The Oxford English Dictionary states an era is “a long and distinct period of history” but, according to trusty Wikipedia, TFC have managed to squeeze at least three eras into fewer than seven years.
In 2007, commissioner Don Garber’s mission to rapidly expand MLS was well underway as Toronto FC proudly became the league’s thirteenth outfit. He would take himself and his large ears to the noisy Saturday afternoon sell-outs at the BMO Field, and proceed to clap like an enthused caveman on discovering the wheel. It’s the future, he said. This is how Major League Soccer will be, he said. A new era, he said.
Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment are obviously to blame for what has happened since. Toronto FC has been a plaything for the company, with coaches and new regimes tossed around and then buried like the toys of a spoilt dog.
With no foundation to build on, the on-pitch product has not been able to improve. The noisy crowds and burgeoning culture that left Garber salivating has, therefore, dwindled.
The latest victim of the farcical behind-the-scenes set-up is ousted president and general manager Kevin Payne, after just nine months.
In this time Payne dropped the classless Paul Mariner from his coaching role, improved the side with exciting prospects Matias Laba and Jonathan Osorio, and released overpaid players who weren’t very good, like Darren O’Dea.
However, he also hired a man with no coaching badges and a weekly starting berth in the Queens Park Rangers defence as manager, released Luis Silva, and then failed to deliver the oft-promised world-renown designated player.
It was a tenure that was more disappointing than not. However, nine months, even for a man that once made DC United on of the league’s most successful sides, is nowhere near long enough given the Herculean task on hand.
In fact, the lazy and arrogant way MLSE have run the club since its creation – no serious, long-term plans and instead expecting quick-fire changes to improve the team’s fortunes – has made improving TFC is a near impossible task.
Tim Leiweke, who was appointed as new president and CEO of MLSE in late June, is supposed be the key to a brighter future at the company’s sports franchises. He has stressed the importance of culture at a team, and this is a start.
One would hope with this improved insight shown within MLSE that he has a replacement lined up for Kevin Payne, either to arrive shortly or at the end of the current campaign. And to instill a culture and identity to the club, this would have to be long-term solution.
Hopefully the laissez-faire arrogance that has plagued Toronto FC in their previous attempts to “sort things out” does not hurt them again after the appointment is made. Leiweke’s claims that he had a route planned for the Toronto Maple Leafs’ Stanley Cup parade just two weeks into the job were worrying and hopefully a blip in what will be much-improved MLSE organization.
Toronto FC, like the other sports teams under the ownership of this much maligned company, need a heck of a lot of work.
A new era, perhaps?
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