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NYCFC issue no comment on Lampard rumors, confirm Manhattanville College reports

Frank Lampard of Chelsea applauds fans

photo by Ben Queenborough/ISIphotos.com

By FRANCO PANIZO

New York City FC’s brass addressed a recent report on Monday. They also refused to discuss another.

NYCFC officials spoke to media members via a conference call on Monday afternoon to discuss Spanish striker David Villa becoming the club’s first player, but they were also faced with questions regarding two topics that grabbed headlines in recent days.

The first subject to come up was Frank Lampard’s rumored impending arrival to the MLS expansion club, which is set to begin play in 2015. Lampard was linked with a move to NYCFC over the past weekend and is set to leave Chelsea this summer, but NYCFC sporting director Claudio Reyna declined to reveal whether his club has been in talks with the English midfielder.

“There’s no comment on Frank Lampard,” said Reyna. “We want talk about David Villa on this call today.”

NYCFC did confirm last week’s reported news that they will not be training at Manhattanville College, as had been previously announced. A small group of locals has filed a lawsuit against the college over its plans to house NYCFC and undergo renovations, and the timeframe that it would take to sort that out has left NYCFC looking for a different place to train at.

“The report is true,” said NYCFC chief business officer Tim Pernetti. “We went through a pretty comprehensive and extremely transparent public process with Manhattanville and the township. We were really pleased to have the project approved by the town’s appointed planning board, the college definitely was excited about the improvements and would’ve afforded them the state-of-the-art facility.

“But unfortunately there’s a small group up there pursuing a legal action against the college and we’re up against a very tight timeline and our priority is always going to be to put a practice facility in place in a timely manner that’s of the standards we expect for our first team and for our club. Because of the timing, we’re pursuing some different options and we’re currently in the midst of that process.”

Pernetti did not go into detail as to what other sites are being looked at as potential places for a training facility, but he added that this latest setback was not discouraging the club.

“We made pretty clear that when we got into this we expected challenges in New York City and depending on what we’re working on, there are going to be those challenges,” said Pernetti. “At the same time, there’s an equal number of opportunities for every challenge we face. We’re going to find the right place for our club to train. It’s going to be the right situation and it’s also going to be a place where we’re valued and wanted to be.”

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What do you make of this news? Hoping Lampard signs with NYCFC this summer? What location would you like to see the club choose for its training facility?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I think Lampard, in NYC, would be a mistake. There will be other big names on the back end of their careers to sign. Lampard would be a bad idea.

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  2. Anybody else want to talk about the college? If every project came to a halt because of ONE small group filing a lawsuit, nothing would EVER get done.

    Reply
  3. Lampard would be more of a retirement league move. He probably has one decent season left at most. I think they can do better. The Villa signing (and others) shows that guys will come to MLS when they still have something to offer.

    Reply
    • One year and sub-DP money. If he would have come to LA two years ago, he could have earned (and deserved, IMO) a hefty paycheck. Now, I agree with you. Making him a multi-year DP just doesn’t make sense from a competitive standpoint. Maybe from a marketing perspective it does.

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  4. I really hope they sign Lampard on a 3 or 4 year DP contract. That would be awesome…

    … If you aim is to set MLS back a decade.

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  5. Lampard is 35, but as a midfielder, he still has some time left. Frank is still a good player and will have good name recognition for casual fans.

    To those criticizing people proclaiming to be fans of NYCFC, get over yourself. Even if they haven’t started yet, they know they will be fans. As 2017 is 3 years away, I am already a fan of the Atlanta MLS team, even though they are years away from playing.

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    • He said it was a legitimate question. He wasn’t criticizing. I had the same question but didn’t ask. You may plan to be a fan, but how do you know until they you see the team of players and you’ve seen them play? I live in Ohio and have tried to be a Crew fan numerous times and just can’t do it. I like some players on their team but every time I start to like the team, the organization does something stupid. I’ve moved on and am a Timbers fan from afar. What if NYCFC signs not only Lampard but Terry, Gudjohannson and the other player that was making fun of 9/11, would Yankeedom still be a fan? It’s a legit ?

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  6. People are so desesperatelly for “famous” players to come to MLS they’re willing to overlook anything as long as they f@rt in our general direction.
    Get some self respect !

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  7. Perhaps the club could consider SUNY, Purchase for a training facility?

    With regard to Frank Lampard, if NYCFC thought he was a good fit for the team, I would be okay with him joining NYCFC as long as he addressed his post 9/11 comments and behavior. It was a long time ago and he has had no other behavior, to my knowledge, that has been offending, since September 12, 2001; that’s over 12 years ago. A one-off mistake should be forgiven.

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  8. As an NYCFC fan I do not want Lampard on this team or anywhere near this city.

    His behavior toward Americans hours after 9/11, were discussing and totally disgraceful.

    Reply
      • I will not move on. I can hold a grudge against anyone who’s actions have aggrieved my country, my fellow citizens, and to a lesser and indirect extent, me.

        I’m happy you have no ill will toward him. I’m glad you’ve been able to “move on” from disparaging actions regarding a national tragedy. Just curious, are you American? Do you live in the NYC area?

      • Believe it or not, people can feel empathy without being American or a New Yorker. People can also use common sense and admit that the actions of a drunk, immature footballer need not be held against him 13 years later.

      • It doesn’t matter. That’s blatantly fallacious rhetoric. One needn’t be from the US or NYC to understand the situation.

      • I’m very sorry for your loss and I appreciate you sharing. I must not be as evolved as you; I’m not going to move on.

      • “move on”? Tell that to the families of the victims that still live in NYC. Most of us have been drunken 23 yr olds and it doesn’t make us laugh at suffering people. Being drunk is not an excuse.

      • +100
        Especially the part about being drunk, which everyone loves to bring up as a legitimate excuse for his actions.

      • I guess you’re not hiring any ex-cons. I’m assuming you hire people to do work since you have so much time to post here on this one topic.

      • My line of work doesn’t entail hiring but if it did, I would not hire ex-cons. Fortunately, my job does afford me the time to post here as frequently as I would like.

      • The fact he was drunk, young, and immature is a pretty legit excuse, actually. Especially considering 13 years have passed and he’s a 35 year-old man now. I’ll bet if you sat down with him and pressed him on the issue, he’d apologize and admit he was an ass.

      • No they really aren’t legit excuses. Being drunk isn’t an excuse for anything, ever. I’m sure no one forced him to drink; and I’m going to go out on a limb here and say no one spiked his virgin pina colada either. Being young? He wasn’t 17, he was 23. Old enough to be a professional, drink and (at least in the USA) old enough to vote. Immature? Nope. By many accounts he’s a very intelligent and insightful person. You can’t claim either of those as excuses.

      • Yes! I feel very strongly about the horror that was 9/11. I don’t appreciate someone making a mockery of a national tragedy.
        I understand people make mistakes but I’m not going to welcome the guy with open arms.

        An apology would be great but he’ll always be a classless idiot in my book.

      • “By many accounts he’s a very intelligent and insightful person.”

        And yet you can’t move past a stupid event that took place thirteen years ago. That brings me full circle. Move on, man.

      • You clearly missed the point, which is you can’t give an intelligent, insightful person a mulligan for something he should have been smart enough to know was wrong and disrespectful.

        It would be bad enough if he were an unintelligent, bumbling fool. It’s only made worse because he should have been smart enough to know better.

      • Everyone needs a nulligan sometime. I hope your loved ones are more forgiving than you, else you could have a very lonely second half of your life, yankeedom.

      • This is the same kind of fundamentalist patriotism and self-righteous garbage that fuels those determined to marinate in insult, indignation and misery that fuels 2000 year old feuds. Laughably absurd.

      • Yankeedom, I totally agree that being drunk is never an excuse. If you know that you will do stupid things when you are drunk, then getting drunk is a stupid thing to do. Also, your grudge against Lampard is understandable. Most of these people telling you to move on would probably not move on if Lampard said the same thing about victims of slavery, the Haulacost, etc…

    • really?, We are all so perfect & blameless. WE’ve never done anything in our life to give anyone pause. I just love the way we go about judging people these days.
      Not a fan of NYCFC, don’t plan to cheer for them, I got my team , “Go Cosmos”!!

      But u r re-dick-culus!!

      Trying to drum up hate against this guy. I hope u don’t support my team

      Reply
      • +1

        13 years is a long time to hold a grudge…I would hate to be judged today based on what I did when I was 15…life goes on

      • You’re not getting the point. He was 23 years old, not 15. To laugh at people dying is such a disgusting and repulsive trait. 23 years old…

        Imagine somebody laughing at the death of your sibling and 13 years later he wants to work at your company……Well hire the man! He brings so much value to your company, get over the fact that he laughed at the death of your 5 year old brother who taken from you for no reason at all.

      • it’s not about being 15, 23, or 45…i cant imagine there’s one person on here who doesn’t regret a decision they made 13 years ago, regardless of their age at the time. I would hate to get judged on what i did 5 years ago at 23.

        thats all i’m saying…

      • With all due respect Greg, I have never mocked or laughed at people over someone dying-friend or foe. It is unfathomable to me. It demonstrates a disdain and lack of respect for this country that is shared by many in England. I lived there. Lampard has plenty of countries where he can go to get paid handsomely in his retirement.

        And this is not about grudges for thirteen years. If NYCFC wants to be the best club in MLS, which I am sure it wants to be, it should have some standards. Players with character should be one of them

    • Can you point me to what was said and that Lampard said it? Because all the articles I’ve found say is that a group of 4 CFC players were drunk and teasing Americans about being stuck in London at the time of 9/11, and were suspended. It is unclear if they were suspended for drunk and disorderly, for being insensitive (maybe a bunch of bi-national drunks in a bar were yucking it up with sharp banter they were ok about, but someone who passed by was offended), or because they actually went way too far. It is unclear if certain players with a known penchant for saying stupid things (Terry, ahem) spoke up and other players were merely there drunk and didn’t stop him. Or maybe Lampard did say something.

      I will say this would be less than ideal PR and maybe that’s why the Villa-Lampard sequence ground to a stop after Villa. But if people are getting the pitchforks out it would be a good time to have factual clarity.

      Reply
      • What a big time win for the home team this was. 9/11 was not going to miss out on this foodfight, SBI is crushing it.

        What’s next? Iwo Jima? The Menendez Brothers? Free Mumia? Free Willy? Free Willy Sagnol?

        My couch fort is openly recruiting qualified candidates

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