Pure speculation

You might be asking yourself why I have a picture of Dwight Yorke up on Soilent Green. No, Verdy did not sign the striker, and no, there have been absolutely no rumors saying that Dwight Yorke will sign with Verdy............but it might make sense to sign him.

Yorke has publicly stated that he'd like to come to the J-league for the first half of the season in order to tune up for the World Cup. Yorke is a member of the Trinidad&Tobago squad. Right now, most of the teams are set, roster-wise. Verdy is not in that position, they have been signing people as late as last week. They also have to field two full squads for the 48 regular season matches, at least 6 ACL matches and Emperors Cup (not to mention the satellite league......which it looks like Verdy will forgo). At the minimum, that is 55 games.

Now the conventional wisdom is that Yorke would join Yokohama FC and team up with his former Sydney mate King Kazu to form a geriatric strike force. He could get some attention from former EPL coach Stuart Baxter down in Kobe (we know Mikitani likes to sign over the hill players with big pedigrees ...........*cough* MBOMA *cough*). He could go to one of the few J1 teams still looking for a quick foreign fix. I think the best fit for him and for the J League is Verdy. Here's why:

1. Opportunity-Yorke is coming in late to the J League party. He has another semi-final match in the A League on Sunday, and then if Sydney FC continues on, it could be a couple more weeks before he joins a potential squad. Verdy has extra games on their schedule, extra games mean extra opportunities and the chance for a foreign player to sign on with a squad that already has 3 imports claiming gameday spots. It helps Verdy because it adds depth and punch to the front line. It also means he wouldn't have the grind of playing 12-14 games before the Cup. He could concentrate on the 4 ACL matches that Verdy has as well as getting in 1 or 2 of the other home based matches.

2. Experience- Yorke is oozing with experience, once being a featured player on one of the 2 or 3 marquee teams in the world. After playing in red at Old Trafford, the chances of nerves getting to you in a match against Tobacco monopoly are pretty much nil. Yorke would not only help with the ACL campaign, he would be a good mentor to a young kid who has dreams of playing for a national squad and in Europe.........yes Mr. Morimoto, I'm talking to you.

3. Hype- In the world of Verdy, I think publicity might be on par with winning in the minds of ownership. Signing a World Cup striker, with a pedigree linked to Man U, connections to Kazu, and plenty of Japanese TV face time after the WCC would surely help get TV69 publicity that Dedimar, Basilio, and Anailson just won't do. Do you honestly think Ramos was signed only for his coaching prowess? I'm guessing the ad campaign with the picture of Rui and only Rui (which kind of have an Orwellian "BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU" feel to it) instead of......y'know......the team would lead you to believe the answer is HELL NO!

Again......and let me state this clearly.......there has been no reports or rumors of Yorke signing with Verdy. And there are reasons not to sign a 35 year old striker playing in Australia, but Verdy might want to look into this, unless they have another striker lined up from ARTE TAKASAKI who once played for the Yomiuri club in 1992 and used to play mah johnng with Ramos back in the good old days.