Registered: 03/25/01
Posts: 21249
Loc: Miramar, FL, USA
Offline
Traded to Portland Timbers
Montreal trade GK Ricketts to Portland for Perkins August 7, 2012 Simon Borg MLSsoccer.com Getty Images
Two of the leakiest teams in MLS now have new goalkeepers.
The Portland Timbers swapped goalkeepers with the Montreal Impact on Tuesday, sending Troy Perkins to the expansion club in exchange for Donovan Ricketts in one of the most high-profile goalkeeper trades in league history.
The move for the Timbers is seemingly motivated by on-field considerations and cap management.
“Troy has been an important player for us, but we as a coaching staff saw this as an opportunity to improve the position, while optimizing our budget numbers in 2012 and 2013," Timbers GM and interim manager Gavin Wilkinson said in a club statement.
The 31-year-old Perkins is in his seventh MLS season and is approaching a career high for goals conceded with 35 in his 22 starts (5-11-5 record). He has three shutouts on the season with the last one coming on May 15 in Houston.
The 2006 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year while with D.C. United, Perkins joins his third MLS club in Montreal. He started out with United for four seasons before moving to Norway to play for Vålerenga IF after the 2007 season. He returned to D.C. and MLS for the 2010 season and was traded to Portland after the season.
"We are happy to be able to add Troy to our group and we think he will make an immediate impact in what we are trying to achieve," said Impact head coach Jesse Marsch in a club statement. "We feel this will help us make a strong push at the end of this year, as well as solidify ourselves for the future."
"We would like to thank Donovan for his services with the Impact but we did not feel he fit into our plans moving forward," Impact sporting director Nick De Santis said in the statement.
Ricketts, 35, was in his first season with the Impact. A Jamaican international who spent four seasons in English soccer before coming to MLS, he won the Goalkeeper of the Year award in 2010, while with the LA Galaxy, where he starred for three seasons before a trade sent him to the expansion Impact after the 2011 season.
In LA, Ricketts helped the Galaxy to two Supporters' Shields and last year's MLS Cup title. He also led the Galaxy to an MLS Cup final appearance in 2009 during which he famously came off due to injury.
You think them never notice when ball go straight through the man hand and when him randomly decide to run off of him line and go tackle when other defenders are around.
Big up sameway Ricketts. Try maximize the few years you have left in the professional game
Not surprize at all. Rickettes is a big time shot blocker, but a slightly above average Keepe. He will block shots, tip shot ove the crossbar or off to the sides. Just don't ask him to hold onto the ball. Good luck anyway Mr. Rickettes
Registered: 03/25/01
Posts: 21249
Loc: Miramar, FL, USA
Offline
I think even Ricketts himself recognized his days as a top notch keeper. He declined several call ups while encouraging the JFF to grown other talent, it is now up to the JFF technical team so progress.
Dear JFF, he is still considered a "youth international".................
It is your turn.......The youth did EVERYTHING.....you (and Simoes) asked of him and you guys spit in his face.......with his Jamaican passport in hand.
Swallow unnuh pride and give the youth a shout.............. Stoke City keeper, Asmir Begović sat on the bench for Canada in the last World Cup Qualifying vs Jamaica at the National Stadium. FIFA allowed him to switch to Bosnia because he never took the field vs Jamaica. He is not a "Tyrone Mears."
Registered: 03/25/01
Posts: 21249
Loc: Miramar, FL, USA
Offline
Portland's Wilkinson on 'keeper swap: "It's an upgrade" August 7, 2012 Dan Itel MLSsoccer.com Getty Images
PORTLAND, Ore. – A mainstay starter, a veteran leader and a fan favorite.
If the surprising trade of Portland Timbers goalkeeper Troy Perkins for Montreal’s Donovan Ricketts (above) said anything it’s this: nobody is safe as the club rebuilds in the midst of a highly disappointing season.
“It’s an upgrade, in all honesty,” interim head coach and general manager Gavin Wilkinson said after the team’s training session Tuesday. “Troy is a fantastic person and a great goalkeeper. He was a tremendous acquisition for the club two years ago. But when you sit down and you have staff meetings and you give everyone an active voice and the unanimous decision is this is what’s right for the club, you do what’s right for the club.”
And while Wilkinson said the swap of high profile ‘keepers makes the Timbers stronger in the near-term, it’s also a nod to the future.
Waiting in the wings is highly regarded New Zealand U-23 international Jake Gleeson and rookie Joe Bendik. The style of 35-year-old Ricketts, at a lanky 6-foot-4, is a better fit to mentor the 6-foot-3 Gleeson, Wilkinson said, seemingly accelerating the young goalkeeper’s development timetable.
“Ricketts accepts that he’s a mentor for those two, that one day one of those two is going to surpass where he is,” Wilkinson said.
He continued: “We need to find out what we’ve got in these ‘keepers and give them the opportunity to be successful. I think you’ve seen we are willing to give one or two young players a chance, and I think that’s very beneficial for the club.”
Gleeson, barely back with the club 24 hours after his stint with the New Zealand Olympic team, said he’s looking forward to the opportunity should it arise.
“This definitely came as a shock to me,” Gleeson said. “I’m still kind of getting my head around it now. We’ll find out more when Ricketts gets in and see how he fits in.”
WATCH: Wilkinson discusses trade
Wilkinson also addressed the leadership role left by Perkins, a seven-year MLS veteran. Wilkinson even said after the firing of former head coach John Spencer that he could see Perkins wearing the captain’s armband at some point.
READ: Perkins vs. Ricketts through the years
“Donovan Ricketts is a leader,” Wilkinson said. “When you have a guy who has played 90 international [caps] and traveled around like he has and has an understanding of different cultures, has been successful with many teams, we’re adding to that. We’re not taking away from it in any factor or in any way shape or form. We’re actually adding leadership to this group through a player who has been there and done that.”
Still, it was a visibly tough day for many Timbers players.
“It’s sad to see him leave,” said team captain Jack Jewsbury. “That’s, again, the nature of the business, the hardest part. It’s one of those days that are hard on everyone. You know at any point, no matter if you're the highest guy on the totem pole or the lowest, you can moved and shipped out just like that. We all realize that at any point it can happen.”
Wilkinson also expects Perkins’ departure to reverberate through the fan base – a group that has been forced to digest a lot this season, from a 1-0 loss to an amateur club in the US Open Cup to the firing of a popular and outspoken head coach.
“You know you’re going to get a hit with some people that it may not be popular with fans, and rightfully so,” Wilkinson said. “I can understand that. Troy was a phenomenal person, a great human being and a very good professional for us. Ricketts is a very good professional, a great person and in my mind a better goalkeeper.”
Dan Itel covers the Timbers for MLSsoccer.com. Email him at dcitel@hotmail.com.
Ricketts has had a tough year. But he remains our only highly-experienced keeper and, given the JFF's reluctance to blood "farin" talent, I see him as our number one until our Cup run is over -- hopefully in Brazil. Sean Johnson deserves a chance, but we have seen Burrell, Tappa and co. in action before.
Registered: 09/12/02
Posts: 1850
Loc: Sunshine City, Jamaica
Offline
Ricketts has always been a rux. He's good at shot stopping yes, which is an attribute he seems to be losing, however, he is the slowest and dumbest keeper ever and was always making himself a liability by giving the ball straight to the opposing team or sending goal kicks into the stands. Atrocious player.
Registered: 02/23/12
Posts: 1142
Loc: Randallstown MD, USA
Offline
Hold on a second breddren. I thought the article said Portland wanted to UPGRADE the position, and Perkins had let in a career high in conceded goals so far this season. Ricketts might be past his prime but don't be so quick to criticize your own.
Hold on a second breddren. I thought the article said Portland wanted to UPGRADE the position, and Perkins had let in a career high in conceded goals so far this season. Ricketts might be past his prime but don't be so quick to criticize your own.
That's professional sports. Upgrade can simply mean: Track record and potential are there...lets see what a change of scenery brings. No one is saying Rickettes is the worse in MLS or where every else he'd played before. They like me are just stating what we see. Being Jamaican (one of our own) does not mean we accept mediocrity or dare to constructively criticize.
Registered: 03/25/01
Posts: 21249
Loc: Miramar, FL, USA
Offline
On a personal level, coaches and players alike admitted that it was difficult to part with the former Impact No. 1. Ricketts’ personality will be missed in the Impact locker room, especially his “fun-loving Jamaican attitude,” as ex-goalkeeping colleague Bush put it.
“I’m pretty sure he probably didn’t want to leave,” teammate and fellow Jamaican international Shavar Thomas said. “He wanted to prove himself and help the Impact go as far as we can. It cannot be a good situation for anybody, because, you know … it’s like breaking up.”
Registered: 06/30/01
Posts: 2569
Loc: New York, NY
Offline
The only reason they got Ricketts was to get rid of the contract at the end of the season and maybe to mentor the young keeper that they expect to become their long term number 1. Nothing to do with upgrade or down grade, pure financial and salary cap related.
