retired_mallory08

Is just me or is it cold in here?

The Kaiser's impressive run of form ended with a crash - being dumped out of the Cup to mediocre North Liskeard and then being crushed 7-2 by a rampant and on-form Marquette.

"Well that sucked", said Clark after the demolition by rivals the Iron Rangers. "I'm not sure how the game got so far away from us, sure we were a man down but we only gave up 11 shots on goal the whole game. The defence and goalie need to ask questions of themselves. For the record, I thought the dismissal was a joke and I've filed an appeal. But I'm not going to hide behind that - we were already 4-1 down at that point. Big Joe Cannon was very poor, and I think he just handed the starting role back to Kevin Hartman. Joe had been whining about getting some starts and I gave him a chance, he really missed the opportunity here."

The defeat saw Marquette close to within a point as well as seriously damage Kentuckys good goal difference. Surprisingly, the board didn't react to the defeat, perhaps finally recognizing the good work Clark has done with the Kaiser's.

The hammering marked the end to a bad week for Kentucky. The Kaiser's were dumped out of the Open Cup by the Northmen after Clark left Greg Andrulis in charge. The former Crew Manager inexplicably failed to replace injured striker Kai in the 4th minute, playing the remaining 86 minutes with just 10 men. "Inexcusable" said Clark. "Greg dropped the ball - big time - and we're out of the Cup as a consequence. I don't think Greg gets it. I wont tolerate that kind of incompetence at the Major League Level. I told him to clear his desk."

So, with the impending firing of Assistant Manager Andrulis, Clark will need to find a new AssMan. "Frankly, I don't think we could do worse. Now I know why the Crew fans wanted him gone so badly. More fool me for giving him a chance."

"I had wanted to make New Liskeard eat their words in the Cup after their manager got smart in midweek. Now it's us with egg on our faces. I planned to base my Starting XI with players entirely comprised of 'lifers', namely those who've been with the team since we started the 1st game in the inaugural season. For all my transfer tweaks, the team has been pretty stable. It's the fringe players that have moved, for the most part. We still got Hartman, Albright, Conrad, Broome, Leozinho, Mullan, Reyna, Kai, Cameron, Lensky and Greer. That's 11 players. Sure we've made some trades - mainly cutting the foreigners who weren't working out, and we traded EJ and de Guzman two of our earlier [icks in the draft. but we got Onyewu, Mapp and Ruiz in return so I'm not going to apologize for those deals. I think our squad is the best in the league - it's versatile, affordable and young - we've got almost $400k in cap room and over $10m to spend on players should we need to bring in some new faces. Our starting XI is top 3 too, and once some of the youngester are broken in, then we'll be as good as anyone. That's why we're atop our conference again. "

"I wanted to express my delight at the way Leozinho has grown this season. He's really turned into a bigtime player for us. He's got 6 goals, 6 assists and 7 MoM awards. He's playing at an average of 7.67 and is really pulling the strings in midfield. He's on a low wage, and his good work will be rewarded this summer with a sizeable pay increase, even though he's got years left on his deal. He's earned a raise and I've been clearing cap space to allow us the opportunity to reward him."

"Carlos Ruiz has started to settle in the area, which looked unlikely for a while. He's been in good form the last month and has now hit 8 golas on the year. If Kai, or Luca could hit form then we would be formidable. Trading Josh Wolff was a gamble, but Ricky Clark is a star in the making, and Josh was just going to be too expensive to retain."

Clark has a couple of transfer deals set up, Biglia for 2007, but also has a Brazillian center half coming next week when the transfer window opens. "Yeah, I like the Brazillians" Clark said with a smile. "Lomic hadn't cut it and didn't seem to be improving. Metz made us a good offer so I let him go. It wasn't a hard decision. " The Kaiser's also released Tony Menezes after the Canadian failed to impress at Commonwealth Stadium. "He was capped by Canada and we gave him a half dozen games. He had a great debut, but sadly he couldn't maintain any consistency. I will him well." Clark also added the signature of young US prospect Frankie Simek. The former Arsenal youth player is coming across in a $300k deal from Sheffield Wednesday in England. "Frankie has real potential. He's young enough that we can see how he works out."

The move leaves Clark very deep at DR with Albright, Clark and Simek all capable of starting and Marshall and Conrad more than adequate cover. "We're looking at retraining a couple of our players to give us more vertaility, and cover at DC. We've got young Brian Taylor, a DL, who will hopefully justify his 1st Round selection over the next couple of years. We're pretty deep all over now."

With the players back from the World Cup, the Kaiser's team will settle down. Once the new defenders are on board Clark has vowed that he will likely not test the transfer waters again. Knowing Clark, this might not be true, but after the way the team stumbled into the playoffs, allowing the team to setlle before the knockout rounds would be a good idea. He didn't rule out trading away surplus players, and if that brings in a new face so be it.

Richard Mulrooney has failed to win a consistent starting berth despite obvious talent. "A high draft pick is desired.

retired_hellokity111

Vancouver inches closer to playoff berth

Now the least defeated team in the league, Vancouver continue their winning ways thanks to a potent attack force which has seen Jorge Daniel Achucarro become an important player alongside Taylor Twellman.

Vancouver certainly looked crisp against rivals Alaska in the 5-1 win where all 6 goals came in the first half of play and Achucarro scored three before being taken off for a broken arm.

"It was a careless challenge by the Alaska player which ended up injurying Jorge. We get these kinds of challenges from every team in the league. Rather than playing soccer against us, may teams resort to American football." Saint-Vill fumed.

"We had the same situation last season as Twellman closed the season as a result of a bad challenge. We weren't ready for it last year but this year we learned from our mistakes." Saint-Vil added.

Certainly Vancouver do have options up front. Youngster Chad Barrett has been useful whenever he played and Abe Thompson adds the aerial threat and a different dimension in the attack. Alejandro Moreno is also with the team on loan for the rest of the season and the seasoned striker can do a bit of everything to contribute. Felix Alexander Borja and Kalle Ljungberg are also capable of playing up front as is Eddie Gaven. So despite the injury to the joint top scorer Achucarro, Vancouver remain a very tough team to contain.

"With this style of play against us, we will be looking to rotate players a little bit more and give our younger players more chances in the coming weeks. They certianly earned the right to play with their performances while we missed several first team players during the World Cup." Saint-Vil hinted.

In other news, Kentucky Kaisers manager once again came out with uninspired commentary about his transfer dealings defending the numerous moves he makes every 3-4 weeks. Oddly enough, the 7-2 loss against Marquette and Chris Albright's scalding after the game by Clark in front of the media came only a few days after the Kaisers announced the signing of the 3rd right sided full back for their roster, Frankie Simek. "Typical" one Vancouver fan said. "It's typical of them to make such moves and completely ruin any harmony within the team. Maybe 3-4 years ago such things did not matter to players, but they certainly do now."

Alaska are facing a terrible run of form, especially after losing important players Tomasz Sokolowski and Dalibor Stevanovic, arguably the players that brought the Cup north last year. Their downward spiral has them in 5th place in the conference falling behind the underachiers Toronto. Coach Gabor Kovacs may need to make some moves once the transfer window reopens to ensure that his team get back on track for the playoffs.

retired_mallory08

Clark Answers Back

"Once again it seems my transfer policies have come under scrutiny. Aside from the fact that it's no-ones business but that of the Kaiser's Front Office, I'll remind Roger and the fans in Vancouver, that there's been plenty of activity north of the border too."

Responding to the remarks about Chris Albright, Clark said "Chris Albright is an international class player. He had been poor for the last couple of weeks and was well below the standards he sets for himself. Likewise Christian Gomez. Both were more than aware of their dip and that the arse-kicking was well earned. Their has to be repercussions after a game like Marquette., neither I nor the board will tolerate emarrasing the club in that way. They're big boys and Chris, in particular, has no fear of a little competition. Does Roger really think that having strong competition in every position is a bad thing for us? Frankie Simek was recommended to me by one of our scouts, he's a project and not likely to be displacing Chris anytime soon. Don't mistake a reprimand from giving up on a player. Chris just needed to know I expected better. The fans agreed with me, and there's no sign of a player revolt in the bluegrass. Vancouver might tiptoe around their issues, but in Kentucky we address our problems."

A fan outside Commonwealth Stadium said "I think their players are soft, they're forever getting hurt...good job, else old Roger wouldn't have any excuses for crashing out in the 1st round."

Clark continued, "Our team is largely settled, we've been playing the same back 5 for most of the last year or longer. Our midfield base is solid, with both Reyna and Leozinho inauguration draftees. Mullan is platooning with Ricky Clark on the right of midfield, and Kai is upfront. So, of our starting XI, eight are original signings and Onyewu has been around a year. The other players are earning the right to stay here - Gomez, Mapp, Ruiz have all had good seasons. So, our squad is very stable. As I've said before, most of these transactions are for fringe players, youngsters and reserves. Of course, it takes the sale or trade of players to allow us to add new ones, so there have been some departures.

retired_spaulsen

Thompson in Trouble

Speculation continues to heat up regarding the safety of Ryan Thompson's job as manager of the Texas Longhorns. Despite guiding the team to the MLS final in 2005, and winning the NA Champions Cup, it is believed that the Texas board are looking for any reason at all to send Thompson packing. Some media reports even say that had Thompson lost any of the three previous games (Kentucky, Toronto, and Nerdingon), he would already be unemployed. The pressure is unlikely to subside in upcoming weeks either.

In transfer news, the Longhorns have confirmed that Barcelona's reserve Danny Powers will sign for Texas. The American midfielder's transfer is expected to be made official within the next week or two.

retired_mallory08

Clark goes to bat for Thompson

In an aside from the recent transfer policy hulaballoo, KK manager Al Clark took a brief moment to discuss the situation going on down the road in Texas.

"What's happening in Austin is a disgrace. What more could they ask for from the guy? He's assembled a helluva team, Danny Powers is one of the top US born prospects and his arrival is only going to make my job harder. "

"The board should be ashamed of themselves, heaping pressure on Ryan when he's safely aboard for the playoffs, has added a CONCACAF Cup trophy to the Texas Boardroom....and more importanly, has guaranteed that the Longhorns will represent our region in the World Club Championships. Oh, he also won the Southern Conference and was runner up in MLS CUp Final 2005."

"If Ryan's job is on the line then really every manager in MLS should have been fired by now. His board need to GET REAL. Losing a manager of Thompson's caliber, to be replaced by some Thompson II or another is only going to hold this team back."

"I think, when all is said and done, the board at Texas will see sense. If not, Ryan would be welcome to come work for me. Just not instead of me!"

"I wont do him any favors, as he saw at Commonwealth Stadium, but - as I saw at Commonwealth Stadium - I don't think he'll need any."

"And I though my board was fickle......"

retired_mallory08

Guitar Slingers Coach Feelin' the Blues

"So what if I turn up in a jedi robe and a football jersey? There's nowt wrong with that.."

The reporters looked at each other stunned. They were either bemused at his opening statement or just plainly couldn't understand the broad Geordie accent.

"Aye, our players have underperformed this season, there's no doubt about that. They know it too - I've had words with several of them telling them that they're playing for their place at this club next season. Its up to them to respond by performing on the pitch"

What about your absence for the majority of the season coach?

Listen, I don't doubt that my absence had a knock on effect that rubbed off on the players, and I aim to rectify that, but I don't have to answer you, him or the next two bit hack that asks me where I was. Thats water under the bridge as far as I'm concerned. Next.

How do you intend to rectify the clubs position?

Well, its going to come through hard graft and knuckling down and getting the job done. Make no mistake, I know what the fans are saying, and they're absolutely right. But the board has been patient with me and they understand what I'm trying to do here.

What's the clubs status chief?

The clubs status?? I'll tell you what, it was in a shoddy state of affairs when I took over. We had 4 left backs vying for one spot - thats 2 places on the roster that could have gone to players who could have made a difference this season.

retired_kcnoodle@cox.ne

Syclones Report

Despite grabbing a piece of silverware on a mediocre and less reputable competition last year, a lot of the players are not satisfied with the team finishing dead last in the North/ East conference. Since the beginning of the second year, many of them had expressed their concern publicly and some had cried for a transfer. All the requests were turned down by their head coach Ricky Lung. He is reluctant to let any of them leave yet, he wants to keep the team intact, and he has promised to bring the team to a higher level in order to match their ambitions.

In the US Cup, they fail to make a run and give themselves a chance to defend the title. They were knocked out in their first game. They were outclassed by Coach Thompson and his Longhorns.

With their early exit in the Cup, the Syclones are forced to produce in the league. With 10 games left in the season, the playoff race is heated up once again. The Syclones are hanging tough for the last playoff spot in the north/east. They are 2 points ahead of the Artic Wolves, with a 2-0-0 season series so far. The Syclones fail to perform on a consistent basis this season, they can put up a thrilled performance in one game and go to the other end of the spectrum in the very next game. They have to solve their problem at the back, they gave up a lot of goals again this season.

They had taken a step in trying to stop the bleeding, they cut Greece international Nikopolidis and replace him by US keeper Nick Rimando. He came out very strong, posting two clean sheets in his first two games, but fail to impress after that. He had a 6.17 rating after 6 games.

“…I think we made a good decision replacing Nikopolidis by Rimando, Rimando is a little younger and has more potential. We will try and work with him to improve his consistency. We also free up a foreigner spot, which we can use to pick up a more skilled outfield from South America. We have a few players in mind already, and we may bring them in once the window reopen…”

“…We have a really solid group up front, we will get goals on a consistency basis, but we really need to some work at the back. Changing the keeper alone will not solve the problem at the back. With the scheme we are playing, we need to have quicker defenders, which we don’t have right now. The Eddies and Kevin are very capable defenders, but they just cannot keep up with speedy strikers. We get burnt in counter a lot this season, we gave up at least 10 goals in this situation...”

“…We will try to bring in the suitable players as soon as possible, ideally some time shortly after the transfer window reopen, but we will not force the issue, we will have to wait till the offseason if nothing works out. We have big decisions to make this coming offseason, with Landon’s large salary going to count towards to cap next season, we have to decide whether to keep him and cut some of the high wages players; or we elect to let him go…”

Stay tune for latest headlines.

retired_hellokity111

retired_mallory08

"NONSENSE"

"They fired the reigning MLS Cup winner? I've heard of fickle but that's beyond a joke. Sure, they've not been firing on all cyclinders this year thus far, but they're still in with a good shot of the playoffs, and that's really all that matters. The Alaska board need to get their heads of their collective arses. Apparently making MLS Cup Final hasn't helped either Thompson or Kovacs/White."

Having finished his rant, Clark went on to address the state of the Kaiser's who have been hot of late. "Hopefully we wont go cold right before the playoffs this year" said Clark, "we got what I perceive to be the final piece of the puzzle - Gabrinho, an accomplished Brazillian U21 DC. He's allowed me to move Jimmy Conrad into that troublesome DL position and it's working well so far."

The Kaiser's put together a decent W3, D1, L0 streak to bounce back from the mauling by Marquette. "Yeah I'm pleased with the run. Mapp, Kai and Onyewu are back from injury and with Gabrinho in the heart of the defence we've looked solid."

"Carlos Ruiz has looked hungry in front of goal and has certainly settled in now. He's hit more than 11 on the season. Young Knox Cameron is starting to look the part, and having Kai back gives us another dimension up front. "

Kaiser's fans have been drooling over the recent play of Leozinho, the starlet has been awesome and is clearly head and shoulder's above most in the league. "He's got it all" said on fan "When we drafted him we hoped he'd be good, and he's even better than I imagined. I've got #10 on my shirt, and the name says 'God'."

"I can't imagine that being popular in the Bible Belt" said a bemused Clark "but I get the sentiment. Leo has been another level lately and has been running out MVP in games more often than not. He's got an eye for goal and all of the trademark Brazillian flair. We're lucky to have him."

"As anticipated, the KK rebounded after a little hiccup last month and veterans Chris Albright and Christian Gomez in particular really set the record straight, just like I said they would. They redoubled their efforts in training and look good on the pitch as a result. Gomez has been a good supply line for the forwards, whether he's played on the right or left. Now Mapp is back, we've got two of the best wingers in the league giving us great symetry. We've got strength in ever position which makes us hard to play against. If you double up on someone, then you've just left a big gap elsewhere that we can exploit."

"Right now, we're looking good in the South, but I'm yet to see any discernable chink in the Vancouver armour. Rochester have looked pretty good this year and my own conference is very tight. We've got 4 strong teams, all contenders. And it seems that Muskegon and Nashville are improving. Kudos to Frank II, he's starting to exert his influence on the side with some new signings and tweaks and they've looked good recently. It might be too late for them for 2006, but there's a very solid foundation there for 2007."

After what was an uncharacteristically quiet session in terms of transfer activity, Clark was asked by the press if he had any transfer deadline deals in the works. "One or two, nothing that will affect our starting XI, but there's a couple of youngsters I've had my eye on that will improve our stregnth of depth and versatility. They may, or may not work out." As for departures...? "Richard Mulrooney will likely be dealt defore the deadline, we've had some interest in him which isn't surprising, he's a very solid player. We'll see what happens."

retired_hellokity111

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