Kevin Kyle Now Linked With San Jose Earthquake

Coventry City's Kevin Kyle Now Linked With San Jose Earthquakes? As reported by the Hartlepool Mail website, Coventry City's Kevin Kyle, the 27 year old striker could choose San Jose as one of his destinations: Former Sunderland assistant manager Adrian Heath recommended Kyle to the boss of the San Jose Earthquakes, Frank Yallop. "Adrian Heath said one of the teams is looking for a big 6 ft 3 in Scotsman so he asked me whether I would like to come out there," said Kyle. "It is interesting stuff and their season is different to ours but I have got a little boy and over the time I have been thinking about it, it's a difficult decision."

Earthquakes to Hold Open Tryouts in Bay Area

The San Jose Earthquakes announced today the club will hold open tryouts in three cities across the Bay Area this winter: San Francisco, Danville and Santa Clara. The tour will start on January 17 and will finish on January 24. The tryout tour will give hundreds of people the opportunity of a lifetime, to try out for a professional soccer team.

Each tryout will last from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will be overseen by the Earthquakes coaching staff. A maximum of 200 participants will be allowed to try out in each city. The tryout fee has been reduced this year to $100 per person. In addition to the tryout, the participant will also receive an adidas sack pack, a ticket to see an Earthquakes game, a water bottle and a tryout t-shirt.

Registration will begin on Monday, December 15 and will be available through the Earthquakes website at sjearthquakes.com or by calling (408) 556-7700. Financial assistance will be given to people that qualify. Participants must be 16 years or older and must not be eligible to participate in any high school soccer league during the time of the tryout tour.

The schedule for the tryout tour is as follows:

San Francisco – Crocker Amazon Fields
January 17, 2009
9 a.m. – 3 p.m.


Danville – MTV Fields
January 18, 2009
9 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Santa Clara – Stanton Field at Santa Clara University
January 24, 2009
9 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Quakes Have No First Round Picks in 09 Draft

Here's the draft order for the first round on January 15 in St Louis, Mo.

FIRST ROUND
1. Seattle
2. Toronto (from San Jose)
3. Los Angeles
4. Toronto
5. Dallas
6. D.C. United
7. D.C. United (from Colorado)
8. Kansas City
9. Chivas USA
10. New England
11. Dallas (from San Jose, Houston)
12. Real Salt Lake
13. Toronto (from Chicago)
14. New York
15. New England (from Columbus)

The Earthquakes have one second round pick and one thrid round pick.

Cannon a Free Agent?

Steven Goff of the Insider reports that San Jose declined the option on star goalkeeper Joe Cannon's contract, which was due to pay him around $225,000 next season. The Earthquakes would like to re-sign him at a lower figure, but because the option was not picked up by yesterday, he is free to negotiate overseas. A Norwegian club has already stepped forward and begun looking into the possibility of making an offer.

Thoughts?

Quakes 2009 Opener at Home Against the Revolution

Major League Soccer revealed its opening 2009 schedule on Tuesday, with New York visiting Seattle in the first match of the season, on March 19th.

Here is the schedule for the opening week of the season

WEEK 1

Thursday, March 19
New York Red Bulls at Seattle Sounders (ESPN2)

Saturday, March 21
Columbus Crew at Houston Dynamo (FSC)
Chicago Fire at FC Dallas
Toronto FC at Kansas City Wizards
Colorado Rapids at Chivas USA (FSC)
New England Revolution at San Jose Earthquakes

Sunday, March 22
D.C. United at Los Angeles Galaxy (Telefutura)

The Earthquakes are schedule to play in DC United's home opener in week 2.

Quakes Coaching Staff Off to England

Earthquakes head coach Frank Yallop, along with his staff, will lead a 16-player Generation adidas team on a trip to London for matches against the reserve teams of some of the English Premier League’s top teams. The players and coaches will arrive in London on Dec. 6 and are scheduled to return to the United States on Dec. 14. The team will play three matches, beginning with a match on Monday, Dec. 8 against the West Ham reserves. The team will then play the Chelsea reserves on Dec. 10 and the Aston Villa reserves on Dec. 11. The team will train at the Chelsea Academy during their stay, while also getting a tour of Stamford Bridge Stadium and museum. The squad will also be able to take in the Arsenal-Wigan Athletic EPL match, as well as two Chelsea matches, a UEFA Champions league match against CFR Cluj Napoca (Romania) and a league match against West Ham. The team roster follows: Ciaran O’Brien (Colorado Rapids), Bakary Soumare (Chicago Fire), Josh Lambo (FC Dallas), Bruno Guarda (FC Dallas), Eric Avila (FC Dallas), Anthony Wallace (FC Dallas), Roger Espinoza (Kansas City Wizards), Rob Valentino (New England Revolution), Amaechi Igwe (New England Revolution), Anthony Beltran (Real Salt Lake), Alex Nimo (Real Salt Lake), Chris Seitz (Real Salt Lake), Yura Movsisyan (Real Salt Lake), Abdus Ibrahim (Toronto FC), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC). A 16th player will be added to the roster at a later date.

During his stay in London, Quakes head coach Frank Yallop, along with General Manager John Doyle and assistant coaches Ian Russell and Jason Batty, will visit with Quakes partner club, Tottenham Hotspur. The Quakes technical staff will meet with their counterparts on the Tottenham Hotspur technical staff and take in some training sessions at the Spurs training grounds. The Quakes staff will also attend the Tottenham Hotspur-Manchester United match on Dec. 13 at White Hart Lane.

Doyle Scouting in Jamaica

General Manager John Doyle will head to Jamaica this week to scout a number of games at the Digicel Cup. The Caribbean tournament is in the final group stages and features Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Jamaica, Barbados, Cuba, Guadeloupe, Haiti and Antigua and Barbuda. Doyle will attend six matches at the tournament. For a complete list of games at the Digicel Cup, go to http://www.digicelfootball.com.