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!

Oh my god! You traded Chad! You Bastards!

Well, I guess those of us who thought that Earl Cochrane had done all the necessary chopping of dead wood from last year's squad and that Aron Winter, Paul Mariner et al would move swiftly on to the rebuilding stage were wrong.  At Wednesday's Superdraft! TFC did a lot more than just draft players.   They first of all traded away Chad Barrett to LA Galaxy for the ubiquitous future considerations, in what was essentially a salary dump. Reports vary on whether TFC is still paying a portion of his salary or not, though the club has said that they won't be.  Jon Conway was also traded to Chicago Fire for a 3rd round pick, and 4 players were drafted.  Demetrius Omphroy, Matt Gold, Junior Burgos and Jaoa Plata will now have a chance to make it in Toronto.

I won't pretend to know much about any of those players yet, you can find more details here, or more colourfully, here.  Suffice it to say that lower round picks don't have a history of working out great, so if 1 out of those 4 ends up sticking with the club long term, that will probably be considered a success.

Trading Jon Conway also isn't really that big of a deal, Milos Kocic should be an able backup to Stefan Frei, so the $70,000 Conway is due to make this year can be put to better use in areas of greater need, which is pretty much every other position.  By all accounts, Conway was a great teammate and all round good guy, so I wish him nothing but the best, and his last act as a TFC player, saluting the crowd while walking off after his red card for upending Columbus' Steven Lenhart is certainly a fine and memorable way to go out.

The trade of Barrett though, well that's a big one.  Chad Fucking Barrett!  For most people that would be said with an exasperated tone after another wasted opportunity, for me it was always with a defiant glee when he'd done something right, scored a goal or had a particularly good game.  I always liked Barrett, even back in 2009 when he was, how to put this nicely, not so prolific, and when Barrett vs Vitti arguments regularly raged on the supporters forums, I was always on his side as his contribution was always so much bigger than mere goals scored or not scored.  In 2010, when he added more composed finishing to his undeniable workrate, well, can you say MVP?  I did,  It was no co-incidence that everything fell apart last year after he and Maicon Santos were injured.

In 2009 it was always a bit of a pleasant surprise when Barrett scored, and that attitude carried over for me into 2010.  The game against Chicago in May when he scored twice, I was positively giddy, it was as if the special kid in school had got an A, one that he'd actually earned.  Probably the best thing I could say about his improvement in 2010 would be that that sense of surprise disappeared, later in the year, before and after his injury, a Barrett goal was a lot more routine, I expected him to finish a good chance, and he usually did.

But this is what happens in sports, so I'll move on, and for now, I'll trust that our new management have impressive plans on how to spend all the salary cap space now at their disposal, and I'll also admit that Barrett was overpaid, so hopefully there's better value for money out there.

For now, though, I'll say goodbye with highlights of some of his finest work.  If I had any sort of technical skills, I'd put the highlights together into a single youtube video with a suitably admiring soundtrack.  One quick glance at my blog however, will tell you I don't have those technical skills, so instead here's a bunch of different clips of his best moments.  Just imagine you're listening to "Nobody does it better" in the background.

First off, his goal against Montreal in the 2009 Voyageurs Cup, at 7:50 of this video.




Then there's his 1 goal 2 assist second half performance in the Montreal Miracle, starting at 3:30.




This is the game mentioned above where he scores twice against Chicago, starting at  0:40.  My season tickets are in section 227, so the fact that he always ran to that corner after scoring in the north end was great, he had some really good celebrations there.



Next up is his goal against San Jose in 2010, not the greatest goal, but another great celebration 1:30 in.



And I'll finish up with his contribution to our triumph over Motagua, here's his goal in the first leg starting at 0.33



And his 2nd leg goal, at 1"36, where he really shows off just how much he sweats in a game.  Good luck with that LA heat.



Thanks for everything Chad, I'll miss you.

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.

Winterlicious.

The world's worst kept secret was confirmed on Thursday afternoon, with TFC announcing the arrival of Aron Winter, Paul Mariner and Bob de Klerk as their new management team.  Click here for details, interviews and such like.

Alright, that’s a little harsh as there was still a lot of clarification required on who exactly would be doing what, and what would happen to the current staff.  That all ended up as follows, Aron Winter as Technical Director, the overall man in charge as well as first team Head Coach with Bob de Klerk assisting him in both areas. Paul Mariner will be the Director of Player Development, overseeing scouting, trades and all that sort of thing, as well as “acting as a bridge between Aron and MLS” which to me sounds like a lot of saying “No Aron, you can’t do that here” or “No Aron, that’s not going to work here” or "Yes Aron, we are going to have to fly all over the continent on a regular basis."

Earl Cochrane gets “promoted” to Director of Team and Player Operations, while Stuart Neely will be the Academy Director.  Jim Brennan, Nick Dasovic, Danny Dichio and Jason Bent will all remain with the club, though their roles weren’t specified.  Leo Percovich wasn’t mentioned so is presumably on his way out. I met him a couple of times and he’s a really nice guy, so I genuinely wish him all the best in the future.

So what does all this mean?  Well firstly it means they haven’t gone for the cheap, more of the same option that merely bringing in Paul Mariner to work with Earl Cochrane would have been, so that’s a good sign. Secondly it means they really seem to have made a commitment to a long term vision of what the club stands for, what style of football it will play and how they’re going to get there, all that stuff Jürgen Klinsmann was talking about back in November.

With a re-affirmation of their commitment to building new academy facilities as soon as a location is finalised, there was much talk of TFC becoming less reliant on drafts to stock its roster, on being able to develop its own players, coming up through the academy playing the same style so as to eventually fit comfortably into the first team. Winter made it obvious that while it won’t be an exact copy of the “total football” that Ajax is known for, that style will certainly be loosely based on it, with a 4-3-3 formation as the starting point.

Looking at it long term, this seems like a really really positive day, one that should have great benefits for both TFC and Canada years down the line.  Who knows how long they’ll stick around, but hopefully Winter and de Klerk can get the ball rolling and develop things so that not only the players, but also the coaching staff at all levels will become comfortable with Toronto FC style football, and be able to continue it long after they’ve gone, ideally poached by a bigger club impressed by their achievements here.

Unfortunately, those hoped for great benefits of the academy system will probably take 5-10 years to really be felt at first team level, the short term is a lot more of a question mark.  Winter is untested as a coach at first team level, and the style of football he wants to play will probably not come easily or quickly to your average MLS player.  Many times in the press conference and various interviews it was stressed that this is going to require patience, so it's probably best not to expect too much in the way of results in 2011.  It will be interesting to see which players are brought in once the January transfer window opens, TFC obviously have a lot of places to fill, and are going to have to bring in players who can play this style as well as be able to handle the more physical play in MLS. This is where Paul Mariner should really be earning his money, using his MLS experience and know-how to help TFC field a competitive side for the next few seasons, so as to give Winter and de Klerk enough time to be able to do what they're really here for, which is the long term side of things. 

The next 2 or 3 seasons will probably be interesting, entertaining and frustrating in equal measures,  but hopefully supporters and management will be able to give the new regime time to really see their plans come to fruition.  Management certainly talked a good game in that respect yesterday, and it does seem like they're genuinely trying to build something that can give TFC lasting and long term success, let's hope it works.

Insert generic Winter pun here.

While there's been no official announcement yet, word has very much got out, if a little unspecifically, about a very interesting development in TFC's search for a management team.  According to reports, former Dutch international and current Ajax (the Amsterdam one, not the GTA one) assistant coach Aron Winter has agreed to a 3 year contract, and will be bringing fellow Dutchman Bob De Klerk with him.

Throughout the day there's been varying different reports, guesses and assumptions about exactly what role these two will fill, as well as Paul Mariner who it was thought might now be left out, but was later reported as very much still part of the plan, as either a coach, or as Technical Director.  By the end of the day a consensus seemed to be forming that Mariner would be the GM/Technical Director, with Winter and De Klerk as Coach and assistant respectively, though some suggested Mariner and Winter were going to somehow split the Technical Director and Coach roles, though I'm really not sure how that would work.

Whether that is correct, and what's going to happen to Earl Cochrane, Jimmy Brennan, Nick Dasovic and the rest of the coaching staff will eventually be revealed whenever the official press conference happens, and going by history with TFC, that probably won't be for another few days.  I'll wait until then before reading too much into all this, but it does seem positive, and proof that there was a point to Jürgen Klinsmann's time here.  If the bringing in of Winter and De Klerk from Ajax is a sign of the philosophy that Klinsmann has decided on for TFC, then it should at the very least be more entertaining than we've seen so far in the last 4 years, and if patiently stuck with, could mean great things for the academy, and thus TFC's and Canada's future.

With the caveat that they are all relatively inexperienced, with Mariner's failed managerial spell at Plymouth Argyle the only non-assistant experience between them, this seems like a really good combination and a very strong managerial team.  Winter and De Klerk will bring the Ajax style, which will hopefully flow down to the academy as well as help the first team, Mariner has the MLS experience as well as recently refreshed contacts within the English game, and Cochrane, Brennan and the rest of the holdovers from last year bring knowledge of MLS as well as the Canadian scene, and the talents, quirks and egos of the current squad.

Patience could be the key here, as one of the main planks of Ajax's success over the years has been the flow of players from their famed academy, talented and schooled from an early age in the Ajax way of playing, and it's obviously going to take a lot of time for that sort of effect to hit the first team.  Hopefully the MLS experience brought by Mariner will be enough to build a competent and competitive team in the short term, as I'm not sure the stretched too thin patience of TFC fans will be able to tolerate too long of a learning curve.  In that respect,one of management's best moves is the price freeze of season tickets for 2012.  I always thought of that not really as an apology for what happened last season, but as a pre-emptive bargaining chip in case the rebuild isn't an instant success.  If that is actually the case it would represent an admirable change from what's happened so far, with 5 coaches in 4 years.

Hopefully supporters will also give the new regime time, and the mood on the messageboards seemed to be one of cautious optimism and approval, which is a good sign.  This could be the start of something really good for the future, let's hope it works well enough in the present for that future to be given a chance.

They actually were going to go with Earl?

One good thing to come out of the whole sorry Dwayne De Rosario at Celtic affair is that it helped the club move away from what would have been a depressingly underwhelming decision.  According to Canadian Soccer News, up until yesterday, the club were ready to go with Paul Mariner as coach/manager, with Earl Cochrane kept in place above him in a more administrative/president of soccer type role.  But now, there's a new name that is suddenly being considered, so the process is once again on hold, with a decision expected "by mid-January at the latest".

Now maybe it is actually the case that a new option has suddenly become available, and it's just a coincidence that the decision was changed after the De Ro fiasco, but the source quoted did say it suspected it was a reason for them to be looking elsewhere, though they still expected Cochrane to get the GM job when all is said and done.

My own impression is that TFC were hoping to quietly announce it while people weren't paying attention, or were hoping that supporters anger had dissipated after a relatively quiet period so would have been more ready to accept this lacklustre appointment from within.  But now supporters are back in angry mode, so management have gone back to the "big name to appease the supporters" plan, or are at least pretending to until the furore dies down in a couple of weeks.

Though nothing surprises me with TFC, and though over the last few months I've shifted from laughing at suggestions Cochrane would end up with the job, to actually worrying that he might, to feeling resigned to the fact that he'd get it, I still can't really believe that it's going to happen.

Let's once again remind ourselves of what was promised to all TFC fans in an email sent out after October's townhall meetings and posted on their website.

With change comes the opportunity to make important decisions about our future. We're working hard to assemble a management team that is second to none in Major League Soccer. We are looking for leadership that will establish the vision for this team and create a winning culture so that Toronto FC will consistently compete for a championship.

Second to none.  Is there anyone out there that thinks Earl Cochrane is second to none among MLS executives?  Is anyone impressed with his handling of the De Ro situation, allowing things to get to this stage, then being less than forthcoming with the media about what had actually happened?

Paul Mariner isn't a terrible option, given the limiting fact that TFC is probably the most dysfunctional club in what is still a minor league.  He has MLS experience from his time as an assistant at New England, and though his first head coaching job at Plymouth Argyle led to relegation from the Championship, that was a very poisoned chalice due to problems at Plymouth at the time, so it would be very harsh to judge him on that.  But again, second to none.  Is there anyone out there who'd rather have Mariner than Bruce Arena, or Sigi Schmid or other successful coaches currently in MLS?

The other big question is what happened to Jürgen Klinsmann.  Given all his experience and contacts in Europe, is Earl Cochrane really the best option he and SoccerSolutions could come up with?  Really?  The "second to none" guy was under our noses the whole time?  I really hope he's earned his consulting money elsewhere, perhaps with recommendations about the academy, because that is thoroughly disappointing.

Of course I should wait until it's official before getting too depressed about it, and who knows, maybe Earl Cochrane and Paul Mariner would do an excellent job.  I'll freely admit I would have been unimpressed with the coaching resumes of Jason kreis and Gary Smith before they won the last 2 MLS cups, so whoever is appointed should get some time to prove themselves.  However TFC is skating on some very thin ice, and a Cochrane/Mariner combo would make it thinner. 

If given a big name and sold a grand vision, supporters would be more forgiving of any early struggles while a foundation for future success was laid.  But with an unspectacular appointment, the results would need to come fast to avoid disappointment.  I'm sure MLSE doesn't really care too much what bloggers or the supporter's forums say, but anger and protests among the committed would translate to apathy among the casual, and that's what they need to be afraid of.  There were a lot of empty seats throughout last year, if that trend continues, well there are plenty of sports teams who can tell them how hard it is to get Toronto fans to come back once they've gone.