Patience pays off for TFC's Barrett
LARRY MILLSON
TORONTO — When the Olympics are finished and defender Marvell Wynne returns from Beijing, Toronto FC will have two starters who have come through UCLA's productive soccer program.
So at least Chad Barrett, 23, who made his first appearance with Toronto FC at a training session Friday, is not joining a totally unfamiliar group.
A trade that sent the Major League Soccer rights of former Fulham captain Brian McBride, a striker, to his hometown Chicago Fire for Barrett and a first-round draft pick became known a week ago.
But the final details took time to complete, including a two-year contract for McBride to play for the Fire, and the deal was not announced until Wednesday.
“It has taken a bit of patience to get to this point, but I'm glad I'm finally here and had a good first session with the guys,” Barrett said Friday.
He found the waiting “a little bit annoying.”
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Fan up in arms over Toronto FC playing musical chairs
Morgan Campbell
When the MLS all-star game came to BMO Field last week, Toronto FC season ticket holder Frank Garzelli settled into his normal seats – northwest corner, section 126, second row.
Except this time he was four rows from the action.
To accommodate the overflow crowd, TFC installed two rows of field-level chairs directly in front of Garzelli's section.
But he and his BMO Field neighbours aren't as upset about the presence of the extra seats as they are that the team never gave season ticket holders the chance to upgrade. After all, Garzelli said, he paid to sit in the second row.
Garzelli said the team told him last week the seats were temporary. But then, he says, a TFC official told him on Thursday that the seats are there to stay and that the team would consider allowing Garzelli to purchase them as season tickets next year at a higher price.
The situation has Garzelli and other season ticket holders in section 126 angry enough to take action.
"Our tickets say row two, so why are we sitting in row four?" said Garzelli, who paid about $2,000 for his season seats. "Now you come to us saying, `Sorry, screw you, loyal fan and paying customer."
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Toronto FC to throw Barrett into fire
By STEVE BUFFERY, SUN MEDIA
Toronto FC coach John Carver will throw former Chicago Fire striker Chad Barrett right into the fire tomorrow against FC Dallas.
Barrett, who was acquired by TFC from Chicago along with a 2009 first-round draft pick on Wednesday for Brian McBride, will face Dallas tomorrow afternoon at BMO Field, a game that Carver calls crucial.
Toronto FC has a 6-7-4 record (fifth in the East), but haven't won an MLS contest since a 3-1 victory at home against the Colorado Rapids on June 14, and have only scored three goals in their past five outings.
"No matter how we do it, I want to win this game," Carver said. "Whether it's a scruffy game, a dirty game, as in not very attractive to the eye, then I'll settle for that. As long as we get three points. We've not had a win for a while now and we need to get back on track. We need to get back to our winning ways at home and pick up something on the road."
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Toronto FC welcomes Chad Barrett to town
John F. Molinaro
For Toronto FC, striker Chad Barrett is a sight for sore eyes.
Barrett landed in Toronto and trained with his new teammates for the first time Friday morning since being acquired in a trade with the Chicago Fire earlier this week.
The 23-year-old led the Fire in scoring this season with five goals, and his arrival in Toronto could not have come at a better time — the Canadian club is mired in a five-game winless streak (its last win coming on June 14) and has only scored three goals during that run.
Barrett believes he can help Toronto turn things around.
"It's a big change for me because I spent four years in Chicago, but I'm ready to come here and to do well with this team and make a life in this city. I'm very happy to be here, and you're going to get 100 per cent out of me every game," Barrett told reporters Friday afternoon.
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New striker knows why Toronto FC hired him
'To Score Goals'; Barrett should be in lineup against FC Dallas
Eric Koreen, National Post
TORONTO - Chad Barrett, Toronto FC's newest striker, likes to get things done quickly.
Take, for example, the 23-year-old's search for a home in Toronto.
"I've been in the city for like 12 hours," Barrett said yesterday at his first practice with the team. "Give me another hour."
And that helps explain why the last few weeks have been especially frustrating for Barrett, a native of Beaverton, Ore., home of Nike headquarters.
Barrett was officially traded to TFC from the Chicago Fire on Wednesday, along with a first-round pick, for the rights to 36-year-old American striker Brian McBride.
But the deal did not materialize overnight. TFC and Chicago had been haggling over the correct price for McBride, who left English side Fulham in late May, hoping to return to the U. S. and finish his career with Chicago. McBride grew up in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights.
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