Gibbs Grateful, Cooke On The Move?

There was a rumor in SI a few days ago about interest in Terry Cooke back in England. The basis of the rumor? David Moyes said some good things about him. Classic English rumor; that is, little if anything behind it but they'll still print it. I love have Terry at the Rapids. But it would seem odd that PNE, Derby and Cardiff were all interested in him because Moyes said something nice. Especially for a player who had a lot of playing time in England in Div 3 (League One).

Greg Seltzer over at Soccer 365 had an interview with new Rapid Corey Gibbs.

"The feeling was overbearing," Gibbs told Soccer365. "I really didn't get so overjoyed because I am a very neutral person, but I did thank God for all he did for me."

Gibbs has looked good in Colorado's backline in his first two games. Now if Smith can straighten out the rest of the team and get them playing better, Colorado has a chance.

Getting the team sorted out can't come too soon. The Rapids travel to Salt Lake City for a game Friday night (tomorrow). Why Friday night? Who knows. With the way the 3 Rocky Mountain Cups games were scheduled this year, you have to wonder if the league is trying to kill that rivalry. It's hard enough traveling 600 miles let alone for a Thursday, Friday or Sunday game.

Speaking of the game, as you can see below the Rapids have a lot of knocks going into the match. Could we see Smith go with a 3-5-2? Or will he stick with the 4-5-1 and slide Erpen over to left back with Kimura on the right? And what is with the Salt Lake fans? Have things really been so bleak there over the years that a 3 point difference in the standings is enough to make them think they're talking smack? Anyone predicting for Cleatus to get a RC in the 70th to help CO hold on to a 1-0 win?

Real Salt Lake - Colorado Rapids Injury Report :
REAL SALT LAKE - OUT: MF Nathan Sturgis (L hamstring strain); DOUBTFUL: MF Dema Kovalenko (L calf strain); QUESTIONABLE: DF Tony Beltran (L adductor tightness), DF Ian Joy (R adductor strain) ...

COLORADO RAPIDS - OUT: MF Mehdi Ballouchy (concussion); MF Terry Cooke (L hamstring); MF Greg Dalby (R ankle); GK Justin Hughes (L groin); DF Ugo Ihemelu (concussion); MF Pablo Mastroeni (R hamstring); PROBABLE: DF Jordan Harvey (R knee); DF Jose Burciaga Jr. (R hip); MF Jacob Peterson (L hip)

Saints Advance, Sign Spurs Striker

Southampton racked up a second win in the Carling Cup. Last week they beat Exter. Yesterday they beat fellow Championship club Birmingham 2-0 at St. Mary's. Lee Holmes and Adam Lallana scored for Saints.

Southampton landed young Tottenham forward Tomas Pekhart on loan for the year. I'm not a huge fan of this move. This is a club that could use a few more veteran faces around. Aside from that, with Stern John returning to fitness and McGoldrick scoring I wouldn't expect Pekhart to see much playing time anytime soon.

Paul Sturrock Has Parkinson's Disease

Best of luck to former Saints manager Paul Sturrock. Sturrock, who is currently in his 2nd stint as manager for Plymouth (div 2; Championship), was recently diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. This shouldn't affect his duties, at least not for awhile. He was only in charge at Southampton for a few months but he's not a bad manager. He was part of the process at Plymouth that has built that club into a Championship caliber team. Last year, 07/08, he lead the club to within 6 points a play off spot.

Rapids Lose Against DCU At RFK

(note : idiot author last summer; (c) 2008, Mike Murphy ASN) Nick at We Want Rapidman felt the Colorado Rapids, with new coach Gary Smith at the helm, would be fired up and ready to play at RFK Stadium against DC United. Unfortunately that wasn't the case with the Rapids losing 3-0.

View From The Couch takes a look back at the Clavijo Era. Note that the talk on the street was that Clavijo was a coach in name only. Plush and Wright had already taken over player trades (Rafael Gomes being the last player that Clavijo brought in). Then assistant coach and now interim head coach Gary Smith was to take over naming player line ups for games. Why were the Rapids so reluctant to simply fire Clavijo if they didn't want him around?

Jeff at American Soccer News also takes a look at the coaching change. Of note is that Fernando Clavijo was only 40-49-25 as a head coach of the Colorado Rapids. As noted by View From The Couch, Clavijo's record over 114 games was an improvement of a single win over previous Colorado Rapids head coach Tim Hankinson. Now coaching at Ft. Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, Hankinson had a record of 39-45-35. By chance Fernando Clavijo also coached the Rapids for a 114 games. Clavijo's record while in charge was 40-49-25. In terms of points, Hankinson amassed more while in charge.

Clavijo Resigns

Well, it happened. Fernando Clavijo and the Colorado Rapids have parted ways with 11 games left in the 2008 MLS season.

I didn't think it would with the Rapids front office seemingly content to wait for Clavijo's contract to run out at the end of the year. Likewise Fernando Clavijo didn't seem interested in leaving before his contract was up. But it finally happened with Clavijo officially resigning.

Earlier last week there was some legitimate speculation about Clavijo's departure. The last of it seemed to be over with Fernando Clavijo taking leave from the team due to a family emergency back in Uruguay.

Here at Black Panther, the hope is that Clavijo's resignation is not due to that situation worsening. Unlike the folks at MLS Rumors, I don't see the need to gloat about difficult family matters in Fernando's life. It's one thing to call him out for not being a successful coach in the MLS. It's quite another to take digs at him when a loved one of his is in poor health.

For the time being it appears that Gary Smith, the assistant coach Jeff Plush brought in during last off-season, will be coaching the team. The question is, will they stick with him next year or use the off-season to bring in a new head coach such as Paul Mariner or ex-Rapid John Spencer.