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View Full Version : Shaun Saiko (Canadian) on trial with Houston



hodgkiss
03-02-2010, 01:27 PM
how does this happen again???

does anyone know if houston owns his discovery rights?

first the are able to land onstandt, then de rosario, then hainault and now saiko???

i completely understand that derosario and onstadt were before our time and now we have de ro and onstadt is one bad goal away from retiring.

but as far as hainault goes last year - he was one of their best if not the best cb for houston. this is a guy that has played a few games for the cmnt and shaun saiko was a big part of our u-20 team - SCORING A GOAL AGAINST ARGENTINA!

he was playing with middlesborough in england (youth team) and was doing quite well. how does a team like houston grab him for a trial when tfc is left standing and watching it happen???

Shaughno
03-02-2010, 01:29 PM
Because for some reason we don't look at the Canadian talent... well we do, but in all the wrong places.

Rudi
03-02-2010, 01:34 PM
Actually, the answer is that TFC doesn't have some divine claim to every Canadian player in the world.

hodgkiss
03-02-2010, 01:40 PM
just the not so good ones i guess....

Rudi
03-02-2010, 01:47 PM
just the not so good ones i guess....
Yeah, DeRo, JDG and Nana really suck. Brennan was so awful he had 40+ caps for Canada. Gerba has been sub-par for TFC thus far, but is the highest-scoring forward on the national team and had displayed a previous chemistry with the two best Canadians on the team (hence why he was brought in). And so on.

I'd love more Canadians on the team, but it's delusional to think that we'd get first crack at all of them. There are exactly three Canadians in the entire league who I'd want at TFC: Johnson, Jakovic and Hainault. Not exactly a huge number.

Besides, who's to say Saiko sticks at Houston anyway? TFC just had Adam Street at camp and he didn't stick here. Shit happens, and TFC is not going to be the de facto Canadian national team.

Whoop
03-02-2010, 01:50 PM
Nor should it.

I want the best players possible on TFC.

I don't care where they come from. If they are Canadian, fine. But if not, that's fine too.

Leave all the Canadian player stuff to the academy. Still it shouldn't matter where they are from, but you figure in the academy at least 75% of them would be Canadian.

Rudi
03-02-2010, 01:56 PM
Nor should it.

I want the best players possible on TFC.

I don't care where they come from. If they are Canadian, fine. But if not, that's fine too.

Leave all the Canadian player stuff to the academy. Still it shouldn't matter where they are from, but you figure in the academy at least 75% of them would be Canadian.
The academy is more like 95% Canadian, but your point stands.

I understand what hodgkiss is saying. Hainault would be a huge upgrade here (although he actually plays predominantly as a fullback for Houston), and Jakovic is exactly what TFC needs, a commanding, young CB to pair up with Nana. Instead we're looking at Adrian Cann, who is at best a back up (although he's certainly an upgrade over Garcia).

That said, I just find it a tad naive that threads like these always start up every time a Canadian is on trial anywhere else in MLS, as if TFC should be looking at every one of them first, and other MLS teams aren't competing with Toronto for talent. That doesn't happen anywhere, and quite honestly we can't simply assume that these players even want to play for Toronto, let alone trial here.

Section 117
03-02-2010, 02:03 PM
Rudi, the problem is not whether we have above average Canadians, but when quality Canadians get signed or trial with another MLS team the questioned is raised why doesn't TFC be more proactive in getting them here.

I have heard rumors in the past about other Canadian talent being signed by TFC the problem is TFC looks at player salready established in Europe not up and coming ones....

Just my 2 cents

rocker
03-02-2010, 02:06 PM
I have no idea who Shaun Saiko is or what he can offer to TFC...

Somebody give me a scouting report...

also, there's no indication TFC isn't proactive in trying to bring in Canadians. But if Houston says "look, we can offer him 150K" and TFC can't make that commitment due to cap problems, then he's not gonna trial here.

Shway
03-02-2010, 04:19 PM
I definately dont feel they have been proactive in trying to bring in Canadians, much less really develop them

jaahuuu
03-02-2010, 04:45 PM
we can't simply assume that these players even want to play for Toronto, let alone trial here.
People seem to forget that a lot. TFC's history doesn't exactly scream out for players to come here.

As for why its always Houston, look at their record. In the last decade (including their time in SJ) they have won 4 championships, and finished the regular season in the top 2 of their division eight times.

spark
03-02-2010, 04:46 PM
TFC just had Adam Street at camp and he didn't stick here. .

I know I could dig around and possibly find the answer, but I didn't know this - did he go back to England?