Grizzly

It's definitely Ricketts.
 

Kicker with an article on Andre Hainault re-signing with FC Magdeburg of the 3. Liga. Term seems to be through the 2017/18 season. He's spent most of the 2nd half of the season injured but started 18 games this season prior to his injury. Magdeburg were promoted last season to the 3. Liga and have flirted with the promotion places at times but are currently around 6th or 7th and won't be going up.
 

It is never nice to see players end their careers early (if that is what he is doing) but he is turning 25 and how much would he be earning in lower division Scandanavia or if he went to USL. Even if he tried out for FCE and made it (which I am not that sure he would) he would be still living 300 kms from his home town and not earning very much. At some point players have to realistically assess their career and take other opportunities if they are available.

It is never nice to see players end their careers early (if that is what he is doing) but he is turning 25 and how much would he be earning in lower division Scandanavia or if he went to USL. Even if he tried out for FCE and made it (which I am not that sure he would) he would be still living 300 kms from his home town and not earning very much. At some point players have to realistically assess their career and take other opportunities if they are available.

Callum Irving has signed with RGVFC in USL Pro:
http://www.houstondynamo.com/post/2016/03/26/rio-grande-valley-fc-toros-sign-six-players
Travis Clark (@travismclark) 2016-03-26, 11:13 AM Tracked down Callum Irving. Goalkeeper signs with @RGVFC ahead of team's inaugural match.

Cornelius scored Stabaek's only goal today as they lost 2-1 in a friendly against RPL team Amkar Perm. He was apparently one of the few bright spots for Stabaek as Perm dominated the game. Stabaek seems to have returned him to his more usual position as offensive mid while Terek played him as a defender but they had a lot of injuries in defence during camp so it might have been out of necessity not an intent to convert him. Incidentally, Stabaek's interest in Cornelius comes from having played against him when they played Terek in Malta while he was trialing with Terek. Looks good that one of the opposing teams during his first trial was impressed enough to give him a trial. Stabaek's next match is against another Russian team, Rostov, and I imagine Terek's interest in him probably has alerted the other Russian teams to him as well. This could end up a bit like the Olivier Occean situation where the New York Metro Stars brought him unsigned to training camp in Europe and he impressed another team who made him a better offer than New York. It looks like he has impressed on his trials and should end up at the very least at a much better level than the German 4th division. 
http://www.budstikka.no/stabak-fotball/fotball/sport/stabak-tester-flere-nye-i-dag/s/5-55-273031
http://www.budstikka.no/sport/fotball/stabak-fotball/senket-av-tidligere-stabak-spiss/s/5-55-273370
Here are the game highlights with his goal at 2:50
 

Yeah, but has anyone discussed whether Terek is really the best place for him?  To me that's the real question.  Seems kinda touch and go there, doesn't it?

Hey, what do you guys think about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

I never said Germany is a terrible place to live or that neo-Nazis are everywhere. LOK Leipzig games have a large number of neo-Nazis, but they make up a very low percentage of the overall Leipzig population. What I am saying is having lived in both Germany and Russia both have good and bad qualities and that your presentation of nice Lubeck versus horrible Grozny is not accurate nor do you seem to have much of a background to make such a judgement. Yes the standard of living is much higher in Germany but we are not talking about him going to Grozny and earning a typical Russian salary but rather of him going there and earning a much higher salary than he would in the German 4th division and the opportunity to earn very large sums of money in the future if he is successful. And personally if I were to earn the same salary I would choose to live in Russia over Germany but if living in Russia meant earning a typical Russian salary I would choose Germany. And Grozny would not be high on my list of Russian cities I want to live in due to the problems of the past and the possibility they could start again but if I had the type of career opportunity Cornelius will be offered if they sign him then I would certainly consider moving there.
As for Kadyrov, you can be sure you will never hear one good thing about him in any article or documentary in our Western "free press". Yet 10 to 15 years ago Chechnya was in a similar state to what Syria is now in and seemed a problem without solution but now is mostly rebuilt and stable. Kadyrov may indeed be doing some bad things to achieve this stability but for the vast majority of Chechens life is far better. A Kadyrov in Syria would be far better to the current situation just like Hussein, Ghadafy and Assad were not great guys but are far better than what the West has brought to those countries with our promotion/exportation of "democracy" and "human rights" that has mostly been a front for military conquest and exploitation.
As to the Russian system, just like most countries in Europe they have a pyramid. They also have a large population and money in soccer so the level does not drop as rapidly as in many of the other European countries that aren't England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France. The reserve teams play a system where they travel with the first club and play a match against the club's opponent usually the day before the first team match. The 2nd division is still pretty strong, a bit better than the 3rd Bundesliga and must pay decently as well because there are still quite a few foreigners playing there. Also both divisions have a lot of players from the former Soviet Union countries, Eastern Europe, South America, Africa and also places like Iran. Many of these players never play in the West and are not EPL or La Liga level but a lot of them are pretty solid players even if unfamiliar to us. At 3rd division level it gets regional and the level drops and I suspect there is a big drop in pay as well since there are mostly Russia players. It would still be as good as the level in Lubeck though. There is also a lot of relation between the Russian leagues and many of the other Eastern European leagues. DiChiara went through the system and after things did not work out at Samara transferred to Hungary and then the Russian 2nd tier. He finally did not make it but he certainly was given an opportunity. Also given that Cornelius seems to be on good terms still with Lubeck and they are not opposing a transfer there is no reason he would be either required to stay in Russia or could not return to Germany if things do not work out with Terek. If he does not make it at Terek he is not going to drop of the map of football unless he does not have the talent to become a professional. Terek also has a lot of foreigners on its squad including Australian internation Luke Wilkshire who just transferred there from Feyernoord. He played several years previously for Dinamo Moscow so also has played games in Grozny before and knows what the situation is so I think if it was so terrible a guy like Wilkshire would not sign there.
Terek finished their 2nd stage of training camp in Malta yesterday with a friendly against a Maltese team that Cornelius did not play in. The opposition was weaker and Terek started a weaker lineup as well and only won 1-0 so not sure what the significance was of Cornelius not playing. They will start the 3rd stage in Italy in a few days so it will be interesting to see if he is invited to that stage. Even if the trial is not successful it has to be a very good experience for him at 18 years old to train and play several games with a first division Russian team against at times pretty decent teams much higher than those he would face in German 4th division. Plus he has been in Germany for 2 years and despite the praises of Lubeck's staff as far as I know has not gone on trial in any of the bigger clubs a short drive away from Lubeck. There is no guarantee he would in the future. Sometimes one can stuck in a system or at a level for a number of reasons or not get the right opportunity at the right time so he would be crazy not to take the chance to jump up several rungs on the professional football ladder when given the opportunity.

^ You remind me of the joke:
"People in Russia are brainwashed by their state tv"
"How do you know"
"I heard it on the BBC"
The western media is not only incredibly biased but also very controlled though the manner of control is not exactly the same as it is in Russia. I have lived in 4 countries, Germany, Canada, Russia and the US. The television is biased and controlled in all 4 countries with the US being by far the worst. Print media is more free in all countries than the television including Russia though still controlled as well. I am sure you must watch a lot of Russian tv and read a lot of Russian newspapers to be able to compare. Or is your source of information on Russian media our media?
Where did I say there was no knowledge to be gained from books? However, if you are going to get knowledge from books you should read a wide variety of books with different viewpoints not just ones that present one side. I myself have read a lot about Chechnya from all viewpoints (I used to even read the Islamic rebels website). Not to mention I have actually been in Russia during several key events of the conflict such as the Beslan school siege (not only a horrible crime but a horrible strategic blunder by the rebels, killing children does not get you support anywhere and lost them a lot of their own local support) and the black widow plane bombings. But if you really want to know the truth about an issue it is even better to actually talk with people from the place that have actually experienced the events first hand. That is not to say that everything they are going to say is true or not biased but at least it is first hand. I can also guarantee that these same people who don't have the opinion we want to hear or better said those who control our media want us to hear are not going to be interviewed on our tv or in a western documentary about Kadyrov.
As for the people in the mountains they are not refugees of Kadyrov, those are radical Islamic fighters similar to the ones we claim to be fighting in Iraq/Syria. Their families live in government controlled areas but the mountains are hard to control so that is where the remaining militants are based. I don't doubt life is not great for relatives of militants in Chechnya some of whom may be guilty themselves but others who are innocent of any crime but considered guilty by association. Many of the militants have gone to fight for ISIS since the battle in Chechnya is mostly quiet now and they do not have much chance of victory and Syria seemed more promising of success. And since you told me to think for a second, maybe you should think for a second that me having to explain this all to you indicates you really do not know much about Chechnya or Kadyrov. Kadyrov himself was a Chechen rebel in the first Chechen War which had a mix of causes and idealogies from nationalism, historical mistreatment of Chechens by Russia/USSR, to islamism and also to a large criminal/warlord element. By the time of the 2nd Chechen War Kadyrov's father was Chief Mufti and changed sides in part due to the increasing radicalization of the fighters due to the money and influence of Saudi Arabia (with the US undoubtedly in the background) and the influx of radical foreign jihadis. If Kadyrov was on our side we would call him a moderate.
Again I am not saying he is a nice guy or not guilty of some of the things he is accused of but at the same time one has to look at what the alternatives are whether life has improved for the average resident of Chechnya under him. Grozny would be pretty low on my list of cities I would choose to live in but it is 100 times better than it was 10 years ago. Saddam Hussein was not a nice guy either nor is Ghaddafy or Assad but Bush/Obama are responsible for far more deaths in these countries than they were so lets put things in perspective. These are complex conflicts and what we do in the West is cry about lack of democracy and human rights violations and then go in and make life worse for the people there and steal their oil and natural resources. And if Cornelius should not play for Terek because of Kadyrov shouldn't the players of  AC Milan, Arsenal, Hamburger SV, New York Cosmos, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid also stop playing for their teams because they are sponsored by a dictatorship significantly more brutal than Kadyrov (for example, I haven't heard of public stonings yet in Chechnya and in fact the death penalty is prohibited in Russia). How about Leverkusen's players with the horrid past of Bayer and some pretty shady dealings by this company in the present? How about teams with sponsors linked to the German arms exports industry, your "nice" Germany is the world's third largest exporters of weapons? Stuttgart, for example, whose sponsor Daimer/Mercedes-Benz is a major weapons manufacturer of such lovely things as cluster bombs and has also been involved in numerous cases of corruption and illegal dealings. 
As for LOK Leipzig, I hate them because they are the rival of my team, a significant proportion of their fan base is neo-Nazi and I have personally been at games where they displayed banners glorifying the Nazi Rudolf Hess and saying that LOK fans were murderers and fascists. And all of this in as you say "nice" Germany. However, I never said JLL should not play for LOK or criticized him for doing so when it seems to have furthered his career and indeed on occasion I do go on the hated LOK website to see how he is doing and post updates here.

 
 
 

From a footballing perspective he is almost certainly better off with Terek than Lubeck. Different players do well in different environments and sometimes players move up too fast too soon but for the most part any player wants to get to as high a level of club as soon as possible. The Russian Premier League is somewhere between the 1st and 2nd Bundesliga in playing level and Terek is a solid mid-table club so fairly similar level of play to a lower table 1st Bundesliga club or top 2nd Bundesliga club. No one would think he should stay with Lubeck if he was transferring to a similar level club within Germany. And as for him bailing from Lubeck, Terek asked permission to trial him, he was given permission to go and Lubeck will likely receive a good fee for him. He is doing nothing against the wishes of the club and this happens all the time the only difference here being that he had trouble getting FIFA permission to transfer and play for Lubeck. Had he played in Lubeck youth teams for 2 years and transferred without playing a single first team game no one would find it unusual at all.
As for Kadyrov it is difficult to know what to believe about him given that our media's reports on him are just as much an exercise in propaganda as the Russian ones. Even if he is guilty of the criminal or human rights abuses he is accused of, he is still the best thing that has happened to Chechnya since the end of the Soviet Union. The war in Chechnya is pretty much over and the islamist radicals have largely been defeated (unlike in neighbouring Dagestan). There are a small number still in the mountains and a lot of the rest are either fighting for ISIS or in exile in Turkey (where they are protected by another Islamic dictatorship though one that we like). Grozny is largely safe and rebuilt. It would not be my first choice of a city to move to that is sure but the life of most citizens (ie. the ones whose family members are not in the mountains or fighting with ISIS) is much better under Kadyrov than it has been at any time since the fall of the USSR. I have personally never visited Chechnya but I met several Chechens in Russia and most supported him and even those who did not thought he was better than the alternative. I suspect I have spoken to a lot more Chechens than you have. I am not saying Kadyrov is a nice guy either but he seems to be doing a lot better job dealing with islamic revolutions than the US and the West are doing in places like Iraq, Syria or Libya and with nowhere near the level of killing or brutality committed by "our side". Maybe one day he will deserve to be brought before a human rights/war crimes tribunal but if he is I certainly hope Merkel, Harper and especially Obama are there with him (and probably Trudeau as well once it becomes apparent what the Saudis are doing with the APCs we are selling them).
As for Germany being nice, as someone who has lived in both Germany (in fact was born there) and Russia let me say Germany is certainly safer to live in than Russia or Chechnya (although Russia is not nearly as dangerous as we are led to believe, living in the US was actually much more dangerous but Germany is really safe crime wise), nicer would definitely not be the word I would use. 

From a footballing perspective he is almost certainly better off with Terek than Lubeck. Different players do well in different environments and sometimes players move up too fast too soon but for the most part any player wants to get to as high a level of club as soon as possible. The Russian Premier League is somewhere between the 1st and 2nd Bundesliga in playing level and Terek is a solid mid-table club so fairly similar level of play to a lower table 1st Bundesliga club or top 2nd Bundesliga club. No one would think he should stay with Lubeck if he was transferring to a similar level club within Germany. And as for him bailing from Lubeck, Terek asked permission to trial him, he was given permission to go and Lubeck will likely receive a good fee for him. He is doing nothing against the wishes of the club and this happens all the time the only difference here being that he had trouble getting FIFA permission to transfer and play for Lubeck. Had he played in Lubeck youth teams for 2 years and transferred without playing a single first team game no one would find it unusual at all.
As for Kadyrov it is difficult to know what to believe about him given that our media's reports on him are just as much an exercise in propaganda as the Russian ones. Even if he is guilty of the criminal or human rights abuses he is accused of, he is still the best thing that has happened to Chechnya since the end of the Soviet Union. The war in Chechnya is pretty much over and the islamist radicals have largely been defeated (unlike in neighbouring Dagestan). There are a small number still in the mountains and a lot of the rest are either fighting for ISIS or in exile in Turkey (where they are protected by another Islamic dictatorship though one that we like). Grozny is largely safe and rebuilt. It would not be my first choice of a city to move to that is sure but the life of most citizens (ie. the ones whose family members are not in the mountains or fighting with ISIS) is much better under Kadyrov than it has been at any time since the fall of the USSR. I have personally never visited Chechnya but I met several Chechens in Russia and most supported him and even those who did not thought he was better than the alternative. I suspect I have spoken to a lot more Chechens than you have. I am not saying Kadyrov is a nice guy either but he seems to be doing a lot better job dealing with islamic revolutions than the US and the West are doing in places like Iraq, Syria or Libya and with nowhere near the level of killing or brutality committed by "our side". Maybe one day he will deserve to be brought before a human rights/war crimes tribunal but if he is I certainly hope Merkel, Harper and especially Obama are there with him (and probably Trudeau as well once it becomes apparent what the Saudis are doing with the APCs we are selling them).
As for Germany being nice, as someone who has lived in both Germany (in fact was born there) and Russia let me say Germany is certainly safer to live in than Russia or Chechnya (although Russia is not nearly as dangerous as we are led to believe, living in the US was actually much more dangerous but Germany is really safe crime wise), nicer would definitely not be the word I would use. 

From a footballing perspective he is almost certainly better off with Terek than Lubeck. Different players do well in different environments and sometimes players move up too fast too soon but for the most part any player wants to get to as high a level of club as soon as possible. The Russian Premier League is somewhere between the 1st and 2nd Bundesliga in playing level and Terek is a solid mid-table club so fairly similar level of play to a lower table 1st Bundesliga club or top 2nd Bundesliga club. No one would think he should stay with Lubeck if he was transferring to a similar level club within Germany. And as for him bailing from Lubeck, Terek asked permission to trial him, he was given permission to go and Lubeck will likely receive a good fee for him. He is doing nothing against the wishes of the club and this happens all the time the only difference here being that he had trouble getting FIFA permission to transfer and play for Lubeck. Had he played in Lubeck youth teams for 2 years and transferred without playing a single first team game no one would find it unusual at all.
As for Kadyrov it is difficult to know what to believe about him given that our media's reports on him are just as much an exercise in propaganda as the Russian ones. Even if he is guilty of the criminal or human rights abuses he is accused of, he is still the best thing that has happened to Chechnya since the end of the Soviet Union. The war in Chechnya is pretty much over and the islamist radicals have largely been defeated (unlike in neighbouring Dagestan). There are a small number still in the mountains and a lot of the rest are either fighting for ISIS or in exile in Turkey (where they are protected by another Islamic dictatorship though one that we like). Grozny is largely safe and rebuilt. It would not be my first choice of a city to move to that is sure but the life of most citizens (ie. the ones whose family members are not in the mountains or fighting with ISIS) is much better under Kadyrov than it has been at any time since the fall of the USSR. I have personally never visited Chechnya but I met several Chechens in Russia and most supported him and even those who did not thought he was better than the alternative. I suspect I have spoken to a lot more Chechens than you have. I am not saying Kadyrov is a nice guy either but he seems to be doing a lot better job dealing with islamic revolutions than the US and the West are doing in places like Iraq, Syria or Libya and with nowhere near the level of killing or brutality committed by "our side". Maybe one day he will deserve to be brought before a human rights/war crimes tribunal but if he is I certainly hope Merkel, Harper and especially Obama are there with him (and probably Trudeau as well once it becomes apparent what the Saudis are doing with the APCs we are selling them).
As for Germany being nice, as someone who has lived in both Germany (in fact was born there) and Russia let me say Germany is certainly safer to live in than Russia or Chechnya (although Russia is not nearly as dangerous as we are led to believe, living in the US was actually much more dangerous but Germany is really safe crime wise), nicer would definitely not be the word I would use. 

The first two articles in German talk about this issue a bit. I would think he would need to be under contract to Lubeck to get his playing permit but not sure if that would be a professional, amateur or youth contract. 4th division in Germany is considered amateur by the Germans even though all the players are paid (never understood the reasoning for this, it seems very arbitrary, German 3rd division was previously considered amateur until they made it nationwide and some of the 4th division players are quite well paid) but not sure if FIFA recognizes it as amateur. Anyway the articles say Terek officially asked permission for him to be released for the trial and the club agreed. Both articles mention a development fee not a transfer fee but state it would be in the 5 figure range. I imagine it would also include a percentage of sell on fee. It also states that Lubeck would be pleased with getting a fee out of the whole process despite the 2 year battle over the playing permit and him leaving having never played a game. His agent is from Tajikstan and apparently has a link to Terek hence the trial but is based in Lubeck and previously played for their 2nd team so I imagine he is well connected in VFB and will make sure they get adequately compensated for their efforts. Also while the German articles make a big deal about him being converted to defender from forward, the Terek website mentions that they have a lot of injuries in defence now so it is not clear whether he is playing there because they want to convert him or just because they are lacking in healthy defenders. I will post some info on the friendlies and a video on the Canucks Abroad thread.

The first two articles in German talk about this issue a bit. I would think he would need to be under contract to Lubeck to get his playing permit but not sure if that would be a professional, amateur or youth contract. 4th division in Germany is considered amateur by the Germans even though all the players are paid (never understood the reasoning for this, it seems very arbitrary, German 3rd division was previously considered amateur until they made it nationwide and some of the 4th division players are quite well paid) but not sure if FIFA recognizes it as amateur. Anyway the articles say Terek officially asked permission for him to be released for the trial and the club agreed. Both articles mention a development fee not a transfer fee but state it would be in the 5 figure range. I imagine it would also include a percentage of sell on fee. It also states that Lubeck would be pleased with getting a fee out of the whole process despite the 2 year battle over the playing permit and him leaving having never played a game. His agent is from Tajikstan and apparently has a link to Terek hence the trial but is based in Lubeck and previously played for their 2nd team so I imagine he is well connected in VFB and will make sure they get adequately compensated for their efforts. Also while the German articles make a big deal about him being converted to defender from forward, the Terek website mentions that they have a lot of injuries in defence now so it is not clear whether he is playing there because they want to convert him or just because they are lacking in healthy defenders. I will post some info on the friendlies and a video on the Canucks Abroad thread.

Some rather interesting and surprising news. Derek Cornelius who is supposed to be a very promising talent has been training for 2 years with VFB Lubeck waiting for his playing permission to play in Germany from FIFA has now finally received it. He was already training with the first team and probably would have seen action already in the 4th division had he received clearance. The problem is he was underage for signing as a foreigner but his father actually moved to Germany to work so they were trying to get it because of this reason. However, it looks like the motivation for the move was not his father's work but rather to have the son training in Germany and his father then looked for a job to allow that. Now he has approval but I suspect it is merely because he has now turned 18. At the moment, however, he is not with Lubeck but on trial with FC Terek Grozny of Chechnya in Russia. He has played some friendlies for them in Malta where they are holding their training camp. He is currently back in Lubeck for a 3 day break but will take part in Terek 2nd training camp starting in a few days. They have moved him from forward to centre back apparently. If he can stick with them it would certainly be a good move career wise though Chechnya although currently much safer than it was a decade ago is still a pretty dangerous place for an 18 year old though I imagine the team takes good care of the players.  
Here is his management on Facebook with periodic updates: https://www.facebook.com/frank.friends.sportconsulting
Training with Terek: 
And some articles in German:
http://luebeck.sportbuzzer.de/regionalliga-nord/artikel/als-innenverteidiger-derek-cornelius-kickt-schon-fuer-grosny/52471/222
http://luebeck.sportbuzzer.de/regionalliga-nord/artikel/vfb-luebeck-derek-cornelius-vor-dem-absprung-nach-grosny/52100/222
http://luebeck.sportbuzzer.de/regionalliga-nord/artikel/das-lange-tauziehen-um-derek-cornelius-er-will-doch-nur-spielen/49809/222

Not denying that but Miller for the most part selected the best team and then coached them poorly. Yallop never selected our best team for what seem to be a myriad of personal relationship and ethically questionable issues and then coached this below par team poorly. At least with our best players on the pitch you have a chance even with a bad coach. However, I hope the CSA has learned their lesson and never, ever hire another coach again of the level of either Miller or Yallop. 

New York has exercised their option option for Karl Ouimette for 2016. Congratulations Karl!
http://www.newyorkredbulls.com/post/2015/12/02/new-york-red-bulls-announce-roster-options-2016-season 

New York has exercised their option option for Karl Ouimette for 2016. Congratulations Karl!
http://www.newyorkredbulls.com/post/2015/12/02/new-york-red-bulls-announce-roster-options-2016-season 

New York has exercised their option option for Karl Ouimette for 2016. Congratulations Karl!
http://www.newyorkredbulls.com/post/2015/12/02/new-york-red-bulls-announce-roster-options-2016-season 

New York has exercised their option option for Karl Ouimette for 2016. Congratulations Karl!
http://www.newyorkredbulls.com/post/2015/12/02/new-york-red-bulls-announce-roster-options-2016-season 

New York has exercised their option option for Karl Ouimette for 2016. Congratulations Karl!
http://www.newyorkredbulls.com/post/2015/12/02/new-york-red-bulls-announce-roster-options-2016-season 

Did a bit of research and seems to be a great situation for Thomas. Bodo's starting keeper and Estonian national team keeper Pavel Londak is will sign elsewhere and their backup has health issues and is also leaving the team. They plan to sign a starter and backup this year so hopefully Thomas is intended to be the starter but even if not a great opportunity to win a spot. I suspect he may be expected to be the starter given Bodo has been a bit of a bounce team between the 1st and 2nd tier recently so are probably not big budget.
http://www.sporten.com/nyhet/na-ma-glimt-ut-pa-massiv-spillerjakt

I prefer having the list on our forum and on the first page of the thread but I don't mind it on the linked google spreadsheet either. Unless someone else is willing to put in the time and do the work to run the list we really have to accept the preferences of the guy who is willing to do it and be thankful for his efforts as well.

I prefer having the list on our forum and on the first page of the thread but I don't mind it on the linked google spreadsheet either. Unless someone else is willing to put in the time and do the work to run the list we really have to accept the preferences of the guy who is willing to do it and be thankful for his efforts as well.