In front of a crowd of fans and journalists this morning, striker Kris Boyd was officially introduced as a Portland Timber. Team owner Merritt Paulson, general manager Gavin Wilkinson, and head coach John Spencer all took part in the press conference as well.
Paulson kicked off the event, detailing the Timbers search for solution up top for this season. The Timbers were looking at a number of players, according to Paulson, before finding out that Boyd had terminated his contract with Turkish club Eskisehirspor.
"When we heard Kris Boyd was available, everything dropped. We had complete focus on Kris," Paulson said.
Next to speak was Boyd who, although still jet lagged from his arrival in the United States yesterday, expressed his enthusiasm for being in Portland and his desire to get back to playing.
"I'm delighted to be here. I can't wait to get started," Boyd said about Portland.
Boyd's road to Major League Soccer has been a long one. Coming out of a strange contract situation in Turkey where he was allegedly never paid, Boyd seemed relieved to be with the Timbers and ready to get out on the field.
Talking about how he arrived with the Timbers, Boyd had this to say, "I really fancied playing in America, so my agent started looking to see if there were clubs available and Portland came in. I spoke to Spenny, the Gaffer, and I spoke to Gavin and Merritt as well and my mind was made up. I was ready to come here and play."
"The last six months was a bit of a pain. It didn't work out for me exactly. I want to get my career on track and I look forward to doing that here."
When asked about the similarities between Portland and his native Scotland, Boyd said, "When I left it was raining in Scotland and when I arrived it was raining here. What I've seen so far is that it is a lovely city and the people have made me feel welcome."