Photo: Earl Gardner

Philadelphia Union

The Union have sent out a release  saying Nick Sakiewicz and Jim Curtin will make a major announcement on Friday at 11 pm. Kevin Kinkead reports that the announcement will be the naming of Jim Curtin as permanent head coach.

Not only did Ray Gaddis play every league game of the 2014 regular season, he played more minutes than anyone in the league. Gaddis tells Dave Zeitlin at MLSsoccer.com,

There’s no better feeling than seeing a forward frustrated. If he gets subbed off, you know you did your thing. … I want to shut them all down. I want to keep them all off the stat sheet. I don’t even want them to get a shot off. No assists, no nothing…I know Coach Curtin wants even more. And that’s what I plan on giving him…I know my best days aren’t here yet.

Here’s a video segment of Gaddis spending time with young Amelia Keppel during a visit by Amelia and her family to a Union training session as part of the CSN and March of Dimes Shining Star Awards program. There’s a whole lot of goodness and love in that 4 minutes and 46 seconds.

Brotherly Game has a post previewing next month’s Expansion Draft. Also a fan responds to a fan post from his brother on the Expansion Draft. It truly is a Brotherly Game.

Union Academy alum Zack Steffen was between the posts as University of Maryland defeated Rutgers 3-2 on Wednesday night to claim the Big 10 title in its inaugural season in the conference.

Remember the Union’s 2011 playoff run? It’s Thursday, so Playing for 90 is doing the remembering for you. In related memory news, Orange in the Oven recalls the last goal scored at Houston’s old Robertson Stadium, the Brian Ching goal in the playoff-second leg against the Union.

Philadelphia Business Journal reports PPL is cutting 450 jobs as “part of a plan to spinoff of its competitive generation business.” The report continues, “With voluntary severance offerings and elimination of vacant positions, the actual number of employees leaving the company involuntarily will likely be fewer than 200.” Whether the “spinoff” will affect the naming rights for PPL Park remains to be seen.

Local

The No. 1 seeded La Salle women’s team faces No. 8 seed Massachusetts this morning in their opening game of the 2014 Atlantic 10 Championship tournament in Dayton.

The Daily News talks to senior forward Kelsey Haycook, “the most prolific goal scorer in La Salle women’s soccer history.”

GametimePA notes the passing last week of long-time Haverford High School head boys’ soccer coach and current Lower Merion assistant coach Jorge Severini.

MLS

The league has released its 2014-15 offseason calendar.

TBD – MLS Dispersal Draft for Chivas USA. (At the launch of LAFC, Don Garber said the date for the dispersal draft “is “probably December 1st.”)

December 7, 2014 – MLS Cup Final

December 8, 2014 – Half-day Trade Window: Open 9 am ET – 1 pm ET. Teams may trade during that window or may re-sign their own players. Blackout period starts at 1 pm ET, runs through the MLS Expansion Draft.

December 10, 2014 – MLS Expansion Draft

December 10, 2014 – Trade Window opens at the end of Expansion Draft; closes on December 11, 2014, at 5 pm ET

December 10, 2014 – MLS Waiver Draft

December 12, 2014 – MLS Re-entry Draft, Phase One

December 12, 2014 – Trade Window opens at the end of Re-entry Draft Phase One; closes on December 17, 2014, at 11 am ET

December 18, 2014 – MLS Re-entry Draft, Phase Two

December 18, 2014 – Trade Window opens at the end of Re-entry Draft Phase Two

January 2-5, 2015 – MLS Caribbean Combine

January 9-13, 2015 – MLS Combine

January 15, 2015 – MLS SuperDraft

The announcement notes, “As with previous offseasons which featured an Expansion Draft, this winter will feature a Half-day Trade Window on Dec. 8, shortly before 2015 newcomers New York City FC and Orlando City make their selections on Dec. 10.” Note also that the CBA expires at the end of the year. Those negotiations will no doubt be protracted and public only in the leaks about their progress.

Earlier this week we linked to news of MLS teams that will be participating in the Desert Friendlies (Jan. 31 – Feb. 12) and Desert Diamond Cup (Feb. 18-28) preseason tournaments in Tucson. On Wednesday, it was announced that NYC FC, Orlando City, and Houston Dynamo will take part in the Carolina Challenge Cup, which is hosted by USL PRO club Charleston Battery and will take place Feb. 21-28. Recall we recently linked to a report that said the Disney World Pro Soccer Classic, which the Union has participated in over the previous three preseasons, will not take place this year.

Orlando City president Phil Rawlins says the team has sold close to 9,000 season tickets and is targeting a goal of 14,000.

Toronto FC denies that a deal has been agreed that would send Jermain Defoe to Queens Park Rangers. QPR manager Harry Redknapp also says no deal is in place but admits he wants Defoe. “He’s a player we’d be interested in but it depends on the expense of the deal. Nothing is anywhere near being concluded. We tried to get him before the deadline but I don’t think there’s been any movement on that one…I’m a big fan of Jermain’s – I’ve signed him enough times.”

Seattle has signed 17-year-old forward Victor Mansaray to a Homegrown Player contract.

Howler looks at LAFC’s ownership group and says a “very conservative estimate” puts their collective net worth at $4.5 billion.

From the PRO website: “The General Manager of the Professional Referee Organization Peter Walton is positive about the use of video replays in soccer after visiting Holland to see the system in action.” While cautioning that replays in soccer “are very much still in the infant stages,” Walton says, “I will support anything that will help the referee get those big match decisions correct. If it does that, it has to be good for the game, providing it doesn’t undermine the authority and integrity of the officials concerned.”

A report analysing the proposal to build a new DC United stadium at Buzzard Point puts the cost at an eye-popping $286.7 million, which would make it the most expensive soccer-specific stadium in the league. The study says the new stadium could bring $109.4 million in economic benefits to the city while also accelerating development at Buzzard Point. More on the report from MLSsoccer.com, Soccer America, and ProSoccerTalk.

DC mayor-elect Muriel Bowse said, “The deal is problematic.”

Las Vegas Review-Journal reports, “Las Vegas city officials are working on a plan to help deliver a new downtown soccer stadium by packaging the soccer venue with four possible park projects and a parking garage under a $45.7 million to $50.7 million bond proposal.”

US

SI talks to Mia Hamm about her involvement with Roma and LAFC, as well as the use of artificial turf at the 2015 Women’s World Cup.

Elsewhere

UEFA has charged Galatasaray after crowd trouble in Tuesday’s Champions League match in Tuesday’s 4-1 defeat at Borussia Dortmund in which supporters of the Turkish club threw fireworks, flares, and smoke bombs at Dortmund fans and on the pitch. German police are considering attempted manslaughter charges against Galatasaray supporters.

FIFPro wants FIFA to punish clubs that are late in paying players. Reuters reports, “FIFPro’s proposal urges clubs to be sanctioned and players freed to terminate contracts after 30 days of non-payment.” FIFPro says clubs can currently fail to pay players for 90 days without consequences.

FIFA is considering banning somersault goal celebrations after the death of an Indian Mizoram Premier League player last month.

Paste Magazine has “10 Soccer Things You Might Be Saying Incorrectly.” Safe to say most of us have been guilty of at least one of these at some point.