DanW

If England wants to have the biggest league in the world and also have great English talent, the rankings of the leagues needs to be understood. A young player who is developing but cannot break into the senior team because of all the great international talent in front of him should recognize that going overseas to develop and grow is a viable, acceptable, and in fact encouraged plan. Then when they do develop into a better player, they can come back and star for their squad. If they are too xenophobic, then there are plenty of lower league teams that would also like to have them around, too.

Incorrect. The contract was terminated by mutual consent. The next day he signed with FC Utrecht.

There's no catch. The EPL is now being treated like a major american sport - all the other sports have all their games available to be viewed if you want to watch them. The EPL has it now, too. The catch, I suppose, is that other elements of the american sports are going to start infiltrating the league. For good or bad - take your pick. The first element is probably the complaints seen about the lack of Englishmen in the English Premier League. The fallout from that is also like the major american sports - development of the lesser players falls to either the minor leagues (baseball), foreign leagues (basketball), or college sports (football and basketball). So it's up to the English and what is preferred - amazing players, clubs flush with cash, worldwide influence and marketing, and, obviously, the ability to watch any game you want. Or...revert the game back to the way it was in the 90s and earlier. Something tells me that money will win out. So that's the catch. And it's a catch that I personally love.

Well said. I think it'd be great if he played but I only want him to play on merit. Injuries are no fun, but of course if you get your chance because of injury I hope you seize on the opportunity. Congrats to Rickie and all.

I heard he's a fun guy to have around. I always liked his name, too. Thanks for the service and best of luck to him. I wish him nothing but success.

The Championship is not well televised overseas. The Premier League is VERY well televised overseas. Premier League for the win.

Don't care! Let them have fun with twitter - I know the twitter feed helps me when I can't watch the games.

I thought he was one of our most creative players last year. I hope he sticks around, but I don't have a solution to the "overcrowded squad" syndrome, either.

Don't forget that he's already played for Poch, so he does know how we play. Maybe there's a nuance or two that's new for him, but I think he's probably got it down.

Rickie is 31. Matty is 44. I'll take the younger fella.

This is correct. Southampton has been given the areas north of Chambers Street (give or take a block) up to Canal Street / the Manhattan Bridge overpass. In this area you'll find many government offices and the judicial center, as well as some of Tribeca (very nice location), a large portion of Chinatown, and some buildings owned by New York City Housing Authority. So it's a mix. It's not the nicest places in the city, but I can think of many worse. I'm not sure why Chelsea didn't get Chelsea. Stoke City located in Spanish Harlem is pretty funny, though.

That IS a nice bit of real estate they've given us. I like it. Sadly, I work in "Chelsea" and live in "WBA" so that's disappointing. But I wish I lived in "Southampton."

There isn't much background about the decision, but yes, Howard, Gruzan, Rimando, and Hamid are definitely ahead of Cropper in the pecking order. Of course, Cropper was the starting keeper for the U-20s World Cup team, so he is at least known around the USMNT camp. They also like that he plays in Europe and has really made all the right decisions about furthering his playing career.

How often do all three promoted teams go right back down? That prediction seems a bit "easy" to me, and I say it's very unlikely that all three will be relegated.

It looks like the Shuttle between Grand Central and Times Square. I don't use that, but I'll keep an eye out. Edit: It IS the Shuttle, as I can see that when I look more closely

I re-signed him to Saints in FM2010 when I got us back up in the Prem and he was a solid squad player for our relegation battles. Always liked him.

Hah! Touche, good sir.

Nothing says SFC were happy to sell him - it just says A. Madrid were happy to buy him.

We are not selling him unless we can get 150%+ of the fee we paid. We are not a selling club.

Dang, Isgrove is short!

I'll miss Chaplow. He was always one of my favorites, even if I knew he wasn't the answer to get us into the Champions League. I guess deep down I was hoping he might magically step it up and improve despite the lack of logic to this hope. I will continue to follow the guy in his journeys through the lower leagues.

He knew how to say all the right things, that's for sure. Thanks for the link.

Haven't seen Britt or Rowe play, but I have watched Cropper with the USA U-20s and he looks very good to me. I was hoping he could maybe make it to the first team bench this year, and Gazza would be sent out on loan. Or something like that. So perhaps this means the youngster could take Cropper's place? Or, obviously, Cropper is on his way out.

At least you got 6 months credited. Thanks for the heads up - I didn't even know FSC was changing to FS1. I guess it's so they can show more than just soccer or something.

Good article. Probably because it says precisely what I want to hear.