January 14, 2008

Somebody call The Proclaimers

The USL First Division schedule was released today, let's take a look at what's in store for the Atlanta Silverbacks in 2008...
  • The season starts with three tough tests at the RE/MAX with feisty Carolina and perennial stalwarts Montreal and Seattle coming to town.
  • There's only 3 games in July. Summer break?
  • August is absolutely brutal with 11 games. Pick up those points early in the campaign.
  • There's some crazy road trips going on. A Friday/Sunday in Atlanta/Seattle, a Thursday/Saturday in Portland/Minnesota, a Friday/Sunday/Tuesday in Atlanta/Rochester/Atlanta, a Friday/Sunday in Atlanta/Vancouver...
  • The worst ,by far, is August 20-30 with a Wednesday/Saturday/Sunday/Wednesday/Saturday in Montreal/Rochester/Montreal/Vancouver/Atlanta. Yikes.
  • Atlanta drew the short straw, or lost out in rock/paper/scissors, by having to travel to Seattle and Vancouver twice. Welcome to the 30 game schedule, boys! It's always going to be hard when you play each team an odd number of times.
It's still a little early to see what the strength of the teams will be. Atlanta has picked up a couple of guys from Rochester (who's supposedly getting that mystery investor sometime this week), Jason McLaughlin will be returning after a disappointing year in the Canadian wilderness, and Ansu Toure from Minnesota (who I'm afraid might be another Salles, he told the Minnesota folks he wanted to go to Europe). They've lost Dan Antoniuk, Omar Jarun, Dayton O'Brien, and Rafique Hassim.

In other Silverbacks' related news, former PDL Silverback Jonathan Leathers has been showing out well in the MLS Draft Combine. Our blog buddy Ives has him going to RSL at the end of the first round in a mock draft.
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4 comments:

ja said...

They really didn't lose O'Brien and Antoniuk. They just discarded those two.

January 14, 2008 at 11:44 PM
Longshoe said...

Well, they definitely discarded Antoniuk. O'Brien was technically traded to Minnesota.

I'd like to see what Toure could do here, but I'm having Mauricio Salles flashbacks. I guess that means we'll see Toure pop up in the MISL after a failed stint in Japan...

January 15, 2008 at 1:04 AM
ja said...

If he shows up in Atl, he will probably be a reserve. With the Silverbacks returning players and the signing of Ambersley he will have a hard time getting into the starting lineup. He was only a part time starter(mid and forward) at Minn.I see Ukah, Kandji at forward. Wolfe and Mclaughlin in reserve. McManus,Rios,Buete,Ambersley at mid.

January 15, 2008 at 1:36 AM
Longshoe said...

The right wing slot seems to be pretty wide open. I'd guess Toure and Ambersley will be battling it out there.

If you're a right winger, get to tryouts!

January 15, 2008 at 2:06 AM

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