Well, Blackpool's stay at the top was shortlived, to say the least. Chelsea has turned the WBA yo yo on it's head. It's now Oy! Oy!

In MLB, the big clubs are always in the hunt, keeping the major television markets engaged, but they don’t always win. Baseball and soccer are very similar in that the difference in degree of talent from top to bottom is miniscule. Over the course of a season, it shows, which is why the big spending clubs (at least those with competent management) are always contending. In the playoffs, however, with a short series or just one game deciding matters, money is less of a factor. The Yankees are defending champions but the year before it was the Tampa Bay Rays who won the division and went to the Series.

It will be the same in MLS. the DPR will help NY, Chicago and LA contend year after year, as long as they spend wisely, but in the playoffs, mid to small market clubs like Houston, Salt Lake, Seattle and Columbus, with strong cores and excellent coaching will be on equal footing.

As for the winter schedule, I am working on that article even now. Sorry, Ben, no sneak peeks but I will say that my opinion may surprise some people.

Another point that I think needs to be touched upon is the development of English coaches. Currently, there are 10 international coaches (counting Scots) in the Premier League.

As clubs begin to recruit more English players to comply with the new rule, I think you'll see the foreign coaches winnowed out of the herd. At places like Chelsea and Man City, where they will continue to recruit internationally, you will still see big names from elsewhere in charge. But the likes of de Matteo and especially Roberto Martinez, who loves to sign youngsters from Central America, will soon be on the outside looking in. They just won't have the contacts to compete for the best young homegrown players.

In turn, that will lead to the glass ceiling being removed from English managers in the lower levels, thus laying the groundwork for a succession of homegrown England managers.

Wow, Cardiff and the Blades still to go tomorrow but not a single draw on opening day. Looks like the Championship will be very interesting again this year.

Not qualified to say, I'm a Canuck. We're famous for it.

For some strange reason, MLS doesn't appear in the UEFA rankings, but then, I seem to remember emphasising the difference in quality, when I likened the effects of the harsh winters on the scheduling in both leagues.

For some strange reason, MLS doesn't appear in the UEFA rankings, but then, I seem to remember emphasising the difference in quality, when I likened the effects of the harsh winters on the scheduling in both leagues.

For MLS to switch to a winter schedule, they would need to build stadia with retractable domed roofs in virtually every existing market. The winter in America is just too harsh from as early as mid November to as late as mid March. Even a two week break wouldn't alleviate the problem.

As it is, the humidity of the summers is what led to the contraction of the two Florida clubs, in Miami and Tampa, more-so than financial loss. As I've already noted, very few MLS clubs have actually turned a profit to date.

The absence of competition is less a factor than you make it out. Mexico is a very competitive league, of better quality at the moment than MLS. The Costa Rican League is actually quite good, as well. The US plays in the CONCACAF Champions League and the Super Liga, the latter featuring 4 clubs each from Mexico and MLS. The Americans' lack of success in these competitions can be traced back to the climate problems, as these matches don't coincide with the MLS season.

I, too, would like to see a union of CONMEBOL and CONCACAF, as I think the South Americans have it too easy in World Cup qualifying, being just a ten member federation. However, they know it as well as anyone and, coupled with the financial considerations and the potential loss of cushy executive jobs for either side in any merger, this is just pie in the sky thinking.

Where were you on the fourth of July?
http://www.worldfootballcolumns.com/2010/07/05/fo...

Nothing that significantly cuts off revenue will be implemented. You don't kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.

The FA cup is the competition where it would make more sense to eliminate the Premier League clubs, if money weren't an object. Remember, though that if you take the EPL out of either of those competitions, it's one less route to Europe.

I think I would make the League Cup strictly between Championship and Premier League sides and set it up as follows:

Round 1--The 24 Championship sides (including the three that won promotion) are seeded according to the previous season's table (the promoted sides coming into the Championship taking the bottom slots in order of their finish in the lower league). When the round is done the 12 survivors move on to...

Round 2-- Where they are ranked 21 through 32 according to their original seeding. Naturally the top twenty are ranked in the order they finished the previous EPL campaign.

Round 3--The 16 teams remaining play

Round 4--The quarterfinals

Round 5--The semifinals. No two legged tie!!!

Round 6--Wembley for the Cup
http://www.carling.com/carlingcup/draw/

Click on the link and note that I have eliminated two rounds from the competition and as much as six weeks of the schedule. With a little creativity, the League Cup Final, like American college bowl games, could be played on New Year's Day.

Am I a genius or just a dumb Canuck without a clue?