As we all know the new MLS club in Philadelphia will more than likely be called Philadelphia Union but the Philadelphia Inquire posted something today that could mean the name is still up in the air.

A giant list was reduced to 135 choices, then to four announced finalists. Fans voted at Philly.com, the team pledging to abide by the results so long as the balloting was decisive.

The other finalists were Philadelphia SC, the initials standing for “Soccer Club;” Philadelphia AC, for “Athletic Club,” and Philadelphia City.

AC or SC could still be added to the name Union.

So maybe it will be Philadelphia Union AC or SC? Or as someone wrote to me recently it could end up as Union Philadelphia or Union Philadelphia SC? Honestly I kind of hope it just stays with Philadelphia Union, even with the initials being P.U. I don’t know but that is just me, the name has already started to grow on me and the logo is something that should not be messed with at this point.

What do you think? Add a SC or AC to the name or keep it Union?

Yup, its finally that time. MLS Philadelphia 2010 has revealed the date for an announcement ceremony to unveil the club’s name, colors, logo and ticket pricing. The celebration will be hosted at City Hall by Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter on Monday, May 11 at 11:30 a.m.

“This is truly a defining moment for our franchise, and we couldn’t be more excited to proclaim our identity to the soccer world and our loyal fans,” said MLS Philadelphia CEO & Operating Partner Nick Sakiewicz. “We’ve created an authentic brand that reflects Philadelphia’s deep-rooted history and the wealth of feedback gathered from our supporters. The arrival of top-flight soccer in Philadelphia is about to feel decidedly more tangible.”

“Our team name, logo and colors will shape the foundation of our identity,” added MLS Philadelphia President Tom Veit. “The process of developing our character will continue when we hire a coaching staff, sign players and expand our front office. We’re dedicated to doing things the right way and building an organization that represents the hard work and passion of Philadelphians throughout the Delaware Valley.”

A couple months back the club held a vote for the club name between four choices. Also it appears the club has sold over 6,000 season tickets for their 18,500-seat stadium that is under the works in Chester,PA.

So which name are you hoping for? I personally liked “AC” and “City.”

I’ve read a few good articles today that I thought were worth sharing all at once.

Weighted Lottery System In Question

First up is Kyle McCarthy’s Musings for the day. His big point is about the league’s weighted lottery system and how it needs to go. Honestly I couldn’t agree with his main points any more.

This all stems from last week’s lottery winner RSL who had a 5% chance to win U.S. U-20 captain and former Southampton defender  Kyle Davis. While the club won this lottery fair and square it does seem like it is time to do away with a system that isn’t all that good to begin with.

I think McCarthy hit this one on the head saying that if the player in question is allocation worthy let them go through that process (though even that needs an update to a degree). If the player doesn’t worthy an allocation he should just go through a normal waiver process.

Philly Coaching Search

Funny that the club that will come to be next year is already searching for a coach before it has a name or even team colors. Saying that though the club hasn’t officially said they are looking for a coach just yet here, it’s just a writer in that area putting put a list of coaches that could be a good fit.

Mark Chajkowsky wrote for the Examiner.com about the possibly list of coaches for the Philly club. Chajkowsky made some good points that the club needs to find a guy like Bob Bradley type of coach, one that leads the club to a rare MLS Cup visit in their first year and not the extreme opposite in RSL’s old coach John Ellinger.

The list gives some usual suspects but a couple names pop out to me that I think could be good fits in the end. Dave Sarachan is the top choice here on the list. For one I totally agree with though I think his current boss Bruce Arena could also be under consideration for this position in Philly (espeically if things continue to go sour in LA this season).

Arena going to an expansion team just makes sense at this point to me. Though Sarachan would also make a great candidate.

Two other names worth looking into. The usual coaching candidate Paul Mariner from New England and Mike Sorber, the current second-in-command to Bob Bradley with the National team.

I honestly love the idea of Sorber for this position if he’d take it.

Ottawa Likely Out

It is not looking good up in Ottawa for when it comes to getting a MLS club. Some would say their hopes were already dead a month ago but now it appears things are going cold. Apparently the CFL group won the cities vote over Eugene Melynk and his MLS effort.

Melynk doesn’t appear to want to work with the CFL group so the MLS bid has taken a definite turn for the worst.

I agree with others out there that hope this means Montreal will get back into the fold here.

Carver Fined

That didn’t take long. A few weeks in and John Carver has been fined by the league for his comments regarding Tim Weyland after a 3-2 loss to FC Dallas on Sunday on a penalty in the 84th minute.

Well he was commenting on one of the worst refs so far this year in Weyland. I kind of don’t blame him for it.

One day you have an expansion bid and the next day you may still have an expansion bid. According to the Sports Business Journal, FC Barcelona is exploring an investment in MLS’s Philadelphia expansion franchise. Yes no less than a few weeks after backing out of one expansion bid down south in Miami, the Spanish giants are looking to potentially get on board with a club that actually will play in MLS starting next year.

Joan LaPorta, president of FC Barcelona, visited Philadelphia on Feb. 28 and toured the site of the franchise’s future stadium being constructed in Chester, Pa. The tour took place days before FC Barcelona announced it wouldn’t pursue an expansion franchise in Miami.

MLS Commissioner Don Garber declined to comment on the visit but said, “FC Barcelona has expressed for some time an interest in Major League Soccer financially and strategically. They spent a great deal of time with us looking at Miami and are continuing to look at opportunities around the league.”

MLS Philadelphia CEO Nick Sakiewicz said he didn’t discuss investing in the franchise with LaPorta but acknowledged that the Philadelphia franchise is still looking for strategic partners.

There has been loads of talk surrounding the financial health of this expansion club. Adding a backing like Barcelona as we all know would be a huge step for this club. Plus for Barcelona you could see Philly being just as important to them as Miami was going to be.

Barcelona’s involvement could help ease the blow of some financial loss that the Philly owners are having right now. Plus having them as even a sister club would be huge.

More details will come of this soon. Either way we will see Barcelona help someone out here.

While some still seem to think two clubs will start next year (which they won’t), the club that was elected to begin play next season unveiled new models for its soccer stadium.

Yeah, nothing like some stadium models to kick off the day. Photo via MLSPhilly2010.com.

What do ya make of it? Looks like a mighty fine stadium to me. Kind of similar to Rio Tinto Stadium and Toyota Park though for me. Still its better than playing in a shared stadium with Field Turf.

I saw a link earlier on a Philly news site about naming the new expansion club, however minutes later it was taken down. I guess someone jumped the gun on the release. It happens but thankfully I did jot down the list of names (and later it looks like they were legit as SBI is talking about them).

• AC Philadelphia
• Philadelphia City
• Philadelphia Union
• Philadelphia SC

Interesting selection of names really if they are the final list. I’m sure most people will go for AC Philadelphia or Philadelphia City. I think any are a solid selection really though I think Union is my least favorite of the bunch. They may be too simple or plain for some but I think each is pretty solid.

Which one will you go for? Apparently voting will start soon.

I’ve waited around to do this poll for a few reasons but now seems like a good time to kick it into full gear for a few weeks. It’s all about MLS Philadelphia. Pick the name of the club. I put three (or four) on the poll but if you think of something better just leave a comment here and if it is good enough it may get added to the poll.

Happy voting.