Rev News, March 9th.

The big question is how someone beat Franky D to this story...

 

From Gus...
"Revolution central defender Daouda Kante has yet to agree to terms on a contract and said he and his agent Patrick McCabe think it's best that he not travel with the Revs to Costa Rica for their two CONCACAF Champions Cup first-round games against Liga Deportiva Alajuelense March 23 and 26."

Is this because we have yet to sign our elusive #10 yet?

"Nicol said that if Kante's contract was not signed and sealed he could still play in the Champions Cup matches in Costa Rica."

I love that one...shoot him that look Stevie!

 

Seriously, when's the last time we've heard any good news from the Revs?

 

Based on their recent "no news is good news" policy, quite often, I'd say.

 

the signing of Twellman, Moore, and Llamosa? the CCC sucks, and sucks hard. but cmon.

 

I know Tony Frias III and Zico, Jr. is no TFIII. I know you'll find it hard to believe but TFIII could run circles around him. If I were Zico I would have had DNA testing to verify I was his dad. Sad but true. Even worse, the kid's got a little Edmundo in him, too - Carnival, after all, is most important.

Regarding Kante: Last I knew Kante was asking for a deal ranging between $50K to $60K. MLS/Revs, however, were taking the hardline at $42K.

 

Ditto

 

Re: Re: Rev News, March 9th.

After the job Kante did with the Revs during the second half of the season, their is no reason as to why Kante doesnt deserve 50-60k.

Why are the Revs low-balling Kante? IMHO he is one of the biggest reasons the Revs even made it to the playoffs let alone the Cup.

 

Re: Re: Re: Rev News, March 9th.

Sure, on the surface of it it seems like everybody (except maybe TFC III) deserves at least 50-60K. But the absurdly low MLS cap dictates a certain "moderation" in assigning second-year player salaries (and remember, Kante hasn't even played a full season yet).

So the key question is, what are some of the other guys making (Joey, Heaps, Cullen, etc.) - and what would their reaction be to the new guy getting (possibly) more than them? The easy answer is, "Hell, just raise everyone's salary..." - but that simply not how you build a team (especially in this league).

Hopefully they'll be able to work this out. Sure seems like Nicol thinks so. But one more good year and the team won't be able to afford half of these guys anymore. So why don't we wait and see it they can have one more good year first?[and that last year wasn't some kind of "flash in the pan"]

 

Re: Re: Rev News, March 9th.

I really hope that this is bull. Offering that guy $42K is pure crap. He's worth more then twice that and the friggin, ultra CHEAP revs, better wake up and pay him the $$$R or this guy will go elsewhere and I can't say I blame him. If it's a cap problem then drop one scrub and redirect his salary to Kante. HE"S WORTH THE MONEY, PAY HIM

 

We signed Twellman, we signed Moore, we traded for Nowak, and things were looking up. Since then, we had a less than thrilling draft, we lost Nowak, all of our trialists seem to be busts, we have the CCC fiasco, and now Kante will probably skip the CCC because of a contract dispute. News wise, we're definitely not on a roll, at least in my opinion.

 

Don't forget we signed Reis to back up Adin, and reports from Brazil said that Noonan played well.

Otherwise, yes, no wins, and 0-4 on trialists...I'd say we are, (hopefully, temporarily), definetly lacking in the "big mo" department.

 

Re: Re: Re: Rev News, March 9th.

right, except, mls holds player contracts. so he's worth 84k in which league?

I'm sure carlos l. can give him some people to call in Colombia.

 

That is the problem with the MLS salary cap. If you give more money to one guy who "deserves" it, it's that much less you can give to another one who also "deserves" it.

Because of this, you can pretty well bet that this will be Llamosa's last year as a Rev. If we have as good a season as we hope, and if Twellman does not go to Europe after this season Nicol will have to make some other really, really difficult choices at this time next year.

There needs to be some kind of way around this thing to prevent teams from having to dismantle themselves as a result of their own success, he said, as he barricaded the doors to keep out the rabid mob of DC and Chicago supporters.

Tom

 

Re: Re: Rev News, March 9th.

Jeez, why does there have to be a knee-jerk reaction everytime there's news about a contract dispute? The numbers are close enough, it'll get done. MLS doesn't want to pay $.10 more than they have to, and the player and agent don't want to take a dime less than they can get. By "talking" about not going to CR, the agent/player puts some pressure on (and we see the reaction in this thread!). If they ever agree on these things without a struggle, it's probably either because one side gave up too much, or has no leverage.

Re: Zico Jr., I don't know anything about Zico Sr., but there's a pretty good likelihood that Jr. didn't have the "advantage" of growing up in dire poverty! Maradona's son just signed somewhere - same deal with him.

 

Re: Re: Re: Rev News, March 9th.

Not to mention Pele's son, a goalkeeper who was (surprise, surprise) linked to Metros a few years ago.

I was telling a Swiss co-worker of mine about the Revs possibly signing Buhlmann a fwe weeks ago. This guy isn't a big fan, but he had a vague recollection of Patrick playing for Switzerland a few years ago. His response was that any Swiss player, no matter how good, will never become a truly elite player, because he isn't poor enough. Now you can argue that we don't need an "elite" player by world standards (couldn't afford one anyway), and that all we need is a 25-year-old Alain Sutter. You could also use the affluence argument about players from many countries, including the Yew-Ess-Ay, but I think there is something to the idea that players from the most humbe backgrounds are often the hungriest.

Tom

 

But, I think the U.S. is demonstrating a new model, where the vast majority of players are coming from a middle class background.

Even so, those coming from a "soccer family" (ex., Tab Ramos, Twellman, Eskandarian, etc.) are more heavily represented - most likely because without the family influence, in the U.S., they'd probably be playing other sports.

 

Been there, tried that but there were no takers. Llamosa's not in the drivers seat anymore. He'll be around as long as we want him around.

 

For what its worth, Kante didn't sign with Miami (when he was drafted there) b/c of the money (the excuse was: decided to finish school), didn't sign with DCU after being drafted there (again--felt he was offered too little). The guy has a track record--he's willing to walk away if he feels he isn't getting what he deserves. I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade--and maybe this situation is different. But some players threaten to sit out and maybe last a day or cave. Other guys (a very few), are willing to go to pretty extreme measures (ie: walk away from a job if they disagree with the money). And Kante seems to be one of those guys. If I were the Revs management, this is one of the last guys on the team I'd try to lowball.

 

The DCU situation was really a different story all together. He was being offered a Dev Roster slot at $10K which we all know isn't enought for lunch much less to be able to live on without outside help. There is a big difference between that and what the league is offering him now. However, I think the issue is a Non-Problem. Word if there will be a settlement and he will be resigned by the Revs.

 

He's a good player. He's got a promising career. He'll sign.

 

Kante, like Twellman, played for the equivalent of WalMart popcorn last season.

I know it's already been said & written, but it's a shame what MLS pays their younger players [There was an article in the Globe a while back where there were are folks living in San Jose, California earning $70K at their primary job but have to get second and third jobs to augment their income].

Pay the man...

 

Personally, I think he's worth about twice what he's asking. IMO, he's one of MLS's best kept secrets (already)! If I were MLS, I'd be trying to sign him up for a long as possible.

The numbers aren't too far apart, I'm sure they'll find a spot in the middle.

The amazing thing to me, is that as close followers of the team, most of us had no idea that he was even due for a new contract. Is there anyone else that still needs to sign? Compare the situation to the Red Sox, and virtually all of Boston knows EXACTLY when Pedro's contract runs out. This is a big failure of the media, and the sports editors, if they really paid attention to soccer at all, would be all over their writers about why they hadn't been on top of this months ago. OTOH, maybe the stories have been written but not published?

 

I would love to see the writers push for this information, I'm just not sure how far they would get. MLS seems to be pretty hardcore about not releasing this information. Does anyone know why the other major leagues have all decided to be so upfront with contract details? I can't remember a time when contracts weren't announced at least in the transactions wire. I assumed MLS was stonewalling because of the players lawsuit, but that's been settled for at least a year now...