TFC 2013 general player moves/speculation/etc.

[Haddy]

Newell's Old Boys are not playing any games now. The season and cup games are over.

I wonder what the new manager, Berti, thinks of him? Depth behind Trezeguet or no?

[Oranje]

Larson is the only one I can think of, with wide distribution, that has actually played the game at ahigh level.

I do not know any of them personally, so this definitely doesn't apply to all of them, but I've worked in a major newsroom for over 10 years and the soccer stories go to the one guy who watches the game. In many cases, that one guy has watched all his life and has a strong understanding. But every so often, a hockey puck in sheep's clothing.

time will fix it, just a few years ago an aspiring soccer journo was told to pick a different sport or profession. Now publishers need them.

DeVos was definitely minor league compared to Larson

[jloome]

Larson is the only one I can think of, with wide distribution, that has actually played the game at a high level.

I do not know any of them personally, so this definitely doesn't apply to all of them, but I've worked in a major newsroom for over 10 years and the soccer stories go to the one guy who watches the game. In many cases, that one guy has watched all his life and has a strong understanding. But every so often, a hockey puck in sheep's clothing.

time will fix it, just a few years ago an aspiring soccer journo was told to pick a different sport or profession. Now publishers need them.

More commonly in major paper sports departments they don't have enough staff left yet to guarantee any of them are soccer fans and often it's assigned to whoever is the junior guy, or has a free slot on their other beats. Old guys like Dalla Costa and (the late) George Gross are the exception now, not the rule.

Uniformly, sports reporting has been exceptionally poor on a national level for years; endemically so, because they work on a certain pattern and fear losing access more than losing readers for doing their job and taking on tougher stories and questions.

Molinaro does okay, but no one who writes about TFC is doing much more than covering breaking beat news. I worked as a reporter for more than twenty years and cultivating sources is difficult to do when you're reporting the breaking stuff as well. Almost everything leaked to you on a beat is with an agenda attached, whereas when you're working for months on a single subject, you can cultivate sources who genuinely trust you and will leak you stuff. I worked one beat once for five years and by the end, everyone I covered was so afraid of being the subject of a story (they all had hands in the municipal cookie jar in one way or another) that they turned over on each other like pancakes on a hotplate, but that's definitely not typical.

Seriously, good reporting includes a level of depth with respect to the material that just isn't taken into account here. No one's examining training methodology, or the magical MLS math that has clubs clearly making money that barely break even, or the long-term legal status of single corporate entities, or changes in training or tactical methodology that may have led to the improvements in the league generally, or etc etc etc etc.

There are a million broader angles to covering something properly, and they lead, in turn, to a more concrete understanding of what's really going on. For example, if someone had ever done a proper feature on TFC's scouting system in the past, we might have been forced to actually get one. The canard that the club doesn't want to co-operate is what separates a good journalist from a bad one; they're not supposed to want to co-operate, you knuckleheads, that's what makes it a good story.

Bah. Ranting. Retired and writing fiction as LH Thomson, loving it.

[Whoop]

For example, if someone had ever done a proper feature on TFC's scouting system in the past, we might have been forced to actually get one. The canard that the club doesn't want to co-operate is what separates a good journalist from a bad one; they're not supposed to want to co-operate, you knuckleheads, that's what makes it a good story.

This right here...

[Phil]

Well, I have been watching the reporter circus for some time now. Larson is trending into the blogsphere with the bias he displays. He trolls on twitter and blames his auto post feature, calls out RPB on many occasions and promotes this attitiude of "I know because I cover the team so don't question things". The only value I get from him is that he does the beat reporting on twitter so it is useful to get the updates, I just don't want the other tripe he engages in.

Molinaro is fine, at least he has the stones to come on here and gather insight vs. calling us 'that board' in not so vielded shots at us.

Rudi is bang on with most of his stuff and reflective of a guy who works his ass off and actually investigates things before damning the team. Its a bad team, we all get that but to shit on every move they make in attempts to get better certainly gets tired. If they sign Forlan, they would complain, instead they jump all over a signing and say it isn't enough. Its a no win. They had the guy in, gave him a look see then signed him on the 3rd attempt to do so. Doesn't sound like a B squad player, it just sounds like it took some time to get it finished. He is a piece of the team, not the central building figure for the franchise.

[Wolves_On_Tour]

Well, I have been watching the reporter circus for some time now. Larson is trending into the blogsphere with the bias he displays. He trolls on twitter and blames his auto post feature, calls out RPB on many occasions and promotes this attitiude of "I know because I cover the team so don't question things". The only value I get from him is that he does the beat reporting on twitter so it is useful to get the updates, I just don't want the other tripe he engages in.

Molinaro is fine, at least he has the stones to come on here and gather insight vs. calling us 'that board' in not so vielded shots at us.

Rudi is bang on with most of his stuff and reflective of a guy who works his ass off and actually investigates things before damning the team. Its a bad team, we all get that but to shit on every move they make in attempts to get better certainly gets tired. If they sign Forlan, they would complain, instead they jump all over a signing and say it isn't enough. Its a no win. They had the guy in, gave him a look see then signed him on the 3rd attempt to do so. Doesn't sound like a B squad player, it just sounds like it took some time to get it finished. He is a piece of the team, not the central building figure for the franchise.

[69Chevy396]

More commonly in major paper sports departments they don't have enough staff left yet to guarantee any of them are soccer fans and often it's assigned to whoever is the junior guy, or has a free slot on their other beats. Old guys like Dalla Costa and (the late) George Gross are the exception now, not the rule.

Uniformly, sports reporting has been exceptionally poor on a national level for years; endemically so, because they work on a certain pattern and fear losing access more than losing readers for doing their job and taking on tougher stories and questions.

Molinaro does okay, but no one who writes about TFC is doing much more than covering breaking beat news. I worked as a reporter for more than twenty years and cultivating sources is difficult to do when you're reporting the breaking stuff as well. Almost everything leaked to you on a beat is with an agenda attached, whereas when you're working for months on a single subject, you can cultivate sources who genuinely trust you and will leak you stuff. I worked one beat once for five years and by the end, everyone I covered was so afraid of being the subject of a story (they all had hands in the municipal cookie jar in one way or another) that they turned over on each other like pancakes on a hotplate, but that's definitely not typical.

Seriously, good reporting includes a level of depth with respect to the material that just isn't taken into account here. No one's examining training methodology, or the magical MLS math that has clubs clearly making money that barely break even, or the long-term legal status of single corporate entities, or changes in training or tactical methodology that may have led to the improvements in the league generally, or etc etc etc etc.

There are a million broader angles to covering something properly, and they lead, in turn, to a more concrete understanding of what's really going on. For example, if someone had ever done a proper feature on TFC's scouting system in the past, we might have been forced to actually get one. The canard that the club doesn't want to co-operate is what separates a good journalist from a bad one; they're not supposed to want to co-operate, you knuckleheads, that's what makes it a good story.

Bah. Ranting. Retired and writing fiction as LH Thomson, loving it.

......well, now you can tell us what canard means.

[BuSaPuNk]

Well, I have been watching the reporter circus for some time now. Larson is trending into the blogsphere with the bias he displays. He trolls on twitter and blames his auto post feature, calls out RPB on many occasions and promotes this attitiude of "I know because I cover the team so don't question things". The only value I get from him is that he does the beat reporting on twitter so it is useful to get the updates, I just don't want the other tripe he engages in.

Molinaro is fine, at least he has the stones to come on here and gather insight vs. calling us 'that board' in not so vielded shots at us.

Rudi is bang on with most of his stuff and reflective of a guy who works his ass off and actually investigates things before damning the team. Its a bad team, we all get that but to shit on every move they make in attempts to get better certainly gets tired. If they sign Forlan, they would complain, instead they jump all over a signing and say it isn't enough. Its a no win. They had the guy in, gave him a look see then signed him on the 3rd attempt to do so. Doesn't sound like a B squad player, it just sounds like it took some time to get it finished. He is a piece of the team, not the central building figure for the franchise.

This post is all kinds of right.

[Derko]

Player moves, speculation, etc. thread. I guess Toronto Sports writers covering TFC falls under that category.

We must give Rey the rest of the season to judge, no!

[Ultra & Proud]

We must give Rey the rest of the season to judge, no!

Usually they get judged as crap slightly before they get signed so the answer would be no I guess.

[Canary10]

The amount of negativity on twitter (and I get the twitterati word, twittiots is better), is so much it's actually making me more excited about the team again. And it just seems so misplaced RIGHT NOW when we have a leadership group at this team with a good track record and tons of MLS knowledge. I mean, who else would you want leading MLSE than the guy who led AEG while their teams won a Stanley Cup, MLS Cups and and NBA championship? If you're down on Leiweke, honestly, there is no one who could lead MLSE that you would be satisfied with.

I agree with all jloome's comments. I think we're really not well served when there really isn't anyone in the media capable of giving a real assessment of a player like Rey. What is a realistic expectation for him as a right midfielder in Nelsen's system? Comments like "he's depth" aren't really helpful.

[gdg_9]

Well, I have been watching the reporter circus for some time now. Larson is trending into the blogsphere with the bias he displays. He trolls on twitter and blames his auto post feature, calls out RPB on many occasions and promotes this attitiude of "I know because I cover the team so don't question things". The only value I get from him is that he does the beat reporting on twitter so it is useful to get the updates, I just don't want the other tripe he engages in.

Molinaro is fine, at least he has the stones to come on here and gather insight vs. calling us 'that board' in not so vielded shots at us.

Rudi is bang on with most of his stuff and reflective of a guy who works his ass off and actually investigates things before damning the team. Its a bad team, we all get that but to shit on every move they make in attempts to get better certainly gets tired. If they sign Forlan, they would complain, instead they jump all over a signing and say it isn't enough. Its a no win. They had the guy in, gave him a look see then signed him on the 3rd attempt to do so. Doesn't sound like a B squad player, it just sounds like it took some time to get it finished. He is a piece of the team, not the central building figure for the franchise.

Couldn't agree more!!!

[TOBOR !]

Bah. Ranting. Retired and writing fiction as LH Thomson, loving it.

Says here that you make seatposts : http://www.lhthomson.com/

[TOBOR !]

Usually they get judged as crap slightly before they get signed so the answer would be no I guess.

well, look at our track record - but who else would sign here ?

[Phil]

well, look at our track record - but who else would sign here ?

While I understand this line of reasoning, to give it full consideration there are a ton of guys who would sign here. We have been a really bad team pretty much out of the gate and especially for the last few years. Nothing has been givien time to take root and the amount of change we have self imposed has been very destructive on the team / management makeup. There are some players out there that want to be a part of such a big turnaround though. When they see a club struggling for so long, its inevitable that eventually something turns around and they want to be a part of that. Its the challenge that motivates them, not the ease of the experience.

Those are the players we want, and I hope they get them signed. Passengers are not needed on the team. TFC went out and got itself a president with experience, now they are all scouting a searching for some players that want to live in a pretty nice city and turn around our crappy club. I hope they do it, time will tell.

[DOMIN8R]

Says here that you make seatposts : http://www.lhthomson.com/

Impressive. Over 30 years experience.

[Ultra & Proud]

well, look at our track record - but who else would sign here ?

Laba? Caldwell?

But prior to coming here Laba was getting dumped on for his goal numbers on Wiki and Caldwell was HOOFBALL!!!1! because he came from the English leagues. I still believe there is almost no one realistically we could sign that everyone would be happy with. Even if we signed someone unrealistic like Rooney then the cry of ML$E just doing it to sell jerseys and raise ticket prices would come out. I have come to accept that a great majority of supporters mainly support complaining about everything to do with the team they support.

[Haddy]

DeVos was definitely minor league compared to Larson

DeVos is not a journalist.

[TOBOR !]

While I understand this line of reasoning, to give it full consideration there are a ton of guys who would sign here. We have been a really bad team pretty much out of the gate and especially for the last few years. Nothing has been givien time to take root and the amount of change we have self imposed has been very destructive on the team / management makeup. There are some players out there that want to be a part of such a big turnaround though. When they see a club struggling for so long, its inevitable that eventually something turns around and they want to be a part of that. Its the challenge that motivates them, not the ease of the experience.

Those are the players we want, and I hope they get them signed. Passengers are not needed on the team. TFC went out and got itself a president with experience, now they are all scouting a searching for some players that want to live in a pretty nice city and turn around our crappy club. I hope they do it, time will tell.

wait - we're still talking about TFC, right ?

While my comment was more intended as a throw away line, rather than a line of reasoning, I don't disagree with your reply.

What remains to be seen is how the club moves from here on in. People are watching to make sure the club makes positive steps before they make the step of signing on too soon (DeRo).

[Nuvinho]

So we got only 1 player in before the Columbus game....great!!

[Canary10]

Laba? Caldwell?

But prior to coming here Laba was getting dumped on for his goal numbers on Wiki and Caldwell was HOOFBALL!!!1! because he came from the English leagues. I still believe there is almost no one realistically we could sign that everyone would be happy with. Even if we signed someone unrealistic like Rooney then the cry of ML$E just doing it to sell jerseys and raise ticket prices would come out. I have come to accept that a great majority of supporters mainly support complaining about everything to do with the team they support.

This is so true. Is it a Toronto thing?

[Phil]

wait - we're still talking about TFC, right ?

While my comment was more intended as a throw away line, rather than a line of reasoning, I don't disagree with your reply.

What remains to be seen is how the club moves from here on in. People are watching to make sure the club makes positive steps before they make the step of signing on too soon (DeRo).

Totally agree. My response was only to highlight that there is another way to think about things and look for players. Reading that line a lot in the twitter shitter that is TFC lately so I justified a response to it here.

March on Mr. Robot!

[CommradePolski]

Our team is short on bodies. I dont see why we arent raiding the MLS free agency right now. Sign a few people to have people that can play for 40k for the remainder of the season. We have the cap space and the allocation. But we really need to be able to field a team and not be short handed.

[Red Skies At Night]

Our team is short on bodies. I dont see why we arent raiding the MLS free agency right now. Sign a few people to have people that can play for 40k for the remainder of the season. We have the cap space and the allocation. But we really need to be able to field a team and not be short handed.

But if TFC go that route, these 40k FA's would have to sign only for the balance of this season, otherwise we're back to having a bunch of stiffs clogging up the roster. But a good route to go if you can get them for this season only. Unlikely many of them would want to sign for just a short term though...

[v00d00daddy]

This is so true. Is it a Toronto thing?

Why do people think that complaining about a club that has done waaaaaaaaaaaay more bad than good equals only wanting to complain?

The track record of this club speaks for itself.

Ultra....when we had winter and had an awful record were your complaints just a symptom of people only complaining?

Guys...I get wanting to be positive. But can we, at the very least, be neutral until they do something positive?

Merely signing an unknown player is not a positive. Nor is it a negative.

People are skeptical based on the track record. The history.

Look at Montreal...they just signed a youngish argentine cb and I don't think the overwhelming response from their fans is going to be negative.


But that's probably just because their club hasn't disappointed their fans over and over and over.

Being optimistic about TFC right now flies in the face of logic. I'll wait until the positive things start happening before I get happy with what they're doing.

Hopefully Rey turns out to be a positive.

[OgtheDim]

My problem is not people who complain about the general inability to win and get things done.

My beef is with people who feel the need to belittle every move and complain about every last thing being done.

We could sign Messi and they would say we don't need another short forward.

Or, to use another example, Larson needling about DCU's stadium and KP no longer being there. It's pathetic, small minded, and not exactly showing football intelligence. Such stuff should never be encouraged.

That having been said, this is WAY off topic.

[Phil]

I am feeling pretty neutral right now about it all. I am in that 'prove it' stage mentally but I still hope for the best on the team and its search for players that will stay here and suceed vs flash out and head to greener pastures.

Forgive us though if we all don't participate in the collective dump some people are engaging in elswhere on the 'internets'. I don't see overwhelming positivity propogating here, just the admission that so far the signings are not coming the way they said, however the window is not closed, still 2 weeks to go. This season is a write off, but we are in it for the long haul and going to have whatever fun can be had with the remainder of the season.

[Oldtimer]

Our team is short on bodies. I dont see why we arent raiding the MLS free agency right now.

Free agency in MLS is very limited. You are limited to players that were not signed during or after the re-entry draft in 2012 and are still available. Excluding GKs that's:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Vagenas

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrone_Marshall

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Palguta

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Sealy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Boyens

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Alexandre

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joey_Gjertsen

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Ward_%28soccer%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Cann

Not many to choose from, and we already know some of these guys. Many of them would take up an international spot, too.

[Ultra & Proud]

The problem isn't waiting and seeing if a guy turns out to be good or not, it's all about looking for more to complain about if the guy does end up good. Seriously, and I would bet on this, if we had Montreal's record and everything now at least half the posts would be on this guy is shit, that guy is shit, not enough Canadians on the roster, wasting cap space, Cochrane is an idiot, fire Bierne, ML$E wants to win to raise ticket prices, etc. Even when we had a good run, like in the CCL, there was always more negativity than positivity and there always will be.

Now back to topic as posted above.

[cmonyoureds]

Laba? Caldwell?

But prior to coming here Laba was getting dumped on for his goal numbers on Wiki and Caldwell was HOOFBALL!!!1! because he came from the English leagues. I still believe there is almost no one realistically we could sign that everyone would be happy with. Even if we signed someone unrealistic like Rooney then the cry of ML$E just doing it to sell jerseys and raise ticket prices would come out. I have come to accept that a great majority of supporters mainly support complaining about everything to do with the team they support.

Those types of rants, to me anyway, are just a total lack of trust and confidence in this/and previous front office competence. To be fair, this organization doesn't deserve any credit yet.

Tim "human puffer fish" Leiweke can talk like a big shot all he wants. Anyone can keep the revolving door of players moving. It's what they do now that counts. Most TFC fans are now residing in Missouri, the show me state.

When this team starts to make moves that work, make us competitive, produce results, then they will get the benefit of the doubt. Laba was a good start.