Tom "Tam" McManus On The Move

It appears that the Colorado Rapids' Scottish striker Tom "Tam" McManus is back in Scotland looking to hook up with a club. He's training with Patrick Thistle and has been linked with Kilmarnock.

Clavijo's Mediocrity Marches On

With the Rapids loss to Chivas USA at Dicks Sporting Goods Park, they have yet to win 2 games in a row in 2008. At least in 2007 they pulled off a couple of winning streaks. One was 3 games and the other was 2 games. Not much to brag about? Yep. But so far 2008 hasn't been much better.

This loss really gets my goat. Somehow the Colorado Rapids didn't manage to own this game. Chivas USA was missing an entire backline (Suarez, Thomas, Vaughn, Zotinka). They were playing a 3-5-2 because, well, they didn't really have any other choice (Or did Preki actually trying calling that a 3-4-3?).

They were also missing Galindo, Wicky, Alecko, and Bornstein. Heck, Razov wasn't ready to make a start Saturday night. In 2007 we were told one of the few bright spots was the defense. Folks pointed at their GA and said they were 3rd best. But as I mentioned awhile ago in a post here , I thought there were more problems than the GA was letting on to. We painfully witnessed that Saturday Night when the defense allowed 2 goals despite Chivas USA fielding a 19 year old kid and Attiba "2 brick feet" Harris. With the injuries, the altitude and being away from home Chivas USA had no business tieing this game let alone winning it. This was a game begging for the Rapids to score a handful of goals and to rack up another clean sheet. Somehow the Rapids made sure that wasn't the case.

What will it take for the Rapids to start playing like a better team? Do they really have that much less talent than other teams? Is Clavijo making good use of Christian Gomez? Does Terry Cooke need to start? Is this the last year we see Jacob Peterson in the MLS? Was this just a case of Preki out coaching Clavijo?

But the main question I want to hear answered is this : Why does Clavijo play a 3-5-2 only for the team to turn around and spend 1/2 of their passes trying to hurry up and knock the ball 3/4th of the way up the field in the air? That is, what good is the 3-5-2 when the players are so prone to playing long balls?

Highlights from the game including Tom McManus' incredible 35-yard goal :

More on the Chivas USA - Rapids game:

• FC Rocky
• View From the Couch
• Denver Post
• The Offside
• American Soccer News
• Rocky Mountain News

Tam McManus Joins The Rapids

3 months ago the rumors started that the Rapids were looking to sign Scottish striker Tam McManus. A month ago it was looking as though the deal was going to happen. But the deal has finally been done.

2007 looking promising for Gargan. He found himself starting at the right back spot. But his season was cut short when he incurred an ACL tear.

With the Rapids having filled all 18 of their senior Roster spots, the league limit, signing Tam McManus meant a senior player would need to be waived. Seeing that the Rapids didn't do that until today, when senior player Dan Gargan was finally healthy after his ACL tear, it's clear the Rapids knew they could delay signing McManus until Gargan could be waived. It must be tough being a player like Gargan going from looking as though he had earned a starting spot to incurring a nasty injury and finding himself waived after working hard to regain his fitness.

On another note, in looking for information on Gargan I found the Rapids had already removed his profile from their web site. For an organization that over the years dragged it's feet in getting information out to the fans it's salt in the wound to be so quick to remove that information. Given that I copied and pasted the cached page from Google to ensure it's not lost. Aquired: Selected with the Rapids' 3rd pick (43rd overall) in the 2005 MLS Supplemental Draft. Bio:

Dan Gargan saw his 2007 campaign unfortunately cut short after beginning the season as a starter in Fernando Clavijo’s defensive line, but suffered a torn ACL that put him on season-ending injury and left him out for the rest of the year. An explosive defender with a quick short sprint, Gargan has great knowledge of the game and an educated view of the field. A natural leader, the former Georgetown captain is always pushing his teammates and himself.

MLS CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

2007: Gargan started his 2007 season as a regular at right back…He started 11 games for the Rapids, appeared in 15…His season was cut short by a torn ACL…He went the entire season without receiving a card…Started and played all 90 minutes in four reserve games…2006: Made his 2006 debut playing 15 minutes on April 8 vs. Columbus…Recorded his first assist on Sept.2 at Salt Lake…2006 Playoff Highlights: Played 90 minutes in WCSS Game 1…Played 45 minutes in Conference Final…2005: Made his MLS debut vs. Los Angeles on June 15 helping the Rapids hold on to a 1-0 lead while playing down two men…Recorded his first MLS assist at Chivas on June 18…received his first yellow card and completed his second assist at Chivas on Sept. 24.

COLLEGE HIGHLIGHTS

At Georgetown, Gargan was named to the All-Big East Second Team at the end of the 2004 season, along with earning Third Team NCAA All-South Atlantic Regional honors for the second consecutive season…Gargan was second on the team in scoring with 15 points off four goals and seven assists…Ranks 17th on Georgetown’s all-time points list with 40 points…Junior: Chosen All-Big East Third Team…Named Team MVP…Selected to NCSAA/adidas All-South Atlantic Region…Second leading scorer with 16 points and team leader in assists with six…Six assists tied for eighth in BIG EAST and three game-winning goals tied for fifth…D.C. College Cup MVP…Sophomore: Named BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week November 5…Helped the defense post four shutouts in 2002…Scored an unassisted game-winning goal against Princeton to seal a 3-2 victory (10/1)…Freshman: Started 17 of 18 games…Ripped 21 shots on the year and ended the campaign with five points…Buried the game winning goal at home against Pennsylvania.

OTHER CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

Trained for two weeks with Mexican First Division team Pachuca in Jan. 2007…High School: Named All-State and team MVP his junior and senior seasons at Chestnut Hill…Was league Most Valuable Player as a senior…Played for the Olympic Development Program Regional Team in 1998, 1999 and 2000.

PERSONAL

Was awarded “Rapids Most Improved Player” for his continued improvement on the field in 2006…His hobbies include drawing and art…Most memorable soccer moment was winning the high school league championship at home his senior year…Appeared on national television in a show called “Three Men and a Chick Flick” that aired on Women’s Entertainment Television in December 2005.

Spring Time Desperation

Just when I thought the Rapids were showing a bit too much desperation in their quest to sign Scottish striker Tam McManus, Southampton turns around and outdoes them with bringing Michael "Not Even Good Enough For Oldham Anymore" Ricketts. Yes, the Michael Ricketts you may remember from a brief goal scoring streak while at Bolton many, many moon ago. Since then he's bounced around with lower league teams and recently was let go by Oldham. If he's not good enough for Oldham, why are Southampton looking at him? Has Pearson lost his mind?

Rapids On Verge Of Signing McManus

According to Dunfermline's player/manage Jim McIntyre, the Colorado Rapids and Tam McManus are close to agreeing on a deal that would bring McManus to Colorado for the 2008 MLS season. From Dunfermline's web site: "Tom's been on trial with Colorado Rapids since Monday and he'll sign subject to agreeing personal terms"