More Opinion

• Nigel Reed Herdman's hard work starts here He describes it as a 'dream move'. No kidding. In his shoes I would be waking up nightly and pinching myself just to be sure it is not, in fact, a dream. John Herdman has just won soccer's equivalent of the lottery. His future, in the commercially fragile world of women's football, is secure. His new reality will bring him to Canada to head a program which has stable funding, decent players, and a mission to accomplish. Posted: Monday, September 5, 2011 | 11:03 PM
• Nigel Reed Oscar celebration may not last For some this is just the start. For others this will be as good as it gets. Life has a way of handing us opportunities. What we do with them is up to us. The decisions we take ultimately shape the people we become, for better or worse. Posted: Monday, August 22, 2011 | 08:25 AM
• Nigel Reed Martin Rennie: the next Great Scot? It is one of soccer's stranger anomalies. In a country of five million inhabitants, where the national team has never progressed beyond the first round of the World Cup, how come Scotland has produced some of the finest managers the game has ever known? Posted: Sunday, August 14, 2011 | 06:58 PM
• Nigel Reed Soccer should follow rugby's lead In a month's time the Rugby World Cup, played every four years, will kick off in New Zealand. Canada will be there, walking among the giants of the game. So will the United States, a.k.a. the Eagles, and as part of their preparations they squared off in Toronto at BMO Field for the first time in 12 years. There is one marked difference between soccer and rugby, two sports historically defined as "association football" and "rugby football." The man in the middle. The neutral referee, Mark Lawrence from South Africa, is widely regarded as one of the Top 5 officials in the world. One word amply described his relationship with the players: Respect. Posted: Monday, August 8, 2011 | 01:53 PM
• Nigel Reed Canada must exploit its good fortune If the old idiom is true, there are interesting times ahead. If, indeed 'you have to be good to be lucky', we are about to find out how good Canada is.  There is no question Canada has certainly struck lucky in the preliminary draw for 2014 World Cup in Brazil. If progressing to the third round of CONCACAF qualifying proves to be anymore than a formality for Stephen Hart's team, the problems are far more severe than we feared. Posted: Monday, August 1, 2011 | 10:05 AM
• Nigel Reed Last chance for Canadian glory We got short-changed. We might even have got ripped off. We bought the dream but the delivery never showed up. We should have read the small print. This isn't a refrigerator or an automobile. This product doesn't come with a guarantee. Posted: Monday, July 25, 2011 | 09:57 AM
• Nigel Reed Canada a soft touch in CONCACAF I didn't want to speak to him and I told him so. Canada head coach Stephen Hart was the last person I wanted to interview on my weekly radio show the day after Canada's final Gold Cup group game. Posted: Monday, June 20, 2011 | 10:25 AM
• Nigel Reed Morace given a free pass by Canada At last we can all be friends again. The deal has been done with all obstacles removed. No more negative rumour and speculation. Now we can look forward, with glowing hearts, to seeing Canada rise to meet the challenges ahead in Germany. Posted: Monday, June 13, 2011 | 04:41 PM
• Nigel Reed Whitecaps must 'learn how to win' Remember a couple of weeks back how Barcelona reduced Manchester United to tears? Try as they might, the English champions couldn't get the ball off their Spanish counterparts. When they did gain possession, United couldn't hold onto it. Posted: Monday, June 6, 2011 | 09:00 AM
• Nigel Reed Canada's Gold Cup quest: Respect It is a wonderful time for Canadian sports fans. A Canadian team is playing for the Stanley Cup for the first time in four years. A Canadian team is going to Germany, prepared and focused on success at the Women's World Cup. Posted: Monday, May 30, 2011 | 09:00 AM
• Nigel Reed Canadian rivals set for classic finale Toronto FC and the Vancouver Whitecaps are 90 minutes away from lifting the Voyageurs Cup - a trophy which has taken on Holy Grail proportions for BC's finest. There is reason to believe Toronto will retain the trophy. Equally there is an argument to support the Whitecaps' dream of glory. Let's hope, for the sake of the game, it's a classic encounter. Posted: Monday, May 23, 2011 | 12:32 AM
• Nigel Reed Manchester United joy casts a shadow over Liverpool Michael Owen allowed himself a smile. Nothing more, at least not publicly. It was tinged with relief, satisfaction and restrained celebration.  While his Manchester United teammates danced and sang to their travelling fans at Blackburn's Ewood Park, Owen's body language told a different story. An unused substitute, he was at the party but didn't really know anyone. Posted: Monday, May 16, 2011 | 09:25 AM
• Nigel Reed MLS marquee match-ups are the way forward It is about making an impact - the ability to effect change. A deft touch, a mazy run, a glancing header. Having the skill to execute and the confidence to pull it off. Los Angeles and New York are both making an impact. It comes as no surprise the Galaxy and the Red Bulls lead their respective Major League Soccer conferences. Their first head to head of 2011 ended as it began with nothing resolved - a 1-1 draw on Saturday. Posted: Monday, May 9, 2011 | 03:16 PM
• Nigel Reed Missing fans must back Canadian Championship The Nutrilite Canadian Championship is on the rise. In just three years the competition has firmly established itself in the hearts and minds of fans across the country. They have embraced it and made it relevant.I am an ardent fan of this competition. It has a uniquely Canadian flavour and gives the winner a chance to represent the country across the continent. But it cannot be allowed to become an endangered species because of absent fans. Posted: Sunday, May 1, 2011 | 02:18 PM
• Nigel Reed The battle for Canada and beyond Because we can, let's remove some hurdles. When Real Madrid faces Real Salt Lake at FIFA's Club World Cup in December it will all have been worthwhile. Major League Soccer will finally have come of age. Posted: Sunday, April 24, 2011 | 12:05 AM
• Nigel Reed Canadian rivals playing by the numbers What is it about Roman numerals? Six hundred years after the fall of the Eastern Empire they are still in common use. Posted: Monday, April 18, 2011 | 09:19 AM
• Nigel Reed Growing pains for Whitecaps You only get one "Get Out of Jail Free" card.  The Vancouver Whitecaps played theirs against Sporting Kansas City. Expecting another miracle in Houston's humidity was too much to ask. Fatigued by a hectic schedule and weakened by injuries and suspensions, salvation was beyond the Whitecaps. It is the nature of the business and Canada's newest MLS franchise needs to deal with it. Posted: Monday, April 11, 2011 | 12:43 PM
• Nigel Reed Whitecaps' persistence pays off I have heard it hundreds of times. I have taken part in such proceedings on many occasions. It is the archetypal post-game interview, which I have taken the liberty to decode. Posted: Monday, April 4, 2011 | 08:32 AM