I wonder if we had any choice in the matter. I admit I have no real evidence to support this suggestion; but I can't help but wonder if Steve Guppy's acquisition was not meant to fill the gap caused by the loss of Earnie Stewart, but instead came from three factors: 1. he's very clearly near the end of his career, and needed a team to retire on; 2. DCU is owned by AEG; 3. Guppy's brother is a major soccer exec in AEG. I dunno. Maybe, maybe not.
He is playing for peanuts. Isn't Convey's salary at Reading something like $500K or more? Compared to European salaries, $120K is spare change... As for Namoff, his salary was in my print edition of the post at $77k or something close. As for the others who did great work last year and still have low salaries - this is MLS SOP. The league only renegotiates when a player has other options to leave and they want them to stay. Remember Nelsen, he was pushing for a renegotiation for years but MLS only came to the table in the last year of his contract and so he left for Blackburn to a "real salary". I'm sure Namoff's renegotiations came about because he could have gone to the A-league and made more than his developmental salary (plus is sent a really bad message to have a guy on $15k a year starting over higher priced players). I expect that Gros and some others will be able to renegotiate in the off season because the standard MLS contract is 1+2 years (one year plus two MLS option years IIRC). Those players in their first option year are likely to have a chance at renegotiation in the off season so that they stick around.
Absitively. There's ALOT of soccer yet to be played. If Guppy comes back and racks up 10-12 assists I'm sure people will be singing a different tune.
\ \ Nice post rev. I'm surprised that folks here are surprised that Guppy, coming from a league where pay is so much higher than MLS, is getting a relatively large MLS salary. There's just no way that we could attract someone like Guppy for 40K a year. Try to remember that when we go for another European or even a 1st division South American. However I disagree that guys like Gros will soon be able to renogotiate their salaries upward. As painful as it mat be, Gros is not special in this league. (Note: I'm not saying that he sucks here.) He can easily be replaced as he has very few developed soccer skills. What he has in abundance- physical stamina, speed, and strength- is fairly common in america. Unless the salary cap is blown open I can't see him ever making over 70K.
Only Freddy's salary, as a P-40/Generation adidas player, doesn't count at all against the cap. Johnson and Donovan salaries have the league maximum (about $275K-285K) count against the cap. 4th round draft pick, no European prospects, MLS or the USMC - not a whole lot of bargaining room there. I don't see how I could possibly get more bitter and jaded. Anybody else take a look at the MLS Top Ten? $500K for Ramirez? $410K for Fat Waste? Kirovski at $290K?
Namoff was only on a Developmental salary for the end of the 2002 season when he came back from his loan spell at Richmond. After that his salary was restored to the terms of the contract he signed as a rookie ($27,780 according to the list released last year).
Its a shame that the minimum for a starter in this league is not at least 45k. Developmental players should earn at least 30k. I would like to see the guys on the field not flipping burgers to make ends meet and to get some chow. Overall with the exception of the 'Freddy', I think DC has done a very good job of balancing thier payroll. It seems that most of the starters who have been around a few years make at least 70k and the stars make double that. Hopefully when DC feels Adu's salary next year we won't have to have a house cleaning to make room. As much as I liked Petke, Wilson is very good and allot cheaper. Unfortunately that is the way it is in this league. WE NEED TV MONEY! I also agree with fellow posters that Guppy's salary seems out of place and also his style of play does not mesh well with what we have here at DC. We dont have a good air pressence near the goal for his crosses. He would be an awsome addition for someone like New England with thier forwards and Dempsey. -The Far Side
Ok, rough back of the envelope calculations: Including Namoff at $77k puts our total salaries at roughly $1.443 mil. (Plus we are paying some of Chris Henderson's salary per the Petke trade) IF (big IF) the cap is around $1.8 mil... that leaves around $350k to spend on the Argie defender and save for next year when we assume Adu will count against the cap. Since we've never had a P-40/Gen Adidas player making max before, it could be that MLS only makes half of Adu's salary count, or some percentage... who knows, this is MLS. Quaranta's contract is up, unless he completely goes off the rest of the year, I can't see him getting a raise (probably a lower base salary with HEAVY incentives).
Some of our best goals have come from crosses from the wings. We don't score more goals that way because we quit making aggressive back post runs about 6 years ago. If you mean he doesn't fit because he doesn't defend enough, fair enough. He hasn't had time enough to fit in (or get his fitness up.) I agree w/ GM et al that he needs a little time. He can send in some of the best whipping crosses I've seen in years and it's worth seeing if he can become a solid provider.
Agreed. Frankly, when he returns to full health, I'd like to see him get a shot and have Gros sit a few. Experience counts come playoff time. With the number of games he's missed, he may not be worn down toward the end of the season. Could see him slipping back into the starting lineup like Stewart did last season. I don't think that was a new admission. "Over-max" players have always been around. Nobody thought Etcheverry actually made the max in his prime. He just counted the max against the cap. That's been done for the life of the league -- the league just didn't let slip out how much over the max the "over-max" guys were making.
Oops on the typo. But Namoff's listing wasn't in that link an hour ago. They fixed it. (although I understand he *was* in the print edition list)
What I meant was he is a one dimensional player and plays with one foot (his left) He does have beautiful crosses, but has no speed or staminia, does not defend particularly well, and cant take anyone on and beat them. With the DC system the wings need to be fast and cover allot of ground, defend, and switch positions by moving in or back to unbalance the defense. DCU likes to smother the midfield with defense to relieve pressure on our three backs (one of which is a rookie, a journey man in Brandon, and a reacent transplant from the A-League.) Both Gross and Dema do this, I dont see Guppy doing this. That said, I think Guppy has a beautiful ball went sent in from the left side. I think he would thrive somewhere else, just not in DC. my opinion, right or wrong. -The Far Side
Ursula, you may have misinterpreted my coments about Gros et alia being able to "renegotiate" a higher salary. I should have said "Gros will be able to negotiate a new salary in the off season." As his original contract is due to expire at the end of 2006 (IIRC due to the standard 1+2 year contracts), MLS will start the negotiations between the 2005 and 2006 season although they could wait until the end of the 2006 season. He'll likely be able to negotiate some sort of raise especially if he puts up good numbers.
Correction: EJ WILL be making some nice coin. It's a new deal that hasn't been announced yet and he's still playing on his original deal.
Understand. We have a rich history involving a one-footed player. We may not see Guppy succeed here because of the workrate that seems to be required of that position, but it might be that Gros HAS to run like a madman because he frequently puts in lousy crosses that trap his midfield in an attacking position. He is then left to scramble back to cover the counterattack. A better-played cross would be more threatening, and would allow a smoother flow of play.
In EJ's and Landycakes' cases, the "maximum salary" number counts against FCD's and LA's caps. Adu, however, is technically a developmental player so he's cap-exempt. At least, this is how these things were explained to me.
And everyone is complaining about Guppy at $120 So far he hasn't been a complete bust, aside from his injury. He hasn't been a club cancer and he's not taking the place of anyone else. Unlike other last-lap players, I'll bet he is working with Nowak and Co. to help the team, not just himself. And it's not like they didn't or couldn't get someone instead of Guppy. And he's not going to play for peanuts, either. He's got to move from England to DC, take care of any family issues, etc. etc. on just $120, despite what he has saved in the bank. It could have been worse, it could have been Steve Howey. If they didn't win the Cup last year, we'd all still be moaning about all the $$$ wasted down the drainpipe called Earnie Stewart. Thx, Jay!