I have been checking the red patch boys forum (great stuff there), and they have a bunch of rumours. I figured they wouldn't mind if we take some of the names I found on there and put it on here, for some the big soccer forum members to comment on. Christian Gomez Mo was in the running for him, but it seems he has priced himself out of the market $400,000. I rather get 2 quality players for that price. Stephen Whalen No clue who this guy is, but then again, how many of us knew who Danny D was. Only knock against him, he hasn't played in a number of years. Stefano Fiore This would be a great addition, an attacking midfield who will love it in Toronto b/c of the large Italian community. Just wondering how much will he want, $300K? Darren Huckerby I know the name, haven't seen him play well, but Robbo and Brennan would love to see him here. I am hoping we get some quality players before Thursday midnight. I think that's when the MLS transfer window close, or it that only for Europe?
as far as i know the MLS transfer window is open for much longer. the european window expires after thursday. if i recall correctly, we signed DD a few weeks after the season opener, so there is still plenty of time for Mo to make a move. However, it is probably in TFC's best interest to set the roster sooner rather than later so that training camp can run smoothly and the team can start the season strong. i hope the whalen thing is a joke. otherwise i think fiore or huckerby could work out well potentially. i agree about Gomez though; i'd much rather have 2 quality MLS starters for that price
from soccer by ives: One team that dropped out of the race for Gomez was Toronto FC. TFC coach Mo Johnston is a fan of Gomez and wanted to pair him up with Maurice Edu, but ultimately the $400,000 guaranteed contract in 2009 was the deal-breaker. If we get Fiore and Huckerby....how will the lineup/formation look Sutton Wynne Marshall James Brennan Edu O'Brien Huckerby Fiore Dichio Cunningham Bench: GK Edwards D/M Dunivant (take over starting role when Wynne is away on Intl Duty) M Robinson (take over starting role when Edu is away on Intl Duty) D Phelan D Boyens Other suggestions? Seems if we get Fiore/Huckerby, will be hard to find places for guys who deserve to start.
I wouldn't be so sure about that. Considering that Mo traded with LA to get a pick in order to take Edwards, there's going to be some pressure to use him.
You are correct - the MLS transfer window goes much later. For those who are panicking because there hasn't been much news of any TFC signings, bear in mind when Mo signed his international players last year: Robbo was Jan 31st, Welshy in March and DD in April. So, there is still plenty of time for signing news.
Wagenaar has an offer from Toronto FC. Mo said he won't budge from the offer. It seems he doesn't like the money. Thanks for the insights on the MLS transfer window. Its good its later on in the year, but I think some of the guys need to play together for awhile before they can get some chemistry, hence, Mo should try to get them in sooner, but that is easier said than done.
plus Fiore is making 1 million euros and he's stated that he wants to help Mantova to Serie A. Dare to dream boys, dare to dream. Huckerby is a more likely addition, i'm just worried about his injuries.
It could be a possibility for June. He's only on a 1 year contract if I'm not mistaken and if Mantova doesn't get to Serie A (which looks less likely every week) he may want to move on.
From Steven Goff's blog today: [FONT=Times New Roman,times,serif]"I hear one MLS coach is currently in Honduras scouting the top clubs for a possible last-minute signing. Sorry, I do not know who it is. ..." [/FONT]Rumors on the RPB yesterday were saying that TFC could be interested in Amado Guevera, the rumor started from the Score Footy Podcast. Mo tried to acquire Guevera last year but didn't want to report to TFC. He instead returned to his home & is playing in Honduras.
http://norwichcity.myfootballwriter.com/full_article.asp?i=2540 "Now to the outgoing door and talk regarding City favourite Darren Huckerby's move to MLS outfit Toronto FC refuses to go away The Canadian club's manager – former Celtic and Rangers forward Mo Johnston – did nothing to quash the rumours today after failing to confirm or deny Huckerby was all set for a switch across the pond. Johnston has previously stated that they will not be bringing anyone under contract to Canada before the January 31st deadline – all of which would mean Huckerby would have to somehow find a way out of his Canary deal, which still has six months to run. Roeder denied any contact with Toronto – or any other club for that matter – yesterday but with ex-City stars Jim Brennan and Carl Robinson at the club, this particular story holds some credibility. But with plenty of red tape in the way, don't expect any movement on this one in the next 24 hours. Any potential Huckerby exit would bear a striking similarity to Robinson's own transfer exactly a year ago and with the Toronto Star newspaper penning the headline "TFC appears set to ink Norwich striker Huckerby", Canary supporters are in for a nerve-wracking few days?"
Just wondering if others would agree with my view about bringing in transfers. Mo said he won't bring in anybody before this week. I would think you want to bring in someone sooner rather than later, to let them gel with the team, get used to everyone and the tactics. Since training camp is starting on Friday, it would be nice to have a couple of pre-season games with our starting XI. If you keep introducing new players during the season, at the same time as international duty and injuries (god please none for TFC this year), its gonna be hard for one another to know each tendancies with the ball, and away from the ball.
To pretty much shoot down the rumor I posted yesterday... "From the 'Things that make you go hmm' department comes word out of Honduras that New England Revolution head coach Steve Nicol is there doing some scouting." http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/2008/01/nicol-in-hondur.html
You are correct that it would be better to bring in players for pre-season rather than mid-way though for many of the reasons that you mention. And I'm sure that Mo would prefer to do that as well. The difficulty is that players in most other leagues are typically under contract until the summer transfer window. To bring a player over now, the player would either have to be out of contract (which is not very common) or the league would have to pay the transfer fees (which they are not keen on doing).
Wasn't Mo down in Argentina at the end of the season? Sports illustrated is reporting that both Martin Palermo and Ariel Ortega are headed for MLS. Pray, gentlemen. Just pray.
Should be in Brazili watching all the state championships being played. There are a few gems that play in these competition that play for lower division sides.
just found this on mls rumors... Rating: 3 (Possible) Toronto FC fans may have reason to cheer this season after all. We just received the following by email concerning an imminent signing by Toronto FC: "Hi, I work for someone who does a lot of business with MLSE/Toronto FC. They told me that Mo Johnston is signing a Brazilian or Portuguese play playing in Europe to a deal which would bring them to TFC when the (European) season ends. How they know this is because they hired a person from our business which does translation and provides multi-lingual interpreters for media, sports, etc on a per-contract basis. They have hired one of our Portuguese interpreters. I suggest people in T-dot phone in The Soccer Show on Fan 590 tonight at 9pm to ask them about it especially if Mo Johnston is on."
I'm generally skeptical of anything that appears on MLSrumors - let's face it, they'll post anything that anyone emails into them - but this one doesn't seem plausible. If it were true, the person who sent it in would be putting their job at risk big time by contacting MLS Rumors...and then on top of it asking people to phone up the Fan590 and ask Mo about it? Just a little too far fetched IMO.
press conference today at 11am. Figure it may me to announce officially Julius James signed, maybe even Pat Phelan
Paul Beirne is posting hints on the RPB message board. From his hints, it looks like they've signed former Leeds United Manager John Carver: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Carver_(footballer)