Things are going to be a bit quieter here over the next week or so as I'll be on vacation, a Pacific coast trip anchored by TFC games in Seattle and Chivas. With away games on my mind, this is the first of what will be a semi regular feature of top 5's, based on the whole "long suffering fan" experience. These are my worst away games, in chronological order, feel free to add your own.
Top 5 worst away game trips.
May 1989, Scunthorpe 5-1 Darlington.
My second season following Darlington really wasn't a good one, down near the bottom of the league all season, firing the manager improved things a bit but not much, and we went into this game, the penultimate of the season, needing to win to have a chance of avoiding relegation to non-league status. Things didn't go well, and by halfway through the second half it was all over. A fabulous long range goal from Paul "Jimmy's brother" Willis a mere consolation.
But it wasn't really about the game, it was more about what happened on the terraces. Hundreds of Darlo fans had made the trip, and there were quite a few tears (I was 13, but many older and tougher looking men were crying as well). The last 30 minutes or so were filled with chants of "we love you darlo, we do" and "we'll support you ever more", and after the team had gone back to the dressing room, the fans didn't leave instead ludicrously singing "bring out the champions" until the team returned, shirts were thrown into the crowd, only the security fence stopped a full on pitch invasion and lovefest.
The fans showed their wisdom as well, with chants of "Brian must stay" referring to our new manager Brian Little. Fortunately the chairman listened, as he was kept on and led Darlington to 2 successive championships and promotions before leaving for a bigger club. But that was all in the future, all that remained at the time was a gloomy car ride home and the sinking realisation of what I'd let myself in for.
February 1990, Runcorn 2-1 Darlington
Darlo's season in the Vauxhall Conference was on the whole a very enjoyable one, with a lot of really good away games, but there were a few where the downside of the "non-league" thing really hit me. There was Northwich, who with the help of an allegedly fixed referee, kicked the crap out of us, ending one player's career and badly injuring our goalie, on the way to a 1-0 win, also Barrow on new years day where torrential rain inspired Darlo fans to donate heavily towards the "new roof fund".
The worst game/ground/town from that year though would have to be Runcorn. Now it's quite possible that Runcorn is actually a delightful town (I'd be a lot of money that it isn't, but I guess it's possible)but when Darlo played there it was a cold wet Tuesday night in February, we arrived in darkness and though maybe it's my memory playing tricks on me, it seemed like the ground was at the bottom of a hill, overlooked by some industrial/chemical factory, very picturesque. It was absolutely freezing that night, the kind of night where you buy a cup of scaldingly hot Bovril just to keep your hands warm. The game was one of the worst we played that seaon, giving very little excitement to keep the fans warm on the "terrace" which was little more than a grass bank, ending in a 2-1 defeat and a thoroughly miserable ride home. I still shudder just at the mention of the word Runcorn.
May 1996 Plymouth 1-0 Darlington.
This really shouldn't be in here at all, a) it wasn't technically an away game, it was a neutral venue and b) that neutral venure was Wembley stadium for the division 3 playoff final, but anyway, here it is.
The 1995-96 season was a very good one for Darlington, featuring future stars who'd come up from the youth team like Sean Gregan and Robbie Blake, and going into the last game of the season, they knew a win would give them automatic promotion. That last game was Scunthorpe away, and as is always the case with Scunthorpe away, it went wrong, a 3-3 draw meaning they fell into the playoffs for the remaining promotion spot. They beat Hereford in the semi final and so were on their way to the final and their first ever Wembley appearance.
Problem is, this came 2 months after I moved to Toronto. With financial help from my parents, I hurriedly made the ridiculously last minute and complicated travel arrangements and eventually embarked, an overnight Toronto to Manchester flight got me to England on the Friday morning, followed by the trip down to London on Saturday morning. After the game, a tube ride to the bus station, then a bus to Dover, ferry to Calais, bus to Paris and a taxi to the airport for the flight home, arriving late Sunday morning.
That's where things got interesting, I'd made it all this way without noticing that the flight home was actually booked for Monday, not Sunday as I swear to this day the travel agent told me. So now I was stuck in a very small terminal with barely any money, and a bag full of galaxy bars I'd bought for one of my roommates. I decided to rely on the galaxy bars for sustenance so spent the last of my money on a magazine to stave off boredom, and it was a nice day so I went to lie on a grass bank outside the terminal, where I soon fell asleep in the sun.
Next thing I know I'm woken up by airport security with guns lazily pointing in my direction, interrogating me in french and letting me know they'd prefer it if I went back inside to wait, which I did. I then had a very dull day, and a terrible nights sleep on a very uncomfortable bench, before the 10 hour flight back to Toronto.
The game, oh yeah, we lost 1-0.
October 2009, New York 5-0 Toronto.
My first and to date only TFC away game and the last game of the season, what could be better than a weekend in New York, combined with seeing the boys make history by clinching the team's first ever playoff spot.
The weekend in New York was great, and the timing worked out nicely for us to be able to see Leonard Cohen at Madison Square Garden, then saturday came around, and the game. Torrential rain meant I was drenched just from the 5 minute walk from the bus stop into the stadium, as well as leaving puddles all over the plastic pitch. The beer options were Bud and Bud Light., but oh well, we were playing the worst team in the league, what could go wrong.
Two minutes in, and New York scored on their first shot. Looking at the highlights again, and I'm surprised by how well TFC played and how many chances they got over the next 30 minutes or so, (right until Chad Barrett went off with an injury, I'm telling you, MVP) but we didn't score, then they did on their 2nd shot, and it was 2-0 at half time. Any modicum of hope was snuffed out with a 3rd goal after 62 minutes, at which the point the hunderds of TFC fans there turned quite surly, and basically an injury time penalty that made it 5-0 and officially TFC's worst ever defeat was just the icing on the cake. Post game recriminations included talk of bad apples in the dressing room and the coach quitting, but GM Mo Johnston staying and eventually hiring Preki as the new coach. Things could only get better from there right?
December 2009/January 2010, Winter 4-0 Duncan
My previous trips home have all been timed to coincide with either the end or the beginning of the football season to be able to fit in a couple of games, but this was my first trip back home for Christmas. Darlington were clearly going to be relegated back to non-league status, and going completely out of business wasn't out of the question, so I really wanted to see one last game, in a way a passing of the torch to TFC being considered my main team. After living in Toronto, I tend to snort with derision at the thought of a bad winter in England, so it didn't even occur to me that there might be a problem seeing a game, especially with the traditional busy schedule of games.
4 possible games I could have gone to. 4 postponements. Burn. The ironic part of it is that Darlington's fancy white elephant of a stadium actually has undersoil heating, they just can't afford to run it.
So there they are, I was going to end this with some sort of warning that TFC fans should be very afraid that my presence at the next 2 away games would guarantee defeats and maybe end up costing us the playoffs, but, erm, yeah, no need to worry about that any more is there!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Canada vs China. September 30.
Canada's Womens team is playing against China at BMO field this thursday. Tickets are fairly cheap and available here, and hey, it's probably the closest you'll get to seeing any kind of successful team any time soon at BMO.
Even if you're not going to go, watch the video, it's fun.
Even if you're not going to go, watch the video, it's fun.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Ladies and gentlemen, Rita Macneil!
So after a 1-1 tie with Real Salt Lake, combined with a win for Cruz Azul, we're officially out of the champions league, along with being all but mathematically eliminated from the MLS playoffs.
It wasn't actually a bad game today, Jacob Peterson continued his improvement under Dasovic by actually scoring a really nice goal, and the boos the players received were harsh, though understandable if taken as a comment on the season as a whole.
The crowd, 10, 581, is a good indication of the disillusionment the fans feel right now, I'm not sure where the demand is that Tom Anselmi think's he's supplying.
Once again, a big fuck you to Preki for his line-up and tactics for the away game against Arabe Unido, that's what really killed us in this tournament.
Not much else to say really, cue the fat lady, we're done, bring on the new regime and the next rebuild.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Less Stevie G, more Stevie Y please.
Towards the end of another failed season for TFC, and with all the soap opera worthy dysfunction still sadly raging away, the blame game has begun in earnest. Mo and Preki were the first casualties, and when discussing what other moves need to be made, pretty much everybody at some point has been mentioned by somebody as part of the problem and needing to go.
For the longest time I never thought I'd be saying Dwayne De Rosario was potentially a problem, but it started occuring to me after watching the two Canada games in early September. The first game against Peru, I thought Canada really didn't play well, but De Rosario was the best of a bad bunch. In the second game though, after he'd been released to play for TFC, Canada played with different players, a different formation and looked like a much better team. But still, I couldn't really bring myself to follow through on that line of thinking, after all, though his play can certainly be selfish at times he's by far TFC's leading scorer, and the main counter argument? The 4 MLS championships he won with San Jose/Houston clearly show he's not a team killer.
So, even after the Preki firing, though I wasn't happy that management had apparently made him part of an untouchable clique that contributed to Preki's demise, I mainly read the debates about his future with interest rather than piling on the criticism. However his goal celebration yesterday, to me a disgracefully timed gesture from the captain of a side fighting for it's playoff life and post match comments, reinforced the notion of De Rosario as a selfish player who may actually be hurting the team.
Within those debates, someone compared De Rosario to Steven Gerrard of Liverpool and England, and to me it's a perfect comparison. It was certainly intended as a compliment, and in many very positive ways, there's a correlation between the two of them. Gerrard is a very talented player, captain of his hometown team, and with a very clear will to win. He has had moments of absolute brilliance where he's put the team on his back and won games all by himself, often very important games, for example, the 2005 Champions league final, and the 2006 F.A cup final. He is arguably the best player at Liverpool, and immensely valuable on and off the pitch. He has (by the standards Liverpool demand) a less than stellar supporting cast and is very worthy of the argument "can you imagine where we'd be without him?" All of these things could equally be said of De Rosario, and yet there's counter arguments that also apply.
Though Gerrard has been instrumental in the triumphs Liverpool have had in the 10 years or so since he became a regular, have Liverpool as a team met the expectations of everyone at the club during that time? Given their history and stature, I'm sure no-one would have been satisfied if told their championship drought would continue throughout Gerrard's time at Liverpool, or that Manchester United would pull level with their record number of first division/Premier league titles. While they are still a team to be reckoned with on any given day, and have had some great cup runs, when it comes to any club's bread and butter, the league, they have only finished in the top 2 twice during Gerrard's career, and last year fell as far as 7th.
Similarly, while TFC's Voyageur cup wins and this years Concacaf Champions league run have been fun, qualification for the playoffs is what most fans yearn for, and that isn't going to happen for the second consecutive year of the De Rosario era.
As well, Gerrard has had contract negotiations with Liverpool dragged out in the press which have almost led him to leave the club until he got the "respect" he believed was his due, leading to his Stevie G nickname being subverted to $tevie Me. De Rosario certainly seems to be going down this path now and who knows where that will end in his case. The "Me Ro" tag surely can't be too far away.
While it would be churlish to suggest Liverpool's struggles are Gerrard's fault, people have suggested that it is Liverpool's reliance on him, and accomodation of his wholehearted, often brilliant, but at times selfish play and lack of tactical discipline that have stopped Liverpool growing into a team that could win the league. His struggles to combine well with Frank Lampard in England's midfield are also well documented and considered a big factor in the repeated failures of England's so called golden generation.
Similar criticisms have been voiced against De Rosario, though they are more easily muted with the fact that as part of a well put together team in San Jose/Houston, he was a very significant part of their success. It may well be that De Rosario is just the right player at the wrong time, and he certainly seems to be the wrong choice for the captain to lead the team through the current chaotic situation.
When he was made captain, the club and the line-up were in utter chaos, and with many senior players from the previous season gone, De Rosario was now clearly The Man, and as such had a chance to really put his stamp on this team, with many young players or players new to TFC ready to follow his example.
Though it would be an incredibly difficult task that probably very few players could do, the example I'd have liked to see him attempt to live up to is not Stevie G, but Stevie Y.
Steve Yzerman was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in 1983 and made captain in 1986, and was one of the most talented players of his era, sparking a revival of hockey in Detroit, and bringing respectability back to the team after the "Dead Wings" era. Captain, star player, and undeniably The Man, he WAS hockey in Detroit. Though the Red Wings were now a much better team, playoff success eluded them, until Yzerman and coach Scotty Bowman sat down for a conversation. Pierre LeBrun details the chat and the aftermath of that in the middle of this lookback on Yzerman's career as he was about to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Now, I have no idea if Preki ever had any similar coversation with De Rosario, or how hard he tried to help implement the new, more defensive system Preki brought in, but his comments after Preki's firing don't suggest he was an enthusisatic disciple. His play througout the season was the same old De Ro, often trying to do too much himself (I'd certainly never accuse him of not caring or not trying), drifitng out of position, shooting from distance, not really using his teamamtes, what I think of as De Ro DIY mode. Here and there it can be very successful, winning TFC points out of games where the team played poorly, but does anyone think the team as a whole has made the necessary strides under his leadership to the consistent perfomances needed to regularly challenge for even a playoff spot?
This is De Rosario's first season as captain, so it would be too harsh to write him off completely, it's quite possible that with a new GM and coach coming in, who are hopefully better at the ego wrangling necessary with professional athletes, he could become an inspirational leader and take the team to some long overdue league success.
His actions on Saturday though, bringing a personal compensation issue out in to the public, at a crucial moment of a must win game, suggests he's got a long way to go. Those 18 letters between G and Y look like a very very big gap.
For the longest time I never thought I'd be saying Dwayne De Rosario was potentially a problem, but it started occuring to me after watching the two Canada games in early September. The first game against Peru, I thought Canada really didn't play well, but De Rosario was the best of a bad bunch. In the second game though, after he'd been released to play for TFC, Canada played with different players, a different formation and looked like a much better team. But still, I couldn't really bring myself to follow through on that line of thinking, after all, though his play can certainly be selfish at times he's by far TFC's leading scorer, and the main counter argument? The 4 MLS championships he won with San Jose/Houston clearly show he's not a team killer.
So, even after the Preki firing, though I wasn't happy that management had apparently made him part of an untouchable clique that contributed to Preki's demise, I mainly read the debates about his future with interest rather than piling on the criticism. However his goal celebration yesterday, to me a disgracefully timed gesture from the captain of a side fighting for it's playoff life and post match comments, reinforced the notion of De Rosario as a selfish player who may actually be hurting the team.
Within those debates, someone compared De Rosario to Steven Gerrard of Liverpool and England, and to me it's a perfect comparison. It was certainly intended as a compliment, and in many very positive ways, there's a correlation between the two of them. Gerrard is a very talented player, captain of his hometown team, and with a very clear will to win. He has had moments of absolute brilliance where he's put the team on his back and won games all by himself, often very important games, for example, the 2005 Champions league final, and the 2006 F.A cup final. He is arguably the best player at Liverpool, and immensely valuable on and off the pitch. He has (by the standards Liverpool demand) a less than stellar supporting cast and is very worthy of the argument "can you imagine where we'd be without him?" All of these things could equally be said of De Rosario, and yet there's counter arguments that also apply.
Though Gerrard has been instrumental in the triumphs Liverpool have had in the 10 years or so since he became a regular, have Liverpool as a team met the expectations of everyone at the club during that time? Given their history and stature, I'm sure no-one would have been satisfied if told their championship drought would continue throughout Gerrard's time at Liverpool, or that Manchester United would pull level with their record number of first division/Premier league titles. While they are still a team to be reckoned with on any given day, and have had some great cup runs, when it comes to any club's bread and butter, the league, they have only finished in the top 2 twice during Gerrard's career, and last year fell as far as 7th.
Similarly, while TFC's Voyageur cup wins and this years Concacaf Champions league run have been fun, qualification for the playoffs is what most fans yearn for, and that isn't going to happen for the second consecutive year of the De Rosario era.
As well, Gerrard has had contract negotiations with Liverpool dragged out in the press which have almost led him to leave the club until he got the "respect" he believed was his due, leading to his Stevie G nickname being subverted to $tevie Me. De Rosario certainly seems to be going down this path now and who knows where that will end in his case. The "Me Ro" tag surely can't be too far away.
While it would be churlish to suggest Liverpool's struggles are Gerrard's fault, people have suggested that it is Liverpool's reliance on him, and accomodation of his wholehearted, often brilliant, but at times selfish play and lack of tactical discipline that have stopped Liverpool growing into a team that could win the league. His struggles to combine well with Frank Lampard in England's midfield are also well documented and considered a big factor in the repeated failures of England's so called golden generation.
Similar criticisms have been voiced against De Rosario, though they are more easily muted with the fact that as part of a well put together team in San Jose/Houston, he was a very significant part of their success. It may well be that De Rosario is just the right player at the wrong time, and he certainly seems to be the wrong choice for the captain to lead the team through the current chaotic situation.
When he was made captain, the club and the line-up were in utter chaos, and with many senior players from the previous season gone, De Rosario was now clearly The Man, and as such had a chance to really put his stamp on this team, with many young players or players new to TFC ready to follow his example.
Though it would be an incredibly difficult task that probably very few players could do, the example I'd have liked to see him attempt to live up to is not Stevie G, but Stevie Y.
Steve Yzerman was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in 1983 and made captain in 1986, and was one of the most talented players of his era, sparking a revival of hockey in Detroit, and bringing respectability back to the team after the "Dead Wings" era. Captain, star player, and undeniably The Man, he WAS hockey in Detroit. Though the Red Wings were now a much better team, playoff success eluded them, until Yzerman and coach Scotty Bowman sat down for a conversation. Pierre LeBrun details the chat and the aftermath of that in the middle of this lookback on Yzerman's career as he was about to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
"I (Bowman) called Steve in and I said, 'You have a lot of good individual stats, but if you don't play a lot more defense, then the rest of the guys will probably keep playing the way they are.'"
Yzerman bought in instantly. After all, the team had been stunned in first-round upsets to Toronto (1993) and San Jose (1994).With Yzerman, the captain, the star player, The Man, buying into the team first idea, his teammates had no choice but to fall in line, resulting in the Red Wing dynasty that has spanned 15 years now. His influence can still be felt even after his retirement with the play of current stars Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, as unselfish a combination of star players as can be found in the league. When his number was raised to the rafters in Detroit, a "C" was added to the banner to signify that he was forever "The Captain".
"At that time, I still felt we were a Stanley Cup contender and all I wanted to do was win," said Yzerman. "That was the time for me to show that I really meant that. So I was quite comfortable doing it and relished the opportunity, really."
Yzerman, who posted six consecutive 100-plus-point seasons from 1987-88 to 1992-93, would never surpass the 100-point plateau again in his career.
"You saw Steve, who was one of the premier offensive players in the game, accept sacrificing some offense, accept the fact that his name wouldn't be in the leading scorers, in order to be a shot-blocker, a guy that could win draws, be a good defensive forward, chipping the puck off the boards when that's the right play," said (Wings GM Ken)Holland. "His desire to accept that and commit is the reason we went from being a great offensive team and a real disappointing playoff team into being the Detroit Red Wings that won championships.
"When Steve made that sacrifice and that commitment to go from a great offensive player into being a great two-way player, that really set the standard for who we are today."
Now, I have no idea if Preki ever had any similar coversation with De Rosario, or how hard he tried to help implement the new, more defensive system Preki brought in, but his comments after Preki's firing don't suggest he was an enthusisatic disciple. His play througout the season was the same old De Ro, often trying to do too much himself (I'd certainly never accuse him of not caring or not trying), drifitng out of position, shooting from distance, not really using his teamamtes, what I think of as De Ro DIY mode. Here and there it can be very successful, winning TFC points out of games where the team played poorly, but does anyone think the team as a whole has made the necessary strides under his leadership to the consistent perfomances needed to regularly challenge for even a playoff spot?
This is De Rosario's first season as captain, so it would be too harsh to write him off completely, it's quite possible that with a new GM and coach coming in, who are hopefully better at the ego wrangling necessary with professional athletes, he could become an inspirational leader and take the team to some long overdue league success.
His actions on Saturday though, bringing a personal compensation issue out in to the public, at a crucial moment of a must win game, suggests he's got a long way to go. Those 18 letters between G and Y look like a very very big gap.
Beautiful friend, the end.
Alright, well at least we can relax now, and just concentrate on the Concacaf Champions League instead. The brief hope we got after De Rosario's 2 free kicks saved a crappy performance and got us 3 points against Houston is now gone, after another home defeat, this time against San Jose.
There's a lot of different things running through my head, so this post is going to be a collection of individual thoughts that when put together may come together to be more then the sum of their parts, or may be a bit of a disjointed mess, I'm not really sure. So kind of like TFC then.
This game really shows that Preki the coach wasn't really all that bad, things certainly haven't improved since he left. It also shows that Mo the GM and Preki the co-GM really have left behind a squad that just isn't good enough.
What's going on with Mista? Dasovic is trying to play a more attacking style, he's theoretically our most talented forward and he's left on the bench, after not playing at all in the last two games? If Preki had made that choice he'd be getting all sorts of questions about why he can't get along with the talented players.
After Mista came on in the second half, and towards the end when we were desperate and basically playing 6 upfront, why was Mista one of the few left back to defend. I get that we had the tall defenders forward for the desperation long balls, but wasn't Mista supposed to be a targetman with a bit of skill? Surely ideal for that purpose.
Jacob Peterson actually looked like a winger again. Not a really good one, but he got in a few crosses and played quite wide, he definitely seems improved under Dasovic. Having said that, in my opinion, after the season he's had and the thin ice he must already be on, that awful late miss put the definitive stamp on his flight out of town at the end of the season.
The north end elite did a good job with their silent protest and simple dollar signs banners. Tom Anselmi and Paul Beirne were a lot less conspicuous than usual in that corner of the stadium.
Chad Barrett was probably our best player out there, he was all over the place, in a good way, getting on the end of long balls, and creating chances, really showed what we missed while he was injured.
De Rosario? Didn't have a great game, but clearly gave it his all in his own way out there, and scored a great goal. His "celebration" miming writing a cheque as a way of protesting that he feels underpaid was a bit crass and horribly timed though, given that he's the captain and we're 2-1 down in a crucial game. Does he deserve more money? He's got a very valid argument, and with the club looking to avoid negative publicity at season ticket renewal time, it's probably a very good time to be making that argument, but in the middle of the game? Awful.
So now we need to win our last 4 games. What are our chances? The body language of our two best players at the final whistle will tell you all you need to know about that.
There's a lot of different things running through my head, so this post is going to be a collection of individual thoughts that when put together may come together to be more then the sum of their parts, or may be a bit of a disjointed mess, I'm not really sure. So kind of like TFC then.
This game really shows that Preki the coach wasn't really all that bad, things certainly haven't improved since he left. It also shows that Mo the GM and Preki the co-GM really have left behind a squad that just isn't good enough.
What's going on with Mista? Dasovic is trying to play a more attacking style, he's theoretically our most talented forward and he's left on the bench, after not playing at all in the last two games? If Preki had made that choice he'd be getting all sorts of questions about why he can't get along with the talented players.
After Mista came on in the second half, and towards the end when we were desperate and basically playing 6 upfront, why was Mista one of the few left back to defend. I get that we had the tall defenders forward for the desperation long balls, but wasn't Mista supposed to be a targetman with a bit of skill? Surely ideal for that purpose.
Jacob Peterson actually looked like a winger again. Not a really good one, but he got in a few crosses and played quite wide, he definitely seems improved under Dasovic. Having said that, in my opinion, after the season he's had and the thin ice he must already be on, that awful late miss put the definitive stamp on his flight out of town at the end of the season.
The north end elite did a good job with their silent protest and simple dollar signs banners. Tom Anselmi and Paul Beirne were a lot less conspicuous than usual in that corner of the stadium.
Chad Barrett was probably our best player out there, he was all over the place, in a good way, getting on the end of long balls, and creating chances, really showed what we missed while he was injured.
De Rosario? Didn't have a great game, but clearly gave it his all in his own way out there, and scored a great goal. His "celebration" miming writing a cheque as a way of protesting that he feels underpaid was a bit crass and horribly timed though, given that he's the captain and we're 2-1 down in a crucial game. Does he deserve more money? He's got a very valid argument, and with the club looking to avoid negative publicity at season ticket renewal time, it's probably a very good time to be making that argument, but in the middle of the game? Awful.
So now we need to win our last 4 games. What are our chances? The body language of our two best players at the final whistle will tell you all you need to know about that.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
It was 20 years ago today. September.
Part 2 of my look back at Darlington's 1990-91 season, click here for August.
After two goalless games in August, Darlo's first home league game was against Burnley, who brought a lot of fans with them and finally things clicked, a 3-1 win quelling dissent at the outrageous ticket price increase to 4 whole pounds. Full backs McJannet and Gray got goals as did Gary Gill, with what I remember as a fantastic volley over the keeper's head from outside the box.
This was followed by a trip to Blackpool for the return leg of the league cup, my first away game of the season, a rare Tuesday afternoon game due to Blackpool's floodlights not working. A John Borthwick goal gave us the 1-1 draw and we advanced on away goals.
A 2-2 draw at Wallsall was followed by another good home win, 3-0 over Halifax, McJannett (winning goal of the week on "The Back page") and Gill once again, with David Cork chipping in his first of the season as well, and Darlo were up to 4th.
Draws at home to York and away to Wrexham followed before we took on Swindon in the league cup 2nd round. Swindon had won promotion to the first division the year before, only to have it taken away due tfinancial irregularities, but this was still a very big game, and I remember in the car ride home hearing Radio 5 describe it as the shock of the round when we won 3-0. A Frank Gray penalty and two goals from David Cork had surely put the result in doubt before the second leg, though the main thing I remember about the game is Swindon's Dave Bennett, a member of Coventry's 1987 FA cup winning squad having his leg broken in a fairly ugly tackle.
A 1-0 win at Doncaster's crappy ground in front of an impressive turn out of away fans ended the month on a high note, with some fans even musing about a second successive promotion.
Any Darlo fans here, feel free to fill in the blanks in my memory with further details in the comment section. Cheers
Coming soon: October, another trip to Blackpool, and the return leg at Swindon.
After two goalless games in August, Darlo's first home league game was against Burnley, who brought a lot of fans with them and finally things clicked, a 3-1 win quelling dissent at the outrageous ticket price increase to 4 whole pounds. Full backs McJannet and Gray got goals as did Gary Gill, with what I remember as a fantastic volley over the keeper's head from outside the box.
This was followed by a trip to Blackpool for the return leg of the league cup, my first away game of the season, a rare Tuesday afternoon game due to Blackpool's floodlights not working. A John Borthwick goal gave us the 1-1 draw and we advanced on away goals.
A 2-2 draw at Wallsall was followed by another good home win, 3-0 over Halifax, McJannett (winning goal of the week on "The Back page") and Gill once again, with David Cork chipping in his first of the season as well, and Darlo were up to 4th.
Draws at home to York and away to Wrexham followed before we took on Swindon in the league cup 2nd round. Swindon had won promotion to the first division the year before, only to have it taken away due tfinancial irregularities, but this was still a very big game, and I remember in the car ride home hearing Radio 5 describe it as the shock of the round when we won 3-0. A Frank Gray penalty and two goals from David Cork had surely put the result in doubt before the second leg, though the main thing I remember about the game is Swindon's Dave Bennett, a member of Coventry's 1987 FA cup winning squad having his leg broken in a fairly ugly tackle.
A 1-0 win at Doncaster's crappy ground in front of an impressive turn out of away fans ended the month on a high note, with some fans even musing about a second successive promotion.
Any Darlo fans here, feel free to fill in the blanks in my memory with further details in the comment section. Cheers
Coming soon: October, another trip to Blackpool, and the return leg at Swindon.
Moments that make it worth it.
Over in England, it was a big week in the Carling cup, with lots of satisfying results, with two that stand out in particular. League two team Northampton Town beating Liverpool on wednesday was fantastic in it's own right, but combined with Brentford beating Everton on penalties, then it was really a bad week on Merseyside. This isn't about rubbing it in there though, it's about celebrating the victory for the small club.
This is well worth checking out for a Brentford fan's persepctive.
This is well worth checking out for a Brentford fan's persepctive.
Now…Jagielka comes forward for Everton. If he doesn’t score we’ve done it. If he doesn’t score we’ve beaten Everton. It seems like a long run up. He hits the ball. It’s going the same side as Beckford’s. It hits the post.And a good write up of the game from a Northampton fan
There’s a fraction of second. Then all hell breaks loose.
We’ve done it.
There’s a pitch invasion.
All those bad times – and there’s too many to list here – gone in an instant. All the ‘who are Brentford?’ conversations that drive you insane when talking football to your average armchair Premiership fan and all the irritation and frustration that comes of being a lower division football supporter in a land ruled by Premiership football…gone in an instant.
There are handshakes, hugs and grins. There’s a dash to the pub. Then there’s the grinning trip home on the tube and the bus knowing that people must think you are insane. You can’t help it. For a Brentford supporter these kinds of nights are pretty rare so I’m going to enjoy it while it lasts.
There is nothing like watching your team, whatever level at which they play, win a game completely unexpectedly, and in such dramatic fashion. This is the beauty of lower league football, that the possibility of nights such as this even exists at all, and that it wonderfully, magisterially comes to pass once in a generation, or even in a lifetime. You can keep your Premier League.Love it.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Now it's gone, gone, gone...
My blog sub-heading gives away my general experience as a supporter, a masochistic tolerance of misery and struggle, a recognition that it's not always going to be good times, there's going to be bad seasons and more bad seasons, but you keep going because they're your team and it's just the right thing to do, and it'll make the good times all the sweeter when they eventually come. The good times will come right? right?
While the constraints of small town economics, or well meaning managerial incompetence can be excused, it sure would be nice to think that the chairman/owners/evil soul-sucking corporate overlords appreciated that loyalty, and would not only not take advantage of it, but would actually go out of their way to encourage that sort of feeling.
When TFC started playing in 2007, it seemed they were going out of their way to create that dynamic, reaching out to football supporters in the city, setting up cheap supporters section tickets, and actively seeking their input to help create the atmosphere that made TFC a surprise success at the box office if not on the field. Supporters were having fun and felt appreciated, the club could use the energy they created to maintain interest among the more casual fans in the higher priced seats. Win-win
Fast forward 4 years, and the loving feeling is gone, replaced among those supporters with at best a weary cynicism and at worst an outright contempt of the front office, who unveiled another increase in season ticket prices, with the highest increase in the cheaper supporter sections seats, all while using images of those supporters to sell the TFC experience.
For me, it's not too bad, my tickets are still affordable, and I still feel it's worth it, there's more games involved in the package this year and the MLS cup ticket is definitely an upgrade over the Carlsberg cup friendly game that's been forced on ticket holders in the past.
But after a 4th consecutive year of sub-standard play, and another increase, a lot of people are angry, and even people who've been there right from the start are contemplating dropping their tickets, or downgrading to cheaper seats. Now say what you will about MLSE, but one thing they are not is bad at business, so presumably they think they've got the pricing balance right, and it may well be that these most passionate fans will eventually swallow their outrage and once again pay out for their tickets.
The problem is, in my opinion, anger and grudging renewal among the committed will translate to apathy and non-renewal among the more casual fans. Let's hope I'm wrong and they're right as there are way too many examples in Toronto sports both past and present of how hard it is to win back fans once they've given up.
The always excellent The Yorkies blog sums it up very nicely here.
A surprisingly good thing dropped in the lap of MLSE, and they did do a lot to get that going, including stumping up the franchise fee to bring the club into existence when no-one else was able or willing. Unfortunately since then, rather than nurture the relationship with the supporters, they've chosen to exploit it for higher short term profits. Hopefully they wake up before it's to late.
While the constraints of small town economics, or well meaning managerial incompetence can be excused, it sure would be nice to think that the chairman/owners/evil soul-sucking corporate overlords appreciated that loyalty, and would not only not take advantage of it, but would actually go out of their way to encourage that sort of feeling.
When TFC started playing in 2007, it seemed they were going out of their way to create that dynamic, reaching out to football supporters in the city, setting up cheap supporters section tickets, and actively seeking their input to help create the atmosphere that made TFC a surprise success at the box office if not on the field. Supporters were having fun and felt appreciated, the club could use the energy they created to maintain interest among the more casual fans in the higher priced seats. Win-win
Fast forward 4 years, and the loving feeling is gone, replaced among those supporters with at best a weary cynicism and at worst an outright contempt of the front office, who unveiled another increase in season ticket prices, with the highest increase in the cheaper supporter sections seats, all while using images of those supporters to sell the TFC experience.
For me, it's not too bad, my tickets are still affordable, and I still feel it's worth it, there's more games involved in the package this year and the MLS cup ticket is definitely an upgrade over the Carlsberg cup friendly game that's been forced on ticket holders in the past.
But after a 4th consecutive year of sub-standard play, and another increase, a lot of people are angry, and even people who've been there right from the start are contemplating dropping their tickets, or downgrading to cheaper seats. Now say what you will about MLSE, but one thing they are not is bad at business, so presumably they think they've got the pricing balance right, and it may well be that these most passionate fans will eventually swallow their outrage and once again pay out for their tickets.
The problem is, in my opinion, anger and grudging renewal among the committed will translate to apathy and non-renewal among the more casual fans. Let's hope I'm wrong and they're right as there are way too many examples in Toronto sports both past and present of how hard it is to win back fans once they've given up.
The always excellent The Yorkies blog sums it up very nicely here.
Sadly, ML$E has Reds' supporters over the proverbial barrel. The fine balance between loving your club and being taken for a chump by a corporation with zero desire for winning on the field is a painful choice. You can never fault TFC's fans for giving it their all at BMO Field and on the road with The Reds but eventually backs will break and fans will stay home. Another lacklustre year...and yet another ticket increase, may just fatally injure this young club. The sad thing is, the Toronto-hoser media will say... "professional soccer just can't work in Toronto". Remember, we were there when it did - before greed showed up.
A surprisingly good thing dropped in the lap of MLSE, and they did do a lot to get that going, including stumping up the franchise fee to bring the club into existence when no-one else was able or willing. Unfortunately since then, rather than nurture the relationship with the supporters, they've chosen to exploit it for higher short term profits. Hopefully they wake up before it's to late.
How did that happen?
TFC went to mexico on Tuesday night to face Cruz Azul, and pretty much everyone agreed they were on a hiding to nothing. A tough place to play, against a team that's currently tearing up the Mexican league and with a point to prove after embarrasingly losing in Toronto. It seemed with the line-up he put out Coach Nick Dasovic thought the same as well, many starters rested, Garcia and Hscanovics as the full backs, and a truly craptacular Obie/Ibbe forward line that was never ever going to score.
Injuries to Joseph Nane and Martin Saric within the first half hour burned two subs that would surely have been needed later on to deal with altitude and ball chasing related cramps and exhaustion. I haven't seen a possession stat, but I'd be surprised if TFC had 25%. They were outshot badly, with only 1 shot on target that I can remember, and that from about 60 yards away.
And yet, it didn't all go wrong, they put in an excellent defensive performance, limiting Cruz Azul to terrible shots from distance and putting crosses into the box that Adrian Cann and Ty Harden dealt with admirably, and they got a 0-0 draw that keeps their qualification hopes alive, and is only the third time an MLS team has got a point in a CCL game in Mexico.
An ugly game, but definitely one to be proud of, and I must say, given how badly the season as a whole has gone, there's actually been quite a few of those this year. Combined with some absolute horror shows, and the soap opera off the pitch, it's certainly been interesting.
Injuries to Joseph Nane and Martin Saric within the first half hour burned two subs that would surely have been needed later on to deal with altitude and ball chasing related cramps and exhaustion. I haven't seen a possession stat, but I'd be surprised if TFC had 25%. They were outshot badly, with only 1 shot on target that I can remember, and that from about 60 yards away.
And yet, it didn't all go wrong, they put in an excellent defensive performance, limiting Cruz Azul to terrible shots from distance and putting crosses into the box that Adrian Cann and Ty Harden dealt with admirably, and they got a 0-0 draw that keeps their qualification hopes alive, and is only the third time an MLS team has got a point in a CCL game in Mexico.
An ugly game, but definitely one to be proud of, and I must say, given how badly the season as a whole has gone, there's actually been quite a few of those this year. Combined with some absolute horror shows, and the soap opera off the pitch, it's certainly been interesting.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Chad Barrett MVP. Seriously.
If you've read some of my other posts, especially this one you'll know I feel Preki was fired very harshly, and that we were doing ok until injuries hit, especially to Chad Barrett. After seeing us win in his first game starting since he got injured, my curiosity was further piqued, so I decided to check out the stats for this season (and they say bloggers don't do research, ha!).
Here's TFC's record in games which Chad Barrett started, in all competitions, excluding the useless Bolton friendly. Won 9, Lost 4, Tied 5. In games he didn't start? 3-8-5.
Add in his substitute appearances and the trend is even more pronounced, 11-6-7 when he plays at least part of the game, and 1-6-3 when he doesn't.
So translate that into 3 points for a win, and TFC with Barrett has 40 points in 24 games, which would be a 50 point season, which even the most ardent Preki-hater would have to accept as a bloody good one.
Without Barrett, 6 points in 10 games, or 18 points over 30 games.
Now I'm not about to suggest Barrett is as talented a player as Dwayne De Rosario, or that this sort of results would translate to another side, or a new style of play under Nick Dasovic, but it seems pretty clear that he was the crucial part of the team that made TFC under Preki work. As well as his vastly improved goal scoring record, his impact is a very important indirect one, causing problems for the defence that allows others like De Rosario more room to do their own thing. It's no co-incidence that the goals also dried up for De Ro, and everyone else, when O'Brien White was the main striker for the defence to contend with.
Best player? No. Most valuable? Absolutely.
Here's TFC's record in games which Chad Barrett started, in all competitions, excluding the useless Bolton friendly. Won 9, Lost 4, Tied 5. In games he didn't start? 3-8-5.
Add in his substitute appearances and the trend is even more pronounced, 11-6-7 when he plays at least part of the game, and 1-6-3 when he doesn't.
So translate that into 3 points for a win, and TFC with Barrett has 40 points in 24 games, which would be a 50 point season, which even the most ardent Preki-hater would have to accept as a bloody good one.
Without Barrett, 6 points in 10 games, or 18 points over 30 games.
Now I'm not about to suggest Barrett is as talented a player as Dwayne De Rosario, or that this sort of results would translate to another side, or a new style of play under Nick Dasovic, but it seems pretty clear that he was the crucial part of the team that made TFC under Preki work. As well as his vastly improved goal scoring record, his impact is a very important indirect one, causing problems for the defence that allows others like De Rosario more room to do their own thing. It's no co-incidence that the goals also dried up for De Ro, and everyone else, when O'Brien White was the main striker for the defence to contend with.
Best player? No. Most valuable? Absolutely.
You win some, you lose some.
Stoppage time, injury time, Esquire added time! fergie time, call it what you will, but it definitely made things interesting for me on Saturday. First up we had Darlington, away to the second bottom team in the division, who were coming off a 4-0 loss the week before. 2-0 up after 90minutes and looking very comfortable, still 2-0 up after 94 minutes, cue the collapse and we come away with a 2-2 draw. They're certainly coming up with creative new ways to frustrate the crap out of you.
Later in the evening, and Toronto FC are in their latest win or bust game, trying to keep their desperate playoff hopes alive. After a shambolic first half, they improved in the second, but just like it was back in the first few games of the season, they'd relied on a bit of magic from Dwayne De Rosario to draw them, level, but time was running out and 1 point really wasn't going to be good enough. I was out with friends so wasn't watching the game, but got commentary of the last few minutes over the phone (thanks Roz!). O'Brien White missing another good chance seemed to be the end of our chances, but then De Ro got the ball and attacked and got fouled just on the edge of the area. Playing against his former team, and having scored one free kick goal already, surely he couldn't do it again could he? But he did, and we won. Realistically the playoffs aren't going to happen but it extends hope for a little bit longer, selfishly, that means long enough for at least the game in Seattle I'll be attending. Taking the game on it's own though, an awesome moment, one that really ratcheted up my karaoke enthusiasm for the rest of the night.
Stepping outside of the moment, and though it would be unfair to make any kind of snap judgement about the post Preki regime, the goal just hid the fact that we look like a team that's just starting over, which of course is unfortunately what we are.
A 4-1 thrashing followed by a bad game against a theoretically inferior team, only to be rescued by De Ro heroics. It's like we're back in April. We're a team that frankly isn't good enough and is going to rely on individual inspiration, and it doesn't surprise me that De Ro thrives in that sort of situation, and if we're going to do anything this season, he's going to have to go on an amazing streak. Hopefully next season, whether under Dasovic, or a new coach, we'll be able to move beyond the need for such heroics on a regular basis, much as we did for a couple of months this year before injuries exposed the depth limitations. Hopefully that new coach won't be fired in a panic as soon as things go wrong, I've had enough starting over.
Later in the evening, and Toronto FC are in their latest win or bust game, trying to keep their desperate playoff hopes alive. After a shambolic first half, they improved in the second, but just like it was back in the first few games of the season, they'd relied on a bit of magic from Dwayne De Rosario to draw them, level, but time was running out and 1 point really wasn't going to be good enough. I was out with friends so wasn't watching the game, but got commentary of the last few minutes over the phone (thanks Roz!). O'Brien White missing another good chance seemed to be the end of our chances, but then De Ro got the ball and attacked and got fouled just on the edge of the area. Playing against his former team, and having scored one free kick goal already, surely he couldn't do it again could he? But he did, and we won. Realistically the playoffs aren't going to happen but it extends hope for a little bit longer, selfishly, that means long enough for at least the game in Seattle I'll be attending. Taking the game on it's own though, an awesome moment, one that really ratcheted up my karaoke enthusiasm for the rest of the night.
Stepping outside of the moment, and though it would be unfair to make any kind of snap judgement about the post Preki regime, the goal just hid the fact that we look like a team that's just starting over, which of course is unfortunately what we are.
A 4-1 thrashing followed by a bad game against a theoretically inferior team, only to be rescued by De Ro heroics. It's like we're back in April. We're a team that frankly isn't good enough and is going to rely on individual inspiration, and it doesn't surprise me that De Ro thrives in that sort of situation, and if we're going to do anything this season, he's going to have to go on an amazing streak. Hopefully next season, whether under Dasovic, or a new coach, we'll be able to move beyond the need for such heroics on a regular basis, much as we did for a couple of months this year before injuries exposed the depth limitations. Hopefully that new coach won't be fired in a panic as soon as things go wrong, I've had enough starting over.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Oh me of little faith
After the firings, and with the blame game in full swing, people are starting to turn to the question of who's next, and primarily who'll be TFC's next general manager. Many are suggesting that we need more than one person to properly do the job, the 24th minute's dream team for example would include 4 people, including Jason de Vos which would make this Darlington fan positively giddy. At the top of that sort of structure, most people see an experienced and successful football man, an Eminence Grise who charts the basic course and vision for the club, but who would be less involved in the day to day running of the club though always available as a sounding board for his staff.
Sounds like a great plan to me, and luckily TFC already has that man in place, with a clear idea of what he wants the club to be. Unluckily, his name is Tom Anselmi.
At the press conference to announce the firings, Anselmi was front and centre and there were a few quotes that exposed his guiding philosophy, and let's just say it doesn't seem like it's about TFC winning, or even TFC learning from it's recent mistakes.
When talking about the full time job prospects for interim GM Earl Cochrane and coach Nick Dasovic, he waxed poetic about how MLSE had "made a committment right from the get go that we need to develop soccer infrastructure in Canada and especially Ontario", and how "they wanted to start investing in Jim Brennan and turn him into a soccer pro, they've been investing in Nick, investing in Earl, creating a team of people that can grow together and build on the expertise that exists."
To that end, they "asked Preki to take a couple of assistant coaches under his wing, we believe it's important for us to be developing coaches in this league, we believe there seems to be a bit of a shortage of head coaches that know the North American game, that know the MLS rules and stuff, we believe developing head coaches is important and this (the interim coach job)will be one new feather in Nick's cap and ultimately he's going to be a head coach in this league"
In a way it's an admirable goal, but I'd rather have TFC committing to employing the best, most experienced and successful people possible, prioritising winning as soon as possible, rather than being a training school for up and coming Canadians (or other non-Canadian MLSE favourites such as Danny Dichio) who can then spread their expertise throughout the country or the league. Given how Preki was treated when a power struggle developed, ie management backed their investment over their head coach, and given that they're reaffirming their committment to this model at both the management and coaching level, is any premium candidate really going to be looking for the job. Also, would it not be best to build a high quality management team and a culture of success, then start introducing people into that environment to learn from? I have much more confidence in what Steve Yzerman learnt at the Redwings than in what Jim Brennan would have learnt under Mo Johnston.
Moving on to the search for the new GM, and the hiring process, Anselmi said "I'll lead the effort but I'll be looking to the league for support, and other people we have out in the markets, contacts, that sort of thing, a lot of different people involved who'll be providing advice and assitance in who the potential candidates are, then we'll shake that down and ultimately make a recommendation to our shareholders, the owners." After the league was heavily involved with the hiring of Mo Johnston, that doesn't really fill me with confidence, and I don't like that it's "the shareholders" that the recommendation is given to. Though the slip was immediately corrected to "the owners", to me it exposes that for Anselmi and MLSE, this is much more a business venture than a sports team.
As for how he decided that now was the time to fire both Mo and Preki, well it doesn't sound like a highly scientific process. "The team was heading in the wrong direction, but it was even bigger than that, it was, just, the situation wasn't right, that's the best way I can describe it." "it was, you know, a gut, you know when things don't feel right and it just didn't feel right....it just felt like it was heading in the wrong direction."
If you're thinking I'm being unfair and that MLSE has shown it understands when to get out of the way, as is generally suggested when referring to their corporate cousins, the Leafs and the Raptors, well guess who's going to be making decisions soon about Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo's future. That's right, noted sports expert Richard Peddie, in this article in the Star. He's going to make a decision quickly
So basically he's going to go with his gut. Sounds like Tom's got what it takes to stick around with MLSE and TFC for a long, long time.
Sounds like a great plan to me, and luckily TFC already has that man in place, with a clear idea of what he wants the club to be. Unluckily, his name is Tom Anselmi.
At the press conference to announce the firings, Anselmi was front and centre and there were a few quotes that exposed his guiding philosophy, and let's just say it doesn't seem like it's about TFC winning, or even TFC learning from it's recent mistakes.
When talking about the full time job prospects for interim GM Earl Cochrane and coach Nick Dasovic, he waxed poetic about how MLSE had "made a committment right from the get go that we need to develop soccer infrastructure in Canada and especially Ontario", and how "they wanted to start investing in Jim Brennan and turn him into a soccer pro, they've been investing in Nick, investing in Earl, creating a team of people that can grow together and build on the expertise that exists."
To that end, they "asked Preki to take a couple of assistant coaches under his wing, we believe it's important for us to be developing coaches in this league, we believe there seems to be a bit of a shortage of head coaches that know the North American game, that know the MLS rules and stuff, we believe developing head coaches is important and this (the interim coach job)will be one new feather in Nick's cap and ultimately he's going to be a head coach in this league"
In a way it's an admirable goal, but I'd rather have TFC committing to employing the best, most experienced and successful people possible, prioritising winning as soon as possible, rather than being a training school for up and coming Canadians (or other non-Canadian MLSE favourites such as Danny Dichio) who can then spread their expertise throughout the country or the league. Given how Preki was treated when a power struggle developed, ie management backed their investment over their head coach, and given that they're reaffirming their committment to this model at both the management and coaching level, is any premium candidate really going to be looking for the job. Also, would it not be best to build a high quality management team and a culture of success, then start introducing people into that environment to learn from? I have much more confidence in what Steve Yzerman learnt at the Redwings than in what Jim Brennan would have learnt under Mo Johnston.
Moving on to the search for the new GM, and the hiring process, Anselmi said "I'll lead the effort but I'll be looking to the league for support, and other people we have out in the markets, contacts, that sort of thing, a lot of different people involved who'll be providing advice and assitance in who the potential candidates are, then we'll shake that down and ultimately make a recommendation to our shareholders, the owners." After the league was heavily involved with the hiring of Mo Johnston, that doesn't really fill me with confidence, and I don't like that it's "the shareholders" that the recommendation is given to. Though the slip was immediately corrected to "the owners", to me it exposes that for Anselmi and MLSE, this is much more a business venture than a sports team.
As for how he decided that now was the time to fire both Mo and Preki, well it doesn't sound like a highly scientific process. "The team was heading in the wrong direction, but it was even bigger than that, it was, just, the situation wasn't right, that's the best way I can describe it." "it was, you know, a gut, you know when things don't feel right and it just didn't feel right....it just felt like it was heading in the wrong direction."
If you're thinking I'm being unfair and that MLSE has shown it understands when to get out of the way, as is generally suggested when referring to their corporate cousins, the Leafs and the Raptors, well guess who's going to be making decisions soon about Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo's future. That's right, noted sports expert Richard Peddie, in this article in the Star. He's going to make a decision quickly
“I will make a recommendation to the board (on Colangelo’s future) at some point during the season,” said Peddie. “I’m not going to leave Bryan hanging out. He’s got kids in school here.”His criteria?
" ...I want to see them play hard and be active and be better defensively. And we’ll see where it goes.”and
“I’ll just watch, and if I like where I think it’s going, we’ll re-up Bryan.”
So basically he's going to go with his gut. Sounds like Tom's got what it takes to stick around with MLSE and TFC for a long, long time.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Which local team will disappoint me today?
If you're a Canadian who's previously come to this site and occasionally been bemused to find me writing about obscure English football teams you know nothing about and care even less, well hang on to your hat, because here's some cricket for you!
Today was the final day of the 2010 County Championship in England, with three teams still in contention for the title, including my home county Yorkshire (Yorkshire? like the puddings? that's right! stick with me). Weather had caused havoc with the last round of games, meaning the other two teams in with a chance ended up drawing their games, and a win would have given Yorkshire the title. It was always going to be tough, as lots of time had been lost to rain over the first 3 days (days? yep! keep going), but some quick runs and a declaration could leave enough time to bowl Kent out. They started well, and at 93-1, a lead of 52 runs, they were giving themselves a chance.
So what happened? they lost their remaining 9 wickets for 37 runs, in 55 balls and 44 minutes. Kent only needed 90 runs for the win, and the fact that they managed to lose 6 wickets when chasing that total just added salt to the wound. That left Yorkshire in 3rd, and just like that, sporting misery was once again clutched from the jaws of achievement. Sigh.
For Canadian readers still with me, here's a reward for your perseverance. English cricketer Andrew Flintoff retired today, here's what he thought was acceptable behaviour for the England vice-captain in the middle of the 2007 world cup.
"There was water involved and a pedalo as well. But I don't want to go into detail. I don't think my life was in danger."
Legend!
Today was the final day of the 2010 County Championship in England, with three teams still in contention for the title, including my home county Yorkshire (Yorkshire? like the puddings? that's right! stick with me). Weather had caused havoc with the last round of games, meaning the other two teams in with a chance ended up drawing their games, and a win would have given Yorkshire the title. It was always going to be tough, as lots of time had been lost to rain over the first 3 days (days? yep! keep going), but some quick runs and a declaration could leave enough time to bowl Kent out. They started well, and at 93-1, a lead of 52 runs, they were giving themselves a chance.
So what happened? they lost their remaining 9 wickets for 37 runs, in 55 balls and 44 minutes. Kent only needed 90 runs for the win, and the fact that they managed to lose 6 wickets when chasing that total just added salt to the wound. That left Yorkshire in 3rd, and just like that, sporting misery was once again clutched from the jaws of achievement. Sigh.
For Canadian readers still with me, here's a reward for your perseverance. English cricketer Andrew Flintoff retired today, here's what he thought was acceptable behaviour for the England vice-captain in the middle of the 2007 world cup.
"There was water involved and a pedalo as well. But I don't want to go into detail. I don't think my life was in danger."
Legend!
One firing too many.
So while I don't think I've read one article or blog or tweet or anything from anyone suggesting Mo Johnston shouldn't have been fired, Preki's dismissal got a much more mixed reaction. The majority certainly seems to be happy to see him go, but there's some people who feel it's a bad move, or that while a move may have been necessary, it's very unfair to Preki and that he was never given a fair shot. Count me in the latter group.
By the time the end came, it seemed that there was a big rift between Preki and, well, everyone else. The players certainly showed their appreciation for the moves, and their perfomance against DC in Preki's last game in charge suggested they weren't that interested in playing for him any more. As for his coaching staff, stories surfaced of a massive bust up with Nick Dasovic, followed by Dasovic and the rest of the assistants going to management to lobby for Preki's removal with Dasovic to take over as head coach. The supporters? They weren't going to take it any more, and season ticket renewal time is coming up. Add all that up, combined with the recent struggles on the pitch, and the writing was clearly on the wall, something had to change and it's always easier to fire the coach than the team. Preki's last press conference, as lethargic a performance as the players gave on the pitch beforehand, suggested he knew this as well as anyone.
So, with all that against him, Preki had to go, it's difficult to see any other resolution that would allow the club to move on, and it's probably for the best that whoever the new GM is gets to choose his own staff, a luxury that was never given to Preki, and that's the main reason I feel that Preki never really stood a chance.
In the press conference to announce the firings, Tom Anselmi spoke with obvious pride about how MLSE is committed to trying to develop the infrastructure of soccer in Canada and develop Canadian coaches and managers. To that end Preki was asked to take Nick Dasovic under his wing. Danny Dichio had been awkwardly moved into a coaching position only last year, so I imagine he'd have been an untouchable as well, and when Jim Brennan retired after just one game of the season, he was swiftly moved into the assistant GM spot.
Thinking about the wider impact the club can have on the game as a whole in Canada is a very admirable goal, but surely a better path to success for the club itself would be to go after the best and brightest and most experienced people available to help TFC, or let the new coach bring in his own assistants, rather than set yourself up as a self confessed development club for a select group of people to learn their trade. Though Preki did bring an assistant with him, Leo Percovich, he was also surrounded by inexperienced people who crucially knew that their development was seen as very important by the higher-ups, and thus knew they had more job security than Preki, and that if push came to shove, management had their back, not Preki's, which is exactly how things ended.
On the playing side, last years squad ended up well over the salary cap amid lots of talk about dressing room dysfunction, so changes definitely needed to be made. How many of those changes were Preki's idea or were forced on him by Mo is unknown, though the fact that some of the players let go were fan favourites or people that Mo had made big trades for certainly suggests he had a big hand in that.
However, it's become known that at least one trade he wanted to make was blocked, Dwayne de Rosario. Star player, top scorer, captain and marketing face of the franchise, was never going to be allowed to leave. Why Preki would want him to leave is another question, and a big question mark against his ability to work with big name players, but that's another person that he's forced to work with, and who knows that he's got more job security than Preki. While I've never heard anything specific about Preki's thoughts on Julian De Guzman, I can only imagine that he has very similar status. Preki's retort to his and De Ro's criticisms of him " It's a couple of Canadian guys making those comments. That's all I have to say about that" certainly suggests De Guzman was another of the untouchables, as well as showing Preki's disdain for the group as a whole.
So with a very comfortable and influential group of people who had no reason to fear him, Preki was always going to be vulnerable when things went wrong, and make no mistake, even the most ardent Preki apologist would agree that things went wrong. Preki arrived with a reputation as a hard-ass coach, often unpopular with players for his training methods, which apparently involve a lot of running and not much tactics and strategy. His defensive system and apparent trouble with the ego wrangling and squad rotation necessary in the modern game also were guaranteed to make enemies, as well as leave him unpopular with supporters. So when TFC hit a rough stretch in mid August, the knives came out very very quickly. Who knows what exctly triggered the confrontation with Dasovic, but when it came down to it, Preki was never going to win that particular power struggle, and thus found himself forced out after less than a season, and less than a month removed from the famous victory over Cruz Azul.
There are a lot of unknowns here, was Preki made aware of these restrictions when he signed up? If so he only has himself to blame. Also, it may well be that this is a good thing, and Preki was a cancer that needed to be got rid of before he could do more damage, certainly a lot of supporters feel that way, but either way, I for one don't like the idea that a small group of untouchable players and assistants have so much control. Much like with the Leafs and their Muskoka 5, the inmates have taken over the asylum, Preki was never given a chance, and now we're going to be starting all over again. Again.
By the time the end came, it seemed that there was a big rift between Preki and, well, everyone else. The players certainly showed their appreciation for the moves, and their perfomance against DC in Preki's last game in charge suggested they weren't that interested in playing for him any more. As for his coaching staff, stories surfaced of a massive bust up with Nick Dasovic, followed by Dasovic and the rest of the assistants going to management to lobby for Preki's removal with Dasovic to take over as head coach. The supporters? They weren't going to take it any more, and season ticket renewal time is coming up. Add all that up, combined with the recent struggles on the pitch, and the writing was clearly on the wall, something had to change and it's always easier to fire the coach than the team. Preki's last press conference, as lethargic a performance as the players gave on the pitch beforehand, suggested he knew this as well as anyone.
So, with all that against him, Preki had to go, it's difficult to see any other resolution that would allow the club to move on, and it's probably for the best that whoever the new GM is gets to choose his own staff, a luxury that was never given to Preki, and that's the main reason I feel that Preki never really stood a chance.
In the press conference to announce the firings, Tom Anselmi spoke with obvious pride about how MLSE is committed to trying to develop the infrastructure of soccer in Canada and develop Canadian coaches and managers. To that end Preki was asked to take Nick Dasovic under his wing. Danny Dichio had been awkwardly moved into a coaching position only last year, so I imagine he'd have been an untouchable as well, and when Jim Brennan retired after just one game of the season, he was swiftly moved into the assistant GM spot.
Thinking about the wider impact the club can have on the game as a whole in Canada is a very admirable goal, but surely a better path to success for the club itself would be to go after the best and brightest and most experienced people available to help TFC, or let the new coach bring in his own assistants, rather than set yourself up as a self confessed development club for a select group of people to learn their trade. Though Preki did bring an assistant with him, Leo Percovich, he was also surrounded by inexperienced people who crucially knew that their development was seen as very important by the higher-ups, and thus knew they had more job security than Preki, and that if push came to shove, management had their back, not Preki's, which is exactly how things ended.
On the playing side, last years squad ended up well over the salary cap amid lots of talk about dressing room dysfunction, so changes definitely needed to be made. How many of those changes were Preki's idea or were forced on him by Mo is unknown, though the fact that some of the players let go were fan favourites or people that Mo had made big trades for certainly suggests he had a big hand in that.
However, it's become known that at least one trade he wanted to make was blocked, Dwayne de Rosario. Star player, top scorer, captain and marketing face of the franchise, was never going to be allowed to leave. Why Preki would want him to leave is another question, and a big question mark against his ability to work with big name players, but that's another person that he's forced to work with, and who knows that he's got more job security than Preki. While I've never heard anything specific about Preki's thoughts on Julian De Guzman, I can only imagine that he has very similar status. Preki's retort to his and De Ro's criticisms of him " It's a couple of Canadian guys making those comments. That's all I have to say about that" certainly suggests De Guzman was another of the untouchables, as well as showing Preki's disdain for the group as a whole.
So with a very comfortable and influential group of people who had no reason to fear him, Preki was always going to be vulnerable when things went wrong, and make no mistake, even the most ardent Preki apologist would agree that things went wrong. Preki arrived with a reputation as a hard-ass coach, often unpopular with players for his training methods, which apparently involve a lot of running and not much tactics and strategy. His defensive system and apparent trouble with the ego wrangling and squad rotation necessary in the modern game also were guaranteed to make enemies, as well as leave him unpopular with supporters. So when TFC hit a rough stretch in mid August, the knives came out very very quickly. Who knows what exctly triggered the confrontation with Dasovic, but when it came down to it, Preki was never going to win that particular power struggle, and thus found himself forced out after less than a season, and less than a month removed from the famous victory over Cruz Azul.
There are a lot of unknowns here, was Preki made aware of these restrictions when he signed up? If so he only has himself to blame. Also, it may well be that this is a good thing, and Preki was a cancer that needed to be got rid of before he could do more damage, certainly a lot of supporters feel that way, but either way, I for one don't like the idea that a small group of untouchable players and assistants have so much control. Much like with the Leafs and their Muskoka 5, the inmates have taken over the asylum, Preki was never given a chance, and now we're going to be starting all over again. Again.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Ceeeeelebrate good times, come on!
So, the what now question is a bit of a scary one, but I'll leave that for later.
For now, though, Mo Johnston is fired, which is very good news, Preki's getting fired as well, which I'm less happy about. It's probably for the best, but I feel bad for Preki, he never really got a fair chance here. But again I'll leave that for later.
Anyway, Johnston's gone, that's a good start, and hopefully after restarting many times under Johnston, this bigger restructuring will work well enough to finally turn the corner towards being a respectable club instead of the laughing stock it's become, at least at the on the pitch side of things.
There's many articles out there analysing this of course, but this one from view from the south stands does an excellent job of detailing Mo's failings and why it's a good thing he's finally been let go.
Obviously there's the fact that we're now on our 5th coach in less than 4 years, the revolving door of players coming and going without there ever seeming to be a clear plan of any kind, and the failure to make the playoffs for 3 years, most likely 4, while expansion teams from later years have overtaken us.
Most of all though for me it's his personality, which is the best thing to be rid of. I doubt there was anyone who thought of Mo as trustworthy, and way too many players have left the club on bad terms, with rumours, innuendo and lies flying around in their aftermath. All that unfortunately gets reflected on to the club, and make it a less attractive place to play, and in a salary cap league you can't let money talk enough to overcome objections if players don't want to come here.
The current players apparently burst into applause at the announcement, which I imagine is as much to do with Preki leaving as it is for Mo, but still, not a good sign of a happy club. Hopefully from here, the changes will be enough to remove the toxic atmosphere and inspire a late season run from relieved players.
In the long term, I hope MLSE puts enough thought into hiring a replacement or multiple replacements if necessary, who can make the on-pitch product as successful and respected as they are off the pitch. Apparently when Philadelphia were starting out and figuring out what they were going to do on the business side of things, Toronto FC and Director of Business operations Paul Beirne were frequently looked to as someone to copy. I can guarantee no-one ever felt that way about Mo Johnston.
For now, though, Mo Johnston is fired, which is very good news, Preki's getting fired as well, which I'm less happy about. It's probably for the best, but I feel bad for Preki, he never really got a fair chance here. But again I'll leave that for later.
Anyway, Johnston's gone, that's a good start, and hopefully after restarting many times under Johnston, this bigger restructuring will work well enough to finally turn the corner towards being a respectable club instead of the laughing stock it's become, at least at the on the pitch side of things.
There's many articles out there analysing this of course, but this one from view from the south stands does an excellent job of detailing Mo's failings and why it's a good thing he's finally been let go.
Obviously there's the fact that we're now on our 5th coach in less than 4 years, the revolving door of players coming and going without there ever seeming to be a clear plan of any kind, and the failure to make the playoffs for 3 years, most likely 4, while expansion teams from later years have overtaken us.
Most of all though for me it's his personality, which is the best thing to be rid of. I doubt there was anyone who thought of Mo as trustworthy, and way too many players have left the club on bad terms, with rumours, innuendo and lies flying around in their aftermath. All that unfortunately gets reflected on to the club, and make it a less attractive place to play, and in a salary cap league you can't let money talk enough to overcome objections if players don't want to come here.
The current players apparently burst into applause at the announcement, which I imagine is as much to do with Preki leaving as it is for Mo, but still, not a good sign of a happy club. Hopefully from here, the changes will be enough to remove the toxic atmosphere and inspire a late season run from relieved players.
In the long term, I hope MLSE puts enough thought into hiring a replacement or multiple replacements if necessary, who can make the on-pitch product as successful and respected as they are off the pitch. Apparently when Philadelphia were starting out and figuring out what they were going to do on the business side of things, Toronto FC and Director of Business operations Paul Beirne were frequently looked to as someone to copy. I can guarantee no-one ever felt that way about Mo Johnston.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Boooooooooooo!
The general tone and theme of this blog, and my life as a sports fan, if there is one, while not exactly a celebration of sporting failure and bumbling incompetence, is certainly an indulgence and acceptance of it as the natural lot of the local team follower.
Maybe years from now I'll chuckle at the shitshow that was TFC's game against DC, and hold it up as some kind of badge of honour to show how I deserve whatever hypothetical success may arrive in the future. Right now though, I'm not really feeling all that indulgent, after watching one of the worst performances I've ever seen, and believe me, I've seen a lot of bad games.
Where to start? I guess with the result. That must win and most winnable game against the worst team in the league I was talking about? We lost 1-0, and we got lucky, 4-0 wouldn't have been a flattering result for DC. It pretty much guarantees we'll miss the playoffs, but I'll leave some kind of season review for later and focus on just this game.
The line-up. Maicon Santos starting up front? Excellent, but with Mista? He hasn't looked like a good forward all year, and he certainly didn't correct the impression today. When he wasn't wasting half chances by dribbling into defenders rather than trying a quick shot, he was dropping deep, thus leaving Santos on his own, as well as getting in De Ro's way at the top of the midfield diamond, who'd have thought signing a DP striker would create our very own Gerrard/Lampard conundrum in midfield. And who was on the sides of this midfield diamond, why noted dangerous wingers Martin Saric and Dan Gargan of course. No offence to either of them, they're both good MLS level players in their own way, but they certainly don't suggest creativity, or a threat that DC had to take seriously thus opening up space for the central players. In defence, I can only presume Ty Harden is injured, even though he was on the subs bench, as all of a sudden, there's Raivas Hscanovics at left back.
The game . Aside from De Ro's early effort, a fantastic dribble through three defenders and shot from outside the box that hit the post, we were absolutely terrible, saved only by DC's ineptness in front of goal. There's just too much that went wrong to even try and analyse it.
The post game excuses. Preki blamed tiredness and the schedule and the rigours of having to play at 4pm after an evening game on Wednesday. There's probably an element of truth in that, but it's a feeble excuse. The squad just isn't good enough, and if there's a silver lining right now it's that surely it's time for Mo Johnston's to go back to Scotland. As for Preki, I've been on his side generally, thinking he was doing a good job until injuries and lack of depth killed our momentum, but there's been a few games where I thought he's got his line up and strategy all wrong, and this is another one to add to the list. Should he go as well as Mo? I still don't think I'm prepared to call for that, if only because I really don't want to blow things up completely, but I'm closer than I've ever been.
So what now? Concentrate on the champions league? I suppose, but we're already in trouble there, having blown a glorious opportunity to be in control of the group by taking Arabe Unido too lightly. There's a very good chance that by the time we play Real Salt Lake at home, we'll still be stuck on 3 points while Cruz Azul and RSL have 9. Not to worry though, Mo Johnston made clear in his pre-game interview that TFC feels merely qualifying for the group stage is mission accomplished as far as the CCL is concerned.
To sum up: BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Maybe years from now I'll chuckle at the shitshow that was TFC's game against DC, and hold it up as some kind of badge of honour to show how I deserve whatever hypothetical success may arrive in the future. Right now though, I'm not really feeling all that indulgent, after watching one of the worst performances I've ever seen, and believe me, I've seen a lot of bad games.
Where to start? I guess with the result. That must win and most winnable game against the worst team in the league I was talking about? We lost 1-0, and we got lucky, 4-0 wouldn't have been a flattering result for DC. It pretty much guarantees we'll miss the playoffs, but I'll leave some kind of season review for later and focus on just this game.
The line-up. Maicon Santos starting up front? Excellent, but with Mista? He hasn't looked like a good forward all year, and he certainly didn't correct the impression today. When he wasn't wasting half chances by dribbling into defenders rather than trying a quick shot, he was dropping deep, thus leaving Santos on his own, as well as getting in De Ro's way at the top of the midfield diamond, who'd have thought signing a DP striker would create our very own Gerrard/Lampard conundrum in midfield. And who was on the sides of this midfield diamond, why noted dangerous wingers Martin Saric and Dan Gargan of course. No offence to either of them, they're both good MLS level players in their own way, but they certainly don't suggest creativity, or a threat that DC had to take seriously thus opening up space for the central players. In defence, I can only presume Ty Harden is injured, even though he was on the subs bench, as all of a sudden, there's Raivas Hscanovics at left back.
The game . Aside from De Ro's early effort, a fantastic dribble through three defenders and shot from outside the box that hit the post, we were absolutely terrible, saved only by DC's ineptness in front of goal. There's just too much that went wrong to even try and analyse it.
The post game excuses. Preki blamed tiredness and the schedule and the rigours of having to play at 4pm after an evening game on Wednesday. There's probably an element of truth in that, but it's a feeble excuse. The squad just isn't good enough, and if there's a silver lining right now it's that surely it's time for Mo Johnston's to go back to Scotland. As for Preki, I've been on his side generally, thinking he was doing a good job until injuries and lack of depth killed our momentum, but there's been a few games where I thought he's got his line up and strategy all wrong, and this is another one to add to the list. Should he go as well as Mo? I still don't think I'm prepared to call for that, if only because I really don't want to blow things up completely, but I'm closer than I've ever been.
So what now? Concentrate on the champions league? I suppose, but we're already in trouble there, having blown a glorious opportunity to be in control of the group by taking Arabe Unido too lightly. There's a very good chance that by the time we play Real Salt Lake at home, we'll still be stuck on 3 points while Cruz Azul and RSL have 9. Not to worry though, Mo Johnston made clear in his pre-game interview that TFC feels merely qualifying for the group stage is mission accomplished as far as the CCL is concerned.
To sum up: BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Sunshine, lollipops and rainbows.
Darlington won 3-0 today.
Blackpool are in a champions league place right now.
Barcelona lost 2-0 at home to Hercules!
Simon Davey's Hereford have now gone over 600 minutes without scoring.
These things all make me happy.
TFC? I really don't want to talk about them right now.
Blackpool are in a champions league place right now.
Barcelona lost 2-0 at home to Hercules!
Simon Davey's Hereford have now gone over 600 minutes without scoring.
These things all make me happy.
TFC? I really don't want to talk about them right now.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Mmmmmmm cliches.
So, it's squeaky bum time, 7 games left, at least 4 wins, probably 5 wins needed to make the playoffs, and we're at home to the worst team in the league. Games don't come more must winnish that this one. They also don't come much more winnable. If we don't win tomorrow, then we're not going to make the playoffs, if we can't win, then we really don't deserve to.
In his pre game interview Preki talks about the need for the midfield to step up and share the load offensively, saying they've only accounted for 2 goals all season. While this is arguably true, if you don't consider De Rosario to have been playing in midfield at all this year, it's also a bit rich considering it's his tactics that have led to that stat, as well as the welcome reduction in goals against. Hopefully this means he's ready to go with a more attacking formation to try and get some goals and put the game away early, then rest players for the midweek ccl game against Salt lake.
In fairness to Preki, he put out an attacking line-up against Chicago, unfortunately, it had Jacob Peterson up front, so was always unlikely to bear fruit. With that in mind, I'd love to see Maicon Santos start the game. If he's not fit enough for the whole game then take him off, but let's start with our strongest line-up rather than have to throw him on later if we're struggling. With Chad Barrett probably still not fit enough, I'd keep O'Brian White in the team with him up front, as I feel he's been looking much better in the last couple of games, following up a hard working game against Dallas with more of the same against Chicago, and actually looking like a threat to score a couple of times.
The status of Mista remains a mystery, Preki saying he's been having trouble with his leg, but if he's fit, I'd like to see him in the centre of an attacking midfield trio with De Ro and LaBrocca, with De guzman as the holding midfielder. If Mista isn't fit, then, for want of a better alternative, put Peterson on the wing with De Ro tucked in behind the strikers.
The defence is fairly straight forward, just replace the suspended Usanov with Gargan, and keep Harden at left back rather than Garcia.
4-1-3-2, it's risky but it's do or die time, balls to the wall, death or glory, win or bust, go big or go home, choose your cliche really. I predict a 3-0 TFC win, with White and De Ro scoring early and shockingly, Peterson getting a third in the second half.
In his pre game interview Preki talks about the need for the midfield to step up and share the load offensively, saying they've only accounted for 2 goals all season. While this is arguably true, if you don't consider De Rosario to have been playing in midfield at all this year, it's also a bit rich considering it's his tactics that have led to that stat, as well as the welcome reduction in goals against. Hopefully this means he's ready to go with a more attacking formation to try and get some goals and put the game away early, then rest players for the midweek ccl game against Salt lake.
In fairness to Preki, he put out an attacking line-up against Chicago, unfortunately, it had Jacob Peterson up front, so was always unlikely to bear fruit. With that in mind, I'd love to see Maicon Santos start the game. If he's not fit enough for the whole game then take him off, but let's start with our strongest line-up rather than have to throw him on later if we're struggling. With Chad Barrett probably still not fit enough, I'd keep O'Brian White in the team with him up front, as I feel he's been looking much better in the last couple of games, following up a hard working game against Dallas with more of the same against Chicago, and actually looking like a threat to score a couple of times.
The status of Mista remains a mystery, Preki saying he's been having trouble with his leg, but if he's fit, I'd like to see him in the centre of an attacking midfield trio with De Ro and LaBrocca, with De guzman as the holding midfielder. If Mista isn't fit, then, for want of a better alternative, put Peterson on the wing with De Ro tucked in behind the strikers.
The defence is fairly straight forward, just replace the suspended Usanov with Gargan, and keep Harden at left back rather than Garcia.
4-1-3-2, it's risky but it's do or die time, balls to the wall, death or glory, win or bust, go big or go home, choose your cliche really. I predict a 3-0 TFC win, with White and De Ro scoring early and shockingly, Peterson getting a third in the second half.
It was 20 years ago today....
This is the first of what will be an ongong series looking back at great teams/seasons from the past. I'm starting off with some self indulgent nostalgia, and the last time a team I follow actually won their league. So welcome to Darlington's division 4 season of 1990/91. Seriously? Yep.
August
With memories of the promotion winning Conference season, Gary Coatsworth's looping header and "you can stick the vauxhall conference up your arse" on the pitch at Welling still fresh, Darlington fans were unnaturally full of confidence heading into the 90/91 season. The management team of Brian Little and Frank Gray was still around as was most of last years triumphant squad, the main addition to which was Mick Tait, a fearsome midfielder formerly of Portsmouth, slowly working his way back down the leagues, but still very much a formidable prescence.
The main players.
Mark Prudhoe, Goalkeeper. A lower league journeyman who finally stuck with a club at Darlington and turned into a top quality goalie and a bit of a cult hero.
Les McJannett, Right Back. Energetic full back who loved to get forward.
Frank Gray, Left back, Scottish international and European cup winner moved down to Darlington as player/assistant manager. Apparently he liked a drink, the infamously bad video the club put out to celebrate the conference winning season featured a clip of him being presented with a Guinness tie, in recognition of a particularly boozy evening.
Jimmy Willis, Centre Back. A really classy defender who was way too good for Darlo, Missed the end of last year's winning conference season with a broken leg.
Kevan Smith, Centre Back. Captain and in his second spell at the club, sandwiching a trip into the first division with Coventry. Generally a solid defender, but had a tendency for awful mistakes.
David Corner, Centre Back, Tough no-nonsense defender who scored his share of goals from corners and penalties. The only player in the 1985 Milk Cup final who doesn't have a wikipedia page.
Mick Tait, Centre Back/Sweeper. Tough as nails converted midfielder.
Andy Toman, Midfield. Big money (40,000) signing before the previous season, small, niggly but very effective midfielder.
Gary Gill, Midfield. Pretty boy with Cannigia-esque hair and headband. Talented midfielder who'd spent most of the previous season injured.
Paul Emson, Left Winger. Formerly known as "The whippet" He'd clearly lost his speed and was on his way down the divisions.
John Borthwick, Striker. Hard working but a frustratingly bad finisher, who nevertheless was our top scorer with 19 goals in the Conference season.
David Cork, Striker. Much more skillful than Borthwick, but clearly on the downslide of his career, a bit on the chubby side, and quite slow.
Our standard formation was 5-3-2. A really solid back line, Gill and Toman in central midfield with Emson on the left wing and McJannet getting forward on the right wing whenever he could.
There was just the two games in August, as that year the season started on August 25th! A 1-0 defeat at Gillingham was followed by a 0-0 draw at home to Blackpool in the League cup first round/first leg. An inauspicious start for the team, and also for this series as I don't remember a thing about either of those games. Ah well, I do remember it was good to be back.
Coming soon, September, goals! wins! and more details of the game, I promise.
August
With memories of the promotion winning Conference season, Gary Coatsworth's looping header and "you can stick the vauxhall conference up your arse" on the pitch at Welling still fresh, Darlington fans were unnaturally full of confidence heading into the 90/91 season. The management team of Brian Little and Frank Gray was still around as was most of last years triumphant squad, the main addition to which was Mick Tait, a fearsome midfielder formerly of Portsmouth, slowly working his way back down the leagues, but still very much a formidable prescence.
The main players.
Mark Prudhoe, Goalkeeper. A lower league journeyman who finally stuck with a club at Darlington and turned into a top quality goalie and a bit of a cult hero.
Les McJannett, Right Back. Energetic full back who loved to get forward.
Frank Gray, Left back, Scottish international and European cup winner moved down to Darlington as player/assistant manager. Apparently he liked a drink, the infamously bad video the club put out to celebrate the conference winning season featured a clip of him being presented with a Guinness tie, in recognition of a particularly boozy evening.
Jimmy Willis, Centre Back. A really classy defender who was way too good for Darlo, Missed the end of last year's winning conference season with a broken leg.
Kevan Smith, Centre Back. Captain and in his second spell at the club, sandwiching a trip into the first division with Coventry. Generally a solid defender, but had a tendency for awful mistakes.
David Corner, Centre Back, Tough no-nonsense defender who scored his share of goals from corners and penalties. The only player in the 1985 Milk Cup final who doesn't have a wikipedia page.
Mick Tait, Centre Back/Sweeper. Tough as nails converted midfielder.
Andy Toman, Midfield. Big money (40,000) signing before the previous season, small, niggly but very effective midfielder.
Gary Gill, Midfield. Pretty boy with Cannigia-esque hair and headband. Talented midfielder who'd spent most of the previous season injured.
Paul Emson, Left Winger. Formerly known as "The whippet" He'd clearly lost his speed and was on his way down the divisions.
John Borthwick, Striker. Hard working but a frustratingly bad finisher, who nevertheless was our top scorer with 19 goals in the Conference season.
David Cork, Striker. Much more skillful than Borthwick, but clearly on the downslide of his career, a bit on the chubby side, and quite slow.
Our standard formation was 5-3-2. A really solid back line, Gill and Toman in central midfield with Emson on the left wing and McJannet getting forward on the right wing whenever he could.
There was just the two games in August, as that year the season started on August 25th! A 1-0 defeat at Gillingham was followed by a 0-0 draw at home to Blackpool in the League cup first round/first leg. An inauspicious start for the team, and also for this series as I don't remember a thing about either of those games. Ah well, I do remember it was good to be back.
Coming soon, September, goals! wins! and more details of the game, I promise.
Son, this world is tough...
This post from Down goes Brown is just perfect, about the joys his baby will face as a Leafs fan,
Look, I never said being a Leaf fan was going to be easy, OK? But I'm not raising you to be some sort of front-running bandwagon jumper who elbows his way to the head of the line when the team is winning and then bails out as soon as times get tough. The world already has too many Senator fans.Click the link for the full article, that right there is what it's all about.
No, you're going to stick this out until the bitter end, and here's why: It will be worth it some day.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
That's a mega juggling act!
It certainly was a mega juggling act by Chicago tonight, two handballs in the box, both accidental, sure, but both very clear and the sort of thing that regularly gets called. Both penalties not given. Not to cast aspersions on the ref or the Fire, they'd never get involved with this sort of thing, but can someone check the ref's bag on the wayout to see if Nery Castillo's shirt is in there.
Joking aside, this time I'd agree with Preki that we didn't get the breaks we deserved, I thought overall, even though the result was another 0-0 that leaves our playoff chances hanging by an even slimmer thread than before, we played well today, and played a well coached team to the best of our ability given the players at our disposal.
Given the extra quality Chicago have, with Freddie Ljungberg, Nery Castillo and Collins John all starting and Brian McBride on the bench, sitting back to absorb the pressure would have been suicidal, and thankfully we didn't do that. We went with two up front with De Ro and De Guzman pushing up, and Usanov and Harden getting forward from both full back positions. We'd also obviously been told to be aggresive and not let them play, as we quickly racked up the fouls. That it came to nothing in the first half is down to the fact that the two we played up front, Peterson and White, is probably the most insipid forward line in MLS history, that and the non-penalties, but hey at least we were trying.
In the second half, we brought on Maicon Santos for Peterson and things immediately improved, with a bit of quality to go with the added numbers we were throwing forward, we looked a lot more fluid and dangerous up front, even if our best chances were still coming from set pieces. He obviously wasn't fully fit though and soon faded, and when Garcia and Nane were brought on, it was obvious we were settling for the point.
So overall a good game for Preki the coach in my opinion and a much more entertaining game than we've seen recently, with Chicago also having their chances.
Now the fact that we had Peterson and White up front, is quite the damning indictment of Mo and Preki's personnel decisions, our squad just isn't good enough to withstand a few injuries, in contrast look at the forwards Chicago has as mentioned above, and you can add Guatemalan international Marco Pappa to that list who also scored a bunch of goals for them this year as well.
As for our DP, Mista wasn't playing, not even on the bench, it was mentioned that he took a knock, and I'm very eager to see what stories come out of the woodwork as far as this is concerned.
What's that Jim Mora, you want me to talk about playoffs? Ok then. Much like the black Knight we're not dead yet, but we're pretty much at the "I'll bite your legs off" stage.
With 7 games left we need at least 4 wins and a draw, probably 5 games, and while it's a weak schedule so it's just about plausible, I can't see Santos and Barrett coming back quickly enough to enable us to do it. I await the North End Elite's banner selection for the DC game on saturday with baited breath.
Joking aside, this time I'd agree with Preki that we didn't get the breaks we deserved, I thought overall, even though the result was another 0-0 that leaves our playoff chances hanging by an even slimmer thread than before, we played well today, and played a well coached team to the best of our ability given the players at our disposal.
Given the extra quality Chicago have, with Freddie Ljungberg, Nery Castillo and Collins John all starting and Brian McBride on the bench, sitting back to absorb the pressure would have been suicidal, and thankfully we didn't do that. We went with two up front with De Ro and De Guzman pushing up, and Usanov and Harden getting forward from both full back positions. We'd also obviously been told to be aggresive and not let them play, as we quickly racked up the fouls. That it came to nothing in the first half is down to the fact that the two we played up front, Peterson and White, is probably the most insipid forward line in MLS history, that and the non-penalties, but hey at least we were trying.
In the second half, we brought on Maicon Santos for Peterson and things immediately improved, with a bit of quality to go with the added numbers we were throwing forward, we looked a lot more fluid and dangerous up front, even if our best chances were still coming from set pieces. He obviously wasn't fully fit though and soon faded, and when Garcia and Nane were brought on, it was obvious we were settling for the point.
So overall a good game for Preki the coach in my opinion and a much more entertaining game than we've seen recently, with Chicago also having their chances.
Now the fact that we had Peterson and White up front, is quite the damning indictment of Mo and Preki's personnel decisions, our squad just isn't good enough to withstand a few injuries, in contrast look at the forwards Chicago has as mentioned above, and you can add Guatemalan international Marco Pappa to that list who also scored a bunch of goals for them this year as well.
As for our DP, Mista wasn't playing, not even on the bench, it was mentioned that he took a knock, and I'm very eager to see what stories come out of the woodwork as far as this is concerned.
What's that Jim Mora, you want me to talk about playoffs? Ok then. Much like the black Knight we're not dead yet, but we're pretty much at the "I'll bite your legs off" stage.
With 7 games left we need at least 4 wins and a draw, probably 5 games, and while it's a weak schedule so it's just about plausible, I can't see Santos and Barrett coming back quickly enough to enable us to do it. I await the North End Elite's banner selection for the DC game on saturday with baited breath.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Please, please, please, let me get what I want.
“We will see how Maicon is doing tomorrow,” said Toronto coach Preki. He has trained today and looked o.k. but he hasn’t played for quite some time. If he plays against Chicago we will have to limit his minutes because he is not at his full speed and we don’t want to take any risks.”
The above quote, from Luke Wileman on the tfc website fills me with pessimism for tonight's must win game against Chicago, meaning as it does that O'Brian White will once again be leading the line, a job that right now he really isn't cut out for given the lack of support Preki's favoured formations and system will give him.
In the last month, since Maicon Santos was injured against Chivas followed by Chad Barrett's injury against New York, we've still been playing the same formation, with the hard work and discipline that Preki stresses, and in a way it's worked well. Aside from that crazy game against New York when a whole bunch of irregular things happened and we lost 4-1, we've been very good defensively, letting in only 1 against New York, Cruz Azul, Arabe Unido and Dallas, and keeping a clean sheet against Salt Lake.
At the other end however it's a different story, in those games, we've scored 0 against New York, an unexpected 2 against Cruz Azul, 1 against New York, 0 against Arabe Unido, 0 against Salt Lake, and 0 against Dallas. Given those stats, unless we change our approach, I'd suggest 1-0 Chicago is a likely result. If TFC has good luck and gets a few bounces, then maybe we'll get a tie, or an outrageous 2-1 win. Following Preki's complaining about bad luck after the Dallas game, I'm beginning to think that's what he's playing for, keep it tight and hope something happens. And who knows, maybe we are due some luck, but I'd rather we weren't relying on it as our main hope.
Personally, as our defence and Frei in goal have proven themselves to be reliable, I'd go for something more attcking. Play Gargan at RB rather than the more, erm, mercurial Maxim Usanov to solidify it as much as possible, if Harden's comfortable at LB, he can replace Garcia as his reward for a couple of good performances while Nana was out, then let the midfield be much more attacking than usual to help the forwards out and maybe we'll score some goals. Have Joseph Nane as a dm, then let De Guzman, De Ro and Mista play as fairly free roving attacking midfielders supporting White and Ibrahim up front.
It's maybe a bit on the reckless side, and therefore not something Preki would be likely to do, but I'd rather take it to them and try and score some goals, and potentially lose 3-2 rather than sit back, before they inevitably score and we never ever look like equalising, I've had too many of those matches recently.
And oh, White, if you get the ball in space in the box, for god's sake SHOOT!
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Canada ties 2-1.
So after Peru day in Toronto, Canada moved on to be the supporting act in Honduras day in Montreal. A crowd of roughly 7500, ( This was a record for a friendly in Montreal, so in a depressing way, I suppose the CSA picked the right opponent for the game, if a big crowd was their aim) .Once again though Canadians supporting Canada were in the minority, a fact which seemed to almost make Josh Simpson cry in his half time interview talking about needing games in Canada and wins to get Canadians on board and out to the games.
In that respect, tonight's game will definitely help, Canada putting in a decent performance against Honduras. After a pre game ceremony for Paul Stalteri becoming the all time cap leader, they started with an attacking line up, Simeon Jackson and Josh Simpson attacking wide of Rob Friend in the middle. Simpson had a really good game, Jackson was exciting at moments, and it seemed plausible that Canada might actually score some goals. Eventually they did, in the 29th minutes, Simpson getting space on the left hand side of the box and getting a hard low shot on target (please take note O'Brian White). The rebound fell to Will Johnson who had a shot pushed on to the bar, Friend then got fouled before the ball eventually fell back to Simpson who chested (armed? Honduras certainly thought so) it in for his first international goal.
Honduras equalised from a really good simple free kick, before Canada scored again from a corner, Kevin McKenna losing his marker and getting a powerful header in, prompting Gerry Dobson to exclaim "they've equalised!" cue 5 seconds of dead air before Gerry sheepishly chuckles and corrects his error. Congratulations Gerry, that might be your best work yet, and there's a lot of competition, as I'm sure Dwayne De Guzman would testify.
Anyway Canada carried their lead deep into the second half and through a thunderstorm until the lightning got too close and the ref took them off the pitch. Were Canada about to be denied a much needed and long awaited win by the weather?
No. They came back on for the last 8 minutes plus stoppage time, and it was almost 3-1 when Simpson hit the post after some delightful passing between the forwards.
In the end, a well deserved win, a result that can hopefully help Canada vault back into the top 100, and the Concacaf top 8 (currently Panama in 97th) which might be important depending on how the 2014 world cup qualifying groups are decided. After being outscored 14-1 in their last 7 winless games over 14 months, I won't get carried away, but Simpson and Jackson looked a really good combination up front either side of friend and really give me hope we can avoid that sort of streak returning.
One bad thing, just rewatching the game now reminded me, those Sportsnet one commercials that took up almost half the screen? really annnoying. I appreciate anyone that's willing to show the game, but wow, I don't like Sportsnet.
Edit: How did the Toronto Star report this game? I'd provide a link to their web coverage but there isn't one, so instead I'll just faithfully reproduce what appeared in the paper version here. Here goes, bear with me.
In that respect, tonight's game will definitely help, Canada putting in a decent performance against Honduras. After a pre game ceremony for Paul Stalteri becoming the all time cap leader, they started with an attacking line up, Simeon Jackson and Josh Simpson attacking wide of Rob Friend in the middle. Simpson had a really good game, Jackson was exciting at moments, and it seemed plausible that Canada might actually score some goals. Eventually they did, in the 29th minutes, Simpson getting space on the left hand side of the box and getting a hard low shot on target (please take note O'Brian White). The rebound fell to Will Johnson who had a shot pushed on to the bar, Friend then got fouled before the ball eventually fell back to Simpson who chested (armed? Honduras certainly thought so) it in for his first international goal.
Honduras equalised from a really good simple free kick, before Canada scored again from a corner, Kevin McKenna losing his marker and getting a powerful header in, prompting Gerry Dobson to exclaim "they've equalised!" cue 5 seconds of dead air before Gerry sheepishly chuckles and corrects his error. Congratulations Gerry, that might be your best work yet, and there's a lot of competition, as I'm sure Dwayne De Guzman would testify.
Anyway Canada carried their lead deep into the second half and through a thunderstorm until the lightning got too close and the ref took them off the pitch. Were Canada about to be denied a much needed and long awaited win by the weather?
No. They came back on for the last 8 minutes plus stoppage time, and it was almost 3-1 when Simpson hit the post after some delightful passing between the forwards.
In the end, a well deserved win, a result that can hopefully help Canada vault back into the top 100, and the Concacaf top 8 (currently Panama in 97th) which might be important depending on how the 2014 world cup qualifying groups are decided. After being outscored 14-1 in their last 7 winless games over 14 months, I won't get carried away, but Simpson and Jackson looked a really good combination up front either side of friend and really give me hope we can avoid that sort of streak returning.
One bad thing, just rewatching the game now reminded me, those Sportsnet one commercials that took up almost half the screen? really annnoying. I appreciate anyone that's willing to show the game, but wow, I don't like Sportsnet.
Edit: How did the Toronto Star report this game? I'd provide a link to their web coverage but there isn't one, so instead I'll just faithfully reproduce what appeared in the paper version here. Here goes, bear with me.
Canada ends drought with win over HondurasThat's it, literally. pathetic.
Josh Simpson and Kevin McKenna scored in the first half as Canada ended an eight game winless run with a rain interrupted 2-1 vistory over Honduras in a firendly match Tuesday at Saputo stadium.
Meanwhile, at the small clubs.
Well, as a warm and fuzzy antidote to the big club unpleasantness detailed below, we have this delightful story from the Guardian's football league blog.
This was considered important enough to get put on Oxford United's official website. A lost sweater. I love it.
This was considered important enough to get put on Oxford United's official website. A lost sweater. I love it.
Man Utd shirt and a Yankees cap!
So, anyone who was in the south stands for the Canada-Peru game probably knows there was a fight that broke out in 114 (Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!). I didn't mention it before as I couldn't really get a good view at the time and didn't really know what happened and how it started.
Pension Plan Puppets however got a very good view and actually ended up intervening on behalf of the women who were getting attacked, and ending up with a broken nose for his troubles!
Turns out what started it was drunken Man Utd fans chirping an Arsenal fan, and as if my disdain for anyone wearing this isn't automatically high enough, one of the main protagonists was wearing a Man Utd shirt with a Yankees cap. Congratulations douchebag, you really should be proud of yourself.
Pension Plan Puppets however got a very good view and actually ended up intervening on behalf of the women who were getting attacked, and ending up with a broken nose for his troubles!
Turns out what started it was drunken Man Utd fans chirping an Arsenal fan, and as if my disdain for anyone wearing this isn't automatically high enough, one of the main protagonists was wearing a Man Utd shirt with a Yankees cap. Congratulations douchebag, you really should be proud of yourself.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Things must be better in England right?
So, as you can see below, a tough day in Toronto. How did Darlington do? A 1-1 draw away to Eastbourne Borough. Doesn't seem too bad until you realise that from the 32nd minute onwards, Eastbourne were down to 9 men and had a midfielder in goal. sigh!
Losing. So nice we did it twice! part two.
So after the Canada game, I headed to Shoeless Joe's to watch TFC vs Dallas with little expectation of a result given we were missing 5 of our best players to injury and international call-ups (despite being announced in the starting line up, Attakora didn't even play due to "an error on the paper" thanks Stephen Hart). The game went pretty much as I would have predicted really, we were generally solid defensively, and stopped them from doing much, but we never really looked like doing something ourselves. While we did create a few chances, they were generally from set pieces or Dan Gargan's long throws. The few chances we created out of open play fell to either O'Brian White or Jacob Peterson and were unsuprisingly wasted. On the other hand, Dallas didn't really create many chances until late in the game when we were pressing more, but one of the few chances they got fell to (an offside) Jeff Cunningham, who despite his many faults, and despite the impression he gave when with TFC, does know how to score.
In his post game interview, Preki bemoaned our bad luck and that the ball didn't bounce for us, which to me is ridiculous. Cunningham scoring a chance and White missing multiple chances isn't bad luck, that's something that's going to happen 9 games out of 10, it would be good luck if the reverse happened. This was all about our strength in depth, with De Ro, Barrett and Santos missing, we don't have a real scoring threat who'd be able to make something out of nothing, which is what we need to be able to score within the confines of Preki's defensive system.
White actually had one of his better games recently, pressuring their defence and goalie into the odd mistake, and getting a few chances, but he just doesn't look likely to score, and he looks like he knows that. The best example of this isn't with his easiest chance, the header from Usanov's great tackle run and cross, but a half chance shortly after Cunningham scored, he got the ball on the edge of the area with a couple of yards of space. Did he let fly with a hard shot on goal to at least force a save? Nope. Did he cut in towards goal to get a better angle, or maybe draw contact to win a penalty? Nope. He went further wide, and slowed down enough for the defender to catch him and the chance was gone. That was really symptomatic of his play recently when he gets the ball near goal and has a chance. There's no sense of urgency or dynamism, he just seems so timid and unsure of himself, which means he can hustle and run as much as he likes, but he really isn't doing his job.
You could ackowledge the "bad luck" that led us to the point where we have to have White out there as our main striker - injuries to Barrett and Santos coming at the same time as De Ro getting called up for Canada. But a) every team has to deal with that sort of thing at some point, and b) Preki knew all along that that was the case for this game. You can't call something that you've had a week to prepare for bad luck, it's your job Preki to come up with a plan that works with what you have. A defensive system can work well with players out, even missing Attakora and De Guzman, we looked solid, which is a testament to the discipline and focus on defence that Preki has brought. But if the only players who can create something within that system aren't playing, then you have to change things around, which Preki didn't do, a starting midfield of Nane, Labrocca, Saric and Gargan really isn't going to create much.
Mista had a nice touch here or there but was generally anonymous. Without other quality players causing problems for the defence to give him room to create, he's easily stifled, he doesn't have the power or pace to create things for himself, and for the money he's being paid he should be able to do that.
All in all, we got what we played for, we went to play a team on a roll, away from home, and we only conceded one goal, that's a good result. But to suggest it's only bad luck and bad bounces that stopped us from scoring is just a cop-out on Preki's behalf. Those players playing that sytem were always going to struggle, it's a coach's job to give them a chance, not to blame bad luck.
In his post game interview, Preki bemoaned our bad luck and that the ball didn't bounce for us, which to me is ridiculous. Cunningham scoring a chance and White missing multiple chances isn't bad luck, that's something that's going to happen 9 games out of 10, it would be good luck if the reverse happened. This was all about our strength in depth, with De Ro, Barrett and Santos missing, we don't have a real scoring threat who'd be able to make something out of nothing, which is what we need to be able to score within the confines of Preki's defensive system.
White actually had one of his better games recently, pressuring their defence and goalie into the odd mistake, and getting a few chances, but he just doesn't look likely to score, and he looks like he knows that. The best example of this isn't with his easiest chance, the header from Usanov's great tackle run and cross, but a half chance shortly after Cunningham scored, he got the ball on the edge of the area with a couple of yards of space. Did he let fly with a hard shot on goal to at least force a save? Nope. Did he cut in towards goal to get a better angle, or maybe draw contact to win a penalty? Nope. He went further wide, and slowed down enough for the defender to catch him and the chance was gone. That was really symptomatic of his play recently when he gets the ball near goal and has a chance. There's no sense of urgency or dynamism, he just seems so timid and unsure of himself, which means he can hustle and run as much as he likes, but he really isn't doing his job.
You could ackowledge the "bad luck" that led us to the point where we have to have White out there as our main striker - injuries to Barrett and Santos coming at the same time as De Ro getting called up for Canada. But a) every team has to deal with that sort of thing at some point, and b) Preki knew all along that that was the case for this game. You can't call something that you've had a week to prepare for bad luck, it's your job Preki to come up with a plan that works with what you have. A defensive system can work well with players out, even missing Attakora and De Guzman, we looked solid, which is a testament to the discipline and focus on defence that Preki has brought. But if the only players who can create something within that system aren't playing, then you have to change things around, which Preki didn't do, a starting midfield of Nane, Labrocca, Saric and Gargan really isn't going to create much.
Mista had a nice touch here or there but was generally anonymous. Without other quality players causing problems for the defence to give him room to create, he's easily stifled, he doesn't have the power or pace to create things for himself, and for the money he's being paid he should be able to do that.
All in all, we got what we played for, we went to play a team on a roll, away from home, and we only conceded one goal, that's a good result. But to suggest it's only bad luck and bad bounces that stopped us from scoring is just a cop-out on Preki's behalf. Those players playing that sytem were always going to struggle, it's a coach's job to give them a chance, not to blame bad luck.
Losing. so nice, we did it twice! part one.
So, after a whole bunch of friendlies away from home, Canada returned to Toronto for the first time since 2008 to take on Peru, and all in all it was a bit of a disappointment. The game itself wasn't terrible, and the loss certainly wasn't unexpected, Peru are after all ranked much higher than Canada. The first half was quite like watching TFC play, we defended well, without ever looking like scoring, De Guzman looked good but did his usual share of giving the ball away, while De Rosario looked our most dangerous player. A big difference though was that we actually played with wingers and looked like we were trying to create something that way. Simeon Jackson's poor crossing gave away the fact that he's usually a striker, and maybe that's where we should start playing him as Rob Friend was a big non-factor. In the second half, Peru eventually showed their class, and after they scored two quick goals, Canada never looked like getting back into it, and 2-0 was the final score.
The biggest disappointment though was the crowd, out of the 10,000+ there, probably about 50-60% was cheering on Peru, and with their support spread throughout the stadium and the Canada fans mainly concentrated in the southeast corner, It certainly felt like an away game. Unlike others I'm not going to complain about the Peruvian-Canadians that came out to support their team, or tell them to leave the country. I may not like the fact that they chose to cheer against the country they live in, and they didn't have to be quite as confrontational about it as some were, with one of them even going so far as to "show his little flagpole" to the nearby Canadian fans when Peru scored, but I understand why they do, and it's always going to be a fact of life in Canada.
I'm more disappointed in all the other Canadians, well Torontonians I suppose, I'm not going to the game on tuesday in Montreal, so I won't bitch at the out of towners. But all those who were celebrating on the streets of Toronto during the world cup, where were they? All the TFC fans who didn't make it, whether casual, occasional attendees or season ticket holders, where were they? I get that it was just a friendly, that it was in the middle of a long weekend, and that the CSA did next to nothing to promote the game but still.
Maybe I had unreasonable expectations after the only other Canada game I've been to, the world cup qualifier against Jamaica, when the place was full and largely pro-Canadian. This was actually a record in that it was the 5th consecutive game with attendance over 10,000, so I guess it's steady progress being made, but I can't help but think it could have been more. In the tweeted words of Toronto mayor David Miller "Hey Soccer Canada: some marketing, eh? Our lads deserve a full house". On to Honduras in Montreal, hopefully at least one of the team or crowd will be better there.
The biggest disappointment though was the crowd, out of the 10,000+ there, probably about 50-60% was cheering on Peru, and with their support spread throughout the stadium and the Canada fans mainly concentrated in the southeast corner, It certainly felt like an away game. Unlike others I'm not going to complain about the Peruvian-Canadians that came out to support their team, or tell them to leave the country. I may not like the fact that they chose to cheer against the country they live in, and they didn't have to be quite as confrontational about it as some were, with one of them even going so far as to "show his little flagpole" to the nearby Canadian fans when Peru scored, but I understand why they do, and it's always going to be a fact of life in Canada.
I'm more disappointed in all the other Canadians, well Torontonians I suppose, I'm not going to the game on tuesday in Montreal, so I won't bitch at the out of towners. But all those who were celebrating on the streets of Toronto during the world cup, where were they? All the TFC fans who didn't make it, whether casual, occasional attendees or season ticket holders, where were they? I get that it was just a friendly, that it was in the middle of a long weekend, and that the CSA did next to nothing to promote the game but still.
Maybe I had unreasonable expectations after the only other Canada game I've been to, the world cup qualifier against Jamaica, when the place was full and largely pro-Canadian. This was actually a record in that it was the 5th consecutive game with attendance over 10,000, so I guess it's steady progress being made, but I can't help but think it could have been more. In the tweeted words of Toronto mayor David Miller "Hey Soccer Canada: some marketing, eh? Our lads deserve a full house". On to Honduras in Montreal, hopefully at least one of the team or crowd will be better there.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Canada needs YOU!
Sporting geography can’t get much crueller, for so many reasons, than being a football supporter in Canada. There’s the fact that you generally have to call it soccer, that we don’t have a proper league of our own, and few cities have teams at any kind of high level, even within North American standards. For the national teams there’s the added factors of a struggling team (1 world cup appearance, 0 goals), “home “games that can be literally thousands of miles away, having to play in CONCACAF with all the stylistic and refereeing issues that that brings, potential star players deciding they want to play for some other country, and a governing body so inept they make the FA look like a competent, professional well oiled machine.
So with all that and many other problems, it’s no surprise that beyond a very small hardcore demographic, the general population doesn’t really care all that much, which leads to another problem, because you know who does care? Immigrants. Immigration in general is great* and I love living in Toronto with all it’s diversity and I genuinely appreciate that for pretty much every country in the world, within Canada’s big cities there’s an ex-pat community however small. The problem is though that those communities generally come from countries that care more about football than Canada does, it’s really not hard, and that leads to the all too frequent situation of the “away” fans outnumbering Canadian fans in the stands.
Things have started to change, Toronto FC’s entry into MLS in 2007 ignited interest in the city which transferred over into a much more pro-Canada crowd that usual at the one game Canada has played here since then, a 2008 world cup qualifier against Jamaica. Hopefully Vancouver and Montreal’s elevation to MLS level will further galvanise support among the currently undecided and lead to Canada having a choice of venues where it can be guaranteed a favourable crowd, leading to more success, leading to a better FIFA ranking, leading to easier qualifying groups and eventually to world cup qualification. Huzzah.
So this is where you come in, Canada’s playing Peru in Toronto on Saturday, and Honduras in Montreal on Tuesday. Cheapish tickets are still available, including a little depressingly in the official Canadian supporters section. You don’t care that much about soccer? Fair enough. You don’t give a crap about TFC? Fair enough. But you like Canada right? Remember the Olympics and how much fun it was cheering on Canadians in so many different sports that you know full well you’ll never ever watch outside the Olympics? Why not do that live? Cheer Canada on, just imagine your smugness when Canada qualifies the world cup and you can tell all the newbies “yeah, I’ve been going to games since 2010”. You know it makes sense.
*I’m an immigrant myself, my first real moment of Canadian pride and patriotism was the 2000 Gold cup, that golden goal quarter final winner against Mexico. Awesome. If Canada ever played England, or Great Britain, who would I support? Depends on the sport. Football? 100% Canada, no doubt. Canada beating England in football could only possibly be surpassed in hilarity by Great Britain beating Canada at hockey.
So with all that and many other problems, it’s no surprise that beyond a very small hardcore demographic, the general population doesn’t really care all that much, which leads to another problem, because you know who does care? Immigrants. Immigration in general is great* and I love living in Toronto with all it’s diversity and I genuinely appreciate that for pretty much every country in the world, within Canada’s big cities there’s an ex-pat community however small. The problem is though that those communities generally come from countries that care more about football than Canada does, it’s really not hard, and that leads to the all too frequent situation of the “away” fans outnumbering Canadian fans in the stands.
Things have started to change, Toronto FC’s entry into MLS in 2007 ignited interest in the city which transferred over into a much more pro-Canada crowd that usual at the one game Canada has played here since then, a 2008 world cup qualifier against Jamaica. Hopefully Vancouver and Montreal’s elevation to MLS level will further galvanise support among the currently undecided and lead to Canada having a choice of venues where it can be guaranteed a favourable crowd, leading to more success, leading to a better FIFA ranking, leading to easier qualifying groups and eventually to world cup qualification. Huzzah.
So this is where you come in, Canada’s playing Peru in Toronto on Saturday, and Honduras in Montreal on Tuesday. Cheapish tickets are still available, including a little depressingly in the official Canadian supporters section. You don’t care that much about soccer? Fair enough. You don’t give a crap about TFC? Fair enough. But you like Canada right? Remember the Olympics and how much fun it was cheering on Canadians in so many different sports that you know full well you’ll never ever watch outside the Olympics? Why not do that live? Cheer Canada on, just imagine your smugness when Canada qualifies the world cup and you can tell all the newbies “yeah, I’ve been going to games since 2010”. You know it makes sense.
*I’m an immigrant myself, my first real moment of Canadian pride and patriotism was the 2000 Gold cup, that golden goal quarter final winner against Mexico. Awesome. If Canada ever played England, or Great Britain, who would I support? Depends on the sport. Football? 100% Canada, no doubt. Canada beating England in football could only possibly be surpassed in hilarity by Great Britain beating Canada at hockey.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
2010/11 League two preview.
So, being a Darlington fan, I've been a fairly regular follower of league 2, as much as one can be when living in Canada anyway. So, I created a League 2 thread in the Redpatchboys (a Toronto FC supporter's group) forum, the season preview and predictions from which I've copied here.
Rather than take up massive space here, it's in it's own seperate page which can be accessed from the top of the page, or here.
Sure, a pre-season preview should ideally come before the season starts, but hey, this way we get an early preview of where I'm going wrong, hint: Torquay.
Rather than take up massive space here, it's in it's own seperate page which can be accessed from the top of the page, or here.
Sure, a pre-season preview should ideally come before the season starts, but hey, this way we get an early preview of where I'm going wrong, hint: Torquay.
Non-League Day.
Well, given the philosophy of this blog, it would be wrong of me not to use my first non-introductory post to promote this http://www.nonleagueday.co.uk/
"WITH ENGLAND PLAYING THE NIGHT BEFORE AND THE PREMIER LEAGUE AND CHAMPIONSHIP TAKING A WEEK OFF, I URGE ALL FANS OF THE BIG CLUBS TO GET OUT AND WATCH THEIR LOCAL NON-LEAGUE TEAM INSTEAD ON SATURDAY 4TH SEPTEMBER. GIVEN THE CURRENT FINANCIAL CLIMATE, CLUBS OUTSIDE THE FOOTBALL LEAGUE NEED ALL THE SUPPORT THEY CAN GET, SO YOUR PRESENCE AT A GAME WILL BE GENUINELY APPRECIATED. WITH TICKETS AND REFRESHMENTS AT A FRACTION OF THE COST, WHAT'S STOPPING YOU?"
League's one and two are still very much open for business as well, so as it says, what's stopping you?
"WITH ENGLAND PLAYING THE NIGHT BEFORE AND THE PREMIER LEAGUE AND CHAMPIONSHIP TAKING A WEEK OFF, I URGE ALL FANS OF THE BIG CLUBS TO GET OUT AND WATCH THEIR LOCAL NON-LEAGUE TEAM INSTEAD ON SATURDAY 4TH SEPTEMBER. GIVEN THE CURRENT FINANCIAL CLIMATE, CLUBS OUTSIDE THE FOOTBALL LEAGUE NEED ALL THE SUPPORT THEY CAN GET, SO YOUR PRESENCE AT A GAME WILL BE GENUINELY APPRECIATED. WITH TICKETS AND REFRESHMENTS AT A FRACTION OF THE COST, WHAT'S STOPPING YOU?"
League's one and two are still very much open for business as well, so as it says, what's stopping you?
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