Does Philly still have a team?

Evidently.

Although it's taken far longer than it should have and the delay has caused all sorts of worries to surface where there previously was only positive vibs, it seems that Philly is finally going to name itself Monday.

Philadelphia Union is the expected name with a FC or SC thrown on for good measure (although with MLS you never do know). Some combination of blue and yellow for the strip.

Names are a funny thing. They shouldn't matter, really, but the passion they evoke is incredible. Speaking personally I was almost ready to turn my season tickets in when the rumour was out there that suggested that TFC was going to be Inter Toronto FC.

I still get a little mad just thinking about it.

It’s Called Football cancelled for this week

The pre and post-game It’s Called Football shows for this week have been cancelled. Additionally, the regular Saturday show will be on Monday. A member of the Thatchannel.com staff lost a parent today and we have made the decision to shut down for the week out of respect for their loss.

Regular programming will continue next week.

Forgetting Du'etime

"We had targeted two (international transfers), myself and John, but now we have to re-evaluate. We have to speak to the (new) coaches because they might want to change one or two guys in the room. I'm more than happy to do that, but what we can't do is upset the first team."

That’s Mo Johnston talking about what, if any, changes need to happen with the Reds for the team to take the next step and solidify its place at the top of the Eastern table. When it comes to international targets, TFC fans can be forgiven for taking a wait and see approach to things. After all, Mo’s been talking about that Du’etime fellow for quite a while now...

But, here is a thought. Maybe bringing in another player at this point of the season is more trouble than it is worth. Perhaps it would be better to protect the chemistry, rather than tweak things for the sake of it.

Status quo won’t be a popular notion, but consider for a moment that the most consistent thing about TFC’s line-up through its first two years has been its inconsistency. Especially in 2007, it was a revolving door. Every MLS roster is going to have weak spots. Maybe it’s best to accept that and find ways to counterbalance it.

If you keep changing things, it just shifts the weakness. For example, if TFC brings in a centreback of quality, then it’s likely that another player will have to shift out (I’m wondering what Rohan Ricketts thinks of Scotland...). But, who knows what losing a higher profile player from that room does to the team’s emotions.

By stacking Sam Cronin and Robbo on top of the back-line, TFC has adjusted well to its weakest point. As a result both Adrian Serioux and Marco Velez (yes, Velez) have stepped up their game. Serioux has at times been TFC’s best player this season and when he’s started Velez has easily been the most improved. Ideally, you would love to see an upgrade in talent and experience at the back, but it’s not as easy as just wishing for it to happen.

Maybe it would be best to forget Du’etime and instead focus on Stan D. Pat.

It isn't always about the passport

The hiring of Chris Cummins over now first assistant Nick Dasovic has upset some of the nationalism set over at the Voyageurs. To these types any non-Canadian employed at TFC is suspect. Although it is in Toronto’s best interest to promote and develop Canadians on both the playing and coaching front, criticism here is unfounded.

Let’s review:

Cummins has been coaching for 13-yeras now, starting when he was just 25.

In 1996 he was hired at Watford as the youth development co-ordinator and was promoted to assistant academy manager by 1998. He eventually became the director of youth - youth and reserve team. He then spent eight-months at the sinking ship Luton Town before coming to TFC as the first assistant.

Dasovic, on the other hand, has been coaching full-time for just three years. He managed the Whitecaps reserve team in 2006, was an assistant under Dale Mitchell for the u-20s, handled the u-23 program (such as it is) before moving on to coach the TFC academy last year. He was promoted to second assistant on the senior team at the start of this season.

Three years versus 13. If you take your Voyageur's hat off for a second you can't possibly tell me that, based on the above qualifications, TFC should have handed the job to Dasovic over Cummins.

TFC gets a lot of flack about its handling of Canadian talent. Some of it is justified (although I wonder why Montreal, which often has as few or fewer Canadians on the pitch, often gets a pass). On the coaching front however...both Dasovic and Jason Bent have been brought on and are being developed. At the time they were hired Dasovic had limited experience, Bent almost none. The idea that TFC is dropping the ball in its “obligation” to develop Canadian coaches does not stand up to even the slightest degree of evaluation.

SHOCKING! head coach announcement for TFC

Or not.

It's Chris Cummins, the man that lead the team the last two games and who has an unofficial 2-0-0 lifetime record as a head coach of professional soccer teams. There is no way in hell that Cummins would have ever won this job through a competitive hiring process -- his resume is a little shallow. He's only three years older than Danny Dichio for God's sake -- but he's still the best choice right now.

The players seem to be responding to him and since TFC is a veteran group maybe that's the most important thing.

Of course he'll wear the interim tag for the rest of the year. You won't see that word, "interim" written here again this year -- partly because I've always had trouble spelling it, but mostly because it's really just semantics. That man's in charge now. That's all that matters. From a TFC perspective you can only hope that Cummins looks at this for what it is -- a once and a lifetime chance to jumpstart his career. Great managers start somewhere. Do you think anyone could have predicted what would happen when Beelzebub Alex Ferguson took over at East Stirlingshire?

Obviously I'm not comparing Cummins to the-man-I-refuse-to-call-Sir. But, I am prepared to take a step back and see how it goes. Sometimes the best options aren't obvious until you see them (if you allow me a non-soccer reference, Cito Gaston was a reluctant interim manager when he first took over the Blue Jays in 1989. That turned out pretty well).

There is very little downside to giving Cummins a shot. If he crashes out he's easily replaced (what's that label again?). The only other option was really Nick Dasovic, but as much as Cummins lacks first team managerial experience, Dasovic has even less.

Dasovic got a promotion to first assistant.

In Cummins We Trust? Well, not quite. But, In Cummins We Keep An Open Mind? Yep, I think we can all live with that.

First they take Wembley...

WE'RE GOING TO SALT LAKE CITY!

(Yeah, I got nothin')

A DeRo-iffic problem to have

There is good news on the fitness of Dwayne De Rosario. The three time All-Star is making good progress after missing the last two games with a hamstring strain and could be ready to return to the squad against Columbus

It appears that Dwayne DeRosario will be ready to get back on the pitch Saturday against Columbus. The question is where to play him.

The recent success in the 4-3-3 (which many have correctly pointed out is really a 4-2-1-3 -- or maybe a 4-2-1-2-1) has people excited, but is there a role in such a system for two attacking mids.

It's hard to see how. Clearly moving Sam Cronin into his natural central midfield position has helped both Carl Robinson and the back-line. So, you aren't going to pull him. Amado Guevara has played his best football for TFC the last two games. Why screw with that. Pablo Vitti's second half play Sunday demands that he gets back in.

So that leaves Danny Dichio and Chad Barrett. Pulling either for DeRo means you are probably playing DeRo up top (where he'd rather not be) or dropping back to having two forwards. It seems like a nice problem to have, but it's still a problem. There is a reason they call it managing. You have to manage the egos of 20-ish professional athletes. Sometimes less is more (although that’s never the case when things are handled correctly).

The instinct is to suggest that DeRo goes in as a direct sub for Barrett. After all Barrett is struggling with his final touch right now. However, Barrett is doing other things off the ball that are contributing and you would hate to zap his confidence completely. Barrett's a streak scorer. He'll have a good spell this year. The Reds would not want to miss it.

Dichio's body is not going to allow him to play a full 90 every week. So, it's more likely that he'll be the odd man out (probably against Vancouver - I expect DeRo will come off the bench against the Crew, if he plays at all). Although it will be tough to give up what the big man does, it's better to have a full Dichio two-thirds of the time, than to have him beat out and out of the rotation by July.

An excess of riches. That’s not a problem TFC fans are used to.

John Carver in his own words

John Carver appeared on Toronto's Fan590 about an hour ago. You can listen to the interview now.

There isn't much more to say on the matter, but it's still worth listening to.

Chris Cummins will be named the coach for the rest of the season tomorrow.

A question of semantics

In the hectic day that followed John Carver’s resignation many, myself included, scrambled to figure out why it happened. The story that emerged was one of a battle with “management” that ultimately lead to the decision.

Everyone I spoke to had a version of that story.

So the natural conclusion was that Carver had a beef with either Mo Johnston or MLSE and as a result he either jumped or was told to jump.

However, that conclusion failed to take into consideration the unique way that MLS is run. It failed to understand that “management” could mean something different from what would be expected in the rest of the world. In MLS the ultimate management is the league, not the club.

If you conclude that Carver’s issue was with the “management” of MLS then things suddenly become a little clearer. Less sexy perhaps, but a lot more logical. It also suggests that the initial reports that surfaced Saturday (by both know-nothing bloggers like me and by established papers like the Globe and Mail) were wrong by half (which, for the record, means we were half right too!).

Carver himself spoke to the Toronto Star today. His story seems to back up the assertion that it was the meddling league that was to blame. Now maybe Carver also felt a little pissed that MLSE didn’t do enough to support him behind the scenes, but, to be fair, that’s not the story he or Johnston are putting out there.

And at this point it doesn’t matter. The reality is that Carver is gone and he ain’t coming back (unless it’s to sit in the stands, which he promised in the Star article – I’d buy him a beer if he came to 113). As many have said, Carver’s greatest strength was his passion. Maybe that makes him the perfect No. 2 on a football team. It probably didn’t fit with MLS.

Putting questions about his tactics aside for a moment, that’s a shame. MLS could use a lot more passion and even though I logically can understand how this might be for the best, emotionally I will miss having J.C. on the Reds’ side.

Sober Second Thoughts: The old man's still got it

It was a Danny Dichio type of goal – beautiful in its ugliness. Seconds after crashing into the back of the net, just missing getting his head on a ball that would have surely followed him there, the big man found the ball again. He didn’t so much shoot on target as he directed the ball towards the goal – perfectly towards the far post. From the southeast corner of BMO Field you could see it slowly working its way to nirvana.

Oh. My. God!

It’s

Going.

In!!

Our Danny had scored. There was a time when it seemed like that may never happen again. Injuries and frustration were all that was to be found in the latter half of ’08. Talk of retirement in the early off-season and a greatly reduced role to start this season followed. It seemed like DD might become nothing more than a quaint memory of that virgin ’07 season – to be sung about once a game and forgotten after that.

But then things changed. Maybe it was Chris Cummins doing what John Carver wouldn’t. Maybe it was DeRo’s injury making it necessary. Regardless we’ve got a bit of Danny back. Maybe not all of it – Dichio himself said that the ball would have found the net on the first shot if “the old Danny” were on the pitch – but enough of it to matter. I dare you to find a player on either team Sunday that had better touch off his head and chest. Dichio can still cause havoc. He’s still tough to play against.

Not reported – largely because it happened quickly and behind the play – was what happened in the few seconds between Dichio missing the header and scoring the goal. As he left the net to get back into the play a few brief words were exchanged between Dichio and K.C. keeper Kevin Hartman. Who knows what was said, but Hartman thrust his arm out across Dichio’s chest – a little shove that proved that Danny was at least a little under his skin. Whether the energy to confront Dichio put Hatrman just that much out of position is unclear, but it’s hard to argue that it helped. It was just one more example of the thousand ways that Dichio helps TFC.

The man can still play. Even for a team that sits atop the Eastern Conference, which is where the Reds find themselves for the first time in club history. Sure most of the teams chasing have played less games, but that hardly matters. It’s a symbolic thing. In a week that saw a little too much drama off the pitch it was a nice place to end up.

Especially when it was an old friend that put us there.

Toronto FC - Kansas City live blog

Welcome to the first match of the Chris Cummins era. Can TFC repeat their success from Wednesday night's win over TFC? Find out in the live blog below. Kickoff is at 5 p.m. Eastern/2 p.m. Pacific. You can check out the It's Called Football pregame show here, featuring Michael Kuhn of Down the Byline.

Kansas City pre-game show

We taped this moments after learning that John Carver had resigned. Michael Kuhn from the excellent blog downthebyline.com joined us.

Click To Play

Whitecaps - Timbers live blog

It's the clash of the northwest titans, and an early preview of a 2011 MLS rivalry. The Vancouver Whitecaps take on the Portland Timbers at Swangard Stadium in USL action. Join me in the live blog below!

More to Carver move than meets eye

My source still had shampoo in his hair when he called me with the news that John Carver had resigned as head coach of TFC this morning. It was that kind of news – news that had to be told immediately to everyone you could think of. It was, oddly, both shocking and totally expected. Shocking in its timing, coming off of the Reds best result of the year and so early in the season. Totally expected in that Carver had long seemed uncomfortable in North America and had never hidden his desire to head back to England before long.

But it was mostly shocking. Why would he step away now when he had all off-season to make the move. If Carver really did value Toronto and the TFC players – like he said so many times – why would he leave them hanging like he just did? It doesn’t fully add up.

Or maybe it was a jump before you are shoved situation. Although no one seems to have all the information tonight some things are trickling out. More than one person close to the team has indicated that there was a disconnect between Carver and the front office. Carver did not feel supported by MLSE, but it wasn’t, as many fans are speculating, a simple case of not getting a certain player or not having a DP. Such thinking is too simple by half. It was more of a philosophical and cultural divide.

“(Carver) was an inflexible Brit,” was how one person put it.

MLSE was also unhappy with the way Carver handled himself with the media (not so much what he did when he was talking to the media, but more that he wouldn’t provide the type of access MLSE wanted him to) and the company was especially worried about the more volatile aspects of his personality. It all came to a head last Sunday after the Dallas game when Carver went off of the officials once again. For calling the referee a “disgrace” Carver was fined $750 by the league. However, it’s being alleged that the incident in Dallas was far worse than was reported. It’s said that Carver was involved in a “significant” altercation with an official after the game, away from the cameras and it was because of that incident that he decided to sit in the press box Wednesday.

MLSE was not happy with that decision, sources have told The 24thMinute and he was told that it was not to happen again. At that point Carver informed manager Mo Johnston that he would like to entertain offers from England.

It’s unclear what happened following that conversation, but it appears that his time in Toronto was as good as over on Wednesday. The rest has been a simple matter of working out the details of the resignation.

TFC says it will make a decision of the vacant head coaching position next week. How it handles it will tell a lot. It’s been reported by multiple sources that current assistant Chris Cummins and strength coach Paul Winsper have already given management an ultimatum – Cummins gets the job or they both walk.

The Reds may not have much choice but to give in to that demand. Although there are several coaches that have similar experience to Cummins, it’s unclear whether there is anyone that could walk in and command the respect of the room. It’s widely suggested that TFC’s decision to go to a 4-3-3 last week was entirely a Cummins decision and he is being credited for managing the game well against Chivas, so many close to the team say they are willing to give him a shot.

“Maybe he’s got it,” one source said. “Who knows, but I’d be willing to give him the year.”

Live blog notes: Whitecaps and TFC coming up

Just a quick note that I'll be live-blogging the Vancouver-Portland game tonight and the Toronto FC - Kansas City game tomorrow. Kickoff tonight is at 10 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Pacific. Tomorrow, it's 4:30 p.m. Eastern/1:30 p.m. Pacific. Come join in the fun then!

TFC: Carver resigns

It turns out there was much more to Toronto FC John Carver abandoning the bench to watch Wednesday's victory over Chivas USA than I thought. Paul Attfield of The Globe and Mail suggests that part of the reason for Carver's departure may have been a lack of support from team management, particularly regarding his $750 fine after Sunday's loss. However, the club's announcement only mentioned "personal reasons" [Goal.com].

Carver spent just over a year with Toronto, recording a 11-15-10 record since taking over the franchise last February. It was by far his longest run at the helm of a franchise; he spent one game as interim manager at Newcastle United and five more as interim manager at Luton Town. Most of his other experience came as a coach and assistant manager.

That's what makes this decision somewhat curious, particularly considering its timing. Carver's record with TFC was good but not great. It might be enough to get him another MLS head coaching position, a speculation reinforced by his comments to Attfield that he plans to stay in North America for the next while. However, it's not likely enough to do much of anything for his managerial prospects in Europe, as MLS isn't all that well-regarded on the other side of the pond overall and his MLS record doesn't stand out as impressive. TFC appear to be on the ascension, though; their win Wednesday over Chivas was huge, and they have more talent than at any other point in their history. If Carver had hung on until the end of the season, his resume would appear much more impressive.

Don't rule out another MLS job for Carver, though. There are plenty of clubs that may soon be looking to make a coaching change. One of the most interesting possibilities is the defending MLS Cup champion Columbus Crew, who have struggled to an 0-2-3 record so far this year and sit at the bottom of the table. Of course, head coach Sigi Schmid left Columbus for Seattle after last year and has done very well there, while new manager Robert Warzycha doesn't seem to be making much of an impact [Jason Davis, Match Fit USA]. Could Carver turn up there? It's certainly a plausible scenario.

Where does TFC go from here? Well, assistant coaches Chris Cummins and Nick Dasovic will run the team for Sunday's match against the Kansas City Wizards, and GM Mo Johnston is expected to make a decision on the head coaching position early next week. Cummins was the team's first assistant and has experience with English sides Luton Town and Watford, so there's a good chance he'll take over in at least an interim role. Johnston could also return to the touchline himself. In the long run, my bet is that they'll bring someone in from outside. This could be a very attractive club for a manager looking for work, as they have plenty of talent, consistent support and tremendous financial backing in place from MLSE. However, the expectations are high as well, which may dissaude some candidates. We'll have to wait and see how it pans out.

Reaction from around the blogosphere (will be updated throughout the day):
- Duane suggested on this morning's version of It's Called Football that Cummins will leave for England if he doesn't get the head job [via Dave Clark from Sounder at Heart: Dave also has the great line that TFC had Carver "resign/quit/fired/asked away"].
- Ives Galarcep thinks there may be a Newcastle connection [Soccer by Ives].
- stillkicking calls this "a shock to the fans" [Mistake by the Lake].
- You know it's Toronto when the mayor weighs in on Twitter.
- Ben Van Weelden has an interesting look back at Carver's time in Toronto, plus more on the potential departure of Cummins and Paul Winsper [TFC Connected].

[Cross-posted to Sporting Madness]

Sober Second Thoughts: I told you so

Having spent the last two days in court (simmer down, I was a witness) having my credibility called into question by a man who is representing himself (which kind of says it all really) it was nice to have the memory of the Chivas game to fall back on.

Organized, confident, effective. Was that Toronto FC out there or did someone ship Barcelona over for the day (he says with maybe a hint of hyperbole). Whatever it was it was a nice change from the previous two home games where the mighty Reds looked a tad bit out of sorts.

Of course it really wasn’t that unexpected. Hell, I was on record predicting a TFC win on the It’s Called Football preview show. Host Ben Rycroft called me a hopeless biased fanboy (or something like that anyway) for the prediction, but Ben can be too damn logical for his own good sometimes. Yes the Goats were top of the league, but they were playing away from home, off a short rest, three time zones away and, well, they are still a MLS team. Among other things MLS teams fly bloody commercial. It hardly makes for road warriors.

Flippantly I had told Ben that I was predicting a TFC win because “it made no sense.” I was being too cute when I said that. The truth is it made perfect sense. TFC has only lost three of its last 18 home games. It’s drawn way too many (and that was the main factor if TFC missing the playoffs last year – too many draws at home).Yes Seattle surprised and Dallas stole two points, but predicting a second loss at BMO in less than a month. That’s the unrealistic prediction.

For some reason we in Toronto are prone to negativity. Why think the best when you can bitch and mope for the season. But, the truth is TFC has a pretty good thing going at BMO now. It isn’t perfect – the Reds still need to score more (even Wednesday they did not create enough) – but it’s pretty good. Pretty darn good.

So when you show up Sunday expect the best for the team. If you think they can win then maybe they will!

And if seeing the beer mug half full makes me a fanboy, then pass me the giant foam finger.

Preview: Impact-Miami FC at FIU stadium

The Montreal Impact and Miami FC will meet Friday April 24th at 8:00pm at FIU Stadium.Yup, that's the same FIU stadium that was at the center of Marcelo Claure's and FC Barcelona's failed MLS bid, or shall i say withdrawn bid. The Miami football club has come to some sort of an agreement with Florida International University, to play at least 5 games at the stadium this season.

When i heard about the agreement, my first thought was "great ANOTHER stadium with pointy ball lines all over it". But I'm pleasantly surprised to report that the pitch will be devoid of American football lines and the stadium looks rather nice. See for yourself with these images of Miami FC practicing at FIU : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMFJxyCO1BU.

Despite being a team sloppily thrown together in a matter of weeks, due to all the uncertainty surrounding the franchise, they were impressive in their Fort-Lauderdale home opener earning a 3-1 win over the newly promoted Cleveland City Stars. Newcomer Diego Serna, all-time leading scorer for the now defunct Miami Fusion of MLS, scored 2 goals in that match, earning himself USL-1 player of the week honors in the process. Another off-season pick-up of note for Miami, is former DC United defender Facundo Erpen. Erpen was a member of the 2006 MLS All-Star team, who faced off against Chelsea of EPL.

The Impact will field something a little closer to their "A" team this week as forward Roberto Brown is available to play, after being sidelined with an ankle injury for the first game of the season. Midfielder Sandro Grande is also expected to start this week. Expect a starting lineup looking something like this:

Brown-Sebrango
Donatelli-Testo-Grande-Di Lorenzo
ZanZan-Braz-Pizzolito-Sakuda
Jordan

Defender Cédric Joqueviel, stayed behind in Montreal to nurse a sprained ankle. He will be replaced at central defense by Adam Braz. Surprisingly, Antiguan forward Peter Byers has been sent down to reserve team Trois-Rivières Attak of the Canadian Soccer League, after a disappointing training camp and first match.

Interesting to note that the Impact has never lost a game to Miami, since their entry into USL 1 in 2006. Overall their record is 4-0-4. With the lineup the Impact is putting out onto the pitch, I expect that trend to continue. Miami's defense will be overwhelmed, as Montreal will play a much more offensive and aggressive game then last week in Charleston. The game will be televised live on Fox soccer channel/Fox sports world at 8:00pm ET.

My prediction a 2-0 win for the Impact.

TFC: A high and a low

Last night's 1-0 victory for Toronto FC over league-leaders Chivas USA was simultaneously the best of times and the worst of times for the franchise. On the pitch, it was a tremendous success. Despite the absence of Dwayne De Rosario, the team turned in a solid performance and gave Chivas their first loss of the season. That's pretty stunning, considering that Ives had Chivas at the top and TFC 14th in his most recent power rankings. It was also the first home win of the season for Toronto and an impressive showing from many of their players. Amado Guevara, Adrian Serioux and Danny Dichio were particularly effective.

Even that success came with caveats, though. For one thing, Chivas was missing several of their stars thanks to injury, including Ante Razov and Maykel Galindo. For another, Guevara's impressive performance appeared largely due to him having more room to operate with De Rosario out. That's good news for the moment, as De Rosario is expected to miss at least one more game with a hamstring injury, but it raises questions of if the two of them can co-exist in the midfield upon his return. Their previous performances together would suggest that it will be difficult.

The low point of the evening came from the stands, though. The Canadian Press is reporting that two Toronto fans are facing serious charges, including possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, assault with a weapon, assault causing bodily harm and mischief under $5,000, for launching flares. One flare hit a female fan and burned her thigh, while another did $2,000 worth of damage to the turf.

There's never a good time for this sort of thing to happen, but the current timing is particularly bad, considering the recent concerns raised over the Columbus trip and the spectre of "hooliganism". It looked like the furor from those incidents was about to die down, but you can bet that this will give it new life; flares are especially bad compared to much of what's come before, and someone's been significantly hurt as a result. These are very serious charges, and it won't be easy to sweep them under the rug.

As Duane's written before, the vast majority of Toronto fans are great and wouldn't do anything that might result in injury to anyone. However, you can bet that they're all going to be tarred with the same brush now that someone's been hurt. Subtlety and distinctions tend to be lost in cases like this, which is unfortunate for all the great fans out there who passionately support their team without injuring anyone. However, the childhood cliché tends to hold true in real life, particularly when it comes to media coverage and popular perceptions; it really is all fun and games until someone gets hurt.

[Cross-posted to Sporting Madness].

Dobson " Montreal could very well be joining the league (MLS) sometime sooner rather than later."

Interesting article by Gerry Dobson, posted on his Sportsnet football blog today:

http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/blogs/2009/04/23/dobson_impact_back_on_radar/

He mentions the difficulties that the Philly and Portland expansion teams are facing, and how word in MLS circles is that Montreal would step in, in the event one of the groups fall apart.

More later on the Impact-Miami FC matchup at FIU stadium on Friday.

Cheers!

Toronto FC - Chivas USA live blog

It's Wednesday night MLS action from Toronto's BMO Field! For a video preview, check out the It's Called Football pre-game show; if text-based previews are more your style, Jason has a good one at Match Fit USA. Put away the hockey jerseys, don your scarves and join me in the live blog below!

Whitecaps: Koch named as women's coach

It's worth mentioning that Alan Koch was officially named as the new head coach of the Vancouver Whitecaps women's team earlier this week. Koch replaces Bob Birada, who left the team by mutual agreement last fall after three years. Marc Weber of the Vancouver Province reported that Koch was likely to take over last month, but now it's officially confirmed.

Koch has a good deal of experience at a variety of levels, which should make him well-suited for the job. He captained the Simon Fraser University Clan and the South African Schoolboys as an amateur, and also played professionally in South Africa, Germany and Ireland. Since his playing career ended, he's served as an assistant coach in the NAIA and NCAA Division II. More recently, he's been a head coach at NAIA schools Baker University and Simon Fraser University. It appears he's spent most of his time coaching men's teams, so there may be a bit of an adjustment to the women's game, though.

Koch's assistants should help with that. Raegyn Hall returns for his second season with the club as an assistant/goalkeeping coach and will provide continuity. Long-time Whitecaps defender Randee Hermus, who has also been a stalwart for Canada's national team over the years, will join the staff as a player-coach. Hermus will be a valuable addition; she has plenty of experience in the W-League and was a key part of the Whitecaps' championship squads in 2004 and 2006. She should be able to help Koch get used to the style of play in the W-League and the players he has at his disposal.

It's going to be an interesting year for the women's team. They should have a strong squad, including Canadian internationals Hermus, Katie Thorlakson and Amy Vermulen. Weber reports that former Canadian goalkeeper Taryn Swiatek is also in camp, and will challenge Sian Bagshawe for the starting spot now that Erin McLeod has gone to the WPS. They'll have quite the young team this year, though, with mostly NCAA and CIS players. Last year, the team went 12-7-2 and finished second in their conference behind the eventual champion Pali Blues, but lost to Seattle in the playoffs. They'll try to improve on that this year, but Pali will again pose a threat; they recently signed Canadian star Kara Lang, who should add to their lineup.

The question remains as to how many people will care, though. The W-League doesn't get a lot of attention at the best of times, and it's now overshadowed by the launch of the higher-profile WPS. The Whitecaps women have always had decent attendance and support, but their rosters have usually featured more high-profile stars, many of whom have now jumped to WPS. If WPS manages to stick around and make an impact, the W-League may turn into more of a proving ground for young players. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it will be harder to sell.

It's Called Football pre-game: Chivas - TFC

We talk to Nick Green and Dave Clark about the TFC - Chivas game tonight:

Click To Play

The Daily rant: Keep on Believing damn it

Today's Daily Rant is directed at you Mr. Negativity.

A handy fan's guide to tonight's MLS contest at BMO Field

As a guide to Toronto FC fans going to tonight’s game against Chivas USA The 24th Minute is providing this handy guide to protect your mental health and happiness.

The guide is broken down into three sections: pre-game, in-game and post game

Pre-Game

Prior to the game it is important to keep expectations as low as possible. You should under no circumstance express hope that Toronto can win the game. Keys to maintaining the right cynical balance are to mutter to yourself, utilize as much profanity as possible and drink flat beer from dodgy Parkdale establishments. If at any time you start to feel positive, please read any of about 200 threads at the Red Patch Boys forum that will explain how you are a sucker for supporting TFC, that MLSE is actually a satanic front and that John Carver couldn’t coach your kid’s u-4 co-ed league team to victory. That will put you back in your place.

Doom and gloom is the goal here. It keeps your emotions in check. Be warned that some misguided fans will attempt to keep you positive by pointing out “facts,” like that a TFC win will move the team one point off the Eastern Conference lead, or “logic,” like that the season is just a month old and that no one in MLS runs away with things.

Above all else, panic.

In-game

Drink as much beer as possible. Keep all chants negative – whatever you do don’t support when you can tear down. It’s especially important that you put our own players in their place. Make sure Marco Velez knows how much he sucks. If you can get Faud Ibrahim to cry you’ve done your job.

Do not fall for the false promise of singing or chanting that the core of the supporter’s groups will try and fool you with. They are just a small group of hopeless diehards huddled in the southeast corner of the stadium. Ignore them at all cost. After all, they are trying to have fun when all hope is clearly lost. What’s wrong with them?

Football is far too serious to have fun.

Post-game

Every conversation should start with a promise to protest something -- the more outlandish the potential protest the better (I’m not buying another Chip Butty until Marco Velez is shipped back to the USL.). Although talking about the need to “fire Carver,” or “lynch that Scottish bastard Mo” is to be expected, fans are encouraged to be creative, pedantic even, in their criticisms ( I can’t believe Brian Edwards was wearing a blue tie in the press box. Doesn’t he know we’re red?”).

Empty promises about “not supporting them until they get a DP,” or “I’m going to go back to just supporting my beloved Manchester United because they care about the fans ‘cause they don’t accept losing,” are encouraged. Swear a lot.

In the unlikely scenario of a Toronto win make sure to ignore any alleged positives and instead focus on the club’s failings ( Yeah, we won, but did you see what Kevin Harmse did in the 43rd minute? We’re lucky”. Whatever you do don’t make the mistake of believing in the possibilities. Being hopeful is not what you are here for.

Instead be miserable with an ample dose of self-righteous anger. That’s what a real fan does. Anything else and you are just a naive sucker that deserves what you get.

Enjoy the game!

Ottawa: I guess it really was crazy

I don’t like to say things are dead until the corpse is cold, but Ottawa’s MLS hopes appear to be dead. The news today is that the CFL group has won the backing of city council and since Eugene Melnyk doesn’t seem at all interested in working with the other group...

...let’s hope Montreal gets back into this conversation.

Despite what some critics of mine think, I support the CFL. I think it’s a valued and important part of Canadian culture. I also look forward to the return of the Rough Riders (please call them the Rough Riders). My issue throughout this fight has been that the two sides were never interested in compromise. This was as much a battle for control over a stadium as it was control over a team – regardless of what kind of football it played. However, both sides played the fans off one another in an effort to gain favour with Ottawa politicians.

In addition to hoping that Montreal get back in the hunt for a MLS team, we also need to keep the pressure on the Jeff Hunt group to come through on their promise to bring USL soccer to the capital. Who knows where that might lead one day.

But, for now, dreams of the Ontario derby have to be put on hold (or so it seems).

Official word will come down tomorrow.

Live-blogging madness!

A quick note that I'll be live-blogging both tonight's Vancouver Whitecaps - Austin Aztex match (8:30 p.m. Eastern/5:30 p.m. Pacific, usllive.com) and tomorrow's Toronto FC - Chivas USA match (7:30 p.m. Eastern/4:30 p.m. Pacific, GolTV). Join me here for either or both!

The Daily Rant: Fine this

From MLS communicationns:

The Major League Soccer Disciplinary Committee today fined Toronto FC coach John Carver $750 for public criticism of MLS officiating.

Following Toronto FC’s game against FC Dallas on April 19, Carver made comments that criticized MLS officials and appeared in the Toronto Star on Monday, April 20.

Who wants to kick in to cover it?

Becks: coming to a discount bin near you

This one comes via insidesocal blogger Nick Green: Want a LA Galaxy David Beckham replica strip? Do we have a deal for ya!

No, actually, it does never gets dull poking fun at the pop singer's husband.

We should really push for snow soccer...

On the surface this CSA press release is a bit much:

Canada’s men’s beach soccer team has announced its roster for the 2009 CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship. Coach Ross Ongaro has selected 12 players for the six-team tournament which runs this 29 April to 3 May in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The top-two teams in the championship will qualify for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Dubai 2009....snip

I mean why should the CSA spend a penny on a program as obscure as the beach team when it can’t seem to get its act together to support the actual national team? You can relax though. The CSA isn’t spending a penny. The men’s beach team is entirely self funded (through a sponsor). So, in that case, God love ‘em. Do us proud at the CONCACAF qualifying event.

Beach soccer is a bit of an odd thing but FIFA seems hell-bent in growing it. I think the FIFA boys have seen that beach volleyball at the Olympics and have got themselves an idea that would both sex their sport up and solve the “problem” of the men’s football tournament (which they have never liked). Beach soccer in the 2020 Olympics replacing the traditional tournament? It wouldn’t shock me.

In the meantime Canada, Bahamas, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico and USA will take part in the 2009 CONCACAF championship, looking for one of two spots for the World Cup, which will be November in Dubai (of course it’s in Dubai. Somehow that seems about right).

OHMYGODHE'SSOCUTE

If I were a less mature person I’d point out the humour in that fact that good ole’ Canuck Will(ie) Johnson is one of 15 MLS players to be featured in the CosmoGirl “eye candy” photo spread. I mean you can’t make a name like that up.

TFC’s Marvell Wynne is T.O.’s pretty boy eye candy. I’m sure none of the guys featured are going to hear it from anyone else on the pitch. Soccer players are mature that way.

And don’t worry kids. The pop singer’s husband is nowhere to be found.

The rest of the list is: Chicago Fire MF Logan Pause, Colorado Rapids MF Colin Clark, Chivas USA MF Sacha Kljestan, Columbus Crew MF Robbie Rogers, D.C. United F Chris Pontius, FC Dallas F Peri Marosevic, Houston Dynamo MF Stuart Holden, Kansas City Wizards D Chance Myers, LA Galaxy D A.J. DeLaGarza, New York Red Bulls GK Danny Cepero, New England Revolution D Chris Tierney, San Jose Earthquakes MF Arturo Alvarez, and Seattle Sounders FC MF Brad Evans.

Personally I’d be more interested in the list of 15 players that are most likely to cause CosmoGirl readers to pee their pants, but that’s just me. Then again that wouldn’t target that key 13-year-old girl demographic.

*cough*

A day Montreal will never forget..

I just came across this awesome video of the historic Concacaf Champions League quarterfinal game between Montreal Impact FC and Santos Laguna, held in front of 55 571 screaming fans at le stade olympique in Montreal on February 25th 2009.

You will see locker room footage of Impact coach John Limniatis and nice shots of UM02 in the kop.

It was the day where football (soccer) was king in the middle of our Canadian winter.


Enjoy!

The Daily Rant: What's Duane on about now?

Welcome to a new feature on The 24th Minute, The Daily Rant. What's The Daily Rant you ask?

Watch for yourself (runs about 90 seconds):

It's Called Football: Dallas - Toronto post game

The It's Called Football post-game show is up. Ben Knight and I broke the game down and had a few fans on to provide their perspective.

Sober Second Thoughts: Relax!

Ok before I begin I'd just like to say one thing:

CALM THE #$@% DOWN

Yes, it's disappointing to lose. It's especially disappointing to lose after fighting back to tie a game only to see -- AGAIN -- a late goal take it all away.

Anyone that calls themselves a TFC fan is understandably frustrated today. More was expected. But, take a look at this, take a minute to really think about it and then decide if the sky really is falling.

Seven of 15 teams have five points or less in MLS. Including the defending MLS Cup and Supporter's Shield champions and defending Western Conference regular season champions. TFC is four points out of first place in the East.

It's time to chill the hell out. It's a long season and losing on the road is expected (the more worrisome result was at home last week).

If you insist on being a cynical fan -- WE DEMAND BUTTER!* -- at least wait for about a month. In the next 26 days TFC plays seven games, six at home. The stretch includes both home Voyageur Cup games. That's your season right there. If the Reds do what they are supposed to do at BMO over that stretch we aren't thinking about diving into the Don** quite so much anymore.

ANYWAY...

So, yeah, the game. Kinda ugly on both sides no doubt. Although I'm sure that fans of Kenny Cooper and of Chad Barrett can come away thinking that at least "their boy" finally came away with a goal (and in Cooper's case, a brace. Albeit a gifted one. More on that in a minute). That's your positive.

The rest? It was a terrible game played in front of less than 7,000 people with a giant red bouncy castle visible directly behind the net. For those trying to convince others that MLS is a serious league, last night was not a good example. You might want to burn the tape.

From a TFC perspective the ugliness could be found in lots of different ways. Injuries - both DeRo and Adrian Serioux are now doubtful for Wednesday and DeRo is probably out for Saturday as well. John Carver continues to confuse with the tactics -- why is all the offence going down the flanks when two of the most creative players in MLS are in the TFC midfield? Marco Velez on for a forward. When trailing? Really??

And then there was the penalty call. It was ball to hand. There is no doubt. Yes, the argument can be made that Marvell Wynne should not have had his arms out like he did, but can you really step back and say that play deserved to decide a game? Was a PK there really in the spirit of the laws of the game? I don't think so, but I also don't like that Wynne gave the referee the opportunity to make the Mickey Mouse call in the first place.

But, as stated, the loss last night wasn't unexpected. It was just frustrating. It will also be forgotten in 26 days when there will be lots of more legitimate reasons to be either frustrated or ecstatic.

* It's an inside joke. Sorry.
** Semi-obscure CanCon indy rock references are what makes the 24th Minute the happening place that it is!

TFC - Dallas live blog

I'll be live-blogging tonight's Toronto FC - FC Dallas match. Game time is 7:00 p.m. Eastern, and it's on GOLTV. Come join me here then!

It's Called Football: The Saturday Show for 4/18

It's Called Football is joined by Stephen Hart, Dick Howard and Thomas Neindorf of the Whitecaps academy.

Live blog! Seattle - Chivas

The battle of the top two teams (very) early in the season goes tonight at 10:30! Join me for some live blogging.

Fireworks after the snoozefest in Charleston

In what was a very stale match, the Impact and the Charleston Battery played to a 0-0 draw. Starting 11 was as follows:

Gjertsen-Byers
Sakuda-Donatelli-Testo-Di Lorenzo
Braz-Joqueviel-Pizzolito-De Roux
Jordan

There were a few good opportunities on each side, but overall play could be qualified as lackluster at best. In what seemed like a plethora of missed long balls, Sandro Grande and newcomer Zanzan did not receive any playing time, Eddy Sebrango stepped in for Byers early in the 2nd half. Matt Jordan also came up with an outstanding save late in the 2nd half, to save the single point for Montreal.

Not quite sure what the "announced" attendance was, but there were a lot of empty seats. In what looked like kind of a circus-like publicity stunt to attract 3-5 year olds and their parents, kids started jumping on the playing field as soon as the final whistle blew. The usllive announcer then informed us that there was a fireworks display taking place on the pitch following the game!

I for one was impressed with the image quality of usllive.com, but not so much with the sound. But for a free service, who am i to complain?

More tomorrow...

Whitecaps - Islanders live blog

Join me in the live blog below! Also, remember to stick around for Duane's Seattle-Chivas live blog later tonight!

Whitecaps - Islanders preview

The second week of the USL season brings a tough challenge for the defending USL champion Vancouver Whitecaps, as they're in Puerto Rico to take on the Islanders, favoured by many to take the league title this year [Jeff DiVeronica, ESPN Soccernet]. Here's a look at some of the crucial elements in tonight's game:

The Whitecaps:
Vancouver started off the year with a 0-0 draw against the Charleston Battery at home last weekend. This is going to be a tough second match for the team; Puerto Rico took the USL regular-season title last year thanks to a spectacular late surge and came within one goal of defeating the Whitecaps in the championship match. To make matters worse, this is the world's fourth-longest road trip between teams in the same league (according to The Best Eleven) and the Whitecaps will have to play a midweek game in Austin on the way back. The team's still dealing with injuries and suspensions to five key players as well [Simon Fudge, whitecapsfc.com]; I also have more details on the players involved below). However, history is on their side; the Whitecaps are 5-1-4 all time against the Islanders. The position matchups are detailed below; I don't have an official starting lineup yet, so I'm going with the one predicted by Marc Weber over at The Back of the Net.

Their forwards:
The Whitecaps are again expected to go with a 4-4-2 lineup. Their strikers tonight are likely to be Charles Gbeke and Marcus Haber, who also started up front against the Battery. Haber looked very good in that game, despite his youth; he's only 20, but he does have considerable experience from his appearances with the Canadian U-20 team and his time overseas. There is a change on the bench; 17-year-old Jerome Baker, who I wrote about last week, will be staying behind with the residency team. He'll be replaced by another residency striker, Dever Orgill, who played a key run in the youth team's impressive run to the Dallas Cup final (which they lost 4-0 to FC Sao Paulo). Fellow residency striker Randy Edwini-Bonsu is also expected to make an impact at some point this year, but he's still fending off injuries and doesn't appear to be along on this trip. Midfielder Vicente Arze has also stepped into a striking role before. The Caps should get Marlon James back from injury soon as well.

Their midfield:
Vancouver is expected to start an identical midfield lineup to last game. Martin Nash and Mason Trafford will begin in the middle of the park, with Arze and Ansu Toure on the wings. On the bench, the Whitecaps will have Tyrell Burgess, Kenold Versailles, Ethan Gage and Philippe Davies as midfield options. Gage and Davies are call-ups from the residency team, while Versailles is an experienced veteran who may crack the starting lineup at some point in the near future.

Their defence: Veteran keeper Jay Nolly gets the start in goal again. In front of him, the Whitecaps will again start Luca Bellisomo and Takashi Hirano on the flanks. Marco Reda returns in the middle alongside Wesley Charles. Charles is an experienced international from St. Vincent and the Grenadines who was a key part of the Whitecaps' defence last year. Wes Knight, Justin Thompson and Paul Hamilton will provide defensive options.

The opposition:
The Islanders finished last season with a league-best 15-6-9 record and made a run to the finals before losing to Vancouver on the road in the championship game. In the CONCACAF Champions League, they made a run to the semi-finals before losing to Mexico's Cruz Azul on penalties. I don't have a predicted lineup for Puerto Rico, so I'll just highlight a few key players from their team. They've retained most of their squad from last year, but have also added some pieces. One potentially key addition is striker Nicholas Addlery, who played for Vancouver last year. They've also brought in USL veterans Sean Fraser and Martin Nunez. Of their returning players, the key cog is 23-year-old midfielder Jonny Steele, who was named USL MVP last season. They also have last season's Defender of the Year in Cristian Arrieta and the league's Goalkeeper of the Year in Bill Gaudette. They'll be a formidable opponent.


I'll have the live blog up and running at 7 p.m, both here and at Sporting Madness. Join me then, and enjoy the game! The game will also be streamed at USLlive.com.

It's Called Football: FC Dallas 2.0 pre-game

The It's Called Football Dallas and Toronto preview. We get the "Buzz" from Dallas!

Back down to earth...

The 2009 USL-1 season kicks off on Saturday April 18th for the Montreal Impact, it will be their first official match since the meltdown in Torreon on March 5th. After a fantastic run in the Concacaf Champions League it will be in a sense "back to reality" for the team, as they will face off against the Charleston Battery 7:30 pm ET http://www.usllive.com/.

Veteran defender Nevio Pizzolito mentions " We want to win it all this year, we want to come back in full force and prove that we are not just a fluke". Expectations will be extremely high this season as fans are expecting nothing less then another berth in the CCL and the club’s 1st league title since 2004.

It should be a tough match for the Impact on Saturday, as the Battery will be looking for a win in their home opener, after coming away with a hard fought 0-0 draw against the defending USL-1 champion Vancouver Whitecaps last Saturday. The Battery made several off-season additions, most notably adding former Carolina Railhawks team captain, defender Frankie Sanfilippo and 2007 USL-1 first team all star, forward Dan Antoniuk. Impact fans will remember Antoniuk as the player received in return for Eduardo Sebrango in the botched 2006 trade with Vancouver.

It has also been reported that forward Roberto Brown will not be available Saturday, as he has stayed behind in Montreal because of a slight ankle injury. Team Captain Mauro Biello and newcomer Pa Amadou Gai have also stayed behind. Expect a starting lineup looking something like this:

Sebrango-Byers
Di lorenzo-Testo-Grande-Gjertsen
Zanzan-Pizzolito-Joqueviel-Braz
Jordan

Predictions? Expectations for the new season?
I predict a come from behind 2-1 win for the Impact.

Hart likely to be named men's coach today

Although no one will confirm it with 100 per cent certainty it appears as it Stephen Hart will be named the head coach of Canada's men's team today at a teleconference scheduled to start at noon eastern.

There is no indication of whether it's a temporary move or whether he's being offered the job on a full-time basis.

Again, to be clear, no one has come out and said it. However, no one has denied it when asked either. Draw your own conclusions.

Edit: And it's confirmed.

Five modest proposals to make the game better.

Football is a conservative game. To suggest rule changes is to commit blasphemy. The traditionalists won’t have it. The game is pure. It must not be touched, as it is perfect the way it is.

Except it’s not. No game is. There are plenty of ways that you could tweak the game to make for a better product if only you were willing to try.

In the interest of starting a dialogue (and because it’s been a slow news week) allow me to present five potential rule changes to make football a better game. I’ve picked changes that are relatively minor so as to not upset the purists too much (not that I expect that they will even be able to stomach the idea of any change whatsoever).

1. The Pink Card

Diving is an affront to the sensibilities of any right thinking fan of the game. It’s cheap and it makes the game look bad. Technically a diver can receive a yellow card, but it happens infrequently. Some will argue that diving is a good strategy. They’re right. It is. And that’s a problem. I propose that football leagues the world over get serious about getting the swan dive out of the game. To do that referees will be instructed to issue a new card that is specially designed to target divers – the pink card. If a player receives a pink card his night is done and he will be suspended for the next game as well. Harsh? Sure, but to eradicate the practice you have to make the punishment so severe that you would be stupid to risk it. However, I’m going to make one allowance to the rules so that referees are more willing to flash the pink card...

2. Allowing subs for red (and pink) cards

Nothing sucks the life out of a game than going 11 v 10. The team that is shorthanded drops back into a shell and defends. It isn’t pretty and it doesn’t need to happen. After all a card is an individual punishment, not a team punishment. The only reason to not allow a sub is because that’s just the way it’s always been done. Provided that the team has subs still remaining players sent off should be able to be replaced to allow the game to continue in a natural flow. Going 11 v 10 only encourages defence. The game should always promote attacking
play. Speaking of...

3- Take another step to eliminate back passes to the keeper

Few will argue that it was a bad thing to eliminate the ability for players to pass the ball back to the keeper and then allowing him to play the ball with his hands. All that did was slow things down to a crawl. However, players adapted to the rule and quickly realized that a simple flip off the head back to the keeper would accomplish the same thing. It’s time to get rid of that loophole. If you play it back to your goalie – regardless of how – he can only use his feet (I might make an exception for head balls in the 18-yard box, but I’m not sure why I should).

4 - Punish scoreless ties

The purpose of the game is to score. Someone tell me why teams that fail to do so should ever receive a point. In my world 0-0 = 0. No points for nil-nil draws. That’s simple enough.

5 – Bring back the Golden Goal

Nothing speaks to the conservative nature of the sport than the decision to move away from the Golden Goal. God forbid the more talented team isn’t given every last opportunity to prove that it is better...The entire soccer world is obsessed with making rules that make it difficult for a team to win against the run. The Golden Goal was exactly that – the winning team could have been in a 98 minute bunker before scoring against the run to win. Purists could not handle the idea that the “better” team was denied the opportunity to come back. The better” team had all game to show that, so tough you know whats. The Golden Goal brought excitement to games. It deserves to be brought back (actually I’d go a step further and suggest that all games in tournament play should be played to a conclusion. Forget the penalties crap. Keep going to someone scores).

Those are my five. Thoughts? Do you have suggestions of your own?

TFC still in hunt for Du'etime

So the transfer deadline has passed. And Toronto fans are busy staring at the TFC line-up trying to figureout why Marco Velez* is still listed right there under the defender heading. Despite multiple promises from Mo Johnston and 1,435,848 posts on Soccer by Ives on the subject the great saviour of a central defender has still not been signed.

I guess Mo is still chasing the Frenchman Du’etime.

Meanwhile a couple other issues jump out. For instance why is Toronto only carrying 23 players? Considering that Toronto dressed its head scout at right back last year against Chivas you would think that they would be doing everything in their power to make sure that there were as many warm bodies in the camp as allowed. They must be holding that spot for that allusive defender that would really, really help.

Also, what the hell are they doing with three keepers? Brian Edwards must be thrilled with his current situation right now. At least Greg Sutton is Canadian and has a family in the city That makes the whole not playing thing a little easier to handle. Edwards though? I hope he’s at least getting into the cool clubs with Marvell Wynne (the kids like that Muzik place I hear – although I’m a little out of the loop. It could be so 2008 by now).

The gluttony of keepers begs the question: Can TFC not trade one for a little help in the central defence? You can still try and bring in the mystery man (apparently on a club looking for promotion...someone study Bristol City’s roster, ‘cause we know where Mo tends to look) in the summer window. It doesn’t need to be a superstar, just a serviceable guy. Kind of like Hunter Freeman last year.

So who needs a keeper? At the start of the year you might have said Chivas (and you probably still should), but the fat man seems to have revised himself a little. Ray Burse isn’t exactly tearing it up, but Dallas is even worse at the back than Toronto. Who knows with Mo?


But what is certain is that we are already facing a key week in the schedule for Toronto. After starting so brightly, the Reds have suddenly dropped seven of nine points. The natives in T.O. are getting restless. It goes without saying that a big performance is needed.

* Actually Marco is fine as a depth player. Long live Marco Velez

Portland is the new Cleveland?

The City Council will hold one more public meeting Wednesday with the mayor and Paulson present and then the council will vote next week to plan deadlines and schedule financing, etc. September 1st is the deadline for Portland to propose the details for the financing and renovating of PGE Park as well as have a plan in place for the Beavers new home. If they fail to provide an adequate solution, MLS will pass the bid to another city

Now, I'm not sure how much of a MLS insider Wynter Kaiser is (although I'm pretty sure that in the history of sport there has never been an insider that replaces "Is" with "Ys" in the spelling of their name), but it is interesting to see reports coming out of Portland that are suggesting the possibility of the bid being pulled.

It seems unlikely -- the league will work hard to avoid the optics of it if nothing else -- but still...

When the stadium plan was approved last month there was a shortfall of about $15 million (others have pegged it higher). The city still hasn't agreed on how to find that money and there is a possibility that the project could get delayed.

And with Montreal once again lurking in the shadows...I think everyone in Portland and MLS will be happy to see the shovel go into the ground on this project.

Update: MLS to Montreal in 2011?

According to reputable Montreal columnist Réjean Tremblay, Joey Saputo expects an answer from the Quebec government about the 25$ million Stade Saputo expansion money, within the next 3 weeks. He has officially asked new Quebec finance minister Raymond Bachand and Quebec minister of Education, Sport and Leisure Michelle Courchesne to back him up in his quest.

Saputo mentions "Mr Bachand was already aware of the importance for Montreal to get in to the highest level of professional soccer in north america, and i expect a very quick answer".

Apparently, Saputo expects the MLS to announce another expansion, within the next few weeks. Seeing the big success of Vancouver, he believes there is a big possibility a slot will open up for an eastern franchise for the 2011 season.

I believe that would make sense in more ways then one for the league. For starters, it would allow the 2 conferences to be a little more balanced for the 2011 season, without having to move a team from the Western conference to the East. Also, given the poor attendances seen up to now this year in some MLS markets, why would they give up the chance to receive another 35-40$ million in expansion fees and put a franchise in a market that would be a guaranteed success.It's going to be very interesting to see how this one folds out.

In other news, the Impact has added 2 players to their 2009 roster. Much needed left defender Mohammed Zanzan Atte-Oudeyi , simply known as Zanzan, and forward Pa Amadou Gai.

Zanzan 28yrs old, played 35 games and scored 2 goals for Togo's national team and played the better part of 7 seasons in Belgium's 1st division. He is known for being very physical and tough on the pitch as well as extremely difficult to get around.

As for Amadou Gai 24, he has been playing in Gambia's 1st division since 1997 with Bakau United, in 11 games this year he had 9 goals. He also played in Gambia's national team at the U17, U-20, U-23 and senior level. He is seen as more of a future "project" by technical director Nick Desantis.

More later!

Brief Intro and news on the MLS expansion front from Montreal

Hello football fans!

I was recently given the opportunity to become the 24th minute's Montreal blogger and i'm really looking forward to giving a different perspective on all things football. My main focus will obviously be anything relevant to the Montreal football scene as well as the Montreal Impact.

I am a longtime football fan (i don't like using the word "soccer") and a Montreal Impact season ticket holder. I am currently studying journalism part-time and i was recently asked to do a brief 2009 Montreal Impact season preview at Inside Minnesota Soccer: http://www.insidemnsoccer.com/2009/04/05/2009-usl-league-preview/.

Feel free to drop me an e-mail for suggestions, Montreal related story ideas or hate mail at: steven.beauregard@hotmail.com

Joey Saputo is (finally!) getting serious about MLS..

Great news this evening coming out of the Impact's annual pre-season banquet at Montreal's Maison de la culture Maisonneuve, Joey Saputo has made a request to get 25$ million in government funding to expand Saputo stadium. He was quoted as saying "We worked hard to develop the sport of soccer in Quebec and we have to start being more aggressive because infrastructure money is available and we can't be shy to take a look at potentially getting some of that money so we can bring the next level of soccer here, which would be the MLS."

According to another interview in french courtesy of rds.ca, he also mentioned "The picture has changed we must aim for the highest possible level of football in Canada and the United states, the idea is to be ready when the next expansion comes around. We will be the first in line". Wow! Hearing this gives renewed hope to most Montreal Impact fans. Despite the recent USL-1 vs. MLS debate going on in certain football forums, most Montreal Impact fans are smart enough to realize that it is in the best interest of the future of football in our beloved city, that the Impact make the jump to MLS as soon as possible.

One can only imagine if the 2011 MLS expansion race outcome would have been different, had Joey Saputo only adopted this type of attitude at this time last year. At least he seems to have learned his lesson and realized that with Portland and especially Vancouver jumping ship in 2011, USL-1 is no longer an attractive option.

Come on Joey make it happen, Montreal 2012!

So Saputo does want into MLS!

Joey Saputo goes hat in hand to government for stadium upgrade to attract MLS team to Montreal. More in the morning....

It's the morning. As you can see above our new Montreal contributor, Steven, has already touched on this. His opinion is pretty much in line with my oft-repeated one. We need Montreal in MLS. Everyone that is in a position of influence in Canadian soccer agrees that it's a better option than USL so could we please move past the delusion that USL-1 is good enough for our major cities.

USL-1 is a great option for smaller Canadian centres, but Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver need to be in the top league. And it is. Without question.

BMO's scalping problem

Reselling tickets above face value is illegall in Ontario. Yet it takes all of two seconds on Craigslist to find multiple opportunities to spend way more than what’s printed on the ticket.
Let’s look:

$110 each in 108
$200 Pair in 109
$65 each in 111
$80 each in 112

Many of these seats are controlled by ticket brokers – people that attempt to make a living off of re-selling tickets. The argument for allowing the practice to continue is that it makes for a true free market. You pay what the market demands and that can mean less than what’s on the ticket too. Go down to the Rogers Centre for a Blue Jays game and you will appreciate that to be the case.

The unspoken is that the teams like a healthy scalping industry. It creates ticket scarcity, which in turn drives the price of their product (in this case TFC soccer) up. It’s like when you wait in line for an hour to get into the hot new club only to find out that it’s half empty – half the reason it’s hot is because the line-up’s so big.

Many people will read this and argue that scalping isn’t a problem. You only deal with it when you chose to and why should you care what someone else is paying to get into the game. The problem with that thinking is that it fails to address the very real security problem in the south end.

The two main supporter’s groups in the south are effective at self-policing their own members. But, the truth is that less than 50 percent of section 112 (Red Patch) and 113 (U-Sector) is made up members of the groups. It’s hard to self-police people you don’t know and who don’t care to know you.

Scoring a pair of seats in the “party zone” of the south end is a big get for many frat boy types. These are the type of “fan” that might think that’s it’s OK to throw a beer at a player (or, just as often, members of the groups that are leading the songs). Not every frat boy tourist in the south end is there on a scalper ticket, but a lot are. And as long as the scalpers control as much of 112 and 113 as they do the potential for problems exists.

Over the past few weeks the supporter’s groups have received a lot of criticism about the crowd’s behaviour at TFC games. Some of the issues brought up are legitimate – the throwing of crap has got to stop. But, ensuring that the south end rides the line without crossing it is the responsibility of not just the clubs, but also the front office. Security has done a great job so far. The new crew is listening to the supporter's leadership and has proven to be flexible in its handling of the south end. There is little to complain about. They have been less pedantic with little things and more vigilant with larger issues – and that’s a good thing.

But, it’s time for the next step. It’s time for the club to get serious about getting south end tickets out of the hands of scalpers. Doing so would be in compliance with the law after all.

Less scalpers means a better atmosphere and less problems.