ronnie must stay i think before you even start to mention all them players ronnie should be on the top of everybody list for next season.
I'm not sure what you mean. Typically and "option" year in an MLS contract is the team has the option of picking it up for the specified amount. So since Ronnie is one of the few really good players on the team, I am not worried that no matter who the coach is the Burn will pick up his option.
I did some research and found out the breaking point for trans Int to Senior Int (baring age of course) is $75k. Ask yourself if Ronnie O'Brien, best player on the team Ronnie O'Brien, will want to play again, on turf, as a senior Int, for <75k. You should be worried. ps I still have not found out what Toni gets paid.
I am expecting that at least one, maybe two, and possibly all of Chad, Jason, and Oscar will be gone. Plus Morrow is already gone. They can renegotiate his contract without breaking the cap. and unless I misunderstand the soccer world an option that can be picked up by the team is not subject to what he wants. He wants to break his contract he's going to have to pay for it. He can't walk out on a contract recognized by FIFA and go join who he wants to. He can refuse to play or pull a Zarco...that does not seem like his style. Chivas did the same thing. He wanted more money after a good year or two, even though he was committed. Well, it didn't get him very far.
I know I wouldn't be back if I was a Burn player and had any way at all out. Our American players are probably just screwed. But I imagine that foreign players of O'briens pedigree probably have a bit more say over their future. Just a gut feeling. Maybe a raise to 150-200K might ease the pain of throwing away a year of your career at Southlake. He's worth it.
I don't know anything about Ronnie's desires... I am just making a prediction based on my understanding of contracts etc. but it is very easy to get out of a contract. All he has to do is "retire" or quit for "medical" reasons.... then sit out six months. After which he can make a "comback" and be free. Right when the next English season is starting. Or if Burn exercise the option, he can refure to play and demand to be traded.
I can see the headlines now. 23 Burn players fired, only ROB remains and he holds out, demanding a trade. The Burn refuses to budge. He returns to Dundee United after six months and shows only flashes of the form he showed in the Cotton Bowl playing in the Scottish reserves. The team is forced to use its allocation immediately to sign the best player available and willing to play on Southlake; they sign an aging English star that GE had watched in his premier league viewings. They use the first three round draft picks to sign players from the u-17 World Cup, and all three inexperienced players are given starting spots, as are the fifth and sixth round picks, college players who had somewhat successful senior years. In addition, they strip the Charleston Battery and Rochester Rhinos to fill out the remaining roster spots. The team loses all fans, finishes last, and everyone holds their breath for 2005.
let's not get too caried away, my personal BELIEF is that Ronnie will sign a new contract, be happy, and be captain next year. I was just laying out a possiblity. but who really know right.
Exactly what pedigree would that be? Dropped by Juventus, then Middlesborough, failed to impress in the Swiss league? It's not like O'Brien came to America because he thought the opportunities here were so tremendous; it was because he hadn't really panned out in Europe. Now, I personally think he will be one of our best players next year, but I doubt that any European team would see things the same way. What has he done in two years here? He showed promise as a mid-season addition in his first year, but he wasn't really a starter until the playoffs, which we bombed out of. This year, he has been out injured for almost all of this season. I believe that he has the potential to be a star in the league, but I doubt many important European clubs are going to be interested in a player who has had limited success (regardless of opportunity) in what is generally considered a second or even third rate league. I imagine he could catch on with a Nationwide English team, but, frankly, I think despite the stadium situation, there's a lot more that would motivate Ronnie to stay than to go. He's going to be paid well, he's going to be a very important player in a very small league, and he's going to be off the astroturf and playing in an excellent stadium in just a year. Although I'm sure he, like every other soccer fan in the US, hates Southlake, I really don't think that the stadium outweighs the positives of staying in MLS.
He hit his prime (at a still very young age) when he came to the Burn. Odd that some extremely talented players don't hit their stride until they start to really mature (what's that guy's name?.. Eddie Johnson, is it?) and just try to 'fit in' instead of being the hyped-up superstar they're expected to be. We've often seen visits from Ireland fans that want to know if he's developing over here. Maybe they've always had faith?.. Anyway, he can get equal pay in lots of leagues around the world now. He doesn't have to risk a brighter future elsewhere by playing at Sucklack - even if it's just for one year. He can play on a good field next year, and years to come - and pretty good money doing it. No, I'm afraid, especially with HSG's history of cutting corners - that we've seen the last of one Ronnie O'Brien in these parts. It Sucks that my faith is lacking.
First, you'll have lots of opportunities to completely remake the team for 2004. And it's a mistake to believe that it can't be done. The three teams that mostly decided to "stand pat" in 2003 were: Dallas, Columbus and LA. You saw other teams (like Colorado and Metro) at one point had only 6 and 7 players respectively on their team rosters at one point--their turnover was so complete. If DCU continues our slide, you'll have the top 2 picks in the superdraft. You'll have the you suck allocation. You'll have your discovery picks (and if you haven't used the "super discovery" than you can actually get someone with decent money). There are TI/YI slots. Metro found a way to further circumvent the "no loans" policy (that the Donovan deal violated in the first place). And then there are lotteries (which led to players like Johnny Walker and Digiamarino--both serviceable players). Oh--and you've got cap room. Almost every other team in MLS will be worried about the cap and some will need to cut players to stay under the cap. So you can almost totally remake your team and be successful in 2004. Certainly SJ, Colorado, Metro, and to a lesser extent Chicago all went through major makeovers. My take (for what it's worth) is that Dallas was undone this year by 2 things: (1) a lot of players who had outstanding 2002 seasons (Deering, Vaca, Martinez, Kreis, Morrow, O'Brien, Broome) weren't nearly as effective in 2003 or slumped badly (especially Morrow, Deering and Martinez). And (2) you didn't have any "go to" players you could build a team around or could be counted on to win you games. Tyson Nunez might have been that player. Just look at how inept LA has been all season--except for Ruiz (who repeatedly saves their bacon). Look at what Guevara has done for the Metro (he almost single-handedly got them to the USOC Finals). Look at how critical Razov has been to the Burn, Donovan for SJ, Spencer for Colorado, what Twellman has meant for NE last year and the first half of this year. One really good stud in midfield or the frontline would make a lot of the surrounding talent look much better. Marco Etcheverry in his prime put Steve Rammel on the MLS all-star team and made John Maessner, Antonio Otero, David Vaudreil and many others look outstanding. Is Brian Ching really that good or is it the combination of a good system/coaching and Landon Donovan? A star player you can build a team around gives players like Vaca a lot more space, it means the defenders spend less time pressing forward to try and win goals, it means team confidence is a lot higher (b/c even trailing at the end you expect "Player X" to find a way to make it happen). You guys have talent on your roster. I said at the beginning of the season that I had Columbus, DCU and Dallas down as the 3 deepest and most talented sides in MLS (though I didn't say those 3 were the best teams or would finish with the best records). You had a bunch of players not contribute this season (for a variety of reasons). Add 1 really good player (maybe 2) and a few role players to fit the system of the new coach and your side could be very good. BTW, speaking only from a DCU perspective, I doubt Petke, Carroll or Stokes is tradeable. Petke makes a low salary given his performance, Hudson specifically requested him, Nelsen is rumored to want to look at Europe when his contract ends. As for Carroll and Stokes, they are both P-40 this year and likely to be so next year. So unless DCU's coach in 2004 doesn't want either of them, they're valuable to the team. As for Barclay--who knows? He was P-40 this year but at some point you graduate from the program and I think he's been P-40 for 4 years now.
About Carroll, Barclay, and Stokes. Barclay hasn't been very good in the minutes he played (very few) but he has had injuries. Carroll needs some time to develop a little more. Stokes has been starting USOC games and friendlies he'll be ready next season.