According to Big Apple Soccer, Notts County forward Luke Rodgers was denied a work permit and will not be joining the Red Bulls, as least for now. In our last article, we spelled out the off the field problems that Rodgers has had, and it seems that they have come back to bite him in the you know what. According to Tuesday's Daily Mail, Rodgers' application for a work permit was denied because he has a conviction, and it seems to be the one from October in which he was arrested for taking place in an altercation at a night club. If anything changes, we will be right on it, but as of now, it looks like the Englishman won't be suiting up for the Red Bulls anytime soon.
The Red Bulls defeated St. John's University in a friendly today at the clubs training grounds at Montclair State University by a 3-0 score. Newly signed Salou Ibrahim got the Bulls on the board 16 minutes in on a penalty kick, and later in the first half, New Zealand international Andrew Boyens knocked home a Sinisa Ubiparipovic free kick to make it a two goal advantage. And to top it off, preseason/friendly scoring machine Conor Chinn added yet another goal to complete the scoring. With the way Chinn has scored in the preseason and friendly games, the Red Bulls really should give him some more opportunities with the first team. They've had some trouble scoring, and with the news that Luke Rodgers may not indeed be coming on board, Chinn should get an opportunity to see if he can contribute for the club.