There are positives and negatives about Andy Dorman's move from the Revolution to St. Mirren in Scotland.
Dorman, who is expected to finalize a contract with the Scottish Premier League club this week, is the second attacking midfielder to move from the Revolution to Britain in a year.
This indicates the Revolution are developing players of European-class quality. But it is also a bad sign for Major League Soccer that it could not come close to meeting the salary demands of Clint Dempsey, who went to Fulham FC on a $4 million transfer last January, or Dorman, who had earned a total of less than $120,000 in four seasons.
Dorman's contract, a one-year deal with a year option, will be worth nearly $400,000 with bonuses. That is the equivalent of MLS's top salaries, excluding designated players such as David Beckham and Cuauhtemoc Blanco.
In any case, this is a profitable move for Dorman, who had lost his starting place with the Revolution. Dorman, 25, has British citizenship (he was born in Flintshire, Wales) but had given up on a professional career when he decided to enroll at Boston University. Only two players were selected after Dorman in the 2004 MLS draft, and it is unlikely he would have landed a position with an MLS club if the Revolution hadn't selected him.
The Revolution got a bargain, since Dorman signed for $16,000 his first season, a contract that was modified to raise his salary to $30,000 for the next three years. Dorman was eager to remain with the Revolution, having established himself in the area since his BU days; but if money talks, he has gone where he was wanted most. He had leverage in negotiations, and the Revolution could not come close to matching what St. Mirren offered.
The Saints apparently were eager to sign Dorman, offering him a contract without a tryout, relying solely on recommendations and his résumé.
Dorman was planning to make his debut against Gretna tomorrow but the game has been postponed. The match was scheduled to be played at Fir Park, but the stadium has become a "place of homage" for fans of Phil O'Donnell, the 35-year-old former Celtic star who collapsed there during a game last week and later died. The Celtic-Rangers match also was postponed.
St. Mirren's next three matches will be at home, against Hibernians Saturday, Rangers next Tuesday, and Dumbarton in a cup game Jan. 12.
St. Mirren has a 5-10-4 record and an 11-30 goal differential, but the situation is not desperate yet. Only the last-place finisher in the 12-team league is relegated, and St. Mirren, which finished 11th last year, has a 9-point edge on Gretna.
On the outs
Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira surprisingly excluded several regulars from South Africa's team for the African Nations Cup in Ghana Jan. 20-Feb. 10.Parreira had persuaded striker Benny McCarthy to cancel his international retirement, then left him off the team, along with Germany-based midfielder Delron Buckley (Borussia Dortmund) and defender Bradley Carnell (Karlsruhe), and Russia-based midfielder Macbeth "Kheto" Sibaya (Rubin Kazan).
There was speculation a deal had been made to allow McCarthy to skip the Nations Cup and continue to perform for Blackburn Rovers.
South Africa, preparing to be the first African country to play host to the World Cup, opens this tournament against Angola on Jan. 23.
National figures
The Revolution's Pat Noonan, Michael Parkhurst, and Taylor Twellman have been selected for the 26-player US national team training camp, scheduled to start Thursday in preparation for games against Sweden Jan. 19 in Carson, Calif., and Mexico Feb. 6 in Houston. Noonan, making his first camp appearance since being injured before the 2006 World Cup, is listed as a midfielder by coach Bob Bradley. Parkhurst is among nine defenders. There are six forwards, including Jeremiah White (AGF Aarhus, Denmark), a 2004 Revolution draft choice. The Revolution will begin training later this month in preparation for preseason trips to Bermuda (Feb. 13-21) and Cancun (March 1-7). The season opener will be a March 29 home game against Houston, a rematch of the last two MLS Cups . . . The Olympic team camp that runs from Sunday through Jan. 20 in Bradenton, Fla., includes Boston College goalkeeper Chris Brown and midfielder Alejandro Bedoya, plus former Eagle forward Charlie Davies, now with Hammarby IF in Sweden.Frank Dell'Apa can be reached at fdellapa@globe.com
