“Years have gone by and I’ve finally learned to accept myself for who I am: a beggar for good football.
I go about the world, hand outstretched, and in the stadiums I plead: ‘A pretty move, for the love of God.’
And when good football happens, I give thanks for the miracle and I don’t give a damn which team or country performs it.”
-Eduardo Galeano
Read this article: http://www.football-italia.net/62349...ded-juve-talks
Bez was clearly the main guy who met with Giovinco and won him over. It's OK to give him a little credit. Although Leiweke getting the board's approval was also key of course.“Within 48 hours of the idea being proposed to me, Toronto manager Tim Bezbatchenko flew to Turin to meet me,” he revealed. “They were stung by Jermain Defoe’s departure and wanted to make sure I was available. We liked each other straight away.
“Toronto won me over by giving me the Number 10 jersey: the one I never got to wear at Juventus. They also gifted me an iPad with all the club mission statements on it. They made a good impression.
“We had lunch for an hour and never discussed money. I made my decision before knowing the figures. I decided straight away and began planning the future with my family.
And the source is Giovinco himself, so you can't claim spin this time.
The ref call out was fair and it worked. How many other guys in this league can say that and have Garber sheepishly admit the point is well taken (prior to the inevitable fine of course).
TFC has been too soft and things have been too chummy for too long. It's about time someone on the players side cracked the whip.
I realize the discussion has moved on from this, but the statement above is not true. Don't know about his other clubs, but Caldwell spent a year at Wigan Athletic and was definitely not captain there, although his brother Gary was for a time.
He was not a great player during his season at Wigan, but he's been a great leader for us. Football's cruel and there's no constant but constant change. I wish him all the best.
Just to note, we have Damien Perquis now as a centre back, who is 30 (compared with Caldwell at 34). Plus we have a couple of exciting prospects.
Caldwell isn't shit. He's been a decent centreback by MLS standards. Which is much, much better than what TFC have usually had in defense. However, I think TFC is trying to be better than decent. Plus Caldwell seems to lack a bit of introspection about his play, the way he always waves his arms about, inviting PKs.
If Perquis does well this season, I don't think it's a given that Caldwell starts or even plays every game. I bet they will try to pair an older/experienced centreback, with a younger more athletic centreback -- and the older one could be Perquis or Caldwell. I think Caldwell will need to fight for his spot. It will depend on how well all the centrebacks do, and on injuries.
On that note, I think it's problematic if the captain is not a sure starter on a team. Bradley on the other hand, is a sure starter as long as he isn't injured. He's a leader, and also a linchpin among the key players: Giovinco (due to his position & fluency in Italian) and Altidore due to their background together.
That's why I think Bradley as captain makes sense, this season. But I don't like how it came out. Most of all, I wish Leiweke would STFU. It's one thing for journalists sniffing for a story to put people on the spot. It's another thing for Leiweke to leak the captain switch to some supporters, then it was all over Twitter.
The team hasn't even trained with any of the DPs yet this season. This week they are all coming together in Toronto. I bet Vanney was planning to address the issue this week, but then Leiweke opens his big mouth. Caldwell probably found out via Twitter, so the issue was forced.
^ I generally agree here. Okay the guy has been captain for quite a long time, that doesn't mean he should be the captain for all teams in all circumstances.
But i doubt it's anything but Caldwell / perquis as first choice pairing unless someone legitimately plays there was into the starters role.
John Molinaro @JohnMolinaro 3m3 minutes ago Caldwell disappointed about losing captaincy and not happy with how it was handled. But also stressed it's done now. #TFC
John Molinaro @JohnMolinaro 1m1 minute ago
Caldwell stressed it's done now. Not an issue. Eager to give his support to Bradley and get on with things. #tfc
Did they really do it over the phone?
Not what I wanted to see from Vanney. Caldwell will take it like a pro but that's just a pathetic way of handling it.
Caldwell is classy. Any chance the first game at BMO he could be honored somehow by the RPB? A crisp banner would probably be nice.
http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/toron...jozy-altidore/
Caldwell admitted he was disappointed, but also stressed the matter is behind him, and he plans to give his full support to Bradley in his new role as captain.“I’m a little bit upset how it’s been handled. That being said, it’s done now. I love this club and I love this city. I feel like I gave my all as captain, and I’ll continue to do that. At the end of the day, people don’t follow (who ever wears the captain’s) armband—they follow leaders,” Caldwell said.
“There’s many different ways to lead—by example, by actions, by bringing people together. Many different ways. We’re looking to create an atmosphere where people step up and they do it together. Good luck to Michael, I’ll be there to support him. The matter is finished now, in my opinion.
“I probably deserved a little bit more respect in the way it was done. We all knew it was coming and it should’ve been dealt with quicker and in a more precise manner. It dragged on. … But it’s over and done with now. By no means is it playing on my mind. It’s finished.”
classy man
“Years have gone by and I’ve finally learned to accept myself for who I am: a beggar for good football.
I go about the world, hand outstretched, and in the stadiums I plead: ‘A pretty move, for the love of God.’
And when good football happens, I give thanks for the miracle and I don’t give a damn which team or country performs it.”
-Eduardo Galeano
Definitely think Bradley deserves the armband, but there's no doubt Caldwell's been a great captain for us. I imagine he'll still definitely be a captain-y figure in the dressing room
People are assuming TFC phoned him. Caldwell only told TSN he 'learned over the phone'. Vanney might have wanted to wait until the first practice with the whole team together, but it may be that Caldwell called him on the weekend and said 'look, what's going on? Because it's everywhere that Michael is going to be captain, and I'd like to know before I have to face all my teammates tomorrow."
Fits the breakdown as more likely to me than just a perfunctory phone call from Vanney. He's an ex-player, and I doubt it would have gone down like that.
They still dragged it out.
Exactly.Caldwell admitted he was disappointed, but also stressed the matter is behind him, and he plans to give his full support to Bradley in his new role as captain.“I’m a little bit upset how it’s been handled. That being said, it’s done now. I love this club and I love this city. I feel like I gave my all as captain, and I’ll continue to do that. At the end of the day, people don’t follow (who ever wears the captain’s) armband—they follow leaders,” Caldwell said.
“There’s many different ways to lead—by example, by actions, by bringing people together. Many different ways. We’re looking to create an atmosphere where people step up and they do it together. Good luck to Michael, I’ll be there to support him. The matter is finished now, in my opinion.
“I probably deserved a little bit more respect in the way it was done. We all knew it was coming and it should’ve been dealt with quicker and in a more precise manner. It dragged on. … But it’s over and done with now. By no means is it playing on my mind. It’s finished.”
I do wish Caldwell was treated with more respect in this whole situation.
We should also be more careful about what gets let out from conversations ;|
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
Maybe Caldwell should try to look at this from someone else's POV for a second.
He is near the end of his career. The new guys want to pick their guy. It happens. You suck it up, buttercup.
What isn't smart is to bitch about how they handled it, even if he is right.
Going public about being told on the phone just makes the decision look right.
“What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left.”
He was about as professional as you can be in the interview yesterday. As was Bradley. And to TFC's credit, they not only put him out there to talk, they have put up the video.
A phone discussion done this late is a bad way to do things. I still maintain we should have let him stay as captain.
I appreciate the nuance jloome brought forward. To add another bit of speculation, I would not put it past TL and Bradley's agent to have put in a clause in his original contract about a bonus if he became captain. For all we know, the "restructuring" of his contract might have included money flowing through that bonus instead of his guaranteed. This league is too darn murky in that regard.
Only in Toronto will ppl keep talking about and making a huge deal about who wears the arm band when we just had one of the biggest transfer seasons in MLS history
Bottom line is Vanney is looking for a new definition on this team and part of that is naming a new captain.
Like I say it could have been handled better. I will chalk it up to learning (yet again). I stuck my neck out in hopes they did it right and have to be fair in the acknowlegment that they did should have done it better.
Now if things go poorly there will be no end to circling back on this issue.
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
You don't generally un-captain the captain unless he's being put out. Whoever said Caldwell will be fighting for his minutes this year I think is the one who hit the nail on the head.