THE WORD: Nana, Nana Goodbye?

"He's got a headache THIS BIG!"

A strange episode in our favourite soap opera "As The Reds Turn" this afternoon as media tongues started wagging when Nana Attakora failed to show at practice. According to the player himself this afternoon, he was simply sick with a headache and was sent home. He claimed not to have heard anything from the club about any potential transaction or release.

Part of the reason that this story has turned from spark to flame so quickly may have much to do with the awful 2011 Attakora has had so far. Last season the young Canadian defender was making waves with the national team and looking as if he would be Toronto FC's defensive rock for years to come. However, this season has seen him go from one problem to the next. Pre-season began with contract renegotiation woes (which have yet to be resolved), self-proclaimed "personal problems" off the pitch and a horrible time trying to adjust his style to fit in with Aron Winter's system. Oh, and that odd flirtation with dreadlocks.

Any move to release Nana Attakora at the present time would be considered odd considering the tremendous problems in Toronto FC's backline. However, when Attakora can't push away the likes of "all-stars" Ty Harden and Dan Gargan in Aron Winter's eyes, it's obvious something is very wrong with the young Canadian. Hopefully the sudden episode this afternoon was nothing more than a case of the media adding 1+1 and coming up with 4 – and as of this moment it does seem this way. But, as we've seen before at TFC, a puff of smoke can quickly turn into an inferno.

WORD FACTOR: 1 / 10

Any updates on this story will follow here...
4PM - Apparently Dan Gargan was sent home ill as well so maybe the story isn’t so bad after all!