Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/FootballSaves/status/1628890798161895426
Yikes. But have to say, from the outside looking in, feels about accurate.
Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/FootballSaves/status/1628890798161895426
Yikes. But have to say, from the outside looking in, feels about accurate.
I think more than any lack of accountability in roster decision making it is a lack of any 'timely' accountability; seems eventually someone always resigns or gets fired; it's just never immediate enough for us supporters.
That's how MLSE runs all their teams currently and that was the big change from the Tom Anselmi days. In the case of the Raptors it resulted in an NBA Championship. The President for each team has a lot of power. Of course it depends on the President being the right person for it to work.
Do you really want the accountants running the teams? (I'm an accountant and I think it's a terrible idea). But even if the accountants were in charge, they'd be ecstatic about a record 22K in Season Ticket sales despite the price hikes. It shows the marketing potential with the Italians is working for the bottom line and that was 100% Manning's idea. From a corporate perspective it's a huge success already and Bell and Rogers must be pleased. Now if they can actually have a winning team and make Larry T happy then I'm sure Manning will get a mega bonus. If not and the hype evaporates... we'll see what happens. Time will tell.
Last edited by Oldtimer; 02-25-2023 at 06:20 AM.
Molinaro interview with Manning on his platform TFC Republic (free trial until Saturday or Sunday).
https://www.tfcrepublic.ca/tfc-mls-bill-manning/
Doesn't that ignore cost? I'm pretty skeptical additional season ticket sales alone will make the Italian moves successful or good for our bottom line. If that's all we get from this it's more like a continuation of a reign where he's taken a flamethrower to someone else's money and shown very very little in return for it. For his and our sake I hope this amounts to alot more than that!
I've come to the conclusion over the last few years that people who have steady revenue coming in one way have no problems spending that revenue money on side projects that make them feel good but will never actually bring in a positive cash flow.
Seen this in politics & business.
It seems that what MLSE are buying is “entertainment” content and good will/popularity/positive image. That stuff together, at least since the postwar era in a stridently capitalist economy, is very desirable and expensive. Although some people on this board, hah, are not of the same opinion, Manning has been a pretty good front man - always smiling, serious when need be, discussing the dramas of chasing big image players like hot women.
Spending money has hugely increased the assessed monetary value of TFC which seems also a basic goal of owning a club/property. That wealth “grows” (or seems to grow) as the banks put it. For the fan, at least, it seems a positive orientation when compared with the ‘we have a two bit club in order to lose/write off money’ approach (or in the case of the teachers pension plan to protect the money with a large investment) that seemed the basis of the league when TFC was founded.
Last edited by los sonadores; 02-25-2023 at 04:02 PM.
Obviously sponsors will need to come on board with $$$$. It's likely they will, the Italian-Canadian market is huge.
I'd like to see more accountability for the product on the field. Mind you the more important (to MLSE) franchise he's in charge of just won the Grey Cup in probably the most exciting Canadian pointy ball game in years. Larry T got another trophy. Plus he has (mostly undeserved) credit for TFC's MLS Cup. So he's pretty untouchable right now in my view.
Countdown is on for this shmuck
Well... not really. Just the usual conjecture. As a supporter for now of BB and MB and thereby BM, I am really wobbling; in this 'return to glory' endeavor they could be judged to be a package. BM's ( Italian et al. ) moves seemed to have addressed the gate concerns. Still, with those acquisitions and subsequent marketing, a narrative and expectations are formed. Fans have been asked to drink the Kool Aid; again. Results need to be delivered. And before the counter argument that it is still early in the season, that there is time, is made; especially with the announced new playoff format. I say... maybe. However, it probably won't get any easier to get points in the short term then this immediate series of scheduled upcoming matches/opponents. We need(ed) wins now, not later. The general fan/casual temperature? It may be quickly turning. As if they have been sold a bill of goods; again! Seems there may already be blood in the water. I guess who's blood is the question for ensuing speculation.
BTW, I can't help but feel some uneasiness in that I have been let down by the club's/BB's position on Lolo's injury/status. Sort of like when he first arrived last summer. for me, all indications were he was likely going to play yesterday; bench with some pitch-time or vice versa. First, trying to obfuscate a groin problem as a lower-body injury is disingenuous. Second, groin injuries can be problematic. I am no doctor, I have not stayed at a La Quinta, but I have the internet... that prognosis now obviously was premature. More transparency on such a matter would have been preferred. It should be the default for this organization. Instead BB again demonstrates another old school tendency. IIRC, he even recently tried defending the lack of information, or any transparency as unnecessary, at a previous presser by suggesting sharing is not the norm in MLS. It is as if management did not want to confirm otherwise so as not to afford any excuse that would further jeopardize the gate intake and actual attendance; besides the projected weather.
Last edited by Mr. Inbetween; 03-12-2023 at 11:03 AM.
I'm not 100% convinced Manning does anything for TFC other than wining & dining potential DPs and attending the rare, larger press conferences.
Roster failure probably mostly on BB.
I suspect with the rebuilt defense and Johnson keeping us in games, they're praying they make it to the middle window with the playoffs in sight, so they can splash on a big striker that will guarantee we're not one of the 11 clubs that doesn't make it.
^I expect that has always been the intent - just stay within striking distance of a playoff spot, identify positional weaknesses, and then pick up reinforcements to address those weaknesses in the summer window. I think Manning realizes that if TFC doesn't make the playoffs, he's not coming back next year.
Exactly. I've been a Manning supporter because of his better communication skills in past with supporters. But really when I think about it he has a large list of significant mistakes for someone who has so many resources to help him.
Remember all the talk of dynasty? How quickly that died and now we are perennial bottom dwellers. There needs to be accountability.
I still look back to letting Seba go as the shark jump we can point to. A KNOWN quantity wasted.
All the rest can be explained away as bad luck since they spend the most money.
I completely agree with confusion over lack of coverage. What team/franchise doesn't want more followers/consumers? Even the most cynical way to look at it means they don't want the money. Doesn't make sense to bury the product. Can someone here with a business background explain that one to me?
Last edited by Fort York Redcoat; 03-12-2023 at 02:32 PM.
FORMER FULL TIME KOOL-AID DRINKER
Putting this here too:
Since Manning’s arrival, we’re 72-84-60 in regular season games. We’re 9-19–9 under BB. At this point no one should be talking about getting back to winning ways, should just be aimed at getting to winning ways.
Since Bez left and Curtis(BM’s first hire) started: 41-52-35
Since Vanney left: 28-42–24
Last edited by Kamp Berg; 03-12-2023 at 02:46 PM.
How Manning has a job still here is mind boggling. Highest (or closest to) payroll in the league...and we now have missed the playoffs two years in a row...and now have started out of the gate winless...(streak going back to August without a win).
Evaluation? Diasasterclass doing less with more. Must go.
Manning's fate will be determined by an accountant. When he starts trending towards losing money, he'll be out.
I could be wrong, but I find it staggeringly hard to believe that we're not only losing money but losing it at a rate far beyond anyone else in the league. This team is a fucking money pit. The only thing that may counterbalance that is the increasing valuation of an MLS team, but the fact is we'd have those gains without flushing stacks of money down the toilet, so that isn't an argument for our spending.
My biggest worry in all this has always been that we're taking a limited time opportunity, MLSE willing to absolutely burn money on TFC, and just throwing it away. There is no chance in hell MLSE buys an Insigne level DP every year while we continue to shit the bed if they decide the growth we have with that would be pretty similar to the growth we'd have if we spent far less. Yeah we're selling season tickets right now that we wouldn't but the question is how much more AND will that continue if we keep not producing results?
I remember that GM last year that got chewed out for speaking out on this; maybe the Charlotte guy, about how every MLS is making money and lots of it and no teams lose money at all and suggestions otherwise were through creative accounting. However it's not about losing money, it's about losing on returns and we're doing that for sure because it's looking like no playoffs or maybe one match and that won't cut it.
If Bob doesn't work out Manning needs to be the first to go.
MLSE need to have a complete rethink about how TFC should be structured.
First and foremost we need a director of football fully focused on this team.
At this point you might as well have Massai step in, we're in dire need of competency at the top.
The fact that Manning wasn't fired tells me mlse just doesn't give a crap about the club and winning.