I'm embarrased to share the same moniker with you. You are being very unfair to Jay. You have no clue what a leaky sivve Watford midfield is defensively.
In Chicago, we all really wanted for Thorrington to be a good player, but he ended up being injured too often to prove anything. [My opinion is that Chicago hasn't had a strength & conditioning coach since 2K4, which has contributed to many players being injured moreso than they should. But that's another thread.] Looking around in MLS, exactly WHO is a competent wide-sided player? Honestly: Look at the steaming piles of shyte that Bradley had to use as wide-sided substitutes v. Mexico. [Gros and Carroll?] There REALLY aren't very many wide-sided players that can play box-to-box, complete a pass, and cross the ball effectively in MLS. In a league where Ronnie O'Brien is a class player at his position, I'd give Philipakos a little more slack. And this is coming from a fan who had to watch Thorrington injure himself over and over, and Nate Jaqua get burnt to a crisp by Joey F********ing Franchino in the playoffs. BTW, as of this writing, who is your team's RMF? Schopp? For everything you've posted WRT "failed yanks abroad," I'd take a flyer on Philipakos: He's young, a wide-sided MF, and a US citizen. Exactly what's not to like?
Well, no one's really seen him play. I am a wide-sided MF, a USC & I used to be young. And I ain't worth shit to Metro. Tell you the truth, though, I'm interested in this kid. He did enough in Greece to pique my interest, if nothing else. Trouble is - he has to understand that if he's coming here, he's (initially) making a 5-figure salary. Period. I wonder what his expectations are coming in re: salary. That's one thing I'm concerned about. But, yeah, if his bro can be believed, I'll gladly take the hometown kid with some attacking flair.
Firstly, to the people that are worried about him being offered a contract because he has Euro qualifications, I don't think he'll just be handed a contract without a trial... at least it would be strange and not normal if he was brought in this way given that nobody at RB has seen him play recently. Secondly, it is silly to blindly state that an American player was sending a bad message about MLS by coming back after things in Europe didn't materialize. It happens in every domestic league everywhere because said player is a professional in his trade and it is thusly easier to employ in his home country where work permits and foreign regulations don't limit opportunities. It happens everywhere. Bottom line, there are Euro-snobs and MLS-snobs, both are annoying. There's a happy middle ground. That middle ground here seems to me that RB fans should be pleased you may have the first chance to look at this kid in training and the technical staff can judge if he's good enough to be MLS quality.
Ryan Coiner was a flop, but I disagree that Jacob Thomas was. He played pretty well for the Crew last year.
If we can acquire his rights for cheap, why shouldn’t we? My question is how are making all these roster moves without allocations or do we even need allocations? It seems like we are doing all this without regard to the rules or are we just ignoring the rules or are there rules for what we are doing or does it matter? What rules am I talking about, when would they apply, or do they even apply in any of these cases? As long as we win and our rivals get pissed I’ll be happy.
He hasn't played for the US on any level, so he can be acquired via a discovery claim. There is no need for an allocation, unless NY wants to offset some of his salary. The bigger question I have is whether NY has the funds (and roster space) to get him, Delgado, Eski, and, most recently Rimando. That's at least $500K in salary, and almost a fourth of NY's roster spots.
Yep *Sigh* yes. At least we are past the point where 3 Bund players are seen as upgrades. Then again the history of foreign reserve league players coming to MLS and instantly becoming top performers could indicate that these players are worth signing. I don't get the tail between the legs comment though.