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CHICAGO -- Robin Ventura has decided the success-starved South Siders need a new leader.Ventura announced Sunday he will not return as Chicago White Sox manager next season, insisting it was his decision and he wasnt pushed out due to a fourth consecutive losing season. Ventura was in the last year of his contract.I enjoy this place, I love this place, a stoic Ventura said after Chicagos season-ending 6-3 loss to the Minnesota Twins. At the end, it probably needs a new voice.The Chicago Sun-Times reported Saturday that bench coach and former Cubs manager Rick Renteria will likely take over, but the team did not immediately announce a replacement. White Sox general manager Rick Hahn is scheduled to address reporters Monday.Ventura said he initiated the departure.You just realize right now is the right time to do it and you need somebody else, Ventura said.Ventura went 375-435 in five seasons with the White Sox. After an 85-77 debut in 2012 that wasnt good enough for the playoffs, Venturas teams regressed.The White Sox finished 78-84 this year despite a 23-10 start that gave them a six-game lead in the AL Central on May 9.Thanks to injuries, a slumping offense and a shaky bullpen, the White Sox stumbled to a 55-74 mark the rest of the way and a fourth-place finish amid a couple of bizarre off-field incidents.Executive vice president Ken Williams, whose future is also uncertain, banned DH Adam LaRoches son from the clubhouse in spring training. LaRoche responded by abruptly retiring, and ace Chris Sale ripped Williams.In July, Sale was suspended five days for cutting up collared throwback jerseys he didnt want to wear for his start. Sale later criticized Ventura for not sticking up for him in his dispute with the marketing staff.You have moments -- I dont know if theyre disagreements -- but there are some terse conversations that you have, Ventura said. Thats just part of being together and part of a lot of competitive people being in a room. That just happens. But at the end of the day I know they went out and competed. And thats the biggest thing.Sale allowed an inside-the-park home run to the speedy Byron Buxton on the first pitch Sunday. Miguel Sano added a three-run shot in the third as Sale was denied his career-best 18th win after allowing five runs and six hits over five innings.Sale, who finished with a 3.34 ERA and 233 strikeouts, denied there was any trouble with his manager.What did we have, a couple things that made it in the news? Sale said. That doesnt mean I dont like him or he didnt like me. We always had the same goal, the same vision. The same passion.You get a bunch of guys in the same room and the testosterone is pumping. This is a competitive game, sports are competitive. Things happen, but that doesnt change what I think of him personally. Hes as good as they get.The easygoing, friendly Ventura had fans in the clubhouse. Right-hander James Shields called him one of the better managers Ive been around. Third baseman Todd Frazier said I love him to death and outfielder Adam Eaton praised the 49-year-olds demeanor and communication skills.He hasnt had an easy road while hes been here, Ill tell you that much, Eaton said. For me, in the three years Ive been here, you put it on the players. Players havent played up to expectations. Its our fault.Ventura was a fan favorite as a slick-fielding third baseman on Chicagos South Side. The 10th overall pick of the 1988 draft won six Gold Gloves and was a two-time All-Star over a 16-year career, mostly with the White Sox and Mets.Ventura had no managerial experience and was a surprise hire of then-GM Williams after the 2011 season following Ozzie Guillens messy exit.The White Sox have tried to contend in recent seasons by bringing in high profile players such as Adam Dunn, Jeff Samardzija, David Robertson, Melky Cabrera, Eaton, Frazier and LaRoche. But the White Sox didnt improve under Ventura, and the teams recent struggles have coincided with the resurgence of the crosstown Cubs, who have the majors best record and have drawn over three million fans. The White Sox drew under 1.75 million this season.You look throughout sports, not only baseball, when teams that are supposed to do well dont do well, changes are made, catcher Alex Avila said. Not only with coaching staffs and personnel off the field but on the field as well.The White Sox may be turning to a former manager of their rival. Renteria went 73-89 with the Cubs in 2014, only to be let go after one season when Joe Maddon became available.The 54-year-old Renteria just finished his first season as bench coach with the White Sox.I think hes got a lot of qualities that Robin has. Maybe a little more vocal, Eaton said. He definitely will get his point across a little more, vocally. Not that he has more passion than Robin or anything like that, but hes a little more upbeat, a little more bouncy. Hes kind of a bundle of baseball joy.Renterias bilingual skills and history of working well with younger players would be strengths for a team potentially heading for a rebuild with many Spanish-speaking players.It would be a little bit more comfortable or make communication easier but I was good with Robin, Cuban slugger Jose Abreu said through an interpreter. I didnt have any kind of trouble with Robin to communicate.Hahn earlier this season called the team mired in mediocrity and hinted at tearing down the roster, something 80-year-old chairman Jerry Reinsdorf has resisted in the past. Since winning the World Series in 2005, the White Sox have just one playoff appearance, in 2008.Sale, who has a team-friendly contract, could bring in a large haul of prospects. So could fellow lefty Jose Quintana.This is sports. Anything can happen, Sale said. I dont anticipate that happening or necessarily really want that to happen, but it could. Cheap USA Soccer Jerseys . Toronto has dropped games to Indiana and Miami since a five-game winning streak and closed out a three-game road trip at 1-2. Wholesale USA Soccer Jerseys . LOUIS -- Roman Polak was celebrating even before Alexander Steen scored the winning goal in Saturdays 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. https://www.cheapusasoccer.com/ . 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AMSTERDAM -- In a year when the Netherlands missed the European Championship, it is not much of a surprise that few of the top players in the league play for the Dutch national team.Two Danes have been the top players in the first half of the Dutch season.Nicolai Jorgensens league-leading 12 goals have powered Feyenoord to the top of the table as the league enters its winter break. The 25-year-old Jorgensen moved from FC Copenhagen to Rotterdam at the start of the season, netted in his first two matches and never looked back.Kasper Dolberg hasnt scored as many goals -- he has eight -- but the 19-year-old Ajax strikers stylish play has already earned him comparisons with some of the clubs greatest, including Marco van Basten and Dennis Bergkamp.---TITLE RACEWill 2017 be the year when perennially underachieving Rotterdam powerhouse Feyenoord finally breaks a title drought stretching back into the last century?Giovanni van Bronckhorsts balanced Feyenoord team looks like a serious contender as it goes into the Dutch winter break with a five-point lead over Ajax. Two-time defending champion PSV Eindhoven is a further three points back in third and uncharacteristically struggling to find the net.Free-scoring Feyenoord has 47 goals so far this season, almost double PSVs tally of 25.There were clear signs last season of a Feyenoord revival as the team won the Dutch Cup. Now it has its 15th league title -- but first since 1999 -- in view. Van Bronckhorst managed to keep the team together over the offseason with veterans Dirk Kuyt and Ahmed El Ahmadi staying in Rotterdam along with another attacking midfielder, Tonny Vilhena, to form the teams backbone. Jorgenson arrived to provide the goals.The start of 2017 could be key for the title race as Ajax creative midfielder Hakim Ziyech and El Ahmadi will both be on African Cup duty for Morocco.---PICK OF THE PLAYERSNetherlands coach Danny Blind must be ruing the fact that Ziyech, a Dutch-born Morocco international, did not choose to play for the Netherlands.Ziyech has continued for Ajax where he left off last season at FC Twente. He slotted seamlessly into his new clubs midfield and his darting runs and incisive passes have helped too keep Ajax in the title race.ddddddddddddEl Ahmadi, meanwhile, is having his best season at Feyenoord, adding goals (four in the league) to his trademark tough tackling and pinpoint accurate ball distribution in midfield.---EMERGING TALENTWhile Jorgensen has quietly amassed his goals, and six assists, Dolberg has stolen the headlines with his graceful turns and clinical finishing, netting eight goals in 12 league matches.The highlight was a first-half hat trick in Ajaxs 5-0 rout of NEC Nijmegen on Nov. 20. The first goal is a likely contender for goal of the season as Dolberg combined with his Danish teammate Lasse Schoene before controlling the ball on his chest and twice on his thigh as he cut through a group of three defenders and sent a powerful shot into the roof of the net .Dolberg proved he can score against stronger sides, too, with a memorable strike against Celta de Vigo in the Europa League.The young Dane has not scored since the NEC hat trick, but looks certain to raise his tally after the winter break.---SURPRISE PACKAGEFC Twente nearly didnt make it into the mix this season.The Dutch soccer association called for the 2010 league champions to be relegated because of financial mismanagement and it took an appeal to secure a berth in the top flight this season. But after losing Ziyech to Ajax, it remained to be seen if Twente could survive.Turkey striker Enes Unal, on loan from Manchester City, has filled the gap with 10 goals, lifting Twente to a surprise seventh in the league at the halfway mark.---POINTS TO PROVETwo-time defending champion PSV Eindhoven goes into the winter break in third place, eight points adrift of Feyenoord, and has struggled for form all season.Captain Luuk de Jong leads the league, together with Ziyech, in shots with 60, but has only four goals to his name. PSV also was eliminated from the Champions League, finishing last in its group with only two points.Newly-promoted Go Ahead Eagles Deventer is struggling to adjust, managing only three victories in its first 17 matches and currently last in the league. ' ' '