Miller looks to add players to FC Edmonton’s roster; says he plans to make contact with Fordyce

From 2016: Daryl Fordyce signs autographs.

If FC Edmonton had to face the New York Cosmos Thursday, coach Colin Miller would only have 13 healthy Eddies who’d be eligible to dress for the game.

The Eddies meet the defending NASL champs on Saturday at Clarke Field, with fireworks to follow to celebrate Canada’s 150th year. It’s a race to get more bodies ready for the match. But, the Eddies already long “unavailable to play” list got longer thanks to defender Pape Diakite’s yellow-card-accumulation suspension and a concussion and shoulder injury to keeper Nathan Ingham, suffered in last Friday’s win over North Carolina FC.

Of course, with the long list of unavailables and the departure of import forward Dean Shiels earlier this week, the Eddies have some roster holes, and two open international roster slots. And, with the transfer window now open, it leads to question of who the Eddies will bring in.

Coach Colin Miller and his staff are currently being bombarded by agents who all have lines on the Next Great Player. And Miller said that, even though he’s got international slots open, it doesn’t mean he’s going to prioritize bringing in a foreigner over a domestic.

“I really don’t care where the player comes from,” Miller said after Thursday’s training session. “I say that with the greatest respect; there have been players in the past, foreign players, who have come in and haven’t settled. A domestic player who knows the league, who knows the MLS, who knows the USL, with all the travelling that goes on, the heat, that player may prove to be just as valuable as a foreign player. We’re getting inundated with players from all over the world, as you can imagine. You only hear from agents when it’s time for them to make money — and that’s the case at the moment. We’re looking at every option available but just because there are foreign spots have come available, it doesn’t mean it’s a foreign player who will take a spot.”

FC Edmonton’s all-time leading scorer, Daryl Fordyce, is currently a free agent. After his contract expired, he signed a deal to join USL’s FC Cincinnati in 2017. But, recently, that club and Fordyce came to a mutual agreement to terminate the deal. Fordyce is a free agent. Fordyce now has his Canadian permanent residency, so is no longer an import player for USL or NASL teams.

Would Miller entertain the thought of a Fordyce return? Judging from the coach’s comments, the door is open.

“Daryl is one of about, I’d say, 70 players we’ve been made aware of,” said Miller. “Everyone knows my feelings on Daryl Fordyce. Daryl left for reasons that, in some cases, were out of his hands. The league was on a bit of a wobble; not our club, but the league. So, at that time [owner] Tom Fath, rightly so, wasn’t renewing contracts, he wasn’t adding new contracts to the club, and Daryl was looking out for his family. He made a decision that probably I would have made, as well. He didn’t leave here on bad terms by an stretch of the imagination. But, over the course of the next week or so, I am sure we will make contact with Daryl and see what his status is. Maybe he doesn’t want to come back. Maybe he has moved on from the club. But he left on good terms; he’s the club’s top scorer, a terrific professional and a very good football player. Those are the sort of qualities we’re looking for here.”

One thing to note is that the value of the Canadian dollar has surged of late and, as of Thursday, is bubbling just under 80 cents US. A stronger Canadian dollar makes contract offers from Canadian clubs more competitive.