It started with Persiba Balikpapan. Former West Ham midfielder Peter Butler was their coach and I thought yeah, would be good to meet him and have a chat. But he went and quit the club or was sacked just ahead of their game against Persija in Jakarta. No one had the decency to consider me and my plans.

Pelita Jaya's biggest home crowd for many a year saw them beaten 3-1 by Persib. Ok, the game was played at Jalak Harupat which is Persib's home stadium but it used to be Pelita Jaya's though when they played there they struggled to attract fans in what is staunch Persib territory.

The game was moved from Pelita Jaya's usual home stadium of Singaperbangsa in Karawang probably because that stadium would not have been able to handle the travelling support and that makes two consecutive home games played ‘away' from home; they hosted Persija in Solo for the same reason.

Sebastien Le Toux's departure from the Philadelphia Union certainly made headlines. There was much made of the incident after the player came out and spoke his side of the story. It was emotional and troublesome that, according to Le Toux, a professional club in MLS would dismiss a player in such fashion.

2012 Geylang United HOME kit Having heard the outcry over the decision to change the traditional green home strip to a maroon one, Geylang United decided to revert, although not entirely, the unpopular choice of colour.
Instead, the maroon kit will become the Eagles' away jersey with a mainly white-coloured based uniform (pictured above, depending your browser settings) be the choice of the home outfit for the new season.

New signing Jozef Kapláň (left) presented the new maroon outfit by coach Mike Wong (picture courtesy of Geylang United's official Facebook page)Fans of Geylang United would have to take some time to get used to see their beloved Eagles trooped out Bedok tunnel in not their usual green outfit.
Instead of the colour that was long associated with the most successful team in the pre S.

CJ Sapong was named the 2011 MLS Rookie of the Year. (Getty Images)

When voting came out for the end-of-year awards in Major League Soccer one award was simple to vote on the Rookie of the Year. MLS announced that Sporting Kansas City forward C.J. Sapong has been named 2011 MLS Rookie of the Year.

Boots to fill

Spanish side Levante are due to come to the Reebok tomorrow for our final match of preseason. Levante compete in La Liga, and finished 14th last year, to mirror Bolton. Owen Coyle will focus on making this a good run out, both to jusitfy his busy preseason (after that injury), and as it's his last chance before QPR.

Some footballers are never satisfied. The first two that come to mind are Diego Maradona and Carlos Tevez. Maradona never could settle in one location despite his enormous skill. Carlos Tevez, while not as great, is similar in that he is never content.

Like the character of Jerry Seinfeld, Tevez seems to find (or create) problems where there are none.

Gerrard Houllier keen to make a return to management

Former Aston Villa manager Gerard Houllier says he will only return to club management if he is passed fit by doctors. The Frenchman left Villa Park in June after suffering health problems.

View the full story here: The Mail

A news article on 2011-07-18 09:47:31 from: The Mail

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Could this be the most significant news of the offseason?

England Under-21 internationals Josh McEachran and Ryan Bertrand, the future of this club right here, agreed to contract extensions today. Josh re-upped for five seasons, Ryan four.

Boom. This is no doubt superb news, with both young players displaying their formidable talent in patches last season.

Two NASL matches were played Wednesday evening, with both matches, Montreal Fort Lauderdale and FC Edmonton Carolina RailHawks, ending in 1-1 draws.

Montreal Impact 1-1 Fort Lauderdale Strikers

Photo courtesy of the Montreal Impact/Pépé

This season certainly isn't going as scripted for the Montreal Impact.

Two NASL matches were played Wednesday evening, with both matches between Montreal Fort Lauderdale and FC Edmonton -Carolina RailHawks ending in 1-1 draws.

Montreal 1-1 Fort Lauderdale Strikers

Photo courtesy of the Montreal Impact/Pépé

This season certainly isn't going as scripted for the Montreal Impact.

I watched the highlights of the Fairs cup of 1970 again last night on Arsenal player, was that really 40 years ago? I can remember that spring night as though it was yesterday.

For 11 years, ever since leaving school and starting our apprenticeships, my mates and I had stood in all weathers and shouted ourselves hoarse, as we won nothing.

Photo by Lorianne DiSabato

As MLS fans, we often fail to realize how lucky we are that our clubs offer us a wide variety of fan experiences. If we are attending a game with a soccer newcomer or our kids, we can sit in the more traditional American sports seating sections and watch the action from our seats.

Regular guest contributor Pete Southlooks at today's breaking news: Fabio Capello's decision to rule himself out of the Inter Milan job.

Fabio Capello has rejected the offer to return to club management with Inter Milan after officials from the club approached the 65-year-old, according to the manager's son.

Why Mark Hughes was wrong to leave Fulham - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

For the second season in succession, Fulham find themselves in the difficult situation of searching for a new manager through no volition of their own. Little more than eleven months after Roy Hodgson left the club for his ill-fated stint at the helm of Liverpool, Mark Hughes has decided to activate a clause in his contract meaning that he will depart at the end of the month.

Reported Chelsea target Guus Hiddink has admitted he misses the day-to-day nature of club management, but is refusing to be drawn on talk linking him with a return to the club.

He was installed as one of the favourites to replace Carlo Ancelotti following the Italian's sacking on Sunday but, while he says he misses the club environment, he is not focussing on anything other than Turkey's upcoming clash with Belgium.

Should we expect to be painting a similar picture to the one below come August?

We keep hearing about the Dutch around these parts. Marco Van Basten is the man to helm the rebuilding project at Chelsea Football Club. Guus Hiddink will aid in the cause as director of football.

Campeonato Brasileiro 2011 A comprehensive guide is a post from: Just Football

by Rodrigo Beilfuss

As most major football leagues in Europe approach their season finale the Brazilian league rises in the horizon, and for that there's plenty of reason to smile.

I'm here to tell you why.

Two Indonesian-based Singapore players - Baihakki Khaizan and Shahril Ishak (pictured below) had joined IPL (Indonesia Premier League) club Medan Chiefs following their release from ISL (Indonesia Super League) club Persib Bandung.
The fate of the both Singaporeans were in much speculation with a tweet message posted by Baihakki on 6th February had made it crystal clear for him, at least, that time is up for him in West Java.

Estudiantes de La Plata are the current champions of Argentina

The second half of the Argentinian league season begins this weekend and if it's anything like recent tournaments there could be a few surprises in store. The Clausura (Closing Championship) is the second league championship of the season and comes just a couple of months after Estudiantes de La Plata secured their fifth title success when winning the Apertura (Opening) Championship.

Guest blogger Thomas Rooney takes a look at tomorrow's friendly against Denmark if we'd opted into the Nations Cup, at least it would have been competitive.

The difficulties in juggling club management and international management are once again in the spotlight this week with England set to play a pretty pointless friendly in Denmark.

The difficulties in juggling club management and international management are once again in the spotlight this week with England set to play a pretty pointless friendly in Denmark.
Coming as it is between two sets of Premier League games and a week before the resumption of the Champions League it is little surprise there has been a flurry of drop outs.

During one of my many online jaunts reading the news of both the EPL and MLS, I came across a story about the appointment of former Ajax winger Aron Winter as head coach of Toronto FC.

The photograph accompanying the story denoted a further two men, one of whom Paul Mariner I recognized from his recent stint as Plymouth Argyle manager.

In a way, that's exactly what Barca have done. As ball boy, trainee, player, captain and now coach, they've shaped the skinny kid from a small town into the charming, well-spoken man in a sharp suit he is today.
In recent years, everyone from players, club management, Catalan politicians, entertainers of all stripes and Jose Mourinho have called him the perfect manager for Barca.

It's been a bit quiet lately on the TFC newsfront. The MLS Combine began on Saturday, so most of the staff is down in Florida checking out the young players on display. Tomorrow is the big MLS SuperDraft. It starts at Noon ET and will be on GolTV if you want to watch. I will be covering it live on twitter, so you can follow me there for up to date news.

Tottenham Hotspur is on a collision course with its local political representatives.
The football club management has spent much of the past decade trying to pull itself into the elite of global sports clubs.
As well as scoring more goals on the pitch they hoped to convince Haringey, the local authority, to give planning permission for a new 56,000 seat stadium in one of the poorest wards in the country, Northumberland Park.