Photo: Daniel Gajdamowicz
Peter Nowak spoke to reporters Wednesday afternoon via conference call from Greece.
Answering questions about the size of the roster, Nowak emphasized that “the roster still is not complete.” He continued, “If you have enough resources on your roster then you can make necessary changes.”
Noting that the transfer window is still open and the team “can make necessary changes until April 15,” Nowak said “future moves are possible.”
In answer to a question about the status of Michael Orozco Fiscal, Nowak said, “It seems to me that [the press] forgot what the rules are and weren’t paying attention to the details.”
He elaborated that any confusion about Orozco Fiscal’s status arose because people had forgotten the nature of his original deal with the club. Orozco Fiscal was on a “one year loan with the option to buy and we did not exercise that option.”
Nowak stated that Orozco Fiscal has been the property of San Luis, his home club, “since January 1.” Nowak compared Orozco Fiscal’s status to that of Michael Bradley at Aston Villa, saying that Bradley will return to Monchengladbach if Aston Villa doesn’t buy him. In the same way, Orozco Fiscal has returned to San Luis.
When asked to explain why the club had decided not to excercise the option to buy Orozco Fiscal, Nowak said there is “not much to say about why or what. It was simply a pure process of the loan was up.”
He continued, “Why do we need to announce it? End of story, he’s back in Mexico.”
In response to a question about Thorne Holder, Goalkeeping coach Rob Vartughian called him a “really talented kid,” describing him as “underrated and undervalued” and “very good, very athletic.” Vartughian said of Holder, “the sky’s the limit.”
Nowak next answered a question about the shortage of defenders on the squad. He again emphasized that “the roster is not set” and said it is “a question of finding the right pieces at the moment.”
Nowak then answered a range of further questions about Sebastian Le Toux, Carlos Ruiz, the status of Levi Houapeu, as well as the motivation behind letting Andrew Jacobson, Nick Zimmerman and JT Noone go.
Regarding Le Toux, Nowak said he has not played in Greece because he has been sick.
Of Ruiz, Nowak said, “Carlos is in a great mental state and has worked very well with the team.”
Nowak said Houapeu has impressed in the preseason and “at the end of the day Levi could be signed.”
The last question of the teleconference concerned the recent spate of red cards the team has suffered in preseason friendlies. Nowak seemed to liken any conclusions that might have been made about this in the press to the confusion regarding the status of Orozco Fiscal when he said the Union media is “looking at snaps rather than the big picture.”
Wow. He seems like a dick.
Good, I want my coach to be a dick!
I can only imagine that the price San Luis wanted for MOF was too high. The Union had to have wanted to keep him but were only willing to pay so much, right?
“Why do we need to announce it? End of story, he’s back in Mexico.” – The guy started 29 games last season and they don’t feel the need to announce that he is no longer with the team?
What an absolute smug, self-important prick.
Really Peter? This is the media’s fault. What about this article published by the Union on February 1, 2011, 1 month after your January 1 deadline:
http://www.philadelphiaunion.com/news/2011/02/philly-still-top-priority-orozco-fiscal
Not just MOF, but Hackworth are on the record saying that they were doing what they could to bring him back permanently. In the end, the asking price may have been too high. If thats the case, say so, don’t lie to us. We knew it was a loan. But when you protected him in the expansion draft and your staff said they were working hard to secure a permanent deal, we as supporters were FREE to assume he’ll be back. Thats why you are obliged to announce it. Because we’re fans and we love our team. Don’t crap on us because we want to support our favorite players.
And why lash out at the media? No one has been coming for your head. The union have been running the media around since day one, hiding and manipulating the “truth”. People have questions about their team, thats not unusual or inappropriate. Answer the damn questions with some class.
Good thing Sack and Nowak rhyme. Where are my Sharpies?
I hate to say it, but if the Union are not on the cusp of a playoff bith come the summer transfer window its time for Nowak to move on.
I have lost a lot of respect for Nowak this off season. A player that does so much for your club, and as Mike said started 29 games, and you don’t exercise the option to buy and expect both the media and fans to accept that without explanation? I am trying to wrap my head around his responses and all I can come up with is either embarrassment or arrogance. Nowaks credibility as a manager in the offseason should rightfully be on thin ice at this point. We have lost far to many players for nothing this season. If Orozco was a San Luis player on January 1 why did he suit up with the team for the last two months? I can’t accept that we did not have the funds to sign him, since we just signed one of the largest sponsorship deals in mls.
I agree, it’s hard to feel that he is honoring the work a lot of players have put in. But at the same time, he obviously wasn’t happy with last season. If they’re way better this year, we’ll all forget about all the moves and expansion draft wasted spots. Nowak must be banking on that.
Agreed. No way to tell until the season starts.
I am still withholding judgment until the regular season is underway. I still have faith in Nowak but I wish he’d have handled this a little better. Why such frustration regarding MOF? So some reporters forgot he was on-loan, big deal. Us fans are just curious as to why he wasn’t signed after the loan was up. If he wasn’t playing well enough, just say that! Nowak may just be subverting his own intentions of long-term team-building by responding so harshly to the media and fans. As for Levi Houapeu, they’d BETTER sign him, especially after Nowak’s comments.
There is frustration regarding MOF because a) we now only have 5 defenders on the whole roster, which is bad for a U-12 team, much less an MLS team in a season with expanded rosters, a reserve division, and a longer season; and b) he was protected in an expansion draft where we lost 2 players, one of whom, at a minimum, was a player with a really high upside. Now we lost him for nothing.
The MOF situation bugs me more than anything else thats happened.