Columbus Crew coach Sigi Schmid thinks that his team got a good deal by signing Pat Noonan, 28, from Aalesund of Norway, by way of New England, in exchange for a first-round pick in next year’s draft. “I don’t think we’re going to get a player as good as Noonan in the first round,” he said.
“To get a player of his experience who basically scores a goal every three games can be of value this year and for years to come,” Schmid said. The two teams also swapped allocation money and allocation rankings, writes Shawn Mitchell, who quotes a source as saying the contract runs through the 2009 season with options for 2010 and 2011.
Noonan, meanwhile, had no desire to play again for New England, having originally left for Norway when the Revs tried to reward his 42 goals and five assists in five years of service with a new contract that would have paid him less. But Mitchell reports that once he’d returned to MLS after an injury-hit spell at Aalesund, “neither Noonan nor the Revolution…had much interest in each other.” Noonan’s take: “I’ve moved on and they’ve moved on. I’m just very thankful for the persistence of Columbus in trying to get me.”