Yesterday Jacob Thomas was the guest in a soccer show on a local radio station. A recording of the show (in German of course) should be soon avaiable on http://www.eintracht-inteam.de/ (at the bottom of the page, at the moment there is still last week's show). I missed the show, but i'll give a summary of it when i have listened to the recording.
Wanted to post a new topic, but as a Thomas thread is already opened: he seems to have an offer from Eintracht Trier. Trier promoted to 2.Bundesliga right before this season and will probably finish as best promoted team (currently on rank 7). As he has a valid contract for Regionalliga, they'd have to pay a transfer fee though.
He is married (I think, could also be engaged only) to the daughter of Franz Merkhoffer, who played 419 Bundesliga games for Braunschweig.
How much would Trier have to pay to pry him loose? Whose decision is it, and is it doable? Like Gibbs, would be a shame if Thomas has to go down....both seem "on a good path" to BL1 (with some more hard work, experience, improvement and luck) within 2-3 years and then, of course, they would be on US Nat radar screen, but a move down with put a major blow to all such plans...
Decision first of all of Thomas if he wants to leave, and then of the clubs to reach an agreement. If Braunschweig relegates, then I think this transfer will be done if it's more than just a rumour; a realistic transfer fee is 25 to 50 K. With all due respect to Braunschweig, who I like more than Trier, this transfer would be good for Thomas. He is 26 and if he still wants to reach something in soccer, then he can't go back to D3 at this age. In this case it would be difficult for him to return to pro soccer except another promotion with Braunschweig happens. In Trier he could play another pro season, get the chance to improve his play and prove himself in another club, and maybe have the chance to show up for another team with better perspectives; with then 27 he still would not be too old to maybe play Bundesliga, but if he returns to D3 with Braunschweig, then this story is over. But as Braunschweig has finance problems I think they'd be more than happy to get any transfer sum in case of relegation. Also, Thomas has a contract valid for D2 and D3, which means that in D3 he'd be a top earner of his team - quite a burden for Braunschweig.
Alex- You got anything to add to Olafgb's assessment of Thomas' play? How do you rate him among Braunschweig's talented, and vis-a-vis other 2nd division players?
Can anyone add something to Olaf's analysises ? (btw, i have no idea what the plural of analysis is (at least in english) - i am not even sure if this word is used in english too) Short summary: Very fast, physical player. He gives everything for the team, but lacks technical skills and is not a perfect (more or less poor) finisher. He often has good chances, mainly because of his speed, but after his longs runs he simply doesn't score very often. He isn't as often injured now as he used to be in the past, which was a big handicap for him, so here he improved. He seems to be a very nice guy and i wouldn't like to see him leave the club (and i am very optimistic that if he stays in Braunschweig he could play 2. Bundesliga again in 2 years (in case of relegation this year). I think that he is important for the team (especially in games were we play counter attack), and he is among the talented players of the squad, but not outstanding. He is a good 2. BL (and maybe bottom 1. BL) player but, to be honest, i am always a bit sceptical when i hear someone talking about a bright future for him in the Bundesliga (as a former coach here did).
Listening to the interview, some interesting things: He says he started playing soccer because his dad is german. He is "together" (take that for what it's worth) with the daughter of that player. Says he runs a 4.2 40 yard dash. And he's been in germany for 4 years, but wow, does he have a huge texas accent, i've never heard texas german before but it's funny. It's probably just 'cause he's nervous but his german is just atrocious on this show, i would think that most people that didn't speak english wouldn't understand this. Ok, now he says that he is married and that he bought a horse, this is all over the place. Wierd interview.
As for my analysis, i've seen him once in person and a couple times on tv, and he has amazing speed but just isn't up to the technical level needed for the bundesliga, i think he could maybe play for a cottbus or someone that is fighting relegation every year but not much more.