lufc, you might not have noticed, but this thread, and Carvers comments, are months old. He actually retracted some of this rant in conversations with the media that followed.
I also don't see a problem in him using whatever leverage he has to pressure the club into spending the money he thinks needs to be spent to make this team a contender.
In this case, going to the media and saying we need a DP, is about the best way to exercise his leverage.
- Scott
Last edited by Shakes McQueen; 01-09-2009 at 01:10 PM.
“Heroism breaks its heart, and idealism its back, on the intransigence of the credulous and the mediocre, manipulated by the cynical and the corrupt.” ~Christopher Hitchens
^ clean house and start over.
Depends on the circumstances. Personally, all I'm looking for, is for TFC to get markedly better every year. If we accomplish that, I'm fine. If that includes playoffs (and I anticipate we will make them this year), then great.
But we are still missing pieces - our backline is horribly undermanned with the departure of James, the possible departure of Marshall/Velez, and the probable departure of Wynne to Europe after this season, if not earlier.
Even if both Marshall and Velez stay - neither of them is very... well... good. And we all know Velez is in the doghouse for getting sent off during the home game we were pulling in people off the street to play in.
We need a higher calibre of defense, period. A DP striker won't fix that - it'll just make us the Canadian version of the LA Galaxy: a million goals for, and a million and one goals against.
- Scott
“Heroism breaks its heart, and idealism its back, on the intransigence of the credulous and the mediocre, manipulated by the cynical and the corrupt.” ~Christopher Hitchens
In regards to the backline, while it certainly needs strengthening, that need has very little to do with James's departure. It will be more than mitigated IMO by the return of Dunivant to the squad.
Velez certainly had his problems last year but a good many of those moments were in actuality caused by the lack of quality from Julius who often left his teammates exposed due to his lack of concentration and consistency.
The departure of James will help our defence IMO.
B
I'd say the problem stems from something else. James didn't play enough to be the principal cause, and if you look at our home record, we had one of the best defenses in the league. On the road, we were one of the worst.
The question becomes why that's the case, why a guy like Velez seemed consistently ....well, average, at least, at home while absolutely disastrous on the road.
I am not expecting an MLS Cup, I am trying to be reasonable in my expectations. But I gotta say...if the team does not make the playoffs this year, it will be a profound failure.
OK, I'm probably being a bit too hard on Julius (although I didn't say he was the principle cause) but when he did play, IMO, he was often a liability. It's true though, you can't blame him when he wasn't playing but his form at the end of the season was frightening.
It's a good question about home v away but it goes beyond the defence to the whole damned team.
Last edited by Blizzard; 01-10-2009 at 12:49 AM.
It's certainly not an unreasonable request. Personally, I also believe playoff admission is the best indicator of a team's quality over a season but I wouldn't be totally upset if we missed out of them due to reasons out of our hands, but still disappointed. Unfortunately, more often than not teams struggle because of internal ineptitude or strife and to miss out again because of bad coaching, bad output, bad tactics, etc. would be heartbreaking.
As for D, I think we'll get to a point where we're pretty solid in the back and we'll probably do so through regular run-of-the-mill acquisitions. The focus for most teams has always been on aggressive Forwards and Mids so while I wouldn't say we're spoilt for choice, it probably wouldn't take too much to get the players we need.
I know it probably doesn't seem it, but I remain optimistic for '09. I think the draft and other transactions leading up to first kick will help supplement what we have now.
Last edited by Cashcleaner; 01-10-2009 at 05:22 AM.
Did the USA , of all countries, just fix soccer? - C. Ronaldo, May 27th commenting on the FBI-led investigations into fraud and corruption throughout FIFA.
Oh wow aren't we educated on the second post on our board. Carver is pure Class, and was talking tounge in cheek.
In Carver WE Trust.
As for the allocation money and the Draft picks, he has no control on those if Trader MO decides he wants to dump the first 2 draft picks for someone now does he? And I do believe the allocation money only amounts to 750,000 after the DERO acquisition.
Posts like this make me laugh. Yeah, you're right. Its Carver and not MLSE who is the one that has a history of spinning the issue and using gimmickry to keep us on the hook. MLSE is just a poor mom-and-pop operation that have always been straight with us, while Carver is the mean and nasty Head Coach...Originally Posted by lufc1919
So John Carver has enough respect for Toronto FC and the fans, that he is prepared to leave over a potential signing? Instead of dealing with this issue "In House" with Mo and MLSE, he brings yet more media attention to the club by issuing ultimatums?. Carver can run his mouth as much as he wants, this is a results orientated business and thus how a manager must be judged. Let the talking be done on the pitch. Is $1 million in allocation money and three first-round draft picks not enough of an incentive to stay and build on what he already has? I just think its a shame to read on here a few people who are taking in by gimmicks and words.
Last edited by Cashcleaner; 01-10-2009 at 04:49 PM.
Did the USA , of all countries, just fix soccer? - C. Ronaldo, May 27th commenting on the FBI-led investigations into fraud and corruption throughout FIFA.
Im not sure where your are coming from with that post.I dont know enough about the past antics of the MLSE to comment, but it seems to me your changing the subject. There are other ways and means for Carver to voice his concerns and issues. I just think its "cheerleading" on his part to bring the fans into the issue. If people are taking in by this and it deflects attention away from the job in hand, fine.
I guess we are wrong. But then again he didn't threaten the team, He didn't say, you wankers need to start playing better or im gone. He threatened the MLSE. But i guess there is nothing classy about threatening your boss, even though its for the lack of wanting to make a winning club.
There is nothing classy about shooting your mouth off and not following through with threats. Anyone who has basic parenting or managerial skills knows this.
All it does is ruin your credibility. People will not believe him in the future and I'm beginning to see why the players do not take him too seriously and have been heard to ignore him on occasion.
IMO there are more effective ways to manage people...
Then will Carver actually quit and go home? He threatens to often enough. First he threatened to quit over officiating, then it was DP, what's next? Let's see if he's learned and moved on, maybe he can become a straight shooter, but he sure didn't start as one.
And DeRo's agent and Mo's agent and every other agent who gets the chance goes after a bigger pay day - once you get older than twelve you usually realize this is a business and the guy on the other side of the desk is negotiating just as hard. - once there's two signatures on a contract no one can get out of it, as long as there's only one....
This is a useless thread.
You're kidding, of course, but there are people who actually believe it.
I guess they believe Scottish contract law is unique in the world, the only place where legal documents aren't legal, I guess that's possible, it's a weird place .
(It's not like DeRo can actually just go play somewhere else - I've signed a few contracts I wanted to get out of, but Canadian law doesn't work like that)