Euro 2012 Awarded

It's not entirely surprising to see that Poland and Ukraine's joint bid to host Euro 2012 has won. UEFA's president Platini has wanted to bring Eastern Europe into the mix more and this should help doing it. Croatia and Hungary's bid didn't get any votes with Italy getting the other four. Many thought Italy would be awarded the tournament despite their recent scandals and violence. But it looks like now the 2012 games will be played in the Ukraine (Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kiev and Lviv) and Poland (Gdansk, Poznan, Warsaw and Wroclaw).

Angel + NYRB.... When?

It looks like the deal that brings Juan Pablo Angel to New York Red Bulls (NYRB) is going to be announced today. The question is, when will he arrive and at what price? Up to now the problem seems to have been a matter of Aston Villa and New York Red Bulls agreeing on a transfer fee. But now it appears that there may not be a transfer fee with NYRB picking up the last year of his contract worth $75,000 per week( @$4 million annually). And because NYRB does mind losing some money, they lost $14 million last year, they're throwing in a 2nd year. At least that's what My Soccer Blog is reporting. And from this it appears that Aston Villa will not be axing Angel's current contract. So instead of joining NYRB right away, he won't be joining them until the next international transfer window opens up in August. If Angel is going to be joining so late in the MLS season will the risks be worth it? After all, Juan Pablo Angel hasn't done much the last few years. And a salary of $4m / year would make him the 2nd highest paid player in the league with only LA's David Beckham ($5.5m / year) the highest paid.

Inigo Idiakez On The Move Again?

Over at Vital Football Jack07 is reporting that Southampton and Q.P.R. could not come to terms on a transfer fee for Inigo Idiakez. Southampton bought Idiakez from Derby for £ 250000 last August. Idiakez had 1 goal in 13 game and didn't seem to settle into the team before encountering some injuries. With Saints able to bring in Liverpool's Danny Guthrie on loan, there was plenty of midfielders. Idiakez is on loan to Q.P.R. until May 6th. It may be the Saints are waiting to sell him until they see if they make the play-offs.

Conor Casey On The Move?

Toronto FC blog is reporting that Toronto FC has signed Danny Dichio. I agree that it stands to reason that Buddle or more likely Conor Casey looks expendable at this point. It doesn't seem likely that the Rapids are looking to trade Ugo Ihemelu. They coaching staff were excited to be able to bring in both him and Herculez Gomez in the Joe Cannon trade in the off-season. Ugo brings some pace to the back line that they sorely lacked last year and is arguably a future US Mens National Team player. As for the Rapids need for a new forward, Clavijo does seem to like having a big brute up top in the middle. Roberto "El Bombardo" Brown fills that role. He doesn't have the upside that Casey has but he does look adequate for the MLS and at likely at a salarly a lot less than Casey's. The question is, who is looking for a striker? As Ives points out, New York Red Bulls are in talks with Juan Pablo Angel. But NYRB and Aston Villa haven't been able to come to terms on a transfer fee. Bruce Arena's worked with Conor Casey in the past with the USMNT. Could he be interested? Beyond that it's not clear which teams in the MLS would be interested. The Fire seem a bit up top with only Rolfe, Barret and Carr up top. They also are lacking some size up there much like Chivas.