Word out of Denmark is that the Wizards have a new keeper, former Aalborg goal keeper, Jimmy Nielsen. Nielsen is a 32 year old Danish keeper who spent most of his time with Aalborg, but has most recently been with Vejle Boldklub of the Danish second division. According to the article, the Wizards bought Nielsen from Vejle, which I personally doubt. MLS and their teams rarely if ever pay transfer fees for players.
I'm not sure how trustworthy this site is, but according to another article, the Wizards were not the first MLS team to inquire about Nielsen, the other club is not named, but apparently KC only recently come after the keeper. According to the article, Nielsen has signed a one year contract with an option year if both parties agree to it. Nielsen says that Peter Vermes has told Nielsen would have to compete for the number 1 shirt and he wouldn't automatically come in as the number one keeper.
I personally still have my doubts that he's been signed, mainly because the first article says that we bought him when MLS rarely if ever buys players and the wording of the quote in the second article makes it seem like he's there on trial. If it is true, though, then I think this definitely signals the end of Kevin Hartman's time in KC. We'll see if the team announces anything on the player soon.
Although it appears that it's being mentioned by many news outlets in Denmark, as well as ESPN.
My doubts are starting to slip away very quickly and it appears that KC has indeed signed the Dane, with only the physical left to be performed. That's according to Greg Seltzer over at Soccer 365 and No Short Corners who was able to get a hold of Nielsen and interview him. Still no comment from the team on the team, though, as the front office is at a staff off-site event today.
And for those that missed it, Robb Heineman just tweeted a welcome to Casino Jimmy, one of Nielsen's nicknames.
I'm at a loss as to why Hartman hasn't been re-signed? A money thing? Certainly he's better than the other guys in camp. He's still got a year or two left in him. I don't get it.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Hartman was our best and most consistent player last season. Why aren't be bringing him back?
ReplyDeleteMy guess is it has to do with either the money being offered by KC or the money that Hartman wants.
ReplyDeleteWith no Lopez money being spent, I can't see what the money problem with paying Hartman for one more year is.
ReplyDeleteNot signing these two could prove to backfire on the Wizards big time. Without them we lack quite a bit of experience. It's no small thing.
News look to be true, updating post now.
ReplyDeleteIm am sure there is a logical reason for this, I like Hartman but frankly I dont think he is anything other than a bit above par keeper in the MLS.
ReplyDeleteWe added experince in the center of the midfield with Auvray and have left sided players for options to replace C. Lopez. He was/is great going forward and strikes the ball well on fk's, but offers nothing getting back. From my prespective, it seems like Vermes really values phyiscally attributes, which might be a reason that it doesnt appear they are jumping thru hoops to re-sign Lopez.
I wouldnt worry about anything backfiring considering how bad things were last year.
Mike- do you know a resource for a breakdown of how the age/experince of our roster compares to other in the MLS?
Things can easily get worse. Hell without hartman we were the red bulls last season. I'm with mike this signing leaves me underwhelmed, there isn't any upgrade in this move.
ReplyDeleteReally? People are this upset about not signing Hartman... besides Besler, Hartman frustrated me more than anyone else on the team last season. His constant getting beat near post being the most frustrating and also his lack of communication with the defense and constantly being out of position are a few more annoying things. Yes in his glory days I would take him over just about any other keeper in the league however he is an old horse that needs to be put down.
ReplyDeleteHe was EASILY our team MVP last season.
ReplyDeletei wish the league would work this contract situtation out with hartman soon. I don't believe any keeper that has been mentioned in the past few weeks is as good as hartman is right now.
ReplyDeleteJimmy Nielsen won both in 1998 and 2004 the golden cage and hence the title of the year goalie in Denmark. The vote was decided by a vote among goalkeepers in the top two Danish rows.
ReplyDeleteIn season 1998/1999 was Jimmy Nielsen, Danish champion with AaB.
The league isn't the problem with Hartman's negotiations, it's the team and Hartman. While the league negotiates contracts, they do so with the team as the team is the one that has to fit it under the cap.
ReplyDeleteAs for the last anon. Wow he won goalkeeping awards 12 and 6 years ago respectively, what has he done lately?
Robb has just posted a tweet confirming the signing.
ReplyDeleteMouf-
ReplyDeleteI hear you, but I do think it could get worse. I like the additions, but whatever experience they have won't be of great use for a while, that's where Hartman and Claudio help us, in my opinion. I'm leery of this new goalie, but we'll see.
As for Hartman last year- he definitely had some miscues, but he easily saved us from 5 additional losses.
At least we're not settling for Crayton and Pardo. That WOULD be worse.
ReplyDeleteI can tell you now that the Danish keeper has signed for the Kansas City Wizards. I know his agent and he told me yesterday that he signed with them.
ReplyDeleteWe know Darren, Mike basically stated as much when he posted that tweet from Heineman, but thanks for being about 8 hours late.
ReplyDeleteReep-
ReplyDeleteI do agree though that C. Lopez is loss, he is aging but could have played less games and contributed at the level we are used to seeing I think. I am not that upset about Hartman, I think people forget basically all professional keepers makes incredible saves, so if they dont feel he is worth what he wants and they decide to go a different direction and get a proven player, so be it. I am intrested to see who is the back-up, my train of thought is you get a young guy in there to learn etc and eventually become the starter for years to come.