January 30, 2008

I have a feeling this won't end well...


Martin Rogers' new blog on Yahoo! pretty much tells the tale of the whole Taylor Twellman/Preston North End drama.

Twellman puts the blame squarely at the feet of Steve Nicol, something that will definitely be interesting to watch as the MLS season approaches.

As Shoe posted a few days ago, this is asinine. A guy who's been wanting to go to England for a long time, finally becomes eligible for a work permit, and a great offer on the table.

Yet the Revs say no. If I'm a Revs fan, am I happy that Twellman might possibly be staying or angry that the front office acts this way?

3 comments:

prairie said...

If I'm a Revs fan, am I happy that Twellman might possibly be staying or angry that the front office acts this way?

Well, if you're a Revs fan and you're me, you're happy he's staying, because losing both him and Noonan in the same offseason would be deadly. You know the club has a bad track record of finding immediate direct replacements for outbound players, and much as you may like Adam Cristman, you don't think he can carry the team on his own.

But you're also worried he's going to turn into a mopey Josh Wolff-alike, especially given what else is going on with the guy, 'cause that can't be good for the front line or the back room. Is a miserable Teabag better than none at all?

You're wondering why in this discussion nobody's really pointed out that PNE are kinda terrible this year, a shadow of the team that regularly saw Lewis and friends challenge for promotion a few years back. Or that he'd be playing to smaller crowds, on TV less (we mean game-wise; him appearing on commercials less often would be dandy), and that going to a poorly performing team in hopes of getting noticed by a better team is something of a gamble (ask Feilhaber how that's worked out for him). You're getting a little tired of the assumption that playing in Europe is automatically better (for more than just an obvious paycheck) than playing in MLS.

If this were a Premiership team, sure, you'd accept him leaving, or if you knew the team had a direct replacement on deck. (Nicol's always seemed to like Chris Rolfe...) If he hadn't signed a new contract last year that set him up to spend his career here, to be the face of the team. But none of these conditions are the case. You know the front office tend to be the cheapest mofos in the league, but you also know they've got a point when they say they expect him to serve out his contract.

So if you're a Revs fan, you know it's not so cut and dried a matter of the mean ol' front office not letting someone out to seek a bigger prize. You only know that there's no answer to this that won't leave someone unhappy.

fadedtoblack said...

I was hoping he would learn how to score international goals in England, but alas.

Longshoe said...

Great post prairie.

I understand that it's a tough call, but Twellman has made it really clear that he wanted to go. Add in the fact that his BFF Pat is gone and he's going through a divorce, and you can't expect him to be a happy camper.

I don't think New England is going to get the same Taylor Twellman they've come to expect in 2008. I also don't think they'll be able to hope to get this kind of offer for him (or anyone else on their roster) again anytime soon. Business is business, and sometimes you have to rebuild. Factoring in the losses the Revs have already had this offseason, that time to rebuild is now.

They should've taken the money, combined with their Dempsey transfer cash, and used it during this transfer window and in the summer.

I hope it works out and TT doesn't do a Wolff, but I don't think it will.