7.15.13
ASN Morning Read: Competition for Howard
No, not Brad Guzan. The United States No. 1 faces a challenge from an up and comer at his club team. Elsewhere, Papa John joins the Football League and Terrence Boyd loses.
BY
Jasper Wilson
Posted
July 15, 2013
8:31 AM
Tim Howard will be challenged this year as the first-choice netminder at Everton. Roberto Martinez, on newly-signed Joel Robles, the 23-year-old he managed last year at Wigan: "He is someone who is going to give us great protection and fight with Tim Howard for the goalkeeping position and push him all the way."
Pakistani-American Shahid Khan recently bought Fulham. And one of the immediate decisions he must make is what to do with the controversial Michael Jackson statue. "I've been an owner less than a day," he said, searching for a diplomatic response. "We have to preserve and respect history, but we have to move forward. I'll reflect on it and listen to the fans, then decide." The man who sold him the club, Mohamed Al Fayed, did his part to make that decision easier. How? "Michael Jackson will stay. He can't go, he is here. It is part of the deal, it is history, it is listed," Al Fayed said. "You can't change otherwise I will come and take your moustache in public. He knows that." Think that's not much of a threat? Well, think again. Khan's mustache is glorious.
American soccer players have played in British stadiums for a while now, so it's only fitting than an American business that has cornered the pizza market over there gets a place in the concourses. Papa John's is now official pizza of the Football League, which includes the Championship, League One, and League Two. The Football League's chief commercial officer, Richard Heaselgrave, was frank when describing the deal, "This is a partnership that will be really popular with fans. Like our clubs, Papa John's are located in towns and cities across the country," Heaselgrave said.
Goal.com has the latest on summer transfers and Americans Abroad. Some highlights/refreshers: Alejandro Bedoya may move away from Sweden and Helsingborgs to Dutch side FC Twente, and Brad Guzan signed a four-year extension wth Aston Villa.
Terrence Boyd and Rapid Vienna lost to LASK Linz in the first round of the Stiegl Cup. The match went to penalties and second-half sub Boyd buried his but teammate Marcel Sabitzer missed in the fifth round to doom the Austrian giants.
Want to watch the Development Academy's Finals Week Playoffs? Top Drawer Soccer's Travis Clark tweeted out this useful link to a website that is streaming all of the games for free.
John Dorton/isiphotos.com
