The Daily Express is reporting today that Mike Ashley was in talks last night with Zabeel Investments chairman Mohammed Ali Al Hashimi. Mohammed Ali Al Hashimi - leading the talks with Newcastle This is in conflict with a report in the Newcastle Journal this morning that said Mike pulled out of the meeting, which we found hard [. Click to continue reading...

First of all, the Jimmy Conrad Show takes place tonight at McFadden's instead of on Wednesday due to a conflict with the K-State-Louisville football game. The show will air tonight from 8-9 on kcwizards.com and 810 WHB. Head down to McFadden's in the loverly Power and Light District and listen in person. Click to continue reading...

Something to ponder ahead of the games this weekend.

As first seen here in this posting, MLS insider and commentator Sean Wheelock talked about MLS examining the Apertura/Clausura type schedule as a solution to several scheduling problems.

Sean Wheelock was a guest on BBC's World Football Phone-In again early this morning UK time. Click to continue reading...

So I guess the one way to ensure that there are no power struggles at the top is to make sure that there is only one holder of power. Right?

At least that's apparently what AEG is hoping for.

Bruce Arena was installed today not just as the expected coach, but as General Manager as well.

Click to continue reading...

I didn't watch a minute of Major League Soccer this week. It wasn't a slight - and not even an EPL thing (the matches didn't conflict with each). Nope, I'm still in love with the Olympics (though now that swimming... Click to continue reading...

It took a bit of reading between the lines, but it's clear more than few Galaxy players did not see eye to eye with now former Coach Ruud Gullit and were not unhappy to see him go in the least.

The players I talked to after practice today were circumspect and chose their words carefully, but it was obvious players were not prepared to fall on their swords, as it were, for Gullit.

Click to continue reading...

According to the page Web of PUBLIC the Portuguese newspaper, in an exclusive interview, the Portuguese player announced that he is going to remain in the English club, with whom has contract until 2012.

"Ferguson listened to my arguments and I listened to theirs. And he enters both we decided that the best thing for both parts was that it was left me in the Manchester. Click to continue reading...

Toronto FC created chances and missed them.Were awarded a penalty and missed it or rather Joe Cannon guessed right and brilliantly saved. But through the whole afternoon as i watched on the CBC i felt like i was watching football played with funny rules.Today's objective was to play a full ninety five minutes with a wet blanket draped over you. Click to continue reading...

The funniest story I've heard of recently relates to the comedy store over at Eastlands and the ongoing saga of City's owner Thaksin "Frank" Shinawattra and "PastryGate" as the case has become known. Apparently three of Frank's lawyers have been sent to jail for trying to bribe three high court judges over the City owner's impending trial, the judges were given a cake-tin stuffed with £30,000 and told to "enjoy the contents". Click to continue reading...

Thailand international Teeratep Winothai is set to become the second player from the ASEAN champions to join a club in Belgium when the 23-year-old moves to second division side Lierse SK.

The 23-year-old, currently the leading scorer in the Thailand Premier League with nine goals for BEC Tero Sasana, will follow in the footsteps of international team-mate Kiatprawut Saiwaeo, who recently joined Club Brugge on-loan from English Premier League side Manchester City. Click to continue reading...

Steve Sidwell's £5.5M move from Chelsea to Aston Villa is being delayed over a conflict involving his Stamford Bridge pay-off, which is a little matter of £2M. Steve Sidwell - could Newcastle become interested? Click to continue reading...

At last we learn the truth about not including Kuba Blaszczykowski in our Euro selection. First we were told that Kuba got injured in a training session. Later, when we knew that there was no fresh injury, journalists speculated about his conflict with Leo Beenhakker. Kuba finally decided to break the silence and explained that he just wasn't fit enough to give his best.

Click to continue reading...

Good morning everybody. I'm back from my weekend away and there is a bunch to discuss from the soccer world this Monday morning.

Let's start with several surprising World Cup qualiying results throughout the world.

Brazil, Argentina struggle before big clash

Paraguay moved into first place in South American World Cup qualifying with its 2-0 win against Brazil on Sunday.

Click to continue reading...

Ed. Note: This essay is by Culture of Soccer reader Jason Murphy, who is a PhD student in philosophy at St. Louis University. I thank Jason for his contribution. If you would like to contribute an essay to be considered for publication here at Culture of Soccer, please write me at david [at] cultureofsoccer [dot] [. Click to continue reading...

Growing up in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Raad Qumsieh probably never dreamed that his life would include a stop in Kansas. He has led a nomadic life not uncommon of Palestinians today. But Qumsieh is different than most Palestinians. A gifted soccer player from a young age, he has played for the under-17, [. Click to continue reading...

Reconstruction of Afghanistan and Iraq has proven far harder than the invasions of those two countries. In Afghanistan, a newly released report from a British think tank claims that the Taliban can attack US and coalition forces in over half of the country. In Iraq, the cost of occupation may soon hit $1 trillion dollars, [. Click to continue reading...

The Qaddafi family of Libya treats soccer just like they treat politics: strangely. Father Muamar Qaddafi, Libya's leader of the past forty years, has gone from international outcast and sponsor of terrorism to host of a peace conference between rebels in Daruf and the Sudanese government. Son Al-Saadi Qaddafi, meanwhile, has signed for several Italian Serie [. Click to continue reading...

Matches between Turkey and Greece almost always have a political edge to them. The two countries have been historical rivals and continue to feud over the status of the divided island of Cyprus. One would expect, then, that games would become an arena for fans to express grievances toward their Mediterranean neighbors. When Greece and Turkey [...] Click to continue reading...

In a rare Monday night game the Houston Dynamo look to rebound after a loss to the LA Galaxy while Real Salt Lake hopes to spoil and chances of Houston moving up the ladder in the western conference standings and passing Chivas USA. Weird kind of scheduling really if you ask me to get a game [...] Click to continue reading...

People of Croatian ancestry make up less than one-half of one percent of the population. But the influence of this small Balkan country on soccer in the land of Oz has far exceeded their numbers. Of the 23 players on Australia's 2006 World Cup squad, 7 had Croatian heritage. Croatia's team had 3 Australian-born players. Croatian-Australian [...] Click to continue reading...