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Earlier this week Toronto FC announced the club and Academy Director Stuart Neely have parted ways with the Scotsman resigning from his post. Even this has come as something of a shock with respect to how sudden it happened and with everyone from fans, players, club staff and parents of current/former players only having nice things to say about Neely, it does indicate that major changes are set to take place within the club’s youth development structure.
The position of Academy Director is a vital role within a club and, although it will be filled by Director of Team Operations Earl Cochrane on an interim basis, this give the TFC brain trust of Head Coach & Technical Director Aron Winter, Assistant Coach Bob de Klerk and Director of Player Development Paul Mariner a golden opportunity to find “their guy”, someone whom they are 100% comfortable with and who will deploy the club’s philosophy seamlessly as opposed to someone they inherited. It would be a natural assumption that the club would use its connections within The Netherlands and Germany to bring in a European based youth development expert. However, whether the club brings in a European, Canadian, American or an alien for Mars, this is a pivotal point for the club and they need to do some serious homework no matter how long it takes.
With the club set to open its new academy facility in the summer, bringing in the right man is a key part of the overall package that will lure some of the best and brightest to the club, given that an important role of an Academy Director is to act as a hype man of sorts and someone with vast experience and known clubs/players on their resume will garner instant credibility. However, as we all know, in sports people whom occupy new positions tend to bring in familiar faces which brings up an intriguing question.
What to do with Danny Dichio and Jim Brennan?
These two have grown immensely with the club and are loved and respected figures, as is evident in their Wall of Honour inductions and work within the community amongst other things. That being said, as I mentioned in a previous article for RedNation Online, these two are holdovers from the Mo Johnston era and when watching the Academy sides play, there are still elements of that existing. For the most part the new philosophy has really resonated with the players, but at times, especially when the players are under pressure, they revert to the “Old English” way instead of playing out of trouble. Part of this is down to both Dichio’s and Brennan’s roots in English soccer, but mostly it’s down to how this club used to play and be run. It’s a new day for this club and the number one priority is the need for complete and utter synergy at all levels no matter what.
In my opinion, there are really two options. The first is probably the most likely option, which is that the new Academy Director no longer needs their services and the club moves on without them. While in the short term this would be viewed as an unpopular move, as the saying goes, “time heals all wounds”. However, their might be a second option that would satisfy all parties. This would entail Dichio and Brennan being reassigned within the club as either ambassadors or front office staff. Brennan has stated he enjoyed his time as Assistant General Manager and that he may go back to that role in the future. And while both seem to like player interaction, it might be a new chapter for those two within the game they love.
Toronto FC has reached an interesting fork in the road and the choices they make in this capacity will directly impact the club as a whole and specifically the legacy of the TFC brain trust when looking back at club history years from now. The right move could put this club on a whole other level and on the fast track to becoming one of the most respected Academy set ups in not only Major League Soccer or North America, but the entire CONCACAF region and on the world map. However, the wrong move could set this club back for many years and even before we open the new academy facilities and could put this whole project in jeopardy.
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