With his season in England over and his contract with Norwich City finally expired, Darren Huckerby has reappeared on TFC's recruiting radar.
You guys might remember the rumours that few around this winter that he wanted to follow John Carver across the pond and sign with TFC, and that the team was interested him despite his age (32) and the chronic hip problems that sidelined him at times this season.
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| TONY BOCK/TORONTO STAR |
| John Carver's radar still stretches across the pond. |
Right now Huckerby -- who was recently named to Norwich City's all-time, all-star team -- isn' t saying much about a potential move to MLS.
But after a short practice this morning Carver cleared up a few things about the team's reputed courtship with the 5-foot-9 striker.
Yes, TFC is interested in him. They have indeed filed a discovery claim with the league, giving them the first right among MLS teams to sign him.
No, they haven't offered him a contract.
Carver says Huckerby's aware of the club's interest in him, and it's up to Huckerby, who scored five goals in 26 league games this season, to make the next move.
But right now the he's waiting.
ON SOCCER TALK
Those of you who still lament the lack of soccer jargon in my writing will be pleased to know that Saturday evening I used the term "final third" in a post game chat with Danny Dichio.
And he didn't laugh in my face, so I must have used it correctly.
See? I'm learning.
But I still draw the line at "pace."
-- Morgan Campbell
Please, not Huckerby. I just don't see what he has to offer that can't be had from the current squad, namely Smith and Cunningham. He never was much of a goalscorer and 5 goals in 29 games (counting FA and League Cup, 8 as a sub) in whatever they call Division Two these days is not much of an endorsment. I think this is a plot by the team physio, the team is way too healthy at the moment.
Posted by: voislav | May 20, 2008 at 02:34 PM
I'm glad Dichio knew what your talking about, because I don't!
What's with 32 year old footballers? There's a bunch of guys born in '76 and Robert just turned 33.
Posted by: Timmy | May 20, 2008 at 11:09 PM
Apparently they're also looking into getting Shola Ameobi, who's just entering his prime at the age of 26. He's worked with John Carver in Newcastle and has some familiar faces in Toronto FC.
Signing him would be fantastic!
Posted by: Mash | May 21, 2008 at 03:59 PM
Hey Morgan! Love the blog - as a new Toronto FC fan who has definitely caught the fever, your blog is a great place to learn about what's up with the team. But you need a mail link like Doug Smith has, so we can fire you some questions to perhaps be answered!
Here's one for you: after watching the last couple games on the Score (who clearly is just hijacking American TV coverage often slanted towards the visiting team) I'm curious if know whether MLSE has any plans to begin in-house broadcast production of TFC games similar to the Raptors? How long will it be before we have our own TFC broadcast team?
Posted by: Rob Emerson | May 22, 2008 at 11:06 AM