SG--nice work again. Please, no Serna. Now he truly is a thug. Anyone have details on Silvio Fernandez?
How much room under the cap does DCU have? I read that Stoicthkov makes between $50-100K, if so, how much can we pay a guy like Cureton, who probably made over $100K, last year (since I think his contract was first with Div 2 Reading before they went up for last season). Certainly QPR couldn't pay much more than that (and we should be competitive with a Div 2 side). I'm guessing Fernandez didn't earn as much as Cu8reton last year, but who knows, since Chilean sides can pay top players well, but he probably didn't reach that level. Thanks, as always, for the good read.
I'm not sure how much Stoichkov makes, but I think that only part of his salary counts towards the salary cap, with the rest considered an assistant coach's salary. I could be wrong, but I think it's something like that. And, please, please, please... no Serna!
From what I undestand, QPR will be trying to keep wages around £1,500 a week this season. Which at the moment converts to around $141,500 per season. Comparable with what he would make in MLS. I've got to believe that he makes more than that at Reading. No matter if his contract was signed in D2 - Reading have cash and upward mobility. QPR friends I've talked to are pretty confused as to why he would be making this move. They guy is still young (27) with a decent goal scoring record in the first division. Certainly he could play for a 2nd div promotion chaser (QPR) - or still get a good contract in the First. To English fans, MLS is still seen as career suicide or a retirement to the beach.
Born in 74, 186cm tall, 80Kg weight. It looks like he scored 17 goals in 2002 while with Santiago Wanderers, but only 1 goal with Chiapas in the Summer 2003 tournament in Mexico. I'm not sure how much playing time he's getting, Chiapas has 6 strikers. This all came from Soccerage.
I think either of these strikers could be signed by DC, if that's what they want to do. I don't know of course, but Stoitchkov probably counts at least 40K toward the cap, maybe as high as 70K. Considering that much money added to the reported 30-40K United still has left to spend, plus the fact that the new striker's salary will be pro-rated for less than a full season, I can easily see one of them taking the offer, if they want to. Assuming Cureton signs a $100K offer and my other ideas are correct, he'd only be owed around 65K for the rest of this season. DC should be able to cobble that together with 2/3rds of Stoitchkov's money and whatever other pennies they have under their seats. Could be a deal where he plays for even less this season hoping for a better deal next year, too. I really don't know whether either side even wants these deals to happen, but I don't think money will be the problem I also think the Serna comment is purely smoke. Ray could've got him here anytime if he really wanted him.
Quick correction to my own post. I failed to calculate the fact that the weekly wage in English football is based on the season, not the calendar year. So I think that a £1,500 per week contract would equate to roughly a $100,000 per year US contract.
From what I've seen the last few games, we have some serviceable forwards, guys who could work well if coached correctly. Hudson is looking for someone who is going to score 20 goals and make him look like a genius without actually having to coach. Serna? Please...
What I can't figure out is what happened to Chacon? Here's a guy that scores "Ruiz" like numbers for Hudson and then just disappears the last two years. Ray hasn't been remotely interested in him. Why? What is it about Chacon that allowed him to have only one good season?
Silvio Got this link from Various Styles over on the Mexico boards. At least Silvio's not a midget: http://stats.univision.com/fmf/2003-1/players/18530.asp
First, I seem to recall Hudson last year saying at one point that having a "Ben Hur" type in midfield benefits other players and covers up for some of their deficiencies. And then he cited Ian Bishop as an example of that "Ben Hur" and APC and Rooney as 2 guys who benefited tremendously from having Bishop. Second, I'm very happy with the Chicago and Columbus results. Be we still don't have a good finisher on this side at the moment. Quaranta or Eskandarian might turn into one. But there is no-one who has shown that they, at present, will consistently put balls in the net. So I think pursuing one of these guys--if they fit the role well--makes sense. Also, I thought that Goff's article indicated that negotiations had already taken place and that either agreements are in place or pretty darn close to it. That would make sense. These players won't come just on a flyer--they need some assurance this is realistic for them. So I'd think that if one or the other impresses, the agreement will be announced quickly (thus resolving the question of cap room). Finally, I thought that the Chilean players went on strike last year for nonpayment of wages? Maybe it was just Universad de Catolico--I'm not sure. But many S. American leagues are struggling to pay wages these days. And while Fernandez is loaned out to Chiapas, if his contract has a lot of encentives in it (pretty typical from what I understand) than while he gets a regular pay check, it's a substandard one (b/c he's getting no minutes, no goals, not meeting his encentives)
Maybe instead of looking for yet another striker/savior Ray Hudson should spend a little extra time coaching the ones we've already got. How many foreign strikers has Ray Hudson talked about brining to the club since he took over. It's gotta be over half a dozen at this point. None of them have come to MLS. Some of them practiced with the team and stank. Others just fizzled into thin air. I see no reason to believe that this latest talk will be any different. And, frankly, I don't want to bring anyone else in. I want to work with what we've got.