Rowdies Confirm Return Of Nine Players For 2020

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https://www.reddit.com/r/TampaBayRowdies/comments/dtiab7/rowdies_confirm_return_of_nine_players_for_2020/

Rowdies Confirm Return Of Nine Players For 2020

No mention of Tinari only proves my theory of the return of Luke.

Luke?

Mulholland. He plays for Real Monarchs currently, and was with the team when we last won the NASL championship

Since he's been dropped to Real Monarchs, no reason he can't be back here...

My sweet baby Juan is back, thank you jesus!

Why would we keep Robinson??

Really hope we get McCarthy back, he's definitely MLS-caliber

He's a decent backup, solid during McCarthy's absence.

Mick is correct. He's a really young keeper and he showed some potential in his starts.

oooooo with Leo and Seba back, we may potentially be able to get a 100cap tifo up next season!!!

The biggest negotiation is going to be the Diakite contract. He's the one crucial member of the backline that would be awesome to have back.

None of the returning pickups are head-scratchers. All of them are good players.

The Poku and McCarthy negotiations are also going to be really fascinating. Both guys have played really well and occasionally at elite levels but I imagine they're going to be more expensive than your regular USL starter. For roster consistency, I'd love to see McCarthy and Poku back though.

Poku has been the highest paid player in the entire league as far as I know/heard. Could be wrong...

Oof. I wonder what the budgetary constraints are going to be... it’ll make negotiating with him either very easy or impossible

I think Poku might have been in the ~$100-150k range last year (last of the Edwards deals)...

EDIT: Matt Pickens was rumored to be at that amount. Cole and Schafer were north of it. Shockingly Tommy Heinemann was up there, too.

All of that makes sense except Heinemann but if I remember correctly he had a lot of injury issues.

Yeah, he did and had a hard time fitting in Stu's system. He banged in goals for Ottawa and San Francisco, though.

All 3 of the guys you mentioned made up my "need these guys back" list, out of those that didn't get re-signed today already.

Ralph's Mob

I don't know the source of this tidbit nor do I know the validity of the site. Either way, I'm going to remain hopeful and up-beat that this might be concerning the Rowdies.

Caleb Richards has recently concluded a season-long loan with Tampa Bay Rowdies in the second tier of US football but is expected to head out on loan again in January

He was one of the most solid Rowdies that took the field this year, and his minutes played (entire season minus 2 minutes) I think dictates exactly how our entire coaching staff feels about him as well. The article doesn't say that he's coming back to the Rowdies, neither does it say that he's even coming back to the States for a loan.

That said, I can't imagine him, if he was coming back to America, going anywhere else. With the Tampa Bay Rowdies-Norwich City partnership, this seems like it would be a no-brainer to bring him back to Al Lang for a second season.

I feel like Caleb will be playing at a higher level at his next loan, possibly in the Championship in England.

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https://www.rowdiessoccer.com/news_article/show/1063361

ROWDIES CONFIRM RETURN OF NINE PLAYERS FOR 2020

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (November 8, 2019) — With the 2019 Tampa Bay Rowdies season in the books, work is already well underway reshaping the playing squad for the 2020 USL Championship season and beyond.

The Rowdies set a host of team records in 2019, including most Modern Era wins and goals, and have built a solid foundation from which to grow.

Nine members of the 2019 roster are already confirmed to return via multi-year contracts or by having their contract options exercised by the club. That group is listed below:

GK: Macklin Robinson
M: Yann Ekra, Leo Fernandes, Dom Oduro, Zach Steinberger
F: Sebastian Guenzatti, Malik Johnson, Lucky Mkosana, Juan Tejada

In this group of nine returning players, the Rowdies bring back their three leading scorers, three leading assisters and 45 of the 62 goals scored by the team this season.

A total of 12 players from the 2019 roster are out of contract following the expiration of a one-year deal or by having their club option declined. While these players are currently free agents, a return to the Rowdies can be negotiated. That group is listed below:

GK: Chris Konopka*, John McCarthy*
D: Shawn Barry^, Pape Diakite*, Ryan Felix^, Mohamed Kone^, Tarek Morad^, David Najem*
M: Kwadwo Poku*, Afrim Taku^
F: Jaime Siaj^, Leon Taylor^
*denotes expiration of contract
^denotes club option declined

Caleb Richards and Jordan Doherty have returned to their parent clubs, Norwich City FC and Sheffield United FC, respectively, following the conclusion of their loan deals.

Recruitment of new players for the 2020 season is already in progress as we prepare for our most exciting season yet.

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https://www.foxsports.com.my/football/transfer-buzz/118707/zlatan-ibrahimovic-is-being-recruited-by-ac-milan-claims-mls-commissioner-garber/

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is ‘being recruited by AC Milan’, claims MLS commissioner Garber

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https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news/2019/11/07/mls-updates-a-timeline-for-a-team-name-and-how-the.html

MLS updates: A timeline for a team name and how the stadium project expanded

Carolyn Kindle Betz, one of the owners of St. Louis' new Major League Soccer expansion franchise, on Wednesday reiterated her goal to start construction on the team's $250 million stadium project in January while offering some of the backstory behind the expanded Downtown West development and a hint at a timeline for selecting a team name.

"We are feeling very confident we're going to see shovels in the ground in January," Kindle Betz told KSDK, a news partner of the Business Journal.

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https://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/nashvillesc/2019/11/07/nashville-sc-expansion-draft-event-details-ole-red-mls-2020/2514104001/

Things to know: Nashville SC's MLS Expansion Draft event plans announced

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https://7news.com.au/sport/rugby-league/curious-canadians-as-wolfpack-prep-for-sbw-c-544870

Curious Canadians as Wolfpack prep for SBW

The rugby union and rugby league worlds were buzzing as talk intensified that Sonny Bill Williams was about to sign a record-breaking contract with Toronto Wolfpack.

At the same time, Canadians were asking Sonny who?

A vast majority of Torontonians know very little about or have little interest in either rugby code.

They know even less about a New Zealander named Sonny Bill Williams.

A dual international and two-time Rugby World Cup winner with the All Blacks, Williams is a superstar of the highest order in Australia and England where the codes are mainstream.

In Canada he is a mystery man.

To be sure, 34-year-old Williams is a mega star performer but the Toronto stage is a small one, an aging neighbourhood stadium with artificial turf and a seating capacity of 9,000.

Rugby league's only trans-Atlantic club, the Wolfpack will make their Super League debut in England on February 2, having won promotion to the top tier last month by beating Featherstone Rovers in the Championship playoff final.

Founded in 2016, the team have a loyal hardcore fan base and Wolfpack games have developed a reputation as a fun, affordable sporting option in the city of 3.5 million where NHL Toronto Maple Leafs, NBA Toronto Raptors, MLB Toronto Blue Jays, MLS Toronto FC and Canadian Football League Argonauts compete for attention.

The Maple Leafs are Toronto's number one sporting obsession and the Raptors are reigning NBA champions. Toronto FC will play the Seattle Sounders on Sunday for what would be their second MLS title in three years.

To get noticed in such a competitive market would require a bold play and Wolfpack's majority owner, Australian mining tycoon David Argyle, has apparently put his money on Williams.

While the Williams name may not get the immediate attention of potential new fans, the arrival of the codes' richest player of all-time will no doubt attract the curious.

At a reported $A5 million a season, Williams's pay packet almost doubles the PS2 million ($A3.7m) salary cap Super League teams operate under.

Each team, however, is permitted to sign two marquee players whose salaries count only $250,000 against the cap.

"I think this is a bold move and the right move," Queen's University marketing professor Ken Wong told Reuters.

Williams is equal parts mercenary and missionary.

It took a $10 million carrot to lure him to a rugby backwater.

Once in Canada he will be expected to perform well enough on the pitch to keep the Wolfpack in the spotlight but more importantly he will be counted on to preach the rugby gospel to the unconverted.

"I'm a firm believer in the marketing power of the superstar, and the investment--no matter how large--is usually worth it," said Bob Dorfman, sports marketing expert at Baker Street Advertising.

"Especially, for a league or team looking to build respectability or make a splash."

Bringing in a superstar player on the downside of his career is not revolutionary thinking.

Major League Soccer used it with great success when Los Angeles Galaxy recruited David Beckham in 2007, signing the ageing former England captain to a massive contract.

That, however, is where the similarities between the Williams signing and Beckham deals end.

When Beckham landed in LA he was already a global brand having played for two of soccer's glamour clubs in Manchester United and Real Madrid.

While soccer's popularity at the professional level had yet to mature in the United States, the sport was widely understood and consumed, particularly the international variety.

Beckham was selling a league, a team.

In contrast, Williams plays a sport that is not familiar or widely played in Canada and his job will be to help grow the game.

"If you think about it what could you buy with advertising for $10 million?," said Wong.

"You could buy a campaign that might or might not work so if you think about him as part of your marketing budget and not just your team performance budget you can start to see some justification.

"It doesn't mean it is going to work, but it just means it's a good educated bet."

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https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2019/11/07/sports/soccer/ap-soc-mls-cup-shining-seattle.html

Seattle Set New Standards for MLS, Now Gets to Host Final

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http://aroundtherings.com/site/A__78363/Title__Soccerex-USA-Returns-to-Miami----Conferences--Conventions/292/Articles

Soccerex USA Returns to Miami -- Conferences & Conventions

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https://www.king5.com/article/sports/soccer/sounders-fc/sounders-sell-out-mls-cup-fans-head-to-secondary-market/281-0d9d202f-d89b-4645-9dac-ca135cc6057c

Sounders fans searching online for tickets to sold-out MLS Cup in Seattle

More than 69,000 tickets to the MLS Cup in Seattle were sold in about 20 minutes.