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    Guest
    Widely reported and it should be said - fully expected - Roy Hodgson stepped aside today at Liverpool and made way for the Anfield legend, Kenny Dalglish, to finish out the season as manager.
    It's a move that is worrisome and re-assuring at the same time.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Re-assuring, because it had become painfully clear that Hodgson had lost the room - 9 defeats in 20 Premiership games will do that to anyone, and according to the former manager himself, he had lost the support of the Kop faithful.
    What is worrisome about a move like this, is that it is clearly designed to restore that faith to Anfield - not a tactical decision that will improve the club's fortunes.
    Dalglish is a legend at Liverpool, there can be no doubt of that. The titles he's guided them to are equaled only by his leadership through the tragedies at Hillsborough as manager and Brussels as a player. A select few can lay claim to walking on water in that town and he's one of them.
    But he's hasn't managed in over a decade and he was fired from his last two managerial positions at Celtic and Newcastle.
    As an ambassador at Liverpool he will still know the club inside and out but the game is a very different one from that of the 1980s and early 90s. Adopting his tactics to fit the modern era will be a huge task.
    I don't want to rag on the negative here too much. John W. Henry and NESV have done a great deal in their short time at Liverpool to engage the supporters and re-gain the trust that was shattered by the Hicks and Gillette era. Today's move - bringing in the last manager to capture a top flight title at Liverpool - speaks volumes to that.
    For now, at a club that wears theirs on the sleeve, a move from the heart is a fine one. Between now and the end of the season, however, it's time to start making decisions of the head and figure out how to return this floundering club to its former glory.
    Guest
    Welcome to the FA Cup! Today is, of course the start* of everyone’s favourite disruption to to the English Premiership season. If you are a typical** EPL fan you may be wondering who some of these characters are that your team is playing today. “Fans” of Manchester United*** will also be confused about what this competition is all about.
    Don’t worry as CSN has you covered with this comprehensive guide to the oldest knock-out competition**** in world football.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Q – How many teams are in this thing?
    A- 759
    Q – Wow! That’s a lot of teams!!
    A – Not sure if that’s a question, but yes, yes it is. Unlike in North America the English involve everyone in this thing. That allows plumbers from Bath the opportunity to dream about scoring an extra time winner at Old Trafford*****, or, at least, to get spanked 4-0 by Accrington Stanley.
    Q – So if 759 teams are in the competition that must make it pretty wide open, right?
    A – Not really. There are four teams that can possibly win it – Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs.
    Q – What about Manchester City?
    A – You’re new, aren’t you?
    Q – And Liverpool?
    A – Who?
    Q – My team is playing a club I’ve never heard of- what’s up with that?
    A – The English playing pyramid is vast and contains many obscure teams that are given the chance to try and earn a game against one of the big boys. So if you are playing a team like Crawley Town, Hartlepool United, Hereford United or Fulham think of it as a chance to go to Wikipedia and learn a little about the history of those insignificant****** clubs you are forced to spend 90 whole minutes watching

    Q – So, do the important******* clubs care about this thing?
    A – Define care.
    Q – Do they want to win it?

    A – More than the Carling Cup, yes.
    Q – What’s the Carling Cup?
    A – Nothing.
    Q – Who is that guy playing right fullback for my guys today?
    A – That’s a player from the “reserve” side********. He’s getting a run-out in hopes that he plays decent enough to interest Aldershot Town in a six-month loan.
    Q – My game ended in a draw, but they didn’t have penalties. What’s up with that?
    A – I know, eh! The players have shamed the club and as punishment will now be forced to travel to some God-forsaken matchbox of a stadium in the middle of nowhere/be forced to put up with 1,000 traveling hooligans drinking in their posh neighbourhood pubs.

    Q - I’m a “fan” of Manchester United. The other team scored more goals. What happens now?
    A – Don’t worry, the FA will figure it out
    Q – Why is there an old guy on the TV waxing poetically about the “magic of the third round?”
    A – Because Manchester City is destroying the game as we know it and we long to return to a simpler time when players were slaves to the club and paid worse than dock workers.
    Q – Should I feel guilty that I’d rather be watching a Prem game?
    A – Yes, you are a horrible person.
    * Ok, technically they’ve been playing since the summer, but the third round is all that really matters
    ** Big four*********, clearly
    *** United ‘till you die (since 2008)
    **** It’s like a playoff, only the rest of the world does it all wrong by holding it in the middle of the season. Wankers.
    ***** Note: this never happens
    ****** As any good “fan” of Manchester United will tell you the only measure of worth for any club is its ability to win trophies.
    ******* Do we have to go over this again?
    ******** It’s where players that graduated from the youth team play until they are sold to a mid-table Championship side for £500,000
    ********* Note: Liverpool is still considered a big four side. I know, eh!
    Guest
    There was a line that Aron Winter slipped into his opening press conference that was not widely reported. Talking about how hard it would be to turn around a team that has, to put it charitably, struggled over its first four seasons of MLS he uttered something that might horrify a hardcore Reds’ fan.
    He suggested that a multi-year plan would be in order. It wasn’t Mo Johnston’s infamous five year plan, but rather a three year journey that he suggested the club would take. In the meantime they had simpler goals: make the playoffs while completely overhauling the club.
    No problem, eh?
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    In fairness, Winter gave the right answer (and the message was reiterated to me later by Paul Mariner when he told me that the “intelligent football answer” to whether TFC could turn things around in time for 2011 was “no.”). TFC fans should have been more worried if he brazenly suggested that Toronto should expect a treble in 2011. Having a little respect for the process isn’t a bad thing.
    It’s unclear whether TFC fans will give Winter the three years. Always passionate, the Reds biggest supporters haven’t always been as, well, rational in recent days. It’s understandable. The fan base is just getting out of an abusive relationship with a Scottish snake oil salesman. They are a little on edge lately.
    There is no reason that it should take the full three years to be competitive in MLS. The league is such that you can go from horrible to contending quickly. For an example look at Columbus in 2008, the Galaxy in 2009 and New York in 2010. There is no reason why Toronto can’t duplicate the success of those teams. Even the off-season purge isn’t evidence against a big turnaround. The 2010 Red Bulls were a much different bunch than the chumps that finished 2009 (by knocking TFC out of the playoffs in a 5-0 drubbing).
    What Winter was really getting at was that it would take three years to convert Toronto into something that resembled the Total Football system that brought the Dutch and Ajax so much success over the years. Then again, most fans will take Winning Football over Total Football anyway (although both would be great), so, you know, whatever.
    After hearing “this time is the time” five previous times, Reds’ fans can be forgiven for taking a wait and see attitude. Still, they may have finally gotten this right. There was an aura to Winter that exuded football intelligence. It’s hard to articulate it, but it was pretty clear that the man is slumming it here. That doesn’t mean he won’t fall on his face, but if initial impressions mean anything he’s going to have a long career managing somewhere.
    It also appears that the team around him is far better than anything TFC has ever seen. Mariner brings the MLS experience (and success) and first assistant Bob De Klerk may be almost as important of a hire as Winter. The club continues to talk about building the academy into the best in MLS and De Klerk was front and centre in the running of one of the best academies in the world. Although he’s working with the first team here he told me that he’ll also spend a lot of time on the academy side of things.
    Will the sixth time be a charm for TFC? Time will tell, but it’s hard to find fault with what we’ve seen so far. Of course the real work has just begun.
    Guest
    Marc Weber of <i>The Province</i> just reported that the Whitecaps <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/ProvinceWeber/status/23572714950238208">have added Denis Hamlett</a> to their coaching staff. Hamlett <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denis_Hamlett">played briefly in MLS</a> and some of its predecessors (the American Professional Soccer League, the National Professional Soccer League and the Continental Indoor Soccer League). His playing career ended in 1997 after he suffered a stroke, but most probably know him best for what he's done since then.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Despite being only 41, Hamlett's already spent more than a decade in the coaching profession, serving as an assistant with the Chicago Fire from 1998 to 2007, then taking over as their head coach in 2008. He stayed there until he was fired at the end of the 2009 campaign. He briefly <a href="http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/chicago-fire-confidential/2010/02/where-have-you-gone-denis-hamlett.html">fell off the map in 2010</a>, but soon <a href="http://www.illinoistechathletics.com/article/340.php">popped up as the men's soccer coach at Illinois Tech</a>, where <a href="http://www.illinoistechathletics.com/sport/0/4.php">he led them to a 14-6 record</a> (and a 9-1 conference record) this season. He should be a nice addition for the Whitecaps and bring some extra MLS experience to their coaching staff.
    Guest
    The career of Freddy Adu is a cautionary tale for to all up-and-coming soccer stars out there.
    Once hyped as "The American Pele", the former teen phenom has completely fallen off the radar, the result of hugely unrealistic expectations completely obliterating any hope of a successful career.
    Washed up at 21-years-old*, Adu is still slugging away with hopes of making it in Europe, this time trialing at 2. Bundesliga side Ingolstadt.
    Hey, you can't blame the kid for trying.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    So how exactly did Freddy get to this point? I mean, there is little doubt that Adu is a good talent, if not even a great one.
    For those who are skeptical, just think back to his dominating performances at the FIFA U-20 World Cup here in Canada nearly four years ago. An 18-year-old Freddy Adu, along with his co-star Jozy Altidore, ran roughshod over opponents that included the likes of
    , and Poland.

    Freddy and Jozy followed their global coming out party with another solid overall performance nearly a year later in Olympic qualifying, helping the Americans U-23 side into the Beijing Summer Games.
    And while Altidore has gone on to become a stalwart on the full U.S. national side, Adu has totally disappeared from the international scene. All the while, he has bounced from club to club looking for playing time, a tragic chapter in what was supposed to be a great American success story.
    It's not hard to see where it all went wrong for Freddy Adu. Drafted in 2004 by DC United as a 14-year-old, he was overpaid and overhyped when compared to his contributions on the field.
    At a time when he should have been testing himself in the youth system of a highly-touted European side, Adu was wasting away in Major League Soccer, an extremely skilled boy - barely into his teen years - competing against fully grown men twice his age or more.
    And while he certainly created tons of publicity for a league that so sorely needed it, his game was stagnating. Adu spent too much time on 60 Minutes and the late night talk show circuit instead of focusing on his considerable natural gifts.
    Despite all of this, he could still play, as evidenced by the 2007 U-20's. He was that good.
    The real problem, in my opinion, was that he started to believe the hype. It must have been hard not to, when an entire league, nay, an entire soccer culture had already crowned him as King.
    For someone who had literally grown up receiving nothing but adulation from everyone related to soccer in his home nation, it must have been one hell of a culture shock when Adu headed over to Europe to pursue his dream, and instead of being handed everything on a platter as he was used to, he was expected to compete for a spot - against guys who had done nothing but compete for spot their whole footballing lives.
    He never really had a chance.
    Even after all of this, Freddy can still be a success. He's only 21, and he has now seen both the highs and lows of his chosen profession quite intimately.
    If he wants to become the Freddy Adu that everyone thought he would be, he's going to have to do something that he hasn't really seemed willing to do up to this point. He's going to have to work for it.
    * I'm not getting into the age debate here, so don't bother

    Some other transfer talk from around Europe on Friday:
    England

    Birmingham City agrees to terms with Rangers for Kenny Miller, but Miller rejects the offer.
    Fulham has won the Steve Sidwell sweepstakes.
    Sunderland has made an approach for Inter's Sulley Muntari.
    David Bentley is close to going to Birmingham on loan from Spurs.
    Leicester City is hoping to sign Everton's Yakubu.
    Aston Villa is interested in acquiring Wayne Bridge on loan from Man Cty.
    Harry Redknapp is '90% certain' that Spurs will get David Beckham on loan.

    Scotland

    Kevin Wilson has signed a pre-contract to move to Celtic in the summer.

    Italy

    Domenic Criscito will remain at Genoa after having drawn interest from Bayern Munich.
    Juventus has signed Luca Toni on an 18-month deal.

    Guest
    The CSA announced today that the Canadian Men's national team will be playing their friendly against Greece at 4pm, on February 9th 2011 in Larissa.
    The Game will take place at A.E.L. FC Arena. If we sell the joint out we can expect 16,118 blood-thirsty Greeks screaming for a 1-0 victory...
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Recent form suggests that we may have a chance against the former European Champions. Bearing that in mind, despite the results, these are the matches that Stephen Hart needs to be lining up as we prepare for this next World Cup cycle as it will make for a very good test for a young Canadian Side. European based players will likely get the lions share of playing time one would imagine.
    No word yet on tickets for away supporters but we'll be waiting eagerly for a release from the Southsiders.
    Guest

    Not So SuperDraft

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    With less than a week until the 2011 MLS SuperDraft in Baltimore, many MLS fans are busy preparing mock drafts and dreaming of seeing their favourite teams grab the next big thing.
    Most MLS scouts are just hoping to grab something -- anything. No, really, anything...
    The consensus among most observers is that this is the weakest draft class in a few years. With more and more kids opting to go through MLS academies the top end talent is just not there. Instead you have a select few players that are expected to fill out depth positions, rather than star.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Travis Clark covers the NCAA and DC United for MLSsoccer. He told CSN that the draft “isn’t anything special.” He estimates that the draft is maybe 13 players deep.
    “Generation adidas players have a history of being hit or miss, but the candidates for true superstars is few and far between,” Clark said. “Talking with folks on both sides of the issue, whether that is coaches or fellow scribes is that there will be a lot of decent players who can cut it and contribute in MLS, but I have a hard time imaging a large group of impact players.”
    As stated above, a big reason for this is the shift in academy rules. As we will likely see with Matt Stinson and Toronto, even players that go to university are now able to opt out of the draft and sign home-grown contracts with the MLS clubs that trained them. TFC fans should take heart, then, with Tom Anselmi’s comments at yesterday’s press conference that MLSE has committed $17 million to upgrades to the Reds’ academy.
    Currently 23 players have signed with MLS clubs via the home-grown rule. Only five sides – Seattle, Columbus, Salt Lake, Portland and San Jose have yet to add a home-grown.
    The players signed are: Victor Pineda (Chicago), Bill Hamid (DC), Andy Najar (DC), Conor Shanosky (DC), Ethan White (DC), Jonathan Kempin (Kansas City), Diego Fagundez (New England), Doneil Henry (Toronto), Nicholas Lindsay (Toronto), Juan Agudelo (New York), Giorgi Chirgadze (New York), Davy Armstrong (Colorado), Moises Hernandez (Dallas), Victor Ulloa (Dallas), Bryan Leyva (Dallas), Ruben Luna (Dallas), Tyler Deric (Houston), Francisco Navas Cobo (Houston), Bryan de la Fuente (Chivas USA), Cesar Zamora (Chivas USA), Tristan Bowen (Los Angeles), Philippe Davies (Vancouver) and Zach Pfeffer (Philadelphia). For those interested in following home-grown news, there is a good thread on BigSoccer.
    However, there is still some value in the draft. According to Clark the wildcard for this year is the return of the reserve division and expansion of rosters.
    "What makes things interesting is the return of the reserve division -- because of that, players will stick around for longer, have more time to adjust, and we could see players like Omar Cummings emerge in a couple of years,” he said.
    Having to hold onto more players that would have ventured to the USL or NASL in years past puts puts even more pressure on a club’s ability to develop young talent. Bit by bit the league continues to move away from a reliance on the NCAA to develop its players.
    Edit: Someone who disagrees
    Guest
    Long-time readers of this blog will consider the following a familiar refrain: "Simeon Jackson is fuckin' awesome." So I, like many other Canadian fans, was delighted to see that after essentially single-handedly winning Gillingham promotion in 2009, Jacko found his own career in the ascendancy with a move to Norwich City earlier this year.
    Having been just promoted themselves (to the Championship, from League One), the Canaries weren't considered major contenders for promotion to the Premiership in 2010-11, even after a hot start saw them win six of their first 10 league games. "It's smoke and mirrors," the pundits scoffed. "They'll come back down to earth as the season goes on."
    Frankly, I kinda hoped the pundits were right, since I figured that the closer Norwich got to the potential of actual promotion, the more they'd likely lean on veterans such as captain Grant Holt, at the expense of newbies like Jackson. (And as we've seen in the case of guys like David Edgar and Junior Hoilett, wasting away on the bench of a Premiership side doesn't do much for your career with club or country... so the novelty of having Jackson technically on the roster of a Premiership side was wholly uncompelling.)
    Yet here we are, in the new year, and NCFC is still right in the thick of things, sitting in third in a three-way points-even logjam between Cardiff and Swansea. The entire Championship is incredibly competitive, in fact, with 12th-place Leicester sitting only four points adrift of sixth place (the final play-off spot).
    We've got a promotion dogfight on our hands, folks. And that could be bad news for Canada.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    The numbers seem to bear out my theory that Jackson's role has changed as the pressure on the team has increased. He's made 23 appearances (22 league, 1 Carling Cup) for Norwich so far this season.
    The first 11 of those appearances broke down as:

    6 starts, with an average of 82.5 minutes played (72, 90, 72, 81, 90, 90)
    3 games playing the full 90 (Aug. 24 v Blackburn [Cup], Oct. 16 v. QPR, Oct. 19 v. Crystal Palace)
    5 appearances as a substitute, with an average of 10.4 minutes played (80', 81', 78', 80', 79')
    + 3 games as an unused substitute

    Those back-to-back full 90 appearances came after Jackson's best performance so far, a 3-0 win over Bristol City in which he scored a brace (accounting for half of his four goals this season). But beginning with a good start to the next half of the campaign-to-date (with a goal in a 1-0 win over Middlesbrough), the dynamic changes in his next 12 appearances:

    7 starts, with an average of 64.6 minutes played (70, 62, 63, 79, 67, 46, 65)
    0 games playing the full 90
    5 appearances as a substitute, with an average of 17.2 minutes played (65', 68', 62', 85', 84')
    + 2 games as an unused substitute

    Based on those numbers, Jackson's role is clearly shifting. He's not being overlooked, by any stretch of the imagination. But he's being relied upon, more so, to be the second-half offensive boost rather than the team's go-to scoring threat. A super-sub, if you will. Which is fine, if he's getting lots of playing time and responding with production.
    Trouble is, he's not. Jackson hasn't scored in his past 11 games (dating back to the Middlesbrough game on Oct. 23), while Holt has found the net seven times in that stretch.
    Even more worrying is the Dec. 28 game against Sheffield United. Trailing 2-1 at the break, Norwich manager Paul Lambert saw fit to sub out Jackson only a minute into the second half, introducing midfielder Wes Hoolahan. What did Hoolahan do? Oh, not much. Just a fucking hat trick, earning him the vaunted "super-sub" designation on the Canaries' own website.
    So Jackson's not a full-90 guy, and he's not a super-sub. What is he?
    That's Lambert's decision to make, of course. I just worry that as the prospect of gaining promotion to the Premiership becomes realer and realer -- with all of the accompanying pressure from fans and ownership -- Lambert will see Jackson as not worth the risk, and decide to rely even more heavily on stalwarts like Holt and Hoolahan when the going gets tough.
    The thinking here -- and this is a well-worn trope amongst Canadian soccer fans -- is that having our national team members playing regularly (wherever that may be) is much better for their development and sharpness than having them stapled to the bench (wherever that may be). So in my eyes, if the choice is between Jackson being a regular contributor in the Championship, or a spare part in the Premiership, I'll take the former.
    Now, there's always the chance -- and let's knock on wood for this one -- that Jackson could absolutely catch fire as the season winds down, and make himself indispensable to the club as they triumphantly charge into the world's best league. This, obviously, is the most desirable of all possible outcomes. Hell, he's already done it once, at Gillingham. So if you don't feel like being negative (cheering against Norwich City), then you can take a positive angle: cheering for another run of Midas-foot for our pal Simeon.
    Or, you can hope against hope that Norwich crashes and burns, and finds itself overtaken by any number of other Championship clubs in the coming weeks. Then, with the club's promotion hopes dashed, Lambert will use the remainder of the season to put Jackson into heavy rotation, in which he'll earn a bulletproof spot on the roster as the Canaries try again next season.
    No matter how one approaches it, the reality is, with our national program where it's at, we simply can't afford to have the potential of a guy like Simeon Jackson go to waste.
    Since he is -- recent scoring drought notwithstanding -- fuckin' awesome.
    Guest

    Aussie, Aussie, Aussie...

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    I had a brief conversation with Australian journalist Sebastian Hassett today regarding the possibility of a 2015 Women's World Cup bid from the Aussies. Here is what he had to say:
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Hassett covers the A-League (along with the AFL*) so you would expect that he knows what he's talking about. As I said yesterday, an Australian bid totally changes the dynamic. Without Australia, Canada is likely the runaway favourite. With the Aussies, it's a lot more of a tossup.
    The one area that might tip the decision to Canada is the current rotation, which has seen the last three World Cups go to North America ('03), Asia ('07), Europe ('11). As Hassett says it's in FIFA's interest to nurture the women's game in North America and there is some logic in a Asia-Europe-North America-Asia... type rotation.
    That would make it North America and Canada's turn.
    As always, we'll be following this closely
    * One of my favourite trivia questions is 'where is the largest Australian football league outside of Australia?' The answer is Southern Ontario. I actually covered it a bit while doing work at the Guelph Mercury.
    Guest

    Transfer Talk: Big Brother is watching

    By Guest, in Euro File,

    The current transfer window will no doubt bring about many mega-dollars worth of transactions, as teams look to shore up for the final few months of their seasons.
    In other words, this mid-season transfer window will be just like all the others, except now FIFA will be watching.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Watching for what, you ask? Well the world governing body of football is implementing a Transfer Matching System (TMS) that will keep track of all transactions and ostensibly ensure that that all transfer rules are adhered to.
    FIFA's website describes TMS as "an online system that makes international transfers quicker, smoother and, most importantly, more transparent."
    Head honcho Sepp Blatter proclaims that TMS will protect the integrity of the transfer process.
    "The most important thing is that it increases the transparency of individual transactions and helps us to tackle issues such as the fight against money laundering and the protection of minors in transfers.”
    Splendid.
    Of course, since Blatter's FIFA struggles to adhere to its own rules, it's tough to see how they will enforce them upon others.
    Some are claiming that free-spending clubs will face increased scrutiny with the introduction of TMS. The Guardian suggests that Manchester City will be among the biggest violators of UEFA's financial fair-play rules (limiting spending on players to 70% of turnover), which should be far easier to track with the implementation of the new system.
    But if FIFA has proven anything over the past couple of months, it's that no problem cannot be solved by huge amounts of money. Which should suit City and other big spenders just fine.
    Can you tell that I'm pessimistic about the whole thing?

    Some other transfer talk from around Europe on Thursday:
    England

    Blackburn Rovers and West Ham United are interested in Barcelona's Gabriel Milito.
    Tottenham await LA Galaxy's decision on whether to loan David Beckham out.
    Manchester United ponder £14 million offer for Real Madrid's Lassana Diarra.
    Birmingham's attempts to sign Spurs' Robbie Keane still a ways off.
    Wolves in talks with Aston Villa's Steve Sidwell.
    Swansea confirms that they are in talks to acquire West Brom's Luke Moore.

    Italy

    Ronaldinho is free to seek a transfer in Brazil, says AC Milan.
    Juventus' move for Edin Dzeko was scuttled by Serie A regulations, according to his agent.

    Germany

    Wolfsburg considering Roma striker Mirko Vucinic as a replacement for out-going Edin Dzeko.
    Miroslav Klose is considering a move away from Bayern Munich due to decreased playing time.
    Kaiserslautern is monitoring Dundee United's David Goodwillie.
    Demba Ba accuses Hoffenheim of scuppering his dream West Ham move.

    Guest

    Is No News Bad News?

    By Guest, in West Coast Soccer Podcast,

    Last season the Whitecaps brought in a defender by the name of Mouloud Akloul. He is an absolute house of a man. Despite his intimidating profile, the incredibly personable Frenchmen won the clubs Blue and White Award for Community Service and Spirit last year while he spent the majority of the season rehabbing a surgically repaired ankle. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Surgery is a funny thing, regardless of the the fact that they've been cleared to play, a lot of times players maintain a fear of re-aggrivating their injuries. Rightly so, these are peoples lives and careers that we are talking about here. We saw it through the first half of last season with Wes Knight who appeared apprehensive at times, and looked to lose a bit of the confidence that he had gained the previous season.
    Therein lies the problem when you are a player who is known for their ferociousness, and fearlessness. There is no Wizard of Oz waiting around to just gift you with courage. You have to drum up that courage on your own.
    Akloul got a chance to test his ankle at the end of last season, and looked to be out of step with the pace of top players at the D2 level. It's hard to imagine that bodes well for his chances of making the first team this year in MLS. We are just over 70 days away from the first game of the season, and their has been no news on Mouloud's status with the club for next year. No contract announcement but to the same end he has not been cut. In the dog eat dog world of club soccer, when you are holding a highly prized international spot you had better be performing.
    Ricardo Sanchez and Jonathan Steele fell victim this reality of modern soccer last year and it wouldn't come as a huge surprise if Akloul met the same fate. If he isn't seen as a starter during the first half of the season don't expect him to be with the club at BC Place.
    He has a huge hill to climb. Hopefully this year we see less of the big defender at the beach and more of him on the pitch. At this point it's his spot to lose.
    Guest

    Crapshoot: 2011

    By Guest, in West Coast Soccer Podcast,

    I... I... I mean SuperDraft 2011!
    Placing all your hopes for the future in drafting a college player has its pitfalls. Ask anyone who was a fan of the Vancouver Grizzlies, heck ask a TFC fan about Zach Herold. Luckily though, for every horror story that is out there, there are countless successes. [PAGE][/PAGE]
    A survey of trusted soccer blogs and news columns says The Vancouver Whitecaps are likely to sign Darlington Nagbe with their first overall selection in next Thursday's Entry Draft.
    It was announced earlier this week that Darlington Nagbe would not be participating in this years combine. This sort of move is one that normally means a player has been assured that they will be taken 1st overall, and has been asked not to risk injury during the showcase. We've seen it in the NFL and we've even see it happen in previous MLS drafts. Several other high profile draft eligible players will also forgo the combine while they attend the USMNT U20 camp.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    There have been a few questions raised around town of whether or not the club will indeed use their first overall draft pick, or deal it off to another team in exchange for a more established veteran. The idea has even been bandied about that the club will trade the pick for allocation money or an international spot.
    Darlington (Nuclear Power!?) Nagbe is coming off championship season at Akron where he scored 7 goals and had 13 assists in 25 games in his Junior Year. His school's coach has quickly become one of the most highly respected voices in american soccer having been considered in the mix for the recently filled DC United coaching spot. Having guided Steve Zakuani and Teal Bunbury through his program, Caleb Porter's eye for talent, and ability to develop it, is reason enough to listen up when he is talking about how talented a player is. This years draft class features 6 potential first round picks from The Zips. Nagbe draws Porters highest praise. "He is unlike anything I've ever seen in college soccer..." and "...the best college player in the country." he recently told Mike Peticca
    All in all it sounds like Nagbe is a great pick up, but should Cap's fans look to him to solve the teams scoring woes up front? By all accounts he sounds like a player who is great with the ball on his feet and is great at setting up goals. Whitecaps fans are going to be desperate for goals this year. Especially the fans who sat through low scoring draw, after low scoring draw last year in the USSF-D2.
    The Whitecaps whole scenario gets even more interesting when you consider the fact that they also have TFC's 8th overall pick as well. There is always the potential for trades in an event like this. DC United are desperate to bolster their roster after a humiliating 2010 season. Houston could be looking to trade from their 7 Spot.
    Vancouver really are in the drivers seat at this point.
    While the 'Caps seem pretty deep at the back end of the pitch with Rochat, Janicki, DeMerit, and Knight, as potential starters already signed for the 2011 season, the real gap that seems to need to be filled is a creative playmaking midfielder. Unfortunately the two most highly rated players that fit this mold (Akron's Anthony Ampaipitakwong and UNC's Michael Farfan) are fairly undersized by the MLS standard.
    While I'm not oblivious to the fact that Lionel Messi is below average height, and both Pele and Maradona were vertically challenged, it's unfair to all parties involved to make those sorts of comparisons.
    I'm just hoping the 'Caps draft at least 1 kid from Ohio so I can title an article "I'm going to take my talents to Third Beach"
    Guest

    Live Chat/Blog: TFC Press Conference

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    2:07pm Update: Press conference and post-presser interviews are over.
    To recap - Aron Winter is the new Head Coach and Technical Director. Paul Mariner is his "off-field" right hand man as Director of Player Development. Bob De Klerk is the First Assistant Coach.
    Tom Anselmi mentioned that Earl Cochrane, Nick Dasovic, and Jim Brennan will remain within the organization, but did not specifically define their new roles during the announcement. He did say that Stu Neely is the new head of the Academy, a role Cochrane held prior to stepping into the Interim GM role.
    Please give us your thoughts in the comments section below.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    <iframe src="http://www.coveritlive.com/index2.php/option=com_altcaster/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=745842a2d9/height=550/width=470" scrolling="no" height="550px" width="470px" frameBorder ="0" allowTransparency="true" ><a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=745842a2d9" >TFC Press Conference</a></iframe>
    Guest

    A threat from Down Under

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    This could be nothing. Then again it could also be the first evidence of what would likely be Canada's strongest competition for the 2015 Women's World Cup.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    The final paragraph of this Austrailian article about the awarding of the 2015 Asian championships Down Under reads as follows:
    The author, Sebastian Hassett of the Sydney Morning Herald, is so flippant in the line that you can't help but think that he's heard something.
    If he has (and I asked him to clarify via Twitter. It being 1:30 a.m. there right now he has yet to respond) he's the first. Even though we are less than three months away from the announcement, FIFA has not released the names of the countries bidding. Bidding for the women's event is far less likely to be the target of corruption, but you would think FIFA might want to demonstrate a little transparency after the 2018/22 fiasco. Live and never learn, I guess.
    If Australia is in the running Canada's task just got a lot harder. The Aussies are far more likely to support the event at a bigger commitment than Canada's $15 million. They have better stadiums already ready and their national team is about equal to Canada's.
    That they were part of the 2022 bidding process might help, as the same voters that ignored them in favour of Qatar might feel a pull to give them a secondary prize.
    The information I have been given does not suggest Australia is bidding, but we will watch this carefully.
    Note: Another reference to the Aussie bid here.
    Guest
    Author’s note: Chris Billings was president of the Alberta Soccer Association until he was ousted in a boardroom uprising last spring.
    Yesterday, he answered six questions Canadian Soccer News asked in an open letter on December 13. Today, he responds to two very specific follow-up questions posed by a CSN reader in the open letter's comments section.
    All cited documents are linked.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    ---
    How do you respond to allegations that you harassed ASA staff?
    To date, I am not aware of any allegations that I harassed ASA staff. I believe that I have treated the ASA staff appropriately at all times. Many of the staff members that have been employed with ASA while I have been involved will attest to that and have provided letters of reference.
    As to allegations that I am aware of, the attached document <Suspension Ltr II> was received by me from Colin Innes just after midnight on Sunday evening, Feb 21st <see e-mail attachment>. The first time that I had been told that I had done anything wrong was Saturday afternoon on Feb 20th when Mr. Charpentier & Mr. Magdee advised me that I had 24 hours to resign, or else be suspended. When I asked him as to what it was I did that would warrant such action, he simply replied that ‘if I didn’t resign, I would find out.’ Prior to this meeting with Charpentier & Magdee, I had not been made aware of any wrongdoings. And to date, this document is the only thing I have in writing as to what I have alleged to have done.
    If you have seen additional allegations that I am not aware of, please forward them to me, as I have a great desire to clear my name in all of this.
    As to these charges of misconduct, my response is attached as <ASA President's Preliminary Response to Allegations>. Also for your consideration are two attachments in response to the initial action by the Charpentier group: <Response to Board on Suspension>, <ASA President`s Disclosure to the Members>. These documents were sent publicly to the membership. Note that #6 is the only allegation that even mentions staff, and the harassment complaint was made not against me, but by one staff member against another. I was not a party to this complaint. The misconduct that I am falsely charged with, (as it is untrue), has to do with the follow up to this complaint between the staff members. The actual allegation against me is that I failed to follow the recommendation of the Executive Finance Committee when I appointed a board member to review the complaint, which the EFC alleges was too inexperienced for the task and the reason for the complaint allegedly remaining unresolved.
    Note that allegations of harassment against staff should not be confused with allegation #9 by Christine Chater, Robert Hayne and Colin Innes. My response is first, to whatever actions that they are referring, I have never harassed them, although I have had considerable differences of opinion with them, in particular Mr. Innes. At no point did any of these individuals indicate to me that I had acted in a manner that was harassing, or would warrant, as they have put it in other correspondence, a ‘Human Rights Violation’. As you can see from their communications over the past year, they themselves can be particularly hostile and personal. Second, these allegations are made by the same board members who decided to suspend me, (then appoint a committee to discipline me), and who had exhibited conduct that a President should hold them accountable for which they did not like.
    Under your suspension, why did you not follow the ASA/CSA appeals apparatus as suggested by Mr. Justice Tilleman instead of proceeding directly to court?
    First off, I have indicated since day one that I would attend before any properly constituted panel to address the allegations made against me but I will not appear before a panel that is not properly constituted or clearly biased. Mr. Charpentier and company seem to think that I am obliged to defend myself first simply because they have made allegations against me. Amongst the many other principles of Due Process that I have not been afforded, I feel strongly that I have the right to be considered to be innocent until proven guilty. It is this fundamental schism in beliefs that have allowed the character assassinations of many people before me by various other ASA boards that have been under the control of Charpentier, Kern, Innes and Traficante over the last 8 years.
    Second, I have explained my reasons for not attending the so called discipline hearing set up for me to the members of the Association. See the attached <Principles of Fairness> from April 16th. The initial suspension letter I received said there would be "an investigation and an opportunity to review the allegations and respond to them in advance". In my view, the investigation had been held prior to my knowing, and the discipline issued on February 21st. When the board members appointed the panel on March 6th, it soon thereafter seemed to me impossible to conclude that the hearing would be unbiased or procedurally fair. When I tested this by asking the panel chair, Mr. Leighton, to disclose the evidence that supported the allegations against me and was rebuked by him, my suspicions were confirmed. The fact that certain board members had copies of some kind of materials they called evidence and were showing it to certain ASA members, rather than me, also helped solidify my conclusion that the hearing they set up was a sham and a railroading.
    To clarify: IF the allegations made against me by my fellow board members been disclosed to me first, and discussed, or then disclosed at the 2010 AGM and IF the members still felt there was a need for an investigation, I would have attended any hearing the members directed.
    IF the board had suspended me after following the process set out in the bylaws for doing so, I would have followed the rest of the process.
    Third, I think it is important to say that I don't believe Justice Tilleman suggested I proceed through the ASA/CSA appeals process per se in order to comment upon the validity or integrity of what those processes would have been but he did indicate that he could not review my suspension until that was done because of the law regarding his jurisdiction. He did not comment upon the merits of the suspension nor did he comment upon the merits of the ASA/CSA appeals process.
    Last, in response to the specific wording of the question, I did not proceed directly to court. Myself and several members sought answers from the board, sought several legal opinions on the validity of the suspension in effort to resolve this. I turn this around, why didn't the board review and reconsider their position in the face of this? When it became clear that the board would not reverse itself, I supported the request of several members of the ASA to resolve some aspects of the dispute internally through an SGM. Court action was not taken until the ASA Board suspended districts, cancelled provincials and froze the ASA bank accounts.
    ---
    Canadian Soccer News invites the Alberta Soccer Association to respond. We advise that any response will be considered to be on the record, and will be published on this site, in full.
    Onward!
    Related:
    Alberta: Bound
    An open letter to Mario Charpentier
    An open letter to Chris Billings
    An open letter to Mike Traficante
    A second open letter to Mario Charpentier
    Chris Billings hits back -- part 1
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