The international transfer window close a couple days ago. This doesn't mean too much, but it is a milestone in that MLS teams can no longer actively seek in-contract trades with other teams outside MLS. Still, the roster freeze date isn't until March 1st so we may yet still see more moves made, even if it isn't Juan David Duque (Franck Songo'o?

The Portland Timbers announced some significant changes to their roster and some additional moves to help secure their future. Goalkeeper Troy Perkins and defender David Horst both signed new contracts while the Timbers waived seven players. One of those waived, defender Kevin Goldthwaite, will not pursue other opportunities as he officially retired after completing a seven year career in Major League Soccer.

One thing right after another today. With the sad news of Kevin Goldthwaite's retirement -- due to, I suspect, injuries -- comes more roster news with a couple re-signings and some other, sadly enough, players dropped.

The first bit of news is very welcome to me, personally, as both our star goalkeeper Troy Perkins and up and coming center back defender David Horst were re-signed to new contracts of which we're not quite sure about the details.

Got some sad news for everybody (and yes it is sad!) as Timbers center back defender, Kevin Goldthwaite, has announced his retirement from the game today. While some of you might rejoice that he is no longer a Timbers player many of us will remember some of his other contributions to the team including a goal scored this past season.

I have yet to track down exactly who it might be but here are a couple of things I have found out:

• 1 Portland Timber is Retiring possibly more
• 2 or more Portland Timbers did not have their contracts renewed
• 1 DP Signing could be announced in the next two weeks as Wilkinson is in talks with an international player
• 2 or more Timbers will be getting their Green Cards and therefore will not be using an international slot

The 1 retiring player is not Adin Brown but I believe he is one "possibly more".

The votes are in and this is what we came up with:

1. Kalif Alhassan
2. Eric Alexander
3. Eric Brunner
4. Futty Danso
5. Diego Chara
6. Sal Zizzo
7. Jake Gleeson
8. Jorge Perlaza
9. Kenny Cooper
10. Jack Jewsbury
11. Troy Perkins

More after the jump

Here are the actual numbers:

Player Yes No Rank On the list Eric Alexander 13 3 2 Yes Kalif Alhassan 22 4 1 Yes Freddie Braun 0 10 20 No Adin Brown 0 11 20 No Chris Taylor 2 8 14 No Kevin Goldthwaite 0 10 20 No Spencer Thomspon 0 10 20 No Brian Umony 0 7 20 No Rodrigo Lopez 0 7 20 No Peter Lowry 0 7 20 No Ryan Pore 0 9 20 No Eddie Johnson 1 8 18 No Steve Purdy 1 8 18 No Eric Brunner 7 0 6 Yes Futty Danso 7 0 6 Yes David Horst 2 5 14 No Mike Chabala 3 4 13 No Rodney Wallace 2 5 14 No Lovel Palmer 2 5 14 No Diego Chara 8 0 3 Yes Jack Jewsbury 5 3 10 Yes Sal Zizzo 5 3 10 Yes Jorge Perlaza 8 0 3 Yes Kenny Cooper 6 2 9 Yes Bright Dike 5 3 10 No Troy Perkins 8 0 3 Yes Jake Gleeson 7 1 6 Yes Editors Picks

Here are the rest of the editors picks

Player Will's List To Protect Ryan's List To Protect Andy's List To Protect William's List To Protect Troy Perkins Yes Yes Yes Yes Kevin Goldthwaite No No No No Mike Chabala No Yes No No Eric Brunner Yes Yes Yes Yes Darlington Nagbe Auto Auto auto Auto Sal Zizzo No Yes No No Peter Lowry No No No no Bright Dike No No No no Eddie Johnson No No No no Kalif Alhassan Yes No Yes Yes David Horst Yes Yes Yes Yes Jack Jewsbury Yes Yes Yes Yes James Marcelin Yes No Yes no Jorge Perlaza No Yes Yes Yes Eric Alexander Yes No No no Rodrigo Lopez No No No no Jake Gleeson Yes Yes Yes Yes Diego Chara Yes Yes Yes Yes Rodney Wallace No No No no Ryan Pore No No No no Adin Brown No No No no Steve Purdy No No No no Brian Umony No No No no Chris Taylor No No No no Freddie Braun No No No no Lovel Palmer no No No no Spencer Thompson No No No no Kenny Cooper Yes Yes Yes Yes Futty Danso Yes Yes Yes Yes

Get Used to It: They're StayingIt was bound to happen. It might even have happened if the Red Bulls had found a way to progress beyond the Los Angeles Galaxy on Thursday and make it all the way to MLS Cup. What am I talking about? The boatload of scathing editorials asking for Hans Backe and Erik Solér's heads on a plate as a result of the Red Bulls' failures this season.

Okay so I was sitting here and thinking at this pace we will not be able to vote on all of the players if we do it one at a time. So I am going to start doing them in batches (except for the bigger names). Don't forget to check out the other players in the Community Protected List section.

Houston Dynamo (10-9-13, 43 pts.) vs. Portland Timbers (11-13-7, 40 pts.) Jeld-Wen Field - Portland, OR - 9:30pm
BROADCAST INFORMATION Dynamo Weekly on KHOU 11.2 from 9-9:30 p.m. KHOU 11.2 (ENG TV) FS Houston Plus (ENG TV) TV Azteca-51 (SPN TV) SportsTalk 790 (ENG Radio) La Ranchera 850 (SPN Radio)
PREVIEW A massive game in the chase for places in the MLS Cup Playoffs is ahead at Jeld-Wen Field on Friday night when the Portland Timbers play host to the Houston Dynamo.

The third of four international friendlies hit tonight and this one is, arguably, the biggest match with the highest profile club. I know it's not Manchester United, or even Manchester City but seeing West Bromwich Albion is a treat unto itself. It won't be every year that they come to the United States like some of the bigger teams so it's kind of nice to relish in the moment.

I meant to write this one up yesterday but I was honestly just far too busy. Not to sound like a stereotype or anything, but... Mondays...

Anyway, for those who were watching last Saturday's game against the Chicago Fire you'll probably remember Kevin Goldthwaite going down with an injury in the early part of the game.

Another road game today. In fact, we won't have another regular season home game until July 30th against Toronto FC, a team that handily beat the Portland Timbers 2 - nil last March. Perhaps a couple of road games is what the Timbers need, however, to get out of their funk. They know they need a road win.

Derby Cliche. Rivalry Cliche. Another derby cliche. Historical rivalry cliche. Changing American soccer cliche. Awakening MLS cliche.

There, now that all the off-field stuff is taken care of let's focus a bit on the players and tactics that will determine victory, which is a large element of why we love this game.

Today's discussion and preview thread is going up a little earlier than usual due to the fact that I'm leading a 4T Hike for a bunch of tourists in a couple hours and I'm not sure if I'll have the energy to do it when I get back. Luckily it's not raining.

Anyway, today's match against FC Dallas is, as usual, a must win for the Portland Timbers.

The Portland Timbers finally broke their three match winless streak and their most recent scoreless drought, but they couldn't hold off a late charge by the New York Red Bulls, and both clubs fought to a 3-all draw. Midfielder Jack Jewsbury scored his fifth goal, defender Kevin Goldthwaite notched his first, while former USL Timber and current Red Bull defender Stephen Keel provided the scoring for the home side.

What a game. An unbelievable second half marked by a great Captain Jack goal followed almost immediately by Kevin Goldthwaite getting his first notch on the score sheet and then, as if an angel graced the field, Stephen Keel, former Portland Timbers defender, netted an own goal against the New York Red Bulls to put the Timbers up 3-1.

In what may have been the most bizarre - and most entertaining - game of the MLS season thus far, the Red Bulls somehow managed to scrape a 3-3 draw last night in Portland, despite throwing away an early one goal advantage. Along the way, they conspired to make Jack Jewsbury look like Roberto Carlos and allowed Kevin Goldthwaite to resemble Lionel Messi, but it's the result that counts.

Ryan Gates already doled out the news in brief yesterday that Futty Danso, Jake Gleeson and Steve Purdy were each called up for national team duty. This editorial is more about how to fill in the holes left by our soon departing team mates.

For both Steve Purdy and Jake Gleeson this is probably a non-issue.

Gabriel Ferrari had a shot deflect off Houston defender Eddie Robinson for an own goal, and Martin Rivas scored twice as the Chicago Fire topped the Houston Dynamo, 3-0, in MLS Reserve League action on Sunday morning.

Rivas, a 19-year-old Argentine trialist, is hoping to catch on with an MLS club after trialing with D.

First of all, my deepest apologies for the headline. I don't usually do the pun thing, and now you see why.

TFC had its first home game of the season hosting Portland Timbers, the second expansion team of MLS in 2011. Toronto had a dire performance against Vancouver the week before.

By JOSE M. ROMERO

The Colorado Rapids first celebrated themselves, then picked up right where they left off last season and scored a resounding 3-1 win over the Portland Timbers in the MLS opener for both clubs and inaugural game for Portland Saturday night at Dick's Sporting Good Park.