Category: Section 2 Around the Net

Newcastle United season ticket holder Alan McKenna used to get regular slaps on the back when team owner Mike Ashley was popular around town. The reason? McKenna and Ashley look uncannily similar. Now that Ashley is reviled by most fans following the departure of manager Kevin Keegan, things have turned a little nasty.   McKenna, […]

FIFA President Sepp Blatter told construction at Cape Town’s Green Point Stadium Monday that he’s “very happy” with the country’s preparations for the 2010 World Cup. “We are not here for an examination. We are here to appreciate what you’re doing … The purpose is to go back to the Fifa executive [and tell them] […]

“Not mentioning names or whether negotiations had begun, [Toronto FC coach John] Carver said he and GM Mo Johnston had identified at least one DP candidate and sounded beyond confident one of them would sign with TFC,” writes Morgan Campbell.

Fox Soccer Channel is to be rated by Nielsen starting next month, measuring how many people across the U.S watch the English Premier League, Italy’s Serie A and Saturday night’s Major League Soccer broadcast.   FSC, which began as Fox Sports World in 1998, is currently available in more than 33 million homes. It was […]

“On the one hand, there was definitely a buzz about Beckham being in town,” writes Joe Posnanski. “On the other, to be brutally honest, he was an utter and complete non-factor in the game.”

Manchester United is confident that troubled insurance giant AIG will be able to continue fulfilling its $25 million-a-year sponsorship obligation to the team.

“Last week, we were disappointed with a point and this week, we would have been disappointed with a point. Now after not even getting one, it would have been decent to get it.” Real Salt Lake coach Jason Kreis juggles with the mathematics of disappointment after RSL’s 2-1 defeat to RB New York.

“When I can get everyone together…I think we’ve put down a benchmark on what we can actually achieve.” Following his team’s 1-1 tie with league-leaders Columbus, Toronto FC coach John Carver dreamily imagines the day when he’ll have his full roster available.

A look at the Canadian model might help Scottish club soccer break the tedious dominance of its domestic league by Rangers and Celtic.

It’s taken a few months, but the tension between the San Jose Earthquakes and its Houston spin-off is really starting to heat up, writes Ann Killion. Saturday’s game at Buck Shaw Stadium showed that “what was once a lovefest is verging on a blood feud. And a good soccer rivalry.”   “Most of the Houston […]

The pace was faster than MLS, and Maurice Edu tired in the second half, but he still enjoyed his debut for league-leading Glasgow Rangers in the Scottish Premier League Saturday, when his new side beat Kilmarnock 2-1.   “The play in Scotland is far quicker to what I am used to in MLS,” Edu said. […]

Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk will announce details Tuesday of his plans to build a new soccer stadium as he officially launches his bid to bring a Major League Soccer team to the city.   A spokesperson declined to give details ahead of the scheduled press conference, except to say that Melnyk already has a […]

Why have so many wealthy Americans become attracted to the English Premier League? One of the main reasons, writes Joe Nocera, is because the league allows them to operate with more freedom.   While soccer “is the most global sport with the greatest reach,” and while there is more money to be made out of […]

FIFA Vice President and “special advisor” to the Trinidad & Tobago Football Federation Jack Warner may have picked the wrong opponent when he sent a letter to Sunderland manager Roy Keane earlier this week accusing him of “callous disregard” for small soccer nations. The former Manchester United and Ireland captain is not known for backing […]

The New York Mets are still interested in buying a Major League Soccer team once they’ve completed their new $600 million Citi Field stadium, according to David Howard, the team’s executive vice president for business.   “We’re not resting,” Howard told Bloomberg Radio in a segment to be aired Sept. 13. “Before even Citi Field […]

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has said he fears that foreign takeovers of English clubs will erode the role of managers in the Premier League. At the same time, he disputes that English teams are following the mainland European model of employing directors of football with the responsibility of finding new players.   “I am scared […]

Seattle Sounders FC has been given permission by the New England Revolution to talk to assistant coach Paul Mariner about its head coaching position, a league source confirmed to Monique Walker.   Mariner recently said he is interested in coaching the expansion team, set to start play next season. He also told the Arizona Republic […]

Argentine playmaker Guillermo Barros Schelotto is 35 years old, but has started all off league-leading Columbus Crew’s 23 games this season. He’s also been voted MLS Player of the Week four times, and is league leader in assists with 18, almost twice as many as the Real Salt Lake’s Javier Morales in second place. So […]

A Madonna concert earlier in the week at Eintracht Frankfurt’s Commerzbank-Arena stadium ruined the grass playing surface, causing Friday’s Bundesliga game against Karlsruhe to be called off.

A verdict on whether FIFA was wrong not to sanction Qatar for fielding an ineligible player in a World Cup qualifier could take several weeks, the Court of Arbitration for Sport warned. Iraq is hoping that it can be reinstated to World Cup qualifying at Qatar’s expense.

Newcastle United fans are planning up to five separate demonstrations against club owner Mike Ashley Saturday, when the teams faces Hull City at home. Supporters are deeply unhappy about the departure of manager Kevin Keegan.

The ink has just dried on Gianfranco Zola’s signature to become the new West Ham United manager. Now the team’s sponsor, AL Leisure Group, has gone into bankruptcy. The team signed a new three-year, $15 million deal with the company in February.

Toronto FC defender Marco Velez took an extra game’s ban from MLS and an added fine of $250 for the red card offense of striking Chivas USA striker Alecko Eskandarian in the face last weekend.

Although 2010 World Cup host South Africa has failed to qualify for the next African Cup of Nations, people who criticize the South African Football Association’s development program are “idiots,” says SAFA’s CEO Raymond Hack.

Switzerland coach Ottmar Hitzfeld has led two teams to the European Cup, but on Wednesday experienced the “bitter embarrassment” of being in charge of only the third ever country to lose to Luxembourg in a World Cup qualifier, and the first on home soil. “Now is the time for the team to pull together and […]