Maple Lions

The Fifth Round draw is out.  And Anfield will be the site on February 18 of a potentially ripping Liverpool/Man U match.

Good to see two sides from League One get this far, as Brentford take on Charlton at The Valley and Colchester face the winner of the Toffees/Blues replay.

Paul Canniff 

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Here are today’s standings in the online poll to name the Toronto MLS franchise:

You can cast your vote here.

Paul Canniff 

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Let’s see: your side is twenty-five points behind in the table, a newly-promoted team takes you out of the League Cup, and a Champions League qualifying berth could be just one point out of your grasp while your next CL opponents are the Galacticos.

What do you do next? Send in your B-squad and young ‘uns in a bid for the FA Cup. Not my choice, but then I’m not the one lauded as a footie genius.

Right on, skipper.

Paul Canniff

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Robbie Fowler is back at Anfield.

Paul Canniff

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England avoided the heavy hitters in the group stage.

Cheers for Euro 2008 as a vastly safer, cheaper option than the 2010 World Cup for Canadians to get their super-sized live footie fix.

Jeers for the likelihood that the Galacticos’ star place-kicker will be there to try penalty shots. I still shudder over Becks’ field goal against Portugal in ‘04.

Paul Canniff

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They might be champions, but Chelsea FC still lost £100 million last year:

Chelsea will this morning announce that they made a loss of more than £100 million over the past year, marking a record in English football.

The Premiership champions, who in the previous 12 months had lost £88 million, will have spent £240 million on players since Roman Abramovich bought the club in 2003 and after taking into account the money he spent on buying Chelsea, this means a total investment of more than £400 million by the Russian. Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck confirmed the financial picture yesterday saying: “We announced a significant loss last year and we are going to announce a significant loss again.”

But Buck also confidently claimed the club were on target to meet Abramovich’s plan to make Chelsea profitable in five years. The latest figures do not include the new shirt deal with Samsung, which came into force this season and brings in £11 million per year, or the Adidas deal which brings in £10 million per year.

£100 million comes out to C$204,606,783.64, in case you were wondering. I’m starting to think the old adage about motor sport - “the way to make a small fortune in racing is to start with a big fortune” - applies to football, too.

Damian P.

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Am I the only one who would not pay a wodge of cash to go to Stamford Bridge just to watch a melancholy man in a shabby grey coat pace the touchline and brood? Mourinho seems to think so.

Great football mind but still a big girl’s blouse.

Paul Canniff 

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Paolo Di Canio flashes a Fascist arm salute while playing for the club patronized by Mussolini — twice — and gets suspended by the Italian Football League a month later.

Gary Neville kisses his strip’s badge after a winning goal and is promptly fined by the FA.

Actually, that’s why I love football in Albion.

Paul Canniff

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Sportsnet’s Soccer Central reported last Saturday that the backers of Toronto’s MLS franchise are not opting for a typically mundane North American style of team name. They’re going Euro, and in this poll you can vote for you preferred name.

I’d sooner down a boilermaker of Guinness and Goldschlager than wear a strip denoting me as a member of the Kickers, the WildKats or similar soccer-mom banality. That being said, the fates of Real Salt Lake and Chivas USA give one pause to think.

Paul Canniff

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A Beeb buffet of opinion on a wide range of potential successors to Sven. Good for prodding those who have yet to ponder the choice.

The floor is open for your two pence.

Paul Canniff

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