Because God forbid 90 Minutes of
Hopp doesn’t get updated regularly…
-___-
-___-
Anyway, before she lost the use
of her voice (and while she is sick,
the screaming about Toronto FC that she must have done yesterday probably
didn’t help) she coined the term “Nelsen-fence.” Now, it’s not a very good term
(relax, you can agree, she can’t argue atm), but she basically explained it as,
“not quite a controversy to earn a ‘gate*,’ but ludicrous enough to have some
sort of title.”
So, let us discuss (ugh)
Nelsen-fence.
If you’re curious on Sonja’s
opinions on the whole thing you can either read the quote she gave to The
Guardian here or you can wait 48 hours and I am sure you can hear voice ringing out
throughout the 416.
Her lovely, angelic, beautiful,
like-a-bell, voice.
-___-
*As in, Watergate
Round and Round She
Goes...
(Bloggers note: This post was originally written Monday evening
after Paul Mariner was fired, and prior to the official announcement of Ryan
Nelsen being hired. I’ve tried to update
this post based on the actual announcements made Tuesday and tried make the
most sense of this post, but this is TFC we’re talking about here…. It’s not
supposed to make sense)
Musical chairs? Hot
potato? Pin the tail on the donkey? Seems it’s a bunch of party games down at BMO
these days, and Monday’s latest was the firing of Paul
Mariner and Bob de Klerk, and the rumoured, but pretty much official
appointment of former New Zealand international and “current” Queen Park
Rangers defender, Ryan Nelsen, on Tuesday. And yes, I mean “current”, because
he still has “obligations” for QPR and will continue playing for them. He will miss the MLS Superdraft and who knows
how many games.
Now I don’t really know about the merits of Nelsen’s
appointment as the 8th coach of Toronto FC. I have no idea if he can coach, and I’m not
really sure if anyone else does either (including himself). I also don’t really care for Paul Mariner,
either for him staying or being fired. A
coach’s job is to win, or at least field a competitive team with the players
he’s got. I don’t think anyone can argue
that even the best coach in the world could have done much more with the roster
TFC had last year, considering all their injuries. A coach’s job is not to take chicken shit and
turn it into chicken salad.
My biggest problem is the whole craziness that is going on
with TFC. This is a surprise to no one
that follows the team, but these series of events are indefensible for a
“professional” organization. This team
just continues to invent ways to make themselves look bad. This is like me playing in a men’s league on
the weekends, and coaching a kids team during the week.
Right, wrong, or indifferent, Aron Winter was fired back in
June 2012. You can argue if this was the
right move or not, but 6 months ago, the “soccer people” at MLSE thought this
was the right move. Winter had a
direction for this team, and management didn’t like the direction things were
going in. They made their move. At some point, after the firing of Winter,
the top brass at TFC must have know they had a void of soccer leadership in the
front office and it was probably at this time they decided they would be
searching for a new president. Someone
that would be given the keys to the team, to shape in their mold. Someone who would bring in “their guy” to
coach the team in the style they wanted this team to play.
So my question: why hire Mariner as your permanent
coach? Why not just add “interim” to his
title, and make fans understand it was a temporary solution to a bigger overall
problem. Why, when Kevin Payne was hired
as President of the club, did he confirm Mariner as the coach? Why did they have to wait six weeks to make a
move and let Mariner go?
To me, Payne has now made a significant move, and played a trump
card. He had a coach that he could have
ridden for a year while he makes the roster moves he feels he needs to
make. I don’t think there was a lineup
of teams for Nelsen, who Payne knows from their time together at DC United, and
he couldn’t have felt pressure to hire him now.
I asked Sportsnet journalist John Molinaro (here), and he
put the question out there himself (here), to
an interesting and valid set of responses.
Heck, he could have brought him in as a player for a year
(or half year), and then moved him in to the coaches’ roll next season. I mean, TFC’s best defender may now just be
the “coach” of this team.
Except he’s not defending for us… or coaching.
Nelsen’s announcement comes after he played in QPR’s 1-1 tie
with West Bromwich on Sunday, and is given a ringing endorsement
from his “current” coach Harry Redknapp:
“Ryan is very important to us, a fantastic leader and a top
player. He’s been offered the chance of a job in America and there’s every
chance he might go. He wants to be a manager and
he has a chance to manage a club. That’s where he’s coming from. He’s one of
the best pros I have ever met in my life. A massive part of your team. To lose
him would be a massive blow for us.”
But continuing to play? Sorry, I just can’t get over
that. As my friend, Dave B. says:
Well, Dave, they did bring him in to be a player-coach. He’s just not doing either for us at the moment.
“Day 1
and already a lack of commitment. I would rather he comes in as a player
manager, bring an experienced coach with MLS experience and go from there. He
should be at the club in January, watching tape from last season, talking to
the coaching staff and planning targets for the draft (TFC has first and third
picks). The season starts in two months.
Could you imagine any other club hiring a manager but allowing him to
play for another club?!”
Well, Dave, they did bring him in to be a player-coach. He’s just not doing either for us at the moment.
The club really does find new ways to invent craziness. The one thing this team needed was
stability. An experienced man to coach
this team. I find TFC’s streak of hiring
first time coaches astounding. The last
coach they hired that had any kind of senior team experience, and the last with
MLS experience, was Preki in 2009…. Yes, 2009!
Funny enough, he’s also the last coach to not have a losing record as a
TFC coach (#bringbackPreki!)
Here’s hoping Nelsen can be
the next winning coach of TFC, and can deal with all the party games that are
going on down at BMO. Let’s hope he can always
find a chair, pass the potato in time, and doesn’t get stuck being the jackass.P.S. I guess MLSE decided that had seen enough of the criticism of Toronto FC, and decided to bury it by firing Brian Burke. Upon hearing of Burke’s dismissal, Sonja’s immediately suggested he take up Nelsen’s spot until the EPL season is over. Given the way this organization is run, that would not surprise me in the least.
EDITOR'S UPDATE: Enrico's piece has since been picked up by The Dirty Tackle. You can read it here and be sure to check out their site. Based in New Zealand (with writers across the globe), The Dirty Tackle provides some good insight to New Zealand soccer (and the global game); something TFC fans may be paying more attention to in the upcoming months.
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