Monthly Archives: January 2009

Real Madrid has been fined a risible $3,900 by the Spanish sootball federation after a group of its fans were reported by a referee for making fascist gestures and chanting fascist slogans during last weekend’s home game with Osasuna. Referee Alfonso Perez Burrull said in his report that some Real fans were waving flags and […]

U.S. national team midfielder Maurice Edu has said he turned down the possibility of a loan move away from Glasgow Rangers in order to stay at the club and fight for a first team place. Edu has played just twice for the Scottish club since his summer move from Toronto FC, and was also sidelined […]

“The lads at [non-league] Burton [Albion] were better at doing certain things. Any player in the lower leagues would not have made those sorts of basic mistakes. It was a strange experience and I have been in a state of shock for the last 48 hours, really.” Nigel Clough, freshly installed as manager at Championship […]

“The fans must vent their anger, I understand that.” Newcastle United manager Joe Kinnear, who has been known for the odd loss of temper, empathizes with fans frustrated at his team’s 3-0 defeat to Blackburn Rovers at the weekend.

Strikers Fabian Espindola and Kenny Deuchar have both left Real Salt Lake. The Argentine signed with Deportivo Anzoategui in Venezuela last week, while Deuchar, who never lived up to his nickname Dr. Goals in MLS, has signed for Scottish Premier League side Hamilton Academical.

“There have been five goalless draws this season, home and away against Stoke City, away at Aston Villa and at Anfield against Fulham and West Ham United, but this was worse. This was a match that Liverpool had won and contrived to draw, in a way that must have felt like defeat.” Martin Samuel analyzes […]

The decision to cancel ESPN2’s regular Thursday night MLS broadcast may not be as bad as it sounds, writes Frank Giase, because there could be a number of benefits to spreading the games out across the week from Wednesday to Saturday.   “One of the problems the past two years was that the schedule was […]

His regular column in the Chronicle may not win any prizes for originality, but former pro Glenn Davis makes a fair point Tuesday in calling on those MLS teams with quiet stadiums to pull out all stops this season to create “more passionate environments.”   In stringent economic times, teams are going to be hard […]

Brazilian soccer’s biggest signing will be sidelined as the new season kicks off this week, writes Brain Homewood. Ronaldo, 32, who joined Corinthians last month, is still struggling to regain fitness following a long term knee injury he suffered last February.   “It’s best not to make a prediction,” said the former Barcelona, Real Madrid, […]

Having failed to secure the services of Kaka, Manchester City found itself without another Brazilian, striker Robinho, who went missing from the team’s training camp in Tenerife on Monday.   The club refused to comment on reports that the player had returned to South America after falling out with City manager Mark Hughes. Other reports […]

AC Milan “bottled” the transfer of Brazilian midfielder Kaka to Manchester City, according to City’s Chief Executive Garry Cook, returning home from Italy after the Serie A club turned down the EPL team’s $150 million offer for the player.   Cook said that although he knew a deal wouldn’t be easy, Milan’s celebrations at Kaka’s […]