http://www.chicago-fire.com/pressbox/firefeature/2003_0210_nowak_statement.asp Okay so we got stiffed, but that statement should give give Fire fans chills...and bring on some misty eyes as well. Very classy. Too bad it couldn't have happened here. Onward and upward Rev fans...let's move on.
From Nowak's retirement announcement: "Because of my personal situation, I cannot join the New England Revolution but I would like to thank Sunil Gulati, Coach Steve Nicol, the entire New England staff all the Revolution players and most importantly the Revolution fans for their efforts and such warm words in welcoming me to their organization. I was very impressed with the Revolution's performance last year and the club's amazing run at the 2002 MLS Cup championship. Such commitment made my decision difficult, but I am confident the team will continue to have success in the future with the team foundation they have in place." Sigh.
pretty classy in the end Sigh. I suppose it was inevitable, if only to allow for the classic: WCWGPLT?
So, who's gonna run the show now? Moore? Hernandez? Should be interesting to see how this develops...
OK, maybe he isn't in the same league as that punk Razov, and I can understand why the Fire fans love him, but I still will argue that we are owed more than the original pick we gave up to get him. We had him on our roster, and with him here, it dictated other moves. To pretend that it never happened ignores a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff, like, for example, the impact it had/has on the Llamosa negotiations. Still, it's a good thing that he retired in Red. Kinda like when Jackie Robinson was traded to the NY Giants, but retired instead. Tom
Fans- Life goes on..the Revs will actually get a 1st round pick because of the retirement. Let's not fret over something we never had and something we didn't give up. Patrick Buhlmanns' on his way to Brazil by the end of the week and the Revs will also be looking at chilean Cristian Uribe who is 26, played for Colo Colo and Benfica and the Nat. Team. Fans- due to Twellman's increase,a change in Brown's cap number, and Moore's signing, they can't keep everyone! This team has added: a Major player in Moore, which will make Taylor's life much easier and vice versa. What team has a better strike force than Moore, Twellman, Harris? a quality GK in Reis Shalrie Joseph- he will make a major contribution Noonan - will have a respectable rookie year. ....LLamosa is next Let's be different boston sports fans and be positive about the upcoming season!
Sucks I dont know what you guys gave Chicago for Nowak, but shouldn't you get it back? As an excrutiatingly loyal KC fan, I hate hate hate it when you trade for aplayer only to see him retire before you ever get to use him. That should be like the physical requirements, if they fail the [hysical - no deal, if they retire, we get our pick/money/player back. We have been screwed at least twice on this before, and if MLS wasn't a single-entity this would'nt fly. If one independent team traded a player to another, they would sue the first to get their player back if one retired, etc. before the season began. Its crap.
A couple of thoughts Damn....I would have loved to see Nowak lead our team, he is exactly the kind of force we needed (any team needed). His comments showed grace, professionalism and class. While his actions, agreeing to the deal (I assume) and then backing out, have hurt our preseason machinations, that's life. We can hopefully show the same professionalism to him. In other leagues, I am pretty sure that a lot of trades are contingent upon the player agreeing (i.e. waiving a no-trade clause for instance) and so either don't happen until everything is lined up, or aren't truly executed until the physical is passed. The difference in this case is that we did it to help the Fire at a deadline and then also potentially modified our drafting strategy because of his potential. Hence, we deserve ore than simple nullification. Lastly, thank you Piotr for what you have done to help the MLS become better. You added a dimension of talent, effort and leadership that is difficult to find. I feel fortunate that I was able to watch you and have my kids watch you play.
Re: Sucks ahh yes, it happened to us last season, some goon from Tampa Bay. I don't remember getting jack for him so don't bitch NE fans.
Sorry, but that's how sports works. If a player you own the rights to retires you are usually SOL. If it happens to be a player you traded for and he retires before reporting, you might be able to undo the trade. You certainly won't get compensation from the old club.
Re: Sucks i would rather have chicagos first round pick next year, likely going to be very high, then nowak for a year...that is if the rumor of a first round pick is true
From his retirement statement: "With my beloved wife and I expecting our second child, and my first daughter continuing her education by advancing to college, it is an exciting time for my family, and I look forward to sharing it with them." Maybe he's just decided to be with his family and not uproot them from Chicago which has become his second home. An addition to the family certainly changes the way parents look at their careers (among other things). And since I'm sure Nowak knew he wouldn't play a whole lot longer, why disrupt the family for a season or 2 if you're happy living where you are? Seems to me Revs Management covered every angle on this one. (see other thread) Give Steve Nicol some credit. He got the team headed in the right direction last season. I'm sure he (and/or Renato and/or Sunil) had a back up plan for Revs midfield if Nowak decided to retire.
"Hello, is this Johnnie Cochran? Oh good. My name is Fernando Clavijo and I'd like your assistance. Yes, the same Fernando Clavijo who lost his job with the Revolution..." Personally, I'd love to see this happen [Buhlmann's signing, that is].
Re: Sucks You must have missed the big Serna fiasco last year. When he was injured shortly after we traded for him, there was a rumor that his knee was already hurting when we got him. Our GM explaine that getting a physical wasn't necessary to complete a trade.
I disagree...yeah it would have been great to have Nowak here in NE, but it would have been pretty wierd too, sort of like if Magic Johnson had played for the Celtics at the end of his carreer. Yeah, cool to have the guy around, but is that really the way it's supposed to be? I'm glad he retired as a Chicago Fire player.
This is probably the wrong thread for this, but what do the Revolution need more this year? Defender (Left, Right or Center) Attacking Center Mid Left Sided Midfielder With Piotr Nowak out of the mix, Llamosa still unsigned, an international competition just about to start, and a full season just after that, one would think we are in a bit of a hurry to fill in the roster. I guess we might all agree that we are set at forward. JoeMax and Twellman are going to be formidable if they get service. I don't think that they will create all that much on their own. (Wolde is insurance) The Keeper situation looks very strong now, but is one injury away from a trade/callup. (Brown/Reis) The Right Side of Midfield is a lock with Ralston, the D-Mid position is fine with Hernandez or Cullen, but there isn't anyone to play the Center Mid (unless we go back to the Hernandez/Cullen combo that showed it couldn't move the ball through LA's midfield), and the left side of midfield is not as dynamic as it could be (Kamler/Griffiths & Noonan?). The defense looks fine, but not all that deep. Heaps, Pierce, Kante and Franchino should be fine if they return to last year's stretch run form. Joseph, Downing and Leonard are all question marks at this time. At least we can put Hernandez and Kamler in the back if we have to. Do we really need Llamosa as insurance? Would a left sided midfielder who could provide service and be a threat be better than a creative Center Mid? Or would another solid defender be just what we need to survive a long summer campaign? clearblue suggests Bullman and Cristian Uribe will be in Brazil with the team. What about Digimarino or Vaca? And what about Llamosa? clearblue also suggests we can't have them allunder the cap, but how about two? Any thoughts?
Why would we want to be positive? It's not in our nature, though I can't believe the free ride the Red Sox management is getting from the fans as they start running that team into the ground.... But that's a different sport. Anyway.... I think most people are positive about the Revs this year because Nicol & co. laid the foundation a year ago. There's always going to be change but the core of the team is in place and it looks like (we hope) it's going to be around for awhile. Yes, Nowak would have been nice, but it didn't materialize and just think, if he got hurt early in the year -- as was a distinct possibility -- then the team still wouldn't have an AM. Personally I think they need Llamosa but I think whatever ends up happening with him and some of these other guys they bring in, it's going to be an interesting and competitive team because the core from last year remains.
This is the quote from REVS management regarding compensation if Nowak retires: "(1) If Piotr Nowak chooses to retire, NE will have given up a third round pick in 2004 and will get as compensation either Chicago's 1st or 2nd round pick in 2004 (depending on where the Fire finish...but in no case lower than the 15th pick overall). If Nowak is actually going to play for Chicago, the Fire will have to propose a trade to obtain his rights from NE. (Otherwise, he ain't playing). Thus, the possibility that Piotr would choose not to play was well known by Rev. Mgmt. 2003 before the trade. Furthermore, we have at least one CMF candidate who will likely join us in Brazil. " So we traded a third round pick for a later first round or early second round pick. Sounds like a win/win situation to me. We are better off this way than having the trade nullified.
A central midfielder, by far. Without an improvement in the middle of the park, I think other moves would be roughly the equivilant of rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Sure, we'd look great for a while, but we'd ultimately be doomed. FWIW, I think we've got enough cap room to sign maybe two of Uribe, Buhlmann, or Llamosa. I still think Carlos would rather be elsewhere, though. Then again, signing Buhlmann could kill two birds with one stone, because that would allow Brian Kamler to serve as a backup at left mid and in central defense. GK: Brown RB: Heaps CB: Pierce/Joseph CB: Kante LB: Franchino DM: Hernandez RM: Ralston LM: Buhlmann??? AM: Uribe??? ST: Moore ST: Twellman FWIW, I love what the Red Sox have done this winter. To each his own.
I think we might be able to get away without a central midfielder if we get a strong presence on the left. While we can't expect to repeat last September and October for the whole 2003 season, we certainly did okay without a central midfielder. Perhaps it's not so much a CM that we need as just another facet to the attack. With someone raining in crosses or making deft runs from the left, opposing defenses would likely be spread enough to allow JMM and TnT to continue their MLS goal scoring successes. A two pronged attack with leftie-to-be-named and Ralston on the flanks would be pretty good. I also wonder if Nicol might try JMM in an attacking midfield role behind Wolde and TnT - Joe-Max wouldn't be quite as astute defensively as Cullen, but he'd be a major step up offensively.
What I actually meant was that it was too bad he couldn't have accomplished all that in Rev colors...and we could have some sort of winning tradition! But we're working on it.
Buhlmann and Uribe sounds good to me. If we sign Buhlmann, Griffiths is probably history. We'd then have one SI slot and whatever cap room we had left from Nowak/Llamosa/Serna. If Joseph can play at all, I'd be willing to risk not having Llamosa, and having Kamler as a backup. With the lineup listed above, our biggest weakness would be D-mid, but with Ralston and Buhlmann wide and Rusty and Kante in the middle we should be ok. Same with Joey, flanked by Buhlmann and Rusty. We migh be a little light on depth (Harris, Noonan, Cullen, Kamler, Joseph) but this would easily be the best lineup we've ever fielded.
SOmeone said: " a Major player in Moore, which will make Taylor's life much easier and vice versa. What team has a better strike force than Moore, Twellman, Harris?" Forget the Harris part. He was marginal at best last year and I think the Revs will come up with some other starting forward and drop Moore to attacking half.