MLS released the full list of players that will be available in the December 8 Re-Entry Draft. The Fire have no players on the list but there are a few names that could fill a need if the team decides that an older MLS veteran option is better than anything else available.

The two names that come to mind are Jimmy Conrad and Juan Pablo Angel.

Reports surfaced this morning via Raza Deportiva (a spanish language ESPN radio broadcast) that Wilman Conde was leaving Puebla's training camp and was not signing a contract with the team. Last week Puebla FC announced on their web site that Conde had signed on with the team as a new reinforcement for 2011.

Best Buy's initial uniform sponsorship deal with the Fire expired at the end of this season and it's been speculated for some time that the relationship would not continue into 2011. A release from Best Buy and the Fire today officially puts an end to the speculation. The Fire are now in the market for a new jersey sponsor.

A report out of Serbia claim that the Fire is interested in two young Red Star Belgrade players. One is 25 year old striker Aleksandar Jevtic and the other is 20 year old attacking midfielder Darko Lazovic.

Here's a Lazovic highlight video (albeit a few years old) and a look at Jevtic in action.

The acquistion of Cory Gibbs in the MLS Re-Entry Draft provides the Fire with a sorely needed experienced central defender but no one in the Fire organization should feel comfortable with a central pairing featuring any combination of Gibbs, Kwame Watson-Siriboe and Dasan Robinson. Gibbs is a competent, if not solid MLS defender who was available at a reasonable price but he has had some injury issues at both Colorado and New England over the last several seasons.

The Fire will open the 2011 season by travelling to Frisco, Texas to face FC Dallas in the first Brimstone Cup match of the new year. The opening game on March 19 will be followed by the home opener one week later against Sporting Kansas City (still hard to get used to that) in an afternoon game at Toyota Park.

According to this article the Fire are close to a deal with former Chivas midfielder Ramon Morales.

Morales has been a rumored name for over a year. He played last in FMF with Estudiantes and had his season cut short due to injury. He's 35, usually plays on the left side, and recently had surgery according to the article.

Now that 2010 is nearly behind us and the New Year will signify opportunities via the opening of the international transfer window it's time to start thinking about Fire Confidential in 2011. My initial goal in writing this blog was to provide a platform for the type of Fire/soccer discussion and coverage that was largely absent in Chicago's local media landscape.