Culture of failure starts higher than Mo

It seemed astonishing when Mo Johnston recently claimed to be shocked by the level of criticism that he was receiving after TFC's recent failure. Was the wily Glaswegian watching the same team the supporters were? Why the shock on Mo's part?

It should be no surprise however when you look at the acceptance of mediocrity that comes from places higher in the organization. In interviews this week, MLSE VP Tom Anselmi was going to great lengths to back Mo's work as TFC's Director of Football. Anselmi also used the thinnest margin of improvement to claim that progress was made in 2009. While the team did manage to secure a few more points, "progress" is a generous term.

While discussing Johnston's apparently amazing job, Anselmi outlined the Director's responsibilities which include - “providing overall leadership and vision, putting the roster together, (and) to build infrastructure (i.e. coaching and scouting)". To those jobs, Anselmi claimed "... I think Mo has done a good job." If he is true to his word, then Anselmi must have a fairly low bar for success.

Johnston has provided very little public leadership and only appears in times of absolute crisis or when he can receive kudos. His vision is unclear and confusing with constant roster changes the norm. His ability to put together a balanced roster is very poor considering he has not found a solid back line, an established striker or capable wingers in nearly four years. As far as infrastructure goes, TFC has an academy which is fine, even though MLS doesn't yet allow the ownership of local players without the draft, but scouting is an absolute disgrace. It is only Mo and one other staff member doing scouting (despite annual Brazilian holidays) with the majority of newly signed players being on the roster of Mo's own agent.

In an interview with CBC, Anselmi was waxing about how TFC was "so close" this year. So close to what though? A playoff spot? Is that the pinnacle of expectation at TFC? Shouldn't the goal of every pre-season be winning the Cup? According to Anselmi's CBC interview “our expectation was to not make the playoffs the first three years. We didn't think we would." The VP continued that the "100 per cent focus" of 2010 is making the playoffs. Sorry… we thought that was 2009's focus.

What do we really expect from the corporate entity which brings us other success stories such as the Leafs and the Raptors though? MLSE is a business where profits are paramount and trophies are a nice but unnecessary bonus which can then be used for marketing. If Mo's boss has such low expectations then it is fair to see why Mo himself is "shocked" at the criticism. The sorry thing is though, if MLSE aims low, and Mo does too, doesn't the TFC head coach and then the players, staff and all the way down to the academy aim low as well? As much as Johnston is truly at fault, the rot starts way at the top and spreads down through every inch of the club.