Gooch on the mend -- slowly

Today’s soccer news:

Oguchi Onyewu is on schedule for a March return to training from a serious knee injury suffered in the United States’ qualifier against Costa Rica. That leaves three months to return to form before the World Cup, which could be tough unless he secures a loan away from AC Milan, perhaps to MLS.

The ever-candid Jimmy Conrad offers some good insights on MLS union contract talks, the Kansas City Star reports. The potential for a lockout or strike exists and could devastate the league if it happened.

Fulham manager Roy Hodgson’s contract renewed for 12 months, ESPN reports. Not years, months. This is England, after all. (See also Mike’s post on Gary Megson’s sacking.)

In related news, Chelsea paid $56.7 million for two seasons worth of coaches it no longer has, an insightful detail the Associated Press culled from a team report that Chelsea is “effectively debt free,” as owner Roman Abramovich put it. You can probably translate “effectively” to mean “kinda sorta, but not really.”

Joey Barton is back and blunt, via the London Guardian. I can’t help but like this guy (when he’s not beating up people). He seems like he came straight out of South Philly.

Brazilian defender Rafinha, however, is missing, according to Goal.com. Might he be hiding in Munich or Turin, awaiting a lucrative transfer?