as three months ago to hold onto the defender at 2. Bundeliga wages, the contractual extension must be a tactical move - and a risky one. St. Pauli is betting that the American National Teamer [ed. note - well, fringe player at best] will be transferred by the club despite the contract extension at the end of the season, allowing the club to book a significant amount of cash." Couple of thoughts... 1. Nice to see Gibbs get some props in the media as a steady defender. Furthermore, excellent to see that Kicker has dropped the largely mocking obligatory moniker "U.S.-Boy" from every description of American players who are plying their trade in the German leagues (I have noticed the same in response to Sanneh, Berhalter and the other foreign legionnaires). Average Kicker rating this season: 3,53 in 18 games (not too bad), but averaging solid 3,00 in the last five games or so. I imagine his ratings have been somewhat affected by their relegation struggles - teams that lose often also tend to be scored on often, resulting in lower scores for otherwise solid defenders by those who bestow the ratings due to obvious psychological factors. 2. Let the speculation begin as to where he might end up! Cory's "trial by fire" last season in the Bundesliga has obviously served him well in the 2. Bundesliga... Olaf, any local press speculating on probable destinations?
Hopefully he gets on with a promotion bound 2nd division team, or a newly promoted Bundesliga team. His season in the Bundesliga 1st will interest those who've just gone up, and it wouldn't surprise me if we see him back in the 1st division next year.
No, the kicker article is all I know. MoPo is the only source I checked, but they didn't have anything. I asked some if they heard anything, but I'd be surprised to get a positive answer. Btw, this is at least the second kicker article of the last weeks without mentioning "US-Boy" And in winter Sanneh was "top earner" and not "US Boy" anymore
Olaf- I think 2002 Cup...and likely game against Germany....really opened some eyes there. In the game against Germany- in which Germans/media likely thought US would fold up and get destroyed (especially after Ballack's goal)....well, I think everyone saw the tactical/skill progress of the US team. It wasn't just a team "hanging in there" with their physicality- it was players (some of whom admittedly, were playing the game of their life), but other players like Mastroeni, Donovan, Mathis (late sub), Reyna who were showing great skill on the ball- and were really just playing their game (they are THAT good). All those mentioned have the skill and tactical awareness to play in the BL, IMO. Honestly, I think US was every bit as good as Germany on the day, and could have easily won (bad call on the hand ball), and the German media knows this too. Maybe the reason why the "US-boy" is on the shelf now? Of course, US needs to maintain this new standard for another decade still to be entering the elite, but as you know, we Yanks always believe in the future-g Re Gibbs: I think it only logical that a 2nd division team (especially a "rise-r") would look to pick up a younger player with BL experience who is improving, and potentially could be a great long-term find. Likely, they can get him for a good price. If I were a GM of a 2nd club, I'd load up on Gibbs types, for some will not pan out, but if 30-40% do, you will have a strong core team for years to come, and have a shot at BL and/or a big payday (re-selling Gibbs types who do take it to the next level). I would combine Gibbs-types with older, more experienced players...
I think you're reading too much into it. Kicker has about 40-60 journalists writing for them and they simply have different styles. Some like to write 'US boy', others don't. Don't know who came up with this term, but it seems to be very popular at least among sports journalists. Unconfirmed sources link Gibbs with Union Berlin (D2 mid-table, no major perspectives), but they surely would not pay a major transfer sum.
Oh....is US-Boy like "Sonny Boy"? smile I think ANYTHING is better for Cory than taking the horrific ride down to D3.....even if his new D2 team has no BL chance, he'll have a chance to show his stuff (and he'll get picked up by a bigger club) if he continues to grow as a player... Of course, it would be nice if Leverkusen gets relegated (and Gibbs becomes their new centerback gg)...nice call on Bielefeld's late collapse by now.....as it stands now, I think you've got 2 teams right (Bielefeld and Nuremberg prediction) and I've got 2 (Nuremberg and Cottbus) although I have Leverkusen going down too.....Spannend bis zum Ende smile
Hey, if nothing else he'd get to live in Berlin. I think that Gibb's is getting to that point where he has the experience as pro and at playing in Europe. It's time for him to take some risks in trying to make it at a bigger club. St. Pauli is big in their own endearing ways but not big in other ways. Did Leverkusen get relegated? Maybe them or at least a club that's probably going to clear house like Kaiserslautern. It would be good to find a club that will be willingly taking risks on players themselves and a place where he could get some more recognition.
Interesting and a bit funny....St. Pauli's 3rd division budget (for salaries) is very close to MLS cap number..... But, of course, one could never compare certain aspects of MLS to German 3rd (how dare one!) g
If Mainz should somehow pip Eintracht Frankfurt Sunday for the final BL promotion spot, could they be interested in Gibbs? They have a history of giving Yanks a chance there. If they took on a no talent uberhacker like DuHaney, Gibbs should look like Beckenbauer in comparison.
"If we are at the top of standings, we'll surely have between 12,000 and 15,000. But we have to watch out that we don't drop into the bottom third, because of our tight budget," Gerber said." About MLS attendance "This season's income from television rights will fall 90 percent to 440,000 euros (US$515,000)." About the same as MLS. At this level Gibbs will be one of the top earners. As he would be in MLS?
Yeah, but should he desire to move to a bigger club, is it easier to negotiate with St. Pauli, or MLS?
It's a whole lot easier to negotiate with St. Pauli, since that's likely to be the reason they signed him. So they could realize a profit when he left. They're gamblers. You know, like pirates.
Who wants to live in Berlin when you're already living in Hamburg - by far the coolest, hippest and best town in Germany. Okay, that's my opinion, but I've lived in both cities and for me Hamburg is one of the greatest cities in Europe. I can't imagine living in Berlin would be a great motivation to go to Union, but then again, I wouldn't want to play in the Regionalliga either.
I think he should play for SC Freiburg to bad he won't be there when i was studying at the Uni. Oh well.
That surely depends on what you want. I'd prefer Berlin by far... Union President Heiner Bertram announced to only sign free agents, so Gibbs seems to be no real topic for them.
Uh, Deimos, it's a time buy. SUM pays ESPN2 for the airtime, then SUM gets the revenue from the ad sales.
Well, it's obviously less than the time buy, or else ESPN would just show the games themselves. But alot of the value for MLS comes from what having the games on TV does for the sponsors. And we can only guess what portion of that income is due to the games being on a major cable channel.
Plans could develop differently. St Pauli needs 2 M until June 11 to get the licence for Regionalliga. The city of Hamburg wanted to help, but now they see too much insecurity and refuse a guarantee. If Pauli gets no licence, then Gibbs will be a free agent.