One of my must do tasks as I start my day off is to catch up on the news from the BBC Sport website and to my surprise this morning, I read that Gary Neville, ex Man Utd and England defender, had accepted a four year contract from The FA to be one of manager Roy Hodgson's assistant coaches.

Heading into a big matchup Friday night against Chivas USA, I am back with some hat trick goodies. The customary QOTD will appear at the end like usual. I should have a 3 questions exchange up by Friday, as well as a gamethread for Friday night. And yes, I will be lurking on the gamethread (unfortunately had to miss the thread during the Seattle game but I will be along for the ride Friday night).

'Coach told us today that all we're going to play against XXXXXX is defense'.

Why would you ever tell your players that? It just means you're trying to lose by less, which gains you... what? I've never understood soccer coaches who drop 5-6-7 kids back on defense or directly shadow strikers to try to stem the bleeding.

The Timbers started off today's practice after their day off by wishing a happy birthday to Diego Chara who turns 26 today. After that it was down to business, as new fitness coach John Ireland continued to change up the Timbers warm up routines. After the Timbers completed some running and ball control drills, practice was closed to the press.

Photo: Michael Long

This time last year, the Philadelphia Independence were entering the end of preseason training. Now, players from the 2011 team—as well as new players who were announced or rumored to be joining the club before the 2012 WPS season was cancelled—are spread all over Europe and the US.

Eleven Singapore players will not only carry the hope of the nation, but also with one aim to prove a point.
The point to prove that, despite their physical disabilities, they are still able to enjoy the beautiful game like their able-bodied peers when they are set to take on teams from Iran, Australia and others that included the host nation, United Arab Emirates in the first Dream Asia Cerebral Palsy (CP) Tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

It's a "pazzo" day of celebration for Milan, after their 4-0 thrashing of Arsenal in the Champions League last night! Milan simply dominated all 90 minutes of last night's match with a sleek passing game, although Arsenal surprisingly held the 53% share of ball possession.

Greg Schiano has been taking on challenges his whole life, and where his recent task of rebuilding the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFL is daunting, the former Rutgers University coach is up for the task.
Stephen F. Holder of the Tampa Bay Times writes of the man who continues to rise to the occasion.

Former Portland Timbers stalwart defender Cameron Knowles has been hired by the his old club as an assistant coach to replace Trevor James who left in December. Knowles joins the coaching staff lead by head coach John Spencer and assistant coaches Mike Toshack and Minnesotan, Amos Magee . Knowles, an Auckland, New Zealand native, attended [.

Philadelphia Union have figured out the formula to the MLS amateur draft:

Be patient, wait for other teams to screw up, and draft the best player available. When in doubt late, take a guy who played for Reading United.

The Union did it again this year, so let's talk about it with the proverbial Five Observations About .

Yesterday, Tweed Thornton and I had the opportunity to speak with Chicago Fire head coach Frank Klopas. It was an excellent chance to ask some questions that we had been wondering about and had been hearing from other Chicago Fire fans. It was also a chance to get to know the man who will be starting his first full season as head coach in March.

The Chicago Fire announced that Mike Matkovich and Leo Percovich will return to the club as Frank Klopas' assistant coaches for the 2012 season. Matkovich rejoins the Fire as an assistant coach, having previously served in the role for the club from 2009-10. The fact that Klopas is bringing Matkovich back on suggests that there was some kind of rift between Matkovich and former Fire head coach Carlos de los Cobos.

The last remaining head coaching vacancy in Major League Soccer sits in Colorado, where the Rapids are expected to make a decision on their replacement for Gary Smith this week.

Four candidates have emerged as Colorado's leading contenders. Denis Hamlett, Oscar Pareja, Tom Soehn and Richie Williams are the four men sources have told SBi are the finalists for the job.

Someone told me the mark of a great program or of a successful coach is how many players come back to visit after their playing careers are over.
That thought is always referenced over the holidays when receiving so many different emails, texts and phone calls from former players and assistant coaches.

The Vancouver Whitecaps have parted ways with assistant coaches Denis Hamlett and Colin Miller, the team announced on Wednesday.

With incoming head coach Martin Rennie taking the reins and acting head coach Tom Soehn moving back to the front office, it's not a big surprise that Rennie would want to bring in his own staff, but the move leaves two experienced assistants available for other positions.

Newcastle will soon have some very difficult game coming up, where they'll be lucky to get many points on the board against three of the best sides in the Premier League. Alan Pardew with assistant coaches John Carver and Steve Stone Here's the Newcastle schedule once we arrive at the 19th November, and these are the games [.

FakeBobBradley with an epic rant last evening. Reproduced with his consent below.
You'll need to read from the bottom up.

FakeBob went on the attack...

I'd challenge @FakeKlinsmann to a Twitter duel, but I think he would just give excuses that he's building for the future instead of scoring.

Montreal Impact head coach Jesse Marsch continues to fill out his staff for the team's entry into Major League Soccer with the announcement that Mike Sorber will join the team as an assistant coach. Marsch and Sorber previously worked together as assistant coaches with the U.S. national team.
"Mike's experience both coaching and playing at the international level will be invaluable for our organization as we build towards 2012," Marsch said in a statement.

Out with the old, in with the new.
"I think we have some very interesting youngsters coming through the ranks," U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann remarked in the press conference following the 1-0 loss to Belgium on Tuesday.
It is the reality of the situation for Klinsmann; the window of opportunity is closing for a lot of the stalwarts of the national team.

Union

Ahhhhh, a weekend with a game...

And, what's this, not just a game but a potential signing? Joe Tait, the young defender on trial with the Union who scored the final goal in the team's 5–2 win over Harrisburg City Islanders last week, appears set to sign with the club. After messages on Twitter from himself (follow him at @joetait1) and Stuart Hayers (@Stuhayers)—his former coach at PDL side Baton Rouge Capitals and founder of the S&B Kinesis sports management company of which Tait is a client—hinting at a move that have since been removed from Twitter (check out this from the ever Twitter-vigilant Brotherly Game for their content), Hayers sent a tweet that mentions his S&B Kinesis co-founder, an assistant coaches and the owner of the Capitals early Friday morning saying, "fat lady is clearing her throat.

I just finished a preview of the upcoming U.S. national team games, which should be posted soon at SI.com. But as I talked to team staff in Carson last night, something a bit odd struck me.

I had talked for 20 minutes about the ongoing camp in Carson without ever once considering the program's best player and all-time leading scorer, Landon Donovan.

STARTERS
For one of the 1st times ever MLS is complying with FIFA international dates and only 2 games will be played this weekend, one of them a make up game. We are getting there.
dN
Michael Bradley has completed his transfer to Chievo in Italy from Gladbach in Germany.

Spurs traveled north into Scotland and paid Hearts a visit at Tynecastle in the qualifying round of the Europa League last week. Harry Redknapp has made no secret of his dislike of the Europa League mainly because of the scheduling and the possibility of long distance travel. He was very public as were his assistant coaches that many of the younger players would be appearing in the Europa League matches, so senior players can focus on league matches as Spurs turn their attention to a Champions League spot and possibility of the league title.

WE don't believe Arsenal are resigned to their fate. While standing behind Arsene Wenger a few weeks ago observing the way he dished out instructions in French and English we certainly detected a sense of impatience within the squad (least of all from Nasri, surprisingly).

Jurgen Klinsmann--Not Bob BradleyDoes Jurgen Klinsmann need to win tonight? You bet your ass he does. Now that doesn't mean the U.S. has to defeat Mexico tonight in Philadelphia, but it had better be a good show. He'd better play some young guys, show some hints of a new philosophy and the defense better not be a sieve.

Since 2007, the U.S. Soccer Development Academy has strived to impact the Men's National Team – never has the program's influence been more felt than the four-day camp leading into Wednesday's match against rival Mexico. The Academy is represented both on the field, with two former players participating in the camp, and on the sidelines, where Klinsmann's staff has a wealth of experience at the elite youth level.

Since 2007, the U.S. Soccer Development Academy has strived to impact the Men's National Team – never has the program's influence been more felt than the four-day camp leading into Wednesday's match against rival Mexico. The Academy is represented both on the field, with two former players participating in the camp, and on the sidelines, where Klinsmann's staff has a wealth of experience at the elite youth level.

United States National Team coach Jurgen Klinsmann has already announced he won't be naming full-time assistant coaches in the near future. Instead, he plans on inviting guest coaches over the next few months. For the Mexico friendly, Klinsmann has named the following coaching staff (bios courtesy of US Soccer Communications) Martin Vasquez Vasquez re-unites with Klinsmann after serving as an assistant coach at Bayern Munich.

STARTERS
The NSC Minnesota Star will host Breast Cancer Awareness Night at their home game on Sat Aug 27 v Montreal and will be wearing, auctioning & selling one-off pink Admiral kits. Please give them your support.
dN
This will be the 20th season of the English Premier League.

Photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIphotos.com

Martin Vasquez and Tab Ramos have been named as two of five assistant coaches appointed by U.S. men's national team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann for the upcoming friendly against Mexico.

Thomas Dooley, Mike Curry and Mark Verstegen were the others chosen to be part of Klinsmann's rotating pool of assistant coaches.

Whenever you follow multiple different professional sports, you inevitably start to notice the unique aspects of each of them. For instance, I remember Martin writing a while back about how odd it would be for an NBA basketball fan to endure various different international breaks during the middle of the regular season.

Minnesota's Mukwelle Akale (Minneapolis, Minn. Minnesota Thunder Academy) and Max Stiegwardt (Maple Grove, Minn. Minnesota Thunder Academy) were called back into the U.S. Soccer Under-14 Boys' National Team domestic training camp in Carson, California. That camp started June 12 and will run through Sunday the 19th.

Virginia Beach, Virginia – The Virginia Beach Piranhas are pleased to announce the hiring of two new assistant coaches for the 2011 season. Chris Cullop will assist Wendy Waddell for the W-League...
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more!

2011 NASL Combine held in Fort Lauderdale, FL this past weekend.

The 2011 NASL combine ended Sunday in Ft. Lauderdale with the opportunity for over 70 players to impress the league's eight coaches, assistant coaches such as the Puerto Rico Islanders' assistant Adrian Whitbread, Traffic USA Director of Soccer Fernando Clavijo and observers from other leagues.

Stan Anderson

Stan Anderson of Marquette University was named by College Soccer News as one of 6 top assistant college coaches for 2011.

College Soccer News annually hands out the awards to assistant coaches who are excelling at their work.

Teitur Thordarson may only be in his first year of guiding the expansion Vancouver Whitecaps of Major League Soccer, but he has a wealth of experience.
Formerly the manager of the Estonia national team that rose from 145th to 68th in FIFA's world rankings under his watch, Thordarson also led the Whitecaps to a championship in 2008 in the 2nd division.

Supplemental picks take unusual routes

Dynamo assistant coaches Hanley, Ralston unearthed Newton, Castillo | HoustonDynamo.com

Robin Fraser will be introduced to the media at a noon Wednesday press conference.

He has spent the last four years as an assistant coach at Real Salt Lake and is freqently mentioned in connection with MLS head coaching vacancies.

Fraser, 44, takes the club's reins immediately ahead of the Jan.