Letters from Camp: "Come Ornoch on our door..."

Jack's a big fan of the 4-3-3

"...TFC has taken a step that isn't new." Yes, three's company but fifteen isn't enough for a club roster, so - The Reds have rekindled their on-again, off-again romance with Canadian International midfielder Andrew Ornoch. The Polish-born, Scarborough-raised midfielder has been in flirtation with Toronto FC since last summer but it seems like now his time in red may have finally arrived.
　
As rumoured here, amongst many other TFC sources, Ornoch looked to be set to join TFC as a trialist early in January but a stumbling block seemed to arise. Online chatter included whispers that former Toronto management had promoted the idea to Ornoch that he buy out his contract with then-club, BV Veendam of the Dutch 2nd tier, to prepare for a switch to T.O. The whispers (like Mr. Roper listening at the door) then hinted that new manager Aron Winter wasn't as keen on Ornoch as his predecessors were, thus the deal falling flat. Like a Jack Tripper comedy soufflé. Of course, those rumours may not be worth the keyboard they were typed on and later rather than never, TFC officially welcomed the attack-minded midfielder to camp on trial today.
　
Of course, further tongues will now wag that this move is in reply to Adrian Cann's sudden departure from camp but as the two men play in completely different roles, it seems far-fetched. Unlike our old management, it doesn't seem likely that Team Winter would make a squad move out of spite. Either way, TFC still needs to fill out its rather small roster and Ornoch could represent a decent squad player if he can first impress the management, then agree to a fairly humble wage. With just over two weeks until the season opens and with a thin squad, it's not hard to imagine that a roster spot is Ornoch's to lose.

THE WORD: First day back Maltesers

Red with a honeycomb centre. Like TFC's 2010 defence!

The stories out of TFC training camp's first day started leaking before the ink was dry on the medical needles. At least that's my understanding of needles. Might explain my scurvy. Anyhoo... with roster spots galore and a plane warming up on the tarmac for a flight to Turkey, names have begun to pop up on the potential passenger list aboard AeroWinter - direct flight, non-stop to Antalya... On-board meal: butty; In-flight film: "How Not to Play Football: TFC 2010 Season Highlights".
　
Apart from the expected inclusion of The Reds' eight recent draft picks, word is that TFC will give a fair shake to four current TFC Academy products: Ashtone "Loc" Morgan, Oscar "Meyer" Cordon, Keith "Booyah" Makubuya and Matt "Don't Call me Matthew" Stinson. The homegrown youngsters will by all accounts get as much opportunity, if not more, than their NCAA-bred counterparts. TFC's recent announcement of creating even younger Academy teams shows that the homeslice plan is the route they will follow in future. The new U-1 TFC Toddler team will really pay dividends in the 2029 season.
　
Rumours from outside of the club include whispers that Andrew Ornoch may no longer be in The BMO Field mix while Canadian international Eddy Sidra (in town to show off the national team's new "Ode to Man United" kit") could be interested in joining the team. Sidra has been without a club since his contract with Germany's Energie Cottbus (so fun to say!) ended in 2010.
　
The wackiest rumour floating around came out of footballing hotbed Malta where media reports linked 22 year old Brazilian striker Camilo da Silva Sanvezzo (aka Camilo) with TFC. The 5 foot 7 forward scored a massive 22 goals in 24 Maltese Premier League matches with the great Qormi team (apparently the Aston Villa of Malta) before venturing off to a less than inspiring stretch with South Korea's Gyeongnam (apparently South Korea’s Blackburn Rovers) where he failed to score. Before getting too excited about 22 goals in 24 matches, remember... it's the Maltese League. Word is that the reigning champs played a mule in net for half the season.
　
One day in and it's already fun! Welcome back footballs!
　
WORD FACTOR (TFC Academy call-ups): 9 / 10
WORD FACTOR (Ornoch & Sidra): 5 / 10
WORD FACTOR (Camilo): 3 / 10

THE WORD: Dutch-based Canadian first to join Toronto FC's "Oranje Revolution"?

Polish-Canadian Dutch treat?

It's barely been 24 hours since Aron Winter was declared Toronto FC's head honcho but perhaps the Dutch legend's links to his homeland may help the club land a new striker. Rumours from Holland claim that Scarborough raised Andrew Ornoch, currently playing for Eerste Divisie (Dutch 2nd Tier) side BV Veendam, will be leaving that club in the near future to join The Reds when training camp opens in late January. The poorly translated Dutch-to-English report states:

Aron Winter has his first reinforcement. The former footballer, who recently started working as manager at Toronto FC, will be provided with Andrew Ornoch.

Ornoch came last season to BV Veendam. The attacker, however, suffers from homesickness and decided to return to his native Canada. There he will work for Toronto FC, reports the club from Groningen.

BV Veendam and Ornoch spoke earlier and concluded that the player would take trips to the training camp of the club in Turkey. In consultation has now decided that both parties finally split up.

Oh, the Dutch... "split up" sounds so emotional! The 25-year-old Ornoch has been linked before to TFC but a deal couldn't be completed, with Mo Johnston's capped out salary structure the rumoured reason. However, with plenty of cap room, free roster spots, the new management's relations within Dutch football and the player's apparent desire to play in Canada - a deal could come into reality soon.
　
The Canadian International has had career stops in Hungary and Denmark previous to Holland but hasn't managed to cross into the "prolific striker" mode quite yet but at a young age and with a chance to play regularly at home, the Polish-born hitman could be the right fit in Winter's desired "attacking total football". With rumours persisting about Dutch winger Bas Ent and American defender Evan Schwartz (both having played for USL's Dayton Dutch Lions) joining Toronto, the club could have an oranje shade quicker than expected.
　
WORD FACTOR: 5 / 10