This is a rumor that has been speculated pretty much all winter. Midfielder Carl Robinson would be traded from Toronto FC to the New York Red Bulls. Well it appears that that deal is nearly complete but its not entirely a sure bet.

For the most part we can gather that Robinson has been sent to New York for a draft pick in the 2011 SuperDraft (probably a second-rounder, maybe a first due to Robinson’s high salary). TFC will have to still pay for a portion of Robinson’s $300k salary (some reports suggest they’ll be on the hook for around $200k or so of it).

Here’s the deal though, Robinson has to go on a mini-trial here with the Red Bulls. He’s been released from TFC according to Duane Rollins at The 24th Minute and if he gets a deal with New York then TFC will get some draft picks and be on the hook for a portion of his salary. But there isn’t a sure bet that he’ll be in Hans Backe’s plan in New York.

Robinson would clearly be a big upgrade though the club does have rookie Tony Tchani and veteran Seth Stammler in a similar position. Tchani will be the future of this club no doubt but having a veteran like Robinson around for even a year could prove wise.

As for the Toronto side of things this is probably a way to clear of some salary (had they been able to get rid of all $300k of Robinson’s salary I’d consider this a bigger deal for them). Rollins believes they’ll be using this free space to try and sign Paul Dickov in the summer transfer window.

We’ll keep an eye on this story and let you know of any updates that happen to it.

A couple quality veterans in Major League Soccer could find new homes this winter. Both Toronto FC and FC Dallas are both putting a veteran midfielder on the trade market.

Last week it was reported that FC Dallas was shopping Dave van den Burgh, just a year after he was traded to Dallas from New York. Now today the same New York team could be getting both van den Burgh and TFC defensive midfielder Carl Robinson. Duane Rollins at the 24th Minute is reporting that TFC is hoping to trade Robinson in the coming weeks in order to move up in the draft and New York is a club that is interested.

New York landing both van den Burgh and Robinson in trades would instantly improve their pathetic midfield that could barely produce anything last year. The big wonder is will a deal get done for those of these players before a new coach is with the club. Continue Reading…

As the All-Star rosters are now official, its time to put together the group of eleven that didn’t make but had a damn good reason for making it. I’ve stated my opinion on some that got snubbed but figured that it would be best to put out a full starting lineup of guys that didn’t make the All-Star festivities.

If you got someone who was snubbed let’s hear it.

I’ll keep with the same 3-5-2 formation that we’ve been using for the All-Star game.

Keeper:

Jon Busch, Chicago Fire: Easily putting up the best numbers of any keeper this season. It was clear that it was going to be tough to beat out Matt Reis but surprising enough Busch had to contend with Pat Onstad too. The Canadian won since the game is in Toronto and Busch is left with nothing.

Continue Reading…