Paunovic is one of the names on my list for betting which coach is going to get fired first this season. I think they've given him some rope until Gaitan gets integrated into the line-up, but if these results continue into the summer, I don't see him having his job by the end of July. The GM should probably be fired too. The Owner should be forced to sell since he is even worse than Kraft (but not Precourt).
As for the Stadium itself, it is considered to be one of the worst contract agreements in sports in terms of how it handcuffs the team (someone learned from the NFL stadium debacles). Here's some reading...
https://socceresq.com/2018/05/09/sta...united-states/
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/arti...view-taxpayers
<Edit: Additional fun! Discovered there is a Fire supporter who has a lawsuit in progress against both Bridgeview and the Fire.
https://socceresq.com/2019/01/15/som...-chicago-fire/ . It almost makes the ABC era look good.>
Last edited by Initial B; 03-17-2019 at 03:57 PM.
Paunovic
DeBoer
Dos Santos
Are the top three coaches with their coats on a “shoogly peg” as they say in Scotland.
Dos Santos - I hope gets some improvement going but he is in hard & could easily start 0-5. That squad is so un-ambitious and like TFC 1.0 days with 65% turn-over of players.
Dos Santos I would hope gets an assurance that he's there to stay at least until somewhere around the midpoint of next season. I don't know what Vancouver's management is expecting but it shouldn't be much when they've replaced almost their entire team in one off-season.
I remember talking with Dos Santos at one of the supporters group meetings the Fury had before they began their first season. He struck me as knowing what he was talking about and rightly said that building a club takes time. He had us winning the Fall Championship by the Fury's second year. He should be given a pass for this season and be allowed to complete his vision and start being judged by the second half of the 2020 season. I'd also like to point out that a lot of players on that Fury team came specifically because MdS was the coach, and they left when he did.
Montreal Impact fans who ordered 2019 Jerseys from the MLS store are receiving Whitecaps jerseys.....
Whoops.
https://twitter.com/nikmartineauTVA/...16294127984640
They should be happy they only got Vancouver’s jerseys and not their record.
Akinola's great goal is up for goal of the week at mlssoccer.com. Head over and show your support!
https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2019/...al-week-week-3
Seems the league style has changed of late - lot more passing around going on.
Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/atosoccer/status/1108089296186212355
Montreal supporters can just cut out a piece of a garbage bag & tape it over the Vancouver crest on the jersey, problem solved L'Impact style.
Vancouver haven’t looked that bad. (TFC haven’t looked that good, either.)
Chicago, Orlando, SJ. They have all looked bad.
Almeyda is at the top of my list to leave. He may jump before getting pushed.
"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
^ I think all the new coaches get a year to implement their vision. But Atlanta will cut de Boer if he doesn't have Atlanta with a winning record by July.
Turkish Airlines are now the official airline partner of TFC.
Thats generally not the point of airline partnerships.
With Istanbul becoming a bit of a hub, i'm guessing they want a slice of the Pearson to India/Middle East traffic.Turkish Airlines has signed on as the official airline partner of Toronto FC of Major League Soccer for 2019. This is the airline’s first sponsorship deal with a Canadian major league sports team, expected the agreement to generate greater brand awareness in Canada.
Last edited by Areathrasher; 03-19-2019 at 08:50 PM.
Cheer for the Liquor Store!!!!
(Apparently its across the street now & big supporters of the team)
*********
That stadium is going to be worth a trip I think. We should play there next season.
Nationalized airline sponsorships are a money or public relations laundering partnership, especially given the airlines sponsoring football teams.
Istanbul has become less of a hub due to the terrorist attack in 2016 and Air Canada also flies an Istanbul line...
A bunch of Middle Eastern airlines are reopening under new names (check out the rebranded Qatari flights to Italy at like $500 from YYZ) for some reason.
Whoa. I did not realize that the Whitecaps territorially control all the homegrowns in Canada that don’t live in the GTA or Quebec. That is a big deal. How did that happen?
https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2019/...cademy-program
"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
Yeah I remember hearing about that when it was put in place. I think TFC had tunnel vision back then because the GTA had such a large population to tap into and they were just starting out with figuring out how to run an academy. Hell, for years they didn't even tap into the whole GTA according to some local clubs I have talked to but I think that is changing now. Still lots of talent that goes by the wayside though because making the one academy team for each age group is tough and doesn't cast a big enough net to really get all those diamonds in the rough that could be out there. They really need to expand the number of players in their academy program in my opinion. Too bad it is not like the EPL with multiple professional team academies in one area to develop talent. Could it happen one day with the CPL? Pretty sure they just are focused on keeping the league alive to start with....maybe many years down the road.
IIRC, the Whitecaps have exclusionary control over Western Canada (~10 million people), the Impact have exclusionary control over Quebec (~8 million), and TFC has exclusionary control over the area within a 50 mile (80km) radius of BMO Field (~ 7 million). The rest of Ontario and Eastern Canada is up for grabs for whoever wants to develop players. Heck, here in Ottawa all three 3 teams have affiliations with at least one local club in the area.
Nani called a players only meeting to talk about mentality on the road before their NYRB match. Guy is taking this league seriously. Looks like the kind of DP every team is desperate for so far. Leadership, name brand, attacking quality, etc
Gotta give Martinez props for this cheeky PK against Argentina
https://twitter.com/MLSRewind/status...09736472334337
Last edited by ensco; 03-24-2019 at 12:22 PM.
"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