Portland Timbers Trade Troy Perkins to Montreal Impact for Donovan Ricketts - Stumptown Footy
Is this the start of a fire-sale/complete rebuild for the Portland Timbers? With a new coach
coming it's going to happen soon, so why not start now and stockpile draft picks and allocation
money?
The potential Arsenal summer fire-sale has officially begun: Gale Clichy is on his way to
Eastlands.
Negative spin: while I don't know too many Arsenal fans upset by the news, it certainly doesn't
help strengthen the weakest part of Arsene Wenger's squad. Not to mention, Arsenal is down to only
two true outside backs in veteran Bacary Sagna and 21 year old Kieran Gibbs.
MLS coaches go to bed nightly without fearing relegation. Most world soccer leagues operate on a
system where the worst teams over a season fall into a lower league, replaced by the best coming up
from below. Apply the word disaster to the relegated. Those going down lose revenues, a fire sale
of their best players likely follows.
Following on from yesterday's look at players moving clubs on a regular basis, it is interesting
to look at a couple of those moves retrospectively and ask whether they were the right decision.
Darren Bent left a Sunderland side in January, a Sunderland side who have been very busy adding
quality to their squad this summer.
With a week to reflect on the last 10 months of footy I can safely come to conclusion that it
was a belter! This 2010-2011 brought us the tightest Premiership in yonks with just the cats
whiskers separating the top teams from the bottom. Some people are preaching that it was a very
weak league compared to others of the past but surely the smaller gap points means that it is
improving as a whole with the so called smaller fish giving the big whales a run for their
money.
Morning all. Throughout January Soccerlens is going to be bringing you a daily round-up
of the morning's various goings-on. Be it juicy morsels of spurious transfer gossip or real, actual
bona fide news, rest assured, we'll have it covered.
It's not all Nsereko, Boumsong and Alves Since the January transfer window was introduced by FIFA
for the 2002/3 season it has attracted many critics. Steve Coppell was quoted as saying: It brings
on a fire-sale mentality, causes unrest via the media and means clubs buy too many players Well he
is often right, but [.
The loud protests echoing round Anfield on Saturday said it all - Liverpool fans are not happy and
a quick glance at the results this season tells you why.
A lowly 16th in the league and dumped out of the cup against Northampton, the 2-2 draw with
Sunderland was just another in a string of unacceptable results for a club of their stature and the
fans made sure everyone knew about it.
With the relegation of Colombian powerhouse America de Cali for the first time in the team's
84-year history, speculation was that Roger Torres' loan may finally turn into a permanent transfer
to the Philadelphia Union. Instead, it appears that Cali's fall could bring in a different player
to MLS and Philadelphia.
The Insolvency Act of 1986 was enacted on the twenty-fifth of July of that year, and its
ramifications would come to change the face of English football, through the introduction of
Company Voluntary Arrangements. Prior to the introduction of this law which was introduced by the
government in a bid to entice more entrepreneurial activity in companies with the aim of allowing
insolvent companies to trade their way out of insolvency an insolvent company's only routes out
from serious financial difficulties were liquidation or a winding-up order, and the last club to
fall foul of this state of affairs was Middlesbrough, whose financial travails overshadowed the
start of the 1986/87 season.
What are the odds Everton will be relegated at the end of the season? Derek McGovern's
Bets of the Day
Mikel Arteta out. Jermaine Beckford out. Will the last person to leave Everton please turn the
lights out. What we're seeing at Goodison Park is not so much a fire sale as a closing-down
sale.
David Dein reckons Arsenal fans must give manager Arsene Wenger the respect he deserves or risk
losing him.
The Beeb reports that AW is under increasing pressure from supporters after six seasons without
a pot and that when asked if Wenger could leave, the former Arsenal vice-chairman said: "That's
always an option open to him.
FIRE SALE – EPL CLUB UP FOR SALE AND CHEAP AT HALF THE PRICE Don McMahon Well its finally
happened. AFC have been put up for sale to the highest bidder. Messrs Kroenke and Usmanov have
thrown in the towel and decided to get out while the going is good. Why may you ask is [...]
Note: If you don't know what all the hullaballoo is about, click here.
de·stroy
–verb (used with object)
to reduce (an object) to useless fragments, a useless form, or remains, as by rending, burning,
or dissolving; injure beyond repair or renewal; demolish; ruin; annihilate.
The great Anfield fire sale looks set to happen this summer, with a number of squad players set to
be offloaded.
David Ngog, it seems, is to be the first victim. The Frenchman has been allowed to speak with
Sunderland, and should complete his move once he returns from holiday.
And whilst few Reds will be distraught at the young strikers exit, it is worth considering that
Ngog performed an admirable role during what will be remembered as a largely turbulent era in
Liverpool's history.
Liverpool Football Club's American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett will default on the £237
million-plus of loans they used to buy the club, former government business adviser Lord Sugar
predicts.
The deadline for Hicks and Gillett to refinance the £237.4 million Royal Bank of Scotland loan
they used to acquire Liverpool expires on October 15.
Hey F.C. Porto, look at your Classico rivals Benfica. That could be you a year from now.
Remember Benfica's wondrous championship season last year? Remember how they used to score goals by
the bushel, 4, 5, 6 at a time? Remember how they'd run teams into the ground, literally and
figuratively?
Running down the list of the teams which won league titles in 2010, there was an unsurprising
common thread: all had some amount of history or significant financial clout. In short: it was
unsurprising that they were unsurprising. In the age of the rich getting richer, the rich also get
the trophies.
Aaron Davidson, NASL CEO, was a guest on Daniel Feuerstein's podcast last night. Feuerstein's
Fire episode #42 features the NASL spokesperson who broke news that the team being set up in Cary,
NC is a "new entity."
Davidson states in the interview that Selby Wellman "wound up his team.
Our Friends at the Triangle Offense blog in Cary, NC broke the news last night. The Carolina
RailHawks are having a fire sale and everything must go. I kid you not. What are some of the things
they are selling? Here's just a few items on the list:
Even Swoops the Carolina RailHawks mascot costume is for sale.
Lee Clark is trying to reignite his managerial career at Birmingham City – but he may be hampered
by off-the-field troubles at St Andrews. By Frank Heaven. "Why would anyone take this job?" It was
a sentiment often expressed by disgruntled Birmingham City fans after Chris Hughton's unsurprising
but much-lamented departure to Norwich City earlier in the summer.
EDITOR'S NOTE: It's Friday and we could do with a little more
discussion. Don't agree with all these estimations, but that's why it's a good conversation. -
Jeremiah
The silly season is here! While taking a break from designing my customized Xavi in Rave Green
jersey, I thought the following might be a good discussion topic: What are our players "worth" on
the open market, and where are they most likely to go?
With talk of a 'fire sale' in January to raise funds, guest writer Peter Blackburn looks at the
possibilities available to Steve Cotterill [...] Read the original post on Seat Pitch
If the start of this season in League One has been notable for one thing, it has been for the
under-achievement of those clubs which arguably over-achieved last season. After seven matches, the
bottom four of Rochdale, Bournemouth, Leyton Orient and Exeter City are all clubs did extremely
well when swimming against the current last season, but all are finding the going to be
considerably more difficult this time around.
Troubling Times Ahead for Everton? - originally posted on Soccerlens.com
Everton's summer has been a downpour of disappointment. The tale of the club's financial
hardship may be legendary, but, after the recent transcript publication of their perilous
situation, the reality is stark. The club has stagnated; the future forecast is bleak.
Well it looks as if Arsenal have finally made their first signing. The rumored Gervinho deal has
been announced on Arsenal.com and that is good enough confirmation for me to speak on the signing.
Personally, I am excited about bringing the Ivorian into the fold. Gervinho is a highly skilled
forward who provides some flexibility up front.
Back in March 2008 all was still right with the world for Arminia Bielefeld. The club was in
its' fourth consecutive season in the top flight. The stadium's new East Stand with extra VIP
boxes, and whatever is needed to please the prawn sandwich brigade, had just been completed. New
revenue streams were ready to flow and the club was about to play its' 500th Bundesliga match
against Hanover.
It seemed even last year that the Philly Union wanted Brian Carroll to come their way...
Best thing we can do as a media outlet, is to provide a bridge between the fans and the players.
We've inventoried the interview requests that you've made to TSG and we're working our way through
them.
Do you like self-congradulatory columns with a hint of smugness? In that case, you're in luck!
In a tradition stretching back to never before, let's take a look at the predictions made in our
Veikkausliiga preview package in April and see where we are. How has the season unfolded? Who gets
the last laugh?
Why are you smiling John? You've scored 7 goals in your last 65 matches Here's a
quick one from the fire-sale that is the Portsmouth Football Club.
John Utaka is heading back to the Premier League.
I write this not because I recommend you purchase Utaka in the Fantasy Premier League, but just
because I wanted to call out Utaka's reasoning for returning to the English top flight: "I would like to stay in the Premier League.
