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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 [...]

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

First up, Brian Carroll of the Philly Union.

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.

Here's this morning's batch.

Mexes-matosis.