DAVID EDGAR SET TO STAY IN THE PREMIERSHIP

Owen Coyle is continuing to strengthen his newly-promoted Burnley squad and has now almost completed the signing of David Edgar from Newcastle United.

Edgar is the first player to leave Newcastle United to spark off what could be a mass exodus at St James’s Park.

The Canadian defender was offered a new contract to stay on in Newcastle but has signed a four-year deal with newly promoted Premier League outfit Burnley.

The 22-year-old ended his Toon career in devastating fashion after being red-carded at Aston Villa on the day that United lost their top flight status last month.

However, Edgar never let United down when selected and was rarely used in his natural position of centre-back, where he often shone as captain of the reserves.

Indeed when he did play in the heart of defence at Stoke City in April he put in a man of the match display.

The son of former Toon keeper Eddie Edgar will always be remembered for his howitzer against Manchester United in the 2-2 draw in 2007, and he also netted against Liverpool in the 5-1 loss on Tyneside last season.

Edgar wanted to join the Turf Moor club on loan last season in November but the move was blocked by United amidst an injury crisis under Joe Kinnear.

And there was no chance for him to move on loan during January for exactly the same reason.

Edgar made just 23 appearances for Newcastle but was restricted to limited first team opportunities under a host of different managers including the man who handed him his debut in Glenn Roeder, Sam Allardyce, Kevin Keegan, Joe Kinnear and Alan Shearer.

United will be entitled to compensation for Edgar because of his age and because he came through the club's Academy since the age of 14.

Fellow newly promoted side Birmingham were also interested in signing the North American.

Fans of the Canadian can make the trek down the I-5 to see Burnley play in Portland when they face the Timbers in a friendly in July.

KAKA PASSES REAL MEDICAL

Kaka has passed his medical at Real Madrid, the Spanish club has reported.

The 27-year-old had already completed a first set of medical tests with Madrid whilst on international duty in Brazil prior to the official announcement of his transfer from AC Milan on June 8.

Madrid paid Milan a fee reportedly in the region of £56m for Kaka, and he will be presented by his new club at the Bernabeu later today at a ceremony starting at 2030 local time.

I enjoy the picture the most. Just hilarious that they follow the "test subject" around snapping photographs.

TOP 5 REASONS TO CHEER FOR TFC IN THE CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

So many fans in Vancouver, upset about the way the Nutrilite Canadian Championships finished up. At the same time, many in Vancouver, Montreal and the rest of the country will have a very difficult time cheering for TFC in the CONCACAF Champions League. I'm not saying you have to, but here are 5 reasons why it might be a good idea to actually support Toronto FC in Champions League play.

1) like all the Canadian teams, having Canadian players playing in hostile and strange environments is only going to a good thing for the Canadian National team. It would have been good if it was Vancouver, Montreal or Toronto. It will give Dwayne De Rosario a chance to lead the team for all of Canada. It will give a young Canadian, Nana Attakora the chance to shine on a bigger stage and put pressure on Adrian Serioux, giving him a chance to shine also. Providing all of them a chance to see the games played at different levels and different styles. Valuable down the road in a Canada match.

2) Toronto is the centre of media in Canada, and more coverage of soccer in this country is a good thing. If that can only be achieved by the team from Toronto going, then so be it. More coverage means that more people may get interested in the game and follow it on a national level. Springing up more teams around the country will better Canada's hold on the game.

3) The Toronto Blue Jays won the World Series in the early 90's. The benefits of those teams winning are showing up now. Jason Bay, Justin Morneau and Jeff Francis, to name just a few, all young and great baseball players that watched the Blues Jays win the World Series and then got them even more interested in playing baseball at a high level. Those benefits will be felt by all Canadians. Sure it was Toronto that won, but those three players are all from BC. The game can build beyond just Ontario.

4) Rivalry. With the way Toronto won this tournament, it's going to make Montreal want to beat Toronto next year, to show they aren't pushovers. Vancouver is going to want to prove again that they can beat Toronto as they will be heading into the MLS the following season. It will also provide the Whitecaps with desire to go out and destroy Montreal next time around. If Toronto does well, and Canada cheers them on, teams in Montreal and Vancouver will want to achieve similiar success.

5) Right now, Canada doesn't have a full spot into the CONCACAF Champions League, they compete with one another for the right to represent Canada, then have to play another club team for the right to play in the group stage. Montreal did a fabulous job going deep into the tournament. If TFC can do the same (I feel they have a better chance of winning than Vancouver would have had), it is only going to benefit Canada in receiving an automatic spot into the group stages. Down the road Canadians can think about a 2nd spot, right now, they need to focus on performing well enough to get an automatic spot.

CBC COVERAGE OF WORLD CUP 2010

A lot of discussion with our radio show recently about the coverage of Confederations Cup on CBC. A lot of anger with the fact that many of the games were not seen on the main network. Instead, these matches were broadcast on CBC BOLD. A channel way high up on the cable, a premium paid channel and one that many viewers don't actually have. The worry was that CBC would broadcast the World Cup games BOLD. Well listeners, viewers, readers... do not worry.

After speaking with CBC Executive Director of CBC Sports, Scott Moore, and then chatting with Trevor Pilling, the Executive Producer of Soccer on CBC, have told me the following, "All games of the 2010 FIFA World Cup will be live in HD on CBC Television (Main Net). In addition to all of the live games, each day we will repeat one game in Prime time (7pm in all regions) as well as another game will repeat late night (11pm in all regions). All games will have another repeat on bold and ALL GAMES will be streamed live on CBCSports.ca as well as being available on demand. This will be the first time all games of the FIFA World Cup will be available on conventional broadcast television as well as the first time any of the games will be available online."

Now, during the final matches of the group stage, games are played at the same time. When this occurs, "the overlap games will appear simultaneously on CBC and
bold, the one seen live on bold will be replayed immediately on CBC once
the first game is done."

So there you have, your coverage is set for the World Cup on CBC next year. I was also told that CBC may be providing unprecedented mobile coverage and that that their broadcast team will include the usual suspects of Scott Russell, Nigel Reed and Jason deVos along with new names. Those names are still in negotiations.

To listen to the Full-Time interview with CBC's Trevor Pilling, download the podcast here.

What did you think of CBC's coverage and what do you think of the upcoming World Cup?

ASMIR BEGOVIC SAYS NO TO CANADA

According to the website sportsport.ba, Asmir Begovic has decided to play for Bosnia and Herzegovina and not Canada. Bosnia and Herzegovina manager Mirolsav "Ciro" Blazevic Begovic had committed to play for Bosnia.

The article states: "I spoke with Asmir and told him that I want to see him in the national team [of Bosnia and Herzegovina]. He told me that he needed some time to think, and I called after a day or two and he said he will be proud to wear the national jersey team so I expect him to appear in the forthcoming get together of the squad," he said.

"I haven't yet have not watched Asmir play, but I checked with [Niko] Kranjčar, who told me that it is an excellent goalkeeper."

This is terrible news for Canadian fans as another young and promising young talent has decided to play for another country.

Jason de Vos joins Full-Time: Vancouver's Soccer Show

CBC Sports soccer guru Jason de Vos will join Full-Time: Vancouver's Soccer Show on Sunday evening. Tyler Green and Mike Martignago will chat about the Confederations Cup with Jason, and touch on the Montreal v Toronto FC match, TFC's roster changes and Whitecaps current struggles.

Plus, Whitecaps talk with head coach Teitur Thordarson and Peter Nowak, Philadelphia Union manager. Peter will be by to to discuss building a team in Philadelphia for the 2010 season.

Also, What's going on Setanta Sports Canada? Setanta Sports Canada Marketing Manager, Andy Shapiera will join us and give us the latest information.

Full-Time: Vancouver's Soccer Show normally broadcasts from 9-11pm on the TEAM 1040 Sports Radio, but will start this Sunday, June 28th, at 10pm due to the Vancouver Canadians baseball game.

Listen live here.

Do you have a question for Jason? Send it to: fulltime@team1040.ca

CANADIAN GOALKEEPER KARINA LEBLANC LIVES NEAR MICHAEL JACKSON'S HOME

Just reading the LA Times blog on the death of Michael Jackson, and was surprised to find the comments of LA Sol and Canadian International goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc.

She apparently lives a block away from Jackson's place.

From the LA Times...

Karina LeBlanc, 29, a member of the Los Angeles soccer team Sol, who lives a block from Jackson’s Bel-Air house, said she drives by every day on her way to practice.

She said she saw Jackson once as he and his entourage were arriving at the house. LeBlanc said she heard helicopters hovering above the neighborhood this afternoon and turned on her TV to find out what was going on.

She said she was deeply saddened by the news. She said her soccer team always listened to his music before a game, particularly the song “Man in the Mirror.”

“He’s got the beat,” she said. “His music is so riveting and inspiring.”

She said the news was especially distressing because Jackson had gone through such a tough time in recent years. Still, it was hard to believe that he was dead, she said.

The death of the "king of pop" is certainly very sad news.

But my question is, what are the Los Angeles Sol / WPS paying LeBlanc?