Almost 24 hours after firing Héctor Medrano, the powers that be at Querétaro have offered the head coaching job to Eduardo "Yayo" de la Torre, who after analyzing the offer agreed to take the position that team president Ulises Zurita put on the table. 

Team management had thought about the possibility of luring Carlos de los Cobos from his El Salvador coaching gig but considered De la Torre to be the ideal candidate to put an end to its struggles and to begin racking up points.

After five rounds in the Mexican Apertura 2009, the "White Roosters" have three losses and two draws, disproportionate results if they wish to reach their main objective, which is to stay away from the relegation zone in their first season since earning promotion to the top flight.

Although Valentir Gomes has been named interim head coach at Querétaro, the deal between Zurita and De la Torre is to have the new coach presented to the local media after the Roosters' Round 6 match against defending champion Pumas UNAM this Sunday.

De la Torre decided to stay away from the action in the upcoming round before taking the reigns while observing the team to give him an opportunity to see how it functions. What "Yayo" has noticed is that the squad's self-esteem has hit rock-bottom, something that he hopes to lift on first day as the Querétaro boss.

His contract expires at the end of the Apertura season and it's assumed that it will be extended if the management sees positive results and would then be thinking of acquiring reinforcements of high quality.

The "Gallos Blancos" (White Rooster) have suffered two straight setbacks; the most recent one came last night against Atlante, which came away with a 2-1 victory at the Corregidora Stadium.

Following up on a previous commentary regarding Nery Castillo possibly leaving Manchester City, the Mexican international today confirmed on a Spanish-language sports radio network that he has sparked the interest of Tottenham Hotspur. This is a departure from the rumors that another London-based team, Arsenal, was going to approach Shaktar Donetsk about loaning him for the upcoming season.

It's great that a squad that would like to improve on its 11th place finish is interested in someone that could possibly provide a boost to the attack (provided Castillo stays healthy), but this would not be a wise move for Nery. Furthermore, this would not be convenient for the Spurs since it appears that the roster is already set.

Isn't it time to actually play an entire season with the same team? Castillo has been with City for just half a season and contemplating this!

During the radio interview, Castillo admitted that it would be great to join Tottenham since another Mexican, Giovani Dos Santos is on the team. He is intrigued by the possibly about playing alongside a former Under-17 World Champion.

To avoid any future misunderstandings, Chivas Guadalajara home matches will no longer air on the Univisión family of networks (thank heaven for that). Telemundo's coverage of one of Mexico's (as well as in the USA) most popular teams starts with the third round of the 2008 Apertura season. On Sunday, August 9, Guadalajara hosts Monterrey in what will be one of its last matches at the Estadio Jalisco before it moves to its new stomping grounds (Estadio Chivas) in nearby Zapopan.

I wanted to clear this up because some Chivas fans are under the impression that the Big T will begin its home game coverage in 2009, which is not the case.

For now it looks like Andrés Cantor will handle the play-by-play duties while Alejandro Blanco will take care of the commentary.

If I remember correctly I believe this is the first time since 2003 that the Hialeah, Florida-based network has had any type of Mexican League matches, when it aired Jaguares de Chiapas and Atlante (then in Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl) home games.

Guadalajara will benefit greatly from Telemundo's coverage of its home games because, if you're a fan of the Rebaño you no longer will have to put up with Pablo "Torre de Jalisco" Ramírez's horrendous play-by-play in addition to his idiotic phrases which will never catch on. Plus, Jesús Bracamontes steps aside as well...so that means no more Elmer Fudd impressions from him. By the way, he's better known for being the father of Jacqueline Bracamontes, a former Miss Mexico. 

Another thing, the "Torre de Jalisco" moniker doesn't fit Pablo. He's actually from Sinaloa, a state to the northwest of Jalisco! Oh, and one of the phrases that he uses during the games happens to be from Jorge Ramos' arsenal of catchphrases. Okay, it's the one referring to the center circle, which Mr. Ramos call "el ombligo de la cancha", the navel of the pitch. Veeeery original Pablo! Nothing like stealing from the "announcer of the Americas". 

Let's hope that this is the beginning of something great--less coverage of the Mexican Primera on Univisión. It's a win-win situation folks!  

According to an Italian reporter that is in Mexico right now, the word is out that Roma is taking closer looks at a pair of Mexican intenationals. They are midfielders Andrés Guardado (currently with Deportivo La Coruña) and Gerardo Torrado (under contract with Cruz Azul).

You're probably wondering why the defending Coppa Italia winners are looking for a midfielder. That's because Brazilian midfielder Mancini is on his way to joining Inter Milan.

I believe that Guardado would be a better candidate to replace the versatile Brazilian (he was used in different positions such as winger, attacking midfielder and as a right back) in case Roma decides to take just one of the Mexican internationals. The native of Guadalajara, like Mancini can play a couple of positions such as winger, left midfielder and left back. Best of all, he's younger than Torrado, who is 29 years old. Plus, Deportivo is rumored to have put a 12 million euro price tag on him.

If Roma decides to take both, then it would be a win-win situation. Torrado already has experience playing in the Old World, where he played for five years in Spain with teams such as Sevilla and Racing Santander. The midfielder who came up through the Pumas of UNAM youth academy is a hard-nosed player who is not reluctant to back down from a making a hard challenge, something that he learned to do while playing in Spain. Torrado normally plays on the right side, or sometimes as a central midfielder. It's thought that Roma is ready to put five million euros for the Mexico City native.

Meanwhile after a day in which a few Spanish squads made it known that they are interested in Manchester City's Nery Castillo, the Andalusians have added a couple of other Mexican internationals on their wish list: Carlos Vela and Jared Borgetti.

I don't think Vela would consider getting loaned again after Arsenal has made it clear that it wants to have the Under-17 World Cup winner with the first team. That would leave Borgetti as the only option, who is not a very viable one. Borgetti already had his cup of coffee abroad, where he a had short stint with Bolton Wanderers, but I think that he's past his prime now.

Finally, Guillermo Ochoa might have a chance to leave América after all. It turns out that River Plate of Argentina is considering bringing in Leo Franco, which leaves the door open for a goalkeeper at Atlético de Madrid. As a matter of fact, the "Colchonero" manager Javier Aguirre (former Mexican National manager) is the one that will push for the keeper with plenty of promise. There's only one thing that could stop this-Ochoa doesn't have a European passport. In case this doesn't work out, Atlético's management would search for a keeper that already has a EU passport.

Reports of out the Spanish media say that Shaktar Donetsk has been approached about the cost of loaning Nery Castillo to Real Betis. The "Verdiblanco" squad has to get in line since Valencia, Villarreal, Sevilla and Atlético Madrid are said to have shown interest in the Mexican international.

Castillo's agent, Juan Carlos Padilla, has stated that his client won't be going anywhere. Castillo's priority, it appears, is to remain with Manchester City.

Nery should stay put for once and concentrate on winning a starting spot with City. He should feel flattered that a couple of the top Spanish sides want to have him on their teams.

Just give this some thought-Castillo has been on three different rosters in the last year! After leaving Olympiakos in the middle of last year, Shaktar paid 20 million euros, only to have him on the bench in the six-month stint in the Ukraine.

Castillo should respect the one-year loan aggrement between Shaktar and City and feel lucky that he's in one of the top three leagues in the world.