We would like to thank you for the outpouring of positive feedback for this project. It took a long
time but know that it was a labour of love, so if you hate on them, too bad. You should see the
printed version. You'd swear you bought them at a hobby store. They're shiny and pretty. Sure, I
could've gone all holographics like Upper Deck, but I don't have that kind of dosh for what is
really an elaborate joke.
The Philadelphia Union completed the long-rumored signing of Colombian forward Lionard Pajoy
from Itagui Ditaires on Wednesday, adding a piece that can help fill the scoring void left behind
by the departed Sebastien Le Toux. Pajoy has received his P-1 visa, according to a team release,
and will be joining the club soon for preseason preparations.
In this week's Philly Soccer Show podcast, your co-hosts KYW's Greg Orlandini and PSP's Eli
Pearlman-Storch are joined by Philadelphia Union and USMNT U-23 midfielder Amobi Okugo and Delco
Daily Times journalist Chris Vito.
In part one, Okugo talks with Greg and Eli about the upheaval on the team after the departure of
forward Sebastien Le Toux and captain, goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon.
Photo: Nicolae Stoian
In an interview on MLSsoccer.com's ExtraTime Radio podcast, Sebastien Le Toux tells Union fans
who are angry that he was sold to Vancouver that it is important that they continue to support the
Union: "To have you in the stands—it is always great to play in front of you and all of the guys
who played with me are wonderful players and they need you.
Sebastien Le Toux's departure from the Philadelphia Union certainly made headlines. There was much
made of the incident after the player came out and spoke his side of the story. It was emotional
and troublesome that, according to Le Toux, a professional club in MLS would dismiss a player in
such fashion.
Sebastien Le Toux and Kyle Nakazawa were seen as the two major free kick takers on the
Philadelphia Union through the team's first two seasons of existence.
For Le Toux it was because of his massive number of free kicks, coupled with a perceived high
failure rate on them. Nakazawa's status as a free kick taker came from a mystique that he developed
among the Union's fan base from great technique.
Photo: Earl Gardner
Le Toux talks
It just won't stop.
As suggested by the 130 readers' comments posted on PSP in less then 24 hours since the Le Toux
transfer news broke, if the sadness felt by Union fans at the news of Sebastien Le Toux's transfer
to Vancouver wasn't enough, subsequent comments from Peter Nowak and Le Toux will, for many, see
that sadness turn to anger.
All the stuff being covered outside the unfriendly confines of the award-winning Dirty
Tackle...
DirecTV Colombia inserts Atletico Madrid's Falcao into 300/the way Pepe actually sees football
matches. [YouTube]
Speaking of Pepe, here's Crackovia's fake Pepe singing a parody of Michel Telo's "Ai Si Eu Te
Pego" about stomping Messi.
Union's Le Toux sounds off after trade to Vancouver
"The only thing they wanted is the money," Le Toux said. "Being with this team and being a guy,
not to build around, but to help this team, was what I wanted. ... They must have wanted to sell me
for money because they needed money. We don't have a nice practice facility and that is something
they promised since I am here.
The Philadelphia Union announced that they had purchased the contractual rights of Roger Torres
from Colombian team America de Cali.
The 20-year-old has played with the Union on loan for the past two seasons, scoring three goals
and assisting on eight more in 46 games played (1889 minutes).
The Philadelphia Union confirmed on Tuesday afternoon that Sebastien Le Toux has been traded to
Vancouver.
In return, the club receives an undisclosed amount of allocation money.
Union head coach Peter Nowak said in the announcement, "While this decision wasn't easy, we are
confident that the allocation money we receive will provide the flexibility for us to compile the
best possible roster for 2012 and beyond.
The Philadelphia Union announced what Sebastien Le Toux already told us: The team's all-time
leading everything has been traded to the Vancouver Whitecaps for allocation money.
Reaction to the news has been met with disbelief, scorn, whatever tears look like on twitter,
and more disbelief.
See Tim Carr's PSP piece, and our earlier piece on how news of the trade leaked out for more
information.
Photo: Daniel Gajdamowicz
Philadelphia Union
Sebastien Le Toux tweets, "Just got traded to Vancouver ! Saddest day for me in my Philadelphia
Union story.... Still can't believe it"
The Union host Vancouver Whitecaps on March 31.
Take a look at Adam Cann's roundup of the evolution of Sebastien Le Toux to Vancouver rumors for
links, but to summarize, the Union appear to be trading Le Toux to Vancouver for allocation
money.
Sebastien Le Toux Reportedly Traded To Vancouver Whitecaps
As crazy nutso as it may sound, it really does look like the Philadelphia Union have traded
Sebastien Le Toux to the Vancouver Whitecaps. They are apparently getting allocation money in
return. That's a player who has scored 25 goals and assisted on 20 others in the past two years
people.
Sebastien Le Toux could be announced as a Vancouver Whitecaps player as soon as tomorrow, with
no player going sent to the Philadelphia Union in return, according to Irfaan Gaffar.
The soccer reporter announced over Twitter that the deal to bring Le Toux back to the Pacific
Northwest, known affectionately as Cascadia to North American soccer fans, would happen this
week.
The Sebastien Le Toux has taken another turn, as the striker is apparently once again available
to Bolton Wanderers if a bid is tabled.
The Bolton News is reporting that the Philadelphia Union are open to selling Le Toux to the
Wanderers, but only "for a fair price." Bolton has been rumored to be waiting for other transfers
to finalize before moving onto a transfer for Le Toux.
Photo: Paul Rudderow
Philadelphia Union
The silly season got sillier for the Philadelphia Union over the weekend. Following word from
England that Sebastien Le Toux reportedly did not sufficiently impress while on trial with Bolton,
and the news that Danny Mwanga is training for two weeks with Aston Villa, the Union transfer rumor
well still wasn't dry.
Despite what a quote attributed to Owen Coyle in Sporting Life says, Sebastien Le Toux is still
a transfer target for Bolton Wanderers, if the money is available.
Alan Nixon, of The People and Mirror Football, is reporting that Bolton is focusing mostly upon
wingers, but that Le Toux is still on the team's mind.
Silly season has bitten the Philadelphia Union hard, as the international transfer window is set
to close in three days. After apparently shrugging off a Sebastien Le Toux transfer to Bolton
Wanderers, the Union are set to lose team captain Faryd Mondragon.
The 40-year-old is on his way back to Colombia, according to Deportivo Cali's Vice
President.
Lionard Pajoy is all but an official Philadelphia Union player, according to Itaqui Ditaire's
President.
Jose Fernando Salazar told Golcaracol that Pajoy is headed to Philadelphia to play in MLS in
2012. A contract has been signed and only obtaining a P-1 visa is holding up the transfer from
becoming official.
Following a tweet from player agent Richard Motzkin that announced Danny Mwanga would be
training with Aston Villa for ten days, the Philadelphia Union confirmed that the striker will miss
the team's first preseason session.
According to the Union, Mwanga "will join his teammates in Orlando on February 6, in time for
the start of the Union's second leg of preseason.
Photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIphotos.com
The Philadelphia Union's preseason is starting to become more notable not for who is in camp but
for the attackers who are spending time in England.
According to his agent, Richard Motzkin, third-year forward Danny Mwanga is training with Aston
Villa for the next 10 days.
Sebastien Le Toux's return to the Philadelphia area has taken another turn, as yet another media
outlet reports of a development concerning his possible transfer across the pond.
English sports news site Sporting Life reports that Le Toux did not impress enough to warrant
Bolton Wanderers pursuing a transfer.
Sebastien Le Toux's return to Philadelphia truly does appear to be simply a chance to pack his
belongings, as the striker's transfer to Bolton Wanderers is set to be completed in the next two
days.
MLSsoccer.com's Joe Prince-Wright told TalkSport UK, in an interview, that the Frenchman was
"gonna finalize his contract tomorrow with Bolton.
[Editor's note: For a write up of what happened at last year's Team
Dinner, click here. It's a great cause and an incredibly fun event.]
The Kyle Nakazawa organized Team Dinner will have its second annual charity event in late April,
with tickets being open to the general public starting at 4 pm today.
Some amazing PSP original work from the past few days: Earl Gardner's sweet photo essay from the
SOB Help Kick Hunger event, info on the MLS All-Star game, Ed's fantastic piece on the last
All-Star game in Philly, Dan's take on the possibility of selling Le Toux, and Eli's examination
of the U's post-Seba strike force.
Philadelphia Union
Sebastien Le Toux tweeted this morning, "I spent a great week at BWFC. Great club with great
people. Now back in Philly." We are waiting for confirmation on this from the Union on this and if
this means there will be no transfer to Bolton.
Following the successful appeal to secure Tim Ream the UK work permit necessary to complete the
defender's move to the Wanderers, Owen Coyle tells The Bolton News that he plans to "add one or two
more to take us on to the second half of the season" before the close of the transfer window on
January 31.
The Philadelphia Union have tried to stay away from off-the-field controversy since the
franchise was created, but a soon-to-be new signing will prevent the club from keeping its
completely family friendly facade.
Lionardo Pajoy was revealed to be the Union's next acquisition today, when Kerith Gabriel wrote
that a source informed him of the Colombian striker's move to Philadelphia.
The Philadelphia Union are set to sign Colombian striker Lionard Pajoy, according to Kerith
Gabriel, of the Philadelphia Daily News and Philly.com.
A source informed Gabriel that Pajoy's contractual problems with his current team, Itagui
Ditaires, have postponed his move to the Union for a short period of time.
Philadelphia Union
Le Toux spotted with Tim Ream at Bolton's win over Liverpool on Saturday. Photo courtesy of Kyle
Scott and crossingbroad.com
A report from The Bolton News on Friday quotes Wanderers' manager Owen Coyle on Sebastien Le
Toux, "I've had some decent reports on him. He's very industrious, hard working and looks a very
good team player, which is what I'm all about.
Sebastien Le Toux and Tim Ream take in Bolton's game against Liverpool. Bolton are up 2-1 before
the half. (Screen shot by @mattbrokaw)
It looks like it could be a race between Sebastien Bassong and Giovani Dos Santos to be the
first through the White Hart Lane exit door this month with our defender being the first dissenting
voice of this transfer window.
Bassong could have gone to Bolton as part of a Gary Cahill deal in the summer but a more likely
destination could be QPR, who have been linked with most of the fringe defenders in the
Premiership.
I attended 4 of the sessions and both games versus Klinsmann's senior team.
Caleb Porter
First and foremost, if our praise for Caleb Porter hasn't been evident, let me repeat, Caleb
Porter is legit.
Previously, we've been judging him solely from watching his Akron team (on TV and in
person).
Photo: Nicolae Stoian
Philadelphia Union
Bolton manager Owen Coyle confirms Sebastien Le Toux is trialing with the Premiership club. "We
have received good reports about Sebastian, so we thought we would give him an opportunity to come
into the group," Coyle told the Daily Mirror. "He will train with us for a week and we will see
where we are after that.
Sebastien Le Toux will have a week to impress the Bolton Wanderer's coaching staff, according to
manager Owen Coyle. The Scot confirmed reports out of the United States that Le Toux was on his way
to Bolton on a trial ahead of a possible transfer.
"We have received good reports about Sebastian, so we thought we would give him an opportunity
to come into the group," said Coyle.
Sebastien Le Toux Apparently Heading To Bolton
Oh, how Seba has grown up. It seems like just the other day he was a relatively unknown player
making a name for himself with the Sounders in the USL. Now, he's apparently heading to Bolton to
play in the EPL. It's really a remarkable rise and, unfortunately, a reminder of easily the biggest
personnel mistake the Sounders have made since coming to MLS.
Sebastien Le Toux's flight to England appears to be training ahead of a possible transfer,
according to Fox Soccer. Bolton is the destination if the Philadelphia Union's star striker is
transferred during the January international transfer window.
The transfer was originally reported by Ives Galarcep, who writes for Fox Soccer and his own
site, Soccer By Ives.
The Bolton Wanderers are desperate to avoid relegation this season, and they are hitting the
Major League Soccer talent pool hard to try and avoid the drop.
With Tim Ream already lined up for a move to Bolton (upon receipt of a UK work permit), the
Trotters are now preparing a transfer move for Philadelphia Union star Sebastien LeToux.
The Philadelphia Union selected Chandler Hoffman with the 13th overall pick in the 2012 MLS
SuperDraft. Chandler is a member of MLS' Generation Adidas program, having signed on as one of nine
such players in this SuperDraft cycle.
Chandler was a standout striker at NCAA powerhouse UCLA, the former home of current Union
midfielders Amobi Okugo and Kyle Nakazawa.
The Philadelphia Union have brought in a few international players during the offseason to
bolster the team's roster ahead of the 2012 MLS season, but it appears that a veteran German
striker isn't in the team's plans.
Michael Thurk, who has been linked to the Union since the 2011 summer transfer window, is not on
his way to MLS, especially Philadelphia or the Vancouver Whitecaps, according to reports out of
Germany.
