Exiled in Texas

Most likely scenarios is that both happened. Luton fans abusing Carragher - he goes irate and the fans start the Calm Down routine. Luton fans forget that they started it with the abusive comments, and focus on the comedy of their Calm Down routine Echo to embarrased to mention the Calm Down routine, and focus on the abuse. Not hard to read between the lines really.

If Roz had played right back, instead of overlapping the right wing, then there wouldn't have been so many breaks down his empty channel with Taylor forced to abandon his center defense spot to cover the inrushing left winger. So many times in the 2nd half we saw no right back, Stoke pouring down their left wing, taylor covering out wide, and then 30 seconds later the white shoes of Rozenhal arriving late in the middle. He should concentrate on playing his position and not glamming it up with the forwards. Once - OK, but after they have poured into your empty zone two or three times you should have figured out that the first rule of defense is f****** playing defense.

No team will want to give up the sort of BIG home games that would be attractive in another market. NFL teams are franchises of the NFL, and therefore have to do what the NFL says - they have Owners meetings who decide on what they do. And as Franchise owners they have a part ownership in the league, which is not true of EPL teams. I don't think we'll ever see competitive EPL games played outside England.

There will never be a European league - I'm fairly certain of that. It would be impossible to balance promotion and relegation from domestic to Euopean leagues. They would have to create a separate league without the option of dual representation in both leagues- and I doubt that clubs would survive without a domestic presence.

Sorry Mate - You know why all the trees in Texas point north.....because Oklahoma sucks. bad-dum-dum-Tsssshhhhh. OKC or Tulsa? Sooner or Cowboy? I know what you're saying about making the sport more accepted etc to the non-believers, but the challenge in the US is really to get fans emotionally invested in the MLS teams not get them into soccer. There are plenty of people here who are connected to soccer and watch games religiously very week. The problem is that in the US, the only games they see are the ones which have their kids playing in them. It's building that link from watching their kids games to watching MLS games that is the challenge. I think that the profile of soccer (and the lure of "What Could be") is as easily accomplished by more Top Teams coming to the US for preseason tours/tournaments as trying to get one EPL game into the country. Remember back in 2004 or 05 when they had the Tour of Champions - they had Milan, Celtic, Ajax, Manure, Arsenal, Benfica etc and they played 3 games each across the US. Games in Seattle and Hartford as well as the big cities like NY, Washington, Chicago and LA. It doesn't matter that it's preseason - it's still Milan vs Man U. That Tournament was how to raise the profile of soccer - send the best and put it on display across the country. Sending second rate teams for a regular season just won't work (and the big guys just won't come).

Let's be honest - this is a non-starter of an idea. Playing a Premier League or Serie A game in the US isn't going to bring in any new fans, and may even cost MLS it's current fans. If Man U played Arsenal in the US, the game would sell out because it was a novelty and you would have fans flying in from all over the country to watch that game because it would be the only way to see those teams/players live. But this game sells out in the UK - so whats the benefit of having it over in American. Would people going to these games be new fans? Or are they already fans/players of the game? I bet they already fans of the game either as they are either foreign nationals living in the US or they (their kids) play. Would watching Man U play Arsenal make me want to watch FC Dallas play Real Salt Lake? ...... no chance. In fact the more I got to watch top Premier League, La Liga or Serie A teams, the less I would care about watching my local team FC Dallas. I go to a couple of FC Dallas games per year, but they have to be worth going to, to for me to make the trip. I went to a preseason game where FC Dallas played Brazilian team Parana just because it was a team from Brazil. Did I go to see FC Dallas play Columbus Crew or Real Salt Lake? No. Now consider if the PL sent Middlesborough to play West Ham......bet that would look just like the Riverside with a half empty stadium. So the Premier League won't let a big game go to another country. A low rated game wouldn't sell so they couldn't send that game. All youre left with are games which are Big team vs small team as possible and I don't see the top teams being that keen on promoting another countries league and risking points in their season due to the travel demands. They should just continue to send European teams to the US for preseason games.

And talking of appeals...(cos I can't start a new threat-it's gott go here)...when teams appeal a decision they should have to put something into the appeal before it's hear. If Milan can automatically appeal the 2 game suspension, and try to get it reduced without any risk to them, of course they will lodge the appeal. But if they had to risk an additional game suspension if the appeal was upheld they would have to think more about whether the appeal was a worthwhile risk or not. It's like teams wanting to file a protest in my local league - you have to submit a $100 bond that is returned if your appeal is upheld but kept by the league if the appeal is overturned. It cuts down on all the minor protests because you have something to risk in the process. If Dida was suspended for two games (with an automatic additional one game suspension if they appeal but their orginal decision is upheld) then I bet Milan take the 2 games and got on with it. Anyone appealing a decision needs to put some additional skin in the game beyond the original punishment.

I was at the Everton game (My first since 1989 - due to living in Texas) and I was disappointed not to hear Local Hero. The fact that the new song repeats "united, united" is no reason for picking a song that has no connection to the team and the city. If they want a change from Local Hero, then it has to be Blaydon Races.

Glad to see Dida supsended - that was shamefull - and such a pretence. Excellent job by UEFA to suspend him. Thought that Celtic might have been hit harder than they were though. They seemed to get off lightly . Milan will probably appeal, blaming Celtic for the problem, and have the 2 game ban reduced to a bye into the next round.

But now that the club is private I doubt accounts will ever be filed publicly. Private companies don't have to file annual reports. We'll probably never know exactly how he invested the money.

What a joke......I first read the quote from the Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2007/09/04/sfnowe104.xml So believing both the Telegraph and Bolton Wanderers fans he must have been raging mad but half smiling too. Obviously the "I'll never forgive him for that" remark was tongue-in-cheek. But that obviously doesn't sell papers or pacify the snubbed Bolton fans.

Always liked the Tim Howard chant.... Tim Timeneeee Tim Timeneeee, Tim Tim Turooo He's got Turets, and he says Fuck You

Nice

I'd love to see him do a Beckham and sign for the MLS. FC Dallas could use a player like him, and I'd even buy a FC Dallas Kluivert jersey if they signed him.

One other thought as to what might hold back American kids.....they never watch the game. Sure they play the game, but they don't watch the game. They never get to see Arsenal or Manure carving teams up with running and vision. When I'm watching Premier League, Champions league or the odd Italian or Argentine games on TV I'll call my son over to watch a play or a goal, and he will enjoy the move, but will never sit down to watch the entire game. They therefore never learn the nuances of the game from the pros.

Grassroots soccer in the Texas is very strong. My town which is part of the Dallas/Fort metroplex has a population of 36,000 and our local soccer association has 2,000 active kids playing. The majority are playing in the U9 and down range but the soccer is almost always the first sport that kids get into because it is very simple. Games are small sided U6 is 3v3 (no goalie), U8 is 5v5, U10 is 7v7 and they don't play 11v11 till they go into U11 age. So they get lots of touches on the ball, space to play in and no-one gets lost on the wing or stuck playing defense. Soccer is also the main activity for the kids during lunch breaks at school now. The challenge is to keep more of the soccer players in the sport as they get older. (American) Football is king in Texas, - with highschool football being the most popular of all. The stadiums the local highschool teams play in would shame most 1st Division teams. The highschool in the town next to mine pulled in 46,000 to watch one of their playoff games. So the lure of highschool football and the "friday night lights" is a huge draw to young kids and the outstanding soccer kids at aged 7-8-9 are then often moving on to the traditional US sports Football and Baseball. But those that stay have good foundations to develop their talent and there is a good range of options for the kids to progress. U5 through U8 is non-competitive......small teams, scores not kept, teams randomly drawn from player pool, all players play at least 50% etc. Once they hit U9 and U10 then the games become competitive and scores are kept but games are still small sided. At this age, the local Soccer Clubs start offering skills training and running their own teams. This is the first level where players (or parents) have to be serious about playing as the training schedule and costs start to increase - up from $80 for a 10 game season to $600+ for the year. Once they hit U11 - then the talent pool gets split. The good players move to the Select clubs who have paid coaches and teams are built through tryouts etc. Costs are now anything from $2500-4500 for the year which pays for the coaching staff (many from traditional footballing countries), practice facilities and tournament fees. Training is now 3-4 nights a week plus weekend games/tournaments. The point is........while American kids may not have a huge tradition of soccer to fall back on, the foundations are there for the US to develop a lot of good players, before handing them off to Colleges, MLS and maybe even overseas. What options exist for kids back in Britain. Kick about with their mates, an hour of PE, and a lot of clogging the shite out of a ball in 11 a side games where effort and physical play overshadows technique and skill. The challenge for the US is to keep their soccer players in the game rather than loose them to other sports. But the foundations are there for the US to create a lot of good players that may just need polishing off in other countries leagues.

No more than £10M - except if the likes of a Top Shelf attacking player such as Deco, Gudjonsen is available.

This is the third off-season that we have chased him, and supposedly he wants to come, but never has. I'd like to see him come, but I don't think it's likely. Doubt Chelsea let him go and doubt he wants to leave either.

Wasn't the general feel that we overpaid for Oba when we paid £10M for him. If the thought that he wasn't worth $10M, but we were desperate to sign him so overpaid, then a release clause of a 30% profit (and likely £4-5M above market value) doesn't seem so bad. If no team was interested in him at £10M, then what chance £13M. Fact is, he played well, scored goals and his value has increased.

Look at that Stadium full of Mongs. How embarassing for them!! You'd have thought that it was only Newcastle that embarrassed themselves showing up to greet a new signing.

Could someone with New Thread capabilities start a thread listing other preseason fixtures by club? Especially any US games - would like to see if any teams were heading Stateside this summer. I know about Celtic at the MLS All Star game and Chelsea playing a pre-season tourny at LA Galaxy. Any other big clubs heading to the US?

:clap: :clap: :clap: I like your style......

Beardsley was my all time fav, but honorable mention to the Mighty Mickey Quinn.

Need to check the dates on that one......that was last summers tour 2006.

Managers get respected when the prove that they can do their job -i.e manage the players, manage the game situations. When GR started to loose the plot and ran out of ideas, then he lost the team. Had he had plans for team tactics and game strategies then he would have stayed in the job - but once his game plan dissolved into "blame the players for not scoring, not defending, not playing etc" then his position was undermined.