But only if you vote for him to win!

I'm still miffed that he was left off the All-Star team at least the one that suited up. I seem to recall that he made the All-Star roster that counts for salary incentives. Yet one more bit of byzantine MLS rules and regulation implementation for you there.

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I'm getting close to opening up the doors of the Black Cloud Brigade recruiting offices, but there are still some things behind the scenes that need to be completed.
In the interim, I'm reaching out to my readers and followers of Twitter with a simple question...
What do you want from the Black Cloud Brigade? Click to continue reading...

From The Writings Of Jonny Carter: September 2009Â

Champions of Spain versus Champions of Italy

- 9 months till the final

Â

The lure of European football transcends merely the million dollar incentives; rather the Champions League represents a team's arrival at the highest echelon of world football.

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The English Premier League was shaken up this week when it was announced that FIFA issued a ban for the next two transfer windows to Chelsea for "inducing" a player to break his contract with his club and join the club. Speculation has grown that Manchester United could be facing a similar ban over the signing of Paul Pogba.

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Sometimes getting rid of your best player makes you better and other times it does not. But for Lyon getting rid of striker Karim Benzema might have been the best thing that they could have done. During the summer the super talented striker traded Lyon for Real Mardrid. The transfer fee was priced at €35 million with the fee rising to as much as €41 million based on incentives. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has revealed that he is desperate to claim the league title with the Reds and has insisted that finishing top of the pile would mean the world to him.
"I'm desperate to get that photo of me with my teammates holding the Premier League trophy," he told the News of the World. Click to continue reading...

Two years removed from finishing with a record low point total in the Premier League and coming off an 18th place finish in the Championship last year, Derby County players have decided to give up their bonuses this season if they can't dramatically improve and finish in the top six. Says Robbie Savage:

"We have not deserved a bonus in the past two years and so have decided not to collect our bonuses this season unless we finish in the top six.

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Lyon are continuing their spending spree by shelling out €13m for St. Etienne's Bafetimbi Gomis (plus another €2m in incentives). His cool name and awesome hair will be further augmenting Lyon's ever expanding strikeforce. I'll have a post featuring relevant information and stats about him once he has his press conference, but for now, let's talk about how Lyon's mercato is going.

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Spanish daily "Marca" puts on its cover that positions betweenLIVERPOOL FC & REAL MADRID are getting closer, so much so thataccording to the daily Liverpool has put a 48 hour deadline for theSpanish Club to propose a "decent" offer for XABI ALONSO. Thedesired price is reported to be around 30M€ + extras for incentives,that is a reduction from the original asked price of 41M€. Click to continue reading...

UPDATE: According to Manchester City's official website, Sheffield United have signed Manchester City striker Ched Evans for a fee that can rise to £3million.

July 23rd, 2009 According to the Daily Mail, Manchester City have agreed to sell striker Ched Evans to Sheffield United for £1.

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According to Stoke City's official website, Stoke City have completed the signing of Sunderland captain Dean Whitehead for £3million-£5million, based on incentives. Whitehead signed a four-year deal with the club.

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Keirrison da Souza Carneiro has officially become FC Barcelona's second signing this transfer season. FC Barcelona will pay 14 million plus 2 million in incentives to the player's club Palmeiras for the capture of 20 year old sensational. Keirrison will have a medical on Friday before signing his contract with the Club. Click to continue reading...

UPDATE: According to the Daily Mail, Manchester City have agreed to sell striker Ched Evans to Sheffield United for £1.5million-£3million based on incentives.

July 18th, 2009 According to Football Spy at the Daily Mirror, Manchester City are prepared to sell striker Ched Evans to Sheffield United for around £1.

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According to Stephen Crawford at Goal.com, UEFA is looking to limit the amount of money spent on transfers by clubs. An official statement in UEFAdirect said,

"The aim is for all clubs to be able to live on the income they generate ... A series of incentives and disciplinary action will be examined at the next executive committee meeting.

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INTER MILAN & FC BARCELONA forward SAMUEL ETO´O havecome to an agreement to transfer over to Italy next season. In fact,Eto´o will be an Inter player for the next 5 years & will earn 10.5M€plus incentives. This shuts the whole long & complex process of negotiations between the Italian Club & player that had on hold(stand-by) & waiting ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC who will now fly toBarcelona to sign his Click to continue reading...

From Italy – La Gazzetta dello Sport – the news is that INTER MILAN &FC Barcelona forward SAMUEL ETO´O have come to an agreement,something that as yet hasn't been picked up locally as certain.The Italian information is that Eto´o will sign a contract until 2014 &earn a cool 10M€/year in salary plus bonuses (incentives). Click to continue reading...

It's official! The club has confirmed the deal made with fullback Maxwell Scherrer Cabelino Andrade from Inter Milan. This is a hugely awesome deal for Barca, the price for Maxwell being just 4.5 million euros, with and added 0.5 million in incentives.
Here's the background check on him:
- Age: Twenty-seven. Click to continue reading...

UPDATE: According to Burnley's official website, Burnley have completed the signing of Hamilton defender Brian Easton for £350,000 plus incentives. Easton signed a three-year deal with the club.

July 13th, 2009 According to Burnley's official website, Burnley have begun talks with Hamilton defender Brian Easton after they agreed to a deal with the club.

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It is almost a done deal. Felipe Melo will move to Juve as the Violas agree to a Marchionni exchange and 20 milion euros in cash. Marchionni signed a three year contract and will receive 1.3 million euros in incentives.

Arsenal missed out on a big signing. A quality holding midfielder was one of the club's priorities and Melo is undoubtedly one.

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Ever wonder what the prize money was for the various competitions MLS teams are involved in? Well Glenn Davis has as well and he posted the following on his blog today:

PRIZE MONEY
By the way here is the break-down of prize money awarded to teams in various competitions, remember this is per team and the winnings then divided amongst players and staff:
Lamar Hunt U.

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We almost fell off our chair when we heard this. Barcelona and Valencia have reached a contract agreement in regards to David Villa? Can it be? Is it possible? Somebody tell us it's true...
Catalan authorities Sport have revealed what they claim to be the set contract between the two clubs. Click to continue reading...

The operation has verbally sealed on both fronts. REAL MADRID &DAVID VILLA agreed to a 5 year contract with a salary around 5M€ +incentives for goals/titles. The Clubs had verbally sealed thetransfer agreement & VALENCIA CF accepted the 28M€ cash offerplus Real player NEGREDO valued at 17M€ (28+15 = 43M€). Click to continue reading...

My how the introduction of the new technology has changed football! Unlike in the past where you had to either live in the country of origin to see your favourite club play on the telly or fly abroad to catch it in person, you can now be the fan of a club from anywhere in the world and can conceivably watch every match from the comfort of your own home provided you have an internet connection and a link to watch games on your computer.

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With one prime objective achieved – "KAKA" – REAL MADRID continueworking for the rest. Today Spanish sports daily "Marca" put on theirfront page an "exclusive", that REAL MADRID & VALENCIA CF has a"total agreement" to transfer DAVID VILLA. The supposed & agreedtransfer figure is around 38M€ plus incentives for titles, friendlygames with Real to give TV royalties, etc. Click to continue reading...

In case you missed it, DC United's ownership structure changed rather suddenly this morning. Will Chang and former co-Executive Chairman Victor MacFarlane have split, with MacFarlane exiting stage left and Chang taking the overwhelming majority of the operation.
Given that MacFarlane's drive in being involved with United was not only getting a stadium built, but having be part of a multi-use, big-deal retail area that would work for him as a real estate investor, him leaving might actually be a good deal for United. Click to continue reading...

Some amateur blogger spouts off about MLS refs here. He drops a lot of names and uses a lot of ten dollar words to make you think he knows what he's talking about, but if he's so damn good, where's his podcast?
Allow me to nutshell it for you:
Quote: Will you crybabies stop e-mailing me about the damn refs already? Click to continue reading...

Thailand midfielder Surat Sukha is set to become the first Thai to play in the Australian league.
Great news for the A-League and a fantastic initiative by Melbourne. Let's Surat brings a little bit of Thai football skill to our league and has a great season.
And for my AFL friends when did a Melbourne AFL Club ever recruit an Asian player! Click to continue reading...

The Houston Chronicle and our good friends at Dynamoplanet.com are reporting that more details have been released on what to expect in their new downtown stadium, including the fact that they are still going for a 2011 opening.
Here's an excerpt from the Chronicle:
The Dynamo want to have the roughly $85 million, 22,000-seat stadium ready for opening day 2011. Click to continue reading...

Why FIFA's 6 + 5 Rule Represents The Wrong Fight Against the Globalization of the World's Most Global Sport

FIFA's proposed 6 + 5 rule is supposedly gaining traction. The law would require club teams to start a minimum of six players eligible for the national team of the country in which they play.

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Why FIFA's 6 + 5 Rule Represents The Wrong Fight Against the Globalization of the World's Most Global Sport

FIFA's proposed 6 + 5 rule is supposedly gaining traction. The law would require club teams to start a minimum of six players eligible for the national team of the country in which they play.

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In spite of incentives given by Mike Ashley on Saturday, like free booze for those who got in their orders at least 50 minutes before the kick-off the St. James Crowd today was the lowest since the ground was expanded to over 52000, around 11 years ago. The Newcastle Supporters - some stayed away yesterday There were [. Click to continue reading...

According to todays sundaymirror Dimitar Berbatov's move to Manchester United will go through this week.
A compromise deal between United and Tottenham has been struck.
It came after the Premier League admitted that they had temporarily suspended reviewing the evidence Spurs had submitted to them after the North London club claimed Berbatov had been illegally tapped up by United. Click to continue reading...

Kids can start soccer training from a very early age these days. While it is very important for children to be active and participate regularly in sports, it is equally important for children not to over do it. The hard thing is determining how much is too much for our kids. The incentives for children [. Click to continue reading...

Sebastien Squillaci is officially gone. Final price was €6.25m plus another half million in incentives, which is more than double what Lyon originally purchased him for two years ago.

In his press conference, Squillaci said that he wanted a new adventure and to continue progressing his career.

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Morning all, or afternoon depending where you are. Amazingly, I have been struck by illness yet again and so decided to sleep for a very long time indeed. So when I awoke, I was surprised to see that Alexander Hleb appears to have been sold. Now this has not been confirmed on Arsenal.com but Barcelona seem to feel like the deal is done and dusted. Click to continue reading...