Jack Bell at the New York Times wrote a long piece today on the New York Red Bulls' recent moves, including the signing of Wilman Conde and Joel Lindpere's new contract. But the most intriguing part of his article (click the link above) comes at the end, when Bell claims that the Red Bulls are pursuing Stephen Ireland of Aston Villa as (one would assume) a mid-season designated player signing. Ireland is quite a character, as you can see here and here, but he's also a midfielder with considerable attacking talent and still young at age 25. Only time will tell if this goes anywhere, but it would certainly indicate that Erik Solér and Hans Backe have decided to think differently when it comes to a third DP.