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Morning Ticker: Rapids halt FC Dallas, Keegan quits Newcastle and Castillo forced to stay at City

Mike_petke_ap

Just when you thought you could write off the Colorado Rapids as being dead for the season, they find a way to breath some life into a disappointing season.

Mike Petke helped revive the Rapids once-faint playoff chances with his 60th minute header goal off a Tery Cooke cross to give Colorado a 1-0 win against FC Dallas at Pizza Hut Park.

The win, just Colorado’s second road win of the year, moved the Rapids into a tie for third-place in the Western Conference with Chivas USA.

Here are some other stories to get your morning started:

Keegan resigns as Newcastle manager

It was a relationship that has been doomed for a while, but when Kevin Keegan learned that his own club was trying to sell players behind his back the former Liverpool legend decided enough was enough and walked away from Newcastle.

Keegan joins Alan Curbishly on the EPL coaching scrap heap after Curbishly also resigned this week, leaving the West Ham manager’s job available. One coach who doesn’t seem likely to take the Hammers post is Croatia head coach Slaven Bilic.

Castillo stuck at City

Mexican striker Nery Castillo looked set for a loan move to Real Betis, but now that the deal has fallen apart just before the transfer window, Castillo has no other choice but to stay at Manchester City and fight for playing time.

Castillo’s chances of playing for a Manchester City squad that boasts the likes of Robinho and fellow Brazilian Jo at forward are made even less likely with the word that another forward Manchester City tried to send off on a loan is being forced to stay as well. Ecuadorian striker Felipe Caicedo was set for a loan to Hertha Berlin but the German club backed out after securing the services of Andriy Voronin from Liverpool.

What do you think of these stories? Do you think the Rapids can turn things around and make the playoffs? Was Keegan right to walk away from Newcastle? Is owner Mike Ashley to blame for making a mess? Is Castillo in danger of falling out of the Mexican national team picture?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. jonathan and christian- my point of saying what age they came to the US is valid as they were not mercs… they came over at a young age and were thus given citizenship over time… that was my whole point….

    age does matter if we are talking about mercs… and dont lump me into this topic, as i stated before, as long as the player WANTS to play for the US, i dont care of his lineage…

    ———-

    jonathan- despite not being born in the US, if you have US parents, you could be born on the moon and you’d still be given automatic citizenship…. a player not of US lineage that moves to the US has to be naturalized, but if your parents are yanks, then you are a yank… plain n’ simple…

    and age is a difference depending on the reason… a kid of 4 moving with his parents to the US is different then an adult of 27 moving to a country to play football, then becomes naturalized and then plays for that country… you are allowed your opinion and i wont claim you are wrong, but i see a difference..

    Reply
  2. Marta

    Zihna, Vuoso, and Leandro didn’t go to Mexico with intentions to play for them.

    They went to Mexico to get payed because it’s the best paid league in the continent.

    They were Mexican citizens for at least 4 years before they were called up and NOBODY paid them a dime to play for Mexico.

    No shenanigans like the David Regis situation just 10 years ago.

    At what age they came here is irrelevant, the bottom line is that Holden, Feilhaber, Adu and Mastroeni were not born in the US.

    At what age they came here is irrelevant

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  3. I don’t see a difference between:

    Mexico: Nery, Zinha, Franco

    USA: Adu, Bocanegra, Mastroeni

    Both groups moved to another country. Their ages are irrelevant.

    Reply
  4. Those guys not born in US territories are still NATURALIZED. Don’t use that flip flop crap. That only works on presidential campaigns.

    Reply
  5. sunchild- most of the guys you mentioned immigrated to the US at an early age and eventually became citizens… lol, hate to say it, but that is how the US was founded and populated…

    agoos was born to a US diplomat 😀 sorry but he couldnt get more american… automatic citizen at birth

    Tab Ramos & Hugo Perez again, moved to the US at the age of 11 with his family… hardly merc’ed as they became US citizens over time

    Werner Roth- lol, moved at an early age with family to the US…

    Earnie Stewart was not nationalized, his father was a US soldier, thus automatic US citizen at birth

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  6. sunchild- point not made, DeRossi and Rossi are two COMPLETELY different players O.o

    using Rossi against us is folly… he chose to play for italy b/c 1. hes good enough and 2. he always stated he felt more italian then american… dont know how thats used as an insult :-/

    Feilhaber moved when he was 6, Mastro moved at 4, adu got lottery green card at the age of 8, didnt start playing pro until 14… these 3 are players that moved here at a young age… hardly constructive arguements there…

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  7. Sun Child,

    Those players are from the 80’s early 90’s. Who was the last player naturalized as an ADULT to play for the US? Regis? Two almost three world cups ago. Yes we needed them them as we were a fledgling soccer nation and YOU MEXI fans gladly threw our face in it back then. We are returning the favor.

    Thou the MLS has only been around 10 yrs to MEX 75-100, we have already surpased MEX. Mex is NOW resorting to naturalizing adults. Name 1 player who got their citizenship as an adult and now is in the US pool?

    I can name a few for MEx Leondro, Vuoso, Naelson, Franco. Wasnt Zague Brazilian?

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  8. Christain,

    Mex will have more naturalized players in uniform tommorrow for their qualifier. I dont think the US has one.

    Nery was in the Uruguayan youth pool but went to Mex cause he is insolent.

    75 yrs of mexican soccer progress is resorting to naturalized players. US is going the other way. NO player has ever come to MLS as an adult and suited up for the US nats. Talk about hypocrisy, for years Mex fans ripped on the US for naturalized players. Now they are balatantly capping players brought in as adults.

    Sunchild,

    get out of the sun its torching your brain.

    who the hell is Vazquez and when did Nowak ever play for the US?

    Yes when the us was growing we did resort to the Prekis but were past that. Feilhaber, Adu, and Maestroni came up through the us system and when they received citizenship they had no idea they would done the great red white and blue.

    Leondro, Vuoso, Franco, Naelson went to Mex as ADULTS and got their citizenship with INTETNIONS of being mercenery players. Castillo only played for Mex after a falling out with Uruguay.

    Yes Rossi is playing for Italy which shows the growth of US soccer. With Subotic, Rossi and the Captain from Norway and a few others our players are being stolen unlike Mex who takes Brazils and Argies sloppy seconds

    Reply
  9. Rossi , DeRossi, whocares. Point made.

    Also, see below.

    Name/Birthplace

    Jeff Agoos – Switzerland

    Preki – Yugoslavia

    Fernando Clavijo – Uruguay

    Hugo Perez – Salvador

    Brian Quinn – North Ireland

    Tab Ramos – Uruguay

    Werner Roth – Yugoslavia

    Earnie Stewart – Neatherlands

    Roy Wegerle – South Africa

    A national team full of mercenaries.

    Reply
  10. sunchild- help me out with this one…

    DeRossi… Daniele De Rossi he Italian that cracked BMB’s head open in the 06

    or do you mean Rossi… the Italian american who chose to play for italy??

    or is there an american DeRossi im missing… either way both players are bad canidates to attempt to make fun of the US..

    Reply
  11. There’s no doubt in my mind that the Rapids are the worst team in the league this year. That being said, they deserved to win over Dallas. FCD could very well have the worst management team in the league. I’ve decided that Hitchock is a joke, and I can not believe they chased that coach for all those years for that kind of result. Going after and starting the biggest cancer in MLS, not playing guys who should be starting…I feel for the few fans FCD has left.

    Reply
  12. Dear Martha,

    If by Mercenary you mean all of those Naturalized citizens the US has brought in over the past decades, then the whole US. squad is made up of mercenaries.

    Example, Adu isn’t American born, he’s from Ghana or some African country who lived in Canada and won a lottery to the US.

    Preki, Vqzques, Adu, Failhaber, Nowak, Mastroeni just to name a few are some of the most well known mercenaries the US has had. They were not born in the US, more fitting of the mercenary tittle than Castillo.

    Yikes, even DeRossi was born in the US and he doesn’t wanna play for you guys. Something to think about.

    Kettle, pot, etc.

    Reply
  13. Martha;

    Seriously, get your head out of your ass. Show how Nery is a mercenary for Mexico? In order for that to happen, someone would have to pay him, kinda like what Nike did with Freddy Adu. Or what the USSF did with David Regis before the 1998 WC. Get your facts straight.

    Mexico and the US have the same amount of “naturalized” players on their senior pool ranks.

    Hypocrosy at its best.

    Reply
  14. I still think Nery can get into the City team. How many left sided options do they have besides Petrov? Also, they have 3 strikers currently injured (Bojinov, Benjani, Vassell). That being said, he is acting like Dennis Rodman these days? He needs to get his head straight. No manager worth their salt would play him in the team given his current mental health

    Reply
  15. Nery wisely took the Ukranian money but foolishly went to England. His game doesnt translate. Beasley had a hard time because of his size and Beasley is much tougher than Nery.

    Nery is perfectly suited for the SA game but not for England. He didnt exactly light the Ukranian league either.

    Dont worry Mex fans…there are plenty of Brazilians and Argentinians in the MFL just waiting to be capped by Mex.

    Reply
  16. Nery Castillo is shell shocked he must stay. He is scared sh!tless at the thought of those tackles. He should have never went to premiership. Hes slight, fast, and not particualarly tough. Not exactly the formula for success in England.

    karma biting him in the a$$ for being a mercenary player for Mex

    Reply
  17. Well now that we don’t have to worry about Gio and Nery, we’re in good shape. I mean who else does Mexico have…Vela? Guardado?…its not like those guys are getting any playing time with good clubs in good leagues or seem set to have a good year…NOT! By the way, no one seems to know where Nery is these days according to Sven.

    Reply
  18. Angel

    I don’t know Nery personally or anything but everyone knows that a footballer’s career is short, so I don’t really blame him for taking the money and running. The gripe, obviously, is that he has hurt his career by making that choice.

    Nery has accomplished more in Europe than Donovan and on top of that he’s younger. Landon only shows up against Mexico and even in the last game between both teams, he was almost invisible, or did he even play?

    If I put myself in Nery’s shoes, I don’t know that I would’ve turned down that Ukranian money but I’m sure he’s learned his lesson. He’ll bounce back, he’ll be out of Manchester by December and will probably find a new team.

    Nery can still contribute to the national team even if he isn’t sharp. He was great against Ghana in March after basically not playing competitively for months but Sven won’t call him up unless he’s playing every week.

    Lastly, nobody paid Nery any money to play for Mexico, and the so called “rumor” you’re referring to was from Greece. Apparently the Greek FA had offered Nery 2 million euros to play for them. No way of knowing if that’s true or not.

    I mean, you can look at the Nike sponsorship deal Freddy Adu signed when he was 14 as proof that someone paid him to play for the US.

    Reply
  19. Christian,

    Nery deserve what is getting, for been a greety person. Now that I think about the were some rumors way before he came to play for Mexico that Hugo and the FMF was going to pay him some good money to come to play for Mexico.

    Now about Landon Donovan you are wrong, he kill Mexico all the time that he play agaisnt him or USA. Believe me Mexican would be happy if Donovan wasn’t playing when USA play Mexico on every game, no matter if it is friendly or a World Cup Qualifier..and brian Ching well u are right on that one he is a joke including, Eddie Johnson, Clint Dempsey.

    Reply
  20. WELL SAID CM, Huge difference when Dax and Avila entered the game… A lot more scoring opportunities created by those guys, I truly believe Dallas would have won had they started.And Guarda, nothing against the guy but he has no business starting, let alone playing the whole 90+ minutes…Truly the teachers pet.

    Reply
  21. Ives,

    http://www.thestar.com/Sports/Soccer/article/491070

    I read the Article from the site above, it talk about the schedule that conflict the FIFA date and how its hurting the MLS. I hope the learn the lesson. Poor Toronto FC it has nine players to each National team.. Like the Galaxy it has their best player been call out to the National team, that been said they never gona make it to the playoff I already giveup..

    Reply
  22. The Rapids do not deserve to make the playoffs. A dearth of offensive options has left the team needing to shut out opponents to win. Conor Casey is an under rated player, but he cannot stay healthy. This team needs a make over from the front office to a decent portion of the team.

    Reply
  23. Well, that sucks for Nery.

    He hasn’t made the wisest choices for his career but then again other factors have been at play.

    He got injured right when he got to Man City and missed some time, then had to get healthy, and towards the end he seemed to be getting match fit but he didn’t play all that much anyway.

    Constant trips to Uruguay and Greece because of his parents health issues (both his parents have cancer) had limited his playing time during the second half of last season, something that Sven confirmed.

    But the worst thing Nery could’ve done was not sign the new contract that Olympiakos offered him, he wanted more money ( $500,000 divided contract negotiations) and Olympiakos put a ridiculous tag on him, the only team willing to pay for it? You guesses it, Shaktar.

    And here we are, a whole year wasted.

    Kyle don’t worry, Sven won’t call up Nery unless he’s playing but it’s not like the thought of Donovan and Ching really scares anyone in CONCACAF, well maybe the Cubans.

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  24. The situation in Dallas is dire, I’m afraid. For one thing, we have a coach who continues to play his ‘pets’ (I’m talking to you Guarda and co.)over players (Dax McCarty and Eric Avila, to be specific) who have MORE than proven themselves. From the moment they entered the game last night (finally) we had a spark that was nowhere to be found in the first half and first part of the second half. Dax and Avi deserve to be starting. End of discussion.

    And if all that weren’t enough, our coach also thinks it’s perfectly fine for his 12 year old grandson to take practice with the first team. Sure, he’s a great player with a great future ahead of him, and if some of the players wanted to work with him AFTER practice, great, have at it. But with our playoff hopes dwindling by the second (I’m afraid to look, actually. We may already be out of it) I find it ridiculous and embarassing for Schellas to be entertaining his grandson.

    I’m sorry, but as a longtime supporter and even moreso as a season ticket holder I think we all have the right to voice our opinions and question the way our team is being handled, or mishandled as the case may be.

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  25. 4 points after 3 games, 2 of which were away to Arsenal and Man U, was all anyone could have reasonably hoped for.

    I’m just disgusted by the whole situation, even though it feels pretty identical to what I’ve seen locally with the Red Bulls/Metrostars over the years.

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  26. I don’t think the Man City striker situation is THAT good. I’m not sure if Jo is ready yet(his agent even admitted this may be the case) and Robinho will take some time to adjust and winger might be his best position in England anyway. They’ll probably need Benjani a lot since he’s their most proven goalscorer in England. Castillo could still get some chances.

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  27. Castillo is a little (expletive) he was at Shakthar he is at City and he would’ve been at Betis. He doesn’t want to fight for playing time at City and he thinks it will just be handed to him at Betis? This is great for all fans of the U.S. National team. I’m loving it..

    Reply
  28. Not so sure about that Metro. I’m actually not a Keegan fan but after it took him 8 games last season to turn the club around, they finished rather strong. Their draw vs. Man U, win in the 2nd week seemed to indicate they might be pointed in the right direction. Yes, they got spanked by Arsenal but no real shame there. I think they do need, as Brant said, to find a gaffer and stick with him for a while.

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  29. Newcastle might be the most mis-managed team in the EPL. Just think how good they might have been if they’d had any consistency in their management at all. Can’t they take a page out of Everton’s playbook and stick with a manager for more than 8 months?

    I think it’s telling that the fans are now walking away, and the board doesn’t seem to get that the fans aren’t coming back so long as the same clowns are in charge of the boardroom, regardless of who the on-field players/managers are.

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  30. Poor Hammers and Newcastle. Both boards have made a mess of the situation. Curbishley has done nothing but be a solid manager for the team and while their results weren’t great, they weren’t tragic. Everybody agrees that Keegan’s outspoken nature can make him a bit difficult to work with but Ashley messing up this return is real setback for Toon.

    I don’t have strong opinions about either club but they are both clubs with great history and it’s sad to see them both reeling due to mis-management.

    Reply

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