The Montreal Impact twittersphere has been going wild in the past hours.
Tony Marinaro (Team 990) has announced that the Impact have decided not to invite Antonio Ribeiro, Anthony Le Gall and Hicham Aaboubou to next week's trial camp.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]The biggest surprise will perhaps be Antonio Ribeiro's withdrawal, a fan favourite and a somewhat good servant to the team over the past 10 years.
In Ribeiro's case, some say that he at least deserved a spot in next week's training camp, out of respect for a local player of his caliber. Others say that he didn't have a good 2011 season, which explains the club's decision not to invite him. Perhaps, he didn't fit in Jesse Marsch's plans for 2012.
These rumours do raise a few questions. With the MLS looming, the Impact will have to take very big decisions in terms of who they want to keep and who they think is not good enough for the bigger leagues. The decisions will affect the fans, who have grown to know and love the players, especially the local ones like Ribeiro, Gerba or Pizzolito.
The club has been doing a good job at explaining to the fans that the 2012 team will look nothing like the current one. Now, it's time for the fans to accept it. It won't be easy, but it will be part of the process.
As usual, the Montreal Impact does not comment on rumours, which can only mean one thing. They're true.