November 12, 2008
It what has been a poorly kept secret, the Colorado Rapids announced yesterday that Gary Smith will have the interim removed from his title and he has become their head coach.
The Rapids made another sizable announcement yesterday in that they have re-signed team captain Pablo Mastroeni.
And while the quote sheet from yesterday's press conference doesn't mention Steve Guppy at all, the Denver Post article said that contract talks with Guppy are underway.
My guess is that the Guppy signing will be announced within the next few days now that the Smith deal is official.
And while Rhinos fans are likely sad abotu the prospects of Danny Earls moving to Colorado, it will be interesting to see if the Rhinos-Guppy relationship leads to any players such as Daniel Antunez find their way to Rochester in the future.
A couple of news pieces on the Landon Donovan front
First there is the SI.com piece by Soccer America writer Mike Woitalla which breaks down the Donovan trial at Bayern Munich, why Jurgen Klinsmann is interested (Lukas Podolski is not happy with his role as the third striker), and how MLS's valuation of Donovan could kill any transfer deal.
It will be very interesting to see how MLS and LA handle any Donovan to Bayern transfer talks as MLS has a history of turning down transfer offers, much to the player's chagrin, if the money is below what MLS feels is right.
I don't see Donovan moving to Bayern, but you never can tell.
The other piece of Landon Donovan news comes in the form of reports that Landon will be named the Honda US Player of the Year.
Ives Galarcep did not take the news well and suggests that Donovan shouldn't even have been in the top 3 of the voting results.
News & Notes:
-George Dohrmann has a piece at SI.com about why his pick for SI Sportsman of the Year is Hope Solo.Given how different 2007 and 2008 turned out for Solo, I think it would be a really cool choice. But, I don't think there is any chance that it happens.
- Apparently the upper brass at Toronto FC are on board with trying to get a DP signed this off season. Although, it appears that their #1 target is now out of the question as 25 yo Canadian International and Barnsley striker Iain Hume suffered a broken skull and internal bleeding thanks to a elbow by Sheffield United skipper Chris Morgan on Sunday.
- While Colorado and DC have gotten their coaching decisions for 2009 over with already, Seattle is still in the process of determining who will be their head coach in 2009 in their first season in MLS. I can't see Columbus letting Sigi Schmid go after his Coach of the Year season. Personally, I'd go after Paul Mariner given all that he's done in New England.
- The Austin Aztex opened their offices and unveiled their logo yesterday. I really like the logo and my one pet peeve with American soccer logos of always having to have a soccer ball on them is minimized in the Aztex logo. And I guess we can expect their primary jersey to be red and white stripes ala Chivas.
- The Minnesota Thunder have lost midfielder Steven DeRoux as he has bought out his contract with the Thunder and inked a new deal with Montreal. Apparently being able to play in the CONCACAF Champions League in February with the Impact weighed heavily into his decision.
- TriSoccerFan.com is reporting that the RailHawks will announce their new coach tomorrow. Bob Lilley is no longer listed as the head coach of the Detroit Ignition. I wonder if he could be returning to the outdoor game?
- Could Obama winning the election really help the US land the 2018 or 2022 World Cup?
The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author, and not necessarily those of the Rochester Rhinos or SoccerSam.com. Feel free to send any comments or complaints to news@soccersam.com. James promises to read (but not to respond) to all of them.
