Today’s News, Friday , Jun.26

[denime]

Mornin'


Cronin and Gerba off to Gold Cup
Cronin gets first international call up
Toronto FC announced Thursday that midfielder Sam Cronin and forward Ali Gerba will both be representing their respective countries in this year's CONCACAF Gold Cup that begins July 3. Cronin (U.S.) will depart for the American camp in Seattle, Washington on June 30, while Gerba (Canada) has already left for the Canadian camp being held in Oxnard, California.

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Tickled pink
Ryan Johnston
Anyone else see the clock stop in the 25th minute at BMO Field on Wednesday night? I thought I was having a Moonlight Graham moment; except in lieu of seeing the stats of a supernatural ballplayer displayed on the scoreboard, I thought I saw the inaugural '07 Toronto FC team on the field. But shortly thereafter the clock resumed and I realized it was actually the Red Bulls.

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SUNSHINE

[Carts]

Tickled pink
Ryan Johnston
Anyone else see the clock stop in the 25th minute at BMO Field on Wednesday night? I thought I was having a Moonlight Graham moment; except in lieu of seeing the stats of a supernatural ballplayer displayed on the scoreboard, I thought I saw the inaugural '07 Toronto FC team on the field. But shortly thereafter the clock resumed and I realized it was actually the Red Bulls.

g'mornin D...

That line in Jonhston's article made me laugh - then I thought about it and realised its spot on...

Carts...

[Fort York Redcoat]

Hope Gerba can put on a show in Gold Cup before returning to his new home in Toronto!

[Plenty of Trout]

Best SSG in a long time!!

[scooter]

mornin d

[Stouffville_RPB]

SSG=

[keem-o-sabi]

morning all coed girl

[I_AM_CANADIAN]

I actually totally forgot about the clock stopping... that was weird.

[Stouffville_RPB]

morning all coed girl

'bout time. we've been robbed all week!

[Technorgasm]

Now that Vitti has opened account. . and Gerba is coming in. . the future is bright

Montreal / Vitti / Gerb - all at the midway point in the MLS season ? - DESTINY


I for one feel very confident that we will see post season footy at BMO.
CONCACAF & POST SEASON FOOTY AT BMO!!!! - everyone go crazy !

[rocker]

love love love the SSG.
great curves... delicious face. ! there's even a video down below. check video around 1:17!

[Oldtimer]

Montreal bids for 2011 expansion:

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns...ot=mls&cc=3888

[greatwhitenorf]

For once, Joey Saputo is sounding sensible. If he had any more olive branches sticking out of him, he'd look like a porcupine.

He's right about not needing more than 4 or 5 players to bring them to MLS standards. They've done a great job developing the Montreal market and igniting rivalries with Toronto and Vancouver. That 55,000 crowd speaks volumes.

Let's hope Garber and MLS aren't another Gary Bettman and the NHL, where if it makes sense, don't do it.

By keeping Montreal out of MLS much longer, they might actually harm the Impact's image and discourage their fans from continuing to support them.

[rocker]

i think Joey will need more than 4-5 players.
Seattle Sounders only start one guy from the USL team regularly: Le Toux.
The only guys on Montreal that probably could start in MLS are Grande and Jordan.

I think Montreal should target French overseas players. Given the affinity with the language, they could open up a pipeline with France and the French African countries. That could provide a new source of talent for MLS.

[gtaguy]

I think saputo has been eating alot of humble pie lately.. good to see he's softening his stance and demands..

Having Montreal would no doubt be a big positive for the mls and our east team rivalries... not to mention we can call them LIMPACT much more often.....

[Redcoe15]

It's getting better and better for Montreal entering the league. Can't wait for them to join. We need a natural rival in a big way, and Montreal fits the bill to a T.

[bee dubya]

^ good point Rocker. I'm sure this friendly they're playing in July and that French game at the Big O (Ligue 1 version of Community Shield) will help them open up some of that communication.

Another thing that could help MLS would be if they changed the rules for "loan" players. Some Euro teams might then start to look to the MLS season as a good way to get some younger players some first team experience.

[Lucky Strike]

i think Joey will need more than 4-5 players.
Seattle Sounders only start one guy from the USL team regularly: Le Toux.
The only guys on Montreal that probably could start in MLS are Grande and Jordan.

I think Montreal should target French overseas players. Given the affinity with the language, they could open up a pipeline with France and the French African countries. That could provide a new source of talent for MLS.

Taking the 4-5 player figure, it depends on what Montreal wants to accomplish. It could be that:

A) adding 4-5 MLS-level players means Montreal won't embarrass themselves like Chivas in its first year (it went 4-22-4 or something like that) but not be a playoff team, or

B) adding these players means it'll be a playoff team that'll go something like 10-10-10.

To do option A, I think 4-5 players is all they need, but to actually make the playoffs, they'll need more than that.

As for the second part I bolded, that's a good idea. In addition to West Africa, I'm sure there are quality players in North Africa that could be useful.

[rocker]

the french player pool would help MLS expand without worrying about a dropping off in talent. there are still untapped markets (for MLS) like that in the world. I wonder if Saputo has mentioned this to Garber... prob.

[Yohan]

the french player pool would help MLS expand without worrying about a dropping off in talent. there are still untapped markets (for MLS) like that in the world. I wonder if Saputo has mentioned this to Garber... prob.

really curious to know if French is the working language of Impact

[devioustrevor]

The only guys on Montreal that probably could start in MLS are Grande and Jordan.

I think Leo di Lorenzo and Roberto Brown are also definitely of that quality too.

[Oldtimer]

Another thing that could help MLS would be if they changed the rules for "loan" players. Some Euro teams might then start to look to the MLS season as a good way to get some younger players some first team experience.

The rules are there to keep teams from getting a raft of players who never end up staying for more than 1 season (which hurts fan involvement because of the turnover, and the sense that they aren't really "there," just pulling in an off-season pay-cheque.

FWIW, that was a serious problem in the NASL.

[Yohan]

The rules are there to keep teams from getting a raft of players who never end up staying for more than 1 season (which hurts fan involvement because of the turnover, and the sense that they aren't really "there," just pulling in an off-season pay-cheque.

FWIW, that was a serious problem in the NASL.

but current loan transfer rules pretty much discourage most loans

why not put a max number of loan players allowed per team? like 3?

I think it'll be beneficial for MLS to get couple of loan players who are up and comers in Europe

[jloome]

I think Leo di Lorenzo and Roberto Brown are also definitely of that quality too.

Di lorenzo definitely, Brown survivably, but he'd be a role player.

[Yohan]

liked what I saw out of Gjertsen too...