Mo's RPB Christmas Gift

[A Stick]

How about we buy him an airplane ticket to Egypt? I think he might be able to find a few really good players there that won't cost him DP money.

WATP!

A Stick

[Daveisonfire]

As long as he doesn't steal artifacts, King Tut should be okay with that

[CretanBull]

How about we buy him an airplane ticket to Egypt? I think he might be able to find a few really good players there that won't cost him DP money.

WATP!

A Stick

There are immigration and work visa problems that make signing African players difficult.

[JDG]

How about we reserve the abuse of Mo for a little closer to the beginning of next season. It'll be clearer whether he has done his job or not then, but at this early point of the off season, we don't have anything to go on.

He improved the team this year, and his job isn't an easy one with the turff driving everyone away.
He has the cash, and the green light from the board, so leave him alone, and let him get on with the job.

[Hitcho]

How about we reserve the abuse of Mo for a little closer to the beginning of next season. It'll be clearer whether he has done his job or not then, but at this early point of the off season, we don't have anything to go on.

He improved the team this year, and his job isn't an easy one with the turff driving everyone away.
He has the cash, and the green light from the board, so leave him alone, and let him get on with the job.

^^ Agreed. There are too many people on here WANTING Mo to fail so that they can post rants about it. Personally I want to see him make TFC into an MLS superpower. He's a savvy negotiater, he's made some great signings for us and with Carver we now have a great coach under Mo to work with the team, who also has a say in player signings.

Season 3 is a key time for TFC and could shape a lot of our medium term future, for both the playing squad and fan base, so let's all pull together and hope for the best before the new season begins.

Cheers

Hitcho

[Yohan]

Stupid Mo. Failing to get Amir Zaki when he was unknown in Egypt! Could have signed him for less than DP money too!
















































(that's sarcasm btw)

[Kayed]

Anybody want to buy an Egypt Jersey?

[Kenny/Boozemaster/Lenny/togetherness/Roc le Roc]

Zaki Zaki Zaki That guy rules

[King Tut]

Amir Zaki

Amr (pronounced: Umr) ;)

[Kenny/Boozemaster/Lenny/togetherness/Roc le Roc]

walk like an egyptian

[nascarguy]

Patron 4 in 1 party case/gift set so he gets drunk and comes on here and tells us who the dp is

[Keyman]

Africa is a goldmine for talent, which should be exploited by the MLS. It is very difficult though, definitely not as easy as it sounds.

[King Tut]

How about we buy him an airplane ticket to Egypt? I think he might be able to find a few really good players there that won't cost him DP money.

WATP!

A Stick

I'd love to see that happen. But who would leave Ahly/Zamalek to join TFC exactly? I know if you're on Ahly right now, you'd never leave a team that has just won the African Champions League yesterady (for a record 6th time) to join TFC. It's the 4th time Ahly reaches the final in the last 5 years!! Anf if you're an exceptional player on Zamalek, you're probably looking at leaving the team ASAP and moving to Europe, to get away from all the politics within Zamalek and the fraud in the system. If you're thinking Ahly/Zamalek players, there is not one player in Ahly or Zamalek (that's an exceptional player) that would come to TFC for anything less than DP money....

Ahly:
- Mohamed Aboutrika (DP fo shoooooooo)
- Sebastiao Gilberto (DP as well...and he's heading for Europe anyway)
- Flavio Amado (amazing scoring rate at the moment and will be going to Europe or staying in Ahly for a huge raise)
- Hany El-Agazy (IMO, the future of Ahly rests on this guy. He is still not too famous, but if he breaks out of his shell, he'll be heading to the EPL easily.)
- AHMED HASSAN (The Egypt NT captain weas my preferred choice for a DP. I think that guy would have been a great addition to TFC, but he is not interested in North Amerca and just returned from Europe to raise his kids in Egypt)

Hany El-Agazy Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALe7cNYQH2c
Ahmed Hassan Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jbgb8Dqndmw
Mohamed Aboutrika Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHKJ8Rc7I58&feature=related



Zamalek:
- Shikabala (Egypt's Cristiano Ronaldo...Winger/Striker with alot of flare, dribbling skills, pace and he's only 22. Spent time at PAOK in Greece but had to return home because of military service..He is wanted by several teams in Europe and his ambitions are much higher than MLS)
- Junior Agogo (for those who watched him in Ghana 2008, he is a class player. He was at Nottingham Forest and could have been brought over for cheap, but now Zamalek will not let him go since he's Amr Zaki's replacement)
- Gamal Hamza (a promising striker in his mid 20s, that has ambitions of going to Europe like his old youth team mate Mido..He got an offer from Ajax that was turned down by Zamalek)
- Sherif Ashraf (rumored to be joing EPL in the next year or so)
- Hany Said (Best sweeper in Africa..Same thing..Rumored to be heading to England very soon)

Shikabala Videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AXLOYRc4nw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0w22irJ7y_I&feature=related

Junior Agogo (played in MLS before and is a Ghana NT regular and starts every game!):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGzUolag6lQ&feature=related

Thre's obviously other players in Egypt that I didn't even include because they're under contracts, have no interest in MLS, and so on...

Hosny Abd Rabo (Best Player in Ghana 2008 plays in Ahly Dubai right now. He went there for the money and is now regretting it big time and is dieing to go to La Liga, but he fucked it up when he had the chance to join Villareal, Getafe and Real Sociedad...I highly doubt he'd leave Dubai, give up his European ambitions and join MLS..Did I mention he's only 23?)

Egypt-Cameroon Group C match (Keep an eye out for Hosny Abd Rabo): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjnUydeQ9kw

Egypt 2006 Video (Who would join up from that team?): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td_1cVptCLw&feature=related

Egypt 2008 Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rEoAbs4994&feature=related

[King Tut]

Africa is a goldmine for talent, which should be exploited by the MLS. It is very difficult though, definitely not as easy as it sounds.

We should have scouted the African teams at the U-20 World Cup in Canada, like New England Revolution did...;)

Common sense says we would should have had someone keeping tabs on African players on Canadian soil, but it seems that Steve Nichols is the only MLS coach that had common sense at the time...:rolleyes:

Also, they can easily scout the African Champions League, as well as the African Cup of Nations...African Cup of Nations is during off-season, so our scout or recruiter can go watch for himself. All it takes is a flight to the host country and 3 weeks accomodation. As for the African Champions League, Dish Network Channel "ART America" broadcasts most of the games. There are very cheap players that play in this tournament (excluding Ahly and Zamalek ofcourse...They're very rich teams and can offer alot of money to their players to lure them away from leaving)...Teams like TP Mazembe, Cotton Cameroon, Enyimba, ASEC Abidjan, Asante Kotoko, Sundowns, and etc are goldmines when it coems to young, affordable talent.

[Keyman]

We should have scoutred the African teams at the U-20 World Cup in Canada, like New England Revolution did...;)

Common sense says we would should have had someone keeping tabs on African players on Canadian soil, but it seems that Steve Nichols is the only MLS coach that had common sense at the time...:rolleyes:
Yup, hopefully changes are made. People bring up immigration issues, but I don't buy that. It's been one of my biggest questions, why don't we explore Africa?

As I said, it's a goldmine, but it's also cheap.

[King Tut]

oh and if Egyptian players would come to MLS that easy, I would gladly hook up TFC FO with contacts in Egypt if that's what it takes. I know some of the players (Amr Zaki, Mido, Abdel Wahed El Sayed - Zamalek goalie, a few that play domestically) and have met them several times last time I was in Egypt. One of my buddies knows all these guys and introduced us when we went out to a cafe in Cairo and then later we hung out with half the Egyptian NT in their camp. When I called Amr Zaki (after Egypt won the 2006 African Nations Cup), I was telling him to try to leave Egypt and play club football in Europe. he commented exactly "God willing, I'd like to move out to anywhere, that's if Zamalek will let me go". 2 years ago, Zaki might have been doable, but right now, 99% of the Egyptian NT is highly rated (after 2 consecutive African Nations Cup titles and 3 African Champions League titles for Egyptians playing for Ahly) and the only ones that might be attracted to MLS would be players in mid-table Egyptian teams, that TFC would not even attempt to look at (even though some are exceptional and all of Ahly and Zamalek players come from these teams).

Maybe I'll ask Zaki, Mido or Shawky if they'd be interested in a loan move when I go to Riverside and JJB to watch the 3 Pharaohs. :p

[twistedchinaman]

Ticket to Asia with the stipulation he breaks only when he's found someone.

[rocker]

last time I checked, America and Canada are different countries with different immigration rules. ;) America has a specific "class" that allows exceptional talents, including athletes, to come into the country.

and, New England put a discovery claim in for Nyassi very early and thus they got him. They took a risk and it paid off. Mo put a discovery claim in on Huckerby, less of a risk, and it didn't pay off in terms of players, but it got an allocation and the #2 draft pick.

Nyassi and Mansalli started well in the league, and got a lot of hype at the beginning, but really cooled off as the season went on. This seems to be a trend with some foreign players... NY had a lot of problems with three of their South American signings as the second half of the season progressed.

[Oldtimer]

We should have scouted the African teams at the U-20 World Cup in Canada, like New England Revolution did...;)

Common sense says we would should have had someone keeping tabs on African players on Canadian soil, but it seems that Steve Nichols is the only MLS coach that had common sense at the time...:rolleyes:



One big problem... Canada has different work visa rules from the U.S. It is actually much easier for a player from Africa to get a visa for the US than Canada.


ooopss rocker beat me to the punch.

[King Tut]

Oh I see.. That's why Montreal Impact had a Moroccan player and TFC had an Ivorian before...I'm not saying it's easy to get their paperwork done, but I don't buy that BS excuse of it being impossible. If we wanted to get it done, it could be done. Maybe Africa's not marque..

[Yohan]

Oh I see.. That's why Montreal Impact had a Moroccan player and TFC had an Ivorian before...I'm not saying it's easy to get their paperwork done, but I don't buy that BS excuse of it being impossible. If we wanted to get it done, it could be done. Maybe Africa's not marque..
i dunno about the montreal player, but Tebily has a French passport

[MUFC_Niagara]

There are immigration and work visa problems that make signing African players difficult.

Like what?

[jloome]

My understanding is the money there is shit. That's the biggest reason why people would leave African leagues to play here: they're not going to get a multi-million deal anywhere else, but can as a DP.

Amado is a great example. He's been wooed several times by English teams but has never gone. He's not a young g uy anymore, something like 30, and would score craploads here. So yeah, to me he's worth going after. You think Al Ahly is paying him $1.7 million per?


I'd love to see that happen. But who would leave Ahly/Zamalek to join TFC exactly? I know if you're on Ahly right now, you'd never leave a team that has just won the African Champions League yesterady (for a record 6th time) to join TFC. It's the 4th time Ahly reaches the final in the last 5 years!! Anf if you're an exceptional player on Zamalek, you're probably looking at leaving the team ASAP and moving to Europe, to get away from all the politics within Zamalek and the fraud in the system. If you're thinking Ahly/Zamalek players, there is not one player in Ahly or Zamalek (that's an exceptional player) that would come to TFC for anything less than DP money....

Ahly:
- Mohamed Aboutrika (DP fo shoooooooo)
- Sebastiao Gilberto (DP as well...and he's heading for Europe anyway)
- Flavio Amado (amazing scoring rate at the moment and will be going to Europe or staying in Ahly for a huge raise)
- Hany El-Agazy (IMO, the future of Ahly rests on this guy. He is still not too famous, but if he breaks out of his shell, he'll be heading to the EPL easily.)
- AHMED HASSAN (The Egypt NT captain weas my preferred choice for a DP. I think that guy would have been a great addition to TFC, but he is not interested in North Amerca and just returned from Europe to raise his kids in Egypt)

Hany El-Agazy Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALe7cNYQH2c
Ahmed Hassan Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jbgb8Dqndmw
Mohamed Aboutrika Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHKJ8Rc7I58&feature=related



Zamalek:
- Shikabala (Egypt's Cristiano Ronaldo...Winger/Striker with alot of flare, dribbling skills, pace and he's only 22. Spent time at PAOK in Greece but had to return home because of military service..He is wanted by several teams in Europe and his ambitions are much higher than MLS)
- Junior Agogo (for those who watched him in Ghana 2008, he is a class player. He was at Nottingham Forest and could have been brought over for cheap, but now Zamalek will not let him go since he's Amr Zaki's replacement)
- Gamal Hamza (a promising striker in his mid 20s, that has ambitions of going to Europe like his old youth team mate Mido..He got an offer from Ajax that was turned down by Zamalek)
- Sherif Ashraf (rumored to be joing EPL in the next year or so)
- Hany Said (Best sweeper in Africa..Same thing..Rumored to be heading to England very soon)

Shikabala Videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AXLOYRc4nw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0w22irJ7y_I&feature=related

Junior Agogo (played in MLS before and is a Ghana NT regular and starts every game!):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGzUolag6lQ&feature=related

Thre's obviously other players in Egypt that I didn't even include because they're under contracts, have no interest in MLS, and so on...

Hosny Abd Rabo (Best Player in Ghana 2008 plays in Ahly Dubai right now. He went there for the money and is now regretting it big time and is dieing to go to La Liga, but he fucked it up when he had the chance to join Villareal, Getafe and Real Sociedad...I highly doubt he'd leave Dubai, give up his European ambitions and join MLS..Did I mention he's only 23?)

Egypt-Cameroon Group C match (Keep an eye out for Hosny Abd Rabo): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjnUydeQ9kw

Egypt 2006 Video (Who would join up from that team?): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td_1cVptCLw&feature=related

Egypt 2008 Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rEoAbs4994&feature=related

[King Tut]

My understanding is the money there is shit. That's the biggest reason why people would leave African leagues to play here: they're not going to get a multi-million deal anywhere else, but can as a DP.

Amado is a great example. He's been wooed several times by English teams but has never gone. He's not a young g uy anymore, something like 30, and would score craploads here. So yeah, to me he's worth going after. You think Al Ahly is paying him $1.7 million per?

Ahly and Zamalek are an exception when it comes to Africa. Ahly is a rich club. They have offered many players before multiple millions Egyptian pounds (which leaves them to live as kings in Egypt) to many players before. All of the experienced, talented Ahly players who represent the National team, are making atleast 1.2 million EGY pounds a year, plus bonuses.

Also, its not all about the money. Sadly, the MLS does not have a good reputation at all in the Middle East. I watch Dubai Sports all the time and they've bashed the league in every chance they got. The league is seen as a bush league in the eyes of most people. If a lpayer is solely looking for an easy pay raise, they could easily sign for teams in Saudi (like Emad Moteab on loan at Ettihad Jeddah), Dubai (like Hosny Abd Rabo playing for Ahly Dubai right now) or Qatar (like Waela Goma'a when he went to Qatar for a year to make some huge cash and return back).


The players who really want to leave, are seeing a huge map of Europe in their imagination. There are Egyptian players playing in Cyprus, Hungary and even China. MLS is a long way away from attracting decent players from Egypt. The only Egyptian player who was close to making a move to MLS, was an Ahly youth who came very close to signing for LA Galaxy and ended up having a change of heart when he visited LA and the training facility.

Obviously some big DP money could lure good players, but it will have to be players who are really worth it, are interested in a new challenge, willing to bite the bullet when it comes to the weather, etc)...Ahmed Hassan would have been a great DP. The problem with him though is that he decided to leave Europe to raise his kids in Egypt. Ahmed Hassan could have easily played another 3 years in top flight football. He actually had talks with some English clubs (while he was at Anderlecht), before deciding to end his career in Europe. This guy led Ahly to the African title (alone!!!) and is going to lead Ahly to another league title, if Zamalek doesn't wake the fuck up real soon. Realisticallly if we were to sign an Egyptian DP, he'd have to one of Mohamed Aboutrika, Ahmed Hassan, Gamal Hamza...All the others (playing for Ahly and Zamalek) are definitely impossible due to their young age, ambition to go to Europe, their strong significance on the team, or all combined). Even Gamal Hamza might be a bit young. He's still dieing to go to Ajax or a French team. If we got Aboutrika or Ahmed Hassan, we'd be set for sure. The work rate of these two is unbelievable. One can dream.......

[James Oliphant]

Egypt

Never heard of it.






















*waits*

[King Tut]

Never heard of it.






















*waits*


http://www.sci.alex.edu.eg/ICTP/images/boy_walking_with_egypt_flag_lg_clr.gif