Conor Casey Rapids #9 Is Back!

By now I'm sure you've all heard the news.  Anthony Hudson was dismissed as Colorado Rapids Head Coach today and Conor Casey has been given the interim title.  A much needed change for a club that's been at a historic awful start.  Hudson finishes with a league 0.77 pts/game average, worse in club history (not counting Wegerle's single game as player/manager at the end of the '96 season that he lost) and with only 8 wins in 46 competitive matches in charge of the club.  It was also the second shortest tenure for a non-interim coach, only Houghton's 31 games in 1996 was shorter.

So very much out with the bad and, hopefully, in with the good.  For now club legend Conor Casey has the reins and he was the logical choice.  Of all the assistants only two of them, Casey and GK coach Chris Sharpe, were not brought in by Hudson from his prior jobs and Sharpe splits time between the first team and working with the Academy keepers.  Combined with his top 3 all-time player standing (Pablo and Balboa being the other two) and for an interim role he's an easy choice.

Note, I said interim.  Let's talk about the full time role.  Padraig Smith has the biggest decision of his career ahead of him.  He has to get the right coach this time or this club is in deep trouble for a long, long time.  Smith has two options.  With many of the top leagues ending their seasons in the next couple of weeks Smith could already have targets lined up and be planning to hire somebody in the next few weeks.  The other option is to let Casey handle the rest of the 2019 season and hire the coach in the offseason.  Honestly I think this could go either way an neither option would shock me.  The only thing that would be surprising is hiring somebody before the end of the season but after, say, July 4th.  If I had to put my money on something I'd go with a quick hire.

So who should fill that role?  Not Conor Casey.  Well, with one exception.  If Casey has the club for the rest of the season and somehow makes a miracle run into the playoffs he can have the job.  Short of that however we should be looking for somebody for more experience.  After Hudson, Pablo, Pareja, and Smith, all having essentially no club head coaching experience we need to hire somebody who's run a club before, preferably successfully.  Despite what some people like to claim there's actually a number of selling points for the Rapids job.  One, there's nowhere to go but up.  Two, there is a lot of dead weight rolling of the roster at the end of the season allowing a chance to build the team the new coach wants.  Three, two big DP spots will be open going into 2020.  That's a great chance to shape the future of a club.  But it also shows the biggest risk to the club at this point.  A bad coaching hire and/or bad DP signings could block this club from moving forward for a long time.

A couple of names are already floating around out there.  The two most notable ones are Josh Wolff and Eric Wynalda.  I don't particularly like either pick.  Wolff might be a good coach but never having been a head coach before we don't really know.  Wynalda's actual results don't match his hype.  He's never spent more than one season with his team and his "big" successes were building a team specifically to make USOC runs, not play full league seasons.

I'm sure we'll hear more names as time goes on and we'll be talking about the most likely of them here.  For now though its a new start to 2019 for the Rapids, lets see if we can put a run together with this bounce.

Hudson Out, Casey In?

Multiple rumors have broken this morning that Hudson has been fired and Casey is now interim manager.  First long-time reporter Marco Cummings tweeted that the Rapids and Padraig Smith have scheduled a major announcement today.  Specifically Smith and the Rapids, not Hudson.  Cummings has since deleted that tweet.  Rapids Rabbi has just tweeted that sources are telling him Hudson has been fired and Casey is now in charge.  More on this tonight when, presumably, we'll have official news.

Conor Casey Rapids Number Nine!

The Crew are in town for tomorrow night's game and normally I'd make a Village People joke here but something more important is going on.  In a pre-game ceremony Conor Casey will be inducted into the Rapids Gallery of Honor alongside Marcelo Balboa, Chris Henderson, Paul Bravo, John Spencer, and Pablo Mastroeni.  Its a well deserved honor for the (almost) native son.  He's the all-time leading scorer in club history with 50 regular season league goals.  He was also MLS Cup 2010 MVP with the only goal scored by a Rapids (above) and an unofficial assist on the game winning own goal as it was his change-of-field pass to Kandji that caught the Dallas defense out and led to that George John mistake.

Game time tomorrow is 7pm but everyone should be in their seats by 6:40 for the ceremony.  Security lines were long last week so give yourself plenty of time.  The tailgate will start at 4 like usual but expect it to shut down a bit early so everyone can get into the stadium for the ceremony.  If you can't make it the game will be on Altitude and I'm sure the pre-game show will have coverage of the induction.

Lots of absences this week.  Burling was suspended (rightfully IMO) by the Disciplinary Committee for that foul he got a yellow card for in the 18th minute last week.  Howard and Williams were called up by their National Teams for the qualifier on Thursday.  I'm pretty sure Howard traveled to SLC for the friendly against Venezuela on Sunday but I don't thing T&T have a game scheduled so it is possible they could make Williams available to the Rapids since T&T has been training here in Denver.  Boateng is still injured and Sjoberg and Watts are both unlikely to play due to injury.  There were even reports of the team practicing a 3-5-2 this week due to the missing defenders.  I'm not going to predict what we might see in a lineup.

Prediction: 1-1 draw, goal by Gashi.  Columbus has the 3rd worst defense and the 5th best offense in the league.  They also played Wednesday night, beating Seattle 3-0 after losing 5-0 to Toronto last week.  If the Toronto team shows up we have a chance at a win but our complete lack of offense still handicaps us.  I think we can get one but not more than that and the Crew will find a goal when facing our makeshift back line.

Welcome Nana!

That's Bismark "Nana" Adjei-Boatang getting ready to board the bus to the airport with the team this morning (and Tim Howard, obviously).  He got into Denver last night and flew out to Tucson with the rest of the team for the Desert Diamond Cup.  I expect him t get a lot of playing time in Arizona.

Daniel Boniface reported some roster news over the weekend.  Our final draft pick, Peguy Ngatcha has been released and trialist Jun Marques Davidson has returned to Charlotte.  No word on the other Charlotte trialist, GK Cody Mizell.  Our other 3 draft picks are still with the team.  The Academy goalkeepers are likely not travelling with the team.

Gashi is also dealing with an Achilles injury which is a little concerning given how critical he's going to be to our offense this year.  The team has created a 2.5 week program to get him healthy and ready to go for the opener.

There was a rumor this weekend that U.S. Nat Aron Johannsson is looking to leave Werder Bremen this summer and come to MLS with the Rapids one of three teams listed as having interest.  His name was floating around last season too, so the idea of us having interest would seem to be accurate.  It would take some work as Johannsson is subject to allocation order and the Rapids are currently 18th in the order (Minnesota is first) so we'd have to trade up to claim him, then pay him.

Last, but hardly least, in tonight's season preview show on Altitude the team announced that Conor Casey will be inducted into the Gallery of Honor on June 3rd at halftime against the Crew (his final MLS team).  A well-deserved honor.

(The graphic also listed a Transamerica Cup on July 1st when we're scheduled  to play the Dynamo so ???)

Updated camp roster as we head to Tucson:

Signed Players:
GK John Berner
GK Tim Howard - Designated Player
GK Zac MacMath
D Marc Burch
D Bobby Burling
D Dennis Castillo - International
D Kortne Ford - Homegrown
D Eric Miller
D Axel Sjoberg - International
D Jared Watts
D Mekeil Williams - International
M Bismark Adjei-Boateng - International
M Micheal Azira
M Sam Cronin
M Marlon Hairston
M Ricardo Perez - Homegrown
M Dillon Powers
M Juan Ramirez - Designated Player, International, On Loan
M Dillon Serna - Homegrown
F Dominique Badji - International
F Caleb Calvert - Homegrown
F Kevin Doyle - International
F Shkelzen Gashi - Designated Player, International
F Alan Gordon

Unsigned Draftees:
D Liam Callahan
M Sam Hamilton
F Jaime Siaj

Unsigned Trialists
GK Cody Mizell (?)

Conor Casey, Rapids Assistant Coach!

The Rapids made it official today, announcing Conor Casey as their new assistant coach.  Casey is, quite simply, the best striker to ever play for Colorado and hopefully some of that success will rub off on the team's attack next season.  He joins Mullan, Smith, and (obviously) Pablo as players from the MLS Cup winning team who have been hired as coaches by the Rapids.

In other news the Denver Post''s Daniel Boniface was out at camp today and reported everyone was present except Azira (with Uganda at the African Cup of Nations) and Adjei-Boateng (hasn't arrived yet).  He also said there were two trialists from the Charlotte Independence and two goalkeepers from the Academy training with the team.  I'm assuming one of the keepers was Andrew Epstein, currently a junior and starter for the national champion Stanford Cardinal.  He's expected to get a homegrown player offer from the Rapids after he graduates.  The other three are unknown but Boniface hopes to get names soon.

Front Office Changes

A couple of leadership rumors out of Commerce City today:

First, confirmation of how the Rapids are filling the void left by Bravo's departure:

With Paul Bravo out, Padraig Smith is now running point for Rapids' tech staff ahead of draft, Mastroeni and club spokesman confirm.

This is not a surprise, I think most people figured this was the case.  Now is this a permanent change or do the Rapids still plan to fill the Technical Director position from outside the organization?

The second rumor is a little more surprising:

Hearing that John Spencer has left #Rapids96. Heard further rumblings that he might be San Jose bound.

 To provide more context, Spencer assisted Kinnear when the 2 were in Houston. If he joins #Quakes74, I suspect it will b in similar capacity

As reported by @JeffreyCarlisle, John Spencer has left Rapids. Conor Casey is here with the club, looks like he'll fill assistant vacancy.

That's the 3rd assistant coach in 3 seasons under Pablo to leave their coaching post.  John Metgod left midway through the 2014 season, Claudio Lopez went back into the Front Office after the 2015 season, and now John Spencer has apparently left after the 2016 season to join San Jose.  There are reasonable explanations for all of these (Metgod didn't fit, Lopez never wanted to be a coach, and Spencer is rejoining his mentor) but its a bit distressing to see that much turnover in a spot that was (at least for the last two) brought in specifically to fix the attacking issues the team has.  Consistency would probably help with that process.  The possibility that there's something we don't  know that links these moves together (people can't work with Pablo, FO doesn't pay enough, etc.) is even more concerning, though also less likely.

The Conor Casey part of the news is an interesting surprise.  When he left the Rapids after the 2012 season it was a well-known rumor that he was unhappy with team leadership.  He also infamously stormed off the training pitch after getting into a verbal altercation with Gary Smith right after the 2011 season ended.  I'm glad to see that whatever issues that there may have been between him and the leadership have been solved.  Given what has been rumored I think his issues were more with the coaching staff (Smith and Pareja) than the front office leadership.  I didn't know he was interested in coaching but seeing what he brings to the team will be something to watch for.

Conor Casey Rapids #9!

Today Denver South's Conor Casey, the best striker ever to wear a Rapids jersey, announced his retirement.  Casey started his pro career in Germany in 2000 after a year at the University of Portland.  He spent 7 seasons there before coming home (after a couple of months of being held hostage in Toronto) to play for the Rapids in May of 2007.  After a quiet first season with only 2 goals Conor lit the league on fire the next 3+ years, scoring 46 goals in 86 regular-season appearances.  The only player in MLS who scored more in that period was Landon Donovan.

Casey also scored 2 playoff goals in 2010.  His first tied the Eastern Conference semi-final series with Columbus at 2-2 in the 84th minute of the second leg.  He would go on to hit the first of the 5 PK's the Rapids would hit in winning the tiebreaker.  His second, of course, is one of the top 5 goals in Rapids history as he leveled MLS Cup at 1-1 in the first half.  He would also have an unofficial assist on the winning goal as it was his pass to Mac Kandji that let Kandji get in deep and force the own goal.  He was named MVP of MLS Cup (well, actually his twin Casey Conor got the award).

After blowing out his Achilles tendon on a grass overlay field in Seattle in 2011 he missed the rest of the season and part of the 2012 season.  At the end of that year the Rapids decided to go another direction and Casey moved to Philly, then Columbus for this past season before retirement.

Casey's 50 goals as a Rapid is a team record, 11 better than Bravo and Cummings who are tied for second.  Conor did it in 16 less games than Bravo though.  His strike rate of a goal about every 2 and third game is tied with John Spencer for best in team history.  He's 3rd in game winning goals (behind Bravo and Spencer), 2nd in multi-goal games (behind Bravo), and first in PK goals (by 1).  He's also in the top 10 for appearances as a Rapid.  From 2009-2011 his partnership with Omar Cummings (the C+C Goal Factory) was the most dynamic and exciting strike duo Colorado has ever had.

I fully expect that at a game next season we will be adding Conor Casey's name to the Gallery of Honor next to Balboa, Bravo, Henderson, Spencer, and Mastroeni.  To not do so would be ignoring one of the greatest to ever wear the jersey.

He runs as though his boots were lead

Conor, Conor!

He puts a razor to his head

Conor, Conor!

He used to play in Germany

But now he's back at DSG

Conor Casey

Rapids #9! 

Since we're talking about MLS Cup here's a brief update on the 14 players who played for the Rapids in that game:

Matt Pickens - Currently with the Tampa Bay Rowdies in (as of 2 days ago) the USL

Kosuke Kimura - Currently with Rayo OKC in the NASL, though there's a good chance the team won't make it to next season

Drew Moor - Currently in the playoffs with Toronto FC

Marvell Wynne - Currently with the San Jose Earthquakes

Anthony Wallace - Currently with the Jacksonville Armada in the NASL

Jeff Larentowicz - Will be suited up on the other sideline in Sunday's Colorado-LA playoff game

Pablo Mastroeni - Will be wearing a suit on our sideline in Sunday's Colorado-LA playoff game

Brian Mullan - A community ambassador and assistant coach for Colorado

Jamie Smith - Youth Academy Director for Trevian Soccer Club outside Chicago

Omar Cummings - Currently with FC Cincinnati in the USL

Conor Casey - See above

Julian Baudet - Last update was a while ago when he was coaching an amateur side in France

Wells Thompson - Retired and running soccer camps in North Carolina

Macoumba Kandji - Free agent after leaving his Finnish team at the beginning of 2016

3 quick player moves

Rapids re-sign Marvell Wynne.  Yay!

Rapids select Eric Avila in the Re-Entry Draft.  Rivero backup?

Rapids trade allocation money and supplemental draft pick to LA for Edson Buddle.  Um, interesting.

More later tonight or tomorrow (depending on how I feel after seeing The Hobbit.)

Oh, Casey was selected by Philly and Freeman by New England in the Re-Entry Draft.

Rapids Cut 8, Including Conor Casey

Regardless of if he's Casey Conor or Conor Casey, he's always Rapids #9!

This afternoon as the team broke for the off-season the Rapids announced the players they would be cutting.  8 players in total have been released, with the big name being hometown hero Conor Casey.  With my vacation and the election I never got around to doing my normal breakdown of what I felt the Rapids should do with their lineup, but I'll include my comments on these 8 players and break-down the rest hopefully over the weekend.

Edu - Biggest miss in a signing this year.  A waste of money and space, easy decision to cut him.

Ian Joyce - 3rd string goalkeeper that hasn't played a competitive match since 2010.  I had a soft spot for him since I won his jersey after the 2010 regular-season finale, but at 27 this opens up a spot for a new young keeper.  Not a surprise cut.

Scott Palguta - Anyone who watched him play since mid-2010 could see that he wasn't keeping up with the level of play in the league.  Another easy decision.

Tyson Wahl - The Rapids took a chance on him when acquiring him from the Impact mid-season.  He was never better than adequate but wasn't horrible.  Wouldn't have been shocking to see him kept or cut.  Losing the international spot in 2014 for a player who didn't stick hurts a bit though.

Tyrone Marshall - Good experience, but this season it became evident that the years were catching up to him.  He no longer had the wheels to keep up and he was burned many times this year.  I expect him to go into coaching, so maybe we'll see him on the sideline again but there wasn't going to be a spot for him on the 2013 roster.

Joseph Nane - This was the first name that kind of surprised me.  I thought he had made good progress this season.  He wasn't going to be claiming a starting job anytime soon but he seemed to be a capable backup.  However with Shane O'Neill being signed to play the same position as a homegrown player he was going to struggle to find minutes.  I would assume that the team feels confident in either Hendry Thomas or Pablo Mastroeni returning to take the starting role.  I'm a bit surprised they couldn't trade him for something, unless he was out of contract.

Luis Zapata - He and Casey were the real surprises to me.  Zapata was the regular starter at left back when healthy and played well, if not always spectacularly.  I expected Zapata to go into next season as the starter, with Wallace and any others given the chance to take the job from him.  Clearly they feel confident in Wallace's return to form and/or Chris Klute's ability to step up to the next level as with today's cuts they're the only players with experience at left back on the roster.  Either that or they're planning to find somebody.

Conor Casey - And now the big one.  This was one of the two biggest decisions (along with Pablo) the Rapids had to make this offseason and I wasn't shocked when word leaked earlier this week that the team didn't want Casey back at his current $400K/year salary.  That's a lot of salary cap to tie up in a player who spent the better par of the last season and a half injured.  That said, I figured the team and Casey would agree to a lower number with incentives that Casey could achieve if he stayed healthy.  Occasionally a team will cut a player like this and both sides know that before preseason starts they'll agree to a new contract.  It doesn't sound like that's going to happen with Casey:

“Conor has been an incredibly important part of the Rapids since he got here in 2007, and has forever left his mark on the club,” said Technical Director Paul Bravo. “He’s the Rapids’ all-time leading scorer and the MLS Cup MVP in 2010. But after having a conversation with him about his future, we all decided that it was the right time to move on.”

“It was truly an honor to be able to play in front of my hometown fans and to bring a championship to Denver,” said Casey. “While I am sorry to see my time with the Rapids come to an end, I want to thank the supporters here in Colorado for everything they gave to me and the club over the last several years.”

That doesn't sound like a club or a player that's expecting to reconnect.

I think if the decision was cutting him or paying him at $400K the Rapids made the right decision.  If they were fairly sure he could regain his 2010 form he'd be worth the money, but that seems a long time ago now and tying up that much cap on a player that hasn't bounced back from injury well is a big risk.  I would have liked to see him signed for $200-$250K, but if he wasn't willing to do that, letting him go is probably the right move.

There have been some comments already about the possibility of trading Casey instead of getting nothing for him, but trading a player with his injury history and at his salary is a hard sell.  If he wasn't going to take a lower salary for his hometown team, odds are he wasn't going to take one elsewhere.  He isn't an older player looking for one last shot at getting a championship, being only 2 seasons removed from being named MLS Cup MVP.  Honestly, I wouldn't be shocked if he hangs up the boots at this point if he's unwilling to take a lower contract, but we'll see what happens.  I suppose if another MLS team takes him in Phase 1 of the Re-Entry Draft (which means they're agreeing to pick up his current $400K option) he might continue to play.

Pickens, Casey, Maybe Others Shut Down For Season

Today the Rapids announced that along with Pickens, Casey will also be shut down for the last two games due to his nagging knee injury.  Mullan may join them, and Larentowicz will be watched closely to see if he needs to be added to the list.

This will also allow Pareja to play some of the younger players like O'Neill, Armstrong, and Cascio in their place.  That's really what Colorado should be using these last two games for anyway.  Since we're out of the playoff race there's nothing more for the veterans to prove, so letting them start their off-season recovery and conditioning early will help them going into 2013.  Getting a good look at the young players will help us with off-season roster decisions.

What's Happened To C+C Goal Factory?

Full game recap coming, but a post-game discussion got me to do some research.  Namely people were asking why Pareja seemed to be unwilling to play Casey and Cummings at the same time.  I wondered how much of that was by choice and how much was due to injury so I looked it up.

Only 9 times this season have they both been Probable on the injury report or better, and in each of those games at least one of them was listed as Probable, so they've never been completely healthy  (Casey has been on the injury report every game this season).

In those 9 games:

4/28 - Chivas: Casey makes his first appearance of the season as a last minute sub for Omar (fans there will remember Class VI screaming at Rapids players to knock the ball out so Casey could be subbed in before the final whistle)

5/2 - @NE: Casey was left in Colorado due to the turf in New England

5/6 - @Dallas: Cummings started but subbed out injured after 14 minutes, Casey subbed in at halftime

6/20 - San Jose: Casey was subbed off for Cummings in the 67th minute

6/30 - Portland: Casey & Cummings start and play 73/74 minutes

7/4 - Vancouver: Casey & Cummings start, Cummings subs off in the 61st

7/7 - @Seattle: Casey starts and goes 67 before Edu subs in, at the same time Cummings subs in for Smith

7/14 - Dallas: Cummings & Casey start and play the full game

7/18 - @Toronto: Casey & Cummings start, Cummings goes 72 minutes

So on 4/28, 5/2, and 5/6 Casey was still recovering from his Achilles injury and understandably didn't start, by the time he got serious minutes Cummings was injured.

On 6/20 Cummings was coming back from injury and only played 23 minutes, you could make a case that Casey could/should have been left in to play with him.

On 7/7 the team was playing its 3rd game in a week, on turf, and both players were probable. While playing both of them at once was possible, without knowing their injury and fitness status I can't fault Pareja for not playing them together.

When playing together Casey has both of his goals and 1 of his assists on Omar's only goal or assist when playing together.

So maybe you fault Pareja for not leaving Casey in on 6/20, a game we lost 2-1 on a Freeman own goal in the 83rd and a PK in the 92rd minute.  Colorado was up 1-0 at home when the Casey/Cummings sub happened.

I find it hard to make a claim that Pareja is resisting playing them together given these numbers though.  When they've been (reasonably) healthy, Pareja has played them together.

Rapids All-Time Team: Target Forward

The starting target forward for the Rapids All-Time Team is Conor Casey.

How Acquired: Acquired from Toronto FC in exchange for allocation money, allocation position, and the rights to Riley O'Neill .

Years In Colorado: Early 2007 through present

This was an easy pick. There were 3 obvious choices for this team, Balboa, Mastroeni, and Casey. Conor is, by far, the best striker to ever put on a Rapids uniform. When he first arrived in Colorado in 2007 he was still recovering from a knee injury and his first season wasn't that impressive. Since the start of the 2008 season though, he's scored more goals than any other forward in MLS who's name isn't Landon Donovan. He's also blown right by Paul Bravo's team record for career goals (48 to 39 in 34 less games) and beaten John Spencer's record for goals in a season (16 to 14). Casey is also the only Rapids player to have more than 1 career hat-trick, with 3.

Casey's game may not look like much at a glimpse. He looks a bit slow and lumbering and at time he has feet of stone. At the same time though he's always where he needs to be, he can hold the ball better than almost any other striker in the league, and he finds his strike partner, particularly Omar Cummings, with great passes more often than not. I've heard him called an MLS-level Alan Shearer, which isn't a bad description. For some reason there's a noticeable number of fans who see Casey's negatives as greater than his positives, which is mind-boggling to me. The Rapids would be a significantly worse team over the last 4+ seasons without Casey.

One final note, Casey scored the most important goal ever scored by a Rapids player, and it earned him (or his twin Casey Conor) the MLS Cup MVP award. Excuse the quality of the video, it was the best I could find on YouTube.

Casey Out 8-10 Months With Torn Achilles

Just being reported by the Denver Post. Say goodbye to our Champions League chances, its going to be a struggle just to make the playoffs now.

News And Notes, 4/6

Two pieces of news today:

• Casey will miss 2-4 weeks with the hamstring strain that caused him to leave Sunday's match against DC. That means he'll miss the road games against Dallas and FSL for sure, and probably the next home game against Seattle. Hopefully he'll be back in time for the home game against Chicago.
• The Wikipedia page for Martin John, who the Rapids had been linked to as a midseason signing, has been updated to say he turned down the offer from Colorado. There's no cite though, so take it for what its worth.

Season Review - Forwards

Finally getting to the final part of the season review, the forwards.

Andre Akpan - Akpan only had one appearance this year but got some good experience while on loan to Tampa in the USSF Division II. He'll probably feature in the reserve division next year, and push Amarikwa for the forward spot on the bench until Kandji returns.

Quincy Amarikwa - Quincy was acquired early in the season from San Jose, and became the go-to option off the bench up front until Kandji was acquired. Unfortunately he appeared to be speed with no ball control. While he was great to run at defenses it was quickly obvious that he needed more time to become any type of threat, something borne out by his stats (1 goal and no assists in 13 appearances). Amarikwa will partner with Akpan in the reserve league, but probably not be a real threat for the first team unless his play increases greatly. I would expect the Rapids to either bring in another striker or draft one to challenge Akpan and Amarikwa next season.

Conor Casey - One half of Colorado's C+C Goal Factory, Casey had another great season, finishing with 14 total goals and 6 assists, the best combined total on the team. Despite the disappointment of not making the squad for South Africa Casey kept his head up and made 29 appearances, missing one game due to yellow card accumulation. He capped the season off with a goal and set up Kandji's attack for the own goal in MLS Cup, earning MLS Cup MVP honors.

We've seen that when Casey stays healthy all he does is score goals. At 29 he's probably at the peak of his career, but I don't expect a huge drop-off next season, especially is he's paired with Cummings again. Conor is never going to be the creative force in the team, he's your typical back-to-gal striker who can dish the ball to an onrushing Cummings or turn and shoot.

Omar Cummings - Omar was the team MVP IMO this year. 14 goals and 5 assists were second to Casey, but Cummings stepped up in a big way in the final third of the season when the team needed a spark to make their playoff run. He suffered through being played out of position in Smith's 4-5-1 experiment without complaint, but it was the move back to the 4-4-2 that sparked his resurgence. He had assists on both goals in the Columbus playoff series to push the Rapids through to the conference finals, and it was his run to the near post that allowed Koz's goal to sneak through for the winning goal in the Eastern Conference Final.

Cummings is the biggest question mark on the team going into next year. Currently training with Aston Villa, there's a real chance that he will be sold in the winter transfer window. The Rapids already turned down a mid-season offer for him from Necaxa, and reportedly they had an offer recently from another Mexican club. If Cummings returns I expect another successful season from the C+C Goal Factory, and I hope Smith has figured out that he has to play both of them up front.

Macoumba Kandji - Acquired before the trading deadline for the inconsistent and ineffectual Mehdi Ballouchy, Kandji didn't show much in his limited playing time, but was an immediate improvement over Akpan and Amarikwa. In 7 regular season appearances he had 3 assists and 0 goals. Of course he'll always be remembered for his attack in overtime of MLS Cup where he crossed the ball that George John knocked in his own goal for the winning score int he Rapids championship. In the collision with Ugo Ihemelu that happened as he was making the cross Kandji blew out his ACL.

Due to the blown ACL anything we get out of Kandji in 2011 should be seen as a bonus. He won't even be close to 100% until the very end of the season.

Ross Schunk - Ross was the victim of ripping his ACL near the end of training camp this year. After losing a season of development and the additions of Akpan, Amarikwa, and Kandji there just wasn't room for him.

Casey Signs For 3 More Years

Conor Casey has signed a contract that will keep him with the Rapids for 3 more years. This will keep Casey in MLS (barring a transfer) through the 2012 season when Casey will be 31 years old. Casey is coming off a 16-goal season, a record for both him and the Rapids.

This is a good move by the Rapids, keeping possibly the best striker in team history wrapped up through his best remaining years. On average strikers drop off in their 30's so at the end of this contract the Rapids will have a decision to make but until then they've got a top MLS striker and possible World Cup player locked up.

I also like the fact that the Rapids made the announcement at Denver South, Casey's old high school. A little hokey, but its nice to see the connection back to the community and it gives the current generation a good example of what's possible in soccer in this country.

Happy New Year!

Yes, I'm still alive. Sorry things went quiet last month. With no Rapids news and working 10 hour days a majority of a time, not to mention the in-laws visiting for the holidays, something had to give. All that is (hopefully) behind me though, so expect to see a more regular posting schedule here. This week I'm hoping to do an update on my overseas teams as well as introduce you to the Melbourne Victory, who I've started following.

There has been one hint of Rapids news this week. Supposedly Conor Casey has agreed a new contract with the Rapids instead of pursuing interest from Germany and Turkey. This is all contingent on the union signing a new Collective Bargaining Agreement with the league. Terms have not been leaked yet, but I wouldn't be shocked if it was over 300K.

Here's to a 2010 where the Rapids lift at least two cups, the RMC and either MLS Cup or the USOC!

The Yanks Are Coming!

Conor Casey led the Nats to a 3-2 win in Honduras last night. With the win the U.S. clinches World Cup Qualification and can book trips to South Africa next summer.

After going down 1-0 Casey battled for a Davies header and beat the Honduran keeper to it. off his shoulder the ball looped up and over the onrushing keeper and rolled across the line. 11 minutes later Casey received a pass from Donovan inside the box and beat the keeper to the far post to give the U.S. a 2-1 lead. Those were Casey's first two National Team goals in 15 appearances. 5 minutes later Casey drew a foul just outside the box and Donovan converted the free kick for a 3-1 lead. Honduras would get one back late which led to some nail-biting in the last few minutes but the Americans were victorious. Casey was unanimous MOTM and increased his chances of joining the team in South Africa next year.

Conor Casey Called Up For World Cup Qualifiers

Casey was on the 22-man roster announced today for the final two World Cup Qualifiers on 10/10 and 1014. Oct. 10th is our bye week, we don't have a game after Saturday's match until Oct. 17th. Casey will probably travel with the team to Honduras for the match on the 10th and to DC for the final game of the hex on the 14th. The U.S. needs one win to qualify or a draw against Costa Rica in DC.

Conor Casey Update

Steven Goff is reporting that Casey did not go to Salt Lake City due to his wisdom tooth extraction but he is in good enough shape to play for the Rapids tonight. Hopefully he's good enough to start and add some continuity to a team that can use all they can get this week.

A decision will be made tomorrow on if he will join the Nats team for the midweek game in Trinidad & Tobago or not.