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BREAKING- Timbers part ways with Boyd

By IVES GALARCEP

The Portland Timbers have parted ways with Scottish forward Kris Boyd, sources confirmed to SBI on Thursday.

The high-priced forward never quite settled in to be the marquee goal-scorer the Timbers were hoping for when they signed him in 2012, but the Timbers have rectified that problem by reaching an agreement with Boyd to buy out his contract and clear his high salary and Designated Player spot from the Timbers’ books.

The move frees up salary cap space for Portland to make even more moves during what has been a very busy off-season for the Timbers. Details on the agreement were unavailable, but sources tell SBI the Timbers were able to reach a reasonable deal to pay out a portion of the remaining salary on Boyd’s contract.

What do you think of this development? Excited to see the Timbers make the move they had to make? What would you like to see the Timbers do with the freed-up Designated Player slot?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Boyd is one of a type of Scottish player – talented, but conceited, not exactly a genius and a chronic underachiever: content to take the money but no thought of improving himself as a player. He had the potential to be a top striker, but he has just never bothered to make the required effort.

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  2. Bottom Line: Boyd (just like Hamdi Salihi) is a bad fit for the style the respective coach wants to play. Both Boyd and Salihi are good poachers. Difficult to judge Boyd on the basis of a bad Portland team that struggled to score last year absent restarts. Porter is more than just an attacking coach, it’s a totally different approach to the game which Boyd doesn’t fit.

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  3. Kris boyd was clearly overrated. He was lazy and ineffective. I couldn’t be more thrilled to not have to watch him do nothing on the pitch. Glad to have the cap space, and Dp slot back.

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  4. Boyd was a good player, but not DP worthy, especially with Timbers messy midfield, Boyd isn’t like Hassli that creates his once chances. Maybe should for younger forward thats be future transer in Argentina or Brazil, or someone like Benitez (America) has pace & causes havoc on defenders.

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  5. As a Dynamo fan, I’d just like to thank the Timbers from the bottom of my heart not only from sparing us the horrible mistake of signing Kris Boyd, but also for giving us a 1st round draft pick which we just used to pick up J. J. Johnson. I don’t know how good he will turn out to be, but he’s probably a safer investment than Kris Boyd.

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    • Sadly, as a Timber fan, I agree. Unfortunate that it worked out that way for us, but it did and we will have to move on from here.

      The one thing I hope GW and MP have learned from this is putting all of your hopes and dreams into a highly paid striker at the expense of your central midfield and defense isn’t very smart.

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    • Actually, I think Kris would’ve fit better in Houston than he did in Portland, but I’m not sure he would have been a really good fit anywhere in the league – I just don’t feel his style of playing really translates well to MLS. I do wish him well, however.

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    • That’s great, but the narrative doesn’t fit the facts. Houston did try to sign him, but he denied Houston. Timbers only later came in after Houston’s failure to convince him to go to your town. Boyd spared you the mistake. Not the Timbers. Timbers couldn’t even act on signing him until Houston failed to do it. You did get the pick out of Boyd’s refusal.

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  6. Boyd was a hell of a lot better than people give him credit for. He had 7 goals, but was also directly responsible for four others (two tap-ins after the keeper juggled it and two own goals). He was absolutely ruthless inside the penalty area. The problem was he never had either time or space and opposing teams simply put two or three defenders around him at all times. If he had gotten any kind of offensive support and forced defenders to come out and defend, he would have have 20 goals.

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    • I agree and disagree.

      He had really great touch and instinct… Also great intentions that we spoiled by management (read: Paulson hiring spenny for beautiful futbol). Boyd was stoked and training hard at the Nike facilities to be in shape and ready for a faster paced MLS. MGMT decided to lose spenny and all hope for Boydian poacher football was lost.

      Disagree, because he was not exactly ruthless inside the 18. Few almost complete whiffs and quite a few botched free kicks. Power, no swerve. His work rate fell off almost right when the Scottish coach left. Service wasn’t there, true, but this isn’t Rangers v. Hearts …. No lopsided play in the MLS (league of parody)

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  7. if u pay a striker a million a year they should at least score u 10 goals a season. 15 would be sweet. Portland should try getting an Asian DP. Like a Ji Sung Park or a star from the K/J leagurs

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    • I agree we need an Asian DP. Those leagues have a ton of young talent, and players are still available at bargain prices. Bringing in players from there is following the late 90s Arsenal/early 2000s Oakland A’s philosophy of finding the area of the market where you get the most value for your money and being ahead of the rest of the league. Plus it is a natural market for Portland and will help with international exposure. I used to have Japanese tour groups come through my work that were in town specifically to see Suzuki play.

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  8. every DP has been a flop except Beckham, Henry, Angel, Blanco, Kean and Saborio. This dude Boyd was crap. couldnt even score in MLS. He might as well head to the Panamian league or Angolan league

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      • No, the Timbers were god awful and Kris Boyd earned his reputation in the SPL. Honestly, I doubt any player of his caliber would have succeeded in Portland last year. He never received quality service.

      • There is a reason he started less than half his matches in the SPL, the English League Championship, and the Turkish Super Lig, and that many of his former teammates and managers don’t have much good to say about him. He takes more off the table than he brings to a team. If you have a team that is head and shoulders above almost all the rest of the league talent-wise, i.e. Rangers, then he can finish opportunities, but that’s it. He is like a poor man’s Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

      • If he only started half his games in the SPL, that’s even more impressive. He holds the scoring record there without playing maximum minutes.

        You obviously don’t dispute the fact he never received decent service in P-Town. Without service, Boyd is pretty useless.

      • Boyd was a waste of space in the SPL…. Any striker that was in the Rangers side at that time could have scored blindfolded such was the style of play and service from back to front! Why was he never considered 1st name on the team sheet when Rangers faced Celtic or in Europe!? Because he wasnt considered a team player that was good enough to make the step up in class against superior opposing defences! The guys career lives off the back of Rangers and he has been found out at every club thereafter!

    • Boyd was part of that and needs to own it.

      The Timbers failure has been that they thought that ONE GUY was going to be the key and spent big bucks on forwards trying to build an MLS team. Kenny Cooper, Kris Boyd.

      Boyd came in for Spencer. Absolutely the Timbers didn’t have the support to make either of those guys succeed. The Timbers pulled the trigger 2-3 years too early to bring in high priced forwards (both with huge limitations to their games outside of the box / shooting position). The Timbers did this at the expense of a solid defense and a midfield capable of being creative and giving service to players who need it (Boyd, Cooper). It isn’t that shocking at all that it failed.

      Both were class guys though and I had fun watching them. Obviously Boyd doesn’t fit Porter’s system, he knew this, we knew this. Buying him out makes the most sense for both parties. Good luck Kris, I wish you well.

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  9. He wasn’t interested. Part of that is the management, part of that the player. His success was always as a penalty box striker. I had never in my life seen Boyd tracking back to the halfway line as he had to do in Portland. Combined with poor service from the midfield – his goals were mainly from set pieces – this turned out to be a mismatch for both Portland and Boyd. Time for everyone to move on.

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  10. Hooray, and too bad it didn’t work out. Timbers just didn’t have the service that Boyd lives on. That said, it’s a shock that Gavin Wilkinson and Merritt Paulson had the humility to admit that this was a bad move in the first place. They’re far better at telling the fans that they’re wrong (idiots, morons).

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  11. I have always liked Boyd but there’s no doubt he is a poacher and a poacher only. He doesn’t give you much unless it’s inside the penalty area. That’s the way he’s always played and that will never change. He never fit into Portland’s scheme and while it’s frustrating it didn’t work out, I’m glad Portland moved quickly to end things. It doesn’t benefit Portland or boyd if they let things drag on. Success doesn’t always translate league to league.

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    • We, DC, are facing the same problem with our DP striker. Which is frustrating because both front offices should have known they were poachers. If they weren’t going to build a team around them, it wasn’t going to work.

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  12. Very disappointed. I thought it was great that he came over and it really should’ve worked. I haven’t paid nearly as much attention to him as Portland fans, but I wish he got another year to try and settle in, the guy is a natural goal scorer.

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  13. I wonder how many pies he’s been eating away in Scotland this offseason? Probably a lot given his physique at the end of last season.

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    • Then you must be THRILLED that we’re keeping Gavin Wilkinson, Jack Jewsbury, Rodney Wallace, and Mr. Ballwatch himself, David Horst.

      Boyd never got any service, and yet he takes the fall for the season.

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      • He has been a dud for some time now. I see why his Turkish club didn’t want to pay him. Lack of effort was obvious. Then when Spenny left he really let himself go. The last match he played, he looked a little heavier than normal and obviously out of sync with the team. In soccer, groin injuries are usually from being out of shape. I do however agree on GW.

  14. It’s a shame Kris didn’t work out for the club, though last year had its share of “shames.” All the very best to Kris wherever he lands.

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  15. Glad the Timbers were able to get that resolved fairly quickly. Having that distraction during the start of a new era for the club would not be good.

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  16. After tossing aside the woulda/should/coulda’s, I’m glad for both Kris and PDX that we can move on. Having him on the bench at that price would’ve been too much of a distraction.

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  17. It was time for Boyd to go. He never settled in with Portland. I hope he finds work else where, but as a Timbers fan, I am glad we were able to get him off the books.

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