A busy weekend for Toronto FC saw them play the last game of their pre-season, against DC United in the Carolina Challenge Cup, as well as continue with the all of a sudden rapid progress in adding to their squad. After signing Gianluca Zavarise, and welcoming Adrian Cann back to the team, a trade was announced on Friday afternoon, Nick Labrocca going to Chivas USA with striker Alan Gordon coming back to Toronto. Aged 29, Gordon's been an intermittent starter over 7 years in MLS, mainly with LA Galaxy, where he scored 16 goals in 99 games, before being traded to Chivas, with whom he scored 1 goal in 9 games.
So, a tall striker who doesn't really score that many goals, but gets quite a few assists, acts as a target man, holding the ball up for other players, and as Adrian Cann's nose can attest after meeting his elbow in the game at Chivas last year, is a, erm, physical presence. The obvious comparison is Danny Dichio, and while I doubt he'll have as big an impact, he'll bring some welcome physicality to a team that throughout pre-season seemed to be lacking it. Unless there's more additions to the forward line in the next week, he should be starting as the middle of the three forwards, with Maicon Santos and one of Jacob Peterson or Javier Martina playing wide.
One feature of pre-season seemed to be that TFC didn't seem quite good enough to be able to take their possession play into the final third and penetrate the defence. This meant the final ball into the box was more often than not a cross from out wide, and more often than not, nothing came of that, so a big man in the box should definitely help that default option become a more successful one. Before we have to fall back on that default option though, Gordon should be able to use his size to hold the ball up in the final third and bring the other forwards, or Dwayne De Rosario coming from midfield, into the play in more dangerous areas. If this works and he fits in well, he would be a very important part of any success TFC might have this season.
As for Labrocca, he's a competent if unspectacular midfielder, but won't really be missed. With Julian De Guzman and Elbekay Bouchiba coming back soon from injuries and academy player Oscar Cordon also getting a lot of time in midfield, Labrocca fell victim to the numbers game as more options were needed up front.
After Friday's trade action, there was a game to be played on Saturday, the final game in Charleston and it ended 2-2, Dwayne De Rosario and Maicon Santos with the goals, and TFC holding on for the draw despite being down to ten men after Mikael Yourrasowsky was sent off for two yellow cards in two minutes in the first half. I didn't see the game, but actually scoring a goal from open play has got to be a good sign, and most importantly De Ro proved his fitness after missing the last couple of games.
As part of Adrian Cann's return to training Camp, Aron Winter made it known an apology to his teammates was needed, and it turns out that that was going to be a public apology, as he was wheeled out to take part in Winter's post game media interviews. Cann, as meek as a chastised schoolboy with Winter the stern Principal looking on, apologised to the fans and everyone in the organisation, acknowledged he made a mistake by leaving, calling it a mental lapse, and said he now wants to concentrate on the season and getting off to a good start against Vancouver. He then added a much needed moment of levity to the interview by adding "and win a championship".
More painful than the public show of contrition would be the financial hit Cann took for his actions, as the details of the reason for Cann's walkout was revealed in this article from the Star's Daniel Girard, and it turns out it was another unwelcome leftover from Mo Johnston's reign of error. Cann's salary last year was a very low $65,342, apparently as much as TFC could afford under the salary cap, and there was an unwritten promise that this season's salary would be topped up to make up for that. So after Winter's appointment, Cann went looking for that top up, asking for a $175,000 deal for this year. TFC countered with an offer of $160,000, not to Cann's satisfaction, and thus he eventually left camp to force negotiations along. TFC called his bluff, and now Cann is back on his original $124,000 deal, so in effect his principled stand has ended up costing him $36,000.
Turning down that $160,000 compromise probably wasn't the smartest move by Cann, but hopefully, he and the team can put everything behind them and move forward. Cann should have motivation to play as well as possible so as to help him with future negotiations when this season is done, whether with TFC or another club. This situation, along with the broken promises made to Dwayne De Rosario are big indictments of how TFC used to be run, hopefully from here on in things will get a lot more professional, and hopefully there's no more ticking time bombs that the new management regime will have to deal with.
Showing posts with label Mo Johnston. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mo Johnston. Show all posts
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
New management, same old TFC.
"In sport there's winning cultures and there's losing cultures, we understand that. We started yesterday to develop a winning culture."
That was Paul Mariner talking Wednesday in response to a question about changing the culture at Toronto FC. Obviously until now TFC's culture has been very much a losing one, and not just on the pitch where it counts and where the lack of results speak for themselves. Mo Johnston's 5 year plan seemed to involve not much actual planning, but instead a lot of reacting, trying to fix problems and just making them worse. The coaches have been inexperienced, and the one time we had an experienced head coach who seemed to want to develop a sense of responsibility and hard work, well, he got fired after the assistants went behind his back because they and the players didn't like him. As for the Front Office, they not only put up with Mo, but actually extended his contract, and despite the lack of success, seemed determined to raise prices and exploit supporter passion, rather then nurture the one area where the club had been a success. Through it all, leaks were commonplace, whether about potential signings or about player unrest.
Ever since that culture reached it's tipping point last season, with firings followed by townhall meetings, public contrition, season ticket discounts and expensive consultants, things have looked brighter. It seems like upper management has admitted what it doesn't know and tried to keep out of the way, and the appointment of Aron Winter, Bob De Klerk and Paul Mariner is a gamble but a genuinely positive one. As I touched upon in my previous post, things have gone fairly smoothly, and relatively drama free since then, with the one exception of the Dwayne De Rosario/Celtic fiasco.
Today's media day press conference seemed to confirm all that. Refreshingly, Tom Anselmi was nowhere to be seen, leaving the new management he hired to do their job and talk about the upcoming season, their plans for player signings, a new style and so on. It wasn't all sunshine and lollipops obviously, with contract negotiations to be sorted out with a few players, as at any club, but careful answers were given that in no way inflamed the situation, suggesting it's something to be sorted out behind closed doors.
Players were then interviewed and all said the right things, pleased at having had personal meetings with the new coaches, looking forward to the new style of play, excited for a new season, all that. Nothing really noteworthy, but very positive and drama free. De Rosario was the last of the players to talk, and though it was clear that he wasn't as satisfied as Aron Winter made him sound in Cathal Kelly's article on tuesday, his answers were respectful and clearly trying to avoid controversy. The overall impression was one of a team united, moving forward with shared goals and taking care of the inevitable problems any club faces internally. Though definitely a bit dull, it all seemed unnervingly professional, so this was what a winning culture looked like.
Then, after the main show, in a media scrum with journalists De Ro, the club captain who Winter had gone out of his way to talk nicely about, saying he was still the leader of the team and crucial to his plans, demolished that and put us right back at square one.
He was a lot more forthcoming with his criticisms related to his ongoing contract dispute, confirming he wants a raise to take him to Designated Player status, saying "it's not what I want, it's what I think I deserve". The fact that the last two years of his contract are option years (the league's option) is also a cause for concern, with De Ro saying "this is my option year, and if anything happens to me in terms of injuries nothing is guaranteed and then I'm on the outside looking in. "I have to look at my future and my family's future as well."
So far, nothing really new, but then the prospect of him starting the season without the contract issue being resolved was brought up, "No, there's too much risk in that" he said, suggesting that though that decision is a long way away, he's prepared to sit out games until he gets his way.
So now we have the star player, the captain, threatening to go on strike and as in any labour dispute PR battle, that tough talk was met by equally tough talk from the management side of things.
“He made a choice two years ago, and he came to us. No one should forget that,” said Todd Durbin, MLS V-P and the league’s contract czar. “Had he played under his existing contract, he would be a free agent today. “We believe that the contract that he is under is the appropriate contract for him,” The league has exercised the option year, and is now threatening suspension if De Ro fails to show for the season opener in March.
To top it off, there was this quote “We re-opened his deal, we gave him a big raise and at the time he said he’d be happy. “This would be opening this contract for the second time, which is ludicrous.”
That, depressingly yest inevitably was Tom Anselmi. One and a half days! One and a half days is all we got of a winning culture before it all went wrong and Anselmi had to come running to the rescue of his newly undermined management team. Thanks De Ro!
That was Paul Mariner talking Wednesday in response to a question about changing the culture at Toronto FC. Obviously until now TFC's culture has been very much a losing one, and not just on the pitch where it counts and where the lack of results speak for themselves. Mo Johnston's 5 year plan seemed to involve not much actual planning, but instead a lot of reacting, trying to fix problems and just making them worse. The coaches have been inexperienced, and the one time we had an experienced head coach who seemed to want to develop a sense of responsibility and hard work, well, he got fired after the assistants went behind his back because they and the players didn't like him. As for the Front Office, they not only put up with Mo, but actually extended his contract, and despite the lack of success, seemed determined to raise prices and exploit supporter passion, rather then nurture the one area where the club had been a success. Through it all, leaks were commonplace, whether about potential signings or about player unrest.
Ever since that culture reached it's tipping point last season, with firings followed by townhall meetings, public contrition, season ticket discounts and expensive consultants, things have looked brighter. It seems like upper management has admitted what it doesn't know and tried to keep out of the way, and the appointment of Aron Winter, Bob De Klerk and Paul Mariner is a gamble but a genuinely positive one. As I touched upon in my previous post, things have gone fairly smoothly, and relatively drama free since then, with the one exception of the Dwayne De Rosario/Celtic fiasco.
Today's media day press conference seemed to confirm all that. Refreshingly, Tom Anselmi was nowhere to be seen, leaving the new management he hired to do their job and talk about the upcoming season, their plans for player signings, a new style and so on. It wasn't all sunshine and lollipops obviously, with contract negotiations to be sorted out with a few players, as at any club, but careful answers were given that in no way inflamed the situation, suggesting it's something to be sorted out behind closed doors.
Players were then interviewed and all said the right things, pleased at having had personal meetings with the new coaches, looking forward to the new style of play, excited for a new season, all that. Nothing really noteworthy, but very positive and drama free. De Rosario was the last of the players to talk, and though it was clear that he wasn't as satisfied as Aron Winter made him sound in Cathal Kelly's article on tuesday, his answers were respectful and clearly trying to avoid controversy. The overall impression was one of a team united, moving forward with shared goals and taking care of the inevitable problems any club faces internally. Though definitely a bit dull, it all seemed unnervingly professional, so this was what a winning culture looked like.
Then, after the main show, in a media scrum with journalists De Ro, the club captain who Winter had gone out of his way to talk nicely about, saying he was still the leader of the team and crucial to his plans, demolished that and put us right back at square one.
He was a lot more forthcoming with his criticisms related to his ongoing contract dispute, confirming he wants a raise to take him to Designated Player status, saying "it's not what I want, it's what I think I deserve". The fact that the last two years of his contract are option years (the league's option) is also a cause for concern, with De Ro saying "this is my option year, and if anything happens to me in terms of injuries nothing is guaranteed and then I'm on the outside looking in. "I have to look at my future and my family's future as well."
So far, nothing really new, but then the prospect of him starting the season without the contract issue being resolved was brought up, "No, there's too much risk in that" he said, suggesting that though that decision is a long way away, he's prepared to sit out games until he gets his way.
So now we have the star player, the captain, threatening to go on strike and as in any labour dispute PR battle, that tough talk was met by equally tough talk from the management side of things.
“He made a choice two years ago, and he came to us. No one should forget that,” said Todd Durbin, MLS V-P and the league’s contract czar. “Had he played under his existing contract, he would be a free agent today. “We believe that the contract that he is under is the appropriate contract for him,” The league has exercised the option year, and is now threatening suspension if De Ro fails to show for the season opener in March.
To top it off, there was this quote “We re-opened his deal, we gave him a big raise and at the time he said he’d be happy. “This would be opening this contract for the second time, which is ludicrous.”
That, depressingly yest inevitably was Tom Anselmi. One and a half days! One and a half days is all we got of a winning culture before it all went wrong and Anselmi had to come running to the rescue of his newly undermined management team. Thanks De Ro!
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.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Oh me of little faith
After the firings, and with the blame game in full swing, people are starting to turn to the question of who's next, and primarily who'll be TFC's next general manager. Many are suggesting that we need more than one person to properly do the job, the 24th minute's dream team for example would include 4 people, including Jason de Vos which would make this Darlington fan positively giddy. At the top of that sort of structure, most people see an experienced and successful football man, an Eminence Grise who charts the basic course and vision for the club, but who would be less involved in the day to day running of the club though always available as a sounding board for his staff.
Sounds like a great plan to me, and luckily TFC already has that man in place, with a clear idea of what he wants the club to be. Unluckily, his name is Tom Anselmi.
At the press conference to announce the firings, Anselmi was front and centre and there were a few quotes that exposed his guiding philosophy, and let's just say it doesn't seem like it's about TFC winning, or even TFC learning from it's recent mistakes.
When talking about the full time job prospects for interim GM Earl Cochrane and coach Nick Dasovic, he waxed poetic about how MLSE had "made a committment right from the get go that we need to develop soccer infrastructure in Canada and especially Ontario", and how "they wanted to start investing in Jim Brennan and turn him into a soccer pro, they've been investing in Nick, investing in Earl, creating a team of people that can grow together and build on the expertise that exists."
To that end, they "asked Preki to take a couple of assistant coaches under his wing, we believe it's important for us to be developing coaches in this league, we believe there seems to be a bit of a shortage of head coaches that know the North American game, that know the MLS rules and stuff, we believe developing head coaches is important and this (the interim coach job)will be one new feather in Nick's cap and ultimately he's going to be a head coach in this league"
In a way it's an admirable goal, but I'd rather have TFC committing to employing the best, most experienced and successful people possible, prioritising winning as soon as possible, rather than being a training school for up and coming Canadians (or other non-Canadian MLSE favourites such as Danny Dichio) who can then spread their expertise throughout the country or the league. Given how Preki was treated when a power struggle developed, ie management backed their investment over their head coach, and given that they're reaffirming their committment to this model at both the management and coaching level, is any premium candidate really going to be looking for the job. Also, would it not be best to build a high quality management team and a culture of success, then start introducing people into that environment to learn from? I have much more confidence in what Steve Yzerman learnt at the Redwings than in what Jim Brennan would have learnt under Mo Johnston.
Moving on to the search for the new GM, and the hiring process, Anselmi said "I'll lead the effort but I'll be looking to the league for support, and other people we have out in the markets, contacts, that sort of thing, a lot of different people involved who'll be providing advice and assitance in who the potential candidates are, then we'll shake that down and ultimately make a recommendation to our shareholders, the owners." After the league was heavily involved with the hiring of Mo Johnston, that doesn't really fill me with confidence, and I don't like that it's "the shareholders" that the recommendation is given to. Though the slip was immediately corrected to "the owners", to me it exposes that for Anselmi and MLSE, this is much more a business venture than a sports team.
As for how he decided that now was the time to fire both Mo and Preki, well it doesn't sound like a highly scientific process. "The team was heading in the wrong direction, but it was even bigger than that, it was, just, the situation wasn't right, that's the best way I can describe it." "it was, you know, a gut, you know when things don't feel right and it just didn't feel right....it just felt like it was heading in the wrong direction."
If you're thinking I'm being unfair and that MLSE has shown it understands when to get out of the way, as is generally suggested when referring to their corporate cousins, the Leafs and the Raptors, well guess who's going to be making decisions soon about Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo's future. That's right, noted sports expert Richard Peddie, in this article in the Star. He's going to make a decision quickly
So basically he's going to go with his gut. Sounds like Tom's got what it takes to stick around with MLSE and TFC for a long, long time.
Sounds like a great plan to me, and luckily TFC already has that man in place, with a clear idea of what he wants the club to be. Unluckily, his name is Tom Anselmi.
At the press conference to announce the firings, Anselmi was front and centre and there were a few quotes that exposed his guiding philosophy, and let's just say it doesn't seem like it's about TFC winning, or even TFC learning from it's recent mistakes.
When talking about the full time job prospects for interim GM Earl Cochrane and coach Nick Dasovic, he waxed poetic about how MLSE had "made a committment right from the get go that we need to develop soccer infrastructure in Canada and especially Ontario", and how "they wanted to start investing in Jim Brennan and turn him into a soccer pro, they've been investing in Nick, investing in Earl, creating a team of people that can grow together and build on the expertise that exists."
To that end, they "asked Preki to take a couple of assistant coaches under his wing, we believe it's important for us to be developing coaches in this league, we believe there seems to be a bit of a shortage of head coaches that know the North American game, that know the MLS rules and stuff, we believe developing head coaches is important and this (the interim coach job)will be one new feather in Nick's cap and ultimately he's going to be a head coach in this league"
In a way it's an admirable goal, but I'd rather have TFC committing to employing the best, most experienced and successful people possible, prioritising winning as soon as possible, rather than being a training school for up and coming Canadians (or other non-Canadian MLSE favourites such as Danny Dichio) who can then spread their expertise throughout the country or the league. Given how Preki was treated when a power struggle developed, ie management backed their investment over their head coach, and given that they're reaffirming their committment to this model at both the management and coaching level, is any premium candidate really going to be looking for the job. Also, would it not be best to build a high quality management team and a culture of success, then start introducing people into that environment to learn from? I have much more confidence in what Steve Yzerman learnt at the Redwings than in what Jim Brennan would have learnt under Mo Johnston.
Moving on to the search for the new GM, and the hiring process, Anselmi said "I'll lead the effort but I'll be looking to the league for support, and other people we have out in the markets, contacts, that sort of thing, a lot of different people involved who'll be providing advice and assitance in who the potential candidates are, then we'll shake that down and ultimately make a recommendation to our shareholders, the owners." After the league was heavily involved with the hiring of Mo Johnston, that doesn't really fill me with confidence, and I don't like that it's "the shareholders" that the recommendation is given to. Though the slip was immediately corrected to "the owners", to me it exposes that for Anselmi and MLSE, this is much more a business venture than a sports team.
As for how he decided that now was the time to fire both Mo and Preki, well it doesn't sound like a highly scientific process. "The team was heading in the wrong direction, but it was even bigger than that, it was, just, the situation wasn't right, that's the best way I can describe it." "it was, you know, a gut, you know when things don't feel right and it just didn't feel right....it just felt like it was heading in the wrong direction."
If you're thinking I'm being unfair and that MLSE has shown it understands when to get out of the way, as is generally suggested when referring to their corporate cousins, the Leafs and the Raptors, well guess who's going to be making decisions soon about Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo's future. That's right, noted sports expert Richard Peddie, in this article in the Star. He's going to make a decision quickly
“I will make a recommendation to the board (on Colangelo’s future) at some point during the season,” said Peddie. “I’m not going to leave Bryan hanging out. He’s got kids in school here.”His criteria?
" ...I want to see them play hard and be active and be better defensively. And we’ll see where it goes.”and
“I’ll just watch, and if I like where I think it’s going, we’ll re-up Bryan.”
So basically he's going to go with his gut. Sounds like Tom's got what it takes to stick around with MLSE and TFC for a long, long time.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
One firing too many.
So while I don't think I've read one article or blog or tweet or anything from anyone suggesting Mo Johnston shouldn't have been fired, Preki's dismissal got a much more mixed reaction. The majority certainly seems to be happy to see him go, but there's some people who feel it's a bad move, or that while a move may have been necessary, it's very unfair to Preki and that he was never given a fair shot. Count me in the latter group.
By the time the end came, it seemed that there was a big rift between Preki and, well, everyone else. The players certainly showed their appreciation for the moves, and their perfomance against DC in Preki's last game in charge suggested they weren't that interested in playing for him any more. As for his coaching staff, stories surfaced of a massive bust up with Nick Dasovic, followed by Dasovic and the rest of the assistants going to management to lobby for Preki's removal with Dasovic to take over as head coach. The supporters? They weren't going to take it any more, and season ticket renewal time is coming up. Add all that up, combined with the recent struggles on the pitch, and the writing was clearly on the wall, something had to change and it's always easier to fire the coach than the team. Preki's last press conference, as lethargic a performance as the players gave on the pitch beforehand, suggested he knew this as well as anyone.
So, with all that against him, Preki had to go, it's difficult to see any other resolution that would allow the club to move on, and it's probably for the best that whoever the new GM is gets to choose his own staff, a luxury that was never given to Preki, and that's the main reason I feel that Preki never really stood a chance.
In the press conference to announce the firings, Tom Anselmi spoke with obvious pride about how MLSE is committed to trying to develop the infrastructure of soccer in Canada and develop Canadian coaches and managers. To that end Preki was asked to take Nick Dasovic under his wing. Danny Dichio had been awkwardly moved into a coaching position only last year, so I imagine he'd have been an untouchable as well, and when Jim Brennan retired after just one game of the season, he was swiftly moved into the assistant GM spot.
Thinking about the wider impact the club can have on the game as a whole in Canada is a very admirable goal, but surely a better path to success for the club itself would be to go after the best and brightest and most experienced people available to help TFC, or let the new coach bring in his own assistants, rather than set yourself up as a self confessed development club for a select group of people to learn their trade. Though Preki did bring an assistant with him, Leo Percovich, he was also surrounded by inexperienced people who crucially knew that their development was seen as very important by the higher-ups, and thus knew they had more job security than Preki, and that if push came to shove, management had their back, not Preki's, which is exactly how things ended.
On the playing side, last years squad ended up well over the salary cap amid lots of talk about dressing room dysfunction, so changes definitely needed to be made. How many of those changes were Preki's idea or were forced on him by Mo is unknown, though the fact that some of the players let go were fan favourites or people that Mo had made big trades for certainly suggests he had a big hand in that.
However, it's become known that at least one trade he wanted to make was blocked, Dwayne de Rosario. Star player, top scorer, captain and marketing face of the franchise, was never going to be allowed to leave. Why Preki would want him to leave is another question, and a big question mark against his ability to work with big name players, but that's another person that he's forced to work with, and who knows that he's got more job security than Preki. While I've never heard anything specific about Preki's thoughts on Julian De Guzman, I can only imagine that he has very similar status. Preki's retort to his and De Ro's criticisms of him " It's a couple of Canadian guys making those comments. That's all I have to say about that" certainly suggests De Guzman was another of the untouchables, as well as showing Preki's disdain for the group as a whole.
So with a very comfortable and influential group of people who had no reason to fear him, Preki was always going to be vulnerable when things went wrong, and make no mistake, even the most ardent Preki apologist would agree that things went wrong. Preki arrived with a reputation as a hard-ass coach, often unpopular with players for his training methods, which apparently involve a lot of running and not much tactics and strategy. His defensive system and apparent trouble with the ego wrangling and squad rotation necessary in the modern game also were guaranteed to make enemies, as well as leave him unpopular with supporters. So when TFC hit a rough stretch in mid August, the knives came out very very quickly. Who knows what exctly triggered the confrontation with Dasovic, but when it came down to it, Preki was never going to win that particular power struggle, and thus found himself forced out after less than a season, and less than a month removed from the famous victory over Cruz Azul.
There are a lot of unknowns here, was Preki made aware of these restrictions when he signed up? If so he only has himself to blame. Also, it may well be that this is a good thing, and Preki was a cancer that needed to be got rid of before he could do more damage, certainly a lot of supporters feel that way, but either way, I for one don't like the idea that a small group of untouchable players and assistants have so much control. Much like with the Leafs and their Muskoka 5, the inmates have taken over the asylum, Preki was never given a chance, and now we're going to be starting all over again. Again.
By the time the end came, it seemed that there was a big rift between Preki and, well, everyone else. The players certainly showed their appreciation for the moves, and their perfomance against DC in Preki's last game in charge suggested they weren't that interested in playing for him any more. As for his coaching staff, stories surfaced of a massive bust up with Nick Dasovic, followed by Dasovic and the rest of the assistants going to management to lobby for Preki's removal with Dasovic to take over as head coach. The supporters? They weren't going to take it any more, and season ticket renewal time is coming up. Add all that up, combined with the recent struggles on the pitch, and the writing was clearly on the wall, something had to change and it's always easier to fire the coach than the team. Preki's last press conference, as lethargic a performance as the players gave on the pitch beforehand, suggested he knew this as well as anyone.
So, with all that against him, Preki had to go, it's difficult to see any other resolution that would allow the club to move on, and it's probably for the best that whoever the new GM is gets to choose his own staff, a luxury that was never given to Preki, and that's the main reason I feel that Preki never really stood a chance.
In the press conference to announce the firings, Tom Anselmi spoke with obvious pride about how MLSE is committed to trying to develop the infrastructure of soccer in Canada and develop Canadian coaches and managers. To that end Preki was asked to take Nick Dasovic under his wing. Danny Dichio had been awkwardly moved into a coaching position only last year, so I imagine he'd have been an untouchable as well, and when Jim Brennan retired after just one game of the season, he was swiftly moved into the assistant GM spot.
Thinking about the wider impact the club can have on the game as a whole in Canada is a very admirable goal, but surely a better path to success for the club itself would be to go after the best and brightest and most experienced people available to help TFC, or let the new coach bring in his own assistants, rather than set yourself up as a self confessed development club for a select group of people to learn their trade. Though Preki did bring an assistant with him, Leo Percovich, he was also surrounded by inexperienced people who crucially knew that their development was seen as very important by the higher-ups, and thus knew they had more job security than Preki, and that if push came to shove, management had their back, not Preki's, which is exactly how things ended.
On the playing side, last years squad ended up well over the salary cap amid lots of talk about dressing room dysfunction, so changes definitely needed to be made. How many of those changes were Preki's idea or were forced on him by Mo is unknown, though the fact that some of the players let go were fan favourites or people that Mo had made big trades for certainly suggests he had a big hand in that.
However, it's become known that at least one trade he wanted to make was blocked, Dwayne de Rosario. Star player, top scorer, captain and marketing face of the franchise, was never going to be allowed to leave. Why Preki would want him to leave is another question, and a big question mark against his ability to work with big name players, but that's another person that he's forced to work with, and who knows that he's got more job security than Preki. While I've never heard anything specific about Preki's thoughts on Julian De Guzman, I can only imagine that he has very similar status. Preki's retort to his and De Ro's criticisms of him " It's a couple of Canadian guys making those comments. That's all I have to say about that" certainly suggests De Guzman was another of the untouchables, as well as showing Preki's disdain for the group as a whole.
So with a very comfortable and influential group of people who had no reason to fear him, Preki was always going to be vulnerable when things went wrong, and make no mistake, even the most ardent Preki apologist would agree that things went wrong. Preki arrived with a reputation as a hard-ass coach, often unpopular with players for his training methods, which apparently involve a lot of running and not much tactics and strategy. His defensive system and apparent trouble with the ego wrangling and squad rotation necessary in the modern game also were guaranteed to make enemies, as well as leave him unpopular with supporters. So when TFC hit a rough stretch in mid August, the knives came out very very quickly. Who knows what exctly triggered the confrontation with Dasovic, but when it came down to it, Preki was never going to win that particular power struggle, and thus found himself forced out after less than a season, and less than a month removed from the famous victory over Cruz Azul.
There are a lot of unknowns here, was Preki made aware of these restrictions when he signed up? If so he only has himself to blame. Also, it may well be that this is a good thing, and Preki was a cancer that needed to be got rid of before he could do more damage, certainly a lot of supporters feel that way, but either way, I for one don't like the idea that a small group of untouchable players and assistants have so much control. Much like with the Leafs and their Muskoka 5, the inmates have taken over the asylum, Preki was never given a chance, and now we're going to be starting all over again. Again.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Ceeeeelebrate good times, come on!
So, the what now question is a bit of a scary one, but I'll leave that for later.
For now, though, Mo Johnston is fired, which is very good news, Preki's getting fired as well, which I'm less happy about. It's probably for the best, but I feel bad for Preki, he never really got a fair chance here. But again I'll leave that for later.
Anyway, Johnston's gone, that's a good start, and hopefully after restarting many times under Johnston, this bigger restructuring will work well enough to finally turn the corner towards being a respectable club instead of the laughing stock it's become, at least at the on the pitch side of things.
There's many articles out there analysing this of course, but this one from view from the south stands does an excellent job of detailing Mo's failings and why it's a good thing he's finally been let go.
Obviously there's the fact that we're now on our 5th coach in less than 4 years, the revolving door of players coming and going without there ever seeming to be a clear plan of any kind, and the failure to make the playoffs for 3 years, most likely 4, while expansion teams from later years have overtaken us.
Most of all though for me it's his personality, which is the best thing to be rid of. I doubt there was anyone who thought of Mo as trustworthy, and way too many players have left the club on bad terms, with rumours, innuendo and lies flying around in their aftermath. All that unfortunately gets reflected on to the club, and make it a less attractive place to play, and in a salary cap league you can't let money talk enough to overcome objections if players don't want to come here.
The current players apparently burst into applause at the announcement, which I imagine is as much to do with Preki leaving as it is for Mo, but still, not a good sign of a happy club. Hopefully from here, the changes will be enough to remove the toxic atmosphere and inspire a late season run from relieved players.
In the long term, I hope MLSE puts enough thought into hiring a replacement or multiple replacements if necessary, who can make the on-pitch product as successful and respected as they are off the pitch. Apparently when Philadelphia were starting out and figuring out what they were going to do on the business side of things, Toronto FC and Director of Business operations Paul Beirne were frequently looked to as someone to copy. I can guarantee no-one ever felt that way about Mo Johnston.
For now, though, Mo Johnston is fired, which is very good news, Preki's getting fired as well, which I'm less happy about. It's probably for the best, but I feel bad for Preki, he never really got a fair chance here. But again I'll leave that for later.
Anyway, Johnston's gone, that's a good start, and hopefully after restarting many times under Johnston, this bigger restructuring will work well enough to finally turn the corner towards being a respectable club instead of the laughing stock it's become, at least at the on the pitch side of things.
There's many articles out there analysing this of course, but this one from view from the south stands does an excellent job of detailing Mo's failings and why it's a good thing he's finally been let go.
Obviously there's the fact that we're now on our 5th coach in less than 4 years, the revolving door of players coming and going without there ever seeming to be a clear plan of any kind, and the failure to make the playoffs for 3 years, most likely 4, while expansion teams from later years have overtaken us.
Most of all though for me it's his personality, which is the best thing to be rid of. I doubt there was anyone who thought of Mo as trustworthy, and way too many players have left the club on bad terms, with rumours, innuendo and lies flying around in their aftermath. All that unfortunately gets reflected on to the club, and make it a less attractive place to play, and in a salary cap league you can't let money talk enough to overcome objections if players don't want to come here.
The current players apparently burst into applause at the announcement, which I imagine is as much to do with Preki leaving as it is for Mo, but still, not a good sign of a happy club. Hopefully from here, the changes will be enough to remove the toxic atmosphere and inspire a late season run from relieved players.
In the long term, I hope MLSE puts enough thought into hiring a replacement or multiple replacements if necessary, who can make the on-pitch product as successful and respected as they are off the pitch. Apparently when Philadelphia were starting out and figuring out what they were going to do on the business side of things, Toronto FC and Director of Business operations Paul Beirne were frequently looked to as someone to copy. I can guarantee no-one ever felt that way about Mo Johnston.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Boooooooooooo!
The general tone and theme of this blog, and my life as a sports fan, if there is one, while not exactly a celebration of sporting failure and bumbling incompetence, is certainly an indulgence and acceptance of it as the natural lot of the local team follower.
Maybe years from now I'll chuckle at the shitshow that was TFC's game against DC, and hold it up as some kind of badge of honour to show how I deserve whatever hypothetical success may arrive in the future. Right now though, I'm not really feeling all that indulgent, after watching one of the worst performances I've ever seen, and believe me, I've seen a lot of bad games.
Where to start? I guess with the result. That must win and most winnable game against the worst team in the league I was talking about? We lost 1-0, and we got lucky, 4-0 wouldn't have been a flattering result for DC. It pretty much guarantees we'll miss the playoffs, but I'll leave some kind of season review for later and focus on just this game.
The line-up. Maicon Santos starting up front? Excellent, but with Mista? He hasn't looked like a good forward all year, and he certainly didn't correct the impression today. When he wasn't wasting half chances by dribbling into defenders rather than trying a quick shot, he was dropping deep, thus leaving Santos on his own, as well as getting in De Ro's way at the top of the midfield diamond, who'd have thought signing a DP striker would create our very own Gerrard/Lampard conundrum in midfield. And who was on the sides of this midfield diamond, why noted dangerous wingers Martin Saric and Dan Gargan of course. No offence to either of them, they're both good MLS level players in their own way, but they certainly don't suggest creativity, or a threat that DC had to take seriously thus opening up space for the central players. In defence, I can only presume Ty Harden is injured, even though he was on the subs bench, as all of a sudden, there's Raivas Hscanovics at left back.
The game . Aside from De Ro's early effort, a fantastic dribble through three defenders and shot from outside the box that hit the post, we were absolutely terrible, saved only by DC's ineptness in front of goal. There's just too much that went wrong to even try and analyse it.
The post game excuses. Preki blamed tiredness and the schedule and the rigours of having to play at 4pm after an evening game on Wednesday. There's probably an element of truth in that, but it's a feeble excuse. The squad just isn't good enough, and if there's a silver lining right now it's that surely it's time for Mo Johnston's to go back to Scotland. As for Preki, I've been on his side generally, thinking he was doing a good job until injuries and lack of depth killed our momentum, but there's been a few games where I thought he's got his line up and strategy all wrong, and this is another one to add to the list. Should he go as well as Mo? I still don't think I'm prepared to call for that, if only because I really don't want to blow things up completely, but I'm closer than I've ever been.
So what now? Concentrate on the champions league? I suppose, but we're already in trouble there, having blown a glorious opportunity to be in control of the group by taking Arabe Unido too lightly. There's a very good chance that by the time we play Real Salt Lake at home, we'll still be stuck on 3 points while Cruz Azul and RSL have 9. Not to worry though, Mo Johnston made clear in his pre-game interview that TFC feels merely qualifying for the group stage is mission accomplished as far as the CCL is concerned.
To sum up: BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Maybe years from now I'll chuckle at the shitshow that was TFC's game against DC, and hold it up as some kind of badge of honour to show how I deserve whatever hypothetical success may arrive in the future. Right now though, I'm not really feeling all that indulgent, after watching one of the worst performances I've ever seen, and believe me, I've seen a lot of bad games.
Where to start? I guess with the result. That must win and most winnable game against the worst team in the league I was talking about? We lost 1-0, and we got lucky, 4-0 wouldn't have been a flattering result for DC. It pretty much guarantees we'll miss the playoffs, but I'll leave some kind of season review for later and focus on just this game.
The line-up. Maicon Santos starting up front? Excellent, but with Mista? He hasn't looked like a good forward all year, and he certainly didn't correct the impression today. When he wasn't wasting half chances by dribbling into defenders rather than trying a quick shot, he was dropping deep, thus leaving Santos on his own, as well as getting in De Ro's way at the top of the midfield diamond, who'd have thought signing a DP striker would create our very own Gerrard/Lampard conundrum in midfield. And who was on the sides of this midfield diamond, why noted dangerous wingers Martin Saric and Dan Gargan of course. No offence to either of them, they're both good MLS level players in their own way, but they certainly don't suggest creativity, or a threat that DC had to take seriously thus opening up space for the central players. In defence, I can only presume Ty Harden is injured, even though he was on the subs bench, as all of a sudden, there's Raivas Hscanovics at left back.
The game . Aside from De Ro's early effort, a fantastic dribble through three defenders and shot from outside the box that hit the post, we were absolutely terrible, saved only by DC's ineptness in front of goal. There's just too much that went wrong to even try and analyse it.
The post game excuses. Preki blamed tiredness and the schedule and the rigours of having to play at 4pm after an evening game on Wednesday. There's probably an element of truth in that, but it's a feeble excuse. The squad just isn't good enough, and if there's a silver lining right now it's that surely it's time for Mo Johnston's to go back to Scotland. As for Preki, I've been on his side generally, thinking he was doing a good job until injuries and lack of depth killed our momentum, but there's been a few games where I thought he's got his line up and strategy all wrong, and this is another one to add to the list. Should he go as well as Mo? I still don't think I'm prepared to call for that, if only because I really don't want to blow things up completely, but I'm closer than I've ever been.
So what now? Concentrate on the champions league? I suppose, but we're already in trouble there, having blown a glorious opportunity to be in control of the group by taking Arabe Unido too lightly. There's a very good chance that by the time we play Real Salt Lake at home, we'll still be stuck on 3 points while Cruz Azul and RSL have 9. Not to worry though, Mo Johnston made clear in his pre-game interview that TFC feels merely qualifying for the group stage is mission accomplished as far as the CCL is concerned.
To sum up: BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
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