The Aztexan

The Aztex have returned from their tour of England, victorious in all 3 of their exhibitions there. They also trained at top-flight facilities, attended a couple of Premier League matches, and even left a player behind for a trial in the big league.

• Game 1, Oct. 14 — Austin Aztex 1-0 Stoke City FC Academy
  
  This game was a bit of disappointment to some fans, as we had assumed that Stoke would field their first team, or at least some level of it, rather than the U18 academy squad. But given that they played the day after their transatlantic flight, a 1-0 win isn't bad, even against teenagers.
  
  Stoke's match report gives lots of love to Eddie Johnson:
  

  The inexperienced Potters side had to defend for long periods of the match as former Manchester United apprentice Eddie Johnson caused them particular problems throughout an encounter watched by City boss Tony Pulis.
  
  And it was indeed livewire Johnson who set up the 85th minute winner for the Aztecs [sic] by flicking the ball across goal for central defender [Gareth] Evans to plant a close range header past City goalkeeper Dave Parton.
  
  After a fairly uneventful first half hour to the friendly match, the arrival of Pulis seemed to spark a lively end to the first half in which Johnson went close to scoring on three occasions for the USL-1 team.
  
  He had a goal disallowed in the 35th minute for a foul in the area, forced Alexander Hedley into a last-ditch clearance at the far post and brought the best out of Parton with a curling shot just before the break.



• Game 2, Oct. 15 — Austin Aztex 2-1 Accrington Stanley
  
  
  • Heath leads Aztex on their longest trip yet — The Independent
    

    Around 5,000 miles, not to mention a chasm in history, separates Accrington Stanley and Austin Aztex. To the relief of the American club's coach, Adrian Heath, tonight's journey up to Lancashire from their Staffordshire base is almost like nipping out to the shopping mall in Texas.

  • FULL-TIME: Accrington Stanley 1 Austin Aztex 2 — Lancashire Telegraph
    

    Stanley fielded a number of trialists, including former loan striker Craig Lindfield, but went behind when Nicky Patterson found the net just after the half-hour mark.
    
    Substitute Viniel Sirin volleyed home a second for the touring Aztex, who are managed by former Burnley boss Adrian Heath, on the hour before Gary King pulled a goal back by finding the empty net after Lindfield had beaten the visiting keeper to a loose ball.

  • Another day, another win — The Aztex Blog
    

    We put on a great show, looking more confident and clearly enjoying the playing surface. The fans showed some great British humour when our first goal went in, chanting "USA, USA" and then 'touchdown'!!!

  • Match Photo Gallery — Accrington Stanley
  
  


• Game 3, Oct. 20 — Austin Aztex 2-1 Sheffield Wednesday FC
  
  Other than text messages from the team back to stateside Aztex fans, and subsequent posts to BigSoccer, I could find no record of this game anywhere on the Intarwebs.
  

  Goals by Michael Callahan (1st half) and Jarius Holmes (2nd half) were enough to put the match away. Last I heard was that the guys are in the locker room, trying to warm up by having some pies.

In addition to playing, our American team also attended 2 Premier League matches. They saw Stoke City beat West Ham 2-1 at Stoke's Britannia Stadium on Saturday, the 17th, and Wigan draw 1-1 with Manchester City at Wigan's DW Stadium the next day.

And of course, this wasn't all just for the fun of the experience. These guys weren't just playing; they were auditioning.

In general Heath said the scouts from throughout England and those based in England representing clubs abroad were impressed with the quality of the Aztex. “They were quite surprised at how competitive we were,” he said about the scouts’ reactions. “We enjoyed the trip, and it gave the players a very good idea of the professional game at that level.”

And according to that article, this trip might even pay off for some of our boys:

• Keiron Bernard — "In addition to having an extended visit with the English Premier League side Stoke City, an affiliate club of the Aztex, the defender has sparked interest from unidentified La Liga, Serie A and top Dutch sides as well as Spanish second division club Real Murcia."


• Miguel Gallardo — "also garnered some attention from Real Murcia"


• Eddie Johnson — "may be seeing a move back home with interest coming from a pair of League One clubs and a third from League Two", and is "staying back in England at home there since our season is done and weighing the different opportunities."


• another, unidentified player — "has garnered significant interest from a team in Mexico, something that could see movement over the next few weeks"

So concludes the 2009 post-season; done & dusted. Stay tuned in the off-season for news of how Austin is ramping up for a stronger 2010 showing (and in what league).

Labels: exhibition, gameday, internacional, Stoke City, USL-1

Just a quick reminder: the Aztex are in England for the next week or so.

"This is a fantastic opportunity for the Aztex players and for many of them this is the trip of a lifetime," said Rawlins. "Many of them have never even been to England, let alone been exposed to the English game which they have seen and heard so much about. They will be able to experience football in a different environment, play against some top Premier League players and also have the opportunity to benefit from their training methods."

He added: "We hope in the long run that this will be the first of regular visits to England which will certainly boost the development of the squad and raise the profile of the Aztex. It will also be good from Stoke City's point of view to take a look at how things are developing with Aztex as we look to develop that relationship for the long term future."

This marks the first time a USL-1 team has toured England. They'll be training at sister club Stoke City FC's facilities, attending the Stoke vs. West Ham match at the weekend and have three friendlies lined up:

• Wednesday, 10/14 — Stoke City (at Nantwich Town's Weaver Stadium)


• Thursday, 10/15 — League Two's Accrington Stanley (at Crown Ground; benefits Save Our Stanley)


• Tuesday, 10/20 — The Championship's Sheffield Wednesday (at Hillsborough Stadium)

The 18-player roster for the trip includes mostly familiar faces, plus a few new ones: Miguel Gallardo, Nick Noble, Kevin Sakuda, Kieron Bernard, Salif Diao-Jimenez, Ednerson Raymond and Vaniel Sirin (Haitian internationals), Sullivan Silva, Mike Callahan, Ryan McMahen, Tynan Diaz (Victoria Highlanders), Jarius Holmes, Nicholas Patterson (Harrisburg City Islanders), Michael Dello-Russo, Jamie Watson, Jean Alexandre, Eddie Johnson and Gareth Evans.

Kickoff for Wednesday's Aztex - Stoke City match is 1:00 PM CT; you can listen to live match audio, courtesy of StokeCityFC.com. The best way to follow the rest of the team's trip will be via the official Aztex blog, which Kay Rawlins plans to keep updated.

Labels: exhibition, internacional, players, Stoke City, USL-1

Though the 2009 regular season is finished for them, the Aztex are still going strong. A number of players and other individuals were honored at a recent post-season awards banquet, and the team is still looking forward to a few bigger-than-usual exhibition games.

First, the awards:

• Yordany Alvarez — Fans' Player of Year


• Miguel Gallardo — Chantico's Army's Player of Year (more info)


• Eddie Johnson — Players' Player of Year


• Michael Callahan — Clubman of Year


• Ignacio "Nacho" Araujo (Univision Radio) — President's Award

Additionally, Eddie Johnson was just named to the All-League Second Team. (Presumably the First Team won't be selected until after the league final.)

There's a distinct international flavor to the slate of post-season exhibitions the Aztex booked this year. They've already played the first, a 2-0 loss to the Victoria Highlanders in British Columbia the week before last. So much for the Canadians.

Next up, our neighbors across the other border. The Aztex will host CF Monterrey, their partners from Mexico's Primera División, next week. Aztex president Rawlins:

“We’re delighted to bring in Rayados for the exhibition match on October 7. It will be a great challenge for our players to compete against one of the top Mexican teams. It’s also an opportunity for our fans to come out and enjoy top-level professional soccer in Austin one more time this year at a state-of-the-art facility that will provide fans with a great soccer viewing experience.”

Rayados ("the striped ones"), as Monterrey is popularly known, are indeed one of the top Mexican teams this year. They are 2nd overall in the current Apertura, with 23 points from 10 games (7-2-1).

The match will be held at the Round Rock ISD Athletic Complex (aka The Palace) at 10211 Parmer Lane (map). Tickets are $25 for adults, $15 for kids, and are available online as well as from the Aztex office, both Soccer USA locations and all 3 La Moreliana markets.

Then, having pretty much played out this continent, the Austin squad will head overseas, to England. There they'll play exhibitions against 2 Premier League teams: sister club Stoke City FC (naturally)and newly-promoted Burnley FC as well.

The first match, against Stoke, will be on Wed., Oct. 14 at Nantwich Town’s Weaver Stadium. I don't know why they're not playing at Stoke's fabled Britannia Stadium. Though while nobody here has ever heard of Nantwich Town, at least it won't be frickin' astroturf covered with frickin' bright white throwball lines.

After almost a week of training at Stoke City's facilities and driving on the wrong side of the road, they'll face Burnley FC on Tues., Oct. 20. That match will take place at Burnley's home ground of Turf Moor, where they've played since 1883. (Eights, people; those are eights. Not nines. 1883. As in, shortly after electric lights started to catch on. As in, 30 - 40 years before Fenway Park, Wrigley Field, Yankee Stadium, etc.) [Schedule change; see update below.]

Coach Heath on the trip:

“For our players it’s a fantastic opportunity to pit themselves against players who play in the Premier League week in, week out,” said Heath. “The thing I’m looking forward to is for them to see the intensity that the game is played over there and to give them an understanding about some of the things I’ve been talking about this year, they’ll see it first hand.”

Rawlins also called the trip something that the players will remember for the rest of their lives. He didn't say, but I expect a lot of people are thinking, that if any of them are able to impress someone in England, that it might be even more than that.

Rumors that the Aztex will continue playing exhibitions indefinitely after they leave England, traveling to Timbuktu, Siberia and Jupiter's moon Ganymede, have not been confirmed at this time.

Update, 10/2: the England schedule has changed. The game against Burnley has been cancelled (no reason given), and 2 more matches against lower-level clubs have been added. The first will take place on Wednesday, Oct. 15, the day after the Stoke match, against League Two side Accrington Stanley at that club's Crown Ground. All proceeds from that match will go to help keep that struggling club afloat, via the Save Our Stanley (S.O.S.) campaign. The following Tuesday, Oct. 20, Austin will take on Championship side Sheffield Wednesday at that club's training grounds. Wednesday are currently in the middle of the table, with 13 points from 10 games (3-4-3).

Labels: exhibition, internacional, Rayados, Stoke City, USL-1

We had a nice, warm evening of soccer at Nelson Field last night, for yet another 1-1 Aztex draw. The Fox Soccer Channel cameras were there, and from the crowd to the performance on the field, I think Austin Aztex FC's national broadcasting debut went over pretty well. Unfortunately that opinion is from hearsay and not firsthand observation, since I don't get FSC (and can't get it from Time-Warner, without subscribing to another 1,700 channels I don't want, but that's a rant for another day).

The Islanders were tough, as expected. Couple that with a pretty shaky opening half from the Aztex — allowing Puerto Rico to get on the board first — and it looked like it might be a long night. But once again the Red & White came out looking like a different team in the 2nd half. I don't know what Coach Heath says to them in that locker room, but they certainly had the mojo after halftime. It was enough to draw them level, but not quite enough to pull out the win.

The You-Had-To-Be-There Moment of the Match: seeing a couple of skinny little white kids — 7 or 8 years old, tops — with their shirts off, waving them like crazy and jumping up and down right in the middle of a bunch of Hispanic guys in the supporters' section. Think you'd see that kind of enthusiasm (& integration) at a Round Rock Express game?

Here's a rundown of other post-match coverage:

• Aztex tie Puerto Rico 1-1 — Austin American-Statesman
  

  Both sides missed a bevy of chances for a game-winner, settling for a 1-1 tie as Austin made its national television debut in front of a team-record 5,216 fans at Nelson Field.
  
  The game followed a familiar pattern, as the Aztex limped out of the gate with a disjointed display.
  
  After surviving several clear-cut chances, Austin fell behind in the 39th minute. Puerto Rico midfielder James Marcelin found time in the center circle and picked out the surging Cristian Arrieta in the Aztex box.
  
  The defender turned his marker inside-out before firing high into the roof of the net.

• Austin Aztex FC earn 1-1 tie against Puerto Rico Islanders — AustinAztex.com
  

  In the 67th minute, Johnson was once again involved in an offensive threat on the Puerto Rico end. This time, however, the forward dropped off a back pass across to former Cuban player Yordany Alvarez. Alvarez settled the ball, then delivered it high to Gaudette's left. The Puerto Rico keeper managed to get a portion of his hand on the ball, but it wasn’t enough as the ball found the back of the net and more importantly, the Aztex had tied up the game at one apiece.

The Aztex's next match will be next Sunday, May 17, against Montreal Impact, in Montreal. This will be the first road game of the season for Austin, and their first time to face the Impact. The match will be broadcast on USLLive.com; watch here or on ChanticosArmy.com for details on a where the supporters will gather to watch it.

In PDL news, the Aztex U23s kicked off their season this week. They lost their season opener in Laredo, losing 1-3 Thursday night to the Laredo Heat. Last night (Saturday, 5/9), they drew 1-1 with Houston Leones, in Houston. These first games of the PDL season count as Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup qualifying games. Only the top team in the Southern Conference advances (conference standings), and these first two results will make it hard for the U23s to pull that off.

There is far better news from Austin's partner club in England today, however: Stoke City FC have clinched their spot in the Premiership with today's 2-1 win over Hull City. Congratulations to the Potters, a big fat raspberry to all those who thought Stoke would go right back down, and a hearty early welcome to the team whenever they come to Austin. It's great to have a Premiership team as a partner, rather than a former Premiership team!

Labels: postgame, Stoke City, U-23, U.S. Open Cup, USL-1

After a week off, the Aztex return to the field Friday night, hosting the Puerto Rico Islanders here at Nelson Field, at 7:00 PM CT.

Neither team has dropped a game yet this season. The Aztex have won 1 and tied 2, their 3-0 win over Cleveland City Stars being the most recent. Meanwhile, the Islanders are 2-0-1 so far this season, coming off a 3-2 win over the Montreal Impact in Puerto Rico last Saturday (match report / box score).

This home game is of extra significance for the Aztex, as it will be the team's debut on Fox Soccer Channel (FSC). This will be one of 5 Aztex games (2 at home, 3 away) to be aired nationally by FSC. Hopes are high for a good showing from the crowd as well as the team. Be sure to note: because the game will be televised, kickoff will be at 7:00 PM CT rather than the usual evening game time. That's despite what you may have heard previously (or seen printed on your tickets!).

As the USL pregame story notes, this isn't the Islanders' first visit to our fair city:

While it is the first official competitive meeting of the year between the two clubs, the pair are somewhat familiar with one another with Puerto Rico having made a training friendly stop in Austin en route to their CONCACAF Champions League Semifinal match in Mexico. Just days before their second leg meeting with Cruz Azul, the Islanders played to a scoreless draw as they prepped for the decisive game of the series. As witnessed last week on Fox Soccer Channel with Rochester's 3-0 win over Cleveland, whom they played to a goalless tie in the prior to the season, preseason contests may not be a reliable indicator for future showdowns.

The weather forecast looks great, it's starting to warm up here. This should be another great game , with both sides out to prove something following their preseason draw. Following this match, the Aztex will have a long week until their next game, on the road against the Montreal Impact next Sunday, May 17.

Though the kickoff is early — that time again: 7:00 PM — the pre-game supporters gathering hosted by Chantico's Army at Nomad Bar will officially begin at the usual time: 5:00. (Though if you want to arrive earlier to get a head start, who could stop you?) The group will head over to the stadium at about 6:15 to congregate and be ready to enter the stadium at 6:30. I'll be the one in red; hope to see you there!

A quick note to mention the other big game this weekend: Aztex partner club Stoke City FC have another chance to secure their spot in the Premiership in a match against Hull City on Saturday.

If we win, we are guaranteed another season of top flight football. Even if we lose, this could still be the case if eighteenth and nineteenth placed Newcastle and Middlesbrough draw their more than crucial fixture on Monday night.

Come on you Potters!

Labels: gameday, media, Stoke City, USL-1

MLS First Kick is this week, starting with Red Bull New York at Seattle Sounders Thursday night. And our Aztex season begins in almost exactly a month, so we won't have to slum it with leagues like the English Premier League much longer. But regardless, it's time again to check in on the fortunes of our newly-promoted English comrades at Stoke City FC. Another quarter, approximately, of the English Premier League's season is in the history books, with most teams having played 29 games of the 38-game season.

When we checked in after 10 games, Stoke had earned 10 points and stood in 15th place. At the 20 game mark, they had 20 points, and were sitting at 18th, barely in the relegation zone. I suggested at that time that if they kept to their average of (exactly!) one point per game, they'd probably be okay.

Which is (exactly!) what they've done: 29 games, 29 points. Unfortunately, their goal differential has been on almost the same pace (-19). So even though they're one of 3 teams with 29 points, they're still down there in the relegation zone.

P	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Manchester United	28	20	5	3	49	16	+33	65
2	Chelsea	29	18	7	4	49	16	+33	61
3	Liverpool	29	17	10	2	49	21	+28	61
4	Arsenal	29	14	10	5	45	26	+19	52
5	Aston Villa	29	15	7	7	43	31	+12	52
6	Everton	29	13	9	7	39	29	+10	48
7	West Ham United	29	11	7	11	34	34	0	40
8	Wigan Athletic	29	10	8	11	29	28	+1	38
9	Fulham	29	9	10	10	28	26	+2	37
10	Manchester City	29	10	5	14	45	37	+8	35
11	Tottenham Hotspur	29	9	8	12	35	34	+1	35
12	Bolton Wanderers	29	10	3	16	31	43	−12	33
13	Hull City	29	8	9	12	35	51	−16	33
14	Sunderland	29	8	8	13	29	38	−9	32
15	Blackburn Rovers	29	7	9	13	32	48	−16	30
16	Newcastle United	29	6	11	12	35	46	−11	29
17	Portsmouth	28	7	8	13	30	45	−15	29
18	Stoke City	29	7	8	14	28	47	−19	29
19	Middlesbrough	29	6	9	14	21	41	−20	27
20	West Bromwich Albion	29	6	5	18	25	54	−29	23

They're down there, but so is everybody else. There's just a six point difference between Stoke and 10th place Manchester City, with 35 points.

There has been plenty of player news for the Potters in the last couple months. Striker Dave Kitson returned to Reading. As one Stoke City blog put it:

The term "expensive flop" is used a lot to describe footballers, but few fit the requirements to be one as well as Dave Kitson did at Stoke. The 29 year old striker made the move from Reading to the Potters back in July for a fee of £5.5 million, almost three times as much as we had ever paid for any other player, and then proceeded to do absolutely nothing; sixteen games, no goals and barely a notable contribution.

Amid such lackluster performances on the field (and some less than stellar performances off it as well, such as Ricardo Fuller's "driving offences"), one bright spot has been mid-season signing James Beattie:

James Beattie continues to prove a fabulously astute signing. His opener on 14 minutes being his 5th goal in 7 starts. Class by anyone's standards. Who made the goal for him? Mr Whelan! His thrust through the centre and header forward to set Beattie clear was superb. Beattie one on one with the keeper.....you just knew he was going to score....its been a long while since we have had a striker who inspires such confidence.

The remainder of the schedule seems to favor Stoke. For one thing, five of the remaining nine matches are at Stoke's formidable home ground, Britannia Stadium. The opposition could be worse, too. The next few matches are: Middlesbrough (19th place), West Brom (20th) and Newcastle (16th). The Potters better work on upping their one-point-per-match average a bit before it comes down to the wire, though. The last match of the season will be Arsenal, at The Emirates.

Labels: Stoke City

With most teams having played 20 games, the English Premier League's 38 games are more than halfway gone at this point. So, time again for another quick look at how Stoke City, the Aztex's partners across the pond, are doing. When I last wrote, after game 10, the Potters were sitting in the 15th spot, with a total of 10 points to their name.

Here's the league table as it stands today:

P	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Liverpool	20	13	6	1	35	13	+22	45
2	Chelsea	20	12	6	2	40	9	+31	42
3	Manchester United	18	11	5	2	29	10	+19	38
4	Aston Villa	20	11	5	4	33	22	+11	38
5	Arsenal	20	10	5	5	33	23	+10	35
6	Everton	20	9	5	6	27	25	+2	32
7	Wigan Athletic	19	8	4	7	24	21	+3	28
8	Hull City	20	7	6	7	28	37	−9	27
9	Fulham	19	6	8	5	18	14	+4	26
10	West Ham United	20	7	4	9	24	28	−4	25
11	Bolton Wanderers	20	7	2	11	22	28	−6	23
12	Portsmouth	20	6	5	9	21	33	−12	23
13	Manchester City	20	6	4	10	38	30	+8	22
14	Newcastle United	20	5	7	8	26	32	−6	22
15	Sunderland	20	6	4	10	21	29	−8	22
16	Tottenham Hotspur	20	5	5	10	20	25	−5	20
17	Middlesbrough	20	5	5	10	17	29	−12	20
18	Stoke City	20	5	5	10	18	33	−15	20
19	Blackburn Rovers	20	4	6	10	22	36	−14	18
20	West Bromwich Albion	20	5	3	12	16	35	−19	18

As you can see, our fellow red-and-white striped ones are sitting in the relegation zone, at 18th. However, it's worth noting that only 5 points separate 11th place (Bolton, with 23) from 20th (West Brom, with 18).

The Potters have also been faring poorly in non-league competitions, unfortunately. They were eliminated from the Carling Cup in a heartbreaking loss to Derby County in early December. The team that was relegated back to the Championship for this season pulled out a 1-0 win at literally the last minute:

Extra-time loomed but in injury-time, Andy Griffin was judged to have handled a cross from Kazmierczak, and referee Rob Styles awarded a spot-kick that Ellington rolled in right in front of the massed Derby ranks.

Ten seconds later, the game was over.

Their prospects in the FA Cup weren't much better, as they didn't even make it past the 3rd round. And again, they were upset by a lower level team. This time it was Hartlepool United — a side that was just promoted to League One (one level below the Championship) this year — that shut them out, 2-0.

Last I wrote, star midfielder Liam Lawrence was expected to come off the injury list "in November". In reality, he just made his first appearance in last Saturday's loss to Hartlepool. Hopefully his return will help make up for striker Mamady Sidibe's injury on Dec. 14, which is expected to keep him out until February.

Meanwhile, there may also be "problems in the dressing room", as they say. Ricardo Fuller was sent off in the 55th minute of the match against West Ham on Dec. 28, after slapping his own teammate, captain Andy Griffin (video).

So there's Stoke City FC, a little over halfway through their first season in the top flight in more than 20 years. There is still lots of time for the team to pull themselves out of the danger zone. As it happens, they have the same one-point-per-game average they had after 10 games. If they keep to that average, or even bump it up a bit, they should be okay.

The Potters will launch into their 2009 league games this Saturday, when 1st place Liverpool come to Britannia Stadium. The game will be broadcast live on Fox Soccer Channel at 11:30 AM CT.

Labels: Stoke City

• Aztex open new offices, unveil new logo — AustinAztex.com
  

  The ceremony concluded with the Aztex unveiling the team’s new logo/crest. The redesign was a collaborative effort intended to transition the organization from it first season in the PDL to the 2009 campaign, which will feature a full professional team competing in the USL-First Division against teams from around the nation including Miami, Portland, Montreal, and Atlanta.

  I like the logo a lot, though I am a little confused about the exact colors. The image on that page is considerably darker, almost maroon, compared to the copy I received by email from the team, which I can only call "bright red".
  Well, see for yourself:
  


• USL Soccer coming to Valley — KGBT.com
  

  After four decades of organized soccer, the Rio Grande Valley was awarded a professional soccer franchise by the United Soccer Leagues (USL).
  
  The historic RGV franchise will participate in the Premier Development League (PDL) of the USL in the 2009 season.



• Carling Cup: Stoke City 2-0 Rotherham — Stoke City FC

  City are into the Quarter Finals of the Carling Cup for the first time in almost 30-years after a comfortable 2-0 victory over League Two side Rotherham United.

  Stoke advance out of the fourth round along with Arsenal, Blackburn Rovers, Burnley (who upset Chelsea on PKs today), Derby County, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur & Watford. The exact match-ups for the fifth-round, to be played in December, will be drawn this Saturday, Nov. 15.

Labels: rivals, Stoke City, U-23

The English Premier League season is 38 games long, and at this point most of the teams have played 10. That's about a quarter of the way into the season, so I thought I'd post a quick, "how are Stoke City doing?" post. If you already follow The Potters and attend watching parties with Chantico's Army at Cuatro's, none of this will be news to you. This is a simple summary of their season to date.

For a newly promoted team, Stoke City are doing okay, but not great. They're currently 15th (in the table of 20), with 10 points. Though since the positions are still pretty bunched up — there are 4 teams that have 12 points — you could almost say they're 9th out of 12. I know, I know, ties on points are broken by goal differential, etc., but I think it's worth pointing that out, especially this early in the season.

The Potters have been loitering close to or in the relegation zone the better part of the season. Of the newly promoted teams, they're tied on points with West Bromwich Albion, but not doing nearly as well as Hull City. (Then again, Manchester United's not even doing as well as Hull City at this point, The Tigers are so hot.) The commentary I've heard and read seems to hold the belief that Stoke will have a hard time staying up. This comment from Soccer By Ives' EPL correspondent James Tyler, following Stoke's 3-0 loss to Manchester City, is typical.

Manchester City 3, Stoke City 0
The Potters will definitely be relegated this season, but who's going with them? Robinho scored a hat-trick for the home side, and they could easily have scored 3 or 4 more.

However, it's certainly not all gloom, and there are lots of games left to play. This week saw them get their 3rd win at home, a 1-0 victory over Sunderland, that pulled them up and out of the bottom three. And though it was a draw, their 0-0 result against Liverpool — at Anfield — was a team victory.

And Liam Lawrence, the midfielder named as their player of the season last season, is expected to come off the injury list in November. He's been out for a month after tripping on his Labrador:

"It was in the middle of the night, the dog lies on the stairs and I didn't see him.

"I trod on him, realised what I'd done, tried to go to the next step but went over on my ankle and fell down the stairs.

"The dog is fine. I could have killed him at the time but he is intact.

If nothing else, they don't look like this year's Derby County, which won only a single game after their promotion last year, finishing the 38-game season with a mere 12 points.

They've also advanced to the fourth round of the Carling Cup (the "sweet sixteen", if you will). They will face Rotherham United on Nov. 10 in that competition.

Their next match is Saturday, when Arsenal play them at home, Britannia Stadium.

So that's where they stand. I'll post another catch-up after another 9 or 10 games, and see where things stand at that point. In the meantime, here's an old joke I came across recently.

A man is sitting in a pub with his jack russell dog one Sunday afternoon. The football results are coming up on the television in the corner: "Stoke City 2, Tottenham Hotspur 1," reads the announcer. Suddenly the jack russell jumps up and shouts out, "Oh, no, not again!" The shocked landlord says, "That's amazing. Why did he say that when it was announced that Tottenham lost?" "Because he's a Spurs supporter," the dog's owner replies. The landlord then asks what the dog says when Tottenham win a match, to which the man replies, "I don't know. I've only had him six months."

Labels: Stoke City

Here's a follow-up to my recent post about where one could get one's soccer fix after the Aztex season finished. While I still miss the games out at Dragon Stadium, it's hard to argue there's not enough soccer to keep a fan busy.

• Stoke City — their season is underway, so there are games every weekend. Unless you have satellite TV, you'll probably watch these matches at a bar. For example: Mother Egan's this Saturday at 1:30PM to see Stoke City v. Aston Villa.


• USL-1 — I have been (casually) following the Carolina Railhawks, as I said I might. As part of this experiment, I paid for a month of video via USLlive.com to catch some of their games. The announcing is uneven but not terrible, the video quality I've seen is also uneven but not terrible. There have also been frustrating technical issues (video not starting, for example, or in one instance, the live stream being switched off "while we archive this video" before the game was even over!). It's pricey for that quality, in my opinion ($10/month or $50/year).
  
  I don't imagine they have zillions of subscribers. It's probably 98% avid fans who want to see their team at away games (e.g., like I'll be next season), so maybe that's just how the cost has to break down, but it's unfortunate. If it were cheaper — more like MLSnet's $20 (which just dropped to $10 after the all-star game) for the whole season — I'd just subscribe and catch the occasional game for fun. As it is, I won't continue past this month.


• Olympic soccer — what can you say about the U.S. men's team? "You lose some, you lose some"? There's been some great soccer to see, though. And the U.S. women's team will get at least silver, which is great, though gold would surely boost next year's WPS launch just a little bit more. We'll find out tomorrow morning! (On Telemundo, USA network or online, if I'm reading NBC's website correctly.)


• FCD — they seem to be coming around, maybe. They've been wheeling and dealing, cutting and signing, including, as you surely know, our own Jamie Watson. Told you Dallas was classier than Houston, didn't I?


• miscellaneous other stuff from previous post — Stoke U18 games, check; no knitting, as predicted; haven't gone to the Mexic-Arte Museum yet (but I have until Sept. 16); no rumors on stadiums yet (there's plenty of time for that); and Juan Toja's move to Liga I Frutti Fresh hasn't gotten another 2 seconds of my time since I mentioned it. Sorry, Juan.


• one major soccer option I completely failed to mention — the University of Texas women's team. Among Aztex fans it seems that mentions of UT result in grumbling about (a) the total preoccupation of the Austin sports media (and fans) with anything and everything burnt orange, or (b) how unlikely it is that the Aztex could ever play at UT's Mike Myers stadium.
  
  What's perhaps forgotten, at least by me (though not by Nick Barbaro at the Chronicle), is that there's already a soccer team that plays there, and a darn good one at that. Ranked 8th in the country, expected to win the Big 12 this year, etc. Here's the 2008 Longhorn Soccer schedule; their first home game is Friday night at 7:00 vs. Samford. I might just go; I'll be the one in the Aztex shirt (I don't have any burnt orange anyway).

Labels: MLS, stadium, Stoke City, supporters, USL-1

Saw this story, via another Stoke City blog called Going Down The Match, that makes an interesting view of Stoke City's chances in the EPL based on some of their shots-taken stats: Premiership Prospectus 2008/9 -- Stoke City.

However it's also possible that Stoke are set up better than either Hull or West Brom for the step up in class. If they can get anywhere near scoring once every seven shots they have a good chance of survival (provided their defense doesn't collapse completely). You would imagine that Premiership teams would cope with Stoke's set plays better than Championship sides, but it's not a certainty.

Labels: Stoke City

Today was a Stoke City kind of day: the first team played their first game in the Premiership against Bolton Wanderers at The Reebok in Horwich, and their U18 Academy team played a friendly against the Rayados youth team at Town & Country here in Austin.

If you had to pick one squad to win and one to lose, you'd probably have reversed the results: the U18s won 2-1, and the first team lost 3-1. Of course the table is next to meaningless after only one game, but we now have Bolton at the top and Stoke at the bottom, thanks to the goal differential of 2 from this game. I'm sure the Potters won't stay at the bottom any longer than the Trotters will stay at the top.

The fine Stoke blog on BlogsFC has a good recap & player ratings.

The problems in the team are clear though. Griffin is just not good enough fo the Premier League any more, and is also too small and slow. Bolton had a lot of joy attacking down that side through their pacy wide players. Contrast that to Stoke’s lack of width. A new full back (Andrew Davies looks very likely to join from Southampton) a new winger are a must.

As for the new signings, Olofinjana impressed me, Kitson worked hard and tried to be creative but had little success and Sorensen could possibly have claimed a few more crosses that he left, once at our great cost but apart from that had a reasonably solid debut despite conceding three.

The sooner Abdoulaye Faye comes into the side the better and I hope the Davies signing is completed, as the defence looks very weak for a Premier league side, which is what we gladly now are. Investment is a must if we wish to remain that way.

If you haven't caught any of the Stoke City Academy games this weekend, you have one more chance tomorrow at noon. There's very limited bleacher seating, and absolutely no shade for 200 miles in any direction, so take a chair and an umbrella if you go. You'll thank me.

Labels: Stoke City

As you've probably seen, the Aztex U23s suffered a tough loss last night in Orlando, going down 3-1 to the Laredo Heat in the Southern Conference Final. You can read the gory details, if you don't already know them.

And so ends the inaugural season of the Austin Aztex. As I've commented elsewhere, I find it oddly difficult to feel too sad about the loss last night. Sure it would have been great to go the national finals. I mean, of course.

But the whole season has just so completely and consistently exceeded expectations, that it seems almost greedy to want the national title, too. I don't want to sound defeatist or anything. I'm just saying, they could have had a season like the Palm Beach Pumas — who ended with -1 points (that's right, negative one points) on the season — and I'd still be an Aztex fan.

The bummer is that we have a long, long offseason before we see the Aztex on the field again. Is there anything to keep an Austin soccer fan busy until next April? Here's what I came up with; hope it helps.

• Catch up on Stoke City's preparations for their first year in the Premiership


• Speaking of Stoke, don't forget their U18 Academy team will be here next month


• Pick a USL-1 team, any USL-1 team! Their season doesn't end until September (I'm thinking Railhawks)


• Go to the Mexic-Arte Museum downtown, to see the Aztec and Maya Revival exhibit


• There's some kind of soccer going on China next month, isn't there?


• Knitting? Nah, scratch that.


• Go back to following MLS soccer (in Texas, that means FC Dallas if you have any class or taste, Houston Dynamo otherwise)


• Follow the stadium speculation and rumors for next year's Aztex seasons


• Follow FC Dallas fan-favorite Juan Toja through his impending (or not) trade to Steaua Bucureşti, becoming an expert in Romanian football along the way. Apparently their top-level league is called "Liga I Frutti Fresh"; what more could you ask for?

Labels: MLS, Stoke City, U-23

• Pulis impressed by aztex — Why Delilah
  

  Pulis, who coached for America's national youth development programme for a short spell when between jobs earlier in his managerial career, says there is a bottomless pit of potential talent because so many youngsters are playing football in the States.
  
  "No-one is making any promises," he says, "but this is clearly an area of the world that's worth keeping a very close eye on.
  
  "And we are in the very fortunate position of having two Stokies at the heart of what's going on."



• Central Texas'most powerful sports figures — Austin American-Statesman
  

  20. Phil Rawlins
  
  Sphere of influence: Soccer
  
  Title: Owner, Austin Aztex soccer club
  
  Why he's No. 20: Rawlins is the new soccer wonderboy locally. He's the minority owner of the English soccer club Stoke City, which recently moved up to the prestigious English Premier League for the first time in 23 years. While he's fairly new to the area, having moved here just four years ago, he has quickly become a major player in the soccer world.

Labels: media, Stoke City

All Stoke City needed today in their game against Leicester City was a draw, and that's all they got; final scoreline: 0-0. I managed to find pirate live video of the 2nd half of the game, and let me say, it was intense. Somehow, it hadn't really registered for me that Leicester was fighting relegation, so there was a lot at stake for both teams.

Anyway, to hell with the table, and with the results of all the other matches. Who cares? All that matters to The Aztexan is that STOKE ARE PROMOTED!!

Labels: Stoke City

Okay, we're down to the wire, now. And I'm delinquent in putting this up, so I won't give the full run-down of recent results.

Currently, Stoke City is in second, tied on points with West Brom but nowhere near in goal difference (West Brom: 31, Stoke 14). Meanwhile, Hull City continues to breathe down their neck, just 3 points back, and also with a better goal difference (19).

P	Team	Pts	Move
1	West Bromwich Albion	78	—
2	Stoke City	78	—
3	Hull City	75	—
4	Bristol City	71	—
5	Watford	69	—
6	Crystal Palace	68	—
7	Wolverhampton Wanderers	67

(Full table)

So the bottom line is, if Stoke get a draw or a win when 21st-place Leicester City come to Britannia Stadium on Saturday, their promotion to the Premiership is assured! Aztex owners Phil & Kay Rawlins will be in Stoke-on-Trent for the match, so if any extra little bit of luck is needed, hopefully that will do it. GO POTTERS!!

Labels: Stoke City

Despite a 2-1 victory over Bristol City, Stoke City drop to 2nd place this week. West Bromwich Albion, 0-1 over Wolverhampton on Tuesday and 1-2 over Norwich on Saturday, take over the top spot, 6 points richer than last week. The only other movement at the top of the Championship table was another swap: Hull City continue their climb despite a 2-0 loss to Sheffield United on Saturday, due to their 1-3 victory over Barnsley on Tuesday.

P	Team	Pts	Move
1	West Bromwich Albion	77
2	Stoke City	75
3	Hull City	72
4	Bristol City	71
5	Watford	69	—
6	Crystal Palace	68	—
7	Ipswich Town	65	—

(Full table)

That leaves 2 more games for the Potters to keep fighting for every inch (deja vu, I know - I mistakenly thought there were two games left as of last week, but it was three). Hopefully a win against dead-last Colchester this Saturday doesn't require too much fighting.

Labels: Stoke City

After putting Coventry City away 2-1, Stoke City are back in the top spot! But there are still only 3 points separating them from the next four teams.

West Brom & Watford drew 1-1, which is as close to them both losing (as I requested last week) as could be managed. In fact, it was practically a festival of ties: fellow promotion challengers Bristol City (0-0 vs. Wolverhampton) and Hull City (1-1 vs. QPR) joined the party as well. Thanks, guys, and keep up the good work. The result was little movement at the top of the table, save for Stoke jumping up to #1.

P	Team	Pts	Move
1	Stoke City	72
2	West Bromwich Albion	71
3	Bristol City	71
4	Hull City	69	—
5	Watford	69	—
6	Crystal Palace	65	—
7	Ipswich Town	64	—

(Full table)

According to the Telegraph, Stoke manager Tony Pulis used Al Pacino's fire & brimstone locker-room speech from Any Given Sunday to rally the troops before the game:

"We came into the dressing room and there was a big screen set up with speakers and everything," said Liam Lawrence, scorer of Stoke's winner. "We were like, 'What's going on?' They showed us Al Pacino's team talk from Any Given Sunday [the American Football film] and that really got us going.

"Any added motivation is good at this stage. It's 40-odd games in and you've still got to play every game as though it's your first. It's just about winning now."

(Note: includes language not suitable for work ;-)


I hope the Potters can keep on fighting for every inch over their next 2 games, starting Saturday when #3 Bristol City come to Britannia Stadium.

Labels: Stoke City

It hasn't been a good week for Stoke City's promotion prospects, as they lost to Crystal Palace Monday night, 1-0.

Meanwhile, Bristol City lost 0-2 to Southampton last weekend, which was nice of them. West Brom was less accommodating with their 3-1 defeat of Blackpool, which was enough to put them in the #1 spot, if barely. Watford won once (2-1 over Coventry City on Saturday) and lost once (0-3 to Barnsley on Wednesday), holding their #5 spot. Hull City's recent steady climb was on hold this week, if only because they didn't play.

So Stoke drops to 3rd, but not by much. Notice that the top 5 teams are separated by a mere two points!

P	Team	Pts	Move
1	West Bromwich Albion	70
2	Bristol City	70
3	Stoke City	69
4	Hull City	68	—
5	Watford	68	—
6	Crystal Palace	62
7	Ipswich Town	61	—

The Potters' weekend match is away against 19th-place Coventry City. Hopefully West Brom, Bristol City, Hull and Watford will all lose (which would be a neat trick, actually, since West Brom and Watford play each other!).

Labels: Stoke City

It's been kind of slow for the Aztex lately, news-wise. To tide you over until we hear something about the U23 roster, here are a few miscellaneous tidbits (apologies to readers who keep up on BigSoccer's Aztex forum, as neither of these will be news to you).

First, Playing Through, a nice write-up in the Austin Chronicle about local soccer hopefuls Marcelino Uriarte & Wes Allen:

It's a tale of two center midfielders.

Both are smart and versatile. Either would be a cornerstone of the Austin Aztex's Premier Development League team, a squad starting up from scratch a few weeks before the 2008 season opener on May 3 (home opener May 10 vs. Houston Leones, 7:30pm, at Dragon Stadium in Round Rock).

Second, here's a BBC Radio interview with Aztex owner Phil Rawlins. You can listen to the full, hour-long show in original RealAudio format, or just the 7 minutes of Phil's interview in MP3 format (which occurs about 42 minutes in to the full show). Apparently Phil, along with Head Coach Adrian Heath and USL President Francisco Marcos, was preparing for a Stoke City fan meeting of some kind, to discuss all things Aztex.

Phil (& Adrian, presumably) will also be at Brittania Stadium tomorrow night to watch Stoke beat Crystal Palace, the lucky dogs. I'll post an update to the Championship League table after the game, but I'd like to thank Bristol City for their 0-2 loss to Southampton yesterday. Keep up the good work, lads!

Labels: coaches, media, players, Stoke City, U-23

Stoke City held a 1-0 lead over Sheffield Wednesday for 60 minutes before surrendering a late goal and settling for a 1-1 draw today. Meanwhile, Bristol City topped Norwich 2-1 to snatch the top spot. In other results, West Brom came back from an early 2-0 deficit to Colchester, netting two in the 91st minute to come out on top, 4-3. And Hull City continue their winning streak, putting Watford down 3-0 and hanging strong in 3rd.

P	Team	Pts	Move
1	Bristol City	70
2	Stoke City	69
3	Hull City	68	—
4	West Bromwich Albion	66
5	Watford	65
6	Wolverhampton Wanderers	61
7	Ipswich Town	59	—

(Full table)

Stoke City don't play again until next Monday, April 7, when 9th place Crystal Palace come to Brittania Stadium.

Labels: Stoke City

The Potters hung on through another weekend, staying in first and even extending their lead a tiny bit. Their own result today was a 1-1 draw with Blackpool. Meanwhile, 2nd place Bristol City lost 1-2 to Cardiff City, and 3rd place Watford drew 1-1 with Plymouth Argyle. Hull City, meanwhile, continue to shoot up the table, with 2 wins since last weekend.

P	Team	Pts	Move
1	Stoke City	68	—
2	Bristol City	67	—
3	Hull City	65
4	Watford	65
5	West Bromwich Albion	63
6	Plymouth Argyle	59	—
7	Ipswich Town	59

(Full table)

So while Stoke isn't running away with it (yet!), they stay atop the table for another week. That's one down, six to go. Next up: an away match against relegation-endangered Sheffield Wednesday next Saturday, Mar. 29.

And here's a Championship bonus for you: an article from BBC News a couple weeks ago on Stoke City and Bristol City, and their Premiership hopes: Championship chargers.

"The biggest thing for a manager - and this is something that I learned when I came into coaching with Harry Redknapp at Bournemouth - is knowing the product," [Stoke manager Tony] Pulis explains. "And the product in football is players.

"There has been a big change of players here.

"You have got to really know what you want as a manager and put the right pegs in the right holes.

"You don't find out about players sat around the television. You have to be out and about, on the road, watching games. It takes a lot of time to analyse what is out there."

Labels: Stoke City

They're just barely there, but they are there! They were only able to get a draw (0-0) against Watford today, despite being a man up for more than two-thirds of the match.

In other results of interest today, Bristol City went down 1-2 to Plymouth, and Hull City continue their climb with a 5-0 thrashing of Southampton.

But I think the most remarkable result may be West Brom, who got a 1-4 pounding from 20th place Leicester City. The Foxes scored all 4 of their goals after West Brom striker Luke Moore was red carded in the 35th minute. West Brom still have two games in hand over Stoke, and they have made it to the FA Cup semifinals, but maybe they're not worth worrying about too much, after all.

P	Team	Pts	Move
1	Stoke City	67
2	Bristol City	67
3	Watford	64	—
4	West Bromwich Albion	62	—
5	Hull City	59
6	Plymouth Argyle	58
7	Crystal Palace	57

(Full table)

That leaves seven more games in the season, and it looks to me to be a pretty reasonable schedule from here on out. Most of the games are against teams from the bottom of the table, except for Bristol City and Crystal Palace, and both of those are home games. So although their first-place position is a bit tenuous, I think the Potters have a good grip on their own promotion destiny now. Hopefully they'll solidify things starting with their next match: Blackpool at home next Saturday, Mar. 22.

Labels: Stoke City

With a 1-1 draw against Burnley at the weekend, and a 1-0 win over Norwich, Stoke City have climbed back into 2nd place! Bristol City and Watford also getting a 1-1 draw today didn't hurt, either.

P	Team	Pts	Move
1	Bristol City	67	—
2	Stoke City	66
3	Watford	63
4	West Bromwich Albion	61	—
5	Charlton Athletic	56	—
6	Hull City	56
7	Plymouth Argyle	55

(Full table)

Definitely a good result today, but I don't think we're out of the woods yet. #3 Watford has a game in hand, and #4 West Brom has two. West Brom will make up one of those tomorrow, vs. Crystal Palace (go Eagles!).

Next up for Stoke: taking the bull (hart?) by the horns this Saturday, playing Watford at Vicarage Road (Watford's home stadium).

Labels: Stoke City