Our boy just got a red card. You may be seeing him before you thought. He is fast enough and will play the defense. You will like him! John
He's not fast like Henry or Owen is fast. He's very quick in tight spaces, but he's not the type to get behind and outrun the defense.
from sanguine: "this is one case where credibility took a back seat to profitibility, and rightly so. If MLS had spent the money to bring the rest of the league to the '98 DCU level, there would be no MLS left today." ------------------------------------------------------------------------- amen, brother!!!!!!!!
Several answers for you. 1. Bruce Arena (USMNT head coach) has made a conscious effort to get more pace in the US team this past qualifying round. He force-fed DeMarcus Beasley in at a very early age (despite a series of concusions where it would have been very easy for a head coach to say "we'll bring in DMB next WC"). Arena has made a deliberate effort to include Convey (and has tried him at a bunch of positions). Basically, Arena is saying that Convey is one of the better Americans in terms of pace and technical ability. 2. He isn't world-class, Michael Johnson-class speed. But he's fast. He's got a good first step and good acceleration. Maybe more important, he's fast with the ball at his feet (we've all seen players who have good foot speed but always get caught on break-aways b/c they get so much slower with the ball). Convey is especially good at quick one-two's/combination play that require quick feet and quick thought. The other thing--I've seen sprinters who are good for a couple of runs and then they slow down as the match goes. Convey (like Beasley on the USMNT and Chicago) has his motor running the entire match. You won't seem him make a run forward and than slowly walk back (and get caught offsides). He won't have pace the first 20 minutes and then get slower and slower. I think you'll find that once he adjusts to teammates and new opponents, he'll be one of the pacier players on your side.
Convey WP update Got this from another site: It is being reported on Greater London Radio that Convey's transfer to Spurs has fallen through because a failure to gain a work permit. There was no report on whether this was the initial application or the appeal. If it was the initial application I wouldn't be suprised since he doesn't have enough Caps with the Nats (75% of FIFA Internationals). So lets not get our hopes up that he is not going.
Re: Convey WP update http://www.90soccer.com/articles/?ID=4&ArticleID=804 "Bobby Convey’s representation are hopeful that the US international’s switch to Tottenham Hotspurs will go through following an appeal process for his required for a Work Permit. " My reading is that he failed the initial application (as must have been expected) and is now in the appeal, which will be approved.
Re: Convey WP update What was that line from the Matrix? "What does that mean?" "It means nothin'. Everybody falls the first time." This is almost certainly the letter-of-the-law "denied" rubber stamp that every US player that is not named Landon Donovan would get (maybe there are other people that have played in 75% of the matches that count during the last two years, but not many)... Look for a press release from Spurs which says "We were very disapointed that the work permit for Bobby Convey has been denied but we intend to appeal this decision and our hopeful that we can persuade the Home Office to reverse their decision." Which should take about one week, based on past history.
Re: Re: Convey WP update As opposed to future history in which it will happen or present history in which it's still happening Yes his WP should be approved on appeal. It may even take less time. Some clubs have been able to press for a quick decision, it also depends on how many appeals the DOE has to look at. Since the start of the season for the EPL is quickly approaching they may be a little busy, but a week is a reasonable amount of time for a decision to come forth.
Article here regarding the situation with quotes from Convey's representatives. "Yes, we are hopeful," said Richard Motzkin of SportsNet, LLC. "Bobby has played every national team game since the 2002 World Cup, bar one. Certainly, it will be a nice statement for American players and SportsNet, if it happens." Convey has seven caps from his last 24 month period of international competition, which brings him way below the required 75 percent quota demanded by the Home Office. However, Convey’s representation noted that the actual appeal process will not centre around this particular issue. "No date yet on the appeal," added Dan Segal of SportsNet, LLC. "The number of caps is actually irrelevant to the appeal; an entirely different standard is used."
I believe that the actual figures are that Convey has had 16 of his 17 Caps in the past 24 months, unless they're talking about caps in official competitions
I believe though, one of the issues they are going to raise on appeal is that he has become a regular player in the first team (16/17 games) and that there just haven't been enough "A" games for him to qualify now that he is a full time regular. Hotspur is still a relatively "large" club, moneywise, in England, while not progressing the largess and power of ManU in forcing through the Howard WP, Hotspur should be able to get this one done. Hopefully Harksey will write a nice letter as he did for Howard.
hmmm... I don't know, I kind of feel like he should come out on Wednesday, take a bow, and be gone. I didn't see the game on Saturday, but from what I've read I kind of get the feeling that he's already checked out. Trying to get one last game out of Bobby would be like.....um....trying to score with your (ex)girlfriend one last time during the breakup....or something like that. Might feel good at the time but ultimately just leaves you empty and feeling kind of stupid. Not that I know personally...
I'm sure they will. They will also argue that he has been an integral part of successive youth team and played for them in major tournaments. I was only answering the question as to the number of caps he agent stated versus the actual number of caps he earned. The agent was talking about qualifying caps, while the earned caps takes into account friendlies which don't count towards the DOE's requirement. I don't think Convey will have any problems winning the appeal.
yeah, well you don't know how long it will be before you get another Convey, might as well see if he can help you score one last time. I mean, yeah, things look good with Freddy and all, but these things don't always work out, we could be in for a dry spell. What am I talking about?
PRE-injury self? when was that? UVa? Congrats to Bobby though. I've never liked spurs and only really tolerated them after Kasey started minding their nets but it's a perfect fit for Bobby. They're in 10th place so not the best but not the worst in the EPL either...they have a real need for players in his position (as opposed to seeing him go to a powerhouse where he'd ride the bench) which means he'll get quality playing time against top opposition. Hoddle seems to have his best interest at heart and the tutelage of Hoddle, Keller, and even Zeige and the other vets on the squad will do nothing but help his develpoment, which we can all see is a level or two above the average MLS learning curve.
It's officially announced now on MLSNet.com and dcunited.com I think people will be interested in this bit: "Financial details of the deal are undisclosed, however D.C. United are scheduled to receive a replacement player allocation from Major League Soccer. The pool of possible allocation players will be determined by United." http://www.mlsnet.com/content/03/dc0813convey.html K