Klinsmann!

While apologies and ticket price relief are nice and certainly welcome, what TFC did to improve the on the pitch performance and results was always by far the most important factor for me in deciding if the new responsive touchy feely, dedicated to winning, front office was on the right track.  I want them to follow their corporate cousins the Raptors and Leafs and give us our Colangelo/Burke.  Well, Stephen Brunt of the Globe and Mail reports today that TFC are about to announce Jurgen Klinsmann as a consultant.  Jurgen Klinsmann!  who was coaching Germany at the World Cup a mere 4 years ago and since then has coached Bayern Munich and been linked by the media to positions at Chelsea, Liverpool and the U.S national team.  And now he's at TFC?  Well done MLSE, that's an ambitious appointment, I'm pleasantly surprised.

There's no official announcement to say exactly what his role will be, but Brunt reports "The former German national team player and coach will be given a free hand to rebuild an organization that has failed to make the playoffs during each of its four seasons of existence.....Though Klinsmann will not take on the role of general manager or coach himself, he will be asked to make a recommendation as to Johnston’s replacement.
Klinsmann and his company will look at the club’s infrastructure, at its academy and scouting system, will suggest a playing style, and then find someone to accomplish the goals they set out."

So, a consultant to chart a new course and start the process of how to get there, and then presumably he'd be kept on the payroll as a consultant for whichever full time front end people he hires to be able to discuss issues with.  There are many questions and blanks to be filled in, hopefully whenever it's officially announced, but I for one feel quite good about this.  I'm happy he's not coming here full time as a coach, a lot of people suggested that his assistant Joachim Low was the tactical brains behind Germany's semi-final run in 2006, his stint at Bayern Munich wasn't exactly a raging success, and I can't help but feel we'd have another Ruud Gullit at LA Galaxy situation on our hands.  As a "Director of soccer" or whatever title he may end up with though, to provide an overall philosophy for the management and coaching team he hires to implement, and to act as a figurehead to inspire the players and hopefully attract a better class of player than TFC is used to, well, I'll certainly take that, any extra football IQ between the day to day football operations people and the board can only be a good thing.

What can we expect? Well according to wikipedia, his staff at Bayern Munich included two assistant coaches (one of which, Martin Vasquez, just got fired as Chivas USA's head coach) a goalkeeping coach, 4 fitness coaches and a psychologist, and his methods were considered quite unorthodox which is part of the reason he left Bayern before the end of his first season.  Presumably his ideas of a future staff came up in his interview so if he's been given free rein to do that sort of thing here, well that would be another impressive committment from MLSE.

I'll have to wait for further details of exactly what his role is, whether he or other people at his company, Soccer Solutions, will be directly involved, and of course who ends up being hired to the more hands on positions before I get too excited, but this definitely seems like another step in the right direction.