Only One Football

In 2002, stubborn pride destroyed the Republic of Ireland’s greatest ever hope of the ultimate World Cup glory.  The Irish squad comported themselves well in Japan & Korea, making the quarterfinals before losing a penalty shoot-out to Spain.  But every fan of Irish soccer looks back at 2002 and asks what could have been, if the stubborn pride that caused the manager Mick McCarthy and captain Roy Keane to butt heads on the island of Saipan, had subsided.  The details will always be a point of dispute between fans who side with McCarthy and fans who side with Keane, but essentially Keane made controversial comments in an interview as he is known to do, McCarthy, filled with stubborn pride and bad managerial judgment, confronted his combustible superstar in front of the team, and the combative and passionate Keane exploded on McCarthy.  Wounded by words, McCarthy ordered the player most responsible for the national team being in the 2002 World Cup Finals away, and Keane obliged, stubbornly making his way back to Manchester to walk his dog, never to return to the Ireland squad until McCarthy was fired not long too after Japan & Korea.  In the story of Irish soccer, Mick McCarthy will always be Agamemnon and Roy Keane will be an Achilles whose fiery temper and stubborn pride was his heel.

This same issue, stubborn pride, is robbing Ireland of its best player once again.  There are similarities between Stephen Ireland and Roy Keane, and there are severe contrasts.  On the surface, the two could not appear more different.  Keane is the picture of masculinity, with a hard, square-jawed face and icy eyes.  A former boxer, he’s completely fearless and unafraid to get in people’s faces.  The force of his personality and unwillingness to accept anything less than 100% from his teammates and club is often credited as a reason why Manchester United won so many honors while he donned the armband (and was also the source of his gripes against McCarthy’s Ireland setup).  He could physically intimidate men 6 inches taller than him.  Stephen Ireland could politely be considered effeminate.    The state of his hairline was a public controversy by the time he was 21 and he has been known to own a pink car.  Yet, both men are from Cork, Ireland, and both are the most gifted Irish midfielder of their generation.

Stephen Ireland left the Irish camp during the disastrous tenure of Steve Staunton.  He was allegedly harassed by teammates, and the ever-present rift between the mercurial star and the Irish squad turned into a chasm after he lied to his manager saying his grandmother had died in order to leave the squad to deal with his girlfriend’s miscarriage.  Ireland has publicly stated his intent to return to the Irish fold and current manager Giovanni Trapatonni has publicly stated a desire to have him back.  Yet, Stephen Ireland has not worn the green shirt during Trap’s reign.  Trap recently issued a warning to Ireland through the media, stating that it is getting late for him to return for the 2010 World Cup push.  Basically, Ireland can’t hope to be the anti-Keane of 2002, playing no role in the qualifying and then showing up for the finals.  The sense of urgency to solve the resolve the issue seems to be lacking since the national team is in good position in their qualify group so far, but with turning point matches vs. Bulgaria and Italy coming up later this month, the Republic of Ireland needs to put their best XI on the pitch, and that squad surely would include Stephen Ireland.

Trapatonni himself cannot be considered free of the curse of stubborn pride, despite his lack of Irishness.  His inexplicable dispute with Andy Reid has shown that much.  Trap has a game plan, a style he wants the Republic of Ireland to pay in, and he’s going to use players that fit into that system despite talent levels.  Perhaps therein lies why Trap has not made a serious push to bring Stephen Ireland back in the fold.  Perhaps Ireland doesn’t fit into Trap’s system enough for Trap to really care. He thus far has seemed to prefer to play two strong and sturdy midfielders in the center.  He would have loved to have Roy Keane to pick, who was worth two such midfielders and more.  While Stephen Ireland is more of a playmaker, he’s better at it than Andy Reid.  If Trap couldn’t fit Ireland into his system in the center of the pitch, on the wing or up front, Ireland could be an impact player off the bench to change the look when things do not go to plan.

Ultimately, the Republic of Ireland is a better team with Stephen Ireland in the squad.  In a pool with Italy, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Montenegro, Ireland can take nothing for granted.  While Ireland is seeded third in the pool, they now outrank Bulgaria in the FIFA rankings thanks to Trap’s leadership.  Despite this, a few injuries or bad results could make things head south quickly.  It would be miracle if Ireland won this pool over Italy, the second place playoffs is what they can realistically aim for.  To have the best chance at playing in South Africa 2010, they need every weapon in their arsenal.

So far using the media has been ineffective tool.  Ireland has spoken through the media, Trap has spoken through the media.  Trap indicates they have spoken face to face, Ireland’s comments seem to suggest this has not happened.  Irish legend Liam Brady, one of Trap’s assistants, might be expected to heal this rift … but Brady isn’t the man for the job.  In the Saipan dispute, he was severely in the anti-Keane camp, and thus he simply may not be able to relate to Ireland.  Trap should first enlist his captain Robbie Keane and two senior players who are club-mates of Ireland, Shay Given and Richard Dunne.  They should tell Ireland they’ll look after him and tell the other players, who might be as motivated by getting more international minutes to help their careers, to lay off the kid from here forward.  If that approach doesn’t work, and it should, there is another wild card approach.  Whichever current or former Ireland player has the best relationship with Roy Keane should ask him to speak with Stephen Ireland about his regret around the 2002 World Cup.  Keane has publicly stated his regret, and as Stephen Ireland has recently stated that he would like to become a Roy Keane-like figure for Manchester City, he must admire his fellow Corkonian greatly.  If Robbie Keane, Richard Dunne and Shay Given can’t heal the rift management cannot, they can try to enlist the man who is admired more than any other sportsman in the rebel county.  For Roy Keane, it would be a small but important way to salve the scars of Saipan and perhaps open up a path for him to one day manage the Irish national team his way.  For Stephen Ireland, it would end an awkward chapter that has tarnished his image as one of the great young players in the English Premier League.  For the Republic of Ireland, it would mean having the best shot at making the 2010 World Cup Finals.   Everyone’s a winner, if stubborn pride can be put aside.

FC Barcelona’s bid to put a MLS club in Miami is dead, according to the great Ives Galarcep, and Vancouver now stands out as the front runner.  With New York City, Montreal and now Miami-backed-by-Barca fallen by the wayside and the Dow Jones at less than 50% of what it was last Fall, it makes sense for MLS to make the safe play as far as expansion is concerned.  The safe play is most definitely to move forward with Vancouver and Portland as the league’s 17th and 18th teams.

Both cities boast successful USL1 franchises right now.  Seattle Sounders FC’s transition from USL to MLS is off to an overwhelmingly successful start, with the club selling nearly 20,000 season tickets and selling out its opener against the New York Red Bulls.  Toronto FC is the only franchise in MLS with comparable success.  Vancouver and Portland come from not only the same region as Seattle, the Pacific Northwest, but the same USL roots.  Adding those two clubs will create a profitable three way derby and tap into established fan bases and already successful operations.

Compare that to the Ottawa and St. Louis bids, the only other two left on the table (Atlanta also pulled out).  Ottawa would be the MLS’s smallest market from the start and while it would attract a rivalry with Toronto, it is down the list of attractive markets in Canada.  While it has a nice ownership group, it does not offer the type of guaranteed success that Portland and Vancouver do.  St. Louis is more attractive being one of the hot beds of US soccer.   MLS Commissioner Don Garber has spoken out on numerous occasions saying that there is not enough financial weight behind the St. Louis bid.  It is not clear that the situation has improved markedly since those comments were made and in these uncertain financial times that is an area in which it is a good call to be conservative.

If I were in Don Garber’s shoes, I would go with the safe choices of Vancouver and Portland.  I would politely advise the prospective ownership groups of Ottawa and St. Louis — and New York City for that matter — to open up a club in USL1.  Yes, I would send them to the competitor league.  I would tell them that they have a lot of potential but they should do what Vancouver, Portland and to an extent Monteral has done:  Establish a successful club in USL1, show that you can build a fan base, show you can run a successful soccer franchise and then come back in a few years for “promotion” to MLS.  USL1 is a relatively low investment for those owners and while it may not be the spotlight they are currently seeking, it will be a soft launch that minimizes their risk, also a good call in these times.  This type of approach is one where everyone wins.  MLS gets two strong clubs and establishes a pipeline for a few years down the line, USL1 gets new franchises and the chance to continue trying to pip MLS as the top North American soccer league and the fans in those areas get a high level of professional soccer.  In a time for sound investments, this approach is a winner.

Nearly a fortnight has passed since the United States beat Mexico in the opening hexagonal CONCACAF qualifier in Columbus, Ohio, and the one thing that stands out above all else from that intense match is that Michael Bradley is on his way to becoming America’s Roy Keane.  While Freddy Adu wastes away in Monaco, Jozy Altidore’s Spanish journey finds him failing to get minutes in La Liga Segunda and Giuseppi Rossi pretends he’s not an American in an Azzurri shirt, Bradley’s February dominance for club and country make him the most outstanding Yankee outfield player plying his trade on any side of the Atlantic Ocean.

While comparing Bradley to his soccer idol may seem unfair, consider that when you look at where they are at in their respective careers, Bradley has an edge on the Corkman so far.  Both played as teens in their little-respected home country leagues, Keano with Cobh Ramblers and Bradley with the New York MetroStars.  At age 21, Roy Keane was operating in the midfield at Nottingham Forest in the last season of Brian Clough’s storied career, with relegation awaiting despite the midfielder’s best efforts.  Bradley’s Borussia Monchengladbach appears as relegation bound as Forest was in 92-93, though Bradley has established himself as a quality player in the Bundesliga.  This after banging in an American-in-Europe record 16 goals last year for Heerenveen in the Dutch top flight, though one could argue whether that is a greater accomplishment than Keane’s 22 goals in three English top flight seasons for Forest.  Whether or not Monchengladbach survives the drop, it is a sure thing that Bradley’s play has earned him the attention of bigger clubs in Germany, England and elsewhere with Manchester United said to have its scouts watching.

The Mexico match demonstrated what Bradley offers.  He’s a tireless worker, has a good football brain, puts in his tackles and is not afraid to take a crack from midfield to keep the goalkeeper honest when the opportunity is right.  Not long ago critics said his inclusion in the USA starting XI stunk of nepotism from his father/USA manager Bob Bradley.  That night Michael shut down those criticisms forever and when asked by an ESPN reporter at game’s end if he was feeling an extra bit of pride after Michael’s brace, Coach Bob said it was only about the team right now.  And he looked like he truly meant it.  That focus and sense of purpose seems to have been passed down a generation and it would not be far fetched to imagine a scenario where the USA’s manager and captain were father and son.

While the armband appears a certainty in Bradley’s international future, his club career is full of possibilities after this season.  Perhaps an opportunity to follow his idol’s path from relegated side to Manchester United seems unlikely with central midfielders like Paul Scholes, Michael Carrick, Owen Hargreaves, Darron Gibson and Darren Fletcher already on the books at Old Trafford, but a move to one of England’s midtable sides would allow Bradley to amass more playing time anyway.  He was closely linked to Middlesborough in the Summer though they are likely to be playing in the Coca-Cola Championship next season.  Everton and Keane’s Sunderland were said to be kicking the tires on Bradley after his torrid Heerenveen campaign.  Clint Dempsey’s success this season at Fulham can only make Bradley more attractive, as though an English speaking two-way midfielder with a tireless work rate and his best years ahead of him were not already enough.

While Michael Bradley is a long way from becoming a legend like Roy Keane or even a world class player like his USA teammate Tim Howard, he’s not off to a bad start.  While Adu and Altidore get more press and FIFA video game box covers, Bradley has firmly established himself as the best of the young Americans.   If he can lead the USA to the top position in the CONCACAF qualifiers, contribute to a respectable American showing in the 2010 World Cup and advance his club career, Bradley has every chance to end up being the USA’s most successful ever non-goalkeeping male footballer.  Not bad at all for a kid who just last year people thought was only getting picked because his daddy was the coach.

A few days ago the New York Times reported that FC Barcelona is having second thoughts on attaching their brand to the new Miami MLS franchise they have to this point backed.  Bolivian tech billionaire Marcelo Claure is the chief financier of the Miami bid.  FC Barcelona was thought to be splitting the costs of the MLS club with Claure, but from comments at Barcelona’s biannual financial meeting it appears the Bolivian may be on his own.  The Times says that Barca’s chief executive called the MLS bid situation “very delicate and we are evaluating if the situation allows for the model planned to be implemented in Miami or not.”  It sounds like Barcelona has cold feet on the eve of the MLS’ final decision on which cities will be awarded the 17th and 18th franchises.  Could this all be David Beckham’s fault?

With Beckham doing everything he can to seal a permanent move to AC Milan, Barcelona may see the league’s prospects as dimming quite a bit from a marketing point of view.  With Beckham in MLS for the next three years and stars such as Thierry Henry waxing on about playing in MLS, the momentum of the league might have seemed attractive.  With Beckham leaving, the MLS will lose its glamour and possibly the interest of the Henry’s of the world.  This chain of events would make it unattractive to FC Barcelona as well.

It is possible that these words are just posturing on the part of the Miami bid.  Since the beginning, the Miami group has tried to pressure MLS into letting it start play in 2010 rather than the 2011 debut date set for clubs 17 and 18.  On top of this, there has been speculation that the Miami bid may be trying to get MLS to accept less than the $40 Million fee required by the league.  With other willing suitors, MLS would be unlikely to budge at such a tactic, especially since it already spurned the superbly attractive idea of adding Montreal to the league because their owners didn’t want to pay full freight.

To the American sports audience, David Beckham’s attempts to force a transfer from the Los Angeles Galaxy to AC Milan may seem petty, as though he is refusing to honor his contract.  This type of behavior is generally looked down upon in American sports.  It happens, such as when Eli Manning forced a trade from the Chargers to the Giants just as John Elway did from the Colts to the Broncos.  Those players recovered because they excelled in the spotlight of the Super Bowl.  Beckham’s brand will certainly lose luster in the eyes of American audiences over this saga, but it is the MLS that has more to lose than Beckham.  In reality, the league has no choice but to sell the former England captain.  The league can position itself as a place where Beckham rejuvenated his career (even though he really did that towards the end of his time at Real Madrid).  It use that as a way to try to attract aging or struggling soccer stars like Ronaldo, who ended up going to the Greek league.  But if MLS doesn’t let Beckham go, they may be seen by these same footballers as a place to be wary of and that a pact with MLS is like a deal with the devil.  That is something the league cannot afford.  Beckham must go for the good of the future of MLS and its ability to attract brand name players.  Beckham’s time here can be seen as a positive if it ends gracefully, and the only way to do that now is to sell Beckham since he’s making it clear to the world that he wants out.

In the short run, this may make MLS less attractive to the likes of FC Barcelona.  That may not be a bad thing, though.  Chivas USA already provides the MLS with a club that gives off the sense of being a minor league team, it may not be in the league’s long term interests to have another.   If Barcelona walks, the MLS would still have the attractive options of Portland, Vancouver, St. Louis, Ottawa and yes even a Barca-less Miami.  When Beckham leaves, the MLS will no longer have its golden boy, but it will have a league with a much higher profile than when he came on board.  They can’t win this battle, but they will have gone a long way toward winning the war to be a true major American sports league.

It was reported this week that the Philadelphia MLS expansion franchise has narrowed down its potential names to a shortlist of four.  Since there’s no existing Philly club and fan base coming over from the USL, as Seattle Sounders FC had, the field is wide open.  The choices are AC Philadelphia, SC Philadelphia, Philadelphia City and Philadelphia Union.  To me, there is only one choice among the group:  AC Philadelphia.

It is interesting to note that the short list contains only Euro-style team names. There’s no Philadelphia Fury, Philadelphia Atoms or other such names as a throwback to the NASL.  Like Toronto FC, Philadelphia will go the Euro route and forsake an official nickname, regardless of the fan voting (unless you count Union as such).

Polling on sites like SoccerByIves.net and BigSoccer.com suggests AC Philadelphia and Philadelphia City are the front runners.  I personally eliminate Philadelphia City and Philadelphia Union off the bat.  Since the team will be playing in Chester, PA, not in the city of Philadelphia, it makes little sense to call the club Philadelphia City.  It’s simply inaccurate.  As for Philadelphia Union, I understand that is supposed to reference Philly’s cornerstone place in the formation of the USA and its blue collar background, but it comes off as a little too WNBA/Minor League Baseball to me.

That leaves SC Philadelphia to contend with AC Philadelphia.  I suppose the SC would stand for Soccer Club.  If you were going to go down that round, it would be better to do FC Philadelphia.  It has a better ring to it and it stakes a claim on the term football … what else would you expect from a blog called OnlyOneFootball anyway?

AC Philadelphia is not just the best of a bad batch of names … it is actually a fantastic choice in and of itself.  AC, which I assume stands for Athletic Club,  references an earlier part of Philadelphia’s sporting history, the Philadelphia Athletics.  Before the A’s were playing baseball in Oakland, they spent the better part of the first half of the 20th century being by far the best baseball team in Philly.  The Phillies edged ahead during the decade in which teams started moving out west, so it was the A’s who move to Kansas City (and later Oakland, and possibly soon to San Jose, those gypsies).  On top of this AC Philadelphia has an Italian feel to it (as in AC Milan) and Philly has a large base of Italian-Americans in the region.  While it would mean the derby with DC United will be dubbed AC/DC, its still a fantastic name.

Whichever name is chosen, its high time for a Philadelphia team in MLS.  While there have been rumors of trouble that might push the club’s debut to 2011 instead of 2010 (with the sure-fire expansion candidate Barcelona Miami filling in the 2010 spot), a Philadelphia team playing in a soccer specific stadium is a lock to be successful, especially with natural rivalries with New York and DC ready to go.  If the club is called AC Philadelphia, all the better.

Major League Soccer is expanding at a rate of about one team per year, and despite the uncertain economic situation in the world, is showing no signs of slowing down.  When a major sports league in the USA adds new franchises, one of the laments of the anti-expansion die-hards is that the talent pool is diluted and the quality of play in the league overall will suffer.

When Major League Baseball added the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Devil Rays so soon after the Florida Marlins and Colorado Rockies joined the MLB, traditionalists in that sport’s audience cried foul.  Despite having access to a global pool of talent unprecedented in the history of baseball, the league has held firm at 30 teams with talk of contraction rather than expansion more fresh on the minds of pundits.

American Football’s NFL added the Jacksonville Jaguars and Carolina Panthers in 1995, the league’s first expansion since 1976 when it added the Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  The NFL sits at a very even 32 teams and the prospect of expansion only comes up in discussions of adding teams in Los Angeles or Toronto.  American Football can only mine the USA for any significant talent base but one could make that case that the NCAA and Arena Football develop enough talent to add a few more teams.

The NBA and NHL have similar settled on 30 teams both drawing on a talent pool with greater depth outside of North America.  This past season, the MLS played with 14 teams and will see Seattle Sounders FC take the number up to 15 clubs for the 2009 season.  Philadelphia will join in 2010, with two more expansion teams joining by the 2011 season.  That will take Major League Soccer up to 18 teams.  Such rapid expansion, writes some soccer pundits, will impact the quality of play in MLS.

The reality is though that there is no reason why rapid expansion needs to adversely impact the MLS’ talent pool.  The reality is that no sport on Earth has the depth of global talent available that soccer owns.  A glance down the rosters of the clubs in the English Premier League shows players coming from every nook and crany of the globe.  As long as Major League Soccer is able to bring in enough quality talent from around the world to supplement the North American players, there is no reason why MLS cannot grow even beyond the 30-32 team norm of the mature major pro sports leagues in North America.

There are more than enough great candidate cities for future MLS teams in North America:  the current crop of expansion hopefuls including Miami, St. Louis, Portland, Atlanta, Ottawa and Vancouver;  Cities that have had major expansion rumblings including New York City, Montreal, Las Vegas and Phoenix;  USL cities like Cleveland, Tampa, Rochester, Austin, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Charlotte, Minneapolis/St. Paul and Richmond;  Other major North American sports cities like Detroit, Milwaukee, New Orleans, Calgary, San Diego, Nashville/Memphis and San Francisco.

When I read Thursday morning that Roy Keane had resigned as manager from Sunderland, I was filled with an expected disappointment.  I was hoping the comfort of a match coming up at Old Trafford would have seen him through the week and perhaps a plucky draw or shock win would turn things around.  If he could make it to the West Brom match, winning ways would be restored.  Perhaps Sir Alex Ferguson could have a word with him, to set his old captain right.  But Keano pulled the plug too soon.  Too soon by any measure.

The blowhard Irish soccer pundit Eamon Dunphy, who has raised his profile on Keane’s name, switched from proclaiming that Roy had “lost the plot” earlier in the week to a more reasonable, somber and — unlike his usual attention-seeking ramblings — perhaps accurate assessment of Keano’s predicament.  Success came to quickly to Roy Keane in management, according to Dunphy’s theory, and he did not have enough time in the lower leagues to learn his new trade before being thrust into the spotlight of the Premier League.  He had to make too many of the mistakes a young manager has to make in the limelight of the Premiership, and it took its toll.

Some have written that Keane walked out on his club like he once walked out on his country.  These people have declared him a failure as a manager.  But he is hardly a failure.  Simply look where Sunderland AFC is today, and where it was when he took the reigns in late 2006.  Today Sunderland is a club on the rise, with a squad of international players of a caliber the fans could not have dreamed of in the 15 and 19 point seasons.  When Keane took the helm, Sunderland had come off the most pathetic showing a club had ever put forth in the Premier League, and carried that form right to the Coca-Cola Championship, looking destined for League One.  He turned Sunderland around and won not only promotion, but the league in his first season, despite having spotted the likes of Birmingham and Derby County a few points.

In his first year in the Premier League, Keane accomplished Sunderland’s objective - avoid relegation.   The team earned a never say die reputation that began the previous year, snatching late points with gritty goals.  They were not the most talented team and perhaps deserved relegation — they were 18th in the goal differential rankings — but Keane’s plucky fighters accomplished the mission.

The quality of Roy Keane’s player acquisitions as a manager in each season has been called into question.  A number of buys have been singled out as mistakes, but perhaps this Summer his biggest mistake was bringing the wrong sort of character into the team.  Players like Pascal Chimbonda and El Hadji Diouf are not the type of hard-working grafters that would see the club continue to overachieve.

As Sunderland settled into its post-Wear-Tyne derby funk, the media, and a section of the Sunderland fan base that will never shake its loser mentality, ripped into the man who rebuilt Sunderland on the pitch as though he were liability.  Niall Quinn, the man who rebuilt Sunderland behind the scenes, tried to hold it together.  But Keano walked.  He could no longer cope with the situation, and had taken the club as far as he thought he could.

All but the most vile, demented losers among the Sunderland fan base are thankful to Roy Keane for where he lifted the club.  When he arrived at the Stadium of Light, the club was a shambles and Quinny alone could not stop the rot.  Players came to Sunderland to join Keano’s revolution, a quality of player that wouldn’t have touched Sunderland with a 10 foot pole after the work of the prior regime.

Roy Keane was a success as a Sunderland manager.  The club is better off for having had him.  It’s a shame he did not stay around for a while longer, as his teams have always performed better after the New Year.  No doubt Sunderland would have finished in a higher position this year than last.  Keane may no longer think he is the right man for the job, but in what he’s done and where he’s left the club, managers, like Sam Allardyce who turn his nose up to Sunderland pre-Keane, are now are lobbying to take over where Keano left off.

The real reasons why Keano left Sunderland may never be known.  Certainly they will not be revealed in any autobiography ghost-written by Dunphy.  Niall Quinn, in his classy address to the media announcing Keane’s departure, said that Roy simply felt he was no longer the man for the job and that he wanted the best for Sunderland AFC.  Keane had been backed fully by Quinn and by Quinn’s Drumaville Consortium of Irish investors.  More tellingly, though, may be comments from Per-Magnus Andersson, the chairman of a company owned by new leading Sunderland stakeholder, the American Ellis Short.  Andersson, in comments as classless as Quinn’s were classy, indicated, according to The Guardian, that the new shareholders were happy to see Keane leave and saw him as an unstable personality.  There is clearly a divide between the Ellis Short contingent and the original Drumaville crew on this issue.  Charlie Chawke, according to Eleven-A-Side.com, said his fellow Irish owners were gutted that Keane walked.  Keane always maintained that he would leave if he felt he was receiving interference from his bosses.  With the attitude coming from Andersson, one can speculate that the Ellis Short group might have impacted the chemistry behind the scenes and altered Keane’s vision of where Sunderland could go.  One can only hope the pain on Niall Quinn’s face of late is only about the saga with Keano and not about a deeper sense of regret for letting a fox into the hen house with his new “partners.”

There is talk among Sunderland fans of specifically not joining in on any singing of “There’s Only One Keano” that may be started by the crowd at Old Trafford today, instead opting for vocal support of Niall Quinn.  They should reconsider.  While Quinn has done more for Sunderland AFC than anyone and deserves every ounce of respect, the fans should follow their great chairman’s dignified lead and pay tribute to Roy Keane.  After all, love for Quinny and for Keano is not mutually exclusive.

More importantly, with darkness in his eyes, defeat in his heart and a misplaced sense of failure on his mind, somewhere the man who lifted Sunderland AFC from the bottom of the Championship to the promise of better things in the Premier League, may need someone to give him a lift in spirits.  What better way for that to happen, then through the combined singing of the grateful fans of the two most important clubs in his career.

When Kenwyne Jones ran onto the pitch in the Wear-Tyne derby, the Stadium of Light erupted with cheers and applause.  Injured in an off-season friendly for Trinidad & Tobago, Jones was feared lost for the season.  His triumphant return against the hated Mags set the stage for a run up the table and glory for the Black Cats.  Or so it seemed.

Last season, it was observed by some fans that Sunderland actually played better football when Jones was not in the starting lineup.  The thinking behind this is that the presence of the athletic, physical specimen that is Kenwyne Jones inspired his teammates to play the long ball game too much.  When Jones was out of the lineup, the club was more likely to pass the ball to feet.  The same could be said this year.

With Kenwyne Jones starting so far this season, Sunderland has a record of 1 win, 0 draws and 3 losses in the league.  Before Kenwyne was fit to start, the club posted a record of 3 wins, 3 draws and 4 losses in Premier League matches.  The partnership between Kenwyne Jones and Djibril Cisse is filled with potential, but neither are natural goal scorers.  They are fast and strong and can strike fear into the hearts of defenses.  But they may be too alike to prosper as a pairing.  Partnered with less athletic striker with a penchant for finishing, either Jones or Cisse may prosper to a greater extent.

Last season, Sunderland had 2 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses without Jones in the starting lineup, or 7 points from 5 matches.  With Jones in the starting 11, the team had 9 wins, 5 draws and 19 losses, or 32 points from 33 games.  This season they have 13 points in 10 games without Jones starting, and 3 points in 4 games with him in the first XI.

Kenwyne Jones may be the most exciting player on the Sunderland team sheet, and may be worth the most of any Black Cat in the transfer market.  However, his presence in the starting lineup since joining Sunderland appears to give the club slightly lower odds of picking up points.  In the past two seasons, Sunderland have 20 points in 15 matches without him starting, and 35 points in 37 matches with him starting.  How much of this can you blame on Kenwyne Jones?  I’m not sure.  He certainly puts the effort in and can contribute in spectacular fashion as he did in the recent win versus Blackburn Rovers.  However, whether it is something he is doing, or his manager’s tactics or his teammates’ impetus to  launch the ball at his head rather than build up an attack, the record suggests Sunderland do not play as well when Kenwyne Jones starts.

The improbable run of the New York Red Bulls ended today.  The good fortune and skill that led RBNY past the Houston Dynamo and Real Salt Lake showed itself again today in flashes but the odds evened out in the Home Depot Center this afternoon.

Guillermo Barros Schelotto ran the show for the Crew setting up all three goals.  It was Schelotto’s well struck ball that hammered the top of the goal, along with Dane Richards creating John Wolyniec’s goal with his speed that reminded of the second leg in Houston and the Western Conference final.  But Schelotto’s class prevented lady luck from making the Red Bulls champions.

The consolation prize for New York is a place in next year’s CONCACAF Champions League, since the Crew also won the Supporter’s Shield.  The Red Bulls hope that they are able to hang on to superstar Juan Pablo Angel and maintain the positive momentum from this playoff run as they move into Red Bull Arena next season.  If Juan Carlos Osorio’s plan is finally gelling in New York, the Red Bulls could be a special team next season, and could perhaps make headlines more consistently in New York if they sign another star player to go along with Angel.

The future looks bright for Major League Soccer, brighter than ever.  Although seeing Montreal drop out of the expansion running was disappointing — a Toronto v Montreal rivalry and the French heritage of a Quebec-based club would have added something special –  Miami, Ottawa, Vancouver and Portland reportedly impressed with their expansion presentations.  Philadelphia appears to be on track for 2010 despite rumors to the otherwise. With Kasey Keller and Fredrik Ljungberg already signed up for 2009, Seattle Sounders FC look ready to make an instant impact.

The off-season should be an exciting one.  Landon Donovan is probably headed to Bayern Munich for a stay longer than the reported loan, but it would not be surprising to see more talent entering the MLS than leaving it.  The realignment of roster spots could mean more salary space for better players.  The decision to send different teams to the Champions League and the SuperLiga means a better chance of MLS clubs excelling in those competitions.    While the league is unlikely to adopt an European style single table, a non-playoff cup structure and granting of more direct financial control and flexibility to the clubs anytime soon, it is important to remember that the MLS is a toddler that has just began to walk.  The 2008 season represented steady progress in raising American soccer’s profile internationally and that is a victory as emphatic as the Crew’s league and cup double this season.

St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols today joined the St. Louis bid for a Major League Soccer expansion team.   The newly crowned National League MVP is a boon to the St. Louis effort as he is a first class sportsman with a first class reputation.  St. Louis barely missed out on last season’s 2010 expansion sweepstakes with Philadelphia getting the nod.  This time around, with MLS looking two more teams for 2010, Pujols has given a seemingly fading St. Louis effort bright new hope.

Pujols is originally from the Dominican Republic, which is not exactly a hot bed of soccer talent, but he personally is a big futbol fan.  “I am very proud and excited to join the effort to bring Major League Soccer to the St. Louis area,” Pujols said in a statement. “This means a lot to me and my family, as we all love soccer and we believe in MLS.”

Pujols is not the first major sports figure to throw his money into MLS.  Boxer Oscar de la Hoya owns part of the Houston Dynamo, college basketball legend Christian Laettner owns part of D.C. United and two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash is the face of the Vancouver MLS expansion bid.

St. Louis is up against Vancouver, Montreal, Atlanta, Miami, Ottawa and Portland for the 17th and 18th MLS teams.  Recently, MLS officials have commented that they could eventually see the league expanding to as many as 25 clubs.

Miami seems to be a shoe-in for one of the 2011 expansion slots due to the ownership mix including football titans Barcelona.  While the amazing success of Toronto FC would tip the odds for the second 2011 expansion club going to a Canadian team, Pujols star power could see St. Louis finally earn the chance to field a MLS side.