Summer Striker From Abroad?

Gary Smith may be waiting until the summer for a big signing from Europe if unconfirmed reports of new signings for the Colorado Rapids turn out to be true. Last week, the Rapids signed draft striker Ross Schunk to the team, waiving defender Stephen Keel who has reportedly signed with the Portland Timbers franchise. That left them with one very inexperienced back-up forward to Conor Casey and Omar Cummings. Now, reports say that Gregory Richardson has inked a contract with the Rapids. The Guyanese player hit the headlines last year when he spanked the New England Revolution for a few goals. Head coach Smith may therefore be waiting until the summer for a bigger name, content to have Schunk and Richardson as back-ups until then and probably praying that neither of his frontline strikers get really bad injuries. Schunk and Richardson have zero MLS experience so it will be tough for them if they do get called in. There are also reports out of Rochester that Scott Palguta (see March 11 blog post) has signed a contract. He would be a back-up defender to Jordan Harvey and Ivan Guerrero as a left-sided back. Here's the link to a Guyanese report about Richardson.
http://www.stabroeknews.com/2009/sports/03/12/richardson-runs-onto-rapids%E2%80%99-roster/