Source: stock.xchang

Welcome to 2006! Hope it treats well. To kick off the new year (a World Cup year!) I will be adding four new features to Soccer Weblog (and searching for a new name, if anyone wants to submit ideas for clever domain names that are available).


These new features are:

• Player of the Week - I will choose a player who has put in a notable week, either through performance on the pitch, clever tactical maneuvering off the pitch, or who otherwise distinguishes himself (or herself), hopefully in a positive way.


• Team of the Week - Here I will select a squad that has in some way done the remarkable during the week. Again, hopefully for the positive, but who knows who might show up.


• Football Site of the Week - Got a favorite site besides Soccer Weblog? Seen a great source of goodies, videos, news, gossip, a great message room, or a fun online tool? Send it to me with your recommendation and I will big it up as appropriate.


• Sunday Feature - You have probably seen some longer pieces of commentary or conjecture about the Beautiful Game in general. These will now be formalized into a Sunday Feature.

So, how does all of that sound? I will try to hit all of these items once a week, schedules and natural events permitting. Please send me nominations for each of these, listing the category and reasoning behind it. While I will be keeping a shortlist of items in my back pocket, this is your blog too, so it would be great to have reader suggestions to discuss.

And don't forget, you can write for us as well. Insightful, original, well written and pertinent stories are always welcome, and if you draw a crowd of readers, there is some payback as well.

Look forward to seeing you all here this year as we grow the site.