Well, first I would like to say sorry for the missing predictions from last week. As you know, we were in Toronto on last week and we travelled on Thursday for the game so I never had a chance to get my results in on time.

Lets talk a little about the week before and my 5 out of 5 predictions!!! What a result. If only I had a $1000 on that one.

Ok lets get cracking for this week.

Chelsea vs Man United - This one has special written all over it. Forget the Champions League, both teams will want to win this one. Winning the premiership is huge and both will be going all guns blazing to win. Both teams are doing so well in the Champions League that you would think they would rest their top players, however I dont think they can. English soccer is all about winning and they will both go for it. Close game. High scoring. United win.

Deportivo vs Barcelona - The league is out of reach from Barca now and I think that they will be concentrating more on the Semi final in Manchester than this game. Depo win.

HSV Hamburg vs Schalke - Its going to be a belter as both teams fight for the Champions league place. HSV win.

Celtic vs Rangers - Another Derby. Not much more to say than I think that Celtic will go to town on Rangers this week. I’m sure that Rangers will have one eye on the Fiorentina game and only one eye in this game is trouble. Celtic win.

FC Augsburg vs FC St Pauli - I’m saving the best for last. My boys are almost sure of 2nd division football next season and I am very proud of them for that. Tough game though, away in Augsburg. Pauli Win

Until next time. God Bless.

IJ

I want to start with saying a few words about how things have gone for us over the last 2 games. I feel, as I’m sure most of you feel, that we have not come away from those games with the points that we have deserved and what with the performances that we have been showing it’s a little upsetting. I’m sure all of you are thinking here we go again, another year, new players, same old crap. Well I can assure each and every one of you that this year is not, as long as I am here, going to be the same as the years you have already had to deal with!!! We have guys in this team who are born winners and will do anything in their power to come off the field as winners. You also have to realize that the coaching we have been receiving from Jason, Robin, BJ, Jeff and Dan is some of the best training I have had in my career and it’s an amazing feeling as a player to go onto the field with those guys behind us. They all have a winning mentality and share our passion for the game. We are all working our asses off everyday to make this team better and give you guys - the Fans, Press and people of Salt Lake - something you deserve, and that is a winning team. One thing we all forget is that this team is completely new and it takes time for the team to gel and get to know each other, but I am convinced that we will achieve our goal a lot quicker than expected. Already we have turned a few heads and its only a matter of time before the Real Salt Lake bomb explodes and we go on an amazing run. Keep up the good work and keep believing!!!

OK Lets start with that amazing result last Sunday at the Millerntor, 5-0 what a result for the boys in brown and here is some more good news we only just beat Wehen last night away in wehen. 2 in a row, I am very impressed, out of relegation danger by 10 points now.

Well here we go again another amazing weekend of soccer in front of us. I’m going to make this short and sweet because my wife is waiting to watch a DVD, so here goes:

Juventus vs AC Milan - I would love to say Milan will win this one but I dont think so. Juve WIN

Werder Bremen vs Schalke 04 - This is one of the top games in the bundesliga and both of these teams are super strong, Schalke are one of my favorite teams and will eventually win the Title but im afraid to say that getting points from Bremen in Bremen is not easy. Bremen WIN

Manchester United vs Arsenal - wow What a game!!! I don’t need to say too much about this one, it’s going to be fireworks!!! United WIN

Bayern Munchen vs Dortmund - This one has classic written all over it, both of these teams always put up a great game when they play against each other, I would not be surprised if Dortmund won this one but Bayern at home??? Sorry. Bayern WIN

Scottish cup semi - Partick Thistle vs Rangers - This a derby and used to be even bigger when they were in the same league. Im saying Rangers WIN and at least 1 red card in this one.

I have to go now the DVD is starting.

Until next time God bless…

IJ

Congratulations are in order for RSL rookie Alex Nimo as the young midfielder has been named to Head Coach Thomas Rongen’s Under-20 squad that will head to Beja, Portugal later this week. The team will play in the Campos Verdes International Tournament from April 13-19, featuring matches against Northern Ireland on April 15, the Cape Verde Islands on April 16 and Portugal on April 18. This marks the second call-up to the U-20 MNT for the 18-year-old Nimo who was drafted by RSL in the second round (17th overall) of the 2008 MLS SuperDraft and made his Real Salt Lake debut on Sunday, playing 72 minutes in the squad’s MLS Reserve Division opener against Chivas USA. Congratulations Alex and good luck in Portugal!

Kenny “Dr. Goals” Deuchar opened his scoring account in Saturday’s clash with Chivas USA and what better way to celebrate his first career MLS goal than with a Sierra Mist Goal of the Week award? Well he’s halfway there as the nominations are out and the big Scotsman has joined four other worthy candidates on this week’s ballot. The rest, however is up to the fans. Head on over to MLSnet.com to take a look at this week’s best in MLS and cast your vote for the top tally. The competition is furious this week as the RSL target-man is up against stellar efforts from Dallas’ Kenny Cooper, Chicago’s Tomascz Frankowski, Houston’s Geoff Cameron and some guy named Beckham in L.A. So get clickin’ and let’s give Kenny’s spectacular strike the recognition it deserves.

Here we go again. Last week wasn’t great. I got off to hot start as United put Aston Villa away 4-0, Liverpool edged Everton and Fenerbahce snuck by Besiktas on the road. Things went south however when Rangers beat Celtic and then the kicker, my boys at St. Pauli got rocked by SC Paderborn, 4-1. That puts my 2 week overall record at 5-3 not terrible, but nothing spectacular either. I think I can improve on that this week though, I’ve got a pretty good feeling about these…

Arsenal vs Liverpool

What a game in the premiership, Arsenal are such a hard team to beat at home and I think that its going to be the same again for Liverpool. Liverpool are a team that can spring a few surprises but I think that Arsenal are going to be the winners of this one. Arsenal Win

Fulham vs Sunderland

This one is going to be a right battle as both teams fight for their premiership lives. Sunderland have won a few lately and I think that they might bring enough to take the points away from Cravens Cottage. Sunderland or Draw

F.A Cup Semi Finals

West Brom vs Portsmouth
Barnsley vs Cardiff

I have never in my time alive seen the last 4 of the English FA cup have only 1 team from the top flight involved. I have lost track of the games and competitions back in Europe since my move and I had to look twice at the semi-final fixture list. However congratulations and good luck to the 4 teams. My tip for these 2 is Portsmouth to beat West Brom and Cardiff to beat Barnsley. Portsmouth vs Cardiff final!!! 2 sets of crazy fans.

VFB Stuttgart vs HSV Hamburg

Massive game in Deutschland’s Bundesliga, the top of the table is heating up with Bayern losing a few in the last weeks. HSV a in good form and will be a strong force in Stuttgart, however I don’t think they will walk away with more than a point. Draw or Stuttgart win

St Pauli vs SC Freiburg

Anyway these are all important games but to be totally honest they all mean nothing to me! The one that matters the most is at the Millerntor where the Mighty Braun Weiss will take on one of the promotion favourites Freiburg. After last week’s humiliation at Paderborn my boys have promised me and all St Paulianers out there a better effort on Sunday.
St Pauli win (please)

Until next week Godbless…

IJ

This just in. The RSL goalkeeping corps has been stricken by a debilitating and highly contagious illness. Sometime between Saturday night’s contest with the Chicago Fire and this morning all three netminders, veteran Nick Rimando and second year players Chris Seitz and Kyle Reynish, fell victim to the mysterious ailment. With a huge showdown with Chivas USA on Saturday and his trio of goalkeeping options under quarantine, RSL Head Coach Jason Kreis has no time to sign an emergency player. As a result he has been forced to turn to a familiar face… former MLS ‘keeper and RSL General Manager Garth Lagerwey. Despite being on the sidelines for nearly a decade and still recovering from a recently torn Achilles tendon, Lagerwey has jumped to the top of Coach Kreis’ depth chart in only a couple of days.

When asked about the task of taking on the reigning conference regular season champion on such short notice, Lagerwey simply said, “I think I’m ready! Going up against my former teammate [Chivas USA Head Coach] Preki, I’ll give him a chance to remember how I haunted him in practice on a daily basis.”

Despite questions of his fitness and preparedness, Lagerwey will bring great leadership and a veteran presence to the RSL back line as he lines up between the pipes at The Home Depot Center on Saturday. We caught up with fellow goalkeeper and RSL Assistant Coach Jeff Cassar on his thoughts about preparing Lagerwey to lead the defense against the potent Goats attack. See what he had to say below:

Shown below preparing in his office, Lagerwey feels this is the time to make his Jordanesque return to the pitch and is confident he is the right man for the job. “I’m just excited to get back with my people and go down to L.A. and tear it up!”

In other news on this wonderful April Fool’s Day, make sure to join us at the “RSL Coach’s Corner” on KALL 700 Sports as host Bill Riley will be joined by Head Coach Jason Kreis as well as DF Ian Joy and MF Kenny Cutler. The show is being held at the Café Rio in Sandy (9320 S. Village Shop Drive) from 6:00-7:00 p.m. tonight.

After practice today Javier Morales and Kyle Beckerman had a little fun in front of the camera. Below is what they came up with. There’s not really anything else to say about it, so just check it out… Why are you still reading? GO!!!

Seriously, those guys are talented. That was completely ad-lib and they pulled it off like champs. Hopefully we can get them to do more of that in the future. Anyway, thanks to everyone who came out today for practice and the fan BBQ. It was a blast and the team really got a boost from the added support, let’s just hope that translates to the pitch tomorrow. See you there!

Welcome to the second week of Ian Joy’s Fixture Predictor. Last week was pretty good… I nailed the ManU game and picked Bayern over Bayer, I missed the Chelsea - Arsenal fixture though (Chelsea pushed their way into the title race with that one.) Anyway, I expect to do just as well this week so let’s go…

Manchester United vs Aston Villa

Big game at Old Trafford, United coming off a huge win last week vs Liverpool. United will be too strong for Villa at home. Easy win for United.

Liverpool vs Everton

Massive, massive derby on Merseyside. Liverpool need a win after being beaten easily last week by United, and Everton are a team full of big surprises. This one is a hard one to judge because normally I would say a Liverpool win because of last week’s result, but Everton are a hard team to beat especially in the Derby!!! Close game! Liverpool win.

Rangers vs Celtic

This one needs no introduction. Its going to be a make or break game in Scotland. Rangers and Celtic are unstoppable at the moment and now they face each other at Ibrox. I think Rangers are favourites for this one by the bookies, however I think Celtic are going to beat the odds and win this one. My best buddy Colin, back in Scotland is a massive Rangers Fan and he says that if Rangers win they will win the league so he’s gonna kill me for saying Celtic away win.

Besiktas vs Fenerbahce

Great game in Turkey, 2 top class teams. Besiktas are very strong at home, but I think Fenerbahce will win this one. Fenerbahce win.

SC Paderborn vs FC ST PAULI

Now forget all these big games above. The biggest game is in Germany this weekend, my boys are playing away at Paderborn. We are desperate for the points this weekend and pretty much will kill for them. Paderborn are struggling and will throw everything at us, but I’m confident we can walk away with at least a point. I’m praying for a win but I think we will come away with a point. Draw.

Until next week.

Godbless.

IJ

RSL newcomer Kenny Deuchar has finally arrived stateside. The 27-year-old Scotsman arrived in Salt Lake last night after getting final approval on his work visa on Wednesday. The towering striker will jump right into the fire as he is scheduled to be at the team’s 11:00 a.m. training session at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Remember, you are welcome to join us as all practices are open to the public. If that wasn’t enough, today’s practice will also be followed by the fan BBQ mentioned below. So take a break, get out of the office and join us to kick the 2008 RSL season off in style!

Note: Parking is very limited at the stadium as public parking is limited to a handful of meters at the south end of the west parking lot. Therefore, we strongly encourage that you take advantage of our highly efficient and environmentally-friendly transportation alternative… TRAX!

It looks like “The Good Doctor” will soon be making house calls in Utah, as newly-acquired FW Kenny Deuchar is heading to Salt Lake City on Thursday after his work visa was approved in London this morning. The 27-year-old Deuchar met up with the Real Salt Lake squad for its two-week training camp in Argentina earlier this month, but was unavailable to join his new teammates in Salt Lake City following the trip until the proper paperwork was processed back in the United Kingdom. Deuchar is expected to be available for selection for Saturday’s season opener at Rice-Eccles Stadium against the Chicago Fire.