New news, the good, the bad and the ugly.

Plenty of TFC and MLS related news was released on Wednesday, inspiring a range of emotions.  First up was news of coaching appointments with Toronto's first team and the academy.  Back in January when the new management team was initially announced, it was confirmed that Jim Brennan, Danny Dichio, Nick Dasovic and Jason Bent would be staying with the club, but no specifics of postions were given, well that has now been resolved.  Jason Bent has been moved up from his position with the academy to become an assistant coach with the first team, Danny Dichio stepped in to Bent's old role as coach of the senior academy team, the under 19s, and Jim Brennan will become the junior academy coach with Nick Dasovic becoming the North American scout. 

It could definitely be argued that this is just an extension of the "jobs for the boys" philosophy that has permeated TFC in the past, the investment in the development of certain MLSE favourites taking precedence over ruthlessly building a winning management team.  How much difference can Aron Winter, Bob de Klerk and Paul Mariner make when they're surrounded by all the same old people above and below them?  That would be a bit harsh though, I'm going to take this at face value, as good appointments.

Jason Bent's work with Stuart Neely in the academy over the last 3 years has definitely produced some good results, with Doneil Henry and Nicholas Lindsey already having signed on with the big club, and 4 other academy products impressing enough while in Turkey to win an invite to Orlando to train with the first team as well.  His promotion to first team duties is a good reward for that work, and should help those players who worked with him in the academy to adapt at the higher level.

Dichio taking over from Bent should work well and is a very logical move, a more surprising move is Brennan coming in as the under 17 coach.  Initially it seems like quite the comedown from assistant GM to probably the lowest rung on the club's current coaching ladder, but given the renewed emphasis TFC is placing on the academy as an important part of the club's future, this isn't a throwaway appointment.  It's also a job I'd think should suit him better, I have more confidence in his ability with a football and to coach the young players than I do in his ability to make it as an executive, making trades, negotiating with agents and competing with other GM's.

As for Dasovic,  it's likely he was offered the position that Bent took, but turned it down, not wanting to go from interim head coach back into the assistants ranks.  I'll stand by my theory that this scouting position is a very temporary one, TFC  looking after him until he can get the kind of coaching role he desires, as a thank you for his work over the years, a move I can very much applaud.

The next bit of news released was that of the new triallists joining the team in Orlando.  As rumoured Joevin Jones is one of them, and he's joined by fellow Trinidad and Tobago international Jamal Gay.  Gay is a 22 year old forward who previously impressed enough to get a move to the German second division though he didn't get a game there, and he's scored 3 times in 8 games for the T & T national team so there's a bit of promise there.

The other two triallists to join the team in Orlando, you know, where we were supposed to be trialling South Americans, are from Belgium and, surprise surprise, Holland.  Belgian defender Mikael Yourassowsky has made it to the age of 27 without ever catching on at any team in particular, and Dutch midfielder Ivo De Heus is another product of Ajax's youth system who hasn't really done much since leaving Ajax.  As I said earlier, ya gotta have faith, but there's still no-one really impressive coming along yet.

The other big news of the day was the release of the MLS playoff format for 2011, providing confirmation of the 10 team format and details of how the wild cards will work.  Basically the top 3 teams in each conference will qualify in their conference's half of the draw.  Teams 7-10, regardless of conference, will then have a 1 game playoff, 7 v10 and 8 v9 at the home of the higher seed to determine who makes the 7th and 8th spots.  The lowest seed of the wild card winners, again regardless of which conference they are from will be put in a match-up with the Supporters Shield winner, with the other wild card playing against the other Conference champion.

Still with me?  Excellent, as now it's time to point out the goofiness that could ensue from this format combined with the stubborn maintenance of two seperate conferences as opposed to just a single table.  The first wierd scenario is that it could potentially mean 7 teams qualifying from one conference, obviously the West would have the best shot at that achievement right now.  The ultimate possibility though, would be for two wild card teams in the wrong conferences to make the final.  Imagine Toronto (yeah, yeah,hilarious, I know) representing the West and Vancouver representing the East, I think that could see heads explode at ESPN.  Given that the wild card crossover team has made the final three years straight, and won the MLS Cup two years running, it's not that far fetched, and the possibility is just another reason for the usual MLS knockers to not take the league seriously.

Ornoch-knock-knocking on heaven's door

As the initial buzz of the announcements of Aron Winter, Bob de Klerk and Paul Mariner dies down, and as the warm and fuzzy thoughts about TFC’s future filled with homegrown academy players playing dazzling total football fade into the vague far off future where they belong, thoughts turn to the short term and the first real measurable test of the new management team. That would be building a team that can compete in the short term, and if not win an MLS Cup in the next 2 or 3 years, at least do well enough to keep the supporters interested until the academy starts bearing fruit.

After Earl Cochrane got rid of the worst of last year’s squad, with only Nathan Sturgis coming in, TFC is currently sitting at a squad of 16 players, three of which are goalies, and one of whom, 18 year old winger Nicholas Lindsay, it was reported today will be out for the season due to a knee injury sustained by slipping on ice*. Add in the fact that some of those 16 are out of contract, including 2010 MVP Adrian Cann, and his defensive partner Nana Attakora who, according to a Gerry Dobson tweet has so far declined to sign the new contract offered him. Also add in that Dwayne De Rosario has made his unhappiness very public and may not be back, and the size of the job is clear. The number of definite starting quality players who we can confidently say will be with the team next year sits at 2, Stefan Frei and Julian De Guzman. Now obviously no MLS team is going to be full of stars, and some of what remains of the squad are definitely capable MLS level starters, people such as Sturgis, Nick LaBrocca, Chad Barrett or Maicon Santos, but there is definitely a need for quality as well as quantity when it comes to filling out the squad.

Barring a trade to get a higher pick, this week’s upcoming superdraft is unlikely to help with players who can make an impact right away, as we gave up our first round pick for Sturgis, so won’t be picking until 26^th overall, here’s a good list of  players who might be available at that time. No, it’s going to be players brought in from outside MLS who’ll make the difference.

Before the interim GM tag was taken away from Earl Cochrane, he suggested in interviews that he had been busy identifying players and making initial enquiries, lining up a lot of players just waiting for confirmation from the new regime and for the transfer window to open. Dutch U-17 international Bas Ent has long been rumoured to be coming in from the USL team Dayton Dutch Lions, and reports from the last week are saying that Canadian striker Andrew Ornoch is also about to sign.

Ornoch is a Toronto raised Canadian international who has spent the last few years in Europe. He’s been varyingly described as a physical Danny Dichioesque striker and as an attacking midfielder/forward in the mould of Will Johnson. Initial guesses suggest he’ll be getting somewhere below $100,000, so whatever his exact style and role will be, he should be a good addition. Though he didn’t get much first team action while in Holland, his time there should help him be a step ahead of the MLS lifers when it comes to quickly picking up the intricacies of our new system. Throw in the fact that he seems to be very eager to play for his hometown team and it seems like a great piece of business, though hopefully he’ll be competing with Chad Barrett and Maicon Santos for the title of our second best striker behind some as yet unknown big name to be unveiled soon.

Acquiring that striker, as well as the quality wingers, full backs and everything else TFC needs is hopefully where Paul Mariner can prove his worth, helping Winter navigate the salary cap with all it’s rules and exceptions to build a competitive squad, or at the very least a full squad before the season starts.  While supporters so far seem admirably willing to give TFC some time, the first 4 wasted years mean there's a lot less goodwill banked than might usually be the case, thoughts of the future will only keep bums in seats in the present for so long.

*edit:  It was later revealed that Lindsay's knee was actually injured in a snowmobiling accident, which is more than likely a forbidden activity in his contract.

A really good year for TFC.

My usual cynicism and pessimism will soon return, but buoyed by a 2 game winning streak to end the season, and in the spirit of reconciliation, with MLSE playing nice, I'm going for a positive season review, so here we go, the 8 reasons why this was the best year yet for TFC.

1. We won the home opener.  The home opener is always a special day in it's own right.  The end to 5 months or so of not going to games, the chance to hold aloft a new scarf, try the new food options (mmmm, poutine) meet up with old friends, or check out the view from your new seats, and just get back into whatever your matchday routine and way of supporting the club is.  The anticipatory buzz around the ground, the optimism not yet beaten out of the crowd, an enthusiastic singing of the anthem even in the prawny sections.  For the second straight year we got an expansion side to kick things off, but whereas last years game against Seattle was a real downer, this year we won.  OK, we didn't play all that well, and were lucky to be gifted both our goals, but what the hell.  The home opener, a win, excellent stuff.

2.  We won our first 5 home games.  Though the weather was terrible pretty much every game, we kept building on that feel good first win, making it into June before we even drew a game at home.  The peak of this run was the 4-1 win over Chicago.  Heavy winds and intermittent rain provided a trial for the real supporters to get through and led to a freak opener from Nick Labrocca, and a Jersey Shore celebration (how together the team seemed, how much fun they appeared to be having).  The second half saw Chad Barrett score twice against his old club, and even O'Brian White scored, though he nearly messed up an almost impossible to mess up chance. The combination of the weather and the result launched the brief "shirts off" phenomenom, for better or worse.

3.  We won the Voyageurs cup with the minimum of fuss.  This time there was no Miracle needed, we beat Montreal twice and drew in Vancouver, and that was enough for the cup to be clinched before we even played the last game.  That led to a pressure free game with academy kids playing and supporters able to celebrate throughout the game, with no need to worry about the result.  A trophy presented at home for the first time, players diving into the corners to celebrate, good times.

4.  We had a 2 month unbeaten streak.  Between May 1st and July 17th, we went 11 games without a loss in all competitions, including away wins at San Jose and Montreal, and important away draws at LA and Vancouver.  At the end of this stretch, even Fuad Ibrahim scored, to give us a 1-0 win over Colorado.

5.  We beat Motagua over two legs.  The first game, we played really well but only got a 1-0 win to show for it, so we would have a hard time to defend that.  Yeah, Motagua were only just out of pre season, but a Canadian side went to Honduras needing a result, went down early, but still got it, Dwayne De Rosario and Barrett with the goals, both set up by an excellent Maicon Santos.  I watched this game at Shoeless Joe's and the Red Patch Boys "qualifiers! qualifiers! ole, ole, ole!" chant was as inspired as it was emotional.

6.  We went 14 games unbeaten at home to start the year.  Our away form was nothing special again, but BMO Field really was a fortress, 21 goals scored and only 6 conceded giving us a record of 9 wins and 5 draws in those first 14 games.

7.  We beat Cruz Azul over two legs.  The game at home is probably my favourite TFC game so far, an early goal, 2-0 before half time and then defending comfortably before letting in a goal from a very good free kick that was too late to cause real worry.  Again, we beat Cruz A-fricking-zul, in a game that counted.  The second leg, after the firing of Preki but with Champions League progress still a real possibility was an excellent backs to the wall performance, grinding out a 0-0 that never really felt in danger.

8.  We've got some good academy kids.  Doneil Henry was the first player to be signed to the big club from the academy, Ashtone Morgan put in a great performance against Arabe Unido, but the real find was Nicholas Lindsay.  Signed to the first team late in the season, he put together a series of good games that suggest we might finally have ourselves a dangerous winger.

So there you go, without even having to resort to " there's hope for the future under a new regime" or "at least things got bad enough that they finally got rid of Mo" there's a lot of things that happened on the pitch that, despite the way the season unravelled, made 2010 a very enjoyable year.

How bizarre, how bizarre.

Saturday's game was, in many ways, a very strange one.  The deliberately subdued atmosphere due to the Red Patch Boys and North End Elite protests.  Dan Gargan as captain.  TFC, without Dwayne De Rosario, Chad Barrett, Adrian Cann and Stefan Frei, arguably our 4 best players this year, playing a decent game against a good team.  Maicon Santos scoring one of the best goals in TFC history. Jacob Peterson scoring.  Nicholas Lindsay putting in one of the best performances by a TFC winger in a long time.  A double sending off after an incident that almost led to a full on brawl.  Columbus' two goals both scored by goalies, their first bounced off the bar and then off John Conway's back and in, it was very charitably not given as an own goal, and the second scored by their goalie Will Hesmer, going up in desperation for an injury time corner.  The only thing weirder would have been if TFC actually won, but alas we didn't quite get that one.

The game itself was fairly meaningless so I won't talk much about that, but I'd say that was the best game we've played under Dasovic so far. Santos and Lindsay had great games (I feel bad for Lindsay, his substitution got lost in the chaos after the red cards, if anyone deserved a standing ovation off the pitch it was him yesterday) and were ably supported by Nick Labrocca and Jacob Peterson.  I was also happy for Dan Gargan to be given the captaincy in De Ro's absence.  With Nick Dasovic talking pre game about how players have been showing their character recently, that decision speaks volumes.

The main talking point though is of course the continuing supporter dissatisfaction and the protests, which continue to get attention in the media, even going as far as the New York Times.

It could be argued that the game showed how much of a minority the more hardcore supporters groups members are, an argument used by the Front Office in the recent townhall meetings.  Despite the promotion of the "Wear Green" protest by the Red Patch Boys, TFC red was still by far the most prominent colour in the stadium.  The silent treatment was in a way also quite ineffective, though U-Sector never made any official decision, many of their members chose not to let their gripes with the front office get in the way of supporting the boys on the field.  This combined with most of the stadium continuing their usual support, not singing all the time by any means, but reacting to the play, cheering goals, booing the ref and so on, meant that there was still atmosphere in varying degrees, though in that respect this was one of the more entertaining, incident filled games all year, so probably not representative of the average experience.  Probably the best representation of fan anger wasn't any of the organised displays but instead the spontaneous and widespread booing of the announcement thanking fans for coming this season and reminding them to renew for next year, followed by the very audible booing of Julian De Guzman after he skied a shot way over the bar early in the game.

To me though, while not as effective or widespread as many might have hoped it was still successful, and a very good representation of what the could happen to TFC if things continue to slide.  It was very reminiscent of the crowd at the Chivas game, and at many other MLS grounds, a small supporters group singing throughout the game, and then plenty of empty seats and sporadic cheering as the game goes on in the rest of the stadium, but often eerily quiet enough for any reasonably big away contingent to be heard, and the Crew fans' "Guillermo" chant could certainly be heard often from my seats in 227.

If the team keeps alienating supporters, this is what it will become, it won't be the end of the world, the crowds won't completely disappear, the club will keep going, and if the team starts winning the crowd size will probably bounce back to be decent, essentially we'll be an average MLS club.  But given the potential that still exists (even the angriest supporters desperately want to have something to cheer about again), what it could be, and especially given what TFC started with, average would be a terrible shame and a real wasted opportunity.