And the winner is…Alan Curbishley! Beating Kevin Keegan by what looks to be a week!! We all thought Keegan would be the first casualty of this season’s firings, but it turns out that Curbishley has been the first to step out.

Blaming a “breach of trust and confidence,” Curbishley resigned today as West Ham United’s skipper and taking the prize of first coach leaving in the 2008 EPL season. Curbishley has been under enourmous pressure for the past few months and has been the favorite to be the first fired until last weeks tabacle with Kevin Keegan. But, not to be defeated Curbishley has taken the crown.

It seemed that if Curbishley could get off to a good start this season that this whole thing would just be forgotten. And sure enough he did leading West Ham to their best start in 9 season. Nevertheless Curbishley jumped before he was pushed off the plank landing in the seas of lost coaches.

For now Kevin Keen will take over West Ham as they search for a permanant replacement for Curbishley. Keen will now have to deal with what Curbishley has been complaining about. Curbishley said he was not involved in player moves and transfers and felt, rightfully so, that he should be considered when signing or releasing a player.

However, the club continued to make significant player decisions without involving me. In the end such a breach of trust and confidence meant that I had no option but to leave. Nevertheless, I wish the club and the players every success in the future.

Alan Curbishley on Leaving West Ham United

Now, we wait for Kevin Keegan’s turn, as it seems imminent that he and Curbishley will be swimming in the same waters soon.

Today Los Angeles Galaxy coach Ruud Gullit has resigned from his position, leaving former US National Player Cobi Jones at the helm for the Los Angeles Galaxy. Also leaving the Galaxy is president/GM Alexi Lalas. Maybe this David Beckham idea hasn’t worked out as planned.

Both parties have agreed on mutually agreeable terms to part company, it is an amicable arrangement and we appreciate and respect the issues that Ruud has highlighted with the club and are very grateful for all the hard work he has contributed while with the organization. Hopefully, he has laid the foundations for future success for the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Tim Leiweke, president and chief executive officer of Galaxy

The Galaxy are winless in their last 8 games after a solid beginning to the season. Beckham was dazzling, Landon Donovan was finally working well with the new structure of the team and it seemed as if everything was going right. Becks was filling stadiums and fans left satisfied with a Galaxy victory. Then suddenly everything went south. The team soon looked tired and seemed to be getting outplayed every game. All of a sudden now they are 6-8-5 and in fourth place in the west.

Now Ruud is out. Alexi is out. And Cobi is in. If the Galaxy don’t make the playoffs again this year, what does that say for the MLS and this entire situation involving Beckham? Optimists could say, ‘hey look the MLS is so difficult and so competetive that even with David Beckham and Landon Donovan the Galaxy can’t even make the playoffs’. Pescimests will say, ‘what’s the point of Beckham coming over here if he can’t get the Galaxy in the playoffs, he must not be as good as everyone says he is’. And they’d both be right.

Bottom line is, the Galaxy need to make it into the playoffs this year. But going through all this to make the playoffs certainly would be a great story and a testament to David Beckham’s career. For now, we just have to roll with it.

By Sean Connolly

They’re not the greatest side, but West Ham is an English Premier League team…and to most of America, that’s all that matters.

The MLS media will try and hype this game up and try to convince America that the MLS can play with the best of them, heck that’s all the post game questions were to David Beckham after his side’s victory. The truth this is just a start for the MLS. They need to continue these winning habits against solid teams who play in legitimate leagues.

But enough about the nuances of the result of the MLS’ victory, let’s talk about the game. For the most part it was a pretty exciting game. For the MLS the majority of the ball went through Beckham…exactly what the crowd, sponsors, and ESPN wanted. Becks played very well and assisted on Cristian Gomez’s goal to tie the game. The goal came within a minute of the game’s first goal by West Ham’s Dean Ashton, which set the tone of the game.

The MLS All-Star squad seemed to be united more than West Ham United as they actually played like they have played together hundreds of times before. They showed heart and determination as they scored right before half with Cuauhtemoc Blanco’s goal(Blanco won the MVP of the game) and again minutes after West Ham scored, Houston Dynamo’s Dwayne De Rosario took it into the box, got fouled, and then drilled and I mean drilled the penalty home. He put as much strength as I’ve ever seen behind a penalty as he rocked it off the bottom of the crossbar and it crossed the line.

Overall, you have to appreciate what the MLS has done. These game will always sell out because there are always going to be supporters of an international battle of some sort. With Barcelona making a US tour this summer, playing Chivas soon, and the Champions League ripoff Superliga actually working, I think its time for MLS teams to begin competing against European teams. The interest garnered in a match between an MLS team and an English Premiership team would certainly help the league. This is another great step for the MLS.