denime
08-14-2008, 06:08 AM
No lack of mettle here
For a brief moment during Wednesday's conference call with Canadian men's national team coach Dale Mitchell, I thought Toronto FC head coach John Carver had commandeered the telephone on the other end.
"One thing everyone needs to understand is that there are clear rules with FIFA as to when you can get the players and when you can't," started Mitchell. "I am not sure why the MLS chooses to ignore international dates ... it is black and white."
With a tone that was a mixture of both disbelief and frustration, the coach of Canada's World Cup squad then applauded Houston Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear for the understanding he showed in abiding by the rules and releasing star midfielder Dwayne De Rosario and goalkeeper Pat Onstad in time to face Jamaica in World Cup qualifying.
In the midst of an ever-tightening Western Conference playoff race, the Dynamo will play Chivas USA on the very same night its stars line up as members of Mitchell's team at BMO Field in Toronto.
"(Dom) has been good to us over the past couple of years."
While the words were Mitchell's, the tone was unequivocally Carver-ian. Meaning, catch the TFC coach on the right day and he'll spill a bean or two about the head-shaking, brow-rubbing policies the MLS chooses to operate under. The fact that the MLS refuses to acknowledge pre-determined FIFA dates by scheduling league games on the very same night is one of those head-shaking policies.
(Insert head shake, brow rub.)
read more (http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/blogs/2008/08/13/johnston_blog/)
For a brief moment during Wednesday's conference call with Canadian men's national team coach Dale Mitchell, I thought Toronto FC head coach John Carver had commandeered the telephone on the other end.
"One thing everyone needs to understand is that there are clear rules with FIFA as to when you can get the players and when you can't," started Mitchell. "I am not sure why the MLS chooses to ignore international dates ... it is black and white."
With a tone that was a mixture of both disbelief and frustration, the coach of Canada's World Cup squad then applauded Houston Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear for the understanding he showed in abiding by the rules and releasing star midfielder Dwayne De Rosario and goalkeeper Pat Onstad in time to face Jamaica in World Cup qualifying.
In the midst of an ever-tightening Western Conference playoff race, the Dynamo will play Chivas USA on the very same night its stars line up as members of Mitchell's team at BMO Field in Toronto.
"(Dom) has been good to us over the past couple of years."
While the words were Mitchell's, the tone was unequivocally Carver-ian. Meaning, catch the TFC coach on the right day and he'll spill a bean or two about the head-shaking, brow-rubbing policies the MLS chooses to operate under. The fact that the MLS refuses to acknowledge pre-determined FIFA dates by scheduling league games on the very same night is one of those head-shaking policies.
(Insert head shake, brow rub.)
read more (http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/blogs/2008/08/13/johnston_blog/)