Yes. It has to be used to improve one of our weaknesses!Originally Posted by Yohan
Yes. It has to be used to improve one of our weaknesses!
Don't want to jump to conclusions but....this isn't right unless Robbo had a say in his destination. The guy brought his family over and has laid down roots here.
I don't love Robbo's game and am OK with this from a personnel standpoint. But I don't think we've done much to make ourselves a preferred destination for internationals in our 3+ years.
Also, what happens if NYRB don't take him after the trial? Does Robbo just go home and we pay him $300K? This seems like a very real, and ugly, possibility.
Last edited by ensco; 03-06-2010 at 01:54 PM.
“What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left.”
So, let's sum this up: Robbo goes and we eat half his salary. Johnston strikes again. How can he keep is position after letting himself, and all of us, take it up the backside like this?
Robinson didn't perform at all well last season, but before that was as steady as anyone else on this team. We'll miss his character. You might not think so now, but we will.
And try to refrain from shitting on him for the moment.
Ensco makes a good point, even at 150,000 K Energy Drink still may decide to take a pass.
If it is a guaranteed contract, which I think we assume it is, TFC still on the hook for 300,000 for a player they don't want!!!
if you get a good player with the 150K then it comes out better for the team.
Robinson was overpaid because you don't lure a guy with a family away from a solid career in another country without enticing him with a way comparable to that country.
But as we've seen time and again in MLS, teams can find players for 150K that are worth that money or more. The trick now, to lessen the impact (since as you say, TFC still pays 150K for robbo for a year) is to find a player that can contribute more than Robbo did.
I mean, shit, Kyle Beckerman made 160K last year and was superior to Robbo. If you found a player like that, you'd have more value than Robbo was making at 300K. Wilman Conde made 168K and I'd contend he was a better player than Robbo. Eddie Gaven made 173K and he was a better player than Robbo.
While I'm not confident Mo will find someone to play above his value, the 150K loss wouldn't be such a big deal if the incoming player contributed more than Robbo did.
Is he really gone?!
I dont care if we have to pay him. Not having Robinson on the pitch is worth the price.
Good Luck Robbo, although I don't think he'll be causing TFC problems in the future. A warrior on the pitch whose time had simply passed.
Cheers
As I see it, we have De Guzman and Cronin in the central midfield, with Sanyang as backup. Let Cronin be the primary DM and let De Guzman have flexibility to move up the field. Sure, we actually need to fill out our squad to be able to depend on this scheme, but Robbo just isn't value for money with these other players here.
I have no doubt that he'll be a loss in the locker room. Its a shame, but we are dancing with the team that we brung.
What it comes down to in the end is TFC could not pay Robbo 300k to sit on the bench. If Preki wanted him on his 11, Robbo would not be moved. If Preki didn't want him on his 11 and it was either move him or spend 300k on a bench player, then you have to take the next step and that is to make the best out of a less than optimal situation.
We have to take a hit of 100-150k, ok, but at least we have cap space and that is the prime consideration right now IMO. The draft pick is helpful too of course but cap space is the most important thing right now as this club is rebuilt.
Question for the capologists out there. If we send NYRB $150k to cover half of Robbos salary as part of the transaction, are we sure it counts against the cap? Or is it just 150k out of MLSE's wallet?
he was getting old anyway and I think that he was going to be let go. It's good that we got something for him now
I'm very sad to see Robbo go. Was hoping to see him and Jimmy play out their final season here and join the coaching team in some capacity.
Best of luck Robbo, legend for us in our first couple of seasons. That will never be forgotten.
We are the Angry Mob, we read the papers every day
We like who we like, we hate who we hate
But we're also easily swayed
LOL! Because two grown men who are professional athletes would have a fight over twitter.
They're just taking the piss out of each other dude.
Best wishes to you Carl...thank you for your time and service to Toronto.
all salaries are paid by MLS.
So we have a cap of $X + allocation $$, New cap = $X-150K + allocation $$
The one good thing about this is if a new player is brought in allocation can be spent to bring down their salary by up to 1/2. So from my understanding,
Robbo's salary = 300K
We pay half = 150K
We bring in a player from outside the league, pay them 150K, allocation can pay off 75k of that, leaving 75K from the salary cap cash for someone else or to cover salary increases of existing players etc.
I am ecstatic to see that we managed to get Robbo traded but at that price? That does not seem like a trade worth making. I highly doubt that we have anyone good lined up for that $150,000 ... not to mention that, as olegunar stated, he would actually cost $300,000 in real terms.
carl - that jersey of yours that I won in a bet... It better not be an NYRB one.
Sigh. Watch NYRB win it all this year. Sigh.
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carl was a class act on the pitch and highly valued in the dressing room. The De Guzman signing was the writing on the wall. Cronin certainly still has a lot of upside and much cheaper than Robinson. Makes sense from that perspective. I am more concerned that we are one less player and a day closer to the beginning of the season.
but a much better 300k if we used it in a spot like CB, instead of our overcrowded midfield where Robbo isn't nearly as useful as he was.
that aside, i love that guy! thanks robbo. good luck @ energy drink!
If this is true, on an emotional front, this completely sucks, Robbo was a TFC original, a hard worker and definitely made a good impact on this club. Always gave his all and a professional. I'll miss him and wish him good luck in the future. Maybe he can still come back and have an off-field role with the club after he retires.
From a management perspective, you never like to pay money for someone to play for another team, but it seems necessary. With De Duzman signing, Cronin showing he belongs at this level and Sanyang as cover, the writing was on the wall. And at 300K, it was an eventuality that TFC would have to eat part of the salary to move him. He had two great years, no one can deny that. But by the same token, it was obvious that he struggled in year 3. So coupled with the amount of players we have at the DM position, this had to be done.
With 150K, if you shop smart, you can purchase one very good player, two good/useful players or three depth players. With Preki's help and his history of rifling through the discount bin and getting those players to highly perform, this has the makings of a very good move. In terms of talent, we lose nothing (not to say Robbo has no talent or is worthless) but we have other players that are as good or better and it leaves cap space to improve this team significantly.
It's a tough thing to face losing Robbo, but I believe the right thing at this point in time.
Moderator
Really sorry to see Robinson go. The guy did way more than just fill a position on the field, he was an integral part of the club as a whole. Like Lucky Strike remarked, the deal with NYRB just makes sense for the club right now. Perhaps things would be different if the cap was higher or we were in a position to shift some other player around, but at the end of the day, the club has to do what's best for itself and I respect the decision.
Robinson will always be remembered as a TFC player that put the effort in for every game and wanted the club to succeed. For that, he will always get my respect.
Last edited by Cashcleaner; 03-06-2010 at 04:27 PM.
Did the USA , of all countries, just fix soccer? - C. Ronaldo, May 27th commenting on the FBI-led investigations into fraud and corruption throughout FIFA.
If that 150K goes to a solid winger (Kayizi, Saric? I haven't seen them enough), then we're a better team than at the end of 2009, in my opinion, even if the other 150K goes straight to NYRB. Anyhow, TFC has ripped off other teams for allocation money in the past, so it all evens out financially in the end. TFC also must have got one of those "you didn't make the playoffs" allocations in the offseason.
But hopefully MoJo doesn't overpay for whoever gets that 150K. I doubt any player can really complain about the salaries they made at TFC. Very few players have been underpaid by MLS standards.
Don't mistake this as a defense for Mo Jo because I think that he's done a terrible job with contracts, but comparing what Robo made with what other players made is pointless. Robo had to be talked into moving his family from one continent to another to play for an expansion team on a plastic pitch in a league that had even less credibility 3 years ago. Additionally, we have to remind ourselves that Canada and America have different tax laws and Toronto - as much as we love it - isn't exactly the "American" dream that Europeans have. In the end, we pay what WE have to pay, not what Chicago has to pay.
Brian Burke took over as Toronto Maple Leafs GM and his first job is to explain to the fans what his approach to building the Buds will be.
Burke came to town and laid out in broad brushstrokes what his intentions were. He understood that it was important to make sure that the fan base of the Leafs at least felt that there was a plan and that there was some sort of logic/theme with the moves being made.
Mo Johnston has been the complete opposite of Brian Burke in this regard.
I am not naive enough to think that we will ever see from Mo anything like this. There have been moves made this off season in particular that scream out for this kind of context. Robbo getting let go in this particular way he has is just another in the long line of moves that make me scratch my head trying to place them into some sort of coherent picture or plan for the future of the club. I see no such plan. That is the greatest tragedy of all about this club. here we are in year four and we still have no real true idea of where this club is headed.
I wish Carl Robinson nothing but the best wherever he plays. I want to thank him for being the professional he has been for Toronto FC. You will be missed sir.
Mo Johnston is our John Ferguson Jr/Rob Babcock. Hopefully our next gm will be a bit more like burke/Colangelo. It's not the MLSE way to get things right quickly.
...and yet Garcia is still here.
Carl is a class guy both on and off the field. There's wasn't anybody on the team that was more respected amongst the players than he was.
It's a big loss for the team, IMO.
John
Good luck Carl.
You were a true professional. You will be missed.
Moderator
I agree that this has been yet another mishandled situation by Mo Johnston.
I disagree though, that Carl bringing his family over or laying roots down in Canada should matter at all. It shouldn't. He's a professional athlete, and a well compensated one. This stuff comes with the territory, and he knew what his contract stipulated when he signed it. These aren't exchange students that we need to coddle.
But from the perspective of Robbo being one of this team's more beloved players, and a well respected one at that? This is totally shambolic management on Mo's part. Once again we've seen another well known TFC face quietly discarded, and Robbo has maintained enough class not to say anything publicly about it.
I agree his contract is a pretty lousy one, but that is ALSO on Mo's head.
Fire the Scottish git already. Fuck it pisses me off that he's seriously still our GM.
- Scott
“Heroism breaks its heart, and idealism its back, on the intransigence of the credulous and the mediocre, manipulated by the cynical and the corrupt.” ~Christopher Hitchens
The extremely sketchy blog that was near the start of this whole thing is reporting TFC would absorb north of 200k .
http://threefourthreefc.wordpress.co...r-draft-picks/UPDATE- Toronto FC will absorb north of 200k while New York Will only absorb a bit over 100k. Exact figures are still a bit unknown but this gives everyone a good idea of the great deal that NYRB has pulled off, knowing that all it really gave up was some draft picks. All in all new Red Bull management have been making the right moves this offseason and we can’t really do anything else but applaud the efforts of the new crew in charge. Some might consider this view a bit premature, but it certainly looks pretty clear that the boat is steering in a specific direction and all signs point to it being the correct one.
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