I have to say, if it is anyone other than the Swiss defender today, I will be impressed with how tight lipped TFC has become.
I have to say, if it is anyone other than the Swiss defender today, I will be impressed with how tight lipped TFC has become.
I agree with you. The fact that roughly half of the US national mens team is made up of MLS players is further indication that MLS may not be a great league, but it has a sound, if not great, home grown (mostly US) contingent.Originally Posted by Ultra & Proud
Pretty much what I'm expecting
If we are going to discuss why some people make it an others don't, look at issues a player coming here has to deal with
The Travel, on schedule only flights, across thousands of miles
the changing weather, including heat and humidity, rain and cold
the general lack of technical ability and understanding by players (i.e. they will not be where you expect them to be)
how a player reacts to his teammates being not up to what he is used to
the off field enticements of the relative abundance of stuff compared to most of the world,
the ability of any family to settle
All these variables make any transfer from outside of North America to MLS an unknown. Which is why due diligence on both the capabilities and the mental aspect of a player is necessary to success. And even then, its not a given.
I would say this. Every family man we have had says the same thing - Toronto is a GREAT place to raise your kids. Health care and a good education system.
And most young guys love the night life here. As has been stated before, its really only the American kids who have been sheltered and never been outside their comfort zone much who have had an issue playing in Toronto.
Perhaps this is why, and I know it's not generally met with any applause around here, that journey men players seem to work out in this league. They've traveled and seen it all already.
I'd say that's definitely a fair comment. I'm more excited than not that Rey is here, and definitely wish him the best since he's now wearing our badge.
People have made the point before that even pros like Mourinho and Harry Redknapp have admitted using Football Manager (the former CM) for scouting; Joel Lindpere was rated highly on that game for years and no one took a sniff. Funny how things work out.
There is a simple question to be had. Do you believe that Mariner and co. did a good job or a poor job? How badly do you think they did? If you are in unison with everyone else (and you should be), they clearly did a horrific job. They signed players that shouldn't have been signed, they signed them for too much and too long.
This brings me to my point. If that's where you're coming from, why do you expect to be good so soon? Where is that coming from? I get the whole 6 years, blah blah blah. I've been a fan that's watched almost every game and been to more than I can remember (and thank god for that considering how they played for most of them). With that said, you have to afford people some patience to do their job. If the guy who did your job before you put you in a 2 year hole and you were expected to dig out in a year, would that be fair? Of course it wouldn't. Give them time. They are new management and still clearing the dead weight. What did you expect to happen this year? This isn't fantasy football where you can buy new players every week.
Personally, I can see the direction and I like it. Payne has shown a willingness to get rid of people that albeit friendly and important, needed to go to due to salary cap strangleholds. He has signed Laba who has been excellent, Convey has been decent. Slowly I have confidence he will continue doing the right things. If after a couple years he hasn't turned it around and we are seeing the same poor signings, same poor results, same poor running of the team then by all means have a go. At this point, it's nothing but whining for the sake of whining.
Last edited by Kingvikingstad; 07-31-2013 at 10:38 AM.
The mods were correct in reminding us (me) that this is off topic, so all I can say by way of response is: save this post and perhaps we can return to this issue in a year or two, to see just how far things have gone with the team. If is too early to criticise, I accept that, but it is too early to prepare a parade...so I will stop "whinning", particularly if they start "winning".
If nothing happens today, does Nelly have some 'splainin to do? Or can he just say "well I did say I was holding my breath?"
What "splainin" does he need to do exactly? Of course he hopes they can sign someone every day, but it's never a guarantee.
Last week he said he expected something in a few days. So I'd take his announcement predictions with a grain of salt.
I don't understand why Nelsen and Payne can't just say: "We're working on adding to the squad. We know it's important. I can't comment on exactly when things will happen but rest assured, we're working on adding. Sit tight."
All of this "next week/coming days/best player in MLS" without living up to it gets old. Just tell the media to be patient and leave it at that.
The media is never patient - for better or worse. Their bosses need stories and they need quotes.
Exactly and us supporters aren't either. If he said the line about not commenting on when things will happen then everyone would automatically assume than we have nothing in the works and the 'working on improving the squad' line was just BS to sell more tickets.
Transfer window is all about shenanigans. Impossible to parse out what is legit and what is bs and what is just assumption.
TFC have a long running habit of panicking then paying way too much money for a somewhat known player. I hope we've learned our lesson and don't panic buy this time around. Hence, the more unknown the next signing is, the more proof this management is finally on the right track.
This is true. Before we would have snagged some aging, pointless player (like Heskey) and talked him up from his past resume or else scoured these boards and read the praise heaped upon Edwini-Bonsu and overpaid him by $100K to make the supporters happy with a Canuck. The longer this takes and the less we hear the better I think.
hmm, Rey?
My apologies. I just noticed it now as I didn't get that far. A discussion for another day.
I have it on some authority that Jonas Elmer may have been in town yesterday.
Note my lack of conviction these days. Too many times burned on rumours and visions. Even my own.
"Failure simply isn't an option at this stage. TFC pushed its chips to the middle of the table when it splurged on Bradley and Defoe and reinforced its bet by making savvy acquisitions elsewhere. This collection of players is capable of delivering on the promises made during the close season. There are no more excuses available for TFC. Only success will continue the process of atoning for the past and establishing a higher standard for the future." FOX Sports
Is there anything factually wrong about that?
The idea is simple.
If Payne says anything , it's a smoke show.
If Nelly says something, there's a chance.
Nelly said he's hoping tomorrow.
Pretty specific, no?
Nelly and Co said something was coming down and Rey did, after a while, but a name was added.
Last edited by Marc"2L"; 07-31-2013 at 01:00 PM.
Yes, as a matter of fact, I was that man behind you in Loblaw's buying cheese to go with that Reisling I bought at the LCBO. And, indeed it was a wonderful night, thank you very much.
Trust me....I'm Swiss.
Everyone breath in and out... no relax. It'll happen when it does.
Last time I've truly been surprised by a move was the Frings/Koevs announcement. Seems like anything the club do these days we know well in advance.
Reports are suggesting that Toronto FC have agreed to a one and a half year deal for Swiss left-back Jonas Elmer. Elmer currently plays for FC Winterthur of the Swiss second division and his club would likely require a transfer fee to complete the deal.
Toronto FC fans are all hoping for some new faces to come in and help boost the attack but the rumour mill has dried up in recent days since that whole mess that surrounded the club's alleged pursuit of Diego Forlan. This summer transfer window has seen some talented players leave the club with only Alvaro Rey and Mark Bloom being brought in. It is not exactly the kind of business to inspire a lot of confidence among fans considering all the big talk from the club.
Now it seems that the club are on the trail of another role player level signing as they are reportedly on the verge of signing Swiss left-back Jonas Elmer. Elmer currently plays for FC Winterthur in the Swiss Challenge League which is the country's second division.
Prior to joining Winterthur he had a good run in the Swiss Super League having made his debut as a teenager. He first established himself with FC Aarau, a club often around the relegation zone, having joined the club after spending time in Chelsea's development system. When Aarau were finally relegated down to the second tier Elmer took the chance to sign a three year contract with one of the country's top clubs as he joined FC Sion.
At Sion he struggled to lock down a place in the first team as the club underachieved for his first two seasons. That led to him spending 2012 out on loan to AC Bellinzona in the second division. He joined the recently relegated club for the second half of the season and became a regular in their squad helping them to claim the best defensive record in the division.
Following the end of the 2011-2012 season his contract with FC Sion came to an end and he moved on to FC Winterthur. In his first season with the club they narrowly missed on on the promotion playoffs to the top division, doing so on the back of one of the division's best defensive records once again.
The new Swiss Challenge League season is now underway and despite Winterthur getting off to a slow start with just one win from their first three matches Elmer has played every minute of league play. It continues his impressive streak for the club where he has started every match since his arrival in Winterthur going the full 90 in all but one match. Now it appears that they are set to sell one of their key players with Elmer looking to play outside of Switzerland for the first time in his professional career.
Der Landbote are reporting that Elmer has agreed to a deal that would bring him to MLS to join Toronto FC with the only thing missing being the official confirmation. Their report suggests that the player will come in on a one and a half year deal and that Toronto will pay some form of transfer fee for his services since he is still under contract with Winterthur.
If this signing does take place it would be bad news for Ashtone Morgan who was just starting to work his way back into the starting lineup as Elmer would almost certainly wind up starting ahead of him. Despite spending the past few seasons in the Swiss second division Elmer would likely prove to be an upgrade for TFC at the left-back position which is something the club has been in need of considering Morgan's struggles.
Landing a player like Jonas Elmer would be another move that could prove to be a nice depth addition and help to establish that solid core group of players. With Elmer being 25-years-old he would have the chance to contribute for a number of years should things work out well for him in Toronto. It is the kind of addition that clubs need to make but the problem is that it does not really live up to the hype that was offered by the management team.
There don't seem to be any other sources reporting the deal so it will be interesting to see if it does get completed in the coming days. On paper it does seem like it could be a solid addition at a position where the club could use some solidity.
^ Cut and Paste from "wakingthered"
Thanks... coulda just linked it though
http://www.wakingthered.com/2013/7/3...thur-left-back
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