anyone heard anything about this story? i was under the impression he was on a 2 yr contract in Boston. October 25, 2004 Shelbourne are reportedly keen on recapturing ex Ireland under 21 Richie Baker in time for the start of the new season. Baker who is currently playing for Boston based New England Revolutions has made it clear he wants a return to Ireland. With his contract set to expire Shelbourne are leading the chase for the 24 year old. Baker who only played for Shels last season is one of a number of player currently being monitored by the Dubliners. Colin Hawkins, Kevin Hunt and Glen Crowe are also thought to be on Pat Fenlons shopping list.
I'd be suprised, Ndo is a better player than Baker was in his prime even, and he was pretty poor for alot of the last strech of his Shels career, bar the second half of his last season. I thought the move to America would get him back to his best but it doesn't seem to have.
i actually got that from the shels website. Fenlon announces Baker intent October 27, 2004 Shelbourne manager Pat Fenlon has revealed that the club will have first option on signing Richie Baker – if the winger decides to return to Ireland after one season in Major League Soccer. Baker quit Shels at the end of last season to pursue the dream of a professional career in the in the United States, where he joined Boston side New England Revolution. But speculation has been growing in recent weeks that the 24-year-old will return to the eircom League during the winter – and Fenlon expects to snap him up if and when that situation arises. The Shels boss told the Evening Herald: “I have spoken to Richie and if he does come home I’d be confident that we’d sign him. We had an agreement with him when he went to America that we’d get first option and that’s what would happen.”
Shelbourne has recently announced (via the club's official web site) that Baker will return to the club in 2005, signing a three-year contract with the Eircom League side. However, Baker recently denied this in comments made to the Boston Herald, saying "I've been keeping in contact with the people there, the players, the coaches and the staff. But any rumor of me going back there at this time is just all talk... I'm not sure what's going to happen for next year.'' I believe Baker is nearing the end of a one-year contract with Major League Soccer (MLS), with the New England Revolution retaining the rights to extend it for another year through 2005. In 30 regular-season games with New England, Baker played in 20 of them, starting 11 for a total of 1052 minutes, scored no goals, but earned 6 assists. His playing time was limited for a number of reasons: injury, tactical decisions & changes, and especially, the re-emergence of incumbant right wing Steve Ralston. Ralston started and played every minute of every match (all 30) for the Revolution in 2004, was named the club's Most Valuable Player at theend of the season, and has recently been called back into camp for the U.S. National Team as they prepare for a WCQ against Jamaica next week. He was second leading scorer for the club in 2004, with 7 goals and 8 assists. IMHO, I think Baker was brought in because of his attitude, his work-rate on the pitch, and his ability to swing the ball in wide from the flanks. This is something that Ralston did to great effect in 2002, often linking up with then league leading-scorer Taylor Twellman. However, both Twellman and Ralston's production suffered in 2003 when opposing defenses keyed in on Ralston, limiting his distribution chances, and resulting in fewer goal-scoring chances for Twellman. This being understood, Baker did display good skill at times over the season, getting in some wonderful crosses that often resulted in goals, especially linking up with Clint Dempsey. However, Baker was a bit inconsistent, started the season with some nagging injuries, and by the time the Revolution were making a run through the playoffs, Baker was effectively relegated to the bench. I don't expect him to be back in a Revolution uniform next season, especially as he'd count as a Senior International player, and the Revs are only allowed three of those. Chanes are he'll be made available in the waiver draft coming up in a few weeks, and if not picked up, he'll probably be allowed to re-join Shebourne in the form of a loan until his contract is up on January 1, 2005, at which point he can officially sign for his old club. Great guy, but a number of factors just limited his opportunity, and I wish him well.
Sums up the last season or two of his Shels career really. I thought it was just lazyness, as he wasn't that inconsistent in his youth, and the move would be enough to motivate him to play to his best every week but obviously not. Thing is, he struggled to get into the Shels side in his last season there and since then the mid field has only gotten better. Unless Ndo leaves, I really can't see him playing at all unless there's injuries and suspensions.
FWIW, the inconsistencies came in his play in games, and best as I can tell, not his training or preparation. Quite simply, there were games which served to validate his acquisition -- sending the ball in from wide and putting it right on the foot or head of a Revolution attacking player, but there were others where he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn if he tried. It wasn't as if the workrate went down, he just couldn't hit the target. More than anything, I think Revolution fans wanted him to do well, thought that he could do well, but were left scratching their heads at times. To be quite honest, and this is not meant to be an indictement of his game, but for him to succeed in MLS he needs to be a bit more patient on the ball, allowing the play to come to him as much as he wants to force it. I know he can send the ball in, but he could be so much better by making a few passes, making a run off the ball, then gaining separation from his defender. Who knows, he could return to Shels and be a better player for the experience here. You can see some of his better play by going to the following link: http://www.mlsnet.com/MLS/sights/index.jsp?week=0718 Select "Revolution @ Crew" video highlights (chose 56 or 384K). Baker's club are in white, and you can see him right at the start of the highlights. One of his better games.
Yeah, he could be like that too. He has undoubted ability when it comes to crossing, but alot of the times he gets it wrong, more than he should. That's why I thought it was laziness, like he was lethargically just swinging at the crosses without really thinking about it as he has the ability to be much better with them, it wasn't so much that he wasn't running or working as much. Everything you say there pretty much describes Richie over here perfectly alright, right down to the Shels fans scratching their heads too. Reaction to his return has been pretty negative really, which shows how his form had dipped over the years, but some are delighted remembering him in the earlier years. I'm disappointed the move didn't work out for him as he's a likeble guy and anytime I've talked to him he's been a sound bloke and I genuinley thought the move would bring out the best in him, I guess it wasn't to be.