NASL News: Strikers Gain a Player, Lose a Player; RailHawks Sign 2
The Fort Lauderdale Strikers and Carolina RailHawks both made players moves late this week. The Strikers added former MLS player Andy Herron to their roster but in turn lost Mike Palacio from their 2011 roster. Carolina announced two signings, Palacio and Ty Shipalane who had played for the RailHawks in 2010.
Former Chicago Fire striker Andy Herron, 33, has signed with the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. A native of Costa Rica, Herron began his youth career with AD Limonese before joining Santos de Guápiles in Limón, Costa Rica. He then went to CS Herediano in 2003, scoring 26 goals for the Costa Rican Primera League club before joining the Fire in 2004. The 5’9″ forward had two stints with the Fire, scoring 17 goals in 60 plus matches and has also played for the Columbus Crew and more recently was back in Costa Rica for a second stint with Herediano, along with time at Puntarenas and most recently with Limón.
“We’re excited to add a player of Andy’s experience the goal-scoring ability to our team,” said Strikers head coach Daryl Shore. “He gives us the type of scoring potential you need to win games in this league and will be a valuable addition to the organization.” Herron led the Chicago Fire to the 2006 US Open Cup title, scoring four goals in the competition, and was on a title-winning team with Herediano in 2004. The striker also has represented Costa Rica in international play, and appeared in the Copa America 2004.
Although the Strikers added the Costa Rican veteran, they lost midfielder Mike Palacio, who signed recently with the Carolina RailHawks. Palacio is a New Yorker who played his college ball at Stony Brook University, and was a 2008 MLS Supplemental Draft choice of the NY Red Bulls. He suffered a torn ACL before his career could get going with the Red Bulls. After sitting out more than a year, Palacio got his form back playing in the PDL and then played professionally in Serbia before coming to Fort Lauderdale in 2011 season. Palacio was a dynamic contributor to the Strikers’ side that made the 2011 NASL playoff finals, playing in 17 Strikers’ matches.
New RailHawks’ coach Colin Clarke has also brought in another midfielder, South African Ty Shipalane. Shipalane played five matches late in the 2010 season for the RailHawks after beginning the season with DC United and playing for the Richmond Kickers and Harrisburg City Islanders. After playing college soccer at Kentucky’s Lindsey Wilson College from 2005-2008, Shipalane signed his first professional contract with the Kickers in 2009, The 26-year-old played in his native South Africa last season.
“Mike and Ty are very creative midfielders that can cause nightmares for opposing defenses. Both are players that are able to set up teammates for goals and are capable of scoring themselves,” said Clarke.
Comments are closed.
I must admit to being very concerned about the Strikers roster for 2012. In the past, with Traffic’s backing, this team has always seemed to have an influx of players. Now, I’m not saying they were always good players, or even if they had talent, they didn’t always seem to bring in players complimentary to one another or to the style they were trying to play. But there were players coming in none the less. Not liking how far behind the other NASL clubs the Strikers seem to be in filling out their roster to this point.
I understand bringing in an MLS veteran with goal-scoring ability as the Strikers struggled mightily at times (see the Championship series for a prime example) last year. One thing that frustrated me all year was the like of size up front. We already have Nunez and Shriver, did we really need another small (5’9″) quick forward? Shriver played his best soccer as a forward last year, so I hope the plan isn’t to move him t o MF. But he needs to be paired up front with a guy with some size that can win in the air. We completely lacked in that area last year with the exception of an Abe Thompson header once in a blue moon.
And now, not only did we lose our best MF in Arguez, but also a guy who really came on in the second half of the year in MF in Palacio. Instead we’re stuck with Pecka and Morales coming back, neither one of which showed anything at all last year. Why let Palacio go and keep those scrubs?
I think the roster situation tells a lot more about the Strikers FO situation than it would appear on the surface. If Traffic still controls both the Strikers and Railhawks, why let Palacio switch teams? By how often he was used last year over Chacho, it was obvious Coach Shore liked him, and he did help improve the attack overall in the second half od last season. I think there’s indications that are starting to show some changes behind the scenes…..
I’ve been told that each club is independent in how they operate and that Traffic does not interfere in that regard. No disrespect to Shore, but now you have Clarke moving to the RailHawks which that alone is going to be a draw for some players.
I’m glad to see the off-season moves NASL teams are making. There’s have more of it!
@BQ – Unlike some others, I never questioned the independence of the individual teams. You don’t bring in guys like Curt Johnson to run a team only to pull strings behind him. Plus, even the slighest whiff of anything like that, and I’m sure the provisional sanctioning would have been yanked by the USSF in a heartbeat. I was just pushing at a point. Have you looked at the changes made to the FO page on the Strikers website? Traffic employees are now conspicuously absent………
I am a huge striker fan and to see Herron signed I am very excited but, I dislike greatly that we let our number 10 go. Palacios was by far the most underrated player for us last year, the combination play between him and arguez and shiver were some of the best second division football I have seen in last ten years. Hopefully, we don’t lose shiver as well.