Disappointing Jarju gone

MLS club buys out Gambian striker’s contract

The Vancouver Whitecaps’ expensive Mustapha Jarju experiment is over.

The club bought out the disappointing Gambian striker’s $ 470,000- a- year contract Friday in a move that seemed inevitable as new head coach Martin Rennie puts his stamp on a team that finished last in Major League Soccer last season.

Jarju lit it up in the Belgian second division and was touted as a natural goal scorer when he joined the Caps last summer as a designated player.

But the 25- year- old Gambian international fizzled in MLS, posting no goals or assists in 10 appearances and often failing to make the starting lineup near the end of the season.

Club officials recently stated they expected Jarju to rejoin the team when pre- season training begins next week, but they clearly had a change of heart as other attacking players were brought on board.

The Whitecaps recently acquired Jamaican striker Darren Mattocks in the MLS SuperDraft and traded with the Montreal Impact to get the MLS rights to Maltese international forward Etienne Barbara, who played for Rennie in Carolina last year.

The Caps also announced the team has declined the 2012 contract option on 21- year- old Canadian midfielder Philippe Davies but will retain his MLS rights.

The Quebec native and former Whitecaps residency player sparkled in the 2010 Whitecaps season in Tier- 2 North American soccer but never played a minute the next season in MLS.

The Whitecaps’ busy Friday included the addition of former Welsh international midfielder Carl Robinson and former Carolina Railhawks assistant coach Jake Declute as assistant coaches this season.

Robinson played for Toronto FC and the New York Red Bulls after a playing career in England that included more than 180 appearances for Wolverhampton.

Declute was head coach at Gordon College in Wenham ( Mass.) last season after spending two years as an assistant at Carolina when Rennie was head coach.

He will also serve as scouting coordinator in Vancouver. Both new coaches are 35.

Rennie’s Carolina connection in Vancouver now consists of four players who used to play for the Railhawks and two coaches who assisted him there – Paul Ritchie and Declute.

The Whitecaps also announced the club has acquired an international roster spot – good for the next three seasons – and a second- round pick in the 2014 Major League Soccer SuperDraft from the Colorado Rapids in exchange for allocation money.

The deal gives the Caps 10 international roster spots for the 2012 season, up from nine last year.