The Ali Gerba sweepstakes: Where will he end up next?

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embargoed till at least wednesday, give long balls some time to breathe (yeah, i wrote that)

Having parted ways with his hometown Montreal Impact for the fourth time in his long and confusing career last week, 30-year-old Canadian striker Ali Gerba now finds himself in very familiar territory: looking for a new club.

In that spirit, here's some trivia: Which is greater, the number of "fresh starts" Gerba has had with a pro team, or the number of goals he's scored for Canada? Hint: He's got an impressive national-team strike rate of 15 goals in 31 matches. Surely, he couldn't have switched teams that many ti--oh yes he could.

After breaking in with the Impact in 2000, he found himself on the roster in Miami, then Pittsburgh, then made his first of three stops in Toronto (his first of two with the Lynx, followed by a brief stint with TFC), before eventually heading overseas to clubs in Sweden (two of 'em), Norway, Denmark, Germany and England.

So, where the hell is he going to end up next?

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In all, he has 75 goals in 225 appearances for all of those clubs, a reasonable goal-per-three-games strike rate -- but his average length of tenure on each occasion is a mere 15 appearances. It's said once is chance, twice is coincidence, three times is a pattern... so what's 14 times? Why do clubs keep giving up on the guy so quickly?

One obvious theory would be fitness, which is a diplomatic way of saying he's a tank. That issue was raised during his tenure at Toronto FC, though as he told The Score's Kristian Jack soon after his departure, back-room issues may also have made his tenure at BMO Field less than ideal. Surely Gerba wasn't the only player whose relationship with Mo Johnston and his underlings was troublesome, but when you consider how often Big Gerbs has bounced around, you begin to wonder if he was part of the problem in this case.

It wasn't that long ago when it seemed Gerba would be the one to topple Dale Mitchell's all-time record of 19 goals for Canada. He has a booming shot and an obvious nose for the net when motivated (as evidenced by his torrid scoring pace upon his most recent arrival in Montreal in 2010). But now a resurgent Dwayne DeRosario is regularly bulging the ol' onion bag for club and country and looks poised to become Canada's first 20-goal man, while Ali G is testing the waters of free agency yet again (they seem chilly).

So the question goes to you, Canadian footie fans: What's next for Ali Gerba? Do Vancouver, Edmonton or even Toronto take a look? Does he find traction in MLS or the NASL? Does he find a club in Europe willing to take a flyer on him? Any clubs in his native Cameroon looking for a big target man, maybe?

Share your thoughts below. First one to get it right wins.. uhh.. bragging rights, I suppose.

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