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Right on cue and as advertised at exactly 1pm et Tuesday afternoon, the Montreal Impact officially began their 2013 season post-mortem in front of what was a very sizeable and highly-engaged media throng. Manny Lawson Jersey . In the lead up - which seemed to begin the moment Mike Geiger blew the whistle in Houston last Thursday night - the Impact rumour mill went into overdrive. The speculation went into meltdown mode, of the golden nugget variety. Gems included; did a member of Impact management and not head coach Marco Schallibaum pick the team for the Impacts first-ever MLS playoff match? Others placed Alessandro Nesta in the role of the Impacts third head coach since it began play in MLS in March 2012. From last weekend and right through Monday and Tuesday morning, the intrigue over these two specific rumours continued to add layers as it increased to fever pitch. Was Schallibaum already home in Switzerland contemplating a 2014 without the Impact? Surely not, as an option is his contract for an additional year would automatically strike for making the playoffs. MLS Playoffs were the only requirement. Not that singular play-in round the now fully-qualified legal boffins proffered. Mauro Biello was certainly keeping his assistant coaching role under Nesta. What, though, would come of Philippe Eullaffroy? The Frenchman in his role as Impact Academy Director is very much the reason the likes of Karl Ouimette, Maxim Tissot and Wandrille Lefèvre have already seen decent MLS playing time. Ouimettes qualities and promise were reconfirmed Friday afternoon when it was announced he had gotten his first National Team call-up. Eullaffroy, and his work are very much admired by the two people in the organization who appeared from behind the curtain at 12:59pm Tuesday. Even before a word had been uttered by club president, Joey Saputo most of the 50-plus individuals, which had now packed out the media conference room, were of the strong belief Schallibaum was no longer the head coach of his team. A team that for the largest part of the season was a legitimate contender for not just making the playoffs but to contend for the holiest of North American soccer grails, the MLS Cup itself. Those from the Schallibaum hanging jury had a massive piece of evidence. Well, sort of, on the circumstantial evidence front. There were only two microphones at the IMFC Post Mortem rostrum with neither containing the name of the head coach. By 1:05pm Tuesday afternoon Schallibaums hanging-out-to-dry trial was dismissed. The Impact President confirmed a meeting had indeed taking place with his head coach just some 24-hours previously and that he was still the head coach. It didnt take long either for Saputo to kick into touch any thought (rational or otherwise) that one of the modern eras greatest central defenders was currently getting measured up and suited and booted for his head coach threads. Licenses and Badges not included. We were further advised that only following what most certainly will be the most thorough of Impact investigations in their 20 year history - into reasons why things went so terribly wrong and downhill late in the season - would any decision be announced on who the clubs head coach will be in 2014. Not down with the darkening mood in the room, likely due to the repetitive nature of the questions the Impacts Sporting Director cleverly spotted opportunity to bring up the woeful Toronto FC. Hales of laughter ensued. Job almost done, Saputo and De Santis left the media to fight amongst themselves shortly afterwards. Heres another nugget to chew on, thrown out earlier by the clubs Communications Director, the very affable Pat Vallee, who himself came through the Impacts ranks from back in the Claude Robillard days. Vallee announced a sequel to the IMFC Post Mortem 24-hours later would now not only include the announcement of the 2013 MVP, but additionally head coach Marco Schallibaum would play a leading role in Wednesdays matinee. Di Vaio was not so much voted in as MVP but confirmed by proclamation. Not only one of the very few players in MLS history to breach the 20-goal regular season plateau but the ex-Bologna hit man exceled exceedingly so off the pitch as well right through 2013. This began the moment Di Vaio stepped foot back in Montreal in early January. The elder statesman the very first Impact player to show up in La Belle Ville and well ahead of that date marked physicals. Early to arrive, early to get on the score sheet as well. In all my years of been around the club there has not been another player that captures and captivates the imagination as this native son of Rome does. In less than 18 months since Di Vaio and his family - which included a brother-in-law with remarkably similar physical features and profile - stepped off the plane and onto Impact terra firma, the striker has led the Impact to a strong MLS start. Not only supremely gifted as the most natural of goal scorers ever to have set foot on an MLS pitch, Di Vaio is also a charismatically gifted individual. Disarming, charming by nature in abundance, last Thursday nights 60 seconds of madness was completely and utterly out of character. Joey Saputo is not kidding when he states the Impact hit the jackpot when signing Di Vaio. Well, the Impact just recently won the 6/49 once again with the recent announcement their original DP would indeed continue his Montreal adventure. Shortly after Saputo and Di Vaio left the stage following the official awarding of the Giuseppe Saputo Trophy a very quietly confident Marco Schallibaum appeared. His tone beginning seriously and assertively, fully understanding of the want, need and desire to properly understand what went wrong. At the exact time when things were meant to be so right. Saputo and De Santis have all the right in the world to demand answers. Their head coach will want them himself. Slowly, likely knowing he had won over the trust of the room, Schallibaum let the veneer down and turned into his jovial self. The one which had humoured so often in his media briefings and gatherings all season long continued to do so. "Any questions in German?" was one of his last offerings. With Schallibaum back behind what had quickly turned into the most famous curtain in Montreal the players were given their turn at the mic. Davy Arnaud displayed much fortitude disclosing hed let the Swiss volcano in him off when giving his head coach a piece of his mind over not been selected to play in Houston. The club captain was very candid and brutally honest when asked if perhaps his time in an Impact shirt was done and how would he view his tenure, Arnauds Texan pride and loyalty to the cause bubbled over. The effervescence award though goes to the man upon which much of the weekend rumour mongering and speculation centred: Alessandro Nesta. This was Nestas final press conference as a footballer. Montreal and the Impact got the utmost privilege to host this rather historical moment, not only in MLS terms, but by the broadest of football measures. It was rather fitting that his teammate from the Rome suburbs who was with Nesta as an eight-year old was some 30 years later still there, four-square cheek by jowl. Nesta and Di Vaio. We will never see them again together, as teammates., which is both Milan and Montreals loss. Is it Miamis gain? When I departed Saputo Stadium vey late Wednesday afternoon it wasnt what had been said which rung round me, it was actually something that wasnt said. When we mark down how far football and the culture of the sport has come in La Belle Ville in recent years we can now add this. The media are finally taking it seriously, giving the beautiful game the respect it has merited and deserved for years. I did not hear anyone utter the words "Montreal Canadiens" nor take a Habs players name in vain on Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon as I always have in the past. Rather ironically, and with perfect timing, it was Alessandro Nesta and Marco Di Vaio who were introduced to the sold out Bell Centre crowd this past Tuesday night. Rising Performances, Growing Attendances and Crashing Heartache: A review of the Impacts 2013 season is coming next week. You can reach and follow Noel Butler at: Noel.Butler@BellMedia.ca @TheSoccerNoel on Twitter Seantrel Henderson Jersey . While hell be dialed in to that tournament on a course he loves, you can forgive him if his eyes glance down the calendar just a bit, towards April. Richie Incognito Jersey . -- About a third of the way through the regular season, the Washington Wizards are at . http:///...n-miller-jersey.aspx . After the whistle, Thornton skated the length of the ice, pulled Orpik to the ice from behind and punched him in the face several times. SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Jim Harbaugh pirouetted in frustration following a personal foul on Dan Skuta. He got hit with his own unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for arguing following a catch by Vernon Davis that went to review before being ruled a touchdown. And that was just last Sunday. Harbaugh has been at his emotional best -- or, to some, worst -- with his cartoon-like faces and quirky sideline antics in leading San Francisco back to the NFC championship game for the third time in as many years since taking over as 49ers head coach in January 2011. On Davis TD during Sundays 23-10 win at Carolina, Harbaugh ran well onto the field during the play. "I think Harbaugh gets away with murder myself," former Seahawks coach and ex-49ers assistant Mike Holmgren said. "If I ever did that it would be a penalty." Harbaugh should be as charged up as ever come Sunday, when he faces off once more against the rival Seattle Seahawks in an NFC championship game featuring that familiar coaching sideshow with Pete Carroll. This time, theres a Super Bowl berth on the line. But if you ask Harbaugh, "Whats your deal?" is so five years ago. Enough already, he insists, keep it about the players. "That might have been something four or five years ago," Harbaugh said. "But, I havent seen it as of late. And, it would be as irrelevant now as it would have been then when people made a bigger deal out of it. So, irrelevant, irrelevant." Sorry, not this week. Theres no avoiding such chatter. Harbaugh has to expect that infamous phrase to come up often. It dates back to their college days coaching in the Pac-10 Conference. In 2009, Harbaugh and No. 25 Stanford ran up the score on 11th-ranked USC in a surprising 55-21 rout, even attempting a 2-point conversion with the game way out of reach -- prompting Carrolls infamous "Whats your deal?" when they met afterward at midfield. Whatever their past or perceived differences, Harbaugh knows what to expect every time a Carroll-coached team takes the field. The Seahawks ended San Franciscos two-year reign as NFC West champion. "Its hard to get to this position," Harbaaugh said. Marquise Goodwin Jersey. "Talking about a year of preparation and planning and off-season and training camp and games. And they did it better than anybody did it this entire season. So, a great task, great challenge ahead of us." The 49ers have already accomplished plenty this post-season by winning in the bitter cold of Green Bay and at Carolina. Harbaugh is the first coach in the Super Bowl era to reach the NFC championship in each of his first three years. Place kicker Phil Dawson wanted to be part of the winning vibe after 14 mostly disappointing years with Cleveland. Nose tackle Glenn Dorsey left Kansas City to join a team with Harbaugh at the helm. Even if Dorseys first impressions of the coach left him shaking his head. "I noticed what everybody else noticed: a coach going crazy on the sideline having fun," Dorsey recalled. "Always pumped up and always getting his team hyped. He works hard, even now being on the inside seeing him every day and how he goes about doing his job, the enthusiasm that he has and the motivational stuff that he has, the knowledge that he has. Hes a great coach." Dawson appreciates how Harbaugh takes chances in the kicking game based on his trust in the veteran -- and it certainly didnt hurt that Dawson converted a franchise-record 27 straight field goals until the streak ended in the regular-season finale at Arizona. The 50-year-old Harbaugh, a 15-year NFL quarterback himself, regularly moves around the team plane to visit with players about football and life. He shares meals with rookies and veterans alike on occasion in the team cafeteria. "Hes the kind of coach you want to win for," Dawson said. "Theres a special satisfaction with having a relationship with the head coach. Being a place kicker, on a lot of teams the head coach never even speaks to the kicker. Hes around, he gets it, hes been there. Hes sat in those seats. I think its probably one of the biggest reasons hes successful is his ability to communicate with the guys and relate to them on their level and be able to instil whatever it is hes trying to instil in a way that guys will receive it." Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '