Ronaldinho On His Way to Serie A? · Apr 5, 03:37 PM
It is looking more and more likely that Ronaldinho could be leaving Barcelona this summer. Long term admirers Chelsea are joined by Manchester City in wanting to bring him to the Barclays Premier League. However, it is now looking likely that Serie A giants AC Milan could be his next destination. In a recent interview with President AC Milan he expressed a keen interest in the man with magic in his feet:
I hope so, I think so. We will try to take him.
Ronaldinho’s departure from Barcelona could spark an all out bidding war amongst the giants of European soccer. With Ronaldinho’s brother acting as his agent, it seems more than likely that the richest club will end up with his signature. Whether the richest club will turn out to be the right club, will remain to be seen.
— GeordieInExile
English FA to Investigate Bribery Claims · Apr 4, 07:40 PM
News coming out of England today is that the English Football Association will investigate allegations that a former Premier League soccer player took a £50,000 bribe to throw a game.
The player got himself sent off and persuaded three team-mates to get booked in a game “in Britain” in the last two years, says The Independent.
In exchange, a bookmaker allegedly agreed to write off a £50,000 debt the player had racked up.
Now I know everyone has problems, but Barclays Premier League soccer players are probably the highest paid in the world. They never have to worry about where their next pay check will come from. They never have to worry about feeding their children or paying the mortgage. Are they that bored with their lives that they have to go out and gamble?
It is every young boys dream in England to play soccer. When you consider the odds against a youngster turning professional, you would think the ones that do would appreciate it a lot more.
— GeordieInExile
North-American Soccer - Mapping Out the Future · Apr 2, 07:53 PM
Adam Spangler at This is American Soccer wrote a great post which has a very cool map (made by Bill Turianski) of the location of American soccer teams. The map includes the MLS and USL.
It’s great to see all the teams at one glance, but leaves no one wondering why the MLS is struggling to create rivalries – those teams are just too far apart!
— GeordieInExile
Is Soccer's 39th Game Doomed from the Start? · Feb 12, 11:43 AM
You may have been reading the news lately about the Premier League’s proposal to introduce a 39th game to be played on foreign soil. Now, as much as I would love to see Newcastle United over in the States, I think the proposal is a bad idea.
Firstly, I think the proposal is for all the wrong reasons. Already the world’s richest league, the last thing the Barclays Premier League needs is more money. I’m sure the money wouldn’t be put back into the game, it would be put in to the pockets of the executives.
Premier League managers already complaining about too many fixtures, whether they be international or domestic, are hardly likely to want to haul their squad thousands of miles around the world. This would be detrimental to the game as a whole. The England international team hardly needs any more excuses to under-perform.
This grand illusion of a 39th game was decided without the players, managers and supporters of the beautiful game we know as soccer. This shows contempt of the highest order when all the fat-cats are concerned about is lining their pockets.
That’s why I’m saying a big fat “No” to game 39.
— GeordieInExile
LA Galaxy Recruits Another Hasbeen · Jan 23, 04:58 PM
C’mon now, it’s just not funny anymore. The MLS has now became the place where old and average soccer players go to retire.
Fresh from signing Carlos Ruiz, the LA Galaxy go out and recruit Celestine Babayaro. Good ol’ Celestine was released by Newcastle for being incompetent, injured and just plain useless.
Take this piece of journalism by a local Newcastle paper, and what is it we see? Is that a sliver of determination in Babayaro? No, he’s just too useless to realize that no other BPL manager would take him.
Galaxy fans, you should be completely underwhelmed by this transfer. If this is the best Ruud can bring in, what hope that next season will be better than the last?
— GeordieInExile