All you who criticized Bruce Arena, said the game had passed him by, said he relied too much on old veterans...all you who said Dema Kovalenko was a one-dimensional hack...all you who said there was no way Ricketts or Berhalter would make it through the whole season...all you who said that Beckham and Donovan couldn't work together. Click to continue reading...

Well, my laptop just died so I'm depending on the kindness of coworkers here to blog (sporadically).

Here's the scenario: if the Galaxy win they'll face the Houston Dynamo at home 8 o'clock Friday; if Chivas USA wins they'll travel to Houston for a Sunday game.

There's just one change for the Galaxy today: Chris Birchall has fallen ill (nothing serious I'm told), so Chris Klein replaces him in midfield.

Click to continue reading...

Eskandarian, Landon, and Eddie Lewis are each nominated for Goal of the Year.

Ricketts and Josh Saunders are each nominated for Save of the Year.

Take a look and rock the vote on this election day.

You can vote for Goal of the Year here.

You can vote for Save of the Year here.

Click to continue reading...

I thought this deserved its own post. The full MLS awards list and announcement schedule is in the article, listed below are the glamour prizes, with my balloted winner marked by an asterisk:Goalkeeper of the Year FinalistsKasey Keller – Seattle Sounders FCDonovan Ricketts – Los Angeles Galaxy*Zach Thornton – Chivas USAComeback Player of the Year FinalistsBrian McBride – Chicago FireBen Olsen – Click to continue reading...

The biggest rivalry in Major League Soccer will have its first playoff installment today when the Los Angeles Galaxy faces Chivas USA in the first game of their Western Conference playoff series (5:30pm, ESPN2).

The Galaxy enters as the No. 1 seed in the West, and this series will feature David Beckham's debut in the MLS playoffs, while also signaling Landon Donovan's first appearance in the playoffs since he helped lead LA to the 2005 MLS Cup title.

Click to continue reading...

A Much Improved Bolton Suffer Heavy Defeat

• Tuesday, Ocotber 31, 2009
• Venue: The Reebok Stadium
• Attendance: 22,680
• Referee: Peter Walton

• Jlloyd Samuel [45+1]
• Frank Lampard [45+2]
• Paul Robinson [57]
• Deco [61]
• Paulo Ferreira [80]
• Zat Knight (og) [82]
• Didier Drogba [90+1]

It was going so well until the stroke of half–time, a clipped heel took Drogba down, Chelsea ahead and The Wanderers down to 10 men.

Click to continue reading...

A mere three days after our match against the Toffees, our lovely Wanderers will be wandering their way down to Stamford Bridge. I;m not particularly relishing the prospect as the Carling Cup is the only silverware we even have a slight chance of winning, since most clubs treat it like a joke.

Click to continue reading...

First Prem Home Win of the Season

• Sunday, October 25, 2009
• Venue: The Reebok Stadium
• Attendance: 21,547
• Referee: Phil Dowd

• Chung-Yong Lee [16]
• Gary Cahill [27]
• Kevin Davies [30]
• Louis Saha [32]
• Marouane Fellaini [55]
• Gary Cahill [57]
• Jlloyd Samuel [61]
• Marouane Fellaini [63]
• Ivan Klasnic [86]

The Wanderers' great start was evened out by the visitors but persistence earned Bolton a late goal and their first three points to be won at The Reebok since April.

Click to continue reading...

Zat Knight Not a Beach Ball

• Saturday, October 17, 2009
• Venue: Old Trafford
• Attendance: 75,103
• Referee: Mark Clattenburg

• Zat Knight (og) [5]
• Antonio Valencia [33]
• Kevin Davies [48]
• Matthew Taylor [75]

An unfortunate start for Bolton's trip to Old Trafford saw The Wanderers chasing for the rest of the afternoon.

Click to continue reading...

Today Man United took on Bolton at Old Trafford, minutes after Chelsea lost 2-1 to Aston Villa at Villa Park.
United were without Nemanja Vidic and Wayne Rooney who were both out injured. Edwin Van Der Sar returned but Ben Foster wasn't even on the bench.
Man United got off to an early start after scoring with their first chance of the game. Click to continue reading...

If everything goes as expected in the next two weeks, Toronto FC players will be packing their bags and heading home for 2009 while many of their rivals prepare for the playoffs. What happened this season? There was such promise back in spring but it quickly slid into mediocrity - all that was left was a look ahead to 2010. Click to continue reading...

A brief summary of each Bolton Wanderers player who has been on international duty this weekend.

England U21 6 – 3 Macedonia U21

Fabrice Muamba came on for Peterborough United's Danny Rose with 20 minutes to go. Unfortunately Muamba's most notable contribution seems to be that he may have injured Micah Richards when he collided with the Manchester City defender.

Click to continue reading...

While Gary Cahill joins England for their World Cup qualifier against Ukraine we look at which other Bolton Wanderers team members are on international duty.

Jlloyd Samuel was meant to be playing for Trinidad and Tobago but once again he has had to miss out. There is a farce that surrounds Samuel's non–involvement with the Soca Warriors.

Click to continue reading...

So Saturday was a bit of a surprise wasn't it? Bolton played the best they have in a long while, and arguably outplayed Spurs, who have been a quality side so far this season. If you read my match preview, I wasn't very optimistic for this match, I said we might sneak away with a draw. However it was Tottenham who were lucky to get a point.

Click to continue reading...

So first off many apologies vis-a-vis the lack of match preview. I was in Dallas for a rugby tournament all weekend (my team is going to nationals!) and I had so much homework Thursday I couldn't do it (I got an hour and a half of sleep on Thursday). Also I'm aware this is a wee bit late, but I only got home about an hour ago.

Click to continue reading...

It's difficult to know where to start on this one. There were some encouraging things in Saturday's match, but the depressing things definitely outweighed them. You can view limited highlights (I use the term loosely) here, I'm trying to find the full ones and I'll update the post when I do.

One of the best chances for the Wanderers was scuffed by Gary Cahill, he headed a cross from Matty Taylor right over the bar.

Click to continue reading...

I was just settling down to watch the action and "bam" -Beckham waltzed in to open the scoring while the game was very young. Up until that flurry of LA's, Toronto had looked promising. Julian de Guzman had plenty of time on the ball and he did not look like he was surrounded by strangers.
Toronto highlight of the first half was Gerba's close range shot that LA keeper Ricketts stopped. Click to continue reading...

Hello my dears, I hope you had a lovely weekend. Obviously you could have nothing but as Bolton had their first win in 10 league matches (since April, v. Boro for those of you counting). If you missed the game here are the highlights. Now onto actual analysis instead of me just blabbering on.

Click to continue reading...

One of my favorite Wanderers has traveled to the England training base. Today it was announced that Gary Cahill will be in Fabio Capello's squad for the third and fourth time respectively. England face Slovenia in a friendly match at Wembley on Saturday, then on Wednesday take on Croatia in a World Cup Qualifier also at Wembley, which would assure their place in the tournament if they took away all three points.

Click to continue reading...

Last season was spectacularly mediocre for the Wanderers. With relegation a real possibility for most of the season it was easy to forget that we finished in the last 16 of Europe in 2007-2008. As with many lower table sides they were Jekyll and Hyde, playing like they deserved to finish in the single digits some days, other days playing in a fashion that would embarrass the Championship.

Click to continue reading...

Opportunistic Tigers Take Three Points

• Venue: The KC Stadium
• Attendance: 22,999
• Referee: Michael Jones

• Sean Davis [19]
• Stephen Hunt [30]
• Seyi Olofinjana [35]
• Johan Elmander [55]
• Kamel Ghilas [61]
• Deiberson Geovanni [65]

Both clubs were hoping to earn their first points of the season and Bolton perhaps should have secured all three points in the first half with a number of decent chances.

Click to continue reading...

The day's top Western Conference clash pits the red-hot Los Angeles Galaxy against the struggling Seattle Sounders.

The Galaxy will be without the services of Landon Donovan, who is being held out as he battles the H1N1 flu virus (and the fatigue of having played in the USA's World Cup qualifying loss vs.

Click to continue reading...

Jozy Altidore is Hull City's big summer signing. The US international might only be on a season-long loan deal, but the fact the Tigers have the option of signing him permanently at the end of the campaign for £6.5m reveals the size of role that Hull boss Phil Brown envisages for the former Red Bulls hitman. Click to continue reading...

Bolton Wanderers Biggest Ins: Zat Knight and Sam Ricketts should provide ample cover at the back. Sean Davis at defensive midfield should be the starter day one. Biggest Outs: No major losses as James Sinclair and Dlerim Dzemaili were...
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! Click to continue reading...

Jussi Jasskelainen has been with The Wanderers since 1997 when he was signed from Finnish club Vaasan Palloseura by Colin Todd for £100,000. Since then he has proved to be a great ball stopper and has made over 400 appearances for The Wanderers. This Saturday sees Bolton take on Hibs, this fixture is being billed as Jaaskelainenn's testimonial match — a celebration of Jussi's greatness.

Click to continue reading...

According to Football Spy at the Daily Mirror, Hull City are interested in Bolton defender Nicky Hunt. Hunt was told he can leave the club on a free transfer since they recently signed Sam Ricketts.

Click to continue reading...

Disappointing news from Denmark, with the announcement that Rohan Ricketts will not be offered a contract by Odense BK of the Danish Superliga. The right-winger, who was on trial late last week, impressed club management but Lars Olsen, the OB coach, felt that his team already had sufficient strength in midfield. Click to continue reading...

According to Bolton's official website, Bolton have completed the signings of Hull City defender Sam Ricketts and Aston Villa defender Zat Knight. Both players signed a three-year deal with the club.

Click to continue reading...

We've got quite a lot of tidbits from yesterday and today to go over in today's roundup from around the Premier League, Serie A, and several more top leagues, so if you've missed any of the latest transfer news and rumors, we're here to catch you up.

And as always, you can stay updated with all of the latest transfer signings from all England's league clubs and several top European leagues thanks to our summer transfer lists.

Click to continue reading...

Â

The New York Red Bulls take on David Beckham and the Los Angeles Galaxy tonight at Giants Stadium. The English superstar is set to play his first game for the Galaxy this season, which might explain the larger than usual crowd tonight (though not the usual crowd for a Beckham game).

The Red Bulls will be looking to end their own miserable winless streak and has the strongest lineup they've fielded in months.

Click to continue reading...

Wow, if you're an MLS player with a Twitter account, you better watch what you say. Just ask Rohan Ricketts, formerly of Toronto FC.
The latest "Twittergate" involves US National Team striker Brian Ching of the Houston Dynamo.
MLSR Readers will remember back when we posted this story about his Twitter outburst over the linesman in Seattle calling Montero's strike at goal which appeared to many to be cleared off the line, a goal. Click to continue reading...

The 26 year old English winger who once played for Arsenal's youth side and who was recently released form his contract with Toronto FC is currently without a club. Today on Toronto's Hardcore Footy Show on Toronto's Hardcore Sports Radio during a farewell to Toronto FC fans he stated that he will be buying a house in Toronto next year where his cousin has lived since 1999, despite returning to look for other playing opportunities in Europe. Click to continue reading...

Rohann Ricketts, who had not scored a professional goal since 2005, exploded for two of them in Toronto FC's 3-1 home victory over the Colorado Rapids (ASN, June 16, 2008).

Ricketts, who counts rapper 50 cent among his fanbase would score four more times (twice in the Canadian championships) in an otherwise unremarkable TFC career.

Click to continue reading...

26-year-old midfielder Rohan Ricketts becomes the latest player to part ways with Toronto FC, this time by mutual consent. Ricketts has appeared in twelve of Toronto's fourteen games this season. His prior professional experience was with teams in England's Premier League and League one. Click to continue reading...

It's official.
Rumours surfaced today that Rohan Ricketts had been released, and the club just confirmed it. I think it's pretty clear that Ali Gerba's signing is imminent. In fact, word on the street is that the paperwork is at the MLS head office. Stay tuned...
Click to continue reading...