Safe to say that nothing will happen today... Maybe tomorrow or Friday but today will be a no news day.
Safe to say that nothing will happen today... Maybe tomorrow or Friday but today will be a no news day.
Makes me think of the teasers on the news.Originally Posted by Haddy
"Are Toronto FC on the verge of signing new players? The answer might surprise you - stay tuned!"
There are no signals from the girl in this story. Some big shot is telling you that. But you don't know. (Actually there are if the girl is Leiweke. But if the girl is Forlan, you've got nothing.)
Every media report on this so far has the same source: TFC. I am afraid their motives for talking so much about this are not necessarily aligned with "the truth".
Leiweke's interview two days ago made his game plan clear - it's razzle dazzle time in TO. Parade route for the Leafs! Tank for Wiggins! Make the business worth $2billion more than it is today! Talk big! Go big!
Regardless of whether you agree with that, it is a fact that there is absolutely nobody who can speak objectively to the difference between what TFC wants, vs the reality of what the likelihood of this signing (or these signings) actually is. TFC sure isn't going to do that, and may well not know anyway.
When you see a story with a second source, wake me up.
Last edited by ensco; 07-17-2013 at 07:47 AM.
"There are some people who might have better technique than me, and some may be fitter than me, but the main thing is tactics. With most players, tactics are missing. You can divide tactics into insight, trust, and daring." - Johan Cruyff
Nice analogy.
Article from The Star about Leiweke's bullish approach to all three teams. His short-term focus is TFC. Last couple lines of the quote will increase your inpatience
http://www.thestar.com/sports/2013/0...thestar.com%2F
“We can fix (TFC) quicker than the other two because it’s more free-wheeling. In the NHL, there’s no Stanley Cup that does not come from the draft. You cannot free-agent your way to a Stanley Cup.“MLS is a little different. Much of that roster has to be made up of trades.”
Speaking more generally about the moribund soccer team, Leiweke is ruthless in his assessment of its first seven years.
“We disrespected the fans by not giving the kind of players that teams like New York and L.A. are signing. The fans act like New York and L.A. We acted like . . . well, I’m going to piss somebody off here . . . ” — he almost names the city that pales next to his new home, before thinking better of it — “ . . . like a small-market team.
“We changed the entire league’s opinion of the viability of soccer in North America. And then we blew it because we chickened out. When we could take the big dives, we always found the ‘B’ player. We found guys that we thought, ‘Well, he’s not David Beckham, but he’s awful good.’ No, he’s not. Why not get the ‘A’ guy?”
Off the record, Leiweke names two “A” guys the team is currently pursuing. Both are massively expensive, major international stars.
^^^ that is exactly what he was on about at the RSL game. One of the names starts with F.
hahaha
Road Trips: July 7 2007 Chicago, July 22nd 2007 Columbus, August 11 2007 NY, October 13 2007 LA, March 29 2008 Columbus, May 24th 2008 DC, May 26 2008 Montreal, June 28th 2008 NE, March 7-11-14 2009 Charleston, March 28 2009 Columbus, April 10 2010 New England, May 12 2010 Montreal, April 7 2012 Montreal, March 16 2013 Montreal , June 3 2014 Montreal, March 14 2015 Columbus
Twitter: @RPBPhil
^^^ They can pursue all they want. Problem is getting anyone to sign for a bottom feeder in MLS like us. They would have to be doing it only for the money and not because they really want to come to Toronto. Whatever....I just want to see us score more than the other team more often....that would be nice for a change. However they want to get that done.
I seem to recall that the Star ran a news story about a mayor of a certain North American city, doing something illegal, captured on video, watched by reputable media members. After much hullabaloo the video never turned up and we're now back to the status quo... but I'm sure this is different.Article from The Star about Leiweke's bullish approach to all three teams. His short-term focus is TFC. Last couple lines of the quote will increase your inpatience
http://www.thestar.com/sports/2013/0...thestar.com%2F
Hmmm... grains of salt... salty...
a ha ha heh he hoo.. ha
I told you guys that this would happen at the start of the season. Only a few believed me. Everyone else thought a few tweaks was all they would do.
I don't know why everyone's so shocked that the "Worst Team in the World" needed to change the roster. I'm also quite surprised that people who have watched cap-restricted sports for years have apparently never before seen the phenomenon of clearing the decks to make cap room before bringing in new blood, even though it happens all the time in all sports. I guess everyone here is just off the boat and has never seen this before.
I'm also surprised that people expect a team that was at the bottom the previous year to miraculously turn around before the new blood is brought in.
I said at the start of the season that the same team wouldn't be around start of 2014, that we hadn't seen Payne's team yet. We still haven't, so how come the drama about burning scarves, dropping tickets, etc.? Payne knows how to build a winner, and with ML$E he has truckloads of cash to do it with. Make me even more surprised if we don't have a solid team in another year.
Last edited by Oldtimer; 07-17-2013 at 08:18 AM.
MLS is a tough, physical league, that emphasizes speed, and features plastic fields, grueling travel, extreme weather, and incompetent refs. - NK Toronto
This post should just be stickied at the top or something.I told you guys that this would happen at the start of the season. Only a few believed me. Everyone else thought a few tweaks was all they would do.
I don't know why everyone's so shocked that the "Worst Team in the World" needed to change the roster. I'm also quite surprised that people who have watched cap-restricted sports for years have apparently never before seen the phenomenon of clearing the decks to make cap room before bringing in new blood, even though it happens all the time in all sports. I guess everyone here is just of the boat and has never seen this before.
I'm also surprised that people expect a team that was at the bottom the previous year to miraculously turn around before the new blood is brought in.
I said at the start of the season that the same team wouldn't be around start of 2014, that we hadn't seen Payne's team yet. We still haven't, so how come the drama about burning scarves, dropping tickets, etc.? Payne knows how to build a winner, and with ML$E he has truckloads of cash to do it with. Make me even more surprised if we don't have a solid team in another year.
I'm disappointed like everyone else but oldtimer is right. This team needs more time for payne nelson and leweiki to get this ship stearing in the right direction.. I do have a strong feeling that they will, and once they do it'll be different. We have watched clowns coach this team and idiots run the offices time have changed time to sit on our hands a little longer still more house cleaning is required. The other guys left a big mess like teenagers trying to raise kids.
Article from The Star about Leiweke's bullish approach to all three teams. His short-term focus is TFC. Last couple lines of the quote will increase your inpatience
http://www.thestar.com/sports/2013/0...thestar.com%2FTom Anselmi is a useless asshole and that sums it up right there.“I asked (Rogers CEO) Nadir (Mohammed) and (Bell CEO) George (Cope), ‘If I came to you with David Beckham, would you let me sign him?’ And they said, ‘Yes’.
“Then I said, ‘If that’s the case, then why haven’t you?’ And they said, ‘Because no one ever asked.’ And that was it.”
We are getting Falcao?
Umm...that was an interview with Lieweke. A trifle bit different then the Ford thing. Personally, I'm not a fan of QMI's treatment of non-right wing populist types, but that doesn't stop me from reading Larsen. I separate sports from politics...otherwise I'd go nuts.
Last edited by OgtheDim; 07-17-2013 at 08:55 AM.
Considering he just signed with Monaco, I would say we're more likely to sign Falco.We are getting Falcao?
C'mon signings!!!!!!
Right, well, that's a solid comparison...
Reading what Leiweke is saying, sounds like the goalposts are moving now he is involved. Maybe before we were after the B players, maybe Stankovic and somebody else. Now we are after Forlan/Kaka A type player and a good up and comer that will be DP in the future. O'Dea's salary also gives more opportunity to get the A type players too.
I know it appears that nothing is happening, but I'm impressed that management are making the brave and bold moves that past management were too shit scared to touch. Moving Silva and O'Dea is extremely bold. If past management had been so bold to get rid of DeGuz when he was eating up our cap space and playing horribly, then maybe we wouldn't be in the poor position we are today. Having these giant albatross around the teams neck is just holding them back. It takes some guts to get rid of the high paid players and write off that money like it never existed, but its also the best moves for the club.
Pfft. Facepalm indeed... What I meant was, sometimes expectations are formed and not met.Right, well, that's a solid comparison...
Moving on.
They'll sign Falcao - moves like this will get people in the stadium
If I were to list the historical problems with this club, in order of importance, I don't think "lack of a big-name signing" would make the top 20.
This team has always had enough resources to succeed at it's disposal. It's simply trusted those resources to the wrong people. We're usually had the wrong people managing the club and the wrong people overseeing the people managing. We've underestimated the need to hire people with detailed knowledge of the game and successful track records.
At least you can say Leiweke brings a track record of performance, if nothing else. His teams have been winners. The way he describes getting there sounds bat-shit crazy / revisionist at times but I won't argue with the end results.
I applaud Leiweke's bravado statements and his enthusiasm, but I think he will find that it's going to be a far more challenging task to attract world class players to Toronto than it was in Los Angeles. I think we live in one of the greatest cities in the world, but the fact of the matter is that Toronto doesn’t have the cache of LA or New York worldwide.
That being said, I think Toronto can eventually become an attractive destination for prospective free agents, but the other obstacle management faces at the moment in terms of recruiting star players is our abysmal track record.
Personally, I can live without the multimillion dollar signings for another couple of years while the team builds a solid foundation based on youth, skill, and economically sound decisions.
No one can blame you with being disappointed. I'm disappointed with how the team has gone for years. We had such great hopes in 2007, and we had such utterly incompetent people running things that the league had to step in to save things (even with a highly "activist" FO like our league has that's highly unusual). I do think that the new management can turn things around, though, but I never had hopes for this season. However, next year should be quite interesting. I expect the rebuild will be largely done before the start of next season, and 100% complete by the summer transfer window, 2014.
MLS is a tough, physical league, that emphasizes speed, and features plastic fields, grueling travel, extreme weather, and incompetent refs. - NK Toronto
Sounds like maybe the finances at MLSE is also a stumblling block.
Off the record, Leiweke names two “A” guys the team is currently pursuing. Both are massively expensive, major international stars.
We’ll see in the next little while if Mohammed, Cope and the rest of the board meant what they said about Beckham at that initial meeting, because now they’re being asked.
No one thinks less of Toronto than Torontonians, and Canadians in general, when it comes to comparing it to other places. I've lived all over the world and most people have a more cosmopolitan view of Canadian cities (particularly Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver) than Canadians do. I've talked to lots of people from the U.S. and Europe over the years and Toronto is viewed as a major city. It may never be in the same breath as London, New York, Paris and Rome, but that's a facet of history; Los Angeles is romantic to Europeans because California is tropical to them and the city enormous. It's not viewed as a "great city" though in the way that New York is.Originally posted by Ag Football: That being said, I think Toronto can eventually become an attractive destination for prospective free agents, but the other obstacle management faces at the moment in terms of recruiting star players is our abysmal track record.
In fact, most Europeans I've talked to would put Toronto, Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago et al and every other big city a rung below New York.
The one thing I read Lieweke mention in an interview a while back was how signing Beckham changed the world perception of LA. After he came then a lot of better players followed. Yes it's LA but they weren't exactly filling the pitch with stars before he arrived and it was still Hollywood and all that then too. Same for NY.
In that context, and I agree with the whole development of a youthful core, but I can see the logic of a signing who is an 'A lister' with a big name but who is also still a great player/difference maker. Minus Frings we never had an 'A lister' and Frings' abilities had already slipped to the point of being less than great (still good) by the time he got here.
If there's one thing MLSE has, it's money. Yesterday the Raptors waived a player (Linas Kleiza) to get out of his cap hit but they still have to pay his entire salary. He was due to make $4.6 million this year. The highest paid player in MLS is Henry at $4.35 million. MLSE will have no problem paying a player in that range.
Last edited by mowe; 07-17-2013 at 10:11 AM.
C'mon MLSE.. show us you've changed and open up your wallets to something spectacular!
Gotta give some credit. Puts his name on two A list guys they are pursuing. He doesn't seem the type to be willing to take a hit to his ego if they come up with nothing.
I know he talks a lot about making it right with the fans, but I wonder if he has given any though to the fact that "making it right" will involve more than just some on field moves?
(love the stickers quote in the story!!!)
Edit: spelling
Before we get carried away on this old trope... MLSE's failures were never about willingness to spend, just an incompetence in picking those who got to spend it.
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