Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Metro Hot Stove Report

For a refreshing change, Jack Bell uses a majority of his weekly N.Y. Times soccer column to discuss the home town team, and today’s entry has lots of hot stove Metro morsels.

Apparently actions on the bus ride home from New England following the Metros’ playoff exit last October pointed a number of players toward Mo Johnston’s waiver list, which is sad. Players glad that the season was over? While it was a roller coaster during the last third of the season, you’d think everyone would want to make the best impression on Mo, though he’d yet to be named the team’s ’06 manager.

Out the door from the 2005 squad is Chris Leitch, Sergio Galvan Rey, Ryan Suarez, and Jeff Agoos (retired), and a host of reserve league players.

Bell notes that MoJo is searching for quality players that have no transfer fee attached to them, like USL1 MVP D Taylor Graham, and Dundee United’s MF Peter Canero. Johnston may be looking at Canada’s former Milwall D/M Adrian Serioux.

Anticipating a shovel hitting the dirt sometime this year, Bell notes that the Metros are moving their headquarters from Secaucus to Newark, just across the Passaic River from the Harrison stadium site, by April 1st. We can also expect to see the ’06 Metro jersey modeled on Jan. 20th at the MLS Superdraft in Philly. As for when fans will be able to buy them? 60-90 days, perhaps?

Michael Lewis’ excellent Big Apple Soccer notes that El Lobo is pissing off Metro management by playing for his Honduran old club, Motagua, and that Harrison will “probably” have natural grass, and that a late ’07 opening (perhaps too late for the MLS season) is the current target.

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