FRISCO, Texas -- Almost since the moment he took over as head coach of FC Dallas in mid-June, one constant issue for Schellas Hyndman has been whether or not forward Kenny Cooper would be leaving for Europe. First there was the courtship with Danish side Rosenborg around the 2008 MLS All-Star Game. And now with the calendar inching ever closer to the January transfer window, that talk has started again.
Cooper comes off a season where he rebounded nicely from a broken leg that forced him to miss much of the 2007 campaign. The Dallas native scored 18 goals, second in MLS and came away with Comeback Player of the Year honors and also earned a spot on the league's Best XI.
Toward the end of the 2008 campaign, FCD acquired veteran striker Jeff Cunningham, who ended the year with five goals in 11 games for the Hoops. Yet in the end FCD missed the playoffs and Hyndman would like to see both Cooper and Cunningham back for 2009.
However, the FCD coach said they are nearing the point of no return -- where he needs to know what Cooper's decision will be.
"This is one issue that just never seems to ever go away," Hyndman said. "It's tough because you want the best for the player and he's a great kid. He's a young man, a good player and he's got such a great future. I think he'll be in Europe whether it's this year, next year, or two years from now. But I think we are very close to making a decision."
For Hyndman, it all boils down to what's best for the entire team.
"I think what's going to end up happening, my feeling is, it may come to a point where the team comes first and it's, 'Kenny, you're here no matter what. You've had this opportunity, but this has gone on a little too long. We don't want to lose you, but we've given you that chance to find something else and it hasn't worked out,'" Hyndman said. "I mean the Rosenborg situation was a done deal then it fell apart, but in the meantime, we're going right and left not knowing."
But that doesn't mean that the FCD coach also doesn't want to do what's best for his talented young scorer and Dallas native, who has scored 33 goals since being signed after playing in the Manchester United reserve side.
"I would like to also do the best thing for Kenny," Hyndman said. "I like Kenny a lot and I like his family a lot. Sometimes I try to make decisions on how I would want to be treated. If my grandson had an opportunity to go play for Man U, I wouldn't want somebody to say he can't go. I want to do the best thing for Kenny but I cannot hurt this team to do that.
"If I hurt this team to do that, then I'll be watching from the stands or some place else and I won't be here. My responsibility is to myself, and my family, and this program," he continued. "So we are working very hard to compromise and try and work with Kenny. I think we've offered him a very good contract. Now it's just (a question of) what is in his mind."
One thing is for sure: Cooper will not be signed as a designated player.
"If the league were to agree to make Kenny a designated player, Taylor Twellman is going to show up, Shalrie Joseph is going to show up, Landon Donovan is going to show up and Brian Ching is going to show up," Hyndman said. "It's going to be, 'You gave it to Kenny Cooper, why not to me?' We went to the league on this and we want to keep him. We've done everything we possibly can with (investor-operator) Clark (Hunt's) blessing and the league has come back and said no."
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