NASL personalities as "Game of Thrones" characters

By: Caleb Ramp

With the HBO show returning for it's sixth season on April 24th, I figured it only made sense to discuss a few of our favorite NASL personalities and their counterparts from Westeros and beyond.

This post does contain a few spoilers from the first five seasons of HBO's Game of Thrones, but does not contain any additional spoilers from the book series.

If you're not up to date on the show, you should question your life choices -- and continue reading at your own risk.

Jon Busch - Tyrion Lannister

What he lacks in physical size he more than makes up in ceaseless determination and a fearless heart. Intelligence and his ability to communicate are his biggest assets, and he can inspire those around him. Always quick with a witty retort, always a fan favorite.

Giovanni Savarese - Tywin Lannister

The leader of the richest, most hated family in the Seven Kingdoms. Ruthless, successful, and won't hesitate to do whatever it takes to win. He was invincible. Untouchable. 

 Until he wasn't. 

Georgios Samaras - Jaime Lannister

Not what he once was physically, but still able to get the job done despite new limitations. Tales of his conquests of old will be told for generations, and his legend -- even among those who despise him -- will live on forever. Also, great hair. 

Thomas Rongen - Eddard Stark

Impossible to dislike. Even his rivals love and respect him. A storied past, having brought his family to new heights. A victim of a ruthless king who put personal pride over the good of the realm. We're not sure how, but we all hope he'll be back some day. 

It's worth mentioning that a One Year Plan didn't work out too well for Joffrey, either. Bill Edwards might do well to steer clear of pies on his nameday. 

If Rongen is our beloved Ned, I think that makes...

Freddy Adu - Theon Greyjoy

Once an outcast, Stark (Rongen) brought him into the fold and made him one of his own. The young man thrived under this regime, but once Stark was removed from the picture, the young man's dark past returned. 

There's still the opportunity for redemption, but time for him to reverse his current course is quickly running out.

Simon Mensing - The Mountain

 

He's huge. He's terrifying. When he sees red, he'll hold your face to the fire or crush your skull without a thought. Love him or hate him, you'd rather he be on your side than the enemy's.

With the use of blood magic or other forms of sorcery, he may or may not be able to be brought back to life as some kind of zombie version of himself.

Marc Dos Santos - Robb Stark

The King of the North led his men to victory after stunning victory as they marched toward a decisive showdown with Tywin's army. With ultimate victory in sight, it all fell apart. 

His loyal followers still weep over the Young Wolf's untimely departure from this world. His family was gutted shortly thereafter.

Peter Wilt - Petyr Baelish

The ultimate self-made man. Expertly leverages information and relationships to further himself and the causes he believes in. Always building, always moving, always ahead of the game. Instrumental in the rise and fall of kingdoms. Some theorize he's positioning to one day rule Westeros himself.

Miguel Ibarra - Khal Drogo

He was once our Sun and Stars. Our first and only (on the national team). He was taken from us far too soon, but in our hearts he will ride eternal. Vod chafaan. 

Dragan Stojkov - Drogon

Fly free, my friend.

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Join Caleb Ramp each week during the season for the Bloody Shambles Preview Show. Don't forget to follow Bloody Shambles on Twitter, and like us on Facebook. 

The wonderful visual representation of Indy Eleven slaying the New York Cosmos was created by our very own James Cormack.

Have a great comparison we might have missed? Leave a comment or send us a tweet!

Indy Eleven Player Profile - Unleash The Dragan - No.17 Dragan Stojkov

By: James Cormack


By the time the first game for Indy kicks off next season Dragan Stojkov will be 28 years old. He was born in Strumica which at the time of his birth was in former Yugoslavia and is now a part of Macedonia. Dragan has plied his trade in Macedonia, Greece, Serbia, South Korea and of course now the United States.During his youth, Stojkov played with several clubs before reaching Serbia. Those clubs include FK Belasica, Egaleo FC and Ilisiakos FC. In 2009 Dragan signed for FK Napredak Kruševac in the Serbian SuperLiga.

At the end of that season Napredak were relagated to the Serbian First League. Stojkov left Napredak and joined the club where he would spend the longest time during his professional career to date, FK Jagodina.

During his time at FK Jagodina, Dragan won a Serbian Cup medal in the 2012-2013 season after defeating Vojvodina in the final. Subsequently, he also played for the club in the qualifiers of the Europa League against FC Rubin Kazan of the Russian Premier League. Despite losing in the qualifying, this is still great experience for any player.

In 2014 Dragan left Serbia and headed for the United States. Joining LA Galaxy of the MLS, Stojkov played for their second team in the USL for that year. In 2015 Stojkov left Los Angeles and moved to Indianapolis to play with Indy Eleven. After a good showing in his first season he was named as one of the first eight players to be retained for 2016.

In 2015 Dragan notched up 1409 minutes in 21 games and appeared in 18 starting line ups for Indy Eleven. Playing primarily on the right wing, Dragan has also been used as a makeshift full back as well. Throughout most of his career Stojkov has played as a central defensive midfielder before coming to Indy.

So let's hear it from the Dragan's mouth...

We were lucky enough to be able to sit down and talk with Indy's number 17 recently and get his thoughts on his career and playing for Indy Eleven. Dragan has a great sense of humor. He told us at a team meeting each player was asked to vote for players to be in the next games starting lineup, so he wrote his own name down eleven times!

For anyone who is curious, Dragan's favorite team is FK Crvena Zvezda (Red Star Belgrade) and one of his most memorable moments in his life was playing against them in his favorite place which is Rajko Mitić Stadium for FK Jagodina. Red Star supporters have been named as one of the top 15 most intimidating in the world.

In good old front office style, we posed these ELEVEN questions to Dragan Stojkov....

JC: At what age did you become serious about football and how did you break into professional football, which was your first professional club?

Dragan: I guess it was around the age of 15, I was called up to play for the Macedonia U17 team, after that I signed my first professional contract with FK Belasica, at the time they were playing in Macedonia's first division. This was my Academy club, as you know it's a little different in Europe than here in the US (i.e players start pro football younger)

JC: When you played at Jagodina in the Serbian SuperLiga you won the Serbian Cup and qualified to enter the Europa League playing against Russian side Rubin Kazan. Was this the high point of your career so far and what was that experience like.

Dragan: For two of the three years I played at FK Jagodina we mad it to the Europa League Qualifiers twice (v FK Ordabasy of Kazakhstan in 2012 in addition to Rubin Kazan in 2013) and we also managed to win the Serbian Cup in 2013 so yes that was definitely a high point for me. Prior to that I was also called to the first national team of Macedonia at the age of 17 for a friendly, that was my only time, I was called also while at Jagodina but was injured at the time, this was my reward for reaching the second group stage of the U19 European Championships but could not play.

JC: What prompted you to leave Serbia and FK Jagodina and travel to the United States, how did you land at LA Galaxy, were you scouted or was the USA somewhere you just wanted to go?

Dragan: I left FK Jagodina after three wonderful years, I felt at the time the club had achieved everything they could up to that point and I needed a new challenge. I had received a letter of invitation from LA Galaxy to come on trial, and I think before that the agency I worked with in Europe had already recommended me to them. So I took a risk and made the decision before the next season began in Serbia. I have always wanted to see how it is in the USA and I love challenges so it was an easy decision!

Dragan in action V FC Edmonton 2015

Setting the foundations, squad building begins for Indy Eleven!

Duke Lacroix - Futures are important!

By: James Cormack

Swift in the wake of our new coach announcement, Indy Eleven wasted no time in clarifying their position on the retention or non retention from our Class of 2015. I am sure for many there are a few surprises, several disappointments and without doubt a few tears.

Trust me you are not alone in your grief, if there is one thing I have learned following the NASL for the last three years and having spent some study on the years previous, get used to it. Every club in the NASL with a couple of exceptions each year has to go through the same thing.

Before I talk about players individually and the merits of retaining them I'll break it down for those who have not read the announcement.

Players that are for sure retained for 2016:

Greg Janicki, Don Smart, Marco Franco, Dylan Mares, Wojciech Wojcik, Duke Lacroix, Dragan Stojkov and Cory Miller.

Players who have been declined for 2016:

Erick Norales, Victor Pineda, Kristian Nicht, Jon Dawson, Judson McKinney, Marvin Ceballos, Daniel Cuevas and Kleberson.

Loan expired players returned after 2015: 

Sergio Peña, Jaime Frias, Dane Richards, Brian Brown, Zach Steinberger and Charlie Rugg

Missing from the players mentioned above are Brad Ring, Kyle Hyland, Daniel Keller and Keith Cardona. Indy Eleven are still in contractual talks with these player so there is still a chance that these players may return to the squad for 2016. It is not clear however whether Hyland and Keller are being considered, they are just listed as contract expired, but also are not listed under declined players, so their fate is unclear at this moment.

Thoughts on the players retained so far........

Having talked to Hankinson's for a little while and listened to him, I can get understand somewhat what he looks for in a player and what he is going to expect from them. Some of the players already returned may surprise you as it did me, but I do now see a different perspective after hearing new coach's words.

Greg Janicki: I'll be the first to hold my hand up I was not overly impressed with his performance for Indy so far. I do know he has been a great player for years at San Anotonio and very highly rated, so how do you suddenly become bad.

Hankinson explained he likes combinations of players, pairings, players who play better when they are on the field together, that compliment each other. The feeling is Greg had years of that previous to Indy Eleven and then we he arrived here he lost it.

Janicki likes to be the back to step forward and make that first tackle in the box, there is no guarantee any player retained will be a starter but if he does his performance will improve if he is combined with the correct player. I think you'll see a different Greg Janicki in 2016.

Don Smart: Don upped his game in 2015 in the last half of the year in my opinion. We kind of got used to knowing he would either play for two thirds of the game or enter in the last third. After the game in Minnesota in early September Don proved he can be a 90 minute player for this team and continued to prove it for the remainder of fall.

Indy need to exploit the corners more and get passes in behind the defense and Don provides that. I'd like to see Don have a crack at goal more often, sometimes he holds back when he gets into good position around the box, put the boot behind it Don and have a crack at goal!

Marco Franco: Marco was a great pick up for the Eleven, he had a reasonably solid year and did everything that was expected of him. I felt however under our initial coaching structure and for the remainder of the year he didn't develop more, through no fault of his own.

Marco has a lot to offer and I don't think we have seen all of it yet. I think our new coaching setup will help develop him into a much more dangerous player. Marco can be a much better box to box defender, would like to see more forward penetration from him on the overlap and more assist play in the final third. Marco is a 'future' another good young player that can only continue to improve at this level.

Dylan Mares: My most improved player in 2015 by far, although I think he was always good, he showed an aggressiveness and determination this year to keep his starting place in the team. Dylan led by example and showed professionalism, after meniscus operation he did not get back in as soon as he would of liked, but when he did it was straight back to business as usual.

That attitude will be important because as the squad building continues, Dylan may find himself fighting for a starting place again. Regardless I think whether he starts a game or comes on as a sub, he will remain professional and give everything he has to be a game changer.

Wojciech Wojcik: Somewhat of a surprise but also not really. Tim Hankinson has said he expects all of his players to be able to defend, and he is also looking for 'warriors'. Woj fits into this category perfectly. Outside of scoring goals as you would want a striker to do, Woj gives something more, a good forward can keep his place in a team without scoring many goals at all because of the other work that they bring to the field.

Early on in 2015 I saw from Wojcik that he is more than willing to drop back as deep as our own 18 yard box to help the team defend an attack and try to turn that into our possession. He also has great strength and as an example of a large forward his knockdown for Sergio Pena's goal in San Antonio is a perfect example of the 'other' things Woj can bring to the field. Coach H talks about combinations of players, Woj will excel as a player if the right compliment can be found for him on the field.

Woj scored back to back goals in games against Cosmos and Carolina at the beginning of fall season before being subbed out for Greg Janicki in a difficult 4-2 defeat to Ottawa. He never really regained a starting spot and I feel this ruined him at a point where he was peaking, bad decision making. Woj can hit that peak again I am sure of it.

Duke Lacroix: As it states on the photo, Duke is a 'future', a young player already showing an abundance of talent who can only continue to improve, but still needs mentors who can develop him from college player to professional. Duke was probably one of our smartest pickups in 2015, he came into the play looking like he had been playing pro for a few seasons.

Lacroix did not once looked overawed or lacking in confidence at all in his first season as a pro player. He took his opportunity by the scruff of the neck and always looked exciting on the field. I honestly think we are fortunate enough to witness the beginning of a future star player that may ended up shining on a higher stage than NASL if he continues with the same confidence. Very important pickup for Indy, can't stress that enough. If we lose players like this, other teams would benefit in the long run.

Dragan Stojkov: Dragan impressed me a lot in 2015, again I don't think we utilized him as well as we could have and I hope moving forward our coaches will see the potential in him in several different positions. Dragan is a good utility player, he can be played on the wing, at center defensive midfield, attacking midfield and as he proved left or right back in defense.

The value of such a player who can adapt quickly to circumstances and cover different positions can't be under stated. Dragan also provides pace and aggressiveness, he never gives up on any ball and this also helps draw fouls from the opposition, he is very difficult to play against.

Another player who I think we could see much more from in a more organized coaching structure. I also believe visa issues are now fixed so this is good for both himself and the team. Dragan takes up the first international spot.

Cory Miller:  Cory was a surprise to me in 2014, I did not know much about him and thought at a time when we really need defensive cover why are we bringing players from USL. Cory proved right away to be an aggressive back who was also confident on the ball. After dropping from the starting lineup at the beginning of 2015 he showed the same consistency when he got back in the team.

Cory like others, may not be guaranteed a starting spot. Whether he starts or not he gives us great depth, one of the things we have lacked in the past is a strong bench and although we have had a large number of players we have not had strength in our 'depth'. Cory makes me feel less nervy just knowing we have him in the squad, we need four good center backs in our team. Cory has earned his place in this squad.

Thoughts on the rest of the announcement......

Obviously there is going to be some disappointment, as there will be at all clubs in the division. When I asked people on reddit recently if you could only pick eleven players to return who would they be, from my own list so far we have restored six.

I have lost three in Erick Norales, Marvin Ceballos and Victor Pineda and it's tough, but I am speaking as a supporter with my heart on my sleeve as well as an armchair coach who thinks he knows what's best. Tim and Tim will have their own plans and I trust them so I am not going to try and second guess their vision. I hope all three of these players land in a good spot and continue playing in the NASL or in any team suitable to their level of skill.

Erick Norales is a warrior, and we are looking for warriors. I have even heard him being described as a warrior by none other than Kristian Nicht. It's a huge loss both from a football perspective and from a 'family' point of view. Erick poured his heart and soul out on the field and I have no doubt everyone in Indianapolis will be eternally grateful for his efforts in this team. We can move on from this, but never forget!

From the "don't knows" I think the two most important for me are Brad Ring and Kyle Hyland which would bring back eight of my choices. Judging from the announcement it is hard to gauge if Kyle Hyland will be back or not, it is vague and not very clear but I hope there is some contact and I hope that works out.

Brad Ring is clearly one of our stand out players, his presence on the field is a pivotal part of the midfield, he brings strength, skill and experience and I am pretty sure he could fit into the starting lineup of any team in this league. If Brad does return he should be suitably rewarded with an increased deal, that's something both sides can thrash out. I hope those negotiations are successful because if Brad moves to another side in the NASL then we will just be giving them an advantage that we need.

I left Cardona out of my eleven, not because I don't rate him but because I chose only outfield players I felt were important to move on with. I would definitely bring Cardona back, he has proved his ability and would be an excellent return to this side. If Keith believes his future lies in Indianapolis I will for sure not complain at all.

Daniel Keller? I have honestly not seen enough playing time from him to warrant an overall opinion, from what I have seen so far I am not sure he is NASL level yet, that does not mean good coaching could not bring more out of him, but I didn't see any immediate impact when he joined. Daniel is still young and could be a valuable squad member but he will need to fight hard for game time.

As far as loan players are concerned, I think it's okay to start fresh and not really worry about it, in the long run I would rather have signed players committed to the club than loans. I actually only would entertain bring Zach Steinberger back if it was a loan and also Dane Richards. Dane's contract is up at Red Bulls but I think he would remain an MLS entity, not sure on that, but we would have to sign him and pay him. I am not sure we would be able to afford him and we may see him draft to another MLS club.

To sum up, I am quite happy with the news. There is quite a ways to go but I feel what he have retained is a good foundation to build around, whether they are starters or not, because we know with these player they can give us something even if they are coming off the bench.

Apparently money has been freed up and Hankinson is looking at tough, quality players to come in and make this team a formidable side. I expect to see seasoned players coming in not just from the NASL but also possibly from MLS. It's silly season and there will be a lot of rumors, from the chatter I have heard so far I think supporters of this team are going to be pleasantly surprised when it is all said and done!

Indy Eleven will also hold combined tryouts for both the first team and for Indy Eleven NPSL. The 2013 tryouts for Indy Eleven did not provide a lot of players for the inaugural squad, but they did discover Don Smart, hopefully our coaches can unearth another gem on December the 19th and 20th.

#WATCHTHISSPACE #INDYFOREVER