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Revolution exercise option on Goncalves, decline Davies, will monitor Agudelo situation

Jose Goncalves

Photo by ISIPhotos.com

By KEVIN KOCZWARA

Jose Goncalves will call New England home again.

The Revolution made their captain’s loan permanent as the team used their option to purchase Goncalves and transfer him permanently to New England, the club announced Friday. They also picked up his contract option for the 2014 MLS season.

“With what he provided us on and off the field this year, we’re looking forward to him returning,” Revolution general manager Mike Burns told the team’s official website. “We’re certainly glad that we were able to acquire him on a permanent basis.”

Goncalves, who anchored the Revolution’s defense and quickly took over the captain’s armband despite being on loan, joins 11 other Revolution players who had their contract options picked up and four other players who are under contract with the team through the 2014 season.

Nine players had their contract options declined for the 2014 season, including former U.S. Men’s National Team player Charlie Davies, who was on loan from Danish club Randers FC. Three players are out of contract heading into the 2014 season.

“After every season, we have to take a hard look at our roster and make some very difficult decisions, both for personnel and salary budget considerations,” Burns said. “In our case, we’ll continue discussions with some of the out-of-contract and declined-option players in the hope they will return to the club next year.

“We’ve been steadily adding pieces to our club and after showing some improvement this year, we’ve retained a core group of players for next season. We’ll continue to try to strengthen the team this off-season through more signings and the various drafts.”

For Davies, the club has said it is interested in him returning to the team next season but a deal needs to be worked out with his club.

“Charlie’s a player that we would like to have return to us, but [his situation] is a little bit more complicated than some other ones that may have been a little bit more straightforward,” Burns said on Nov. 12. “We are working and [we’re] in the process to hopefully have him back in a Revs uniform next year.”

One player of note whose contract option wasn’t picked up is longtime goalkeeper Matt Reis, who had a terrific year in net before getting injured in the closing minutes of the Revolution’s playoff game against Sporting Kansas City, but had a tough year off the field with the Boston marathon bombings affecting his family. Burns told the team’s website that there is more to the situation than just not picking up a contract. At the team’s exit interviews a few weeks ago, Reis hinted to SBI that he was considering retirement.

“We’ve had a lot of conversations with Matt from the coaches to the front office,” Burns said. “I think it would probably be more appropriate – at the appropriate time – for Matt to address his situation. He was not an easy one for us, but we made a decision to not exercise the option. But there’s obviously a lot more to it than that.”

Burns also said that the team isn’t done trying to bring players back. Some players whose contracts were not picked up or who are out of contract could still return.

“Just because a player’s contract option is not picked up or he’s out of contract, does not mean that he won’t be back. That’s just part of the process,” said Burns.

One player whose future is up in the air is forward Juan Agudelo, who agreed to a pre-contract with Stoke City in the English Premier League but had his work permit denied this week. Burns says the team is monitoring his situation and that the team would welcome him back if Agudelo is interested in returning to the team. New England does have the right of first refusal if Agudelo does decide to return to Major League Soccer next year.

Revolution picked up contract options on goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth; defenders Jose Goncalves, Stephen McCarthy, A.J. Soares and O’Brian Woodbine; midfielders Scott Caldwell, Andy Dorman and Lee Nguyen; and forwards Jerry Bengtson, Dimitry Imbongo and Saer Sene.

Four players under contract for 2014 are: midfielder Diego Fagundez, defender Andrew Farrell, midfielder Kelyn Rowe and defender Chris Tierney.

The Revs declined the 2014 contract options on nine players: forward Chad Barrett, forward Charlie Davies, midfielder Ryan Guy, defender Tyler Polak, goalkeeper Matt Reis, midfielder Clyde Simms, midfielder Donnie Smith, goalkeeper Luis Soffner and midfielder Juan Toja.

Three players are out of contract going into the 2014 season: forward Juan Agudelo, defender Kevin Alston and defender Darrius Barnes.

Three more players were waived and will be available to other Major League Soccer teams in the Waiver Draft on Monday, Nov. 25: defender Bilal Duckett, forward Matt Horth and midfielder Gabe Latigue.

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What do you think of this news? Do you see Goncalves staying with the Revolution for the long term? Surprised that Davies’ contract was declined? Do you believe Agudelo could come back next season with the Revolution?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Juan Toja to FCD reuinion.

    He’ll probably go on the 2nd part of the re-entry draft based on his salary.

    If he’s there I hope they take him. God knows we need some depth at the Holding mid spot

    Reply
    • Yes. Bring Toja (and his mullet) back to FCD. A Steve Morrow, Toja and Cooper reunion would be awesome. Also they should trade George John for Clarence Goodson. #FamilyReunion

      Reply
  2. I wouldn’t say that Davies is out of New England just yet. Lets look at the fact that since Charlie is on loan from Randers to the Revs, that means if they picked up his option, they would have to pay his transfer fee. Doing that for Goncalvesis a no-brainer, but for Davies, with limited sub appearances, doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. My thoughts: Randers decides to just cut ties with Davies, terminates his contract making him a free agent, and the Revs can negotiate a contract with him.

    He’s a local guy and with a proper pre-season training, he could possibly be a force with this type of team.

    Reply
  3. DCU should pick up Toja. Look at our options in the midfield. The only other attacking midfielder is Silva. Leon and Pontius play on the outside, Jeffries and Kitchen are ball winners. That English guy (forgot his name) is pretty decent but he is not an attacking midfielder but more of a utility player.

    Reply
  4. Charlie Davies still possesses to my mind, the greatest goal celebration ever seen in MLS. After his comeback from a horrible car wreck, he scored for DC at home in his first game back, jumped the hoarding and tried to get into the car that was on display behind the goal.

    Anyone have a better one?

    Reply
  5. Davies a cautionary tale of young recklessness. But I will say this if EJ can make a come back, so can Davies.

    Good luck to him. And maybe he will work out something with New England. From what I heard is that he was showing quite well in training for the Revs; it was strange that he didn’t see the field more for the Revs.

    Reply
  6. Davies had 4 sub appearances.

    It’s sad. In the 4 years since his accident he’s appeared in a total of 32 matches (only 18 starts, all with DC in 2011). And he’s played in less than 60 competitive MINUTES over the last two years. His career is for all intents and purposes over. We’re all left wondering what might have been.

    Reply
    • Whoops, sorry, ESPN FC apparently had the wrong info about his time in Denmark. He’s made 23 appearances (3 starts) for them in 2012-13. Still, no goals and then shipped off to New England where he did nothing. Really doesn’t look good.

      Reply
  7. Silly me, I thought I could quietly check out the soccer news on SBI during a lull in my conference session on Wednesday. Nope! Yes, I had turned my smartphone’s sound Off, but when I started http://www.soccerbyives.com, it turned the sound back on and immediately started playing some freakin ad video. I don’t get it. Ives’s has put an immense amount of effort into creating what I think is a very entertaining and informative web site. But casts it all to the wind for a few bucks from some pushy ad company.

    Reply
    • Embarrassing but… the fact that a man needs to make a living/actually earn income for the immense amount of time and effort put into creating what you acknowledge to be a very entertaining and informative web site shouldn’t surprise you. Lesson learned… use a headset next time.

      Reply
    • My guess is that’s because soccerbyives.com is some other dodgy website, not this one, which is soccerbyives.net. My work network isn’t even letting me access .com to see what it is.

      Reply
    • Totally agree with you, Donald. Those audio ads are freaking annoying. I get that advertising pays the bills, but they don’t need to be in your face like that. I’ll bail on this site if that doesn’t go away. Way too intrusive.

      Reply
  8. Davies played some,… not much. I don’t understand why they would want him back. He really can’t play anymore

    The one I just don’t get is Jerry Bengtson. He’s been a total bust. Only thing I can think of is maybe they hope to trade him? The others they let go make sense

    Reply
    • With Bengston, the answer comes down to Honduras. For all the talk of folks like Wondo being good enough at club level, but not at intl level, here’s a guy who’s clearly good enough at that higher level. The question remains why can’t we get that same production at the club level. It’s usually harder to go the other way.

      So take a look at what Bengston is good at for country – and that’s putting himself in the right place at the right time. Which, thus far, has not been the way the Revs play. We can certainly create the chances, but they’re not opportunities for poachers, which is where Bengston seems to thrive. Question for the Revs for next year, clearly, is what’s the game plan for how we will play. He’s not necessarily someone who can’t fit, and he’s clearly someone who can excel at the harder intl. level.

      Reply
    • I would bet they are looking to move him and he does have market value. Makes the most sense to pick up his option and then deal him to someone who wants him.

      Reply
  9. Looks like they made the correct decisions across the board.

    I bet Davies’ number was just too steep.

    I said it before, I will say it again, the problem in NE is not the soccer people in the front office, it’s the ownership group.

    Reply
    • I recall seeing Davies come off the bench at least once. It wasn’t for long, but he showed how fast he can be. Unfortunately, I don’t recall him showing much else.

      Reply

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