According to ESPN Soccernet, Portsmouth chief executive Peter Storrie expects the club's transfer ban to be lifted before the January transfer window. He said,

"My understanding is that we would expect the transfer ban to be lifted in good time for us to continue trading in January.

Click to continue reading...

There seems to be a lot of confusion over how much Liverpool paid/will eventually pay Roma for the services of Alberto Aquilani. Figures such as £20m, £17m and £5m (!) have been bandied about, but the truth is the total outlay could (potentially) turn out to be much more.
On the 8th August 2009, Roma released official details of Aquilani's transfer fee. Click to continue reading...

It's November, which means it is time for SBI to crank out last month's Q&A installments.

While a few weeks have passed since questions were submitted, most questions are still just as relevent today as they were two to three weeks ago.

U.S. national team questions rule the day as usual, with more World Cup questions starting to filter in now that the Americans have qualified and the clock is ticking quickly toward South Africa.

Click to continue reading...

It's November, which means it is time for SBI to crank out last month's Q&A installments.

While a few weeks have passed since questions were submitted, most questions are still just as relevent today as they were two to three weeks ago.

U.S. national team questions rule the day as usual, with more World Cup questions starting to filter in now that the Americans have qualified and the clock is ticking quickly toward South Africa.

Click to continue reading...

Hey all,

For those who care, I am doing weekend duties on the main Offside page. Started last week, and I will be sharing the load with a combo of theoffsides finest Rob, Jan and of course, Laurie. So check these installments out, shoot on by, and give your opinions outside of the Red Bulls sphere.

Click to continue reading...

Â
                                                                          Photo by ISIphotos.comÂ

It is that time again. Tim for SBI readers to submit their soccer (and occasional pop culture) questions which I will answer in installments over the course of the month.

Click to continue reading...

Â
                                                                          Photo by ISIphotos.comÂ

It is that time again. Tim for SBI readers to submit their soccer (and occasional pop culture) questions which I will answer in installments over the course of the month.

Click to continue reading...

Fiorentina forward Adrian Mutu has offered to make a huge donation to charity if his former employer's Chelsea are prepared to waive his 17million euro fine. Mutu was handed the huge fine by Fifa for breaching his contract at Stamford Bridge after he tested positive for cocaine in 2004.

Mutu took his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) but they upheld Fifa's ruling.

Click to continue reading...

It's been a long hard summer for Rafa.

In

Glen Johnson

Already proven himself to be a very effective attacking force and offers more than the steady but unspectacular Alvaro Arbeloa. Seemed pricey when initially purchased but seems like a very good transfer even after such a short spell, hopefully will get better and better.

Click to continue reading...

So here we are, transfer deadline day. I can say with complete and utter assurance that we're not signing anyone.

There's not the slightest whisper of a deal and unless Wenger and Gazidis are playing the hardest of hardball with potential targets and their clubs it seems unlikely anything's going to happen.

Click to continue reading...

Liverpool's squad has clearly been weakened by Rafa Benitez's failure to adequately replace Xabi Alonso over the summer. As a result, the team is struggling. It didn't need to be this way though - there were players available Liverpool could have (and should have) signed. Here are three of the best candidates, all of whom were within the club's budget. Click to continue reading...

After one of the more acrimonious transfer sagas of the year, it finally looks as though Everton centre-half, Joleon Lescott is going to be allowed to move to Manchester City for something like £22m.
I'm not an oil-rich billionaire, it's true, but £24m for a 27 year old defender seems like an awful lot of money to me. Click to continue reading...

Fernando Torres has spoken of his sadness following the death of former teammate Dani Jarque on Saturday.
The Espanyol captain, who played alongside Torres when Spain won the European U19 Championships in 2002, died of a heart attack following a training session in Italy.
Torres said: "In these hard times I want to express my sincere condolences and I offer all my support to Dani's family, friends and Espanyol teammates. Click to continue reading...

With just less than a year to go before the 2010 World Cup, Univision the Spanish-speaking network in the United States has already sold 65% of its advertising inventory, according to Multichannel News.

Recognizing how massive the TV ratings will be on Univision, major sponsors have already signed up for next summer including Coca-Cola, Budweiser, McDonald's, Verizon, T-Mobile and others.

Click to continue reading...

League News

Your USL Week in Review links you to all USL-1 news and games from this past week. This weeks USL-1 news is abbreviated. Next week, USL Week in Review will take a break as IMS will be at the US vs Honduras National team games in Chicago, Illinois.

USL First Division Team of the Week:
United Soccer Leagues named Portland's Mandjou Keita as the USL First Division Player of the Week with 2 goals in a win and a draw both away at Puerto Rico.

Click to continue reading...

League News

Your USL Week in Review links you to all USL-1 news and games from this past week. This week's USL-1 news is abbreviated. Next week, USL Week in Review will take a break as IMS will be at the US vs Honduras National team games in Chicago, Illinois.

USL First Division Team of the Week:
United Soccer Leagues named Portland's Mandjou Keita as the USL First Division Player of the Week with 2 goals in a win and a draw, both away at Puerto Rico.

Click to continue reading...

The Chicago Fire lead the Eastern Conference with a 2-0-3 mark and nine points and head to Columbus to take on the defending MLS champion Crew (0-2-3) this Saturday. Here are some stats to delve into in this second installment of Behind the Numbers:
Undefeated, but ... : The Fire might have set a new standard with their undefeated streak through five games, but they have nine points to show for it. Click to continue reading...

If you haven't seen it, the fifth and final chapter of This is American Soccer's epic Clint Dempsey mini-series "The Game Don't Care" was posted yesterday. You should definitely check it out if you haven't and if you didn't read the first four installments you should quit sleeping on it. Personally, I think it's the best & most in-depth piece on a US player this year. Click to continue reading...

Rafael BenÍtez's relationship with Liverpool's owners reached crisis point last night when it emerged that not only had Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr vetoed the manager's bid to buy Gareth Barry but that the American duo had turned down an offer of a £12 million interest-free loan to help to buy the Aston Villa midfield player. Click to continue reading...

It was news we knew was coming, and frankly, news that I'm okay with, but it's still a bit sad to see one Liverpool's longest-serving players (only Carra, Gerrard and Hyypia have more appearances) leave the club.
The BBC is reporting the fee was £4m, while Roma's official website says 5m euros (just under £4m), but either way it's good value for a left-back on the final year of his contract, and honestly more than I was expecting given how sales are usually conducted at Liverpool. Click to continue reading...

The first of four installments of our pre-season roundtable discussions previewing the Timbers 2008 campaign. Music by Crazy 8's and Chip & Drifty. Click to continue reading...

Last of the power ranking installments before the main club version in a week or so here. Today we get the coaches. Just as the days before, keep up the discussion. I've been critical and so have you, which is what makes this all fun here before the season starts. 1. Houston: You win the MLS Cup [... Click to continue reading...