Weekly Merc update... http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/5539252.htm Big "news" in story, details included: - Quakes v. SJSU tomorrow at 3 at the 11th St. practice field - Quakes to unveil new uniforms at some night club
"Saunders, who played at Cal, will be made a developmental player once Conway returns. The move will open up a space on the Quakes roster, giving them the option to sign an attacker if they have trouble scoring." Good to see that there is a backup plan in case (or for most people, when) DeResario and Ching don't put the ball in the back of the net...
Actually BlueMeanie, I posted about this last week in the Club Quake Announcement although I don't think most people read it. At 9pm the players will be around for an hour to show off the uniforms and all CQ members are invited. My wife and I will be there but there is another piece to this story which can't be talked about until after the event... Randy Overbeck CQ Secretary
Where was my invitation? I want to see this "unveiling." I totally want to go just to see the guys faces! Can we say, Rapids ripoff?
Anyone know why Saunders couldn't have been signed to a developmental slot right away. Why does he have to be standard roster until Conway returns. Also, I think Frank is making a mistake by not looking to bring in a right back as opposed to another attacker. -KMJvet
Probably because that's the contract Saunders and his agent negotiated. Since the team needs him to be a #2 keeper for the time being, he had a bit of leverage to get an actual wage at least during the time Conway is out. Either would help.
Maybe it would be the decent thing to do, but it would seem to me the Quakes had all the power. If Saunders said no, he'd be left with nothing and the Quakes could pick up a different keeper for the developmental roster from among his peers... recent college grad keepers without an MLS gig but still hoping to keep their soccer careers alive.... unless Saunders really is some sort of diamond in the ruff. -KMJvet
Well, undrafted recent college grads are usually undrafted for a reason. They would also be limited to local guys if they are offering a developmental contract. Saunders might not be a diamond, but he has at least shown a level of competence in preseason action, which is more than any undrafted keeper has done. Having him hold a roster spot for just a few weeks is not a high price to pay if other options are completely unproven, and perhaps not even available. This arrangement looks to me to show some creativity on both sides of the negotiations. If the Quakes had offered nothing but a developmental contract, Saunders might have walked and left the Quakes in the lurch, but if Saunders had demanded a full-season regular contract, he probably would have been cut as soon as Conway came back.
I guess I'm not convinced Jon will be back in 4 weeks or less (or even 4 weeks into the season) and ready to be a back-up as opposed to just ready to resume light training. And I was thinking (strongly hoping) that Frank had something up his sleeve in terms of a signing that would come in and make a real difference (like the last minute Graz deal last year). Now we don't have a roster spot open -KMJvet
This deal is really strange. I have never seen one like this before. Why lose a roster spot until Conway returns? Is this in case Jon has complications and misses most (if not all) of the season? And what about a situation like the Phil Sayler lottery? Suppose we wanted him, won the lottery and then had to cut someone? Two weeks later Conway returns and now we happen to have that spot available. Wouldn't that suck??? I get the impression that Yallop must have someone lined up in the UK. He's just waiting for their season to end so he can bring him to MLS during the mid-season. Does Ekelund have a brother?