Some random tidbits that have nothing to do with who Bob did or did not select.

Seb Harris was one of eight players released by Northampton Town last week.  The 23-year-old forward/defender appeared in 17 games over two seasons with the Cobblers, but also had loan stints with Stafford Rangers and Nuneaton Town this past season.

Since being let go, he has signed with the Michigan Bucks of the PDL, a team he played with before heading to England in 2009.

Continuing with the players let go theme, Anton Peterlin was one of a few players not offered a new deal with Plymouth Argyle.  Peterlin appeared in 12 games for the Pilgrims in 2010-11 as they got relegated to League Two.

Tom Tomsk’s website has a little story up on their site (google translate to the rescue!) about Eugene Starikov.

Hopefully that will get your mind off the Gold Cup roster.  Probably not.

Finally able to sit down tonight and put up some links from today.

The US U-17 team kicked off the 2011 CONCACAF U-17 Championship with a 3-1 victory over Cuba in their opening group match earlier today.  They next play Panama on Friday to finish off their three-team group play.

US Soccer also has a Q&A up on their site with Jonathan Bornstein.  You can see that right here.

Steven Goff has all the goods on his blog about the various salaries among those in US Soccer for last year (technically March 31, 2009 through April 1, 2010).  Bob Bradley pulled in $818,244 ($600,000 base salary) after some incentives.  I am sure there are some people out there that think that is $818,243 too much.

Brent Latham caught up with Thomas Rongen a few days after the CONCACAF U-20 World Cup Qualifying tournament draw to talk about the team.  Two major points to take away from it:  1) He thinks this is the deepest team ever.  2) Fabian Hurzeler might not be on the team in Guatemala due to school conflicts.

Neil W. Blackmon takes a look at the tough choice ahead (selecting between the US and Honduras) of Andy Najar over at The Yanks Are Coming.

It appears that Northampton Town striker/defender Seb Harris is doing his second loan stint of the season.  The 23-year-old spent some time with English Conference North side Stafford Rangers and now he is with English Conference North club Nuneaton Town.  He got the start and went the full 90 minutes this past weekend in Nuneaton Town’s 1-0 loss to Droylsden.

Brian Sciaretta keeps us updated on the play of Adrian Ruelas since returning to Santos after training with Celtic this past fall.  Ruelas has scored an amazing six goals through four games with Santos’ U-20 team.

And finally, another American could headed to Sweden.  Seton Hall product Samuel Petrone has been offered a contract for the 2011 season with Mjallby after impressing on a week-long trial.

Aside from the Oguchi Onyewu’s loan deal and Jonathan Spector/West Ham advancing in the Carling Cup, today’s news is sort of minor.

Starting in England, Wycombe Wanderers manager Gary Waddock says Jon-Paul Pittman is not fully ready to return to first-team action.  Sounds like Wycombe’s reserve match on February 8 against Crawley Town is the new target date for his return to the field for some actual game action.

Mike Grella has returned from his loan spell at Carlisle United and is now playing with Leeds United’s reserve squad.  Grella scored a goal in Leeds’ 3-0 victory over Scunthorpe United’s reserve team on Tuesday.

Forward-turned-defender Sebastian Harris is at the end of his loan deal to Stafford Rangers and should be returning to Northampton Town, although it sounds like he could be going out on loan again, but to another English Conference North team Nuneaton Town.

It seems like a million years ago since Clarence Goodson signed with Brøndby IF, but he finally trained with the team for the first time this week.  Here is a quick recap of that with some comments made by his new coach Henrik Jensen.

And it seems like a trillion years ago since we last talked about Lee Nguyen.  The Vietnamese V-League starts up soon and here is a little story on Nguyen’s current team Binh Duong.

The Yanks Abroad guys have a triple pack of stories on U-20 players:  Bobby Wood, Kelyn Rowe and Sebastien Ibeagha.

The USMNT blog is always updating with stuff with the current camp, so instead of linking each individual entry, just go to the blog and read whatever your little heart desires.

And finally, here is a look at some of the practice in US Soccer’s latest installment of “Inside The Lines”.

Yanks Abroad is reporting that Freddy Adu is now on trial with German 2. Bundesliga side FC Ingolstadt.  If he were to make the squad, he would join fellow American Amaechi Igwe on the team.

Steve Goff’s latest update on Oguchi Onyewu has him in Europe to finalize a loan deal with FC Twente.  Goff thinks we will see an official announcement within a week.

Villarreal defeated Valencia, 4-2, in the Copa del Rey today, but Jozy Altidore sat on the bench for the whole game.  He has yet to play much since Nilmar went down with a knee injury.

Forward-turned-defender Seb Harris could be spending a third month at English Conference North side Stafford Rangers.  Stafford Rangers manager Tim Flowers is hoping to extend the loan deal with Northampton Town (English League Two).

And finally, in case you wanted to know which of the USMNT January camp members have the lowest body fat percentage, today is your lucky day!

English League Two side Northampton Town has sent out Seb Harris on a month-long loan to Stafford Rangers (English Football Conference – England’s fifth level of soccer) last week.

Stafford recently appointed Cobblers goalkeeping coach Tim Flowers as their new manager and the former England stopper combines both roles.

“This is a good opportunity for Seb to get some first team football,” said boss Ian Sampson.

“Seb’s opportunities here are limited at the moment so this move will help with his development.

“Tim obviously knows Seb well and hopefully this move will benefit all parties.”

Harris has played in only four league games for the Cobblers this season, coming off the bench in three of those games.  The 23-year-old got the start and went the full 90 minutes in his first game with Stafford Rangers in their 1-1 draw to Solihull Moors last Saturday.

It also looks like he is playing some center back to go along with striker this season.

As for some other tidbits:

» Greg Seltzer talked to Charles Kazlauskas this week as he tries to help Helmond Sport to promotion.

» Rumors are circulating around the interwebs of a future US-Argentina friendly in March in Seattle.

» I spotted this over at du Nord today, but there is an interesting story brewing at Brøndby IF (the new home of Clarence Goodson).  Basically, there is a feud between the team’s owner and general manager over how the team should be ran.  You can read a Google-translated article on the situation right here.

Seb Harris made his first start of the season as he went the full 90 minutes today in Northampton Town’s 4-0 loss to Hartlepool United in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy Northern Section First Round.

I know some people, including myself, have wanted an update on Jay DeMerit’s situation as everything has been quiet on that end for a long time.  Well, DeMerit spoke to the BBC and it looks like he is trying to be patient to make sure he gets the right offer mixed in with a pretty slow transfer window in England this summer.

And finally, it looks like IK Start rejected a late bid by Belgian side Gent for American defender Clarence Goodson.

With many of the European leagues starting up this month, I thought I would take a quick look at the players starting their seasons this weekend.

French Ligue 1

Two Americans will be starting the season in France on Saturday.  Carlos Bocanegra should be making his debut at Saint-Étienne as they travel to Paris to take on Paris Saint-Germain.

Saint-Étienne finished in 17th place last season, one spot away from relegation, and Bocanegra is expected to start at left back.  While he will attempt to bolster the defense, Saint-Étienne scored only 27 goals last year, the fewest in Ligue 1.

Charlie Davies and Sochaux host newly promoted AC Arles-Avignon on Saturday.  Davies will be looking to play his first real game since last October, but Sochaux coach Francis Gillot has recently come out to the media saying Davies is not fully ready yet.

English League Championship

Norwich City is back in the League Championship (now sponsored by Npower, no longer Coca-Cola) and center back Zak Whitbread is hoping for a healthy season after appearing in only four games last year after making the transfer from Millwall to the Canaries.

Norwich City kicks off the season by hosting Jay DeMerit’s former club, Watford, on Friday.  While Whitbread is a front runner for one of the starting spots in the back, Whitbread is questionable for Friday’s game after picking up an injury in a recent friendly.

Leeds United are back in the Championship after finishing second in League One behind Norwich City in 2009-10.  Leeds open the season at home against Derby County on Saturday and Mike Grella is battling for playing time up top with the departure of Jermaine Beckford to Everton.

As we posted the other day, Grella would like to see the field more often this season after appearing in 18 league games last season, but only cracking the starting eleven three times.  He is even willing to go out on loan to another Championship or League One side if necessary.

English League One

After five seasons at Sheffield Wednesday, Frank Simek made the switch to Carlisle United this summer.  Simek will be looking to join the starting eleven on Saturday as Carlisle United hosts Brentford.

Carlisle United finished middle of the pack last year, but made the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy Final, losing to Southampton at the new Wembley Stadium.

After playing much of last season with Everton’s reserves, Anton Peterlin signed with Plymouth Argyle this summer.  The Pilgrims open the season on Saturday at Southampton and Peterlin could be featured in the starting eleven at central midfield.

English League Two

Wycombe Wanderers will be looking to get back into League One after getting relegated last season and their first game will be at home against Morecambe.  Jon-Paul Pittman is probably hoping to continue his preseason scoring tear (seven goals so far, including three against a Chelsea reserve squad last week) into the regular season.

Also in League Two, Seb Harris and Northampton Town travel to Plainmoor Ground to take on Torquay United on Saturday.  The young American striker is hoping to build on last season’s rookie campaign, which saw him play in nine games, including a goal against Cheltenham Town back in February.

One of the better and lesser known stories from the 2009-10 season was the success of Seb Harris at English League Two side Northampton Town.

Harris made his debut for the club as a sub in a 2-2 draw to Crewe Alexandra on November 21.  His hard work was rewarded as his six month contract was extended through the end of the season in January.  Despite picking up an injury late in the season, Harris scored one goal in nine appearances for the Cobblers and was offered a new 12 month contract as he told the fine folks at Yanks Abroad earlier this week.

“They were very happy with my work rate and commitment in training and my overall improvement over the past season and wish to keep me on, and for me to improve even more” Harris explained to Yanks Abroad.

“It means everything to me,” he went on. “It’s been my dream for as long as I can remember. I’m so proud to be playing in England as this is the birth place of [soccer] and if you can play here and make a mark in this country at any level you’re doing well.

“I was very happy to sign for another year, as Northampton is where my family originates from so it was always going to be my first choice. There was in fact interest from other clubs like Luton FC, Oxford United and others, but Northampton gave me the chance last season and I’m happy to give them the chance for next season.”

While we cover a lot of the bigger names on this site, it is always good to see the smaller/unknown players having success in the lower leagues.

Some links to start off the day before all of Wednesday’s games come to an end.

» Postcard: For some U.S. regulars, a bit more to play for in South Africa [MLSsoccer.com]

» Arnoux reflects on first campaign [Yanks Abroad]

» Harris hoping for new deal [Yanks Abroad]

Jemal Johnson scored his second goal for Stockport County in some English League One action, while Seb Harris scored the game-winner  for Northampton Town in English League Two action.

Harris’ goal also marks his first goal with the club in just his fourth league appearance with Northampton Town.

It will be pretty hard to find highlights of these, but I will keep trying.  I am surprised I found the picture above of Harris celebrating the goal.