A career to fall back on. Now do "Blue Steel"!
Out with the old, in with TBD. The replacements are yet to be identified but Toronto FC lowered the boom on three former starting defenders and three Academy grads today as Paul Mariner & Co. begin to make space for TFC XII. The following dirty half-dozen were the first to be deemed surplus in the magical world of "No Frills" football but are unlikely the last...ADRIAN CANN: All the abs in the world couldn't save the former club MVP and nine-time Canadian international. For a stretch, Cann had become the club's most solid CB - which is of course not saying much - but a series of injuries was followed by an apparent lack of interest by the new manager. Thank God there is so much money to be made for 32-year old male models.
TY HARDEN: The only real surprise is that he was still here to be released. "Try Harder" was given more than enough chances to solidify a starter's role but his oak tree-esque mobility and constantly bewildered looks doomed him to petering out at TFC under a cloud of "mystery ailments". Off you go Ty. Finally.
DICOY WILLIAMS: Sad Tweet Alert! Sad Tweet Alert! The big Jamaican had the briefest of bright moments when he and Adrian Cann were a healthy duo but injuries and his 2km/h top speed doomed him to oblivion. That being said - he is a semi-regular with the Jamaican national team so are TFC missing something? Wrong Caribbean island maybe?
OSCAR CORDON: The diminutive midfielder seemed like he was the apple of Aron Winter's eye for a period but completely fell off the radar in 2012. Hopefully a useful NASL career can be carved out for the affable local lad.
KEITH BAKUBUYA: It all went downhill when the Academy grad told TFC TV that his last name was pronounced "MA-KOO-BE-YUH" instead of the far more entertaining "MAKKA-BOOYAH!" From that point on it was only a matter of time. A career snuffed out by boring pronunciation.
NICHOLAS LINDSAY: Lindsay was the first Academy grad to really turn heads at TFC. The speedy winger looked like he had the skills to play at a level similar to fellow grad Ashtone Morgan but an unfortunate (and daft) snowmobiling accident was the catalyst for the end of his TFC dream.
While many will bemoan the fate of three young locals, this is simply the reality of having an Academy system. It is unfortunate that a U-23 set up doesn't exist within the TFC framework but local kids are cut from clubs all over the world. As for the veteran defenders, there will be some sentiment for Cann but in all honesty none of these three were the way forward for Toronto and would be hard-pressed to make the bench on many MLS clubs. The only questions that remain are "who is next?" and more importantly "who is replacing them?" The post-season fun has begun.
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