zequist

Come on, Howard is NOT the Keeper of the year. I like the guy as much as anyone, and even I wouldn't give him that title. Besides, you don't want them to investigate where all these Everton votes are coming from and remove all of yours, do you?

Funny that this topic should come up. I was channel surfing on my TV last night, and what do you think I came across? A replay of our game against Sunderland from this weekend, with totally different commentators from the ones I listened to on Fox Soccer Channel and a big logo in the upper right of the picture that says "EvertonTV." "EvertonTV?" says I. "Since when did Everton have a TV network?" Anyway, "EvertonTV" played on this channel from 7 pm until 10 pm. After the Sunderland game ended, they began a replay of our game at Man City, I think from 2004-05 (Bent and Watson were the strikers, and Cahill - sans tattoo sleeves - was also in the lineup). At 10 pm, the channel switched away from "EvertonTV" to other programming. Now, this particular channel is kind of a hodgepodge station. It doesn't do its own programming, it just picks up other people's broadcasts from all over the place, so I doubt that "EvertonTV" is going to be a regular weekly feature; still, it was pretty cool to see for a few hours! But now I'm wondering where they were getting their feed from - if it was being pulled off the web, it was awfully good quality.

I also agree...our top four are our top four, which says to me that the system is working. It never occurred to me that there might be a problem with it. And the only ways I can think to change it that might make it fairer all involve some funky algebra that I don't think Mike would want to get into.

Oh. Forgot that the conference playoffs started a week ahead of everyone else. So who's left...let's see...looks like Cambridge and Torquay. Eh. Couldn't care less about either of them.

Just discovered something else. Apparently Tunisia has had a "no foreign goalkeepers allowed in our league" rule in place since 2006, and for the same reason that Egypt announced - they want to give priority to developing homegrown keepers. This article from December of '06 mentions the ban. http://www.kbc.co.ke/story.asp?ID=39826 Looks like that answers the question about whether FIFA/CAF are going to allow this or not. 2+ years they've had this rule in place in Tunisia and they haven't done anything to that country, so there's no reason to expect them to do anything to Egypt either.

But that's the thing...I don't know how much power FIFA or the CAF actually have in this case. We're talking strictly about a rules issue related to the running of a domestic league here, and my point was that placing quotas and restrictions on employing foreign players is not against any FIFA rules - it happens everywhere (even England, if you consider the work permit standards that non-EU players have to meet). Now, they might not be happy with a foreign player restriction that's as harsh as what Egypt is doing, but can they step in and force a change? Based on past and present example, I'm not sure that they can. The worst example of domestic discrimination that I can think of was South Africa with its apartheid policies, and the most the international bodies could do in that case was ban them from international competitions until they shaped up.

Well, technically it's one of those dual-citizenship things. He was born in San Francisco, so he is officially an American, but he's allowed to claim EU citizenship too because of his parents, which is why Everton were able to sign him without the work permit issue coming up. Best of both worlds, really.

Let's see... Preston last in top flight in 1961 Burnley last in 1976 Sheff U last in 2007 Reading last in 2008 Therefore...go Preston! And Rochdale... And Histon... And as for the League One playoffs, isn't there some way for all four of them to lose?

MLS has minimum domestic quotas, and "domestic" is defined by whichever side of the border the team is on. So the American teams are all required to have a minimum number of American players on their rosters, and the Canadian teams - Toronto, Vancouver, and any future ones that may sign up - are all required to have a minimum number of Canadian players on their rosters. Unlike the EU, however, the NAFTA zone has no provisions in its treaties for free and unfettered movement of labor. So MLS is free to make its own rules, and so is the Mexican FA. And MLS has those provisions in its rulebook for similar reasons to what Sporting is arguing - MLS' founding philosophy was that the whole point of having a domestic league was to develop, expand, and maintain the domestic talent base, and if they allowed the league to be dominated by international players that would defeat the whole purpose. Of course, we're also in a very different situation in this country, since we (and Canada too) are lagging about a hundred years behind England and Portugal in trying to seriously develop the sport.

True, but we're talking about the same Egypt that just reacted to the swine flu panic by ordering every pig in the country to be slaughtered immediately. Gross overreaction seems to be their M.O. these days. And no, they are not bound by any treaty or international law to allow foreign goalkeepers to play in their leagues if they don't want them. They aren't part of the EU, or any other organization that mandates unfettered movement of labor among member states.

I've never even heard of him. Although I do know that Cal Poly has a good uni soccer program, so just the fact that he played there means he's probably not a slug (they're also a close rival of UC Santa Barbara, where I went to uni). What's curious to me though is that two MLS teams had him in for trials and declined to pick him up, but Everton jumps in and signs him? That's exactly the opposite of what you'd expect. Which means that whether he succeeds or fails, someone is going to be proven spectacularly wrong here. Here's a link to his bio from the Cal Poly team section: http://www.gopoly.com/index.php?p=sports&a...mp;player=16791 And it looks like his combined stats in three years at Poly are: 61 games (58 starts), 2 goals, 3 assists, 38 shots (15 on goal) Based on that, and the comments in the article, it sounds like Moyes thinks he may potentially have a young Carsley or Neville on his hands. Whatever he saw in the kid, it obviously wasn't his scoring ability!

He was probably trying to argue that he was already committed to the high touch before the Sunderland player charged in. Don't think I'd excuse him either, but I bet it was his argument. And yeah, my first thought when they showed the replay was, "Geez, Saha, don't blow out your leg at the end of a game we've already won!" Soccernet named Yobo to their EPL team of the week, but Arshavin got the nod over Pienaar on the left wing, which considering his display against Portsmouth yesterday I don't have any problem with. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story...and&cc=5901

Most of the time it seemed like they were more of a threat to the health of our players than they were to the score sheet.

Add me to those who thought Pienaar was a no-brainer for this one.

Swine Flu Virus Starting to Look Less Threatening: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090501/ap_on_...ine_flu_virus_7

Team building 101: When you're evaluating potential acquisitions, you look for opportunities to improve your team at both ends - the front AND the back. Yeah you definitely look for chances to replace starters with better starters, but at the same time you also need to look for chances to replace the guys at the end of your bench with better reserves, too. That's how you ultimately build a deeper squad. Moyes knows this perfectly well, that's why he also goes after players like Gosling and Wessels and Saha, not just the Yakubus and Fellainis. You don't just exclusively look at the starting lineup and ignore the rest of your team - acquiring nothing but starters is too expensive and it also causes friction, because guys who think they're good enough to start for you, or who were starting for you until you brought in this interloper, don't usually take too kindly to sitting on the bench. At best they won't be happy, at worst they'll demand a transfer, neither of which is any help to your team.

Of course it is! They see how much money the EPL clubs aren't sharing with the other 72 clubs in the professional ranks, and they want to do the same, even though there are a lot less professional teams in Italy to share with. That's what happens when teams are run by businessmen instead of sportsmen. They just want their team to be rich; screw the fans, the other teams, and the health of the sport. :axehead:

Sounds like we could have a breakaway Italian Premier League in the near-future, if this article is accurate. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id...ope&cc=5901

They'd been talking to Valencia and Villareal, but the one dropped out because of their financial problems, and the other because they were concerned it might bump up against Europa League qualifying (third qualifying round starts that week). So we must be sure that we're going to get a bye past that round, no matter whether we win or lose the FA Cup.

Not for us overseas types, it wasn't. Even with the answer, I still don't know who or what y'all are talking about. :whaa:

Yes, and the key word in that sentence is "1918." Back then people still routinely died from things we usually take for granted in the western world today. Hell, you could still die if you cut yourself shaving back then...they hadn't invented penicillin or any modern antibiotics yet. It's worth pointing out that every death so far has been in Mexico, which while not as bad off as some parts of the world is still a pretty unsanitary place compared to the US, Canada, or most of Europe. They still advise you not to drink the water if you're traveling there.

"What ain't no country I ever heard of! They speak English in What?" "And you will know my name is the Lord, when I lay my vengeance upon you!" "Look, you brought her here, and that means that you're gonna give her the shot. The day that I bring an OD over to your house, then I'll give her the shot." "Nobody kills anyone in my place of business except for me and Zed." "I'm gonna get medieval on your ass." "Jules: I want you to go in that bag, and find my wallet." Pumpkin: Which one is it? J: It's the one that says 'Bad Mother F***er'." All from Pulp Fiction, one of the most quotable movies ever.

Short editorial piece on Howard that I just ran across, suggesting Man U might have given up on him too quickly. Not that we feel sorry for them or anything. http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news;_ylt=Aoy_...o&type=lgns

Just saw this note on another site: This is the game where the best players from all of MLS team up for a friendly against an international opponent. You might recall a few of the headlines when the MLS team beat Chelsea a couple of years ago. They've also played Fulham, West Ham, and Celtic in years past.

Yeah, but in real life you can't exit out and reboot the season after they turn you down the first time!