With Southampton coming from behind at Leyton Orient today for a 2-2 draw, the Saints haven't lost a game in their last 5 in League One. In fact, Alan Pardews squad has only lost once in their last 10. Does Southampton have a chance at making the playoffs despite starting out with a 10 point deficit?
Could aging French International Patrick Vieira be showing up in the US next summer? So far it doesn't seem to be much more than Vieira making a comment in the press about maybe doing it. The ol' soccer equivalent of "I'd like to get married someday". http://www.clubcall.com/intl-football/vieira-looking-across-pond-939261.html
"I still have a year left on my contract and I think it will be my last in Europe at the highest level," he told Orange Sport. "I would like to try an experience in the United States, (former French international) Youri Djorkaeff has convinced me."
Last night the Colorado Rapids played, well, a rather poor game against the Los Angeles Cosmos Galaxy. The Rapids took the lead in the 60th minute though a goal by Colin Clark. Colin had drifted over the right side of the field, got a nice pass from Omar Cummings, and found himself with some time and space in the box to slot the ball past the Galaxy's keeper Rohan Ricketts. But as the game was winding down the Rapids defense, which had already been saved once by the crossbar, pulled a bit of keystone cops and allowed Landon Donovan to put the ball in the back of the net off a rebound.
Colorado Soccer Now (ColoradoSoccerNow.com) has a good look at the game, especially the controversial 74th minute which saw referee Alex Prus first issue a red card and then rescind it. Was it the right call? More details here.
Examiner.com's Deron White has up player ratings for the game. Was Deron right to give Pablo a 4 but a 5's for the backline?
For myself, Blogs By Dave has the best look at the game in calling out the Rapids for the performance they gave and how the team has changed but it still seems to be the same ol' Rapids.
I haven't written much about one of my favorite teams, Southampton. But if you haven't heard things are looking dire for the right now. With 2 games left they're on they need at least a win and tie, and really 2 wins, to have a chance at avoiding relegation to League One (division 3). That in itself is pretty bad. The bigger, soap opera story has been related to the financial situation. I really need to blog about that some more as it has many twists in turns. In short the Southampton PLC filed for bankruptcy a few weeks ago. Technically since the club itself but it's parent company went into administration the league's rules aren't clear that the club has to be deducted 10 points. Yesterday the league's body ruled that the Saints are facing a 10 point deduction. Saints are appealing that. Even if the team's play on the field manages to keep them out of the relegation zone it looks very likely this 10 point deduction will stick and they'll be relegated. Relegation to League One for Southampton may be a matter for the history books only though. When the PLC went into administration, the main clowns that guided them into the mess like Lowe, Wilde and others resigned from their positions. Part of the problem is that they were asking too much money for the club and still haven't found a buyer. Without one it looks all but certain that the club will not exist next year even if somehow they win their appeal and are not relegated. It's very possible that the 08-09 Championship season will be Southampton FC's very last. So remember when you're team is facing relegation that it very well could be worse.
The Colorado Rapids are on the road again this weekend. They're in Houston looking for their first ever win at Robertson Stadium. The 1pm game, Mountain, will be broadcast on Telefutura. The 2 biggest questions I have for the Rapids at this point are if their defense will show up. They've been giving up far too many opportunities and goals. The other is if someone other than Conor Casey or Omar Cummings will step up for the team and put the ball in the back of the net. It's great to see the two starting strikers scoring goals. But we know in the long run we need more goal production from other players. Will we see that against Houston on Sunday?
In other news, ColoradoSoccerNow.com's George Tanner has been a part of InDenverTimes.com. InDenverTimes is a project that's risen from the ashes of the old Rocky Mountain News. One of the things they're doing is giving subscribers a chance to interact with the people covering the news. George Tanner did that today with a chat this afternoon giving people the opportunity to ask him questions and give their two-bits. Watch for more events like this in the future.
