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.