Acquisition

Just a quick note for now. The club will be dropping Ned Grabavoy to make space for DaMarcus Beasley. Expect a full write-up in the near future.

Streak Ends with a Bang

Rose City 8 - 9 CD Gunners

Results don't lie, even if the main MLS page does and Rose City dropped three points this week. This game is the new league record holder for most points scored (topping even some Majors Cup games). The Gunners, it must be said are either lucky or good to get a hattrick from the aging former Flyer Rosales as well as a brace from Tierney who's been on the team less than a week. Still, even in a gunshow like this, someone's likely to lose.

Big plays came from some important places however including a Giles Barnes brace and a keeper brace by Jaime Penedo. Eight points is better than every score by the Flyers all year barring Week Nine. It's a lot of energy (and looks good for the team in the long run) but sadly nets nothing (except and APG increase) this week. Look for things to get even tighter in the run to the end of the season.

In addition, pending league approval, the Flyers will be swapping teammates. Drop Raul Fernandez and pick up Jair Benítez.

Luyindula arrives in the Rose City

After a surprisingly short discussion with Second City, Peguy Luyindula will be arriving for the price of $12 in allocation cash. He's expected to bolster the abilities of the squad to compete in the last few weeks of the regular season plus increasingly likely post-season play.

New York's Peguy Luyindula

"With the approaching trade deadline, we felt it was important given our late season run to add some firepower. Peguy has already contributed a few goals this season and should but in a few more. Pending league approval, we'll be happy to see him wearing Rose City red," the Flyers manager added when asked about the transfer. "Allocation cash has made it increasingly difficult to find strong players as free transfers since now, signing a big name transfer only requires cash and the slot from your lowest performing player. Before, you would have a sort of cascade effect where strong league performers would be released anytime a bigtime DP would transfer in. We're just trying to find new ways of picking up power late in the season."

Rose City will be dropping New England's Saer Sene who, while a strong player, hasn't received enough minutes to make a true impact this season to make roster space.

Transaction

Pending league approval and the end of the week, Rose City will drop Marcelo Sarvas and pick up Rodney Wallace.

Week Ten

Boy. What a week to get back on the horse. We're posting a lineup on time. That's a thing. But there's one big hurdle. The Spartans are 9-0. One more win and they hold the BSL record for best start to a season. Upside, some of the guys for the Flyers are starting to look alright. Let's get to work and see what we can do.

Before we get to the lineup, we have some roster moves to make though. Pending league approval Rose City will be dropping Robbie Findley for Raul Fernandez.

Starters
Eric Alexander
Giles Barnes (C)
Aurelien Collin
Marco Di Vaio
Diego Fagundez
Ned Grabavoy
Jordan Harvey
Jeff Larentowicz
Lamar Neagle
Jaime Penedo (GK)
Maxi Urruti

Subs
Drew Moor
Saer Sene
Marcelo Sarvas

Reserve
Raul Fernandez

Week Seventeen: The Rebound

The Flyers were absolutely destroyed last week by the Commissioner's Own Union SC by a score of 9-1. It can't really be helped. The Union had been averaging 2.1 ppg for the season and suddenly, every role player on their squad found their form at the same time.

"It happens in this game," Rose City's manager said after the game. "It was impressive. I wish it hadn't happened to us in the middle of a playoff chase, but what can you do? You've got to keep your highs low and your lows high and focus on the game in front of you."

And boy what a doozy it is. This week's matchup against the Spartans is a six pointer for the Flyers. 1612 sits just one place above Rose City in the league table and while a win last week would have made this the go-ahead game, three points paired with denying the Spartans three at the same time would go a long way toward buying the Boys in Red a playoff spot for the second straight year. For that matter, Alamo City could have finished them off last week too, but no. Make no mistake about it, the results this week could make or break Rose City's drive to once again find the playoffs. In addition Majors Cup Qualifying has been tight this season and the loss last week did no favors there either.

Finally, expect something of a "B" squad from the Flyers this week. Sure, a lot of the top names are there, but Gold Cup callups and a couple of injuries have made things more awkward than they need to be.

EDIT: In addition, given league approval, the team would like to acquire Jalil Anibaba (CHI) and drop Eric Hassli (DAL). If the transaction is approved, Anibaba will hold Hassli's assigned spot in the lineup.

Starters
Patrice Bernier (MTL)
Teal Bunbury (SKC)
Jaime Castrillon (COL)
Aurelien Collin (SKC)
Danny Cruz (PHI)
Marco Di Vaio (MTL)
Alan Gordon (SJ)
Eric Hassli (DAL)
Daniel Paladini (CHI)
Luis Robles (NY)
Mauro Rosales (SEA)

Subs
Martin Rivero (COL)
Rodney Wallace (POR)
Marvin Chavez (SJ)

Reserve
Zach McMath (PHI)

International Break Transaction

Drop Kekuta Manneh (VAN) for Teal Bunbury (SKC).

Pending league approval, Teal Bunbury will be joining fellow SKC teammate Aurelien Collin on the Flyers roster. Bunbury saw his first minutes this week in Sporting's hearbreaking 1-0 loss to Orlando City in the US Open Cup's fourth round. Bunbury's return is good for Sporting after an ACL tear in August last year left him off the field for nine-and-a-half months.

Week Thirteen: Cracking the Playoffs

The next two or three games are especially important in the Rose City. A strong showing now could shove the Flyers into the playoff positions if they keep racking up points and improving on their already solid APG. It all starts this week with the season's second match versus Burud Town who currently own third place. Add in the fact that there's just five points separating the two teams and this one has consequences.

The Flyers currently own the lifetime series 2-1 but the Stags won the last meeting 3-2 after an injury riddled Rose City team came storming back to tie most of the way through the week. However, a lot has changed in the Flyers camp since Week Five. Since then, Alan Gordon has returned (and left and returned again) to the pitch as have Marvin Chavez and Martin Rivero. Daniel Paladini, Danny Cruz, and the newest pickup Eric Hassli have all donned the Red for the first time since that week five match as well. Mauro Rosales and the Sounders have (re)discovered what scoring is. And finally, Rodney Wallace has begun receiving major minutes for the Timbers and has proven to be the potent weapon no one but he, the Costa Rican national team, and apparently Caleb Porter knew he could be. All in all, this is a different team than the Stags saw just a few short weeks ago and that's a good thing because playoff positions are starting to firm up and competition for the Majors Cup began last week as well.

In addition, pending league approval, the Flyers will be dropping Michael Harrington (POR) and picking up Jaime Castrillon (COL). If approved, appropriate edits will be made to the roster before game time.

Starters
Patrice Bernier (MTL)
Danny Cruz (PHI)
Marvin Chavez (SJ)
Aurelien Collin (SKC)
Marco Di Vaio (MTL)
Alan Gordon (SJ)
Eric Hassli (DAL)
Zach McMath (PHI)
Martin Rivero (COL)
Mauro Rosales (SEA)
Rodney Wallace (POR)

Subs
Daniel Paladini (CHI)
Jaime Castrillon (COL)
Kekuta Manneh (VAN)

Reserves
Luis Robles (NY)

Flyers 4 - 2 Second City

Flyers 4 - 2 Second City

Second City is now 0-4 versus the Flyers all time and the matchup is starting to look like one the Stars will worry about every time it comes up on the schedule. In a dramatic game this weekend, the Flyers faced down the Stars and jumped them in the league table as well, putting the Boys in Red in fifth overall. This is an especially encouraging result given that Di Vaio, Bernier, and Rosales all sat out this week due to MLS byes and minor injury. Points came from Rivero and Chavez along with Zach McMath's Clean Sheet/Save Point double.

Chavez goes 1 on 1.

"The club has really developed some depth in the last month or so and now that our injury issues are mostly in the past, we can take anyone, anywhere. We've shown that anyone on the team can score from Captain Rosales to guys like Wallace and Collin. Top of the table, here we come!" the Flyers coach exclaimed in an exuberant press conference after the match. Rose City started slow this year, sitting as low as tenth place in the league before the boys found their form and their health.

Now comes the hard part. The Flyers picked up nine points in the last three weeks off the backs of some of the league's less excellent teams as they needed to. Now comes back to back games against Burud Town and the league-leading Alamo City. If Rose City can find a way to get at least four points from those two games they should be contending for the playoffs and looking good in the Majors Cup standings as well. It's crunch time.

Edit: In addition, pending league approval, Rose City is dropping David Estrada and picking up Eric Hassli.

Transaction: Team Building

Assuming front office approval, Rose City drops Frederic Piquionne (POR) and picks up Kekuta Manneh (VAN).

Week Nine: Gateway and Transaction

Gateway United is another strong team that's been struggling early this season. They've picked up some points in the last couple matches though, so this one is important for Rose City. It's crunch time. If the Boys in Red can't start picking up points and rapidly climb the table, half a season isn't going to enough to end up back in the playoffs.

The good news is this, most of the injuries are over. Martin Rivero is looking good to return in another week or two. Alan Gordon is healthy but took himself out for another three weeks. Marvin Chavez played his first minutes last week versus Portland and should only look more and more dangerous from here on out. Seattle has a bye this week, but most of the team should be available in the next one to two weeks. Then, finally, we can see what this team can do as it's currently assembled.

Starters
Patrice Bernier (MTL)
Marvin Chavez (SJ)
Aurelien Collin (SKC)
Marco Di Vaio (MTL)
Michael Harrington (POR)
Zach McMath (PHI)
Daniel Paladini (CHI)
Frederic Piquionne (POR)
Martin Rivero (COL)
Danny Cruz (PHI)
Rodney Wallace (POR)

Subs
Alan Gordon (SJ)
David Estrada (SEA)
Mauro Rosales (SEA)

Reserve
Luis Robles (NY)

In addition, the Flyers are dropping Chris Tierney (NE) for Danny Cruz (PHI).

Transaction

Pending league approval, Rose City drops Frederic Piquionne (POR) for Michel Garbini (DAL).

Transaction

Pending the end of week seven play and league approval, drop Sanna Nyassi and pick up Daniel Paladini (CHI).

Week Four: Rough One

There's no doubt about it. The early schedule hasn't been kind to Rose City with regards to their injured players or which MLS teams get early season breaks. This week, it seems that half the team won't take the field anywhere. Portland and Philly have bye weeks leaving the team without Harrington, Piquionne, the newly acquired Wallace, or keeper McMath in addition to the already injured guys. At least it looks like no one else has received a National Team call-up.

"We've just got to go out and set up the guys who will be on the field to make the plays," the Flyers Coach offered when asked about the situation. "It seemed to work out for us okay last week. Bernier came in, played off Di Vaio and helped us put some points on the board. Rosales ought to see more minutes this week too. We've got some heavy hitters available."

In addition, the Flyers are announcing now, pending league approval, the waiver of Kwame Watson-Siriboe (RSL) for David Estrada (SEA).

Starters
Patrice Bernier (MTL)
Marvin Chavez (SJ)
Aurelien Collin (SKC)
Marco Di Vaio (MTL)
David Estrada (SEA)
Alan Gordon (SJ)
YP Lee (VAN)
Zach McMath (PHI)
Sanna Nyassi (MTL)
Mauro Rosales (SEA)
Chris Tierney (NE)

Subs
Michael Harrington (POR)
Frederic Piquionne (POR)
Rodney Wallace (POR)

Reserve
Martin Rivero (COL)

Transaction

Drop Hector Jimenez(LA) for Rodney Wallace(POR), after play is finished for the week.