After a burst of news last month, the story concerning Houston Rockets' owner Les Alexander
buying the Dynamo went silent, but that doesn't mean the wheels weren't turning behind the
scenes.
According to separate reports from the Sporting News and the Chronicle, the deal is progressing
and couple be wrapped up within the month.
Lost in all the hullabaloo surrounding the MLS Re-Entry Draft was the news that not only did
midfielder Danny Cruz graduate from Generation adidas, his contract option was not picked up.
According to MLS Insider, Cruz will be out of contract at the end of the year and is generating
interest from a couple European clubs.
Luka Modric finally got his move away from Spurs, bringing a merciful end to his long transfer
saga that has had him linked to half the clubs in Europe. And Modric couldn't be happier that he's
ended up at Real Madrid.
Upon arrival at the Santiago Bernabeu, Modric beamed (via RealMadrid.
Depending on which source you read, Tottenham's new head coach Andre Villas-Boas will be given
between £50m and £70m to spend on new names at the Lane for 2012-13. The stories suggest that the
figure will be funded in part by the sale of Luka Modric although it's claimed elsewhere that
interest in the Croatian midfielder is fading.
On 90 minutes last night the wheels were firmly coming off from Spurs season and Rafael van der
Vaart's injury time equaliser was met with a greater sense of relief than euphoria.
We have now surrendered third place for the time being but as Harry said after the game, the
point could yet prove vital.
Finishing off the look at the midfield, we look at the link man within the midfield itself.
Someone who is capable of supporting the attack and defence. Until Jack Wilshere comes back, at the
moment I only really see two players who can perform this role.
Who's the winner when no one wants to win? Chelsea went up 3-0, thanks in part to an own goal by
Evans, then quick goals from Mata and Luiz. Switching to cruise control, Chelsea forgot to realize
that none of their wheels were on well and it all just came apart.They gave up two penalties in 11
minutes and then a final equalizer by Chicharito dooms Chelsea to forever be looking up at another
team
Spurs midfielder Tom Huddlestone has had a lot of time on his hands since his ongoing ankle
injury started acting up again. But don't be thinking he's wasting it playing FIFA, pimping out his
wheels and falling out of clubs like most footballers do.
The title race got really interesting this week with Spurs win over Everton. Now it is a three
team race, and Spurs boss Harry Redknapp wasted no time laying into big-spending Manchester
City.
"City are where they are because of Sheikh Mansour and Chelsea thanks to Roman Abramovich" said
Redknapp.
Southampton The Saints' rise under Nigel Adkins has been mightily impressive, and they are still in
a position to 'do a Norwich' and gain consecutive promotions up into the Premier League, but the
wheels have fallen off a touch recently. In fact, Southampton have won just of their last six
games, including defeats to Bristol [.
i suppose this is what it feels like. Supporting a top team. I mean Spurs, always a top team to
me, right up there, don't anyone try to tell me different or I must ask you kindly to step outside.
But this real. Third place, two points behind Manchester United with a home game in hand. Playing
the best football I've seen for thirty or so years.
Since April 10th we have lost 5 and drawn 3 games away from home, a dismal and painful run of
games that has seen our defence and confidence take knock after knock.
The abject display in August at Old Trafford saw a very humbling score line result in cries for
Wenger to walk now, before we fell apart at the seams was the cry of the naysayer's.
Underfire managers and new beginnings... Bolton Wanderers Gary Megson and Sammy Lee were sacked for
better starts to a season at the Reebok. Owen Coyle may have persuaded fans initially that he could
be the eventual replacement for Sam Allardyce's success, but the wheels have come off rather
spectacularly.
Well, that took long enough. All that haggling, only to eventually, finally, reportedly meet Joe
Allen's £15m release clause. Well done, Ian Ayre, you shrewd so and so.
Now then. I truly hate the "if he wasn't British..." or "if he were Brazilian/Spanish/nationality
du jour..." aphorisms that frequently fly around whenever Liverpool – or some other club – buy
a British player.
Liverpool are reported to be lining up a £17 million swoop for Manchester City winger Adam
Johnson.
Talks are set to move forward in the coming days and the Kop outfit are hoping that the Blues will
do quick business on the England star, who narrowly missed out on Roy Hodgson's Euro 2012 squad.
Ever since it was announced by the FA that WBA manager Roy Hodgson was going for an interview
for the England job on Monday morning I've heard a lot of negative feedback from the fans and
media. Personally, I think Roy Hodgson would be a good choice for England manager. Here's why:
Roy Hodgson gets the best out of average players
Okay so it may hurt to say that, and it may be quite unfair on the players involved, but England
aren't a team of world stars the sooner the fans and the media realise this, the better England
will perform.
Liverpool didn't exactly cover themselves in glory at St, James' Park today as the wheels seem
to be coming off on Merseyside. Liverpool in 12 league games since they beat Newcastle 3-1 at
Anfield on 30th December, have just two wins and two draws for a measly 8 points. Liverpool areÂ
doing great in the Cups this season, but their league form  is [.
In the latest serialization of his new book, Pepe Reina has revealed he feared Liverpool would be
relegated during the tenure of Rafa Benitez.
Despite coming agonizingly close to winning the title a year before, the Reds finished seventh
during Benitez's final season at the helm.
This poor showing led to the Spaniard being sacked as Liverpool boss after six years with the club,
and he was replaced at Anfield by Roy Hodgson.
Following Eden Hazard's decision to join Chelsea, Manchester United and the French Ligue 1 have
been linked again in the papers, with Wayne Rooney rumoured to be the target of a £120 million
move by cash-loaded PSG. While the transfer window might still be officially closed, the wheels of
the silly season have been spinning [.
Indeed, it would appear that our former Brazilian- he of free kick lore- has entered the fracas
with a few thinly veiled jabs in our direction. More, after the jump:
Happy as a clam
So this isn't really news, at least as far as I'm concerned, but someone felt the need to report
it.
It is certainly fitting of Newcastle's unexpectedly successful season that, on the night of the
12th March, after a 2-1 defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates, they trailed the 4th placed Gunners by
eight points. It looked like the wheels had come off the North East bandwagon and they would slip
into the mid-table mediocrity [.
In which, during an Argentinian amateur game between San Lorenzo and Libertad de Charata on a
delightfully sparse pitch lovingly referred to as 'The Quarry' by locals, an overhanging tree
interferes with play by not letting a ricocheted shot go out of play.
Inter's wheels are coming off. After such a strong push to within sniffing distance of Milan and
Juve, they have lost to lowly Lecce, drew Palermo and yesterday, Roma took the lumber to them. Juan
gets the Giallorossi on the board, Fabio Borini's lovely brace follows, and the Bojan Krkic
finishes emphatically to give Roma a thumping 4-0 victory.
Ho, ho, ho Argentine midfielder Jonatan Germano thought he had the perfect seasonal celebration
when he scored for Melbourne Heart against Brisbane Roar: he put on a Santa hat and did a happy
dance over near the corner flag. Scrooge McReferee was having none of it though and booked Germano
for his exuberance in the [.
The wheels came of Newcastle's bandwagon in the second half at Craven Cottage this afternoon, when
Newcastle conceded five poor goals to Fulham at Craven Cottage and Clint Dempsey hit  a hat trick.
That was after Newcastle had  dominated the game in the first half and were 1-0 up with a great
goal from Danny Guthrie.
I am starting to become a bit concerned at how poor my predictions have been so far this season,
and this weekend's Rome Derby is no exception. But I am, however. prepared to give myself something
of a mulligan for my most recent failure.
At the end of the preview I wrote last week, I managed to sneak in a little caveat concerning my
feeling that Roma would win.
Images: X17Online. In case you missed it and how could you? Victoria Beckham went out in public
wearing a tracksuit (probably made of the finest cashmere, but whatever) and neon trainers (heel
height in inches: zero) over the weekend. You know that old saying, "the wheels are coming off",
Kickettes?
Every week the New England Soccer Today crew will look beyond the standings to rank each of
the 19 Major League Soccer (MLS) teams. This week Sean Donahue and Ryan Lanigan contributed
rankings. Comments are followed by the ranker's name and the rank they gave that team.
1. SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES (7-2-2, 23 points)
Tough loss in the road in Vancouver is followed by a disappointing 1-1 home draw against
Chivas.
"Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise
before defeat."
This quote by ancient Chinese military general Sun Tzu — the author of "The Art of War" — sums
up the need to be able to balance strategy with tactics to find success.
News reports are dominated by one story today and that concerns Tottenham's intention to de-list
from the Stock Exchange after posting record annual profits.
The Statement on the club website from Daniel Levy reads,
"It is clear to us that increasing the capacity of the club's stadium is a key factor in the
continued development and success of the club and will involve the company in considerable
additional capital expenditure," a club statement read.
First and foremost, the apparent landslide of Barca related stuff today is not
intentional, amicis! So let's get moving.... on the wheels of the Blaugranas' new
'cotxes' (cars) of course! Last week, you saw AC Milan receiving the keys
to their brand new rides, and before that, the Real Madrid guys channeled their
Formula 1 alter egos at a go-karting event.
