In The Wake Of The Tsunami

By: Dave Martinez | July 1st, 2009

Yesterday, I stated that only in MLS does a guaranteed contract need to be re-guaranteed during the season to count as a true guaranteed contract. Well, with the July 1st guarantee deadline upon us, and no additional moves announced, the Bulls roster has now been set in stone, right?

Well,
Brian Lewis at the Post is reporting a little wrinkle in the rule. In his own words:

And since a lot of you have been asking, Khano Smith and Pietravallo were both at practice. I think it was the Argentine’s last day, but probably not Smith’s. Since contracts are guaranteed tomorrow, does that mean Smith is out of the woods? Not exactly.

The club is able to shunt a few players into a category where their deals are NOT guaranteed tomorrow. I don’t know exactly who falls on that list, but I do know they exercised that option with two players. I presume we’ll find out who they are soon enough, just like we’ll find out who any more trialists will be soon enough.

“Shunt.” “Guarantee.” Meh, what do words mean in Major League Soccer anyway?

The most intriguing aspect of all of this is the identity of the two players that have been . . . ahem . . . “shunted.” My guess is Khano Smith may be on this shortlist. And with the season ending injury of Carlos Mendes, Kiwi Andrew Boyens may be safer than most thought. Definitely leaves a person to ponder the possibilities.

Meanwhile, the Bulls still have one known roster spot open, and all signs are pointing at the Austrian sister clubs Ernst Obster to fill it. They also have Veljko Paunović of Atletico Madrid fame in training, possibly looking to fill the ever elusive CAM slot.

We shall see what happens. Until then, share your thoughts on all of this. Who are the two unidentified players? Is the Obster / Paunovic option to little to late?

Some Related Red Bulls Posts:

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kofix5

Enough with this 'only 1 spot to fill' crap. They have an empty roster spot only Khano Smith is sitting in it at the moment.

They need to sign at least 2 guys and boot Khano. I've rooted for the guy because I think he's got skills but since he isn't motivated to show them he needs to go. I know other people feel strongly that he's lacking but I don't. I've seen moments where he shows he can play but in the last game he looked like he had never played before. He should have been playing like he was playing for his job but he just looked inept. And most of the time he's on the field he brings no energy, no fight, and no positive impact. Thats why he needs to go.
They need to bring in Obster AND the Serb!
kofix5

IF we get Paunovic and we get Obster and Obster really is better than what we have and based on all the stuff I've read everywhere, (i.e. I read that JCO is specifically looking at the Serb as a Forward and he's spoken to Kandji about his position on the team and Kandji likes CAM ) our team could look like this - but we all know how JCO loves to shuffle his deck- ::

------------Angel------Paunovic----------

Obster----------Kandji-------Zimmerman

----------------Stammler---------------------

Pacheco-----Goldie----Petke-------Hall

-----------Bouna/Cepero---------------

Options:

F-- Woly, Kandji, Richards

LMid-- Rojas, Borman, Richards, Hall

RMid -- Sinisa, MButa, Hall, Richards,

AMid -- Paunovic, Celades, Rojas,

DMid-- Sassano, Celades??

LB-- Borman

RB-- Johnson

CB-- Boyens ( Mendes maybe plays late Sept )

:P maybe we should get a defender too
dave martinez

damn Gabe - I dont know how I missed your post there. freakin hysterical.
dave martinez

Lou - Bouna took Conways spot. Simple as that. Mendes injury could be open for a spot, if Red Bull decide to put him into the season ending injury cut list, much like they did to Palacio last year.
Gabriel Liendo

What does "Major League" mean anyway :)

I think the USL has a better structure. This MLS is as amateur as you can get.
Lou

Dave, don't we have two open rosters spots instead of just one? Releasing pietrovallo frees up one spot, and than the season ending injury to carlos mendes allows us to sign someone else. At least that's what i thought. If that's the case thanw e could sign obster and Veljko Paunović.
mike.

So there's different levels for "guaranteed" and "guaranteed-to-be-guaranteed"? :s Still, that's slightly less double-talk and technicality-tweaking than your typical New York state senate session.