Fresno Fuego star off to Sweden

We finished up Saturday’s column with a note that the Fresno Fuego had scheduled a press conference on Monday to discuss the future of last year’s PDL MVP, Pablo Campos. The event was held yesterday and the news is that he’s off to Gothenberg, Sweden, to play for Allsvenskan side (that’s the Swedish first division to you, bub) GAIS.

It’s tempting to read today’s story in the Fresno Bee and say that Campos is a player who could have helped the Earthquakes, but that would just be speculation. It’s funny to note the similarities between GAIS and SJE, however: GAIS has tallied just 12 goals in 13 games, only a slightly better pace than San Jose’s.

Whatever the similarities, the Bee article also notes a big difference between the two sides. According to Fuego coach Scott Alcorn, GAIS will pay Campos a salary “in the $120,000 range,” and the team will also “provide housing, meals and transportation.” As Earthquakes GM John Doyle illustrated in last week’s interview, that translates in these parts to about $200,000 a year. That’s a lot more than any MLS side would pay a player who was coming out of the PDL, and it just goes to show how challenging it is for MLS to recruit talented young players.

Speaking of signing new talent, the Toronto Globe and Mail reports today that TFC has offered a contract to free agent Paul Dickov, which means their already stretched pocketbook is going to wear down to the lining soon. TFC coach John Carver was also asked about Darren Huckerby, and the article reports that Carver “was not certain of the status of those negotiations,” which we take as a sign that Huckerby is leaning towards California and not Canada. Time will tell.

Also in today’s news is a follow-up story on Saturday’s Earthquakes/Chivas USA match on MLSnet.com. The casually brilliant Andrea Canales talks with coach Frank Yallop and several players about the game, including the controversial “fair play, schmair play” moment that led to the Chivas goal. (Yallop is quoted as saying that “If a team’s attacking, they don’t have to put it out, but I think that in the spirit of the game, he could have done it.”)

Finally, our own Embele Awipi weighs in on the match as well as the team’s prospects for the rest of the season in his column for the Salinas Californian. Embele primarily works on camera for CLS, but the man can turn a phrase, too. “San Jose’s shooting has resulted in too many misses or late-game ricochets off the posts that were entertaining at first, but are now an old joke that gets less funny each game.”

Here’s hoping the joke is on the Rapids on Saturday.