26 July 2005

Go Fish

The Goffather reports that Steve Guppy may not be long with United. The timing of this issue relates to when Steve's $120K would become guranteed. Apparently, the date is typically July 1, but DCU had extra time to make a decision because of Guppy's injury.

As a fan, you always want the team to keep a guy who you feel is giving his all out on the pitch. Steve was such a player in my opinion. He played hard, delivered some beautiful crosses early in the season, and had a positive attitude in his dealings with players, media, and fans. However, as a fan, you also want the best 11 on the field who will give you a shot at winning it all. And as an MLS team, which means "team with a very strict budget and salary cap" unlike some others, there's a resource allocation problem. Guppy doesn't fit into the cold calculus that Kevin Payne and others must compute in order to win championships.

If Guppy is let go, it is a sad thing indeed, and it would be no fault of his own. But it is probably the correct decision. Guppy will become a DCU ex-pat, and we should wish him well and hope another club takes him on. If he gives as much effort to that club as he gave to DCU, then I'm sure that club will be happy.