Sir Alex Ferguson leads tributes to Sir Bobby Robson

Ben Smith from the Times Online reports how Sir Alex Ferguson pays tribute to one of the great leaders of English football.

His notable characteristics - boundless energy, a wicked sense of humour and an ability to make friends wherever he went - made him the perfect standard-bearer for Newcastle, the city he came to represent. Newcastle United have confirmed that St James' Park will be open until 5pm to allow supporters to leave their tributes to the former manager, while the FA said flags at Soho Square and Wembley Stadium would fly at half mast.

The Manchester United manager said he was mourning the passing of a great friend, who had shown strength and courage during his fight with cancer and whose knowledge of football was unsurpassed.

"I was never too big or proud to ask him for advice which he gave freely and unconditionally," Ferguson said. "And I'm sure I am speaking for a lot of people when I say that.

"In my 23 years working in England there is not a person I would put an inch above Bobby Robson. I mourn the passing of a great friend; a wonderful individual; a tremendous football man and somebody with passion and knowledge of the game that was unsurpassed.

"His character was hewn out of the coal face; developed by the Durham County mining background that he came from. His parents instilled in him the discipline and standards which forged the character of a genuinely colossal human being. He added his own qualities to that which then he passed on to his sons.

"The strength and courage he showed over the past couple of years when battling against his fifth bout of cancer was indescribable. Always a smile; always a friendly word with never a mention of his own problems.

"The world, not just the football world, will miss him. Let's hope it won't be long before another like him turns up because we could never get enough of them."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article6734540.ece

Former England manager Sir Bobby Robson is dead

Sir Bobby Robson, the former England manager, has died aged 76. He passed away at his home in County Durham this morning after losing a long battle with cancer.

"It is with great sadness that it has been announced today that Sir Bobby Robson has lost his long and courageous battle with cancer," a statement read.

"He died very peacefully this morning at his home with his wife and family beside him. Sir Bobby's funeral will be private and for family members only.

"A thanksgiving service in celebration of Sir Bobby's life will be held at a later date for his many friends and colleagues. Lady Robson and the family would very much appreciate it if their privacy could be respected at this difficult time."

Newcastle United held a minute's silence at their training ground this morning in honour of their former manager.

The national team’s most successful manager since 1966, he was best-loved for guiding England to the World Cup semi final in 1990. Robson began his football career while still at school in Langley Park, Durham. He signed with Fulham in 1950 and went on to play for West Bromwich Albion and England. However, he was better known as a coach, managing Barcelona, PSV Eindhoven, PC Porto and Newcastle United. He was voted European manager of the year in 1997.

Robson made 20 appearances for the England team himself after making his debut in 1957. He played for Fulham and West Bromwich Albion.

Among all-time coaches, Wooden's No. 1

A panel of 118 distinguished coaches from all sports was put together by The Sporting News to rate the 50 greatest U.S. coaches from all sports.

The result: John Wooden won...again.

The winner of 10 NCAA basketball titles in a 12-year span was honored Wednesday by The Sporting News as the greatest U.S. coach of all time.

"Of course he was," current UCLA coach Ben Howland said. "That had to be very easy for the panel."

Wooden was a runaway winner, picking up 57 first-place votes. Finishing second, with 20 first-place votes, was Green Bay Packers legend Vince Lombardi. Rounding out the top 10: Bear Bryant, Phil Jackson, Don Shula, Red Auerbach, Scotty Bowman, Dean Smith, Casey Stengel and Knute Rockne.

Wooden doesn't travel much anymore and is not the fixture he once was at UCLA games at Pauley Pavilion. He gets around mostly in a wheelchair.

But his sharp mind — and wit — are intact.

So is his modesty.

"No one is deserving of being called the very best," he said in his slightly raspy voice. "No one."
He then pointed out to the middle-aged men who had once been his young men.

"They're the ones who make coaches," he said of his players. "Coaches help. But if you don't have the youngsters, you're not going to do the job."

Are Americans becoming soccer fans?

MATTHEW FUTTERMAN and NICK WINGFIELD of Wall Street Journal talks of how the soccer boom this past month shows that soccer is in fact growing in the eyes and hearts of American sports fans.

For MLS commissioner Don Garber, the challenge is teaching Americans a new way of following a sport. “At their base level, sports are local and they are tribal,” Mr. Garber said.

“It’s got to be about that experience of a father and a son or a daughter going to a game and sharing something as they root for their local team together.”

The best example of this is the league’s Seattle franchise. In its first season, the second-place Sounders (7-3-8) have smashed MLS season-ticket sales records. Attendance for its home games— averaging about 30,000—is the best in the league by nearly 10,000. The raucous fans, who chant and sway throughout the games at Qwest Field, produce better turnout on average than Seattle’s baseball team, the Mariners. Majority owner Joe Roth, the former chairman of Walt Disney Studios, says his dream is “to make the Sounders a mainstream sport in an American city. I think we’re on the way.”

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203609204574317122524606410.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Shrewd Businessmen in Ferguson, Berlusconi

Good article by Peter Sevdin that comments on the inflated spending in world football today, and the shrewd business sense of Sir Alex Ferguson and Silvio Berlusconi .

Obviously, these prices thrown down are a result of the ego's of some men and the crazy inflation going on due to the sales of Kaka and Ronaldo and to some degree Benzema.

Ferguson himself said that United bid for Benzema but wouldn't budge over €35 million, which is still a pretty astronomical number, but Real Madrid had no problems with going over that value.

These days players like Sergio Aguero have €60 million on their head, and everybody is saying,

"Well if Kaka is worth this much, then my guy is worth twice as much."

That's why I personally like people like Berlusconi and Ferguson, who instead of using the vast sums of money they received from the sales of their two best players, are just going about picking up players in the "bargain bin" who might turn out to be great, keeping a low profile and waiting till everything calms down a bit.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/224952-berlusconi-and-ferguson-shrewd-businessmen

Ching readies for rematch

The loss to Mexico in the CONCACAF Gold Cup final is still fresh in the mind of US captain Brian Ching, and he relishes the opportunity of the rematch between the two in a World Cup qualifier on August 12th.

"It's not going to be hard to carry over those emotions," Ching said. "Standing on the field there, watching them accept the trophy, it's pretty much etched in the back of my mind for a long, long time to come. I'm not going to need any more motivation than that."

Ching realized that the USA have an opportunity to avenge the loss in another game that will matter even more than Sunday's result. They are fortunate it comes so close to Sunday's match.

The U.S. is in second place in the final hexagonal of CONCACAF qualifying for South Africa 2010. The Mexicans are in fourth place. The top three teams will get automatic berths to the World Cup Finals, while the fourth-place side will take on the fifth-place team from South America for a spot.

"If they think the next game is going to be like this, they have another coming," Ching said.
It seemed that Aug. 12 might have become the U.S. team's unofficial mantra.

On Sunday, the U.S. essentially used a group of players that was relatively inexperienced at the international level. The Mexicans had five players who are expected to play on Aug. 12, the U.S. one -- Ching.

"You look at anybody in the United States, this loss has got to anger you," the Houston Dynamo striker said, while twirling an energy drink bottle in his right hand. "I'm (angry). If you're an American and you're not (angry), there's something wrong with you. You just got to channel this anger, use it, and bring it with us on Aug. 12."

http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20090726&content_id=6082072&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp

From Gold Cup to World Cup 2010: US roster options

Ridge Mahoney from Soccer America reviews the CONCACAF Gold Cup, and looks at how individual player performances from the US team could affect the 2010 World Cup roster.

NO PLAYER, IT CAN BE said, clinched a spot on the 2010 World Cup team by his performance in the Gold Cup, with the possible exception of goalkeeper Troy Perkins.

A tournament used by Coach Bob Bradley to look at potential World Cup backups in a competitive environment went reasonably well until the final. Mexico exploited its speed on the flanks, a sharp tactical plan devised by Coach Javier Aguirre, and a relatively inexperienced U.S. squad to hammer home five goals in the second half and atone somewhat for not only an 11-game winless streak on U.S. soil, but that infamous 2-0 loss in the 2002 World Cup that ended Aguirre's first stint in charge.

http://www.socceramerica.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.san&s=33391&Nid=58411&p=482904