Re: Potential Players? http://nasl.com/news.php?id=36 It's on NASL.com stating that Steve is Player/Assistant Coach.
Re: Potential Players? You know what really makes me feel good about this signing? There's a thread on the Revs board where their fans sound very frustrated to lose him. He may be past his prime, but it sounds like they all think he would have been a great contributer still on an MLS team.
Re: Potential Players? I agree 100%. I think this signing equals instant credibility for ACSTL in that it shows the club's intent to go after "names," bring local talent back into the fold, and put together a quality squad. Definitely looking forward to the next moves....
Re: Potential Players? It's a huge signing! Every team in MLS would be happy to have Ralston in a heartbeat. The reason for Twellman's success in New England was because of Ralston feeding him picture perfect crosses and set pieces. He maybe getting on in years but Ralston is still going to make every player around him better and he is going to provide the kind of leadership that not a lot of teams in the league are going to have at this level.
Re: Potential Players? An Oakville High alumnus leading the new St. Louis team into battle. Gotta love it
Re: Potential Players? What a fantastic first signing. This puts AC St. Louis on the map as a team that is going to be competitive and serious about winning. Congratulations to Steve Ralston and thanks Jeff Cooper. Can't wait til Opening Day. Go AC St. Louis !!!!!
Re: Potential Players? Wow! I was skeptical it would turn out to be Ralston but this is great news - not only to have him on the team but for what it says about ACStL's seriousness in putting this team together.
Re: Potential Players? This is fantastic and surprising news. (Surprising to me anyway). Ralston is a valuable, all-around soccer asset. And he seems very well suited to the player/coach role. I'm hard-pressed to come up with another name better suited to bringing leadership and stability to this particular club. And if the NASL/AC St. Louis business plan relies heavily on player development/sales (as it seems to be doing), then Ralston's track record of mentoring younger players in MLS is an obvious synergy.
Re: Potential Players? Awesome signing! Def shows ACSTL intent to go after big name players, yet local talent. Also it should be noted that if Anelka doesn't work out as coach in the next few seasons we have an awesome veteran player that could take over the role. Im not counting out Anelka yet, just saying! Either way great to see Ralston back home!
Re: Potential Players? we over at tampa's site were hoping that ralston would possibly be coming back to florida due to his ties to this area from his days with the mutiny. this is a tremendous signing for st louis. should help even more to start the excitement in the town for the team. good on you all.
Re: Potential Players? From Timmermann at Stltoday.com "Ralston made $150,000 in MLS last season, and Jeff Cooper said his salary with his team was “competitive.” " Interesting, sounds like they are willing to put out some good money for top players.
Re: Potential Players? Videos of presser on ksdk.com http://www.ksdk.com/video/default.a...t+signing/48541678001/48355648001/64421034001
Re: Potential Players? I was thinking the same thing. Even as the assistant coach, his experience in MLS should be very helpful for finding new players who weren't quite making the cut on their MLS teams, and for mentoring young players who have ambition to move on to MLS and beyond. They really needed someone with knowledge of US soccer to be part of the coaching staff.
yes yes it does.. KSDK Video of announcement Official press release on nasl.com and if any mod would love to move over all the chatter from the potential players thread about Ralston to this thread would be appreciated.
Great signing of course. What a player to open up the inaugural season with. Now we just need to get Twellman and we are good.
Old? He'll never feel so young as when he takes to the field in front or a raucous home crowd in St. Louis.
I believe Ralston is the MLS all-time leader in minutes played, games played and assists. That's a pretty awesome signing for a start-up team!
He'll probably miss half the season due to injury, but I think his leadership as an assistant coach and mentor to the other players will make this a worthwhile signing regardless. I do hope that we are able to acquire a suitable supporting midfield cast so that we don't have a chasm between offense and defense every time he gets injured; I already had to watch that with Athletica last year.
Besides getting Ralston as our captain and the quality it brings, I really like how this literally puts AC STL on the map. Not just getting the Ralston signing in blogs. I read 2 articles on BS today criticizing AC STL in one way or another. If you're not remotely relevant you don't get mentioned at all! Bring on the hate!......er.....ok just a little is fine thanks.
When I'd heard that Ralston was on the table for us...I really couldn't believe it. I mean..seriously? Why would this guy, this MLS legend come to play for our rinky dink team in Fenton... But I'm stupid pumped about this and I'm ready to welcome him home. He stating he'll be ok on day one...let's hope that's true.
I don't know about hate...but I saw Ralston's signing covered on Sports Illustrated.com, Soccer America.com and Goal.com. So besides adding a very good player for next season, AC St. Louis and NASL/Div2 got some good PR.
The article at the following page has familiar content, but the video interview with Ralston is certainly worth seeing. http://www.socceramerica.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=36581