Daily news roundups

“Saddest day for me”

Photo: Daniel Gajdamowicz

Philadelphia Union

Sebastien Le Toux tweets, “Just got traded to Vancouver ! Saddest day for me in my Philadelphia Union story…. Still can’t believe it”

The Union host Vancouver Whitecaps on March 31.

Take a look at Adam Cann’s roundup of the evolution of Sebastien Le Toux to Vancouver rumors for links, but to summarize, the Union appear to be trading Le Toux to Vancouver for allocation money. The reason appears to be related to two things. First, to help fund a Union move to secure the rights to Roger Torres, who has been on loan from America de Cali. Second, to get as much value as possible out of Le Toux while he is in the final year of his contract with the league.

Earlier, citing “a source close to the situation,” The Brotherly Game reported that “Le Toux is fighting to stay with the Union.”

The 700 Level writes, “I surmise that Union fans will be a bit less understanding of a Le Toux trade to Vancouver than they were the potential transfer to Bolton. It’s one thing to see your team’s most popular player move on to bigger and better. It’s quite another to see him traded within the league.”

Zac MacMath, backed by Peter Nowak to be the starting goalkeeper in his interview on the ExtraTime Radio podcast, tweeted on Monday, “Wants to thank @FarydMondragon for all he has done this past year for me personally and for the club. Great person and athlete #thankyou”.

Incredibly, the Delco Daily Times’ Chris Vito spoke to Le Toux on Monday, but the topic was Faryd Mondragon. Le Toux said, “It’s a huge loss because of how big Faryd was on the team. Obviously, we wish him the best and we are going to move forward with our season…(Replacing a captain) is not easy for anyone. He’s a big example in the locker room for the younger players, with how he carried himself on and off the field. It’s something to come back from and that is not easy. Players like me learned a lot from him and it was an honor to play with him, but we will miss him.”

WPS

Look for commentary and analysis on the decision to cancel the 2012 season from PSPs Mike Servedio and Eli Pearlman-Storch later this morning.

All White Kit writer Jenna Pel tweets, “WPS agents and Players Union still working to free players from contracts so as to not be impaired by the Euro transfer window deadline.”

Independence coach Paul Riley said, “Just devastated for the players and employees for the franchise. A lot of broken hearts this morning and a lot of sad stories…The players and my entire backroom staff are gutted, but we want this league to work and we will do everything we can to see [the] Philadelphia Independence step onto PPL/Widener in the spring of 2013….The litigation has been the major obstacle. It seems in life it’s the little people who get hurt the most . . . THE PLAYERS. We have the best players in the world trying to ply their trade day in and day out and today them find themselves with no job due to legal wranglings that has nothing to do with them.”

WPS CEO Jennifer O’Sullivan on the decision to bring Dan Borislow into the league: “I do think the league at the time was in a situation where they were in a bit of a rush.”

Check out the Goalkeeper for a transcript of Sullivan’s conference call with reporters.

WNY Flash spokesperson Renee Meier says, ““It’s a real shame. One owner thought he could operate a team in the league and not follow the rules. I believe they (voted to suspend operations) for the right reasons.”

ESPNW reviews how the league got into this mess.

ESPNW looks at the league’s shaky foundations.

ESPN wonders if the cancellation of the season will harm the USWNT’s chances at the Olympics.

Soccer Insider wonders if this could mean the end of professional women’s soccer in the US

Members of the Great Britain Olympic team are scrambling to find clubs to play for. Great Britain and England’s Kelly Smith says, “It was a total shock to receive the email from the league.”

All White Kit has the contents of the email sent to its players informing them of the decision to cancel the 2012 season.

Vineland, NJ native Jill Loyden is heading to Denmark to play.

MLS

Portland Timbers have signed Scottish international Kris Boyd.

Tottenham’s Giovanni Dos Santos is not heading to MLS.

Neither is Michael Ballack.

US

US Soccer is reportedly negotiating a friendly with Scotland, to be played May 26 or 27, followed by a friendly with Brazil on May 30.

Elsewhere

You can follow live updates of last minute transactions as the transfer window closes in Europe here.

The new league in India is allocating players and coaches by auction.

24 Comments

  1. This is way worse than him going to Bolton. Absolute BS. This is the first time I’ve really been upset with Nowak and co. for their decision-making. Even the Ruiz thing pales in comparison.

  2. Double Fuck!

  3. Like my bro just asked…Where are the goals gonna come from?!?!

    • I feel like in the middle of last season we had major problems scoring. We were VERY solid on D but kept putting up donuts. Many of us clamoured for LeToux to ride the pine temporarily as our offense sucked.

      I’m trying to keep that in mind while I pray that Mwanga and Josue will click.

      If you’d asked me last year (DURING THE SLUMP) about a front line of Mwanga and Josue Martinez I would have been psyched.

      I’ll just keep reminding myself…

  4. Unbelievable.

    Only in MLS would a team that is arguably on the up-and-up trade away their best player, face of the franchise and all-time leading scorer to another team in their league for some financial flexibility.

    Gutted.

  5. How do you do this to your franchise player? How do you do this to the fans? It’s so incomprehensible to me. It like a big “FU” to all of us.

    If we sold him because we need the money, then why were we buying all these players this off-season? If it was all on a bet that Adu would be picked up by Rayo, then someone needs to be fired. This is digusting…

  6. At least with the Bolton deal, they can sell it to the fans as a great opportunity for a player we love and respect…how the hell are they gonna sell this one?

    If this doesn’t mean a permanent deal for Torres, my head is going to explode.

  7. While I share the sentiments of most of the fans the detail that this is the final year of his contract is rather important. Like many of you said, why would the Union trade away their best player, face of the franchise and fan favorite? This organization has never made an erratic and crazy decision such as this one. In fact it’s usually the opposite. That makes me wonder whether they highly suspected/knew that he was leaving either in the summer or via a free transfer at the end of the season. IF that is the case then I 100% agree with the decision to trade him no matter how disappointed I am that we won’t be graced by his classy presence anymore. 1million for a player who is only going to be around for 9 months and then could leave for nothing is well worth the risk.

    • I can’t believe that. He seemed pretty happy being the big fish in a ok sized pool. I would suspect that A. Vancouver desperate to make a splash over paid for him. and B. They didn’t want to give him a raise equal to what he means to the team.

      I understand being pragmatic is necessary to owning a soccer franchise but being mercenary at the level the Eagles are can be callus to the fans and incidentally never got us a championship.

      Lets hope they replace Le Toux but seeing how they put a band aid over Harvey’s absence there is no guarentee that is going to happen.

    • I just feel like this is the one player where the front office needed to make decisions with their heart, not their head. Seba defined the Union in our first two years. Letting him play for another MLS club is simply not acceptable, in my opinion.

  8. The fact that is the final year of his contract MIGHT be important. It’s relevant if he was not going to resign with the team or if his salary demands would be too high. I find it hard to believe that it is the first with the report that Le Toux was fight to stay with the team. If it was the second, then why did we buy Adu, Gomez, Lopez, etc???

    I also disagree that the team has never made an erratic/questionable decision in the past (O-F?), but agree with you that we should try to give the FO the benefit of the doubt FOR NOW. But they owe us all a big explanation if they expect us to keep buying their product, IMHO.

  9. I really don’t think they know what they are doing. There is no one to replace him up top. No DP, no one. What are they spending the money on?

    • They already spent it on Martinez, Lopez and Gomez.

      • It’ll be interesting to see how much those guys are getting –
        OUT: (2011 guaranteed comp)
        LeToux – $180k
        Mondragon – $400k
        Paunstar – $90k
        JDGonzo – $193k
        Houepeau / Richter /Tait 32/32/42 = 106
        Total off the books is just under $1M in guaranteed comp + whatever allocation $ is coming from VAN(Bolton rumor was $1Mish).
        The fun of all of this (if you can stretch to think of losing Le Toux as “fun”) is the swirling mystery around allocation money, how much the U have, how much will be spent on buying down Adu from $600k to $335k, how much we paid for the bevy of Latin Americans coming to the team and if there’s anything left in the checkbook to, I don’t know, maybe get a backup keeper? Can you play with one? How much is Torres going to cost? We just dealt a player who played every minute to ensure the funds to sign a permanent transfer for one who struggles to play 60?
        I am willing to keep the goal scoring angst at bay until a few preseason matches are in, lot of folks around here flipped when the FLyers dealt Richards and Carter for 2nd liners and magic beans, and the Flyers are 2nd in goals per. Maybe Nowak has a plan. Today, it’s hidden in mystery.

  10. This team lost its elder statesman in Paunovic, its leader in Mondragon, and its heart in leToux. I’m very scared we’ll see a U this year that looks like the ill-fated 2011 “Dream Team” eagles. Too many superstars/new pieces, too little team identity/cohesion/whatever.

    Nowak screwed the pooch on this one. I don’t care how much money we got from Vancouver (and I guarantee it’s not going to be EPL money), there is no excuse for losing letoux IN THE LEAGUE.

    You’ll never hear louder cheers from TRE for an opposing player than on March 31st.

    • I agree, the “magic” of the team, the reason you support them even when they are losing, is seriously been depleted…

      Though…, we grew to love Le Toux and the Dragon very quickly, and Le Toux, a failed import from Seattle and the Dragon an old guy… so we’ll see, perhaps some of this new blood won’t be so bad…

      Nowak, as a coach, brought in the type of team Philly can love… tough, scrappy, un-selfish (except for the Fish)… I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt for now that this team will still be a one we can love… (at least I hope so… wimpher…)

  11. A sad day in Union history he will be sorely missed have fun in Canada,as we here in Philly score no more goals

  12. Saddest day for this Union fan too. This is way worse than Le Toux going to Bolton.

  13. Anyone want to start a campaign to vote Le Toux as an all star so we can see him an extra time at PPL? If Vancouver and Philly fans throw him enough votes, we can probably make it happen!

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