Now that Ronnie O'Brien is gone to the San Jose Earthquakes, I recall a conversation I had with him last summer. At that point, the Irish winger was in the middle of his second rehab of the season.
He was clearly frustrated with being unable to play, but still chipper. O'Brien was always quippy and fun to talk to. The conversation turned to the city of Toronto, which I figured would be a major improvement on his former hometown, Dallas.
Not so. Not so at all. O'Brien was not at all impressed with the city. At one point, O'Brien asked me in seriousness, "Why do people here think Toronto is so great?"
He didn't like much about the city - the traffic, the fieldturf, his new home. Strangely for a young man from the small Irish town of Bray, O'Brien fondly recalled the sprawl of Dallas. He still owned a couple of houses there. He pined for his former commute - crossing the street from his big suburban house to the stadium directly across. His Irish wife had left behind a lot of good friends and was having trouble settling in Toronto. The pair of them were looking forward to wintering in Texas.
From that moment on, I figured that O'Brien's departure was a significant likelihood.
Manager Mo Johnston likes to talk about how good Toronto FC was in the middle of last season. Most of that is down to O'Brien's play. Though he wasn't able to contribute much in his one year owing to fitness, losing O'Brien is a huge blow to this teams hopes of improving this year.
Cathal Kelly
P.S. I think I should add that O'Brien was fond of his teammates from what I could tell. And there was never any whinging from him. Quite the contrary - he always seemed like the happiest guy on the pitch. He just didn't seem to have fallen for the town in the same way, say, Danny Dichio and his family clearly have.
i loved Ronnie (when he played) last year. He was the team's best player. But those comments about the city annoy me. Good riddance Ronnie, hope you like playing in that awful Buck Shaw stadium.
Posted by: satan's choice | February 28, 2008 at 09:11 AM
Thanks for this bit of information.
If Ronnie didn't like playing before 20,000 screaming fans and love Toronto over a place like Dallas, we don't need him.
Posted by: James | February 28, 2008 at 09:14 AM
It's not a bad deal, it seems that TFC's hand was forced a bit. But now they really need to get out and get that creative midfielder or two. Some sort of replacement for Edu should be on their mind as well, he's likely to be off to Europe before the end of the season once the European transfer window reopens.
Posted by: voislav | February 28, 2008 at 09:39 AM
I agree. I think that O'Brien's departure leaves a huge hole in the midfield. It's no coincidence that the TFC attack always looked more organized and dangerous when Ronnie was on the field. At the moment I don't see anyone on the roster who can fill the void either. Having said that, if he wasn't going to be happy here its best to move him out now. I think they did pretty well to get a first rounder too considering Ronnie's injury plagued season in Toronto.
Posted by: Gary | February 28, 2008 at 10:23 AM
Would someone please provide some proof to this?
(CK: I think this is pretty definitive: http://www.mercurynews.com/sports/ci_8385915)
TFC isn't saying anything and Johnson has denied that O'Brien is leaving. This would be a huge loss to TFC and their fans. Mo Johnson better have a big trick up his sleave because he hasn't shown the TFC fans that he's doing anything to improving the team at all. A couple of draft picks is just going to add depth, not necessarily talent. If this is true, this is a great loss to TFC.
Posted by: Brad | February 28, 2008 at 12:28 PM
I hear Rui Costa has been approached to manage the midfield. I think this would be a fantastic signing.
Posted by: Ben | February 29, 2008 at 12:41 AM