The Fire's practice session on Saturday looked a bit lighter for good reason. Several players are no longer in camp and won't be headed to phase 2 of pre-season training in Florida next week.

Supplemental draft pick Yannick Salmon and trialists Barry Rice, Ashley McInnes, and Hunter Jarrett are the first casualties.

Before departing for Phase 2 of pre-season training in Florida the Fire announced the release of trialists Nate Weiss, Graham Dugoni, Pedro Chicarelli, Leonardo, Matt Glaeser and Amadou Sanyang.

They have also added new trialists Shane Clark, Gabriel Ferrari, Jordan Seabrook, Evan Schwarz, Joachim Bendu, Orr Barouch, and two additional yet unnamed players.

Starting Line Ups

Fire

GK Johnson

D Ristic, Cuesta, Gibbs, Segares

M Oduro, Pause, Paladini, Bone

F Chaves, Nazirit

Bench : Conway, Anibaba, Robinson, Husidic, Nyarko, Barouch, Puerari

Sounders

GK Keller

D Riley, Parke, Kennedy-Hurtado, Wahl

M Rosales, Evans, Alonso, Neagle

F Fucito, Jaqua

Bench : Boss, Gonzalez, Ianni, Scott, Carrasco, Levesque, Montero

The Chicago Fire announced today that there will no new Ring of Fire inductee this season. From the Fire's press release:

"After consultation with the six current "Ring of Fire" members, the Chicago Fire will not induct a new member to the "Ring of Fire" in 2011. Only six former Men in Red have been bestowed the prestigious "Ring of Fire" honor to date.

Starting Line Ups

Fire

GK Johnson

D Ristic, Cuesta, Gibbs, Segares

M Oduro, Pause, Paladini, Bone

F Puerari, Nazarit

Bench : Conway, Robinson, Husidic, Nyarko, Chaves, Videira, Barouch

SKC

GK Nielsen

D Harrington, Besler, Collin, Myers

M Sassano, Arnaud, Bravo

F Kamara, Bunbury, Smith

Bench : Kronberg, Diop, Stojcev, Zusi, Cesar, Sinovic, Sapong

After losing to Monterrey at home in the final leg of the CONCACAF Champion's League Final on April 27 Real Salt Lake has not looked like the same team that was considered to be the class of MLS by many observers at the beginning of the season, myself included. A bit of a let down could be expected after the loss to Monterrey and it did come in the form of a 1-0 loss to the Portland Timbers on the road.

The Fire have announced the release of last season's opening day goalkeeper Andrew Dykstra. The acquisition of Jon Conway via trade on draft day led to some speculation that the Fire would keep three 'keepers on the roster in order to make one available for reserve league action while the other competed for the back up spot to Sean Johnson.

The Fire have announced the first of two international player signings and mystery international striker number one is indeed Uruguayan Gaston Puerari.

Puerari has played in the Uruguayan first division the last four seasons with Rampla Juniors and most recently Montevideo Wanderers.

Training Phase 2

The Fire are currently in Ave Maria, Florida for Phase 2 of training camp while apparently continuing to look at as many available players as possible. On top of the eight additional trialists the team is also hoping to add an Eastern European attacking midfielder.

The Fire trimmed the training camp roster to 33 remaining players (21 signed players, 2 draft picks, and 10 trialists) today after cutting draft choice Amani Walker and trialists Jordan Seabrook, Eric Ustruck, Evan Schwartz, Fabian Burbano, Anderson Costa, and Jocian Bento.

Tunisian Nadir Taider has been identified as one of the new trialists but interestingly enough Open Tryout winner Pari Pantazopolous has survived the first few rounds of cuts and remains in camp.

The Fire will need a win tonight to avoid missing the knock out stages of US Open Cup play for the first time ever in franchise history. This game, along with the previous win against Colorado are considered "play in" games and not part of the tournament proper.

San Jose manager Frank Yallop says he's going for the win with his best line up.

The Chicago Fire have fired head coach Carlos De Los Cobos after 41 games at the helm in just over one season. A disappointing May that appeared promising at first glance was apparently the last opportunity for De Los Cobos to maintain his position for the rest of the campaign.

Technical Director Frank Klopas will assume the coaching duties effective immediately and will address the media after training tomorrow morning at Toyota Park.

Frank Klopas wrapped up his first training session as the "interim head coach" of the Chicago Fire this morning by answering questions regarding the immediate future and direction of the team after yesterday's dismissal of Carlos De Los Cobos. Klopas explained that the move was a "soccer decision" and was not an easy move to make considering that as Technical Director, De Los Cobos was his choice in January 2010.

With Marco Pappa playing for Guatemala in the CONCACAF Gold Cup during the month of June the Fire will be without their leading scoring (tied with 4) and arguably most dynamic player for at least three matches. This Saturday's match against Seattle, the stadium opener in Kansas City on 6/9, and the road game in Columbus on 6/12 are all matches that are certain to be Pappa-less for the Fire.

The Fire have announced that the team has loaned defender Kwame Watson-Siriboe to the NASL's FC Tampa Bay for the remainder of the 2011 season. The second year center back had fallen behind Josip Mikulic, Cory Gibbs, Yamith Cuesta, and Dasan Robinson for playing time at the position but has seen some action in reserve matches.

Fire owner Andrew Hauptman remains optimistic about the club's chances to compete for a playoff position this season despite the team's 1-4-6 start and feels that under the direction of interim coach Frank Klopas the team can improve. Hauptman was also complimentary of now former coach Carlos De Los Cobos although his hiring ultimately did not work out.

After an entertaining first half from both sides the Fire ultimately concluded another match at home in much the same fashion as the previous four games at Toyota Park, without a full three points. That's not to say there weren't positives to be taken away because there were. Set piece defending was much improved after an emphasis was placed on improving the way the team approaches dead balls during the week.

Travelling to Columbus for the second match in four days, the Fire will face an opponent that will certainly be a challenger for one of the final playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. Despite cleaning house and releasing many of their most reliable veteran players after last season, Columbus is still currently eight points ahead of the Fire in the standings.

Starting Line Ups

Fire

GK Johnson

D Anibaba, Cuesta, Gibbs, Segares

M Oduro, Pause, Husidic, Nyarko

F Puerari, Chaves

Bench : Conway, Robinson, Ristic, Paladini, Bone, Barouch, Nazirit

Crew

GK Hesmer

D Miranda, Marshall, James, Gardner

M Balchan, Ekpo, Gaven, Meram

F Mendoza, Cunningham

Bench : Gruenebaum, Iro, Veeder, Burns, Gehrig, Rusmir, Horton

On a weekend chock full of late game heroics the Fire chipped in with a big victory of their own fueled by a 90th minute score by Cristian Nazirit. After 89 minutes of generally outplaying the Crew in Columbus a third consecutive 0-0 draw almost seemed certain. Particularly after Orr Barouch managed to find the post yet again in the 79th minute.

This week's early injury report includes an upgrade to Josip Mikulic's status. The defender returned to full training yesterday while Marko Maric resumed light running on the side. Steven Kinney and Mike Banner worked on the side as well but did not train.

CHICAGO FIRE -- OUT: MF Mike Banner (L Achilles tendinitis); DF Steven Kinney (R Achilles tendinitis); DOUBTFUL: MF Marko Maric (L deltoid ligament sprain); PROBABLE: DF Josip Mikulic (L clavicle fracture)

USOC

The Chicago Fire PDL advanced to the second round of the USOC by defeating the Des Moines Menace 1-0 last night.

The US Soccer Soccer Federation has announced the possible third round pairings for all eight remaining MLS clubs still alive in the US Open Cup tournament. The Fire will play the winner of next Tuesday's match between the Rochester Rhinos and Harrisburg City Islanders to be held in Harrisburg, Penn.

Starting Line Ups

Fire GK Johnson D Anibaba, Cuesta, Gibbs, Segares M Nyarko, Pause, Husidic, Oduro F Chaves, Nazirit

Bench : Conway, Ristic, Robinson, Bone, Paladini, Barouch, Ferrari

Revolution GK Reis D Barnes, Coria, Soares, Alston M Tierney, Joseph, Phelan, Nyassi F Mansally, Lekic

Bench : Shuttleworth, Loewy, Guy, Kinne, Schilawski, Sousa, McCarthy

Starting Line Ups

Fire

GK Johnson

D Anibaba, Cuesta, Gibbs, Segares

M Oduro, Paladini, Husidic, Nyarko

F Chaves, Barouch

Bench : Conway, Mikulic, Ristic, Bone, Pappa, Videira, Ferrari

RSL

GK Rimando

D Russell, Olave, Borchers, Beltran

M Grabavoy, Beckerman, Warner, Johnson

F Espindola, Aghasyan

Bench : Reynish, McKenzie, Schuler, Gil, Gonzalez, Williams, Toia

The Fire played to yet another 0-0 draw for their tenth tie of the season. Neither team created many opportunities and Real Salt Lake failed to even register a shot on goal in the second half. The New York match on Sunday will mark the half way point of the MLS season and it still seems that we're still not exactly sure what this team is capable of accomplishing.

Starting Line Ups

Fire

GK Johnson

D Anibaba, Cuesta, Gibbs, Segares

M Nyarko, Paladini, Husidic, Pappa

F Oduro, Chaves

Bench: Conway, Mikulic, Ristic, Bone, Videira, Chaves, Ferrari

Red Bulls

GK Condoul

D Solli, Keel, Mendes, Miller

M Richards, Tainio, Ballouchy, Lindpere

F Henry, DeRosario

Bench: Sutton, JOnes, Schneider, Da Luz, Kassel, Rooney, Hertzog

The Fire have announced that midfielder Davis Paul has been waived. Non guaranteed MLS contracts can be released before July 1 giving teams maneuverability with their rosters and salary budget. Players on the roster after July 1 are guaranteed compensation for the remainder of 2011.

The release of Paul, who appeared in one match this season leaves the Fire with 27 players on the roster.

The transfer window is now open and the next two weeks should be very active at 7000 S. Harlem. The MLS combine takes place from January 8-11 in Florida ahead of the SuperDraft on the 13th in Baltimore and the Fire need to begin filling the open spots on the roster now, but before any of that discussion kicks off I want to introduce the first new feature of 2011 - "Have Your Say".

I really wanted to post a link to this story on it's own rather than link it in the comments section of a particular post since I think it really illustrates why the supporter's culture in soccer is different than the fan culture of the "big four" sports in the US.

The ISA donated over $10,000.

The Fire are holding their annual open tryouts at the Bridgeview Sports Dome today and tomorrow. The Sun-Times' Len Ziehm has a short preview here and HotTimeInOldTown has a look at the tryout format here.

The Fire are also providing tryout coverage here. With 209 players participating and travellers coming from as far as China and Bolivia it's a busy weekend for assistant coach Larry Sunderland, who is running the tryouts.

Frank Klopas and the Fire technical staff are currently in Florida for the MLS Combine ahead of the draft on January 13 but Klopas feels the Fire have a pretty good handle on which players they're interested in right now. "These players have been off for a few months so it's tough to judge guys on these games, we've seen most of them before now so we're looking for the best fit based on who's available when we pick" said Klopas.

The Fire have announced the signings of former Carolina Railhawks midfielder Dan Paladini and Croation central defender Josip Mikulic. Paladini is a 2 time USL Best XI player who excels on free kicks and Mikulic joins the team from NK Zagreb.

Paladini, 26 and Mikulic, 24 along with Cory Gibbs are presumably the first of several signings that will be announced during the next several weeks as the Fire looks to fill as many as possibly a dozen remaining open roster spots.

The Fire have added former Uruguayan international Leo Percovich to the coaching staff as first assistant to Carlos De Los Cobos. Percovich was most recently an assistant to Preki at Toronto FC and Chivas USA while also acting as the Colorado Rapids goalkeepers coach in 2006-2007.

Percovich fills the spot vacated by Mike Matkovich after last season.

The Chicago Fire is hosting a live chat during the draft tomorrow starting at 10:45 am. Join Fire team writer Jeff Crandall, the Daily Herald's Orrin Schwarz, MLSsoccer.com's Sam Stejskal, and me in discussing the draft live as it happens. Stop in and comment on the draft or share your thoughts on the Fire's selections and MLS.

The Fire landed University of North Carolina defender Jalil Anibaba with the ninth pick in today's MLS SuperDraft. Anibaba, the MVP of the MLS Combine, was ranked by many as a top five pick and the Fire were understandably surprised to find him available at number nine. According to Technical Director Frank Klopas, Anibaba can play both central defense and right back equally well.

More photos » Ned Dishman - Getty Images

about 22 hours ago: BALTIMORE - JANUARY 13: Ninth selection Jalil Anibaba of the Chicago Fire poses for a photo with coaches and front office staff during the 2011 MLS SuperDraft on January 13 2011 at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore Maryland.

Last month MLSsoccer.com chose the Fire's hiring of Julian Posada as the most underreported story of 2010. The choice was a bit odd given that since Posada was hired last September there just hasn't been much to report. The Fire's 2011 Season Ticket marketing campaign had already been kick started with the "All In for 2011" tag line and the subsequent three and a half months have provided very little in terms of a change in the Fire's local presence or public perception.

Real Salt Lake announced today that CJ Brown is joining their coaching staff as an assistant to head coach Jason Kries. Brown replaces Robin Fraser who left to take the top spot at Chivas USA. The Fire released this statement from Technical Director Frank Klopas:

"This is a great opportunity for CJ, and everyone at the Fire is very happy for him.

Reports surfaced last week that Nery Castillo was attempting to engineer a loan deal back to Greek club Aris FC. A post on Castillo's Facebook page mentioned a possible move but Aris' manager Hector Cuper quickly shot down the suggestion a few days later saying

"The road has not opened. Castillo is neither close nor far from Aris.

The Fire announced their pre-season schedule today. Players are due to report to Toyota Park on Thursday before starting training next week at the Bridgeview Sports Dome. Among the players reporting will be new additions Cory Gibbs, Daniel Paladini, Josip Mikulic, Jalil Anibaba, Jason Herrick, Jon Conway, Davis Paul, Yannick Salmon, Amani Walker, Sam Arthur, and Open Try-Out winner Pari Pantazopoulos.