THE STARTING 11: Other things that Ryan Nelsen did to anger Tim Bezbatchenko

It just wouldn't be a season with Toronto FC without a high profile sacking. We've regularly said goodbye to managers, coaches, GM's, presidents and now even a Brennan! While the firing of Ryan Nelsen wasn't an utter shock, the timing did catch many by surprise. However, it seems like tension between the manager and the general manager Tim Bezbatchenko had been bubbling for a while. Perhaps it wasn't just football-related problems that brought things to a head though - possibly a whole host of Nellie issues that got under TBez's skin...

11. He's too tall to be trusted

10. For a Kiwi, his Lord of The Rings knowledge was average at best

9. Didn't even take the time to introduce him to the dreamy Younes Kaboul during the Spurs friendly

8. Refused to play keytar in his garage band "The Cap Wonkz"

7. After Tim Leiweke announced he was leaving MLSE, Nelsen was way to slow in referring to him as "Prezbatchenko"

6. Never learned to speak English

5. Nelsen failed to unleash the potential of Reggie Lambe

4. Couldn't get him Crocodile Dundee's phone number

3. Claims that Nelsen is a raging Anti-Badge-ite

2. Wouldn't tell him the location of "Old Zealand"

1. Tired of hearing "Teem Bizbeechinkeh"

Blight of The Conchord! Reds sack Ryan Nelsen

On Labour Day Eve? TBez - you cold!

We're not sure what they teach you in New Zealish business school (because he didn't learn it on a coaching course) but Ryan Nelsen pretty much sealed his fate yesterday when he publicly called out his boss. Blaming Tim Bezbatchenko for putting too much pressure on his squad (a home win against New England - how outrageous a request!) was a major professional gaffe and one that sealed Nelsen's sacking today along with his entire staff minus Jason Bent. And yes fans - that includes The Immortal Jimmy Brennan.

Of course this move was seemingly the tipping point for TBez. Nelsen, a manager who never met a badge he liked, has been mired in a stubborn and mediocre style for large stretches of this season. When his DP strikers were scoring for results, Nelsen was surviving - but never quite flourishing. As the season has plodded on and injuries, form and fatigue have affected the expensively rebuilt TFC, Nelsen had often looked naive in regards to his handling of the line-up. Stubborn tactics, head-scratchingly odd substitutions and a general lack of progression came to a boil after the particularly insipid 3-0 loss to New England.

However... You think TFC learned a hard lesson in regards to "on the job training" managers? Not so fast hot shots. At the sack and hire press conference today, Bezbatchenko announced that the new PERMANENT head coach is TFC Academy Head and former Chivas USA Assistant Manager (his managerial zenith) Greg Vanney. "Yes!!!" said 0.00012% of TFC supporters. On the surface this is a mind-boggling move for a club that hasn't hired an experienced manager since Paul Mariner - and his experience was sinking Plymouth Argyle. You are all forgiven for assuming the fetal position.

Of course past experience doesn't guarantee future success but this all stinks of a giant re-run for TFC. The season that started with all that "bloody big" promise has a very 2010 feel to it suddenly. A playoff run now turns into a learning process under yet another new manager. While Nelsen wasn't likely the answer, Greg Vanney is the answer to a question no one was asking.

Caught your breath yet? Well sit down. It gets weirder. There are very loud rumours today that Jermain Defoe is well on his way back to England, in particular QPR. With the European transfer window about to shut - this could be within 24 hours. When asked about the team's money-maker and his future in Toronto, you could have driven a bus between the lines of Bezbatchenko's answer. The words you are looking for are "smoke" and "fire". What a blow to the image of this club and the house of cards sold to fans this past winter if this move comes to fruition.

One thing is obvious after today. With the imminent departure of  Tim Leiweke, Tim Bezbatchenko is putting his stamp of leadership on this club. The only question that remains - what kind of club will he have left to lead?

Tuck the Payne away

"This ball still believes in me..."

We barely had time to "get used to" you Kevin.

Through the powerfully heartfelt mediums of corporate press release and hobbled together conference call, Toronto FC kept the gears greased on their never-ending management carousel. Kevin Payne, the ever-so humble, Forlan-addicted veteran MLS executive has "parted ways" with Toronto FC and is no longer the President and GM of the wildly successful club.

While Toronto FC have stumbled and bumbled through yet another season of misery, many did expect a tough year ahead this past off-season. Few, even the most pessimistic of TFC supporters (hello.) would have predicted that Payne's reign would be over mere months after its much ballyhooed beginning. However, with an ambitious new MLSE President in the form of Tim Leiweke and the obvious realization that TFC has not been transformed into a club ready to compete in 2014, the trigger was pulled.

Few will likely know the true catalyst that lead to Payne's dismissal but the writing had been on the wall since Leiweke and head coach Ryan Nelsen appeared in tandem at a semi-secret society meeting with one supporter's group recently. Leiweke went out of his way to assure Nelsen's job security for 2014 but the absence of the team president spoke volumes.

BREAKING NEWS : Payne is out! No one lined up to replace him!

Seriously.

#StabilityNow #CarouselOfLaughter #TheShockHasWornOff

Kevin Payne has been relieved of his duties according to a reputable source (The Star).  He is to stay on in a consultancy role to ease the transition, but is stripped of his title.  Apparently, the list of debacles was enough for Tim Leiweke to sever ties with his good buddy.

Interesting nuggets to come from this news include that the $25 million to bolster the squad was green lit for Diego Forlan's acquisition, but the utter failure of landing him didn't help his cause.

To be fair, this guy was at least more proactive than the last guy, who was nothing more than happy to count the money for the honour of spending a few nights a season being blasted by season seat holders.

The million dollar question is : does this spell the end of Nelsen?  Hard to say.  Would like to think that with the terrible acquisitions and trades this side has made during his tenure, The Robins aren't as crap as the scoreline and record indicates.  They are a far better side than last year.  Defense is spotty, but improved.  Midfield is creative and aggressive.  Forwards are still terrible, but everyone else is trying to make up for their ongoing disappointments.  Can only dream what this side could look like with actual league-competitive talent...

(0:18 mark for the reference)

TFC Manager Meeting: Ryan Nelsen? Present?

You think you're beaten up now Ryan? Just wait.



When the Ryan Nelsen to Toronto FC rumours began floating around last week, the direction it would take was unclear. Potential player acquisition turned into player/coach turned into assistant coach turned into the downright shocking.
　
Harry Redknapp told the press a few days ago that his defender Nelsen was going to return to "America" because he wants to be a manager - most thought it was just 'Arry at his self-proclaimed illiterate best. Turns out he knew something we didn't. - the big Kiwi is reportedly going to take over the full head coaching duties at TFC from Paul Mariner. With the Redknapp "Seal of 'Trifficness" freshly stamped, Nelsen heads to the troubled Reds as the biggest splash in Kevin Payne's revolution so far.
　
There will no doubt be much weary hand-wringing among the TFC support as Nelsen would become the club's eighth manager through six seasons - and yet another rookie manager at that. In his early defence he is considered by most that have played with him or managed him as a tremendous character and leader and he has much experience playing in MLS with D.C. United under Kevin Payne's presidential leadership. While these aren't managerial accolades by any means, Payne has a history of hiring rookie managers in the likes of Peter Nowak and Ben Olsen. Whether Nelsen becomes one of their ilk or more like TFC's past rookie managers - only time will tell.
　
There will be time to dissect Paul Mariner's ill-fated managerial career when this story is confirmed but Payne must have been in the clean-slate frame of mind going forward. The bombastic Mariner burned a lot of bridges and goodwill from support with a combination of bad results and bizarre behaviour regarding all things TFC. There will be little love lost for the prickly Englishman but there will also be large segments of the population who will argue that "he wasn't given time" to prove himself here. Both sides of the coin however will hold out hope that our new Kiwi overlords can provide at the very least - a bit of stability and longevity.
　
Official news is said to be set for Tuesday morning. We will link any official club statement below. Well, below this unscheduled band meeting...

End of Winter leaves a flurry of questions

Goodbye sweet pun-maker.



As a warning, this article will leave you with far more questions than answers but a day after Aron Winter's "mutually agreed" departure from Toronto FC - we can't help but being left with many queries. The Dutchman's tenure, which started with such excitement upon his arrival, never gained enough momentum to build upon the small successes until it reached a point where the club's record made his dismissal inevitable. There were random bright spots which many thought would usher in a new era of success but most turned out to be false dawns. Why Aron Winter, by all accounts a very bright football mind, couldn't find the answer to bringing winning football to Toronto FC will likely be debated at length but for now, we are dogged with these few questions...
　
DID ARON WINTER FULLY "GET" MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER?
It's a funny league, this MLS. In simplistic terms it is mostly a push-and-run type league played at a pace and ferocity not too unlike the lower portion of the English Championship. While there are dashes of highly skilled and technical play on some of the clubs, the winning formula usually comes down to pace, athleticism and hard-nosed defending. However, apart from style comes the necessity to understand how to build your squad within MLS' very unique squad structures. With the salary cap and international restrictions hampering a new coach's choices, did Aron Winter ever get his head around the fact that he needed to use existing MLS talent as part of his rebuild? Few MLS clubs have met success without having a few established MLS "stars" in their starting eleven.
　
WAS "TOTAL FOOTBALL" TO AMBITIOUS FOR MLS?
While he never referred to his chosen "Dutch-style" as "Total Football" it was an easy way for the lay-person to get their head around Winter's plans. One has to wonder in hindsight though - did Winter try to run in this league before he could walk? While the idea of bringing the Ajax structure to Toronto, from our youngest Academy players up to the First Team, was one that had Reds' fans dreaming of a North American superclub - was it perhaps naive? Did Winter need a transitional system to usher in his complete system that could have seen a few more instant results while the bigger picture was gradually brought in?
　
WAS WINTER TOO STUBBORN?
This was a criticism held in many circles. Despite loss after loss and a full 2011 season that only saw six league victories, Winter doggedly stuck to his 4-3-3 formation. While you can almost credit the man for having such conviction in his beliefs, there were many times that the squad on the field simply couldn't handle the responsibility and high football IQ needed to effectively play that style. If Winter could have found a little flexibility in his tactics would he still be manager today?
　
WAS ORIGINALLY HIRING PAUL MARINER A RECIPE FOR DISASTER?
"One of these men just doesn't belong..." seemed to be the tune associated with the picture of Winter, Bob de Klerk and Paul Mariner when they were hired together. While Mariner seemed to be "the MLS mind" put in place to help the two league newbies wade through North America, just how well could they mesh? As far as footballing backgrounds go, two men reared in Ajax philosophy couldn't be further from a man who played in the long-ball era of English football and got his coaching chops in North America and Football League One. Was this a triumvirate that could never truly see eye-to-eye?
　
WAS THERE A POWER STRUGGLE?
TFC is run like a secret society so these questions will never be answered for certain but there seemed to be enough rumours being leaked to believe fractures had formed in the front office. As results and success continued to elude the club, was there a philosophical borderline drawn at BMO Field? Were there indeed two sides, one continuing to push for the Dutch system implementation with the other calling for a return to a more tried and tested "MLS style"? If this was the case, could success ever have been achieved by Winter?
　
WAS WINTER BLOCKED FROM MAKING MOVES?
One of the biggest side rumours that came out of the above mentioned rift was that Aron Winter was being stymied when it came to making player moves. Rumours swirled recently that Earl Cochrane still had a great deal of influence over transactions (and the backing of Tom Anselmi), and as an acolyte of the "MLS style", was making it difficult for Aron Winter to bring in players that would suit his tactics. If it is true that the club is pushed up against the salary cap as much as expected then there wouldn't be too much that Cochrane or anyone else could do to make things more difficult, however, any scenario which didn't see all members of the backroom staff pulling in the same direction would surely be a toxic environment.
　
DID THE DP SIGNINGS RAISE EXPECTATIONS TOO HIGH?
While few would find fault in adding players like Torsten Frings and Danny Koevermans to the squad - did their presence (and salary) change what was expected from Aron Winter in the eyes of fans and the ownership? Winter let it slip once in the off-season that the playoffs in 2012 were no certainty but when you add two expensive players with little peak time left in their careers, isn't there a feeling that immediate results should be forthcoming? It certainly mustn’t be easy for a player with a winning pedigree like Torsten Frings to see his career peter out in such circumstances but did having him on the team put expectations of immediate success on a timetable that was quicker than Winter could handle?
　
WAS THE JIM BRENNAN MOVE MADE TO NUDGE WINTER OUT?
When the vastly under experienced Jim Brennan was placed into to Assistant Coach's role a few weeks back, many TFC fans saw a much darker Machiavellian maneuver. Not only was a well-known "company man" being put into the # 2 role on the bench but it was also in the place of Aron Winter's friend and confidante Bob de Klerk. It is impossible to say if there was a souring of relations between Winter and de Klerk since that move was made but it must have put Winter in a very uncomfortable position. But was that the point? Did the ownership - so weary of the bad optics of firing another coach - want Winter to get so frustrated that he would walk on his own thus leaving Anselmi & Co. with no blood on their hands?
　
WHAT DID MLSE EXPECT BY NOW?
Amidst the smug platitudes dished out by Tom Anselmi at yesterday's press conference was the admission that things were "not good enough". Few TFC supporters would argue that things were even close to great but what did the owners want as of June 2012? Did they believe that four previous years of stunning mismanagement allowed under their watch would be erased in a year and a half? While most of us would have liked TFC to be in the playoff hunt this year, many also saw that it was an outside shot. No one here will overestimate MLSE's utter lack of football knowledge sat around their luxurious boardrooms but did they truly believe "this was the year"? Considering that their near-playoff appearance (mistakenly said to be in 2007 under John Carver!!!) was trotted out as a sign that "things aren't so bad" you can't think that their aims were sky-high - or was it the ever decreasing crowds (and revenues) that led them to wanting to appear "proactive"?
　
WAS WINTER'S DISMISSAL TOO QUICK?
A little bit of success under new manager Paul Mariner will erase lingering frustration with Aron Winter over time but we will never know if the Dutchman's grand dream could have ever worked. Yes, his time here left a legacy of greater importance on the Academy and homegrown players but whether or not we could have seen TFC playing "beautiful" Dutch-style football in MLS is lost. His firing is not unjustified - few managers in football would have survived a 0-5 start let alone a 0-9. However, it's hard not to believe that Aron Winter truly felt that he would be given, at the very least, his full three years to make his dream a reality. At the end of the day there were not enough signs that pointed to things heading in that direction. As TFC looks set to return to a more tested North American style, the one last question we may have when we one day look back on Aron Winter's tenure as TFC manager could be "what if"?

Winter out as Toronto FC fails to fire Tom Anselmi for sixth year running

"The Teflon Tom"

There was a great temptation today to go back and simply re-post whatever it was that we wrote when Mo Johnston "moved upstairs", John Carver "stepped down", Chris Cummins was axed, Preki was sacked and Nick Dasovic was tossed aside. We could have done that - but pressing "Ignore" in spellcheck every time "Anselmi" popped up would have been exhausting. So, instead of adding to the large amount of analysis that will surround Aron Winter's "resignation" today, we will honour the one mainstay of the past six years, Tom Anselmi, by just breaking today down into easy to digest press conference tidbits. Some are true, some maybe not-so-much but all have about the same value. For those of you expecting some longer deep analysis... maybe next August when new head coach Paul Mariner is fired we'll give it another go.
　
- Aron Winter "resigned" today despite being offered an opportunity to stay with TFC
- The job offered to Winter involved a Swiffer WetJet
- Winter and Tom Anselmi "mutually agreed" that it was best for the Dutchman to step down
- Despite being classy, Winter had a league record of 7-20-15
- Paul Mariner takes over the head coaching duties immediately
- Jim Brennan texts Anselmi "WTF! I thought we had a deal?"
- Tom Anselmi claims that team record was "not good enough"
- Tom Anselmi was in a sleep chamber for the last three months
- Mariner proclaims that existing players "good enough"
- Mariner refuses to say what they are "good enough" for
- Aron Winter actually left team to start boy band "The 5ive Year Planz" with Carver, Cummins, Dasovic and Preki
- Mariner backs away from Winter's preferred 4-3-3 formation - adds that "talk of systems annoys the piss out of him"
- Season ticket holders chomping at the bit to tell ticket reps that the ML$E circus "annoys the piss out of them"
- Bob de Klerk invented Dub Step
- Anselmi claims "the buck stops with him" but passes the buck quickly every time the media asks him a tough question
- Anselmi tells fans "not to see it as losing a head coach but more like gaining a future ex-coach"
- Club to play attractive "Total Plymouth Argyle" style
- Mariner says he is "very confident in his abilities"
- Hey! Liverpool are coming!
- Playoffs are very unlikely in 2012
- "Caribbean Carnival Night!"
- Six years, seven coaches...
- "Oktoberfest at BMO Field!"
- One of the few remaining employees from TFC Day One is still holding press conferences
- "Support The Troops?"
- Anselmi ends the conference by being carried out in a gold carriage while being fed grapes... waves hand with a flamboyant flourish and says "See you same time next year valued customers!"
　
We will have more in the coming days about the "End of Winter" but for now, if you want to re-live six other "Major TFC Announcements" go here. Or just wait until next summer. It's your call.