As a Darlington supporter, I really don't like Scunthorpe United, way too many bad things have happened there over the years, but a problem is arising for them that deserves more widespread attention and support, which I've only just found out about after reading about it here, at The Two Unfortunates blog.
After the Bradford and Hillsborough disasters in the 1980's, regulations were brought in to English football to make grounds safer, most notably the requirement for all seater stadia. It was recognised that smaller clubs and grounds don't have the same overcrowding issues as the big clubs, so clubs in the lower leagues weren't forced to convert their grounds to all seater, until they'd been at the Championship level for three seasons and Scunthorpe are now about to fall under that designation.
Now, no disrespect intended to Scunthorpe United, but they're not a Championship team, right now they're over-acheiving. Before the first of their recent promotions in 2007, it had been 40 years since they'd been at this level, with most of that time spent in the fourth tier. They were imediately relegated, but after winning promotion back, they just avoided relegation last year to secure a third championship season. They are currently one place ahead of the relegation spots, but if they do stay up again, they will have to put seats on the terrace, or completely rebuild the stand.
Glanford Park, opened in 1988, is more functional than pretty, but with a capacity of just over 9,000 is perfectly suited for a club of Scunthorpe's size, as opposed to the ridiculous 25,000 all seater white elephant that Darlington have been saddled with. Even after the most successful few years in the club's history, attendances are usually around the 6,000 level, so there's plenty of seats available for whoever wants one, along with a bit of extra space if a big game happens, or a large group of travelling supporters needs to be accomodated. More importantly, the stadium doesn't dwarf the regular crowd, and won't even if the attendance dwindles, if and when they slide back down to their usual level, and the terrace is a popular and safe feature of that.
As well as being unpopular, putting in seats is a move that would inhibit Scunthorpe's ability to compete at this level, and could well contribute to their return to the lower leagues, where ironically the terrace would be no problem at all. Putting seats on the terrace, as well as providing a crappy view of the game, would cut capacity by a thousand or so, affecting ticket revenue, and for a team with one of if not the lowest payrolls in the division, that certainly won't help. Another option being discussed would maintain the current capacity by bulding a new bigger stand with seats, but again that would be a very expensive option.
Scunthorpe supporters have joined with the Football Supporters Federation in an effort to bring publicity to the issue and hopefully win a positive resolution. You can get more information on that campaign here, hopefully wiser heads will prevail and Scunthorpe won't be punished for having the most successful run of seasons in their existence.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Hello darkness, my old friend.
Well that was inevitable, after Beating Bristol Rovers, a team 2 divisions above them and after all the effort that went into being able to play the game, and with all sorts of big names waiting in the bag for the 3rd round draw, Darlington did of course lose to fellow Conference side York City. Some things never change. The bucket collection apparently raised about 1300 pounds towards the youth team's Arsenal game so that's something I suppose.
In other results Stevenage completed the Wimbledon before and after double, following up their first round win over Franchise FC with a win over AFC Wimbledon. Swindon Supermarine lost to Colchester, but Dover made it through to the third round for the first time in their history, beating Aldershot 2-0. Other non-league teams making it at least into the draw for the third round with York and Dover were Luton who drew with Charlton, and FC United of Manchester. An injury time penalty save preserved the 1-1 draw at Brighton, so they'll have a replay at home, the latest in a recent succession of "biggest match in their history" moments. Crawley Town also earned a replay against Swindon Town on Friday night, but they're the big spending Man City of non-league football, so a lot less of a heartwarming story. Pity poor Tamworth who almost made it, 2-1 up with 5 minutes left against League One side Carlisle before letting in 2 late goals to lose 3-2. Droylsden don't play Leyton Orient until Monday, so they'll also be in the draw on Sunday.
As for Darlington, well, it's time to drag out the 'concentrate on promotion' cliches now. Sigh.
In other results Stevenage completed the Wimbledon before and after double, following up their first round win over Franchise FC with a win over AFC Wimbledon. Swindon Supermarine lost to Colchester, but Dover made it through to the third round for the first time in their history, beating Aldershot 2-0. Other non-league teams making it at least into the draw for the third round with York and Dover were Luton who drew with Charlton, and FC United of Manchester. An injury time penalty save preserved the 1-1 draw at Brighton, so they'll have a replay at home, the latest in a recent succession of "biggest match in their history" moments. Crawley Town also earned a replay against Swindon Town on Friday night, but they're the big spending Man City of non-league football, so a lot less of a heartwarming story. Pity poor Tamworth who almost made it, 2-1 up with 5 minutes left against League One side Carlisle before letting in 2 late goals to lose 3-2. Droylsden don't play Leyton Orient until Monday, so they'll also be in the draw on Sunday.
As for Darlington, well, it's time to drag out the 'concentrate on promotion' cliches now. Sigh.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Sweet FA Cup, round 2.
Yes, once again it's FA Cup time in England, this time the 2nd round, where all surviving lower league and non-league teams dream of the victory that will take them into the 3rd round and a potential money spinning draw against one of the big boys. This round's small teams getting their moment in the spotlight include Swindon Supermarine a fantastically named team who very nearly went bust in June and are playing away to Colchester United, and Dover whose reward for beating Gillingham in the first round is a home tie against Aldershot. The two highest profile non-league clubs, FC United of Manchester and AFC Wimbledon both face league opposition, away to Brighton and home to Stevenage respectively.
As for Darlington, after upsetting Bristol Rovers, they now face York City at home, and events have conspired to give the match a real nostalgic small club feel. I posted earlier in the week about how the club is looking for donations for the youth team to be able to spend the night in London before they face Arsenal in the FA youth cup, they're still looking by the way, so go ahead and donate. Well the next step in that fundraising effort, to take place at saturday's game is the magnificently old fashioned, small club tactic of the bucket collection. If that doesn't tug at the heart strings enough, after a rough few days weather wise, the collection and the game itself can only take place thanks to the efforts of volounteer fans who helped shovel snow off the pitch (Darlington's ridiculously oversized stadium actually has the pipes for underground heating installed, they just can't afford to use it.). After all that effort, and with a bumper crowd expected, well every long suffering Darlo fan knows what will happen next, expect York to be drawn against Man Utd in the next round.
As for Darlington, after upsetting Bristol Rovers, they now face York City at home, and events have conspired to give the match a real nostalgic small club feel. I posted earlier in the week about how the club is looking for donations for the youth team to be able to spend the night in London before they face Arsenal in the FA youth cup, they're still looking by the way, so go ahead and donate. Well the next step in that fundraising effort, to take place at saturday's game is the magnificently old fashioned, small club tactic of the bucket collection. If that doesn't tug at the heart strings enough, after a rough few days weather wise, the collection and the game itself can only take place thanks to the efforts of volounteer fans who helped shovel snow off the pitch (Darlington's ridiculously oversized stadium actually has the pipes for underground heating installed, they just can't afford to use it.). After all that effort, and with a bumper crowd expected, well every long suffering Darlo fan knows what will happen next, expect York to be drawn against Man Utd in the next round.
No new philosophy, no new GM, but TFC keep on moving.
Fears that TFC's 2 month long wait just to appoint a consultant to help them find their direction in life and a new GM would paralyse the club and leave us falling behind in building next year's team are proving very unfounded as the moves just keep on coming. After Wednesday's loss of O'Brian White to expansion and release of 5 players, and with official confirmation of the Bas Ent signing rumour still pending, a trade was announced on Thursday, Toronto sending their first round pick (8th overall) in the 2011 superdraft to Vancouver Whitecaps in exchange for Nathan Sturgis, who they had just picked up in the expansion draft from Seattle.
Sturgis, 23, has been in MLS for 4 seasons now, and has passed through the expansion draft twice, as that was how Seattle originally picked him up. He formed a partnership with Osvaldo Alonso in Seattle's midfield that helped Seattle to a great second half of the season, and if he could replicate that with Julian De Guzman for the Reds, then this could end up being a very good deal. He can also play at full back, which is definitely a problem position for TFC, so at a salary of $70,000, it seems like a good pick up.
Is the price too high, our first round pick? We probably won't really know the answer to that for a few years when we can see how deep this years draft actually turned out to be. But considering that of the 7 players taken in the expansion draft and subsequently traded, 2 of them, Sanna Nyassi and Alan Gordon were for international player spots, 3 of them, Anthony Wallace, Alejandro Moreno and O'Brian White were for allocation money, and Real Salt Lake gave up only a 2nd round pick, 22nd overall for El Salvador international midfielder Arturo Alvarez, a first round pick does seem to be a bit much.
Overall though I'm reasonably happy with the trade, Sturgis should be a useful player right away for TFC, as opposed to the crapshoot of the draft, but again, much like all the changes made on Wednesday, it's the person making the trade, and what that means going forward that worries me. Fair enough, the Reds are in too much of a mess to be able to stand around and do nothing, and a first round pick is definitely no guarantee of anything, but surely it's the sort of asset that any potential new GM would like to have, to use as he sees fit. The fact that as well as getting rid of last years disappointments, Interim GM Earl Cochrane is now starting the rebuild is a bit alarming to me and suggests further that when all is said and done, the interim will disappear and he'll be the one chosen to implement whatever plan and new philosophy Jürgen Klinsmann identifies for the club. I still can't quite believe that this is what will end up happening, but for those who are ok with it and suggesting Earl's a decent, honest guy, and a smart man who deserves a chance, let me ask a couple of hypothtical questions.
If he had the exact same experience as he has now, but with a different club, and was now available on the free market, would anyone be suggesting TFC should go out and snap him up? No. If Toronto were to release Earl for whatever reason, do you think any other MLS club would be beating down his door to ask him to be their GM? No. So why is he good enough for TFC? Inertia, and 'he's already here so he might as well keep going' can't be good enough reasons to make a full time appointment.
Sturgis, 23, has been in MLS for 4 seasons now, and has passed through the expansion draft twice, as that was how Seattle originally picked him up. He formed a partnership with Osvaldo Alonso in Seattle's midfield that helped Seattle to a great second half of the season, and if he could replicate that with Julian De Guzman for the Reds, then this could end up being a very good deal. He can also play at full back, which is definitely a problem position for TFC, so at a salary of $70,000, it seems like a good pick up.
Is the price too high, our first round pick? We probably won't really know the answer to that for a few years when we can see how deep this years draft actually turned out to be. But considering that of the 7 players taken in the expansion draft and subsequently traded, 2 of them, Sanna Nyassi and Alan Gordon were for international player spots, 3 of them, Anthony Wallace, Alejandro Moreno and O'Brian White were for allocation money, and Real Salt Lake gave up only a 2nd round pick, 22nd overall for El Salvador international midfielder Arturo Alvarez, a first round pick does seem to be a bit much.
Overall though I'm reasonably happy with the trade, Sturgis should be a useful player right away for TFC, as opposed to the crapshoot of the draft, but again, much like all the changes made on Wednesday, it's the person making the trade, and what that means going forward that worries me. Fair enough, the Reds are in too much of a mess to be able to stand around and do nothing, and a first round pick is definitely no guarantee of anything, but surely it's the sort of asset that any potential new GM would like to have, to use as he sees fit. The fact that as well as getting rid of last years disappointments, Interim GM Earl Cochrane is now starting the rebuild is a bit alarming to me and suggests further that when all is said and done, the interim will disappear and he'll be the one chosen to implement whatever plan and new philosophy Jürgen Klinsmann identifies for the club. I still can't quite believe that this is what will end up happening, but for those who are ok with it and suggesting Earl's a decent, honest guy, and a smart man who deserves a chance, let me ask a couple of hypothtical questions.
If he had the exact same experience as he has now, but with a different club, and was now available on the free market, would anyone be suggesting TFC should go out and snap him up? No. If Toronto were to release Earl for whatever reason, do you think any other MLS club would be beating down his door to ask him to be their GM? No. So why is he good enough for TFC? Inertia, and 'he's already here so he might as well keep going' can't be good enough reasons to make a full time appointment.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Tell me how am I supposed to live without you?
Darth Vader takes the Raivas Hscanovics news badly!
Alright, so the off season is well and truly under way, starting with an all action expansion draft. Vancouver picked their ten players and then promptly traded 4 of them away, for international player spots and allocation money, which given how American players are no longer considered internationals for the Canadian clubs, suggests they've got something up their sleeve that's better than MLS castoffs. Portland also traded away two of their picks for allocation money and a 2011 superdraft pick, one of which was Anthony Wallace, the Colorado full back, who they sold back to the Rapids, in a pre-arranged deal that also allowed Colorado to put Wells Thompson back into their protected list, and thus maintain the core of their cup winning side. Colorado also picked up Seattle winger Sanna Nyassi via Vancouver, which when combined with Omar Cummings and Macoumba Kandji gives them three very fast and tricky players to work around Conor Casey, in what could be a very exciting attack next year.
There was only one TFC player taken and the big surprise for Reds fans was that O'Brian White was that man, picked by Vancouver and later traded to Seattle for allocation money. What exactly was Seattle thinking?
“O’Brian is a forward with good pace and size” head coach Sigi Schmid said. “He adds another option for us in our desire to be a club that scores goals.”
Owner/GM Adrian Hanauer said. “O’Brian had a tremendous college career and he adds depth and competition at the forward position. He can strike from distance with both feet and is a player that can be impact on our roster.”Can be impact? I presume that's just a transcription error, but if not, well there's your answer TFC fans, they were drunk. Part of me wants to be fatalistic and say that White is now bound to become another player who does well after leaving and will score an important goal against TFC at least once next year, but I really can't figure out how that could possibly happen.
After those formalities were out of the way, teams were free to start releasing their unwanted players, and TFC jumped into that with a lot of enthusiasm for a club that is still waiting to find out what it's philosophy and direction are. Gabe Gala, Raivas Hscanovics, Maxim Usanov, Martin Saric and Mista were all let go, and all passed through the waiver draft to become full free agents available to any MLS club who might want them.
Saric had moments where he looked useful, but hopefully we won't be playing more than one defensive midfielder next year, so he'd definitely be behind De Guzman and Sanyang for that role and therefore not worth keeping around. Usanov also had his moments last year, but at over $100,000 was taking up way too much cap space for a player of his sporadic talents. Hscanovics and Mista? Don't care at all about either of them, and Gabe Gala? Well it's a shame to see a young local kid who's been with the club since 2007 go, but he never really looked like breaking into the first team at all, at least he'll always have Real Madrid.
So some quick and necessary thinning of last year's pitiful herd, with a few more decisions to come soon, Interim Gm Earl Cochrane confirming in a media conference call that they have 7 or 8 players whose options would need to be renewed or not by November 30th. He also stated quite firmly that Dwayne de Rosario will be with TFC next season, and with reports saying that Bas Ent has already signed a deal with the club, it seems that they aren't letting the lack of a permanent management team get in the way of the decision making.
While in a way that's a good thing, it's also a bit disconcerting. At the time of his press conference, Jürgen Klinsmann's remark that "maybe the right guys are already here" drew a snort of derision from me, but I was cynically resigned to the fact that Earl and Jimmy Brennan would probably be forced on to the new guy as assistants. Now, with them so decisively starting the remodelling of the squad, that thought is growing into the fear that this is it, that 'EarlandJimmy' is our braintrust going forward, that Jürgen has come in and just told them what a great job they're doing and to carry on. I hope I'm wrong, I wouldn't argue with any of the decisions made today, and won't be shedding any tears for the departed, but lettting players go is the easy part, rebuilding will hopefully be the responsibility of someone else.
Won't somebody please think of the children.
As a fan of the idiosyncracies and charms of small teams in general, well it would be wrong of me not to point this out and give it my support, and the fact that it's Darlington makes it even better.
Darlo's youth team have got through to the third round of the FA youth cup, where they'll be taking on the might of Arsenal on December 1st. Big game, great experience for the lads and all that, even if it is being played at Barnet, and it would be great if they could get a result, so they want to go down to London the night before to make sure they're well rested. Problem is, they can't afford to, so the Darlington Supporters trust is soliciting donations to pay for the hotel. So if you like to support small teams, or just want to spitefully stick it to Arsenal, they don't care about your motivation, click the link and go donate.
Darlo's youth team have got through to the third round of the FA youth cup, where they'll be taking on the might of Arsenal on December 1st. Big game, great experience for the lads and all that, even if it is being played at Barnet, and it would be great if they could get a result, so they want to go down to London the night before to make sure they're well rested. Problem is, they can't afford to, so the Darlington Supporters trust is soliciting donations to pay for the hotel. So if you like to support small teams, or just want to spitefully stick it to Arsenal, they don't care about your motivation, click the link and go donate.
Scummy assholes, or friendly and generous?
So the MLS Cup weekend has come and gone and now we're left with the reports and reviews, or in this case, a review of the reviews.
With the game itself not being fantastic, a lot of opinion has focussed on the part TFC fans played. One opinion is represented in this Big Soccer article which rather dramatically suggests "Toronto FC fans are officially the biggest bunch of scum, frauds, jokes, and assholes I've ever seen in the history of MLS." This sweeeping generalisation of all TFC fans is based on the "fact" that some TFC fans left early as a way of protesting MLSE. While undoubtedly many fans left early for whatever reason, and there were many empty seats by the end of the game, it's a very small minority who would have done so as a protest, most people who were still angry enough probably didn't even go in the first place, which is definitely a shame as I agree with the opinion it wasn't the right time and place for a protest, but to tar everyone with the same brush is more than a bit ridiculous.
A very different viewpoint is expressed in this letter from Portland Timbers supporters, posted on the Red Patch Boys forum, thanking supporters for their friendliness and generosity and putting on a great weekend. Of course other TFC supporters groups played their part in organising different events, pub crawls and get togethers over the weekend, including the supporters summit, and hosting Dallas and Colorado fans for pre and post game drinks.
So which is true, are TFC fans the petulant crybabies who spoiled MLS Cup weekend for their own selfish purposes in order to embarass MLSE? Or are they the generous hosts, eager to show their visitors a good time and foster goodwill among travelling supporters from all across the league? Well the obvious answer is neither of those options, and both of them.
I'm going to take a guess here and say that the writer of the first linked article didn't actually visit Toronto, and instead just watched the game on TV, and though I haven't watched the game again yet, despite PVRing it on both GOL TV and TSN2, I can imagine it didn't make for the most captivating spectacle. At kick off, the stadium looked fuller than it usually does at the beginning of TFC games, but that number slowly dwindled, as fans gave in to the cold, caught trains or beat traffic, and only a small percentage stayed around for the trophy presentation.
The atmosphere was muted, and if it wasn't for Marvell Wynne and especially Jeff Cunningham, would have been even more so. The 100-200 travelling supporters from both Colorado and Dallas certainly did their part, and kudos to them for making it out here, but for the Toronto crowd the lack of a team to really love or hate meant that the atmosphere was always going to reflect the game, which unfortunately didn't provide the excitement needed to ignite much fervour. It could have been better, the 2008 all star game at BMO started with a similar subdued atmosphere amid talk of protests, but by the second half the quality attacking play and tight scoreline meant that despite the lack of any real chanting, there was the definite buzz of a knowledgeable crowd that had been sucked into a good football game.
I'd hesitate to say it was just about the game though, the attendance and atmosphere have steadily been getting worse over the last couple of years at games TFC is involved in as well. The fact is that after 4 years, the novelty has worn off, and the continued mediocrity on the pitch and feeling of exploitation by the front office has drained the enthusiasm of many of the more casual fans. Add in the confusingly small effort made by MLS and MLSE to promote the game to the more casual unconnnected fan, and it's not really a surprise that that buzz wasn't repeated. So while it is ridiculously over the top to say TFC fans are the biggest bunch of scum...etc, the "best fans in MLS" tag that still gets thrown around really doesn't apply to TFC fans as a whole any more either.
Where TFC suporters did prove themselves though over the weekend is in the strength of the hardcore minority. The events that were organised and staffed by supporter volounteers were truly worthy of applause, and the welcoming of opposition supporters at both formal and informal events was genuine and enthusiastic, building bridges with a "we're all on the same side really" feeling. So thanks to all who organised and attended events and showed TFC fans can throw a hell of a party.
Scum, frauds, jokes, and assholes? Nope. Best fans in MLS? Nope, not any more. Best supporters groups? Well, TFC is definitely very much still in the running for that one.
With the game itself not being fantastic, a lot of opinion has focussed on the part TFC fans played. One opinion is represented in this Big Soccer article which rather dramatically suggests "Toronto FC fans are officially the biggest bunch of scum, frauds, jokes, and assholes I've ever seen in the history of MLS." This sweeeping generalisation of all TFC fans is based on the "fact" that some TFC fans left early as a way of protesting MLSE. While undoubtedly many fans left early for whatever reason, and there were many empty seats by the end of the game, it's a very small minority who would have done so as a protest, most people who were still angry enough probably didn't even go in the first place, which is definitely a shame as I agree with the opinion it wasn't the right time and place for a protest, but to tar everyone with the same brush is more than a bit ridiculous.
A very different viewpoint is expressed in this letter from Portland Timbers supporters, posted on the Red Patch Boys forum, thanking supporters for their friendliness and generosity and putting on a great weekend. Of course other TFC supporters groups played their part in organising different events, pub crawls and get togethers over the weekend, including the supporters summit, and hosting Dallas and Colorado fans for pre and post game drinks.
So which is true, are TFC fans the petulant crybabies who spoiled MLS Cup weekend for their own selfish purposes in order to embarass MLSE? Or are they the generous hosts, eager to show their visitors a good time and foster goodwill among travelling supporters from all across the league? Well the obvious answer is neither of those options, and both of them.
I'm going to take a guess here and say that the writer of the first linked article didn't actually visit Toronto, and instead just watched the game on TV, and though I haven't watched the game again yet, despite PVRing it on both GOL TV and TSN2, I can imagine it didn't make for the most captivating spectacle. At kick off, the stadium looked fuller than it usually does at the beginning of TFC games, but that number slowly dwindled, as fans gave in to the cold, caught trains or beat traffic, and only a small percentage stayed around for the trophy presentation.
The atmosphere was muted, and if it wasn't for Marvell Wynne and especially Jeff Cunningham, would have been even more so. The 100-200 travelling supporters from both Colorado and Dallas certainly did their part, and kudos to them for making it out here, but for the Toronto crowd the lack of a team to really love or hate meant that the atmosphere was always going to reflect the game, which unfortunately didn't provide the excitement needed to ignite much fervour. It could have been better, the 2008 all star game at BMO started with a similar subdued atmosphere amid talk of protests, but by the second half the quality attacking play and tight scoreline meant that despite the lack of any real chanting, there was the definite buzz of a knowledgeable crowd that had been sucked into a good football game.
I'd hesitate to say it was just about the game though, the attendance and atmosphere have steadily been getting worse over the last couple of years at games TFC is involved in as well. The fact is that after 4 years, the novelty has worn off, and the continued mediocrity on the pitch and feeling of exploitation by the front office has drained the enthusiasm of many of the more casual fans. Add in the confusingly small effort made by MLS and MLSE to promote the game to the more casual unconnnected fan, and it's not really a surprise that that buzz wasn't repeated. So while it is ridiculously over the top to say TFC fans are the biggest bunch of scum...etc, the "best fans in MLS" tag that still gets thrown around really doesn't apply to TFC fans as a whole any more either.
Where TFC suporters did prove themselves though over the weekend is in the strength of the hardcore minority. The events that were organised and staffed by supporter volounteers were truly worthy of applause, and the welcoming of opposition supporters at both formal and informal events was genuine and enthusiastic, building bridges with a "we're all on the same side really" feeling. So thanks to all who organised and attended events and showed TFC fans can throw a hell of a party.
Scum, frauds, jokes, and assholes? Nope. Best fans in MLS? Nope, not any more. Best supporters groups? Well, TFC is definitely very much still in the running for that one.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
Now the MLS Cup final is over, the off season got quickly under way with the release of the protected and unprotected lists that Vancouver and Portland get to sift through and pick from in the expansion draft.
A lot of teams seemed to take the view that those 2 teams wouldn't pick up the higher priced players, meaning some big names were left unprotected. Designated players Freddie Ljungberg, Nery Castillo, Geovanni, Juan Pablo Angel, and Blaise Nkufo all joined TFC's Mista and Julian De Guzman in the available pile, meaning there's some interesting choices to be made when the draft happens on Wednesday. I have no idea how much authority Interim Gm Earl Cochrane and Assistant Jim Brennan have to be making decisions before Jürgen Klinsmann figures out what type of club TFC's going to be, but I could definitely get behind some kind of sign and trade deal to bring Nkufo to town, or even Collins John, also left exposed by Chicago, who would be a bit of a risk, but with a lot of potential.
As for who's on TFC's list, here it is in full.
Chad Barrett
Julian De Guzman
Gabe Gala
Nick Garcia
Raivas Hscanovics
Fuad Ibrahim
Milos Kocic
Mista
Joseph Nane
Amadou Sanyang
Martin Saric
Maxim Usanov
O'Brian White
Obviously the big name there is Julian De Guzman, though I imagine no other MLS club would want to be paying him that much money, hell, even hometown TFC probably don't want to pay him that much any more. Chad Barrett is the biggest name with a chance of going, especially with his family ties to the West Coast. On the one hand I hope it doesn't happen, I really like Chad Barrett, even in 2009 he was one of my favourite players, and after increasing his scoring rate this year, he's become a very valuable member of the squad. On the other hand though, he is probably paid too much, and for the money he's set to earn, we should be able to find a player of equal or greater value, whether at striker or a different position.
I'd say the player most likely to be picked up is Amadou Sanyang, relatively cheap, young and athletic with the physicality needed for MLS, even if his passsing skills certainly have room for development. Martin Saric and Milos Kocic would also be possibilities, but I really can't see any of the other players being considered by anyone else.
This is of course just the first step in what should be a very interesting off season for TFC, or at least could be if and when we get around to appointing a new management team, or even just annointing the current one with the permanent role. It will be interesting to see which of these players who don't get drafted and which of those on the protected list will stay with the club, or are quietly shuffled off to the glue factory or move on to greener pastures. Here's who I'd like to see stay from the current roster.
Goalkeeper
Frei. A no-brainer really, unless a trade to Europe happens, he's the obvious first choice goalie.
Conway. A competent back up and apparently a great guy to have in the dressing room.
Kocic. A promising young kid who should get plenty of time in the reserve league, or on loan to the CSL again to develop further, one for the future.
Defence.
Cann. Team MVP ahead of De Rosario is maybe a bit much, but he had a great year, and will hopefully get the raise he deserves and stay. Would make a great captain, though I can't see De Ro taking that well.
Attakora. Reportedly turned down contract extensions over the past year so may be looking to explore his options overseas, but hopefully can be persuaded to stay.
Harden. Competent back up for Cann and Attakora.
Henry. Having the reserve league back is huge for youngsters such as him, hopefully he'll play a lot there with occasional first team appearances here and there, and be ready to step into the starting line up a year or two down the line.
Gargan. A solid if unspectacular minimum wage player who can cover a bunch of positions and is popular with the fans. Well worth keeping.
Gomez. Back in 2009 he showed promise before missing all of last year, deserves a chance to show what he can do.
Morgan. Bring him up form the academy, then like Henry, let him play in the reserve league and develop further, with the occasional first team appearance.
Midfield
De Guzman. Probably untradeable with his contract anyway, he deserves to stay around. Should a DM be a DP? Not really, but De Guzman should play his natural game, he looked at his worst last year when trying to be too ambitious with his passing, as if he was trying too hard to prove he could be a playmaker. As a defensive player, and someone to make himself available for a pass and transition the ball from defence to midfield, he's not bad at all.
De Rosario. Obviously depends on how his contract talks go, can be too selfish at times, but you can't argue with 15 goals.
Sanyang. Needs to improve his passing, but could grow to be a very good destructive DM in this league.
Peterson. I'd hope he's not our first choice winger next year, but showed enough under Dasovic to be a good back up or second winger depending on our formation. Ideally we can keep him for less money than last year to play that role.
Lindsay. Showed great promise last year, hopefully can keep it going and establish himself ahead of Peterson in the pecking order, if he struggles, the reseve league is there to give him the necessary playing time.
Labrocca. Another decent back up, who I'd hope won't be part of the starting line up, but can come in and do a job when asked.
Forwards.
Barrett. Ideally he'd be getting less money, but proved he can be a valuable player, an injury free season would be nice as well.
Santos. Showed some good skill either side of his summer injury. Ideally one of Barrett and he would be up front alongside some as yet unknown star striker with the other as backup.
A lot of that list is strictly back up quality, if more than Frei, Cann, Attakora, De Guzman, De Rosario and either one of Barrett and Santos are part of our regular starting line-up next year, we'll be in trouble. We could do with increasing the starting quality at every position except goal and Centre back. I'd say our most pressing needs are at both full back positions, a good winger (Nyassi from Seattle is on the unprotected list, I'd dangle a draft pick at someone to pick him up) and a top class forward. It would be a bonus if any of the academy kids or recent graduates can step up right away to be starters, but I really hope we're not counting on that.
As for the rest, Garcia, Hscanovics, Usanov, Gala, Nane, Saric, White, Ibrahim and especially Mista, hopefully we'll be saying goodbye and good luck to them.
A lot of teams seemed to take the view that those 2 teams wouldn't pick up the higher priced players, meaning some big names were left unprotected. Designated players Freddie Ljungberg, Nery Castillo, Geovanni, Juan Pablo Angel, and Blaise Nkufo all joined TFC's Mista and Julian De Guzman in the available pile, meaning there's some interesting choices to be made when the draft happens on Wednesday. I have no idea how much authority Interim Gm Earl Cochrane and Assistant Jim Brennan have to be making decisions before Jürgen Klinsmann figures out what type of club TFC's going to be, but I could definitely get behind some kind of sign and trade deal to bring Nkufo to town, or even Collins John, also left exposed by Chicago, who would be a bit of a risk, but with a lot of potential.
As for who's on TFC's list, here it is in full.
Chad Barrett
Julian De Guzman
Gabe Gala
Nick Garcia
Raivas Hscanovics
Fuad Ibrahim
Milos Kocic
Mista
Joseph Nane
Amadou Sanyang
Martin Saric
Maxim Usanov
O'Brian White
Obviously the big name there is Julian De Guzman, though I imagine no other MLS club would want to be paying him that much money, hell, even hometown TFC probably don't want to pay him that much any more. Chad Barrett is the biggest name with a chance of going, especially with his family ties to the West Coast. On the one hand I hope it doesn't happen, I really like Chad Barrett, even in 2009 he was one of my favourite players, and after increasing his scoring rate this year, he's become a very valuable member of the squad. On the other hand though, he is probably paid too much, and for the money he's set to earn, we should be able to find a player of equal or greater value, whether at striker or a different position.
I'd say the player most likely to be picked up is Amadou Sanyang, relatively cheap, young and athletic with the physicality needed for MLS, even if his passsing skills certainly have room for development. Martin Saric and Milos Kocic would also be possibilities, but I really can't see any of the other players being considered by anyone else.
This is of course just the first step in what should be a very interesting off season for TFC, or at least could be if and when we get around to appointing a new management team, or even just annointing the current one with the permanent role. It will be interesting to see which of these players who don't get drafted and which of those on the protected list will stay with the club, or are quietly shuffled off to the glue factory or move on to greener pastures. Here's who I'd like to see stay from the current roster.
Goalkeeper
Frei. A no-brainer really, unless a trade to Europe happens, he's the obvious first choice goalie.
Conway. A competent back up and apparently a great guy to have in the dressing room.
Kocic. A promising young kid who should get plenty of time in the reserve league, or on loan to the CSL again to develop further, one for the future.
Defence.
Cann. Team MVP ahead of De Rosario is maybe a bit much, but he had a great year, and will hopefully get the raise he deserves and stay. Would make a great captain, though I can't see De Ro taking that well.
Attakora. Reportedly turned down contract extensions over the past year so may be looking to explore his options overseas, but hopefully can be persuaded to stay.
Harden. Competent back up for Cann and Attakora.
Henry. Having the reserve league back is huge for youngsters such as him, hopefully he'll play a lot there with occasional first team appearances here and there, and be ready to step into the starting line up a year or two down the line.
Gargan. A solid if unspectacular minimum wage player who can cover a bunch of positions and is popular with the fans. Well worth keeping.
Gomez. Back in 2009 he showed promise before missing all of last year, deserves a chance to show what he can do.
Morgan. Bring him up form the academy, then like Henry, let him play in the reserve league and develop further, with the occasional first team appearance.
Midfield
De Guzman. Probably untradeable with his contract anyway, he deserves to stay around. Should a DM be a DP? Not really, but De Guzman should play his natural game, he looked at his worst last year when trying to be too ambitious with his passing, as if he was trying too hard to prove he could be a playmaker. As a defensive player, and someone to make himself available for a pass and transition the ball from defence to midfield, he's not bad at all.
De Rosario. Obviously depends on how his contract talks go, can be too selfish at times, but you can't argue with 15 goals.
Sanyang. Needs to improve his passing, but could grow to be a very good destructive DM in this league.
Peterson. I'd hope he's not our first choice winger next year, but showed enough under Dasovic to be a good back up or second winger depending on our formation. Ideally we can keep him for less money than last year to play that role.
Lindsay. Showed great promise last year, hopefully can keep it going and establish himself ahead of Peterson in the pecking order, if he struggles, the reseve league is there to give him the necessary playing time.
Labrocca. Another decent back up, who I'd hope won't be part of the starting line up, but can come in and do a job when asked.
Forwards.
Barrett. Ideally he'd be getting less money, but proved he can be a valuable player, an injury free season would be nice as well.
Santos. Showed some good skill either side of his summer injury. Ideally one of Barrett and he would be up front alongside some as yet unknown star striker with the other as backup.
A lot of that list is strictly back up quality, if more than Frei, Cann, Attakora, De Guzman, De Rosario and either one of Barrett and Santos are part of our regular starting line-up next year, we'll be in trouble. We could do with increasing the starting quality at every position except goal and Centre back. I'd say our most pressing needs are at both full back positions, a good winger (Nyassi from Seattle is on the unprotected list, I'd dangle a draft pick at someone to pick him up) and a top class forward. It would be a bonus if any of the academy kids or recent graduates can step up right away to be starters, but I really hope we're not counting on that.
As for the rest, Garcia, Hscanovics, Usanov, Gala, Nane, Saric, White, Ibrahim and especially Mista, hopefully we'll be saying goodbye and good luck to them.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
MLS Cup thoughts
When faced with supporter backlash over the automatic inclusion of the MLS Cup final in the 2011 season ticket package, Tom Anselmi, Paul Beirne and co expressed surprise and admitted being caught out by the reaction. They stated that they saw it as a reward for TFC supporters, and thought it would be embraced and welcomed by the city's enthusiastic football community. Obviously, as we all know it didn't quite work out that way, and with hindsight, making the purchase optional might have been wise, but I for one always did feel that way. I was excited when it was announced, and when it was made known it would be part of the package, I didn't mind at all, I was happy to have my guaranteed seats at a reasonable price, and there was never a question for me that I'd be attending, even before all the apologies and townhalls and concessions that followed the cratering (MLS Commissioner Don Garber's word at the Supporters Summit) of the renewal percentage. So first of all thanks to MLS and MLSE for bringing the game here.
My enthusiasm waned a little with the dismal end to TFC's season, and then the playoffs really didn't work out all that well. The teams I would have liked to see win got knocked out, as did the high profile teams and the teams I would have loved to watch lose, and we ended up with the MehLS Cup final of Dallas and Colorado. Combined with the puzzling lack of hype and promotion, and ensuing lack of buzz in the city, and it looked like it was going to be a disappointment, I'd still go to the game, I'd be cheering for Colorado but my heart wasn't really in it.
Over the last few days though, my interest and excitement has been renewed. Though I'm sure it hasn't really reached the general public, there's been a lot of extra buzz, I've really enjoyed the MLS Cup Classics series and extra programming on GOL TV. Mainly though it's the events that have been going on around town, organised by TFC supporters groups, open to and attended by supporters from Colorado, Dallas, and all the other MLS cities. So a huge thanks to everyone who organised or volounteered or spread the word about all those events. A friend's shotgun wedding stopped me from attending as many events as I would have liked, but from reading about them, and from attending the Supporter's summit this morning, it's clear there's a great sense of camerarderie between supporters from different cities, a real sense of being in it together and sharing a common goal. It's a very similar feeling I got when I was at games in Seattle and Chivas, where supporters were very friendly and welcoming.
Obviously this comes from MLS still being a very young and very small league within the North American sporting landscape, one that needs to be grown through mutual respect and co-operation. It's in the interests of any individual set of supporters that the rest of the league remains healthy and develops further. The teams or supporter experience can be fantastic in one city, but without the rest of the league also improving, it would be rather pointless.
Which is why I'm hoping that tonight's game will be well attended. Obviously some people will have very good reasons not to atttend, and the late start time and potential bad weather will put off some other fans as well. But many fans have talked about not going, and leaving their seats empty as a protest against MLSE, as a way to embarass them at their showpiece event. I understand supporters' anger at how TFC's lack of success has been combined with ever increasing ticket prices and exploitation of the atmosphere the supporters bring, and other protests have certainly been effective. I just don't think this is a good venue to be protesting further, this game isn't really about TFC or MLSE, it's about MLS. Many supporters have come to Toronto from all over North America, to enjoy all the festivities, the climax of which should be the MLS Cup, for TFC fans to metaphorically piss all over that for the sake of proving a point would be a terrible shame.
If attendance is weak, it'll lead to accusations that Toronto isn't really a good soccer city, instead it's just a good TFC market. I imagine anyone that's not going to the game as a protest, or simply because TFC isn't playing won't really care about those charges, which in a way actually proves the point. All I know is that if I were a supporter of another team, I wouldn't want to hear the oft repeated "TFC has the best supporters in the league" mantra again.
Hopefully that won't be an issue and those season ticket holders who have tickets will actually come out to enjoy the game, I guess we'll see soon. As for the game itself, I'll predict a tight game, with Colorado winning 2-1 in extra time, Omar Cummings with the winning goal.
Post game edit: well, I got the score right. All in all a decent night, the crowd was respectable if far from a sellout, the game wasn't a classic by any means, but Jeff Cunningham missing a chance to tie it at the death was satisfying, and the MVP being awarded to Casey Conor was very amusing. The most alarming part of the night was seeing Mo Johnston in one of the corporate boxes (ballsily enough the one right behind the North End Elite) hanging out with Nick Dasovic, Leo Percovich and others.
My enthusiasm waned a little with the dismal end to TFC's season, and then the playoffs really didn't work out all that well. The teams I would have liked to see win got knocked out, as did the high profile teams and the teams I would have loved to watch lose, and we ended up with the MehLS Cup final of Dallas and Colorado. Combined with the puzzling lack of hype and promotion, and ensuing lack of buzz in the city, and it looked like it was going to be a disappointment, I'd still go to the game, I'd be cheering for Colorado but my heart wasn't really in it.
Over the last few days though, my interest and excitement has been renewed. Though I'm sure it hasn't really reached the general public, there's been a lot of extra buzz, I've really enjoyed the MLS Cup Classics series and extra programming on GOL TV. Mainly though it's the events that have been going on around town, organised by TFC supporters groups, open to and attended by supporters from Colorado, Dallas, and all the other MLS cities. So a huge thanks to everyone who organised or volounteered or spread the word about all those events. A friend's shotgun wedding stopped me from attending as many events as I would have liked, but from reading about them, and from attending the Supporter's summit this morning, it's clear there's a great sense of camerarderie between supporters from different cities, a real sense of being in it together and sharing a common goal. It's a very similar feeling I got when I was at games in Seattle and Chivas, where supporters were very friendly and welcoming.
Obviously this comes from MLS still being a very young and very small league within the North American sporting landscape, one that needs to be grown through mutual respect and co-operation. It's in the interests of any individual set of supporters that the rest of the league remains healthy and develops further. The teams or supporter experience can be fantastic in one city, but without the rest of the league also improving, it would be rather pointless.
Which is why I'm hoping that tonight's game will be well attended. Obviously some people will have very good reasons not to atttend, and the late start time and potential bad weather will put off some other fans as well. But many fans have talked about not going, and leaving their seats empty as a protest against MLSE, as a way to embarass them at their showpiece event. I understand supporters' anger at how TFC's lack of success has been combined with ever increasing ticket prices and exploitation of the atmosphere the supporters bring, and other protests have certainly been effective. I just don't think this is a good venue to be protesting further, this game isn't really about TFC or MLSE, it's about MLS. Many supporters have come to Toronto from all over North America, to enjoy all the festivities, the climax of which should be the MLS Cup, for TFC fans to metaphorically piss all over that for the sake of proving a point would be a terrible shame.
If attendance is weak, it'll lead to accusations that Toronto isn't really a good soccer city, instead it's just a good TFC market. I imagine anyone that's not going to the game as a protest, or simply because TFC isn't playing won't really care about those charges, which in a way actually proves the point. All I know is that if I were a supporter of another team, I wouldn't want to hear the oft repeated "TFC has the best supporters in the league" mantra again.
Hopefully that won't be an issue and those season ticket holders who have tickets will actually come out to enjoy the game, I guess we'll see soon. As for the game itself, I'll predict a tight game, with Colorado winning 2-1 in extra time, Omar Cummings with the winning goal.
Post game edit: well, I got the score right. All in all a decent night, the crowd was respectable if far from a sellout, the game wasn't a classic by any means, but Jeff Cunningham missing a chance to tie it at the death was satisfying, and the MVP being awarded to Casey Conor was very amusing. The most alarming part of the night was seeing Mo Johnston in one of the corporate boxes (ballsily enough the one right behind the North End Elite) hanging out with Nick Dasovic, Leo Percovich and others.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Marvell Wynne, Marvell Wynne, flying down the wing.
The unavoidable juggernaut that is the MLS Cup hype machine is again turning the focus of the world's media to Marvell Wynne, with this publicity stunt set for Friday, based around lighting up the CN Tower. So I figured I'd join in by reliving some of his best moments with TFC, at least the ones available on youtube.
I'll start with his first goal for TFC, from September 2008 against Houston. Go to 1:51 to see the goal, a great dribble, cutting in from the right wing, owning Dwayne De Rosario in the process, and then a great shot into the far corner. This video also features Hunter Freeman's comedy own goal, starting at 1:15, if you want to take that in again.
This is probably my favourite Marvell moment, his assist on Danny Dichio's goal against Colorado, featuring a nutmeg, a well sold dummy, and a good low cross for Dichio. And why not get nostalgic for 2007 by watching the whole thing, top ten goals of 2007.
He seemed to like playing against his current club, getting another assist here with yet another run down the wing and cross, this time for De Rosario, at 0:34 of this video. Also at about 2:45, you see the rarity of an O'Brian White goal, a really nice finish as well.
This is his other TFC goal, and it's another spectacular one, against Dallas in 2008, using his speed to get behind the defence, running on to a through ball, and chipping the goalie from about 30 yards out, at 2:50. Keep watching to see John Carver have a bit of a meltdown at the end.
Thanks for the memories Marvell, keep your hands down on Sunday.
I'll start with his first goal for TFC, from September 2008 against Houston. Go to 1:51 to see the goal, a great dribble, cutting in from the right wing, owning Dwayne De Rosario in the process, and then a great shot into the far corner. This video also features Hunter Freeman's comedy own goal, starting at 1:15, if you want to take that in again.
This is probably my favourite Marvell moment, his assist on Danny Dichio's goal against Colorado, featuring a nutmeg, a well sold dummy, and a good low cross for Dichio. And why not get nostalgic for 2007 by watching the whole thing, top ten goals of 2007.
He seemed to like playing against his current club, getting another assist here with yet another run down the wing and cross, this time for De Rosario, at 0:34 of this video. Also at about 2:45, you see the rarity of an O'Brian White goal, a really nice finish as well.
This is his other TFC goal, and it's another spectacular one, against Dallas in 2008, using his speed to get behind the defence, running on to a through ball, and chipping the goalie from about 30 yards out, at 2:50. Keep watching to see John Carver have a bit of a meltdown at the end.
Thanks for the memories Marvell, keep your hands down on Sunday.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Conor Casey MLS Cup message to Toronto
As you may be aware, in advance of the MLS Cup in Toronto, MLS had all the former TFC players involved do a little promo, to encourage Toronto fans to attend. Marvell Wynne's did actually see the light of day, and you can see the transcript of Jeff Cunningham's less successful attempt here. In another Cruel Geography exclusive, here's the details of the never to be seen Conor Casey promo.
Scene: Inside the Rapids media room, Conor Casey stands in front of a big MLS Cup advertising board and waits for the cameraman to give him the go ahead.
Casey: Me,me,me,me,me,meeee. La,la,la,la,la,laaaaa. Nope.
Casey extravagantly clears his throat, does his 'lemon-face, lion-face' routine, takes a deep breath and starts again.
Casey: Me,me,me,me,meeee. La,la,la,la,la,laaaaaa. Alright, that's much better. How's my make up looking? My head's not too shiny?
Off-screen, a bored looking Rapids pr guy gives him a thumbs up.
Casey: What's this for anyway? MLS Cup? Cool. We ready to go?
The Cameraman nods and starts counting down, 5, 4, 3...
Casey: Alright, roll the autocue.... Hi, what's up Toronto! This is Conor Casey of the Colorado Rapids, formerly of TFC, and I'm really excited to be coming back to BMO field for.....Wait, this is for Toronto? Fuck that!
Casey turns away and starts struggling to remove his mike, and starts talking to the pr guy off screen who is inaudible.
Casey: I don't care!.......Fuck Toronto! (turns back to camera, and gives screen the finger) Fuck you Toronto!......What?........I don't know, have Garber give them some allocation money, Get Joseph Fucking Lapira to do it, or Riley O'Neill. I don't care, I'm out. Why can't we play this thing in the States?
Casey successfully removes his mike and storms off, the camera swings round to a now stunned looking and speechless Rapids pr guy, who makes a throat slitting gesture and the screen goes dead.
Fin
Scene: Inside the Rapids media room, Conor Casey stands in front of a big MLS Cup advertising board and waits for the cameraman to give him the go ahead.
Casey: Me,me,me,me,me,meeee. La,la,la,la,la,laaaaa. Nope.
Casey extravagantly clears his throat, does his 'lemon-face, lion-face' routine, takes a deep breath and starts again.
Casey: Me,me,me,me,meeee. La,la,la,la,la,laaaaaa. Alright, that's much better. How's my make up looking? My head's not too shiny?
Off-screen, a bored looking Rapids pr guy gives him a thumbs up.
Casey: What's this for anyway? MLS Cup? Cool. We ready to go?
The Cameraman nods and starts counting down, 5, 4, 3...
Casey: Alright, roll the autocue.... Hi, what's up Toronto! This is Conor Casey of the Colorado Rapids, formerly of TFC, and I'm really excited to be coming back to BMO field for.....Wait, this is for Toronto? Fuck that!
Casey turns away and starts struggling to remove his mike, and starts talking to the pr guy off screen who is inaudible.
Casey: I don't care!.......Fuck Toronto! (turns back to camera, and gives screen the finger) Fuck you Toronto!......What?........I don't know, have Garber give them some allocation money, Get Joseph Fucking Lapira to do it, or Riley O'Neill. I don't care, I'm out. Why can't we play this thing in the States?
Casey successfully removes his mike and storms off, the camera swings round to a now stunned looking and speechless Rapids pr guy, who makes a throat slitting gesture and the screen goes dead.
Fin
Jeff Cunningham MLS Cup message to Toronto fans.
By now you've probably seen Marvell Wynne's video asking Toronto fans to come out and support him and the Rapids on Sunday. It's come to light that MLS asked all the former TFC players to make such videos to inspire Torontonians to brave the cold November night and cheer them on. The others didn't see the light of day for reasons which will soon be obvious, but fortunately, before the tapes were burnt, an MLS mole leaked the transcripts to Cruel Geography, which I'll faithfuly reprint here.
Jeff Cunningham's MLS Cup message to Toronto.
Scene: FC Dallas training ground, various players and coaches go through the motions in the background as Jeff prepares to give his message.
Cunningham: Hey Toronto, what's up? This is Jeff Cunningham, formerly number 96 with TFC.
Off Screen: boooo!
Cunningham: I wore 96 as that was how many goals I'd scored at the time, I scored a lot of goals before I was at TFC, and since leaving, I've scored a bunch more...
Off Screen: booooo!
Cunningham: what? erm, okaaaay. Anyway, I'm now the second highest all time scorer in MLS, I know you're all real proud of me.
Off Screen: boooooooooooo!
Cunningham: What the hell? I've told everyone what great fans you are, and from my own experience, I know how much you love to see other teams raise trophies at BMO Field.
Off Screen: booooooooooooooooooo!
Out of nowhere a red streamer flies into the shot and hits Jeff on the head.
Cunningham: Ow! Do I have to keep going with this? Seriously? (sigh) alright. I hope you're all going to cheer for me and Dallas and paint BMO blue...
Jeff dodges another streamer, and a quarter full plastic beer cup.
...and I can't wait to come back to Toronto to see you all again, and score the goals that will win us the MLS cup.
FC Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman walks by
Hyndman: You do know you'll be on the bench all game, right Jeff?
Cunningham: What? Aw, c'mooooon. Did you have to tell me now? you know what? screw this!
Jeff walks away angrily shaking his head, narrowly avoiding a flying poutine.
Fin
When reached for comment, former TFC coach John Carver said "You want my honest opinion on that? I am thinking, ‘How has he done hundreds of interviews?’ That’s what I thought.’"
"If you’re a star player and you have got desire to promote the game, no matter how you finish the piece, you finish the piece," Carver concluded, rubbing his temples in frustration.
Next, Conor Casey's MLS Cup message to Toronto
Jeff Cunningham's MLS Cup message to Toronto.
Scene: FC Dallas training ground, various players and coaches go through the motions in the background as Jeff prepares to give his message.
Cunningham: Hey Toronto, what's up? This is Jeff Cunningham, formerly number 96 with TFC.
Off Screen: boooo!
Cunningham: I wore 96 as that was how many goals I'd scored at the time, I scored a lot of goals before I was at TFC, and since leaving, I've scored a bunch more...
Off Screen: booooo!
Cunningham: what? erm, okaaaay. Anyway, I'm now the second highest all time scorer in MLS, I know you're all real proud of me.
Off Screen: boooooooooooo!
Cunningham: What the hell? I've told everyone what great fans you are, and from my own experience, I know how much you love to see other teams raise trophies at BMO Field.
Off Screen: booooooooooooooooooo!
Out of nowhere a red streamer flies into the shot and hits Jeff on the head.
Cunningham: Ow! Do I have to keep going with this? Seriously? (sigh) alright. I hope you're all going to cheer for me and Dallas and paint BMO blue...
Jeff dodges another streamer, and a quarter full plastic beer cup.
...and I can't wait to come back to Toronto to see you all again, and score the goals that will win us the MLS cup.
FC Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman walks by
Hyndman: You do know you'll be on the bench all game, right Jeff?
Cunningham: What? Aw, c'mooooon. Did you have to tell me now? you know what? screw this!
Jeff walks away angrily shaking his head, narrowly avoiding a flying poutine.
Fin
When reached for comment, former TFC coach John Carver said "You want my honest opinion on that? I am thinking, ‘How has he done hundreds of interviews?’ That’s what I thought.’"
"If you’re a star player and you have got desire to promote the game, no matter how you finish the piece, you finish the piece," Carver concluded, rubbing his temples in frustration.
Next, Conor Casey's MLS Cup message to Toronto
Monday, November 15, 2010
Klinsmann-agement Theory
I've made my disappointment obvious that Jürgen Klinsmann is only here on a short term consultancy basis, but I'm open to other opinions. So for the first time on Cruel Geography, I've hired a consultant to give a Stein half full viewpoint, so here's frequent commenter Roz to explain why it's actually a good thing.
When Klinsmann was introduced to the media on Thursday, there seemed to be a bit of a collective groan amongst TFC supporters. There was no talk of grand visions and sweeping changes to the organization, but more of a vague corporate speak referring to team identity and styles of play. But for the first time in awhile, I actually felt hopeful. ‘Der konsültant’ may just be what TFC needs.
For the past four years, it seems like everyone at TFC has been doing their jobs (or not doing them) with very little focus on the big picture. When things were going well there was back slapping, hand shaking, enthusiastic singing from supporters and victorious goal celebrations. And when things weren’t going well (which was definitely more often) there was finger pointing, firings, hirings, trades, green supporters and stupid ‘cheque-writing’ goal celebrations - all of which makes for fascinating daytime TV, but not a good football club. And if Klinsmann were to just step in and ‘blow things’ up, as some people were hoping for, it’s likely that it would only add to the drama. Because before any new sweeping changes are put in place the whole organization needs to take a step back and remind themselves of why they are here and what they want to do. And that’s what Klinsmann, not the flashy former footballer, but the serious management consultant, is here to do.
What TFC needs is a mission and vision. It needs values and guiding principles (and if it currently has all these, well I think it’s safe to say they need a serious revamp). And hopefully as I write this and you read this, Klinsmann has Anselmi and company locked up in the boardroom brainstorming , visioning, ‘blue skying’ and ‘thinking outside the box’. All mind numbing exercises for anyone that has ever participated in them, but with outcomes that really do help guide the day to day operations of an organization. Once an overall philosophy is in place, the next step is for Klinsmann to help TFC figure out the best management structure to implement it. Do they need a Director of Soccer and a General Manager? How many coaches? A sports psychologist? A yoga instructor perhaps? And here’s where hopefully Klinsmann can use his connections to help TFC identify management and coaches who will work well within the new TFC structure and philosophy. These managers and coaches will then work together to identify a style of play that is in line with the organization’s vision, and then find and train players that embody the TFC mentality. The people in these positions may be new to the organization, or maybe they are here already, it all depends on the vision, mission and values. That’s why Klinsmann, or anyone, can’t just come in and clean house without going through this admittedly tedious process. Because what if they were to get rid of someone who doesn’t seem to ‘fit’ with the current organization, but would thrive within the new one?
Now, I know a bit of a sore point is the inclusion of Anselmi and company in the development of a new organizational philosophy. I mean, why doesn’t Klinsmann just come right out and tell us what it should be, he’s the expert right? Well, not really. Klinsmann has been in Toronto for all of a few weeks now. He knows nothing about the inner workings of MLSE, TFC history, demands of supporter’s groups, etc. To get a true picture of what TFC is all about, he needs to hear from Anselmi and Bierne. He also needs to hear from current management, coaches and players. To get a well-rounded picture, I would argue that he also needs to sit down with the supporters. And only when he talks with all of the stakeholders, all of the experts, can Klinsmann help us define what it means to be TFC. Good management theorists would also point out that including all stakeholders in discussions on organizational philosophy increases the chances of buy-in and satisfaction. All of which increase the chances that changes will actually be implemented, as well as maintained and effective.
So, the reality is that what’s happening right now at TFC isn’t dazzling and it isn’t dramatic. It’s actually tedious and a little bit boring. But it is good management, and it just might be the best thing that’s ever happened to this club.
History! Underdogs! er...Marvell Wynne!
With FC Dallas knocking out LA Galaxy, Landon Donovan, David Beckham et al last night, the job of generating excitement to sell all the non season-ticket seats, and get bums into those pre sold seats to make BMO field look acceptably close to, if not actually full, got a lot harder. Judging by the lack of adverts to be seen so far around Toronto or in the media, for the game or any of the events surrounding it, the Toronto FC marketing and sales types must have been working overtime on the TFC season ticket renewals, and hoping that Beckham or Thierry Henry would have been showing up to boost interest for the MLS Cup.
With the sizzle reduced to Marvell Wynne (hey TFC fans, you liked Marvell right? You don't remember all those handballs do you? You'll come out on a cold November night to cheer him right? Right? Guys?), it's time to focus on the steak of what should hopefully be a decent game. Despite the lack of marquee talent, there's still good players on show, Conor Casey and Omar Cummings have been one of the best forward pairings in the league over the last few years. For Dallas, David Ferreira has had a great year, legitimately contending for the MLS MVP award, and they have had a very successful year, including going 19 games unbeaten spanning almost 5 months. The two games between the teams this year both ended in ties, so it should be an even game, with a good possibility of extra time and penalties.
It's not like there's no good storylines at all here, both teams are original founding members of MLS back in 1996, and neither of them have won the cup before, so we're guaranteed a new winner, and a feel-good story of long suffering team and fan base finally gets the title. Both teams are underdogs, with Dallas having to beat the reigning champs, and then the favourites to get here, and Colorado coming from behind then holding their nerve in penalties against the Crew, and despite having two of the worst corporately-named stadiums in the league, neither team has a shirt sponsorship, which for me at least is a very refreshing thing to see.
There should be enough to be able to sell the game, especially given the oft-repeated assertion that "TFC fans are the best in the league". This should be a good test to see if Toronto really is the great soccer market people try and tell us it is, or merely a great TFC market, either way I'm looking forward to it.
With the sizzle reduced to Marvell Wynne (hey TFC fans, you liked Marvell right? You don't remember all those handballs do you? You'll come out on a cold November night to cheer him right? Right? Guys?), it's time to focus on the steak of what should hopefully be a decent game. Despite the lack of marquee talent, there's still good players on show, Conor Casey and Omar Cummings have been one of the best forward pairings in the league over the last few years. For Dallas, David Ferreira has had a great year, legitimately contending for the MLS MVP award, and they have had a very successful year, including going 19 games unbeaten spanning almost 5 months. The two games between the teams this year both ended in ties, so it should be an even game, with a good possibility of extra time and penalties.
It's not like there's no good storylines at all here, both teams are original founding members of MLS back in 1996, and neither of them have won the cup before, so we're guaranteed a new winner, and a feel-good story of long suffering team and fan base finally gets the title. Both teams are underdogs, with Dallas having to beat the reigning champs, and then the favourites to get here, and Colorado coming from behind then holding their nerve in penalties against the Crew, and despite having two of the worst corporately-named stadiums in the league, neither team has a shirt sponsorship, which for me at least is a very refreshing thing to see.
There should be enough to be able to sell the game, especially given the oft-repeated assertion that "TFC fans are the best in the league". This should be a good test to see if Toronto really is the great soccer market people try and tell us it is, or merely a great TFC market, either way I'm looking forward to it.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Der Konsültant's in town, uh-oh!
Thursday saw Jürgen Klinsmann introduced to the media in Toronto for the first time along with his SoccerSolutions colleague Warren Mersereau, to explain what their role is going to be and finally give some details of what we can look forward to. Turns out it’s not a lot really, he basically crushed any lingering hopes that Tom Anselmi had been underplaying his involvement when he talked about it last week. He’s certainly not going to be taking on any kind of GM or coach job himself, and confirmed that his consultancy is going to be a short one, ending before next season starts, ie before he’s even seen his new team play one competitive game.
What sort of power would he have in the short time he’d be here? Would it be the sort of omnipotence that Gerry Dobson described a couple of weeks back?
It's unclear exactly what his title will be, but make no mistake, the reality is Klinsmann will be in total command. He'll run everything from the top, right on down to the academy....the fact is he'll make all the decisions that matter. Everything else, Klinsmann will leave in the hands of the man (or men) he hires to run the day-to-day stuff. At this point, that's unclear as well. Klinsmann may well appoint a single overseer below him to act as general manager and head coach.
Not so much. Here’s Gerry sheepish comments after the press conference.
Those of us who thought Klinsmann was coming in here to roll up his sleeves, take charge, make changes and turn Toronto FC on its' head were wrong. He's here only to make suggestions.Suggestions, recommendations and a point in the right direction is all that Klinsmann will be bringing, and then the big decisions, the hiring of whatever coaching/management structure they decide is best, and running the team from there, will once again be in the hands of Anselmi and co. A point made clear by Klinsmann with a chuckle and the sort of "good luck buddy" smirk that reminded me of the "now we just need to make sure TFC makes the playoffs, right Mo? ha-ha" comments aimed at then GM Mo Johnston during the press conference to announce the 2010 MLS Cup final was coming to Toronto.
What are SoccerSolutions' processes to arrive at these suggestions? Well apparently it's all about getting a feel for the city and supporters, figuring out what sort of team and style of play they want, talking with the players and staff already at the club and finding out how they work and what they're looking for, then coming up with a few suitable candidates who fit into that mould and will theoretically be able to build that sort of team. Anselmi said in an interview that he's already talked with Klinsmann and told him about the style of hockey we like here, which might just be the most depressing sentence I've ever written. Seriously? Now we're going to try and emulate the Leafs?
Trying to look on the bright side, it's better that he's here even for an advisory role for a short period than for nothing at all, and his contacts and reputation will hopefully ensure us a higher class of applicants for the full time jobs. Also developing an identity and plan that all future decisions will be filtered through is a very good idea, the Mo Johnston era never gave the impression of any clear long term plan being followed. Starting right from scratch again, looking at every aspect of the organisation and coming up with a plan that will go right down to the academy teams is very necessary at this time, and to have Klinsmann involved right at the beginning to set us in the right direction can only be a good thing.
Basically, 2 months down the line from firing Mo and Preki, we've hired a consultant, one with a great footballing reputation and contacts, absolutely, but just a consultant, nothing more. Any recommendation can only be as good as those that are implementing it, and that's going to be the same old people, so forgive me if I don't really see much different here at all.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
It was 20 years ago today. November
Part 4 of my look back at Darlington's 1990/91 season. Click here for August, September and October.
Darlo entered November riding high in the standings, and their first game was away at Rochdale, Mark Burke's loan was over, and with Steve Mardenborough still covering for Les McJannett, that meant a return to the lineup for Paul Emson, who didn't really do much, and an own goal meant we got a 1-1 draw, marred by an injury to Frank Gray. Next up was a trip back to the non league, at Barrow, for the GM Vauxhall Shield, the non league version of the Charity Shield, a trophy Darlington won handily 4-0, with goals from Mardenborough, Andy Toman and 2 from John Borthwick.
This was followed by the first meeting of the season with Hartlepool, with our highest crowd of the season, 5,713 on hand to watch what turned out to be a frustrating game. Darlo didn't play a great game, and missed a few chances before the ugliest man in football, the man who made Peter Beardsley look good, Joe Allon, scored the only goal of the game. I may be getting games and seasons mixed up here, but I think it was from a corner in front of the Tin Shed, he'd been getting abuse all game, and he pointed to the goal, saying he was going to head it in, right before he did.
The next week was the first round of the FA cup. With memories of last years run to a third round replay and the injustice of Archie Stephens' disallowed goal fresh in our minds, another big crowd came out for our home game against York City. Gary Gill scored our goal in a 1-1 draw that I don't remember at all. This game saw the return of Frank Gray from injury, and was also the last game that David Corner started for us. The replay was 3 days later, and marked the first time in the starting line up for up and coming youth player Lee Ellison, though he couldn't inspire us as it ended 1-0 to York and that was that for our FA cup hopes for another year.
Getting back to the league was just what Darlo needed, a makeshift defence including Emson and Drew Coverdale not stopping us from getting a 3-0 away win at Lincoln, Ellison getting the start again, and scoring his first goal. Kevan Smith also scored, as did Gary Gill from the penalty spot.
The last game of the month saw us playing another cup tie against bloody York, this time in the group stage of the Leyland Daf trophy, where another defender picked up an injury, this time Les McJannett, and 2 goals from Borthwick couldn't stop us going down to a 3-2 defeat.
The day before that game though, saw Feethams host an FA youth cup 2nd round game against Manchester United, with the big attraction being some 16 year old kid called Ryan Giggs, who was apparently going to be the next George Best. This was the only youth team game I ever went to and also the only game I watched from the East stand paddock and Giggs definitely looked good, scoring 5 goals in a 6-0 win, but check out the rest of the Man Utd line-up, under Ferguson, you'd think there'd be some good kids there, well here they are, at least here's who's listed on the programme. Ian Wilkinson, Alan McReavie, Leslie Pottts, Mark Gordon, James Shields, John Sharples, Adrian Doherty, Peter Smyth, Colin McKee, Simon Davies, and Marcus Barmeld and John Okane on the bench. Not exactly household names. Darlo's team that day included Sean Gregan, as well as a few players who made the grade at Darlo's level, Anthony Isaacs, Simon Shaw and Lee Ellison.
As always, feel free to add your own memories in the comments section to fill in the gaps.
Coming up: December, including Grimsby Town players fighting themselves.
Darlo entered November riding high in the standings, and their first game was away at Rochdale, Mark Burke's loan was over, and with Steve Mardenborough still covering for Les McJannett, that meant a return to the lineup for Paul Emson, who didn't really do much, and an own goal meant we got a 1-1 draw, marred by an injury to Frank Gray. Next up was a trip back to the non league, at Barrow, for the GM Vauxhall Shield, the non league version of the Charity Shield, a trophy Darlington won handily 4-0, with goals from Mardenborough, Andy Toman and 2 from John Borthwick.
This was followed by the first meeting of the season with Hartlepool, with our highest crowd of the season, 5,713 on hand to watch what turned out to be a frustrating game. Darlo didn't play a great game, and missed a few chances before the ugliest man in football, the man who made Peter Beardsley look good, Joe Allon, scored the only goal of the game. I may be getting games and seasons mixed up here, but I think it was from a corner in front of the Tin Shed, he'd been getting abuse all game, and he pointed to the goal, saying he was going to head it in, right before he did.
The next week was the first round of the FA cup. With memories of last years run to a third round replay and the injustice of Archie Stephens' disallowed goal fresh in our minds, another big crowd came out for our home game against York City. Gary Gill scored our goal in a 1-1 draw that I don't remember at all. This game saw the return of Frank Gray from injury, and was also the last game that David Corner started for us. The replay was 3 days later, and marked the first time in the starting line up for up and coming youth player Lee Ellison, though he couldn't inspire us as it ended 1-0 to York and that was that for our FA cup hopes for another year.
Getting back to the league was just what Darlo needed, a makeshift defence including Emson and Drew Coverdale not stopping us from getting a 3-0 away win at Lincoln, Ellison getting the start again, and scoring his first goal. Kevan Smith also scored, as did Gary Gill from the penalty spot.
The last game of the month saw us playing another cup tie against bloody York, this time in the group stage of the Leyland Daf trophy, where another defender picked up an injury, this time Les McJannett, and 2 goals from Borthwick couldn't stop us going down to a 3-2 defeat.
The day before that game though, saw Feethams host an FA youth cup 2nd round game against Manchester United, with the big attraction being some 16 year old kid called Ryan Giggs, who was apparently going to be the next George Best. This was the only youth team game I ever went to and also the only game I watched from the East stand paddock and Giggs definitely looked good, scoring 5 goals in a 6-0 win, but check out the rest of the Man Utd line-up, under Ferguson, you'd think there'd be some good kids there, well here they are, at least here's who's listed on the programme. Ian Wilkinson, Alan McReavie, Leslie Pottts, Mark Gordon, James Shields, John Sharples, Adrian Doherty, Peter Smyth, Colin McKee, Simon Davies, and Marcus Barmeld and John Okane on the bench. Not exactly household names. Darlo's team that day included Sean Gregan, as well as a few players who made the grade at Darlo's level, Anthony Isaacs, Simon Shaw and Lee Ellison.
As always, feel free to add your own memories in the comments section to fill in the gaps.
Coming up: December, including Grimsby Town players fighting themselves.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Only normal people play football.
That's apparently the view of the President of the Croatian Football Federation, Vlatko Markovic, when talking about the possibility of homosexuals playing for Croatia. See the original article here, and thanks to The Justin Campaign for blogging and tweeting about it.
Sigh.
Edit: Red Card Homophobia have started an email campaign protesting this. Here's where you can go for more info on that.
And here's another good article on this issue, at In bed with Maradonna.
"While I'm a president of the Croatian Football Federation, there will be no homosexuals playing in the national team", Vlatko Markovic said in an interview with Croatian national daily Vecernji List.
Asked whether in his career he has met a homosexual footballer, he has replied:
"Luckily, only normal people play football".
Sigh.
Edit: Red Card Homophobia have started an email campaign protesting this. Here's where you can go for more info on that.
And here's another good article on this issue, at In bed with Maradonna.
Successful Canadian footballers?
Tonight, having already qualified for the 2011 World Cup in Germany after their semi-final win over Costa Rica, Canada's Women's National Team has the chance to clinch the Concacaf championship tonight. They're favourites as well, as rather than taking on the heavily favoured US team, they'll actually be playing Mexico who lost 3-0 to Canada in the group stages, before stunning the US in the semi-final. You can watch the game on CBC Bold, or if you're not one of their approximately 12 subscribers, online here. Congratulations to Carolina Morace and her team for a successful qualification, and hopefully they can finish the job tonight and cap what's been a busy and enjoyable weekend of football.
In the MLS playoffs, San Jose destroyed the "dream final" by knocking out Thierry Henry and the Red Bulls, and you've got to say that the first half-season of the Henry experiment was a bit of a failure really. Not a Mista level failure by any means, but he's going to have to improve next year to justify the big bucks. Columbus also lost, in a shootout to Colorado, and San Jose-Colorado really is an appropriate final for what was a very bad year for Eastern Conference clubs. In the Western Conference, Dallas beat Real Salt Lake, before a higher seed finally won, with LA knocking out Seattle. So either David Beckham or Jeff Cunningham will be playing and potentially lifting the the cup at BMO field, it's safe to say I'll be supporting whoever comes out of the "East".
Back in England, it was a mixed weekend for the small clubs in the FA cup. Tipton Town and Hythe Town both got hammered, though Hythe did at least score. Dover upset Gillingham, getting revenge against all the management and coaches who went from Dover to Gillingham this summer and FC United of Manchester got a 94th minute winner against Rochdale. Darlington beat League one side Bristol Rovers 2-1, though even when they win, they can't win, as computer problems in the ticket office led to very long waits to get in and quite a few people apparently giving up, so that's a good chance to win some new converts, or win back some old fans wasted, but still, an excellent result.
Throw in Chelsea and Arsenal both losing to EPL minnows, and it's been a really good weekend, Canada being champions would be a great way to finish it.
Edit: And they did finish it off, a 1-0 win giving them the title, 5 games, 5 wins, 0 goals against, a really good tournament all round. Well done Ladies. Campeonas! Campeonas! olé, olé, olé!
In the MLS playoffs, San Jose destroyed the "dream final" by knocking out Thierry Henry and the Red Bulls, and you've got to say that the first half-season of the Henry experiment was a bit of a failure really. Not a Mista level failure by any means, but he's going to have to improve next year to justify the big bucks. Columbus also lost, in a shootout to Colorado, and San Jose-Colorado really is an appropriate final for what was a very bad year for Eastern Conference clubs. In the Western Conference, Dallas beat Real Salt Lake, before a higher seed finally won, with LA knocking out Seattle. So either David Beckham or Jeff Cunningham will be playing and potentially lifting the the cup at BMO field, it's safe to say I'll be supporting whoever comes out of the "East".
Back in England, it was a mixed weekend for the small clubs in the FA cup. Tipton Town and Hythe Town both got hammered, though Hythe did at least score. Dover upset Gillingham, getting revenge against all the management and coaches who went from Dover to Gillingham this summer and FC United of Manchester got a 94th minute winner against Rochdale. Darlington beat League one side Bristol Rovers 2-1, though even when they win, they can't win, as computer problems in the ticket office led to very long waits to get in and quite a few people apparently giving up, so that's a good chance to win some new converts, or win back some old fans wasted, but still, an excellent result.
Throw in Chelsea and Arsenal both losing to EPL minnows, and it's been a really good weekend, Canada being champions would be a great way to finish it.
Edit: And they did finish it off, a 1-0 win giving them the title, 5 games, 5 wins, 0 goals against, a really good tournament all round. Well done Ladies. Campeonas! Campeonas! olé, olé, olé!
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Misanthropes corner.
If like me, you're cycnical and beaten down from years of supporting failure, you'll know a big part of the joy of sport is very negative in nature. Cheering against somebody is just as satisfying as cheering for your team, and every individual hero needs an anti-hero. As an example, I'm watching San Jose against New York right now, and cheering very much against New York rather than for San Jose.
Two articles in the Guardian over the last couple of days really speak to me in this way. Firstly, this article from Marina Hyde is simply about the people and things you hate in sports. The article itself isn't all that special, but the comments section is gold. Pure bitter hateful gold.
Next up is this article from Harry Pearson, which takes things to a more complicated area, when for whatever reason, usually a manager/coach you don't like, you start to secretly, sub-consciously, cheer against your team. I think a lot of people started to feel that way about TFC towards the end of Preki's reign, each woeful, scoreless loss inching us closer to his exit. I was more the other way round, I didn't want him fired, so I must confess to a small tinge of satisfaction when we started leaking goals all over the place under Dasovic.
So, if you're of a certain miserable, cynical mindset, both articles are well worth a read.
As for the New York-San Jose game, San Jose won 3-1, 3-2 on aggregate, and what a game it was, fantastic entertainment. The defending wasn't great from either side, so for the sake of his health, I hope Preki wasn't watching, but if you like attacking play, lots of chances and plenty of goals, and didn't actually see the game, find it on the internet and watch the whole thing. Seriously.
Two articles in the Guardian over the last couple of days really speak to me in this way. Firstly, this article from Marina Hyde is simply about the people and things you hate in sports. The article itself isn't all that special, but the comments section is gold. Pure bitter hateful gold.
Next up is this article from Harry Pearson, which takes things to a more complicated area, when for whatever reason, usually a manager/coach you don't like, you start to secretly, sub-consciously, cheer against your team. I think a lot of people started to feel that way about TFC towards the end of Preki's reign, each woeful, scoreless loss inching us closer to his exit. I was more the other way round, I didn't want him fired, so I must confess to a small tinge of satisfaction when we started leaking goals all over the place under Dasovic.
So, if you're of a certain miserable, cynical mindset, both articles are well worth a read.
As for the New York-San Jose game, San Jose won 3-1, 3-2 on aggregate, and what a game it was, fantastic entertainment. The defending wasn't great from either side, so for the sake of his health, I hope Preki wasn't watching, but if you like attacking play, lots of chances and plenty of goals, and didn't actually see the game, find it on the internet and watch the whole thing. Seriously.
Sweet FA Cup.
This is going to be a great weekend of football. The MLS cup conference semi-finals second leg games will be played over 4 days, starting Thursday night with only one goal seperating the teams in every game, so it's all very much still up for grabs. Then in England, it's FA cup time. While the third round, when all the big teams enter, is generally the weekend that gets the most attention, the first round proper, when the League One and League Two teams join all the non-league teams that have got through qualifying, is one of my favourite footballing weekends of the year. Those Football League teams that are generally ignored for most of the year are lined up as the giants waiting to be killed and a bunch of teams from towns you've never heard of get their moment in the spotlight. I don't know if they still do it or not, but every year it was a BBC staple to do a piece following the players in their real jobs, one of which was always, always, a postman.
This years teams getting the patronising pats on the head are Tipton Town (from park football to the FA cup!)and Hythe Town (the lowest ranked team left in the cup)who have away games at Carlisle and Hereford respectively.
Other matches getting attention, in my house at least are Darlington vs Bristol Rovers and Gillingham vs Dover. As a freshly minted non-league team, Darlington had to qualify, which they did by beating Mossley AFC 6-2. Mossley had 3 players sent off, including their goalkeeper, leading to the man who works their tannoy using his platform to announce to everyone“I don't believe you referee, you're turning this into a farce!” Fantastic stuff. It's not a great draw as Rovers are probably big enough to be able to beat us easily, whilst not being big enough for Darlington to get the big crowd and cash they need.
Gillingham vs Dover could be very interesting, mainly due to the following, which happened this summer, brought up in the Guardian's The Knowledge section
This years teams getting the patronising pats on the head are Tipton Town (from park football to the FA cup!)and Hythe Town (the lowest ranked team left in the cup)who have away games at Carlisle and Hereford respectively.
Other matches getting attention, in my house at least are Darlington vs Bristol Rovers and Gillingham vs Dover. As a freshly minted non-league team, Darlington had to qualify, which they did by beating Mossley AFC 6-2. Mossley had 3 players sent off, including their goalkeeper, leading to the man who works their tannoy using his platform to announce to everyone“I don't believe you referee, you're turning this into a farce!” Fantastic stuff. It's not a great draw as Rovers are probably big enough to be able to beat us easily, whilst not being big enough for Darlington to get the big crowd and cash they need.
Gillingham vs Dover could be very interesting, mainly due to the following, which happened this summer, brought up in the Guardian's The Knowledge section
"On 6 November Gillingham will be playing Dover in an FA Cup first round game," begins James Tong. "Not only is it a nice Kentish derby, but it has added spice given that this summer we nicked their manager (Andy Hessenthaler), their assistant manager (Darren Hare, now youth team manager), their replacement manager (Ian Hendon, who was there for 17 days, was on holiday for 14 of those days, then came up the A2 to Gillingham not having signed a contract at Dover) and their replacement player/assistant manager (Nicky Southall, now at his fourth spell at Priestfield). As we're two leagues apart and the Whites are making the FA Cup first round for only the third time ever, it's quite amazing that we've been drawn against them in the season after all the shenanigans. Has there been a spicier match drawn in such against-the-odds circumstances?"The match getting the most coverage though is FC United of Manchester's game against Rochdale, this being the first time FCUM have made it this far in their 5 year existence since being created by Manchester United fans sick of what their club had become and pushed over the edge by the Glazer's takeover of the club. This is a great article published after they qualified, detailing how they've come this far and what their future plans are. I love a good 'stick it to The Man' story as much as anyone, especially when that Man is Man Utd. so even though I have a soft spot for Rochdale, I'll certainly be cheering for FCUM.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Don't tell him about Rob Ford.
Damn work! I must have been busy when TFC made their Jürgen Klinsmann announcement, as I missed the press conference and hoopla that surely accompanied the news that such a well known and respected football personality was joining up with a club desperate for some good news to sell season tickets and fill BMO field for the MLS cup. They wouldn't have just released some publicity gold like that casually on their website would they? Oh!
Alright, that's a little unfair, Tom Anselmi did an interview with The Fan 590 which gave a few more details than had been previously reported last Friday, and this article on sportsnet suggests he'll be formally introduced a couple of weeks from now, presumably as part of the pre MLS cup festivities, so I guess we'll get the full details and press conference at that time.
So what did we find out? Well, fears that it might be SoccerSolutions and not actually Klinsmann himself were dismissed by Anselmi, but disappointingly, his contract runs only until "some time in the spring". What is he here to do?
The talk about potentially reorganizing the front office and the management and coaching staff would be encouraging if it weren't for the impression that's been given repeatedly over the last few weeks that the front office doesn't really think there's much wrong with the status quo. Whether it's comments about Preki being fired mainly due to a gut feeling that he didn't really fit in with the organisation and the way they like to work, or Anselmi's oft-stated belief that we were only a few tweaks away from competing until Mo and Preki unnecessarily blew up last year's squad, or the repeated assurances that Earl Cochrane, Jimmy Brennan and Nick Dasovic are a big part of the club's future, and that Klinsmann will be working closely with Cochrane and Brennan, there's nothing to suggest that management thinks much needs changing at all. This despite the lack of success that TFC has had since it's inception, and that all of their teams have had under MLSE's leadership.
It will be interesting to see exactly what recommendations and appointments are made, and just how much things change. I really shouldn't criticise too much before any of that happens, but given that he's just a consultant and apparently without long term involvement, my initial excitement at Klinsmann's involvement is definitely fading. Anselmi said that this was in no way just about getting a big name on board, I hope he's right, but I really don't see Klinsmann being able to affect much change in such a short time in an organisation that seems so determined it's already doing most things right, especially when he's likely going to be leaving behind 2 or 3 new guys surrounded by Tom, Paul, Earl, Jimmy, Nick and all the rest of the staff who've given us such profoundly mediocre results so far.
Alright, that's a little unfair, Tom Anselmi did an interview with The Fan 590 which gave a few more details than had been previously reported last Friday, and this article on sportsnet suggests he'll be formally introduced a couple of weeks from now, presumably as part of the pre MLS cup festivities, so I guess we'll get the full details and press conference at that time.
So what did we find out? Well, fears that it might be SoccerSolutions and not actually Klinsmann himself were dismissed by Anselmi, but disappointingly, his contract runs only until "some time in the spring". What is he here to do?
"It's more than just helping us hire a new manager, a new leader," said Anselmi. "It's looking at helping us organize or reorganize the whole front office, everything from vision for the club, what do we stand for, what's the style of play that we want to adopt for the rest of our lives to the people that we need to be able to deliver on that: players, coaching staff, the like."Though he hasn't made any public statements since being hired, in earlier interviews Klinsmann has elaborated a little on that
...I think every country has its own style and every environment, every MLS team should have its own identity based on their neighbourhood, based on their environment, the people that grow up in that neighbourhood, what they stand for ...Who knows exactly what he'll decide represents Toronto, hopefully he hasn't heard about our latest election results.
The talk about potentially reorganizing the front office and the management and coaching staff would be encouraging if it weren't for the impression that's been given repeatedly over the last few weeks that the front office doesn't really think there's much wrong with the status quo. Whether it's comments about Preki being fired mainly due to a gut feeling that he didn't really fit in with the organisation and the way they like to work, or Anselmi's oft-stated belief that we were only a few tweaks away from competing until Mo and Preki unnecessarily blew up last year's squad, or the repeated assurances that Earl Cochrane, Jimmy Brennan and Nick Dasovic are a big part of the club's future, and that Klinsmann will be working closely with Cochrane and Brennan, there's nothing to suggest that management thinks much needs changing at all. This despite the lack of success that TFC has had since it's inception, and that all of their teams have had under MLSE's leadership.
It will be interesting to see exactly what recommendations and appointments are made, and just how much things change. I really shouldn't criticise too much before any of that happens, but given that he's just a consultant and apparently without long term involvement, my initial excitement at Klinsmann's involvement is definitely fading. Anselmi said that this was in no way just about getting a big name on board, I hope he's right, but I really don't see Klinsmann being able to affect much change in such a short time in an organisation that seems so determined it's already doing most things right, especially when he's likely going to be leaving behind 2 or 3 new guys surrounded by Tom, Paul, Earl, Jimmy, Nick and all the rest of the staff who've given us such profoundly mediocre results so far.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Waiting for Jürgen.
We're now at day 4 since the rumours of Jürgen Klinsmann coming to Toronto were first published, and still there's no official announcement or press conference confirming the appointment and detailing exactly what his role will be. So what's a blogger to do in the absence of information other than comment on other rumours, this time of coaching candidates as divulged by Sportsnet's Gerry Dobson in this article.
Some very eye catching, if flawed names there. Starting with Roberto Donadoni, former Italy coach, with a few coaching jobs of varying success in Serie A. Carlos Quieroz, former Real Madrid and Portugal coach, though not with much success there, his reputation still mainly resting on his work as assistant to Alex Ferguson at Manchester United. Franco Baresi was a magnificent cerebral defender for AC Milan and Italy, but hasn't had coaching experience beyond the youth sides at Milan. I'm not all that confident any of them would be the answer for TFC, but they would certainly get people's attention, which is probably the point at this stage of season ticket selling season. Iain Dowie is also somewhat incongrously mentioned, he's not really a big name that would be well known to those fans that don't follow British football, and even to those that do, his lacklustre record and unsightly style don't exactly impress.
Whether any of these names end up in Toronto is anyone's guess, but it's at least a good sign that MLSE is prepared to spend the money to get a high profile coach, and it's not the only impressive action they've taken recently. The 2010 relocation event for TFC season ticket holders started today, and the most interesting information to come out so far is that seats in section 112, 113 and 127, ie where the main supporters groups gather, are being treated differently and not given out to just anyone. Though details of exactly how it will work haven't been made public, the obvious implication is that unrenewed tickets will instead be assigned one way or another with help and input from the supporters group in those sections.
Having previously dismissed as impractical the idea of the supporters groups getting more control over their sections, this is another promising sign that the front office is ready to work more closely with the supporters groups to nurture the atmosphere that they bring and that has been marketed so enthusiastically. Free home opener, 2012 price freeze, giving supporter's groups more control over their sections, rumours of big names coming in, it's been an impressive couple of weeks from Anselmi and Co. However, the big names are still rumours at this stage, it's been 4 days and we're still waiting for Jürgen.
Edit: Tweeted by Paul Beirne just after 11:00: Finally announcing Jürgen today. Yes, we're on a first name basis. Hüge day for TFC... Looking forwards!
Excellent
Some very eye catching, if flawed names there. Starting with Roberto Donadoni, former Italy coach, with a few coaching jobs of varying success in Serie A. Carlos Quieroz, former Real Madrid and Portugal coach, though not with much success there, his reputation still mainly resting on his work as assistant to Alex Ferguson at Manchester United. Franco Baresi was a magnificent cerebral defender for AC Milan and Italy, but hasn't had coaching experience beyond the youth sides at Milan. I'm not all that confident any of them would be the answer for TFC, but they would certainly get people's attention, which is probably the point at this stage of season ticket selling season. Iain Dowie is also somewhat incongrously mentioned, he's not really a big name that would be well known to those fans that don't follow British football, and even to those that do, his lacklustre record and unsightly style don't exactly impress.
Whether any of these names end up in Toronto is anyone's guess, but it's at least a good sign that MLSE is prepared to spend the money to get a high profile coach, and it's not the only impressive action they've taken recently. The 2010 relocation event for TFC season ticket holders started today, and the most interesting information to come out so far is that seats in section 112, 113 and 127, ie where the main supporters groups gather, are being treated differently and not given out to just anyone. Though details of exactly how it will work haven't been made public, the obvious implication is that unrenewed tickets will instead be assigned one way or another with help and input from the supporters group in those sections.
Having previously dismissed as impractical the idea of the supporters groups getting more control over their sections, this is another promising sign that the front office is ready to work more closely with the supporters groups to nurture the atmosphere that they bring and that has been marketed so enthusiastically. Free home opener, 2012 price freeze, giving supporter's groups more control over their sections, rumours of big names coming in, it's been an impressive couple of weeks from Anselmi and Co. However, the big names are still rumours at this stage, it's been 4 days and we're still waiting for Jürgen.
Edit: Tweeted by Paul Beirne just after 11:00: Finally announcing Jürgen today. Yes, we're on a first name basis. Hüge day for TFC... Looking forwards!
Excellent
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)