Careful now ladies and gents soccer season is almost upon us once again. With the season approaching like Vinnie Jones after a loose ball we've got to keep an eye out for the rapid-fire moves that clubs will be making up until opening day. As we come closer to the opening week of action I'll be grading clubs on their off season moves so this week I'll give the teams in the league their midterm report cards. The first group to get graded will be the Central Conference so without any further ado let me get the red ink pen out.
Atlanta: First things first for the 'Backs. Some people may have disagreed with the firing of their previous coach but the hiring of John Dugan is indisputably one of the shrewdest moves this club has made in the 2000-2001 offseason. Several acquisitions which followed Dugan from Raleigh such as Seth Marks, Ihor Dotsenko, Ryan Walker, and Edmundo Rodriguez add depth and firepower to an Atlanta side that spent much of the home stretch of last season in a dire need of timely goals. Jason Annichero, an acquisition from San Diego, and Ivailo Iliarianov, from the Charleston Battery, will provide immediate impact players for the 'Backs as well. The addition of Taly Goode and Henry Ring also proved a shrewd move especially if, as some have speculated, Ring is sent by Chicago to develop in Atlanta until the Fire need him. The only stumble they take in my early evaluation was somehow allowing Pablo Nassar to slip through their fingers to conference rival Charleston. Overall grade: A-
Charleston: This club saved itself from a rather dismal draft by making several huge signings in the past few weeks. None of these signing looms larger than the double signing of Pablo Nassar, who was virtually stolen from under Atlanta's nose, and former MLS-er Dan Calichmann. Both will provide some immediate help for what appeared to be an extremely weakened Battery back line coming into the season. Re-signing several of last year's players such as Dusty Hudock, Gilbert-Jean Baptiste, and Temoc Suarez has proven instrumental in increasing Charleston's chances at a championship this season. The jury is still out on the signing of Jukka Rantala but his addition and that of Seamus Donnelly, Brian Piesner, and Glenn Benjamin will also strengthen any push the Battery make in taking Rochester's title away this season. A poor draft brings their overall grade down especially since it is looking more and more like Pablo Webster will be sticking with the Wizards in MLS. Their grade could go up depending on that situation but for now they get: C+/B-
Charlotte: It seems that the Eagles decided to take on the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" mantra regarding their preparations into the upcoming season. From all accounts it appears that the Eagles have not made many moves for free agent players yet but they did have a strong draft if they can get Jose Gomez and C.J. Robinson in camp. Both players will add depth at forward to assist Dustin Swinehart in his quest to prove he can be a quality scorer at the next level. One has to be wary, though, knowing that Charlotte hasn't necessarily had any upgrades in midfield where a lot of the goals their forwards could score need to be created. Their defense was solid in the D3 last season and I think they'll be decent enough to make the Eagles respectable. Goal keeping could be a wildcard for this club but I expect that from what we've seen so far they'll be solid in nets at best and something akin to Swiss cheese on the bad days. Expect a fair to middling season from this bunch. Overall grade: C
Cincinnati: There's something to be said for making an effort to improve and the Riverhawks have certainly done that much in the run up to Opening Day. Essentially rescuing Jon Pickup from Indy should help stabilize a team that was one of the worst in the league last season. He and their other new signees should be immediate impact players to some extent for this club because after last year there really wasn't any department in which they didn't need help. Their trio of draftees should be able to contribute something to what was frankly a dismal attack last season. Scott Deopere, R.J. Kaszuba, and Dzevat Nikocaj should prove to be excellent competition for one another but don't expect any of these guys to cause too much havoc among their conference foes this season. They will all need at least one season before they become good A-League players. The big thing for the 'Hawks was shoring up the back line and they'd done that before the draft. During the draft they needed to find some scoring. They think they have but the jury is most definitely out. Overall grade: B- (A for effort, D for previous material to build on)
Indiana: Alright, where to begin with the Blast? First of all they had Brett Hall then they didn't. So now Ian Martin steps in. Well, Ian, Good luck, you'll need it. Their draft: Mckinley Tennyson, good only if he falls to the Blast instead of Europe or an MLS bench, Kevin Knott, a warm body anywhere on this Blast team helps, and Stephen Herdsman… erm, 'scuse me? Colorado selected him and he's been in their starting line-up through all of their exhibitions so far. Don't even think Herdsman will be playing in Indy this season especially seeing as how the Rapids need as much help as they can get when it comes to depth issues. They did sign Brazilian Rodrigo Costa but interesting sounding foreign names don't necessarily add up to goals in the A-League. I'm sure Costa will bag a few but I doubt he's going to light things up seeing as how, aside from Knott and possibly Tennyson, the Blast have added next to nothing to last year's squad. Coach Martin, once again, best of luck. You'll need it. Overall grade: D
Nashville: The Metros have done a good bit to improve themselves the best they can in their circumstances and the addition of Guy Norcott already made their off-season a success even if their draft left many people scratching their heads. In drafting Mark Mckeever and Brandon Wright the Metros came away with largely unknown quantities but they add, if nothing else, some depth to a club that needs just about anyone they can get on the field. Other signees Nick Glaser and Steve Kraemer should help to fill some gaps almost immediately on the field. Glaser's size should help the Metros control any balls in the air in midfield while Kraemer showed what he could do last season with Hampton Roads. Now, all of this doesn't make the Metros contenders in the Central quite yet but they could make a serious playoff push this season. One thing's for sure teams won't be looking forward to trips to Ezell quite as much as they might have last year. Overall grade: A
Richmond: The Kickers had only one big problem area coming into this post-season and that was the loss of Dewayne Derosario. They were able to pick up Josh Henderson but somehow I don't think he fills that hole. They'll likely become a goal by committee team with the Canadian international gone to MLS. Re-signing most of last season's team was a priority and they have done that so far but they haven't made many, if any upgrades to the core of last season's squad. Granted they really didn't need to do much but in then end they did next to nothing considering that in the draft they somehow managed to draft three players that they'll likely barely get a whiff of. Craig Ziadie and Bryan Namoff will likely stick with D.C. and Darin Lewis will likely head overseas. Before it looked like grabbing Lewis could've paid off but now it seems less and less likely that he'll be anywhere near Richmond this season. Ziadie has a 50/50 shot at winding up with Richmond but once D.C. goes to South Florida for MLS spring training that will be cleared up. Namoff is almost certain to play in D.C. as one of the top subs for the beleaguered former MLS champs. The signing of Henderson keeps Richmond from flunking at this point but I expect them to make more moves before the season begins to improve their grade. Overall grade: D
Of course all of these grades are subject to change and once we are a week away from the season I will review my grades so that we'll know who graduates to the top of the class ahead of the 2001 A-League season and who is put into detention. Since this is the first part of a three part series you can expect to find out how the clubs in the Northern Conference stack up next week so the boys in the frigid environs of the Northeast had better beware. I've got my red ink pen ready and it's warmed up. As far as the Central goes, well that's the view from here for now. Remember, guys, you've still got time to shape up or ship out.
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