January 2, 2007
If you want to know where the re-signing of free agent defender Scott Palguta stands, then I suggest that you listen to the show archive of the December 30th edition of Kick This! where Rhinos CEO Steve Donner breaks it down.
Basically, it's a situation where the Rhinos need to decide if a player in hand is worth a Palguta in the bush.
Personally, I'd lock a guy up that wants to be here and see what happens. I wouldn't want to be left out in the cold should Palguta land an MLS deal this offseason and leave the Rhinos scrambling later in the offseason.
But, if they are failry confident that Palguta won't get an MLS gig, then I'd sign him right now.
Dempsey to Fulham may get nixed by the Home Office
Fulham, currently the home side of Americans Brian McBride and Carlos Bocanegra, has agreed on a price for New England Revolution and US National Team forward/midfielder Clint Dempsey. Now they are hoping that they can get a work permit for the lone US player to score a goal in the 2006 World Cup.
Dempsey has missed time with various injuries over the past couple of years and is just shy of the required number of National Team appearances to qualify for a work permit. Usually a player such as Dempsey can secure a work permit if the club has a lot of pull in such matters. The question now is whether Chris Coleman and Fulham have the type of pull that say Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United had when they were able to secure a work permit for Tim Howard a few years ago.
Bruce Arena can cross Luis Figo off his wish list for now
One of the potential targets for Bruce Arena this offseason has opted to head to Saudi Arabia for big money. Portugal's Luis Figo will be leaving Inter Milan for Al Ittihad in Saudi Arabia within the next week.
The New York Red Bulls have two designated player (aka Beckham Rule) slots and there were rumors that they were targetting Figo, amongst others such as Claudio Reyna. However, it appears that even Red Bull wouldn't match the $8 million for six months of work that the Saudis were offering.
Although, perhaps you could see Red Bull taking a run at Figo when the Saudi season is complete................
What did you get for Christmas?
Hopefully it was better than what Palermo general manager Rino Foschi found under his tree!
The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author, and not necessarily those of the Rochester Rhinos or SoccerSam.com. Feel free to send any comments or complaints to news@soccersam.com. James promises to read (but not to respond) to all of them.
