The Oregonian's Geoffrey C Arnold has reported via Twitter that "Eddie Johnson sustained
another concussion during training Monday and has returned 2 [sic] Portland."
Merritt Paulson has also tweeted: "eddie's out indefinitely. His health and well-being are the
#1 priority for everyone in the organization"
This news is a huge setback for the team.
Jurgen Klinsmann has been a polarizing figure since being named head coach of the USMNT, for me
the jury is still out. Soon the US U23's will begin the qualifying rounds to earn their ticket
London and the 2012 summer games. The problem I have at the moment (and this just might be my
brain) is that Klinsmann isn't being too positive about the whole thing.
On Monday, the Portland Timbers announced the signing of Scottish striker Kris Boyd, the
all-time leading scorer of the Scottish Premier League, with 164 goals in 296 matches.
The deal was completed pending the completion of a team physical and receipt of his visa.
The 28-year old forward appeared for Kilmarnock FC from 2000-05 before joining Rangers FC midway
through the 2005-06 season.
A lot of thought/homework going into Valencia...earliest we will have detail will be
Wednesday
Any player the Timbers sign is always subject to the player passing a full physical exam
The Player is our priority #1 and I am optimistic Valencia will still be a part of our
future
Three Tweets concerning Valencia from Merritt Paulson
JWF notes:1) TVs intstalled in concourses week of 2/13 (you won't miss goals on food/broom trips
but you'll still wish u saw it live)
2) new N. End points of sale added to concession stands and likely conversion of a line or two
as beer-only.
3) Lastly, South Deck overhaul (including a bit more capacity) and upgraded field seats and club
restaurant/bar all completed in Feb
3 tweets from Merritt Paulson concerning the changes to Jeld Wen Field in the off season
The Portland Timbers held a lively practice today, playing some of what could actually be called
soccer for the first time this preseason. After the usual warm-ups and passing drills, the Timbers
played games of 9v9 which was a deviation from last season which saw the Timbers doing purely
fitness and passing drills for their first several weeks together.
2 players have received green cards...a third player's GC coming shortly. Details once all are
done. May get a 4th done but TBD #RCTID
Via Merrit Paulson's Twitter.
Was asking about this during today's training. Happy Merritt said something on Twitter.
Ahead of the Supplimental Draft this morning, the Timbers announced the signing of Colombian
defender Hanyer Mosquera. The signing has long been rumored and is likely one of the "significant
(international) defensive signings" that Merritt Paulson hinted at before the Superdraft.
A central defender, Mosquera's highlight reel shows a player who is good at breaking up plays in
the air or on the ground and one who is able to get forward and contribute a goal on occasion.
re: our annouce tom:...GW after this guy for 2 yrs. Olave has long been a favorite of mine and
this guy has potential to be as effective
Merrit Paulson via Twitter.
Speculate away.
This is kind of one of those good news-bad news posts. The good news is that David Horst has
finally gotten the surgery he needed all last season. According to Merritt Paulson, via Twitter,
Horst suffered from issues all last season with regards to this specific injury and it needed to
get taken care of.
Last week we gave you our our take on the top business stories in the world of American
soccer. Now it's time for you to cast your vote. Don't agree with our options? Vote "other"
and drop a line in the comment space with your choice. If you want our take on the five
finalists, read the summaries below the poll.
Back in November, Major League Soccer revealed they are shifting back to an unbalanced schedule
for the 2012 season after using a balanced one for the past couple of years. Eastern Conference
clubs will play seven of their conference opponents three times each (21 total games) and the
remaining two conference opponents twice each (4 games).
Over the next couple of days (and in no particular order), we will present the top American
soccer business stories of the year. Early next week we will conduct a vote to see which of the
entrants you think is the winner. We'll start with two entrants today, one in Portland and the
other in Kansas City.
So here's a hot topic for you guys: as I was preparing for today's TTB (which is going to be
daily again from now on) I saw this little tweet from Merritt Paulson:
Finalized 2013 kits today-tough as I like current so much. Pleased still. Hopefully no leaks; if
so,at least decent image unlike past leaks
So we now know that we will get a refreshed primary and secondary kit in 2013, but more than
that we know that it's different enough that owner Merritt Paulson put special emphasis on his love
of the current ones in his tweet meaning that there's a reasonable assumption we could see some
fairly big changes.
It looks like we Timbers fans are going to get an early Christmas present from the Timbers
organization as they've announced, for really reals, that Jose Adolfo Valencia, the Colombian U-20
national team standout has been officially signed as the Timbers second Designated Player.
We've essentially covered El Trencito over the last few weeks so there's not much to say that
you shouldn't already know.
Merritt Paulson on a Radio Show, Soccer Today
Merritt discusses the unbalanced schedule, his interaction with other owners, which fans to
target, and more. He comes on at the 22nd minute.
The Cascadia Summit will be taking at least a one-year hiatus. The news about the preseason,
round-robin tournament between the Seattle Sounders, Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps was
officially broken by Timbers owner Merritt Paulson in this tweet:
piltdownman7Brett Graham @MerrittPaulson Will there be another Cascadia summit this season?
Young DP player signed soon. world-class potential..big addition for us and league. turning 20
soon. no announce until ITC approved #RCTID
Via Merritt Paulson's twitter.
Word on the street is that it is José Adolfo Valencia. I believe he would be the youngest DP in
the league, though correct me if I'm wrong.
Merrit Paulson on The Sports Insider (Edited)
Many interesting bits. A lot of stuff about the stadium. The thing that stuck out most was
Paulson mentioned something along the lines of "Our GM is very close to signing a guy who has a
higher ceiling than anyone on our roster."
Update: Give this a listen it has a ton of interesting information.
Last Friday the Timbers experimented for the first time this year expanding the seating capacity
beyond 20,000. Merritt Paulson said they were going to analyze the data, but that early reports
were positive.
What was your anecdotal experience?
Here's mine: As part of the betting game, I timed my halftime bathroom wait.
Tuesday's CONCACAF Champions League match between the LA Galaxy and Monarcas Morelia was yet
another example of the diabolical state of officiating in this tournament and from CONCACAF
referees in general. Multiple replay angles proved without a shadow of a doubt that Robbie Keane
was onside when the ball was headed forward toward the Morelia goal and it wasn't even close.
The Portland Timbers trained at Jeld-Wen Field on Monday in positive spirits two days removed
from their 0-0 draw in Philadelphia.
Futty Danso appeared to be at near full strength as he participated in the short field 8v8
two-touch scrimmage. Also participating in the scrimmage was John Spencer, which is reportedly a
regular occurrence at the practice after a match.
The first team won't be playing again until the 10th, and the next home match is almost three
weeks away. It's a good opportunity to check out a reserves match this Thursday night at 7:30pm.
The last reserves match drew over 10k fans (including over 2000 sales on Groupon), so it will be
interesting to see how many come out this Thursday.
MerrittPaulson interesting MLS stat: JWF is tied for #1 in league in highest avg
goals/game/venue. if thats "ping pong", i like ping pong #rctid
Courtesy of Merrit Paulson's twitter feed
well deserved recognition for one of our most creative supporters: http://t.co/MjabgNk. i just
got 2 of his prints incl "scarface" #rctid
Merritt Paulson
Love to our own BDiskin straight from the top. Plus link to a video of our friend at work.
Merrit Paulson hints again at more transactions/signings
@MerrittPaulson: @Elfurdeball we have discoveries filed and maybe more after Gav's current trip.
but not public. read mls rumors and then believe 25% ;)
Merritt Paulson hints at more changes
Merritt's tweet (was tweeted last night but I realized I had not followed him so it is little
late):
"will be disappointed if our gk doesn't score tonight. also, several likely announcements in
coming days #rctid"
New York - MLS has toiled in American obscurity for nearly twenty years. For the last ten, it's
lost staggering mindshare to the billionaire train-sets of Europe that use August financial outlays
to determine May trophy allocations. As American soccer fans rail against unsustainable Federal
spending in their political lives, they gravitate to the TARP-ian business models of the Glazers,
Lerners, and Abramovichs like a Paulson to a broker bail-out.
Photo by Andrew Katsampes/ISIphotos.com
By JOSE M. ROMERO
All that is left to do at re-modeled Jeld-Wen Field is the cleanup ahead of Thursday's home
opener for the Portland Timbers against the Chicago Fire before an expected sellout crowd of some
18,600.
Photo: Paul Rudderow
Union
Before the Union won the rights to Chris Agorsor they announced that Eduardo Coudet had been
waived, thus ending weeks of speculation about his status with the club. The addition of Agorsor
combined with the subtraction of Coudet means that the club's roster remains at 25 players.
Kenny Cooper is returning to MLS with Portland.
After a couple weeks of speculation and rumors former FC Dallas striker Kenny Cooper has left
German side TSV 1860 Munich to join the MLS expansion side Portland Timbers.
The 26-year old transferred to 2.Bundesliga (second division) side 1860 Munich in 2009 after
four seasons in MLS with FC Dallas.
