Smith, Kostrov, Rocastle Signed
Smith battling with a member of the Columbus Crew down in AZ.
Some of this has been in the blogosphere before, but Ryan Smith, Igor Kostrov and Craig Rocastle have all signed contracts with the Wizards. Smith and Kostrov have all necessary paperwork and are immediately available for selection in League play. Rocastle is still awaiting his P-1 Visa. For more info, check out bits from the press release:
The three players will compete for spots across the Wizards’ midfield, with Smith ‘s natural position on the left, Kostrov on the right and Rocastle in the center.
“We’re excited to add three talented players to our roster,” said Wizards Manager Peter Vermes. “Smith and Kostrov will both play on the flank for us and they both bring pace and skill to their positions.”
Smith began his career in the youth system of Arsenal F.C., making his debut for the first team at the age of 16 in the Carling Cup. Current Arsenal captain and Spanish international Cesc Fabregas, French fullback Cael Clichy and Tottenham winger David Bentley were among the other young players to appear with Arsenal in the competition that year.
In 2005, Smith headed to Leicester City on loan, where he made 17 appearances and scored a goal. His performances attracted the attention of Derby County, who moved to sign the midfielder before the start of the 2006-2007 season. From Derby, Smith moved to Millwall on loan before signing a permanent deal with the side in 2007. After two years with Millwall, Smith fulfilled short-term contracts with Southampton and Crystal Palace, leaving Palace earlier this year at the end of his deal.
Smith, 23, joined the Wizards as a trialist this preseason and has scored three goals in the team’s nine exhibition matches so far, including one in Thursday’s intra-squad scrimmage.
Kostrov began his career with hometown club Dinamo Bender in the Divizia Naţională, the top division in Moldovan soccer. With the team, Kostrov made 65 appearances, scoring seven goals before moving to Israel halfway through the 2008-2009 season to join Hapoel Be’er Sheva. Kostrov was then loaned out to Maccabi Herzliya in 2009.
Kostrov, 22, joined the Wizards on trial at the start of 2010 training, and has appeared in all of the club’s preseason matches thus far.
Rocastle has enjoyed a nine-year career with many clubs at all levels of the English game, starting with Kingstonian F.C. in 2001. Following a successful spell with Kingstonian that saw the team reach the fifth round of the FA Cup, Rocastle transferred to Chelsea in 2003. However, he would spend much of his time with the London club on loan. After leaving the club for Sheffield Wednesday in 2005, Rocastle would go on to play in England for Oldham Athletic and Port Vale, as well as in the Greek Super League with Thrasivoulos Filis. Most recently, Rocastle appeared for Forest Green Rovers in the English Conference.
“[Rocastle] is a guy that’s clean on the ball and sees the game really well,” Vermes said.
The midfielder, 28, joined Kansas City on a trial basis near the end of the team’s preseason preparations in Arizona in March. His signing is contingent upon his receipt of a P1 visa.
“We’re excited to add three talented players to our roster,” said Wizards Manager Peter Vermes. “Smith and Kostrov will both play on the flank for us and they both bring pace and skill to their positions.”
Smith began his career in the youth system of Arsenal F.C., making his debut for the first team at the age of 16 in the Carling Cup. Current Arsenal captain and Spanish international Cesc Fabregas, French fullback Cael Clichy and Tottenham winger David Bentley were among the other young players to appear with Arsenal in the competition that year.
In 2005, Smith headed to Leicester City on loan, where he made 17 appearances and scored a goal. His performances attracted the attention of Derby County, who moved to sign the midfielder before the start of the 2006-2007 season. From Derby, Smith moved to Millwall on loan before signing a permanent deal with the side in 2007. After two years with Millwall, Smith fulfilled short-term contracts with Southampton and Crystal Palace, leaving Palace earlier this year at the end of his deal.
Smith, 23, joined the Wizards as a trialist this preseason and has scored three goals in the team’s nine exhibition matches so far, including one in Thursday’s intra-squad scrimmage.
Kostrov began his career with hometown club Dinamo Bender in the Divizia Naţională, the top division in Moldovan soccer. With the team, Kostrov made 65 appearances, scoring seven goals before moving to Israel halfway through the 2008-2009 season to join Hapoel Be’er Sheva. Kostrov was then loaned out to Maccabi Herzliya in 2009.
Kostrov, 22, joined the Wizards on trial at the start of 2010 training, and has appeared in all of the club’s preseason matches thus far.
Rocastle has enjoyed a nine-year career with many clubs at all levels of the English game, starting with Kingstonian F.C. in 2001. Following a successful spell with Kingstonian that saw the team reach the fifth round of the FA Cup, Rocastle transferred to Chelsea in 2003. However, he would spend much of his time with the London club on loan. After leaving the club for Sheffield Wednesday in 2005, Rocastle would go on to play in England for Oldham Athletic and Port Vale, as well as in the Greek Super League with Thrasivoulos Filis. Most recently, Rocastle appeared for Forest Green Rovers in the English Conference.
“[Rocastle] is a guy that’s clean on the ball and sees the game really well,” Vermes said.
The midfielder, 28, joined Kansas City on a trial basis near the end of the team’s preseason preparations in Arizona in March. His signing is contingent upon his receipt of a P1 visa.
7 comments:
we signed a guy from the conference? Really? Scrapping the bottom of the barrel aren't we? What a waste Rocaslte is.
@ Anon 7:04pm
Way to judge a guy before we've even seen him. There's a lot more talent in Conference than people realize. But hey, if blind ignorance is your thing...
@2nd Anon:
Nice way to support the party line.
He is in the Conference for a reason. Sorry to say but I trust talent evaluators in England (and the rest of Europe) more than Vermes. His track record is not too stellar; add to that the fact that he's cutting players left and right that he brought in for the last 2 years.
I'll reserve my judgement on Rocastle and Casino Jimmy but they better not be busts or our new stadium should open to a brand new Coach and TD.
Vermes gets to KC and brings in a coach and new players and we fail so he fires the coach and gets rid of alot of the players to bring in more players and more new A-coaches; if we fail again the only common denominator in the group is Vermes.
As a STH I've been sort of amused with some of his moves (Smith) but his coaching has showed me nothing so I give him this year to win me (and alot of my friends who are STHs) back or I'll be supporting the Wizards from the couch (in HD baby!!!). Money's too tight for the same result we had last year.
You know what they say about fair-weather fans...
They're not fans at all.
Rich,
You sound like a colossal douche.
James
@James and the last Anon.
Do you have Season Tickets to the Chiefs or Royals with their pathetic team? It must be nice to have the money to go spend it on a product that isn't good. Just like Rich I have season tickets but if the product isn't there why keep buying it. Rich might be a douche but stupid it seems he isn't. That might go to you.
There is a difference between fair weathered fans and showing the FO that we want a good product. If you can't see the difference the adjetive idiot can be placed next to your name.
I've been a STH for 4 years and after seeing KH get traded I'm not really excited and Vermes has shown me nothing yet (TD or Coach). I'll give him a year but that's it, if the FO can't see he's done little good then they won't get my money; (hint" that's what most people do when they buy a bad product = they don't spend money on it again).
James, I can be a douche and you can call me a fair weather fan, but if I go to the store and get something that doesn't work and go back and replace it and it still doesn't work, should I keep spending money on it?
You know what they say of people who buy a crappy product over and over. Stupid.
Me:douche; You: dummy
Maybe instead of that I call the manufacturer and let him know I don't like his product or at least let him know by not buying it. There might be no competition when it comes to soccer in this town, but money can be spent anywhere (especially in a tough economy).
You 2 must be part of the group of people who go buy the chinese crap from Walmart over and over again in the hope that someday someone will figure out how to make a good product. (Hint: until you hit them in the pocket they won't care because people still buy their crap; in sports terms: Chiefs and Carl Peterson)
BTW: Vermes: good youth academy administrator and good player = YES; Coach and TD = No (until I see evidence to the contrary).
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