Pitch looks brutal! Old timey mud football in store. The Saarbrucken grounds keepers weep.. Oops, match was cancelled.
Match called off due to rain Bad news. The match has been called off. Thank you so much to all our fans who travelled and we'll see you again soon 💚#FCSBMG— Gladbach (@borussia_en) February 7, 2024
Joe Scally has changed agency. He leaves Wasserman and joins up with Sports360. pic.twitter.com/0Ng4KTZOhu— USMNT Otaku 🇺🇸 (@USMNTOtaku) February 14, 2024 new agent / agency
sports360 is Volker Struth's agency. He mainly reps German players. I've stopped trying to guess why players switch agents, because unless Mendes gets involved, it rarely results in a significant change in strategy.
Its a weird thing. Scally and Reyna are reportedly good friends. Reyna leaves Wasserman and then Scally does too. Odd. Probably just a change in strategy. Wasserman has a lot of big, big clients. But when you look at their "top 50" clients in transfermarkt, not so many of them are in the Bundesliga. A few. So if you want an agency with a Bundesliga focus, Wasserman may not be the top choice. Many, many English speaking clients (Britain and the US). But who the hell knows? Sometimes I think this agency stuff is overanalyzed.
I feel like there would be more to speculate about if his contract was up before 2027. But as such, he doesn't have leverage to look for a move, he's not negotiating a renewal, and the relationship between club and player seems pretty solid. Maybe he wants to look for German brand deals? Most likely it's internal business... might be about language / connections like Clint speculated, or maybe his deal with Wasserman ended and Sport360 just offered to only take 5.5% instead of 6% of his next signing bonus. IDK.
Sorry if I wasn’t clear enough. In my mind there is a 0% chance that Reyna’s leaving Wasserman and then Scally’s leaving relatively shortly thereafter is a coincidence. The interesting question is why the change, and the answer seems a bit clearer in Reyna’s case (despite how that worked out).
About a month ago, Diego29 was on the Straight Red Card YouTube channel to discuss Gio's agency switch. He stated that Dortmund started to explore loaning Gio to another BL team to get him playing time. Wasserman was essentially sitting on their hands waiting for something to happen, which triggered the Reyna's to seek representation that know club managers and could work the phones. How likely is that Wasserman was behind that odd Matt Turner event where he used the middle of Nottingham pitch for an interview delayed until the middle of the practice week and hyped to other media outlets? Today's news worthy event leads to a reality TV show that Turners are participating in that starts airing on Amazon Prime on Feb 23, Married to the Game. https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/25415979/premier-league-wags-amazon-prime-jorginho-mahrez/ This may create a simple choice. If you have non-soccer aspirations, choose Wasserman. If you want to be a professional European soccer player, choose an agent with active relationships in this industry. If Wasserman puts in minimal time with Gio, how many lesser players that could/should want to Europe at 16 or 18 receive poor to minimal advice on finding a club?
I mean I don’t think it’s accurate to say Wasserman doesn’t have active relationships in the industry given their client list. https://www.transfermarkt.us/wasserman/beraterfirma/berater/440 Gio and Scally weren’t happy with their representation for whatever reason and switched, but that sort of thing happens all the time with agents.
How much of their size is due to being the default agency for most new US professionals. Was Gio's agent that same as his dad? US college sports have become similar to European football with a dizzying 'transfer' market for coaches and key players. US-based agents are very involved in this as there's a similar domino effect after the 1st piece moves. Gio and Scally went to Europe young, which could result in multiple contracts negotiated by a well compensated agent; an incentive for European agents to poach Americans. They've played for numerous coaches with some quoted in the Reyna loan articles. Wouldn't the players be better off with agents that work the phones and predict where the movement of coaches and players will end up? The ESPN profile piece and media campaign for Turner seems to have little benefit for Nottingham. Their owner partners with Mendes on a Portugal club and has brought in Mendes coach to change their strategy and style. I don't think US players put too much time into thinking about their agents, but if Wasserman were oblivious to Nottingham's relationships, it could lead to players questioning if they agents can help their career. This board has many posts that players need their agent to get to a better club situation. Perhaps, the weakness of this process has been the player's agent pool. Scally may be the best example of a player move as he went in the winter and integrated into II team. By the following season, he was giving interviews in German, starting for his club, and switching sides during matches. Moving to a German agency may be due he is now capable plus he's seem to quicker to adapt to achieve his professional objectives.
They have plenty of clients who are not American however. I would also add that 29 isn’t someone who I consider to be a reliable source of information. I would be shocked if they weren’t working the phones and making zero effort. I do imagine that it’s possible you can get less personal attention at a larger agency versus a smaller one. But it also remains to be seen if Gio’s move to Nottingham was even a good one. As for Turner endorsements and other media opportunities are precisely the sorts of thing agents do. For whatever reason Scally and Gio (who are best friends) were unhappy with their representation. I don’t know if there is anything more to read into than that.
Out when they go down 2-0: We've made our first changes ⤵️ (59')📥 Lainer, Ngoumou📤 Scally, Wöber#RBLBMG 2-0— Gladbach (@borussia_en) February 17, 2024
Goats lost at home so they're probably ok. If they go down (doubt it), they'd be one of the biggest scalps ever claimed by our Yanks Abroad.
"Today's kick-off has been delayed by ten minutes to 15:40 CET at the request of the police and after discussions with both clubs. This is due to issues with our visitors' travel to the ground." Scally starts! Lanier is also starting and my schematic shows Lanier at RB, Scally at LB. Jordan Pefok also starts! Gladbach (15th) hosting Bochum (11th).
On the bench in a cup match: Viertelfinale reloaded! So starten wir gegen Saarbrücken 🔥#DFBPokal #FCSBMG pic.twitter.com/dLD8rQUpJ3— Borussia (@borussia) March 12, 2024 Already up 1-0 in the 8th. Match is on ESPN+ in Spanish only.
81' Nächster Doppelwechsel bei den Fohlen➡️ #Lainer➡️ #Scally⬅️ #Netz⬅️ #Elvedi #DFBPokal #FCSBMG 1:1 pic.twitter.com/4hE8GlEIYS— Borussia (@borussia) March 12, 2024 It's tied 1-1 in the 83rd. Wet field with some substantial divots.
It did, from a 90'+3' winner. As a result, at least one of the finalists will be from the lower divisions (2x 2.liga clubs and Leverkusen join 3.liga Saarbrucken in the semis). Truly a wild Pokal this year!
Scally starts! Gladbach (12th) visiting Heidenheim (11th). Jordan Pefok also starts, Maloney is still out injured. Lanier is also starting, which must mean that Scally is playing LB.