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US Soccer.com The Kartik Report Pitch Invasion 24th Minute Well, the US Soccer Federation has given another deadline in the USL vs NASL tug of war over control of 2nd Division pro soccer. This time, US Soccer has opted to sanction either league saying that neither league had eight viable markets l...

MLSNet.com SI.com SBI.net The rumor is that Landon Donovan's new four year deal with MLS will bump his salary from less than $1 million per year to north of $2 million per year. This also sets the stage for the long awaited loan to Everton. The interesting part is that not too many people had this...

SI.com Andrea Canales has a breakdown of why Landon Donovan to Everton makes sense, it has me wondering which will come first: Landon to Everton or US Soccer settles the NASL vs USL tug of war? Donovan landing with Everton (or his transfer status being finalized) has to be the easy choice, right? I...

Inside Minnesota Soccer.com Kick This! 12/12 Show Archive The 24th Minute We had a fun roundtable on Saturday's show with Brian Quarstad from Inside Minnesota Soccer.com and Kartik Krishnaiyer from The Kartik Report.com. Brian, Kartik, and Jeff all predicted that the US Soccer Federation will come...

Everton FC.com Daily Soccer Fix Reuters MLS Daily The Offside Rules - Tommy Smythe on LD to Everton No Short Corners SBI.net The Original Winger This much we know: Everton are interested in adding Landon Donovan on loan starting next month. Everton and the LA Galaxy have confirmed that talks...

The Kartik Report Inside Minnesota Soccer WV Hooligan In a move that should surprise nobody, the USL has filed suit in Florida against the Tampa Bay Rowdies, Crystal Palace Baltimore, and the Rochester Rhinos for breach of contract. Devo has been told that Rob Clark will be issuing a rebuttal lat...

Devo's Direct Kicks US Soccer.com The big USL/NASL/US Soccer meeting took place over the weekend and the much hoped for resolution of the whole situation didn't happen. US Soccer did ask both leagues to provide them more information by Wednesday, so perhaps the hope that something might happen this...

MNT Blog Grant Wahl @ SI.com Big Apple Soccer.com Bob Bradley and the USMNT have to be pretty happy today after the World Cup Draw. The US will open up their 2010 World Cup campaign against England on Saturday June 12th at 2:30pm EST. Then they will fave Slovenia on Friday June 18th at 10am EST. T...

Devo's Direct Kicks There is one good thing about the whole USL vs TOA tug of war: it generates a lot of talk during the off season. During the usual off season where the only discussions are coaching changes and player moves, things usually get quiet around Jeff's blog, internet message boards, and...

Soccer is a Kick in the Grass - Interview with Rob Clark D&C.com Devo's Direct Kicks Pitch Invasion A day later and everyone seems to be celebrating the news that the Rhinos have opted to join the NASL. Since it's 24 days until Christmas and I love to play devil's advocate, I'll act like the Gri...

Rhinos Soccer.com It's my first day back from vacation and I get to talk about fresh news on the topic that will likely carry us through most of the off season: USL vs TOA/NASL. Rob Clark and the Rhinos made the jump to side with the NASL in the power struggle to control 2nd Division pro soccer in t...

It's been a crazy day and here are a handful of the highlights: - Tampa Bay and Crystal Palace Baltimore are reportedly joining the TOA league for 2010. - There is more on the potential Minnesota USL team for next year. - USL News.com is reporting that the TOA league may be named the NASL. - F...

D&C.com Devo's Direct Kicks Bob Lilley said that he expected a lot of player turnover this off season and John Ball is a veteran Rhino that will not be back in 2010. Given that Lilley was pretty critical of the Rhinos defense, it shouldn't be too surprising if we hear that anyone along the Rhinos b...

Devo's Direct Kicks D&C.com Live Q&A at D&C.com Rhinos Soccer.com Devo's Direct Kicks Soccer is a Kick in the Grass Press Conference Podcast Bob Lilley will have a pretty busy first 28 hours or so on the job with the Rhinos.  Yesterday they had the press conference. Earlier this afternoon he di...

Devo's Direct Kicks Jeff is reporting that Bob Lilley is the 4th head coach in Rochester Rhino history. I like the fact that Lilley has more A-League/USL 1st Division Coach of the Year Awards on his shelf than Pat Ercoli. (2 to 1) I like the fact that Lilley has won a USL 1st Division title at th...

The Rhinos have called a press conference for Monday afternoon to unveil the next head coach of the club. The big name being rumored as the choice is former Vancouver, Montreal, and Hershey head coach Bob Lilley. It will be interesting to see if that is the case or not. Personally, I would have some...

I'm trying to get my gameface on for playoff night at the Rochester Sports Garden, so I'm going to be lazy today since there still hasn't been any big news from Rhinos HQ about the next head coach of the Rhinos. - Charlie Davies is out of the hospital and well on his road to recovery. - The USL h...

Devo's Direct Kicks The Kartik Report WV Hooligan Carolina RailHawks.com SBI.net The Original Winger The Fake Sigi Schmid Blog 3rd Degree.net Pitch Invasion Big Apple Soccer.com The TOA is moving forward with the 7 remaining teams (scratch Tampa Bay from the above list) as they are applyin...

Inside Minnesota Soccer.com - Thunder Release Players USL Soccer.com - Austin releases 14 from 2009 squad Austin Aztex.com - Djorn Buchholz named CEO Over the past few weeks, there have been some rumors that a whole host of players with the Minnesota Thunder would be moving south to the Austin A...

The USL has put out their press release about the rosy future for their 1st Division during the team owners meetings in Beaverton, Oregon. With TOA member Tampa Bay at the USL meetings, that would appear to give an edge to the USL in this power struggle. One of the potrential USL-1 expansion teams...

Devo's Direct Kicks The USL is holding a meeting of team owners that are committed to the 2010 USL 1st Division season and some expansion candidates at Nike HQ in Beaverton, Oregon this week. Jeff has some early reports out of the meetings as Rhinos owner Rob Clark has given out the teams that are r...

Kick This! - October 31st, 2009 Soccer is a Kick in the Grass - November 1st, 2009 Pat Ercoli was on the radio both days over the weekend to talk about his re-joining the Rhinos organization, this time as the GM and Director of Soccer. From what Pat said on both shows, it's obvious that he will not...

D&C.com Rhinos Soccer.com The best piece follow yesterday's news conference was the big "Being part of the solution" blog entry that Devo did today. It is going to be very interesting to see how Pat Ercoli does in his new role as the Rhinos GM & Director of Soccer. Who will he hire as the next he...

Devo's Direct Kicks The press conference is happening a couple of days later than the rumor mill had expected over the weekend. But, the head coach that brought the Rhinos their 3 A-League and one US Open Cup titles is returning as the team's GM with Pat Ercoli being named as the new GM and Director...

Corus Sports.com If you click on the above link and listen to the 30 second interview, new USL CEO Alec Papadakis states that talks have ceased between the TOA and the USL. He also sounds like Vancouver and Montreal won't be back. Who knows if this is just a negotiating tactic or not. But, if the US...

It looks like Rob Clark has had another candidate slip off the hook. Last week Rob hinted that an announcement could be in the works for early this week when he was on Soccer is a Kick in the Grass. Then I had one person send me a message indicating that a press conference could be held today. And d...

Devo's Direct Kicks You know it's the off season and there is drama in the air when a post at Devo's blog has 30 comments, some of which are from an anonymous "Rhinos insider" and Soccer Sam. And just so everyone knows, my D&C blog comment handle is JRW1974. From what I've seen, Rob Clark is far fro...

Rhinos Soccer.com Devo's Direct Kicks The Rhinos off season is off to a solid start with the announcement that goalkeeper Scott Vallow, who was set to be a free agent when 2009 contracts expired in a month or two, was signed to a contract through the 2011 season. I would hope that this signing is a...

Soccer is a Kick in the Grass Rob Clark was on with Andrew and Joe last evening [about 50 minutes into the podcast] and said that there could be a press conference as early as next week if the search for a new head coach and/or GM wraps up in the next couple of days. Apparently Rob Clark has had a c...

I'm having a wonderful Monday. I mean, Montreal won the USL-1 title over the weekend, the TOA drama seems to be spinning yet again, there is more Portland drama , and people want answers about the Matthew Ford dismissal. Are we having fun yet? SBI.net has an intriguing list of potential MLS hea...