There isn't a whole lot of sense trying to break down the Vancouver Whitecap's signing of Jonny Steele and Greg Janicki. They are pretty typical off-season moves by a top level TOAUSLNASL2.0 side -- Steele is an established pro at the second tier level that the 'Caps have poached off of a competitor and Janicki is a borderline MLS player that is taking a step down in an effort to revitalize his career/find his proper level.
What's really interesting about the moves are that they happened at all. The fact that the 'Caps are continuing on with signing players before the new NASL has received the OK from the USSF suggests that they are still confident that they will have a league to play in next year. It's especially interesting that Steele made the decision to move from the USL Puerto Rico to the NASL 2.0's 'Caps. That player has obviously been convinced that 2010 is going to be a go for Vancouver (or he's enticed by the 'Caps entry into MLS in 2011).
I spoke to Bob Lenarduzzi just before Christmas about the USL/TOA/NASL dispute. Although he told me that he could not directly comment on the dispute until after the USSF made a decision, he did stress that the 'Caps remained confident that a favourable solution was going to happen.
When that might happen is the big question. Lots of folks that are in the know in this dispute were strongly suggesting that it would happen before Christmas. That obviously didn't happen. The information I've been hearing for some time now remains that a mid-January decision is likely. Whether that gives the NASL teams enough time to get ready for 2010 is unclear. It will be tight though.
Which is why the 'Caps must continue to move ahead as if everything was normal, I guess.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
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3 comments:
Why do I have a feeling that no matter the resolution to this dispute there will be many blowouts in 2010 between stable teams and the expansion sides.
Yeah...I'm not so sure the new NASL will be very competitive. The Caps and Impact (and maybe Rhinos) will probably be, by far, the strongest sides.
Your reaction to these signings was similar to mine...how can they sign players without knowing the eligibility criteria of the league? And if Montreal and Vancouver keep signing the best players on the market then who is going to be left for the new teams? Dalglish is apparently scouting heavily in Liverpool!
League or no league (there has got to be a league) Montreal and Vancouver are going to have a team and play soccer at a similar level of quality to last season. They arent signing players in hope of playing; I believe that Mtl and Van will play friendlies all season, if they have to, but they are going to play.
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