Registered: 03/25/01
Posts: 16612
Loc: Miramar, FL, USA
Offline
Kansas star contemplates playing for Boyz
GORDON WILLIAMS, Star Writer
A former England youth international with Jamaican roots is weighing the option of representing the Reggae Boyz.
Ryan Smith, an attacking 24-year-old winger with Sporting Kansas City (SKC), a United States-based Major League Soccer (MLS) club, said he has not ruled out playing for Jamaica, if the country desires his services.
"That's something I could look into in the future," Smith said recently from Kansas City, where he is recuperating from a preseason knee injury that forced him out of SKC's opening MLS fixture against Chivas USA on March 19.
"It's possible."
Smith traces his Jamaican connections to his late grandparents, Gordon and Doris Smith, who were from Montego Bay, St James. That makes him eligible to play for the Boyz since he has never represented England, where he was born, in official senior national team competition, sanctioned by FIFA, football's world governing body.
Smith's pedigree on the field stretches back to a 2003-2005 stint at Arsenal in England. While with the Gunners he played mainly in the club's youth system alongside current English Premier League stars Cesc Fabregas, Gael Clichy, Nicklas Bendtner and Abou Diaby. He represented Arsenal's first team in the Carling Cup knockout competition at age 16 and also played for England at the Under-20 level.
attached to several clubs
Since then, Smith has been attached to several English clubs, including Leicester, Derby County, Milwall, Southampton and Crystal Palace, before moving to SKC (then known as the Kansas City Wizards) last season, where he lists national player Shavar Thomas among his teammates.
Smith made an immediate impact at SKC, playing 2,104 minutes, scoring three goals and recording seven assists for the club in MLS 2010.
During the season, one US television commentator said of him: "Anytime you put this player a little bit more central, and get him the ball, he can cut you six ways to Sunday."
Thomas, a veteran of the Boyz, confirmed Smith is a dangerous player. He said currently Jamaica does not have a naturally left-sided player who carries Smith's total package of speed, skill and football intelligence.
"Not all that combination at once," Thomas said. "He's a very good player, very skilful. It would be very, very good for us (if he joined Jamaica). He would be adding someone who can help attacking-wise. Plus, he would help off the field as well."
Known for his quick dribbles and long-range shot, Smith has also caught the attention of the US national team. He qualifies to play for the US because his father is an American citizen.
"Now it's a tricky situation because the US wants me to represent them," Smith said.
Smith said the US contacted him through his club to express interest. However, he said he has received no word from the Jamaica Football Federation, although he believes it is unlikely the JFF is aware of his ties to the island.
"I don't think the Jamaican federation knows about my connection to Jamaica," Smith said.
However, he said any decision on a possible future international career will be on hold until he can get healthy enough to contribute at SKC.
"Right now, I'm just thinking about getting fit," Smith said.
Hahahaha....The bailiffs must have ripped the phones and the computers (E-Mails) out the wall....Massah, the JFF folks are sitting on a list of names of players who want to play for Jamaica............He has to join the line. We do not encourage "line breakers" around here.
_________________________ "Victory" in wars are never about who is right or wrong but more about who is left standing.
Registered: 03/25/01
Posts: 16612
Loc: Miramar, FL, USA
Offline
The problem with JFF is they are still trying to limit and enslave the players, so if they have a list of 30+ full professional ballas who are making more than US150k per they can not control dem.
I will say this Ryan Smith is a balla and we should at least send him a email or phone call, ASAP.
A former England youth international with Jamaican roots is weighing the option of representing the Reggae Boyz.
Ryan Smith, an attacking 24-year-old winger with Sporting Kansas City (SKC), a United States-based Major League Soccer (MLS) club, said he has not ruled out playing for Jamaica, if the country desires his services.
"That's something I could look into in the future," Smith said recently from Kansas City, where he is recuperating from a preseason knee injury that forced him out of SKC's opening MLS fixture against Chivas USA on March 19.
"It's possible."
Smith traces his Jamaican connections to his late grandparents, Gordon and Doris Smith, who were from Montego Bay, St James. That makes him eligible to play for the Boyz since he has never represented England, where he was born, in official senior national team competition, sanctioned by FIFA, football's world governing body.
Smith's pedigree on the field stretches back to a 2003-2005 stint at Arsenal in England. While with the Gunners he played mainly in the club's youth system alongside current English Premier League stars Cesc Fabregas, Gael Clichy, Nicklas Bendtner and Abou Diaby. He represented Arsenal's first team in the Carling Cup knockout competition at age 16 and also played for England at the Under-20 level.
attached to several clubs
Since then, Smith has been attached to several English clubs, including Leicester, Derby County, Milwall, Southampton and Crystal Palace, before moving to SKC (then known as the Kansas City Wizards) last season, where he lists national player Shavar Thomas among his teammates.
Smith made an immediate impact at SKC, playing 2,104 minutes, scoring three goals and recording seven assists for the club in MLS 2010.
During the season, one US television commentator said of him: "Anytime you put this player a little bit more central, and get him the ball, he can cut you six ways to Sunday."
Thomas, a veteran of the Boyz, confirmed Smith is a dangerous player. He said currently Jamaica does not have a naturally left-sided player who carries Smith's total package of speed, skill and football intelligence.
"Not all that combination at once," Thomas said. "He's a very good player, very skilful. It would be very, very good for us (if he joined Jamaica). He would be adding someone who can help attacking-wise. Plus, he would help off the field as well."
Known for his quick dribbles and long-range shot, Smith has also caught the attention of the US national team. He qualifies to play for the US because his father is an American citizen.
"Now it's a tricky situation because the US wants me to represent them," Smith said.
Smith said the US contacted him through his club to express interest. However, he said he has received no word from the Jamaica Football Federation, although he believes it is unlikely the JFF is aware of his ties to the island.
"I don't think the Jamaican federation knows about my connection to Jamaica," Smith said.
However, he said any decision on a possible future international career will be on hold until he can get healthy enough to contribute at SKC.
"Right now, I'm just thinking about getting fit," Smith said.
A former England youth international with Jamaican roots is weighing the option of representing the Reggae Boyz.
Ryan Smith, an attacking 24-year-old winger with Sporting Kansas City (SKC), a United States-based Major League Soccer (MLS) club, said he has not ruled out playing for Jamaica, if the country desires his services.
"That's something I could look into in the future," Smith said recently from Kansas City, where he is recuperating from a preseason knee injury that forced him out of SKC's opening MLS fixture against Chivas USA on March 19.
"It's possible."
Smith traces his Jamaican connections to his late grandparents, Gordon and Doris Smith, who were from Montego Bay, St James. That makes him eligible to play for the Boyz since he has never represented England, where he was born, in official senior national team competition, sanctioned by FIFA, football's world governing body.
Smith's pedigree on the field stretches back to a 2003-2005 stint at Arsenal in England. While with the Gunners he played mainly in the club's youth system alongside current English Premier League stars Cesc Fabregas, Gael Clichy, Nicklas Bendtner and Abou Diaby. He represented Arsenal's first team in the Carling Cup knockout competition at age 16 and also played for England at the Under-20 level.
attached to several clubs
Since then, Smith has been attached to several English clubs, including Leicester, Derby County, Milwall, Southampton and Crystal Palace, before moving to SKC (then known as the Kansas City Wizards) last season, where he lists national player Shavar Thomas among his teammates.
Smith made an immediate impact at SKC, playing 2,104 minutes, scoring three goals and recording seven assists for the club in MLS 2010.
During the season, one US television commentator said of him: "Anytime you put this player a little bit more central, and get him the ball, he can cut you six ways to Sunday."
Thomas, a veteran of the Boyz, confirmed Smith is a dangerous player. He said currently Jamaica does not have a naturally left-sided player who carries Smith's total package of speed, skill and football intelligence.
"Not all that combination at once," Thomas said. "He's a very good player, very skilful. It would be very, very good for us (if he joined Jamaica). He would be adding someone who can help attacking-wise. Plus, he would help off the field as well."
Known for his quick dribbles and long-range shot, Smith has also caught the attention of the US national team. He qualifies to play for the US because his father is an American citizen.
"Now it's a tricky situation because the US wants me to represent them," Smith said.
Smith said the US contacted him through his club to express interest. However, he said he has received no word from the Jamaica Football Federation, although he believes it is unlikely the JFF is aware of his ties to the island.
"I don't think the Jamaican federation knows about my connection to Jamaica," Smith said. However, he said any decision on a possible future international career will be on hold until he can get healthy enough to contribute at SKC.
"Right now, I'm just thinking about getting fit," Smith said.
_________________________ "Victory" in wars are never about who is right or wrong but more about who is left standing.
Mexican interest in Smith news to Sporting KC's Vermes Atlas reportedly after winger; manager says KC wouldn't shut door
June 17, 2011 Andrew Wiebe MLSsoccer.com Ryan Smith of Sporting KC Photo Credit: Getty Images ..KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Ryan Smith’s name popped up in the Mexican media this week, linking the winger with Guadalajara side Atlas just days after the club purchased Chicago Fire forward Gastón Puerari.
That purported interest was news to Sporting Kansas City.
According to manager Peter Vermes, he knows about as much as the rest of us when it comes to foreign interest in his winger. Not that the club hasn’t tried to shed some light on the situation in recent days.
“No one has ever contacted us,” Vermes said at training this week. “We have a pretty darn good relationship with Atlas. I think that they would have reached out to either [Sporting COO] Greg Cotton or myself or even Robb Heineman. We’re actually trying to track down if there really is interest. As far as I’m concerned, it’s not legitimate.”
Sporting signed Smith on a free transfer prior to last season after the Englishman bounced around England’s lower leagues with a handful of teams after leaving Arsenal, where he came up through the academy structure.
He was one of the team’s most productive players in 2010 (three goals and seven assists in 26 games) but has struggled with his health and fitness this season after undergoing knee surgery in the offseason. Smith has appeared in just six games this year, making two starts and scoring once, and he is currently struggling with a groin injury that has kept him out of Kansas City’s past two games.
With the pressure on to field a winning team to help showcase Livestrong Sporting Park, it would seem the club might want to hang on to their most valuable assets. But the cupboard is far from bare, and Vermes has plenty of attacking options in Omar Bravo, Kei Kamara, Teal Bunbury, Graham Zusi and C.J. Sapong should a transfer materialize in the coming days, weeks or months.
And, from the sounds of it, Kansas City wouldn’t stand in the way of a move if the price were right and the deal made sense from a business and sporting perspective.
“Our five owners are entrepreneurs,” Vermes said. “If anyone ever came to them with a deal for any of their businesses, I’m sure they would never say, ‘I don’t want to talk about it.’ You are always going to listen and hear what someone has to say. That doesn’t mean you are going to act on it.”
_________________________ "Victory" in wars are never about who is right or wrong but more about who is left standing.
Since Shavar is on the same team you would think the contact would be easy....... hmmmm
Makes you wonder sometimes........seeing that the player in question is in the same squad as the current Jamaican captain.
Just like Omar Daley when he was at Bradford City.....and the Jamaican born 18 year old striker at Bradford City......at a time when we were searching for U-20 players.
_________________________ "Victory" in wars are never about who is right or wrong but more about who is left standing.
After The Gold Cup..Im going to have a meeting with Howard Macintosh concerning Pool for 2014. Ryan Smith has to be in it. As you have allways said Linc...U can NEVER have ennough depth
JFF. Check him claim fully before you send him inna the team. No more Tyrone Mears.
Smith would be a great addition to the squad, but he would have to easy off of the brucky boo vibes because that is quite contagious in the Jamaica team and is build Tappa building the pass and move thing right now.
Good to have an option like him and even better that he plays in the CONCACAF, so no time zone issues with him.
After The Gold Cup..Im going to have a meeting with Howard Macintosh concerning Pool for 2014. Ryan Smith has to be in it. As you have allways said Linc...U can NEVER have ennough depth
Whitmore has almost another year to get more folks into the mix......by using FRIENDLIES for the purpose they were designed for.
If he adds three new players (or players getting a second look) to each friendly match/camp he should be able to get this done.
_________________________ "Victory" in wars are never about who is right or wrong but more about who is left standing.
After The Gold Cup..Im going to have a meeting with Howard Macintosh concerning Pool for 2014. Ryan Smith has to be in it. As you have allways said Linc...U can NEVER have ennough depth
After GCC Would love to see our next FIFA practice match outfitted with KEAMAR, MR. MAN MORGAN, DAMION, RICHARD EDWARDS, NAVION BOYD, RYAN SMITH and the 5-6 prospects from ENGLAND.
Depth & competition must be TAPPA's next angle to keep the regulars focused.
