Roster Talk
Ahead of the first round of the Re-Entry Draft, which to my Scottish ears still sounds a euphemism for something that belongs in Roger’s Profanisaurus, the Timbers have announced the re-signing of 3 players, as well as the exercising of the option on a further 8.
It puts to bed the appearance of a Mr Rodney Wallace Esq on the original list put up by MLS. Whatever shape the supposed negotiations took, we won’t know the details for some time, the end result is that Wallace is at least signed on for 2013, though the roster is a pretty nebulous thing at this stage, and things may, and most likely will, change.
The current roster now looks something like this.
Players who were under contract for 2013
| # | Pos | Player Name | Age | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | M | Diego Chara | 26 | Colombia |
| 9 | F | Kris Boyd | 29 | Scotland |
| D | Michael Harrington | 26 | USA | |
| 12 | D | David Horst | 27 | USA |
| 35 | D | Andrew Jean-Baptiste | 20 | USA |
| 8 | M | Franck Songo'o | 25 | Cameroon |
| 13 | D/M | Jack Jewsbury | 31 | USA |
| M | Will Johnson | 25 | Canada | |
| 24 | F | Sebastián Rincón | 18 | Colombia |
| 33 | D | Hanyer Mosquera | 25 | Colombia |
| 1 | GK | Donovan Ricketts | 35 | Jamaica |
| 6 | M/F | Darlington Nagbe | 22 | Liberia |
Players re-signing, or having options exercised, for 2013.
| # | Pos | Player Name | Age | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | M | Eric Alexander | 24 | USA |
| 11 | M | Kalif Alhassan | 22 | Ghana |
| 23 | GK | Joe Bendik | 23 | USA |
| 98 | D | Mamadou "Futty" Danso | 29 | The Gambia |
| 19 | F | Bright Dike | 25 | USA |
| 90 | GK | Jake Gleeson | 22 | New Zealand |
| 18 | D | Ryan Kawulok | 22 | USA |
| 27 | D | Chris Taylor | 23 | USA |
| 22 | D/M | Rodney Wallace | 24 | Costa Rica |
| 7 | M | Sal Zizzo | 25 | USA |
| 16 | M/F | Brent Richards | 22 | USA |
That leaves three of the current squad, as listed on the official site, currently unspoken for.
| # | Pos | Player Name | Age | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | F | Danny Mwanga | 21 | DR Congo |
| 20 | F | Jose Adolfo Valencia | 20 | Colombia |
| 2 | F | Mike Fucito | 26 | USA |
The big stand-out there is Danny Mwanga. It would be foolish to read too much into his omission – as it was with Wallace and the Re-Entry Draft (sorry, it just amuses me every time I write that) – for the press release today, but if what Chris Rifer suggested on timbersarmy.org about Danny’s salary increasing is true then it may be worth just keeping an eye on all the same.
Speaking of the Re-Entry Draft, WVHooligan has a look at a few decent options to consider.
MLS have released an updated list of eligible players, if you want to take a look. Obviously, Rodney Wallace’s name is no longer there and, oddly, neither is Steve Purdy’s.
And while I’m on drafts, Stumptown Footy have suggested a trio of midfielders that the Portland Timbers could go for in the SuperDraft in January.
By the way, just as an aside, I’m no longer as convinced as I was that Kris Boyd isn’t back in 2013. Just a hunch.
Andrew Wiebe at MajorLeagueSoccerSoccerDotCom took a longer look at the Timbers deal to acquire the homegrown rights of Bryan Gallego. It’s certainly an interesting move. I don’t know that we should heap all the credit on Porter’s shoulders.
Gavin Wilkinson has taken a few knocks, on this site especially, but this deal seems to me to be a collaboration between Wilkinson and Porter, rather than the work of one or the other and so Gavin deserves some of the kudos too, assuming that Gallego actually makes it to the big leagues eventually etc.
The most logical way this deal works, in my mind, is the trade of Kimura to New York for allocation money is worked out by the front offices. Porter would give his approval that Kimura isn’t part of his plans, so go ahead with the deal and, oh, by the way, this kid I’ve worked with, I really rate him, he’s in New York’s academy system, could we fit him into the deal somehow? Phone calls go back and forth, the club get the nod from the league, and a deal is worked out to add Gallego in, with the Timbers writing off money due as part of the Cooper deal.
Or it goes the other way, with the move for Gallego coming first and fitting Kimura in to bring some allocation money back to Portland, for reasons as yet unknown.
Just my conjecture, but it’s what makes sense to me rather than one guy doing it all. Good communication between Porter and the front office is essential if he is to have any chance of putting out a successful team.
I still have deep reservations about Gavin’s ability to guide the ship, but I’m not an ideologue or anti-GW zealot, by any means. Perhaps because I wasn’t there at the time he was butting heads with a large sections of the fans, I don’t have the same visceral reaction to the man than some have, but I just try to call it as I see it. And I simply haven’t liked what I’ve seen so far. At all. But if he can turn it around, and give Porter the backing he needs to make a success of it, then I’ve no problem in giving him credit for the job. I was a big fan of John Spencer, but when it reached the point where I thought he was doing more harm than good, I said so. I’m a rationalist – I respond to reason and evidence, so equally, if we see the same problems repeating, then I make no apologises for “yet another anti-GW article, #yawn”.
MLSSoccer.com have done their review of the year for the Portland Timbers. Interesting choice to give Best Newcomer to Kris Boyd. Personally, I’d have gone for Hanyer Mosquera or Steven Smith. As for the MVP nod towards Chara, I’d agree with that. Other players have hit higher heights than Diego, but no-one has been as consistently good. Again, an honourable mention to Mosquera.
It’s an interesting read, with some OPTA and tactical stuff thrown in there, but I’ll be glad when we can start talking Previews rather than Reviews. I’m reading for 2012 to be done already.
