Thought of the Day - things that make you go hmmmmm. love this new feature Buzz! Glad to hear about Quill, dissapointed for Bobby - but it coukd be worse.
Fabulous stuff once again, Buzz. You know its been said before, but the service you provide for this team and its fans is invaluable. For example, Colorado and Columbus fans wail when their team suffers in large part because they have no idea what is going on with their team. But when the Burn are going through a rough patch, you give us information and we know the team is still fighting. And that makes all the difference Thank you. Not Good. Kries, EJ and Nhlecko - its all on you. Shoot the ball like you mean it. Good. Looking forward to it. Sometimes staying the course means you have no options. Good. You're the captain Jason, Lead the way and the team will follow. I would too. The closer we get to the LA game, the more I like our chances. Seems like the team is doing everything it can to end this 3 game streak before it ends up snowballing all out of control into Dragon 2003 Part II.
Using the allocation on Casey entered my mind awhile back when I heard Dortmund was probably looking to sell him this summer, however the big obstacle would be Columbus. I'd imagine he would end up there. MLS doesn't do favors for the Burn.
Does Cbus have first dibs on the next major player allocation? We got Gibbs because we had the worst record last year. IMO (and probably only a Burn fans opinion) forcing us into taking an MPA for Adu SHOULD mean the league gives the Burn first shot if we want a player. In actuallity, Cbus got the guy (Marshall) that we WOULD have taken if not for Adu and we still would have still had first dibs on Gibbs as well. ULHOWA!
Regardless, there's no way that this is going to happen. Dortmund may not be very interested in retaining Casey, but the teams that are trying to acquire him are both in the Bundesliga. There's no way that MLS can compete with that - Gibbs was going to be in the German 3rd, 2nd at best - these situations really aren't that similar. MLS may have the money to acquire Casey, but there's no way they are going to spend what it would take to sign him to a long-term deal (easily more than what Adu's making, for a guy who is not marketable at all).
Who is trying to acquire him? If Dortmund is looking to send him back to Karlsruhe on loan for the final year on his contract it suggests interest from buyers is non-existent. The clubs mentioned by the USUK site were pure speculation by the author. And I recall a few people saying there was no way Gibbs would come to MLS/Dallas, so sorry if I don't believe any definitive statements about what will happen to Americans playing over in Germany.
Maybe with "The Bruce" whispering in his ear about qualifying like he did with Gibbs, he could end up here. It doesn't sound like the big dogs are beating down his door trying to sign him. We need to keep our eyes on this one. I'm down with it!
3rd Degree with the hook up. Glad to hear Kreis is getting the start. Its been a long road back. Hopefully there will be some finish up front this week. The Casey situation is very interesting. It almost seems to good to be true. I realize it could happen but Im quick not to get my hopes up.
There's a huge rumor on Yanks Abroad that Casey has been bought by Monchengladback of the Bundesliga 1st. With the opportunity to play 1st Division ball, doubtful we'll see Casey back here..
Thanks. I had been trying to figure out how to get in some of this kind of thing. I thought about a blog, or a daily email.. This seemed like the easiest and I'm pleased that you like it.
I second that...Insightful and opinionated. I love the the personal flair as opposed to neutrality (just the facts), Great read.
The only time I've seen Casey was in the US-Mexico game at the Cotton Bowl. I have to say that I wasn't all that impressed. The one good chance he got, a nice pass right outside the box, he flubbed his first touch and lost the opportunity to shoot. It might have been nerves, but it really pissed me off. He was able to use his body well to get position and retain possesion, but once he did not much came of it. I know there are a lot of people that are very high on the guy, so maybe there is something I'm not seeing. But I think we in the US have a habit of overestimating the talent of our overseas players simply because they are in Europe.
Touche... but by the same token, I would like to believe that scouts are more often correct. I'll take the odds.
It's been said by some usually reputable posters that Casey's on $400k per year + car and apartment over there. That would take some serious financial re-structuring of the team to pull that off. And if it doesn't happen this season, the Burn will have to take their place in line for Americans returning from Europe behind the expansion teams at the very least. Great to hear about Gibbs. Buzz, your site made it bearable to be a Burn fan in 2003. Good job, and thanks.
I'd rather take performance in actual games rather then one scout's opinion. In that way Casey hasn't really impressed me yet. If the rumours of him to M'gladbach are accurate then we will have plenty of opportunity to see for ourselves on FSW this coming season. Of course, it won't matter from a Burn perspective since he will be there and not here. And of course, as someone already mentioned, I don't know if we would have first dibs on such a player if he were to return to MLS now. I'm sure many teams would be interested in a big, strong target forward.
I think that if you looked at his performance in actual games, you'd be duly impressed. He was one of the better scorers in B2 at Karlsruher, netting at a 1 goal per 2 game pace. In addition, an article that I read recently mentioned that Dortmund may sell Jan Koller, in an effort to go cheaper and younger - which may mean that Casey would get an opportunity there in the summer instead of being sold/loaned (although generally consensus seemed to be that he would be loaned in the final year of the Dortmund contact). To be fair, I haven't been in Yanks Abroad recently to read the current rumor/speculation. Casey's production and career curve has been pretty darn impressive - more than just "one scout's opinion". Similar to you - I've only actually seen him play twice - Poland v. US and then US v. Mex - and I recognized some of the same things you mention in both matches, the first touch seeming to abandon him at times. (But - they were his first two caps, after all.) Having said that, in my opinion, he held posession well and combined very will with other attackers (see: DMB's goal v. Poland). He's still pretty young, but is, at least at this point, the current heir apparent to McBride with USMNT. I'm not trying to argue that he is coming to the Burn - I just don't think it's fair to categorize him as a "scout's darling". The guy produces, he scores goals in a top professional league. I don't think that should be summarily dismissed. Edited: to include link to article I mentioned.
I wouldn't call the B2 a top professional league, in fact by definition its not. And it was never my intention to summarily dismiss him. I just wouldn't get all giddy about him coming, that was really all I was saying. I think he has potential, "huge upside" in ESPN-speak. He very well "could" develop into the next coming of McBride, or he could end up as a good, but not great, US player. All that remains to be seen. IMO, we have our allotment of "potential" at the forward position, EJ and Thompson. If we are going to use our MPA on a forward, it had damn well better be a proven one.
The "Major" Allocation Burn are holding is supposed to be a big one. Possibly double previous ones according to some of my info. Which means it might be able to eat the 400K. Burn were 1st and 5th on the "returning US Nat" list this off season. 1st got Gibbs. Who knows if 2-4 got eaten up by teams using allocations. Cbus was two and have not used theirs. Next years two worst team would slide to top of list. So if you wait till next season there might be 3 or 4 teams in line ahead of you. Some of which might pass of course. Conor Casey is a pipe dream really. There are many obstices. But I covet him and Gibbs was a pipe dream too until Burn got him. Plus it's fun to speculate.