Does this make the unidentified player and "international man of mystery?" O.k., it's a slow morning. The Magpie
In fact, I think Sharpe might already be here. I saw a player at practice the other day that I didn't recognize, but forgot to ask anyone who it was. My bad. I'll see if I can get someone to tell me who it is later today.
I'd expect he'd be cheap to sign, anyway. How much can a guy last playing in the FA Division 3 reasonably demand? I'd rather have Noonan, Kamler, or even Griffiths though.
And in case you were wondering who our competition for Lee's signature is, apparently it's a fishing village in Iceland: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/2586315.stm
Unfortunately, most Icelandic fishing village student teams have more cap room than we do. I wonder how such a big "party animal" will fit in with this team, the bulk of which is fairly young.
Name: Lee Sharpe Born: 5/27/71 Birthplace: Halesowen, England Height: 183 Weight: 81 Position: Left-midfield Current Club: Out of contract Previous Clubs: Division Three 2002 – 2003: Exeter City (England) Division One 2001 – 2002: Bradford City (England) Division One 2001 – 2002: Portsmouth (England) Division One 2000 – 2001: Portsmouth (England) Premier League 1999 – 2001: Bradford City (England) Premier League 1998 – 1999: Leeds United (England) Serie A 1998 – 1999: Sampdoria (Italy) Division One 1998 - 1999: Bradford City (England) Premier League 1996 – 1998: Leeds United (England) Premier League 1988 – 1996: Man. United (England) Division Three 1987 – 1988: Torquay (England) Other: International - 8 caps for England, his first full one at age 19. England PFA Young Player of the Year in 1991. Three Premiership titles and medals for the Cup-Winners' Cup, FA Cup and League Cup for Manchester United. Lee Sharpe is looking for a game, it’s that simple. After last playing on a non-contract “pay-as-you-play” basis for Exeter City in the English 3rd Division (for all of 17 days), Sharpe has been struggling to find a professional club to take him on, actually considering playing options in such far-flung places as Grindavik, Iceland and the United Arab Emirates (particularly club Al-Ani) in addition to France, Italy, Belgium, and Germany. There were even rumors as recently as last month that the Metrostars may have expressed an interest. His agent Carl Dunn has suggested that offers from the U.S. have been received as far back as October. It would seem that the problems of finding a new club owe as much to his reported wage demands (upwards of $165,000 a year), as well as a history of injuries and a reputation for never having fully reached his potential. That being said, numerous reports suggest that he’s fit abd able to contribute.
As far as I know this would be Sharpe's first stint with the team...didn't Revs mngmt say that the mystery trialist had trained with the Revs previously?
Sharpe has admitted enjoying a party, but has denied he used any of the more notorious party drugs, although the rumours have dogged him for a while. He was a very promising young player at United but his most natural position is on the left wing and he wasn't going to keep Giggs out of the team. I think Fergie also felt Sharpe wasn't the best influence for the teenage Giggs.
This from leedsfans.uk.org (sorry about the formatting): Position Left winger Born 27 May 1971, Halesowen (England) Height 182 cm Weight 81 kg International Caps England: 8 full, 1 B, 8 U21 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Club From To Apps Goals Sold for Torquay United 31 May 1988 10 Jun 1988 16 6 £185000 Manchester United 10 Jun 1988 14 Aug 1996 265 36 £4500000 Leeds United 14 Aug 1996 25 Mar 1999 37 6 £250000 Sampdoria 01 Nov 1998 5 0 on loan Bradford City 25 Mar 1999 12 Aug 2002 66 4 £0 Portsmouth 01 Feb 2001 17 0 on loan Exeter City 12 Aug 2002 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Revs posts about him (if it was him) called him a former trialist. Has he been in before? If so, why wasn't he signed?
O.k., just looked back through the Q & A thread and came up with nothing to suggest this player has trained previously with the Revs. The following are direct quotes from Revs Management: "A few additional players have been invited to attend the training camp in Brazil. You will hear more about them shortly... We are looking at a number of possibilities and as mentioned above, a few trialists will join us in Brazil... The mystery LM trialist is an international player..." The Magpie
Here's what I was referring to: "Kamler, Griffiths, Noonan, Cullen and one former trialist are all candidates at LM." Mike Marshall, did the picture of Sharpe match your suspect? It might not be obvious, as some of the stuff I saw on the guy (such as the Leeds fansite) had as much info about his ever-changing hairstyles as his play (or lack thereof).
And elsewhere in the Revs Mgt thread, they said that the LM player was an international player. If this is Buhlman, perhaps he has softened on the demand for a guaranteed contract? How much cap room do we have that we could afford another $100,000+ player? Just a guess, but I don't think it's Buhlman. He must have signed with someone by now, if he's half as good as we think, but I couldn't find anything on him on google. My guess is that when the Revs train in Brazil, they will bring in a few young local guys (realtively cheap) and see if anything works out. Unlike past years, even if we don't find the magic man, we still have a reasonably solid team to work with. Tom
FWIW, the picture of Sharpe looks a little bit like the player I saw the other day, but I can't say for certain that it's him.
Phewwww! I was starting to get nervious. Giving a trial to a player who is well past his time isn't consistant with how SN seems to be trying to build a winner. George
Just to clarify, I'm now under the impression that the mystery man at Revs practice is none other than... Kevin Jackson, a midfielder out of Lehigh who's played the last few seasons for Matt Driver's New Jersey Stallions.