All's quiet with Fire as draft day approaches
It's so quiet at Toyota Park these days, you can hear the snowflakes hit the ground.
After last year's tumultuous off-season, the past two months have been downright dull for the Fire, and that's the way the team likes it.
"I would agree with that," said Fire technical director Frank Klopas. "From that standpoint it's good because the pieces are in place now and everybody's ready to work hard."
The coach didn't ditch the team this off-season, forcing a drawn-out search. Team ownership and management seem set for the long term. Tomasz Frankowski and Andy Herron were released quietly and quickly in November.
Even Wilman Conde hasn't issued a transfer request lately, and Klopas said he expects Conde to be with the team for preseason training.
There is, of course, still time for a draft pick to decline the Fire's contract offer, as goalkeeper Dominic Cervi did in 2008.
The MLS SuperDraft is Thursday (1 p.m., ESPN2), but the Fire doesn't have a first-round pick. Toronto FC took that in the trade that brought Brian McBride home.
The Fire's first pick is No. 28 overall, late in the second round.
"The first thing right now is taking a look at the kids in the draft," Fire coach Denis Hamlett said.
Like Klopas, Hamlett spent the past few days in Florida at the draft combine before heading to St. Louis for the draft.
"It's a little different when you don't have a first-round pick, but there's still good players available. I think we've shown in the past we're able to find good players later in the draft," Hamlett said.
Other MLS teams have had to deal with some of the controversy that enveloped the Fire a year ago.
League champion Columbus lost coach Sigi Schmid to expansion Seattle, which already is dealing with injuries to key players; it only has 15 on the roster so far. In Dallas, the transfer saga of Kenny Cooper continues: will he or won't he go to Europe?
But at Toyota Park it's eerily quiet.
"The outside perception is that it has been more quiet," Klopas said. "But we've been working very hard looking at the team, looking for players we can bring in for competition to better our guys."
The biggest news lately was the team and league formally picking up the option on Cuauhtemoc Blanco's contract.
Klopas said he doesn't plan any major moves during the January transfer window.
That includes former English Premier League striker Robbie Fowler, released by Blackburn last month.
Klopas denied a report from England that the Fire offered Fowler a contract, though Klopas did say the team has had some contact with Fowler in the past.
"We haven't offered Robbie Fowler a contract," Klopas said, noting Fowler's injury history. "- We haven't talked with his agent in a really long time."
The only new players expected to join the Fire when the team reports for preseason training in Florida at the end of January will be draft picks and out-of-contract players, Klopas said.
"Not someone from another team right now," he added.