No offense but I still think it's a very bad move for a US player to go to Norway or another Scandanavian country to further his career.
2 questions: How many players from Scandinavia play in EPL? Where did they start their careers? If Twellman went to the Tippelige (sp?) and tore it up, he'd be noticed.
Third question, though, is when did these guys start their careers. I'm the last person to suggest certain players are aging, but if Twellman were to have a birthday this year, he'll be 27. I suspect if you go down the list of Scandinavians in the EPL, limited to those who went directly from one to the other (i.e. Larsson doesn't count), most of 'em got picked up for England before they hit 25.
Twellman could get a much better offer while tearing it up here. England has the strongest league IMO and Championship is probably better than a few leagues in Europe. There are a couple Americans playing there who played here without having to make a move to a second rate league just because "it's Europe, so it has to be better". Just to name a few former MLS players: Brian McBride Tim Howard Brad Friedel Clint Dempsey Marcus Hahnemann (joined Reading when they were Championship) Bobby Convey (signed when Reading was Championship) Norway would not be a step up or moving to a higher level, it would be staying at the same level.
The figures in the Post are accurate as of Spring 2006. Carlos Ruiz renogotiated his contract between then and now from what I understand. Also, 400k is what appears to be the max salary for a team without a DP. A team with a DP would hit the 325,000 ceiling instead (second DP cap hits). 325,000 was actually the exact salary that DC was trying to restructure Christian Gomez's salary at.
1. MLS turned down the offer so its a moot point. 2. The Norwegian salary offer was substantially more than 300 K. The rumor I heard was Taylor would have been the highest paid player in the Norwegian league. 3. You are correct...a move like this is not about exposure. Its about money. And, to a certain degree, "respect". If a player feels like they are treated well, a certain degree of "home town discount" comes into play. Otherwise you get the "Dempsey stance" - i.e. "I am not playing in MLS for any amount of money".
The problem is not "getting noticed". England and most of the Northern European leagues know about MLS and have scouted here. The problems are: (1) Getting a work permit (in England) (2) Getting MLS to agree to a transfer fee Twellman's had a ton of interest (and offers) from teams in England, Germany, Denmark, and Norway over the past year. MLS has turned all of them down. In addition, contract negotiations to extend his contract (which expires in 2007) were, until recently, not occurring. From a players' perspective, its easy to see why one might take the Clint Dempsey attitude and say "I'm not playing for MLS, period".
He negotiated his contract last offseason. It would make sense it's the same now, but a FCD fan would know better. If true, which we still have no idea whether it is or not, if you sign a player for more than $325,000 a year, then you can't sign a DP. It's also unknown as to those limits being base pay or guaranteed pay. If I run across any of the articles that illuded to there being a limit in the high $200k's, I'll post a link. Until then, we'll find out through piecemail like we always do.
Ignoring the specifics of Twellman for a moment, does the DP rule and the wild disparity in pay have a chance of leading to a bad day at the bargaining table? Look, I'm a capitalist and, at some level, I guess that if players are willing to make in the $30K range while potentially starting and playing next to players making 100 times as much then the market will rule. Still, if the MLS has a collective bargaining agreement with the players, I'm starting to wonder when does it run out and what might happen when it does. Spreading the wealth may make it so that you don't take it on the chin at the next bargaining session. Is MLS immunce to having a large population of disgruntled players? Can they all be replaced that easily? As to lateral moves (a la Twellman) I guess two things would concern me as a player. First, will I have more opportunity to be seen by a scout from a higher level league and second, how much will I make? The last time they published MLS salaries, he sure seem underpaid relative to a number of other people that were of equal and often lesser value to their team (my value judgement I admit). He might just want to go somewhere where he'll get paid more. MNT duty has as much to do as anything with getting into the Premeirship. Germany knows him. What other league does he expect to break into and would Norway make that more likely?
If Twellman was on LA with Beckham crossing them in, people would think he's the second coming and he would easily lead the league in scoring. I'm amazed he scored as many as he did last year considering: 1) Ralston did not have a good year and couldn't seem to delive the ball 2) Noonan was hurt a lot 3) The "Duece" was born and played no position you could actually define (e.g. you never knew where he'd turn up next) 4) Joey shanking them in from the left side 5) No setup man in the center mid except those rare moments when SN let Cancela play. He should get credit for scoring any goals last year.
On the contrary, Norway would be a huge upgrade salary wise. He would actually be able to provide for his family
from what I understand the cost of living over there is much higher than over here, even in Mass. I think they ranked like 5th or 6th most expensive country to live in... I am sure he is not hurting for money right now
Well yeah, it is really expencive over here, but we've got good wages and it's not like we're paying taxes for the hell of it We get free medical care, free schools etc. The best payed player in Norway is former Tottenham striker Steffen Iversen who are now back at Rosenborg. He'll get aroundt $1.5mil next season if Rosenborg win the league and qualify for the Champions League again. Odd Grenland is not a rich club and don't have many supporters. Their stadium stinks, but I've heard talk about building a new one. Skien has a population about 60,000, but it's only a couple of hours drive from Oslo. Harald Natvik
* That's not true. Steffen Iversen will earn about $1.5mil next season and Odd Grenland is far from one of the richest clubs in the league. I'd be surprised if he was to be paid more than $350,000 as they don't really have the money. The only thing that would make such a move possible, is if some investors in Norway offer to pay the transfersum and part of his wages. Hopefully Twellman will stay with the Revs', or we'll have problems next season. It's hard enough losing Dempsey, but losing Twellman, and possibly Shalrie as well...ouch. Harald 2. The Norwegian salary offer was substantially more than 300 K. The rumor I heard was Taylor would have been the highest paid player in the Norwegian league.
Well, not really. It's from march to october/november, so it's basically just as long as any other european league, but we play in the summer and have breaks in the winter because of the weather conditions. Harald
Just like Canada. The first time I baught postage stamps and paid a 9% tax on them I thought the postal clerk was joking. In PEI the tax on things is 18%. Thats just one of the costs of a welfare state.
If he makes somewhere around $150K, which is what I believe I've heard, then more than doubling that to $400K is what I would consider "showering" a player with money, especially considering that he is out of contract. And, just because "the Revs [are] giving no indication that they're looking to use the DP slot on someone else" (why would they give any indication?) doesn't mean they aren't planning to. So, let's not be so quick to use it up to hold onto what we already have, especially considering that it may have great trade value IF they don't want to use it. That's just not grounded in reality. Twellman played most of the season demonstrating a shocking inability to trap the ball, a horrible first touch, an utter failure to "hold" the ball up and little ability to win headers in midfield. Abundis came in and did every one of those things MUCH better than Twellman in his first game. Maybe he was carrying injuries (I expect so), but HE was the reason for losing possession more than anyone else. HE didn't play up to "Twellman" standards - not even close. Of the 11 goals, about 8 or 9 of them were easy finishes. I spoke all season of the "wow" goals that Twellman typically produces and the lack of them last season (one of the few exceptions was the one where he was heading away from goal to get to the cross, spun, shot and scored). He had a LOT of point blank headers that he directed right at the keeper or missed the goal. All of 1-5 above have some truth to them, but Twellman got plenty of chances. In fact, it seemed pretty clear that he needed 4-5 good chances to finish 1. And, had he been able to maintain possession in midfield even a reasonable amount of time, he'd have ended up with more chances at goal. I spent most of the season wondering why in the heck a seasoned pro and proven scorer couldn't trap or shield the ball with a minimum amount of pressure on him.
I'm not sure if re-debating Twellman's value is going to get us anywhere. At the very least however, I was troubled by PM's assertion in the Jim Dow interview that he was reluctant to break p the Noonan-Twellman partnership. Noonan's recurring injuries aside, they have had long dry spells. On this board, people have at times commented that they should not be paired. This team has had a great deal of trouble scoring over the past couple years (since the glorious run of early 2005), and needs some scoring help. We know from experience that it's not going to happen if TT is the one and only target, or if he and (fill-in-the-blank) are functioning as box-lurkers without a midfield threat. Whether it's an AM or another forward, we need somebody else who can score. If we don't get one, I'm not sure how critical Twellman's presence will be. Bottom line - I wouldn't sign him to the DP spot unless we're getting another big-time scorer.
According to The Washington Post, Twellman made $181,666 in 2006, and he is not out of contract from what I understand. For purposes of comparison, Josh Wolff made $420,357, Jaime Moreno made $241,250, Ante Razov made $238,750, Clint Mathis made $410,000, while Eddie Johnson made $875,000. Twellman, by rights, should be making considerable more than he is, and I'd have no problem doubling his salary to $400,000 if it means keeping him with the Revs long term. He's earned it, perdio. You know what, I don't think the Revs are going to use their DP slot this year, and I don't think they're going to trade it away. That's just my opinion, but it's based on what I'm hearing from any number of parties close to the League office, and that's based on an understanding of how the Revolution have traditionally operated when possessing an allocation or otherwise look for an established player to bring into the team. That being said, if it takes using the DP slot on Twellman to keep him in the League and with the Revs, do you think the Revs should do it? I'd like to hear an answer, and one that offers an objective evaluation of Twellman, and not just based on his most recent performances over the course of one season. The Magpie