Making plans with Nigel

Enjoyed tonight's 1-0 victory in the pressbox flanked by Toronto football's renaissance man, Nigel Reed, and MLS's top beat writer, Steve Goff of the Washington Post.

Nigel was clearly not enjoying a night off from his CBC play-by-play duties. As play went on, he kept up a running commentary under his breath. Though, removed from the booth, he was freer to let his rooting tendencies show through.

"C'mon ... head up, head up ... That's IT! ... right now ... ooooh, poor pass .... well done, Marvell, well done," Nigel went on for 90-plus minutes. This was great stuff, like your own personal broadcast. It also helps when you've got your head down tapping during the action. Always know when something's up.

About half way through, Goff leaned in to me and said, "Is that guy, like, a fan or something?"

"No, he's the TV play by play guy."

"Oh. Got it," Goff said and tucked his head back into his keyboard. We both kept an ear open. Good job, Nigel, as always.

----

Toronto FC coach engaged the Shola Ameobi-to-Toronto FC rumour the way he engages all rumours around this club - in a maddeningly oblique way. He commented on how well he knows the former Newcastle striker, what a marvellous talent he is, how much he would have cost three or so years ago when top teams still wanted him.

He added a strange aside about how much Ameobi enjoys the "North American lifestyle" including sports like hockey. Hockey? For real? Somehow that seems like a sop to the Toronto audience but we'll see.
The final word was: "If we could get Shola to this club, I'd be delighted."

So definitely. Maybe

---

Carver also said that Jarrod Smith is very close to cracking the starting XI, one presumes in place of the out-of-touch looking Rohan Ricketts. Bottom line: the change will not happen while the club is still winning. But if this team needs a roster shake-up to jog the offence in the case of a loss, Smith will clearly be the first option.

Cathal Kelly

Two keepers, one goal

About half an hour into today's reserve team scrimmage against San Jose, TFC rookie defender Mike Zaher launched the ball downfield hoping one of his strikers, the guy wearing jersey number 28, would sprint underneath the pass, collect the ball and make something happen.

When the ball rolled harmlessly to San Jose's goalkeeper Zaher shook his head in frustration.

"You've gotta make a run," he muttered, half to himself and half to his intended target.

Truthfully, I don't know the guy's name, and watching him play I could tell I'd never need to. The wrinkled face, flabby thighs and belly jiggling beneath a baggy jersey all told me he was a training camp body, on the field only because TFC needed him this week to fill out its reserve roster. The lack of initiative he showed told me he'll be lucky if he's still here when this tournament ends on Saturday.

But he provided some intrigue late in the second half when he suffered a Charley horse.

I'm still not sure TFCs training staff knows what was wrong with him. He limped to the sideline motioning toward his leg, but because he only speaks Spanish he couldn't elaborate. Because TFC's trainers only speak English they couldn't ask him to. And because the club hasn't yet completed a rumoured deal for former MLS MVP and Honduran international Amado Guevara, nobody around could translate.

But quickly it became clear he wouldn't be able to continue.

A classic case of addition by subtraction?

Possibly.

But both teams entered this game with only 11 players, and TFC's coaches didn't want to finish the game with just 10.

All this happened with the team's starters sitting in the bleachers, but after a practice earlier that day, and with a game the next night against New York, none of them was going to step in.

So rookie Brian Edwards did it.

Yes he's a goalkeeper, and no he didn't even bring his shin pads yesterday because he wasn't expecting to play, but he borrowed a pair, jogged along the sidelines a few minutes and, with about 10 minutes remaining, jumped into the game at striker.

And he didn't do badly.

He made safe passes and played solid defense, and though didn't play well enough to make Mo Johnston forget the team still needs an impact forward, he accomplished at least as much as the guy he replaced.

But even with two goalkeepers on the field TFC couldn't keep the ball out of the net.

San Jose won 1-0.

-- Morgan Campbell

In Charleston...a last word on turf

I choose my hotels strategically, and this year when booking my trip to the Carolina Challenge Cup I made a conscious decision to stay in a hotel far away from TFC's.

While they're staying someplace in North Charleston, near the practice field at Charleston Southern University, I'm at the Hampton Inn on Daniel Island.

Selected this place for three reasons.

1. It's right next to Blackbaud Stadium, where the tournament is taking place. Well, not right next door. It's close enough to make driving there pointless, but far enough away to make walking inconvenient. For the record, I drive.

2. Every day at 5 p.m. they have cookies in the lobby. Fresh cookies. Still-warm cookies with chocolate chips still melting. That's hospitality.

3. Random conversations with guys from other teams. Yes, the Star's MLS coverage is TFC-centric by necessity, but you can't really understand a league until you know more about everyone in it. Last year the Houston Dynamo stayed here, and I shared interviews and small talk with guys like Dwayne De Rosario, Ricardo Clark and Dominic Kinnear.

This year it's San Jose, and earlier this afternoon as I sat in the lounge trying to get some work done, I had a short conversation with former TFC midfielder Ronnie O'Brien.

He asked me why I chose this hotel when TFC was staying across town. I explained to him about the cookies.

I asked how his knee was holding up, and he said it was fine now that he was practicing on grass every day. I hate to re-ignite the turf debate, but Ronnie offered the most honest and nuanced opinion on it I've heard yet.

He says the BMO turf contributed to his chronic knee problems, but didn't fault the team or the city for installing the fake grass. He was much more pragmatic. Artificial surface allows the city to make money off the stadium year round and he wouldn't begrudge them a revenue source, especially when the alternative is not to have a stadium at all.

As for the surface itself, he wasn't as ardently anti-turf as I thought he would be. In fact, he said he's got no problem playing on it -- occasionally. But he said training on it every day wore on his knees, prompting him to seek a trade.

And leaving Toronto without a proven playmaker.

Unless Amado Guevara actually does come to town.

Mo Johnston's not talking about it. I'll see if my other sources know anything.

-- Morgan Campbell

TFC's Wild Pitch

Ever since before BMO Field opened a group of people -- crotchety soccer journalists, mostly -- have been complaining about the playing surface there, a modern form of artificial turf designed to look (almost) and play (kind of) like grass.

True football, these guys said, was meant to take place on lush patches of thick natural grass. Guys like that almost never call it "soccer."

But sometimes even the most ardent field turf hater has to concede that natural isn't always better.

This week, as TFC and three other MLS teams compete in the Texas Pro Soccer Festival, is one of those times.

In less than three hours TFC and DC United will meet at Steele High School in Cibolo, Texas, and kick off on a natural grass field, one that features lumps and loose clumps of dirt. And one that's only 62 yards wide.

TFC coach John Carver said on a field that small, every throw-in in the opposing team's zone is like a corner kick because they land in the 6-yard box.

But the field presents problems, too.

Chivas USA and DC United told us everything we need to know about the field conditions when they each gathered their starters and met at a nearby university for a scrimmage, then sent their subs and scrubs to play in the tournament game on the bumpy field.

Carver didn't complain about it, and said his players didn't either.

"They're not ideal conditions, but you've got to get on with it," he said.

Are you listening, field-turf bashers? You just get on with it.

The City of Toronto sank nearly $10 million into that stadium, and they make that money back by renting the field out to civilians year round. Which means real grass isn't coming any time soon.

Yeah, it's a drag, and maybe the field turf's not perfect, but TFC's players have seen much, much worse.

And they'll see it again tonight against D.C.'s B-team.

The Jury is Still Out

Carver also said he wants to give the team's three trialists (Kiki Musampa, Tony Vairelles and Martin Brittain) more playing time tonight. All three of them scored in Wednesday's 4-3 loss to Houston.

By the time this tournament ends Sunday night Carver says he'll have figured out which, if any, of the three will travel with the team to their final preseason tournament in Charleson, S.C.

-- Morgan Campbell

Back to the rumour Miller

Woke up this morning thinking about TFC and their options.

Seriously, I did. And I'm as suprised as you are. Most winter days I wake up thinking of going back to sleep until the weather warms up.

Anyway, it occurred to me that last week Mo Johnston said that between dumping Ronnie O'Brien's salary and the allocation cash San Jose sent over, TFC had cleared about $450,000 in salary cap room. New acquisition Kevin Harmse earned a little less than $41K last year, which means that if Mo's calculations are correct the team still has about $400,000 to play with. That kind of money can get you a couple of pretty good players in this league. And if my observations are correct the team still has a glaring need for a midfield playmaker, the kind of guy who, like O'Brien, elevates the play of the people around him.

Combine Mo's calculations with my observations and it's easy to conclude that with the season opener a little over three weeks away this team is ready sign someone.

Soon.

But is Liam Miller the guy?

Apparently Sunderland hasn't dumped Miller yet, but they've told him he's free to see other people.

We've all been there, haven't we?

Anyway, at this point the rumours connecting him to TFC are just that -- rumours. I made the perfunctory phone call to TFC, and through their media relations staff I received a perfunctory "no comment" from Johnston. I'm trying to work a couple other sources, but until they tell me otherwise this will remain the latest in a string of unsubstantiated reports about European players allegedly looking to jumpstart stagnant careers in Toronto.

There are a couple of reasons, though, why this move might make a little more sense than the other rumoured signings that never panned out.

1. Complementary Needs Theory

Toronto just lost a midfielder with impressive credentials (O'Brien was a two-time league all star before hurting his knee), and could probably use another midfielder with impressive credentials (Miller's had stints at Celtic and Man U, plus 15 caps with the Irish national team).

Miller, meanwhile, isn't getting much love at Sunderland and probably just wants to be wanted. Maybe TFC is showing him the attention he needs.

2. Miller's issues are correctable ... in theory

I don't know if you guys have noticed this, but the guys from European leagues linked to TFC in transfer rumours usually have an issue or two.

With Joao Pinto it was the calendar. At 36, he's closer in age to Maradona than to Maurice Edu. He may have been a great player once, but there ain't no cure for old.

Darren Huckerby's issue was pills -- the painkillers he was taking for his chronic hip condition. Like Pinto, his stock was headed in only one direction.

In contrast, Miller's biggest problem seems to be that he's the Ray Emery of the EPL.

Huckerby's hip will probably never get better, and Pinto won't get any younger, but Miller can certainly learn to get to practice on time.

Still doesn't mean, though, that TFC is on the verge of signing him. Seems to me that a guy who has shown he can still play on that level (Roy Keane said he had no problems with Miller's performance) can get an overseas gig that pays more than MLS money, so my approach to this one is a combination of "wait and see" and "get to the bottom of this."

Again, until I hear differently I'm treating this one as just another rumour. With Pinto and Huckerby it wasn't hard to tell they weren't coming, but my read on this one is still a little murky.

The only thing that's clear is the TFC needs to make a move.

But is this the one?

-- Morgan Campbell

O'Brien's 'home' sickness

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.

Deadline Day

It's NHL trade deadline day, but unlike 99.98 percent of Canadian sportswriters, I've got MLS transactions on my mind.

Specifically, there's a rumour going around that TFC is ready to trade Ronnie O'Brien to San Jose. I'm not saying it's true, it's going to come true, or that it's ever even been discussed. I'm just saying that's the rumour out there, one that gained a little momentum this morning when O'Brien was absent from TFC's early training session.

Mo Johnston wouldn't say anything about it, except to say that he wouldn't say anything about it.

Media relations director Michelle Lissel confirmed that O'Brien is still under contract to TFC, and said she expects to see him on the pitch at BMO Field when two-a-day sessions resume on Thursday.

And head coach John Carver combined the previous two answers. No, he couldn't talk about O'Brien. Yes, he expected him to show up Thursday morning.

If you're looking for evidence that O'Brien's on his way out of Toronto you'll point to Johnston's "no comment." If nothing truly is happening, he would say nothing's happening, just like he did today when asked about Joao Pinto. Instead he offered no comment.

Hmmmmm.

Still, everyone else's complete assurance that O'Brien will practice with TFC Thursday morning suggest the team plans to keep him around.

As for the rumours....the only people who know where they come from are the people who float them in the first place.

And as for me.... I'm working the phones, hoping someone will confirm or deny something.

Stay tuned.

-- Morgan Campbell

Don't pine for Pinto, but enjoy Edu

After a couple weeks out of the country and a couple days working for the news department I'm back in the office and back on the.... well, not on the grind because I like my job and the preseason's the easy part for me. Last year the grind didn't set in for me until mid August, around the time I published my 845th consecutive "TFC can't score but those fans sure are wild" story.

So a quick web search this afternoon brings me this story about 36-year-old Portuguese striker Joao Pinto. I found it interesting, given that everything I'd read during my time off said he and the team weren't close to a deal. And most stories suggested strongly that Pinto wanted more cash than TFC was willing to pay. Nobody specified it but I'm betting he wanted DP money.

Faced with this conflicting information I did what a good reporter does. I phoned the team.

They said Pinto not only hasn't been offered a contract, but is still under contract to SC Braga in Portugal.

Useful info, but it doesn't necessarily mean he won't show up at BMO Field this week. I've learned to be very specific with semantics and verb tenses in situations like this because I've been burned before.

I covered the Argos the year they signed Ricky Williams, and though I wasn't there that Saturday in Regina night when he broke his arm, I had the task of following up with the team the next week. My mission: to confirm or deny rumours that he was scheduled to have surgery on the broken limb.

So I called the team's head media relations honcho, who was emphatic in telling me that Ricky was NOT going to have surgery on his broken arm later that day. No way, she said. Wasn't going to happen.

Cool, I thought. Rumour was just a rumour.

An hour later a press release appears in my inbox telling me Williams had surgery on his broken arm the previous night.

Can't even fault the media relations honcho. She answered the question as I asked it and since it wasn't in her interest to volunteer extra info, she chose not to do it.

When a TFC staffer tells me Pinto's not under contract I take it into consideration, but with the Argos experience in my mind I know I need to ask a specific question if I want a specific answer.

So I ask if he'll be at practice tomorrow, and this is when the staffer tells me its highly unlikely given that he still has a contract and that as far as she knows TFC hasn't made any moves to buy him out.

And that's where it stands right now. If you're a Joao Pinto fan and you're eager to see him play you better be willing to spring for the LIGA channel on Rogers digital cable (I think it's channel 425).

And if you're a TFC fan that likes seeing good young talent, you should be relieved this deal appears to have collapsed.

Speaking of young talent, anybody else see the si.com article on Maurice Edu?

It uses his experience with TFC as a starting point but focuses on his future with the US national team, which isn't surprising since the story originally ran in Soccer America magazine.

This is a big, big story. Three pages online, front and centre on SI.com's soccer page. Looks like U.S. soccer media are finally figuring out what Toronto writers learned roughly 30 seconds into Edu's first start:

The guy is very, very good.

TFC fans, enjoy him while you can. Only he knows when he'll graduate to the true Major Leagues of soccer (sorry MLS, but lets be real...this is Triple A ball), but at this point I can't see it not happening.

But we can look at this optimistically.

Edu will play a huge role for the U.S. team in Beijing this August, giving Canadian fans someone to cheer for in the Olympic tournament. No offense to team Canada, but they published their Olympic team player pool last week and I noticed many of the guys listed were the same ones who populated the squad that finished dead last in the U-20 World Cup last summer. Can't say I like their chances against CONCACAF's best U-23s, let alone the world's.

Not saying Canada has no chance. After all, qualifying doesn't even start until next month. I'm just saying that every time I look into my crystal ball (all sports writers keep one stashed under their desks, next to the whiskey) the only way I see a soccer medal coming back to Canada is around Edu's neck.

-- Morgan Campbell

MLS splits Canadian players' loyalties

It’s hard to find anyone who hates Toronto FC. But I’ve managed it today – MLS’ schedulers.

The league released its 2008 fixture list today and it’s going to leave FC’s cupboard bare of players for long stretches this summer. We already knew that the team would lose Maurice Edu and Marvell Wynne for most of August to the U.S. Olympic team.

But now we see that Toronto has several match days that conflict with Canada’s 2010 World Cup qualifying dates. Considering the Can-Con on this squad (captain Jim Brennan, GK Greg Sutton, F Andrea Lombardo, D Tyler Hemming) that could leave a lot of gaping holes in this line-up.

Four particular dates pop out.

On June 15th, Canada plays St. Vincent & the Grenadines in the Caribbean, the first leg of a must-win home and away. On June 14th, Toronto FC play in Colorado.

On June 21st or 22nd (the date hasn’t been determined yet) Canada play the second leg of that showdown with St. Vincent. Toronto FC play Kansas City in Toronto on June 21st (this may also rule out BMO Field as the site for that Canada match, though the CSA told me today that Toronto is still in the running).

Presuming Canada beats St. Vincent (and, if we don’t, we may as well bury our national program), there will be more conflict later in the summer. Should Canada advance, they will move into a qualifying round-robin group that may feature Mexico, Honduras and Jamaica. They will play six games in that group stretching from August to November.

Two of those dates directly conflict with Toronto FC games (September 6th and October 11th).

The other four (August 20th, Sept. 10th, Oct. 15th and Nov. 9th) are close enough to FC games that players will have to choose between their professional or national commitments.

Considering that European leagues go out of their way to avoid conflict with players’ national commitments, this is a poor piece of planning on MLS’ part.

They wanted Toronto FC to foster Canadian talent, but feel free to schedule in an impossible fixture list for new coach John Carver? Where’s the follow through? And how can Toronto FC hope to string together anything like team cohesion when it is stripped of key elements every couple of weeks beginning in June?

Shame on the league for leaving FC so little cover.

Cathal Kelly

Road to Nowhere

Spent a few minutes going over the initial draft of the CSA’s ‘2008-2012 Draft Strategic Framework’ this morning. A few minutes is all it takes to read what is essentially a power point document. I don’t know how the suits on Parliament Hill take to this sort of thing, but it leaves a soccer supporter scratching his head.

I think ‘underwhelming’ is the proper word here. Though this is clearly a first take rather than the polished document, it still manages to say absolutely nothing in its seven pages.

Of particular note:
- The small blank box where the cost of this strategic plan will eventually (one hopes) be included. There doesn’t look like a lot of room for zeroes in there.
- The graphic that read ‘Wellness to the World Cup’. Apparently, if everyone takes their multivitamin and gets plenty of rest, Canada is halfway to South Africa 2010.
- The ongoing blather about ‘participation’ and ‘having fun’. Getting kids to enjoy soccer is not the job of a bunch of part-time bureaucrats. That’s work for their parents and coaches. I wish the CSA would stop cloaking itself as a bunch of well-meaning soccer dads and get to the business of clearing a path for our elite teams. Soccer at my local park will exist with or without the CSA.

The approach throughout is typical CSA – timid, non-specific, wishy-washy. Just the sort of thing that nobody can be pinned to at a later date. These guys should rename their little mob the CIA.

There isn’t even the kernel of a plan in here. What are they going to do about sponsorship or home games? Where is the hierarchy that should exist – where the senior teams take precedence? How are they proposing to structure the budget? What is the deadline for the naming of the newly rebranded ‘General Secretary’? Could there be any truth to the frankly ridiculous but unkillable rumour that they’re thinking about going back to Fred Nykamp (!!) with that job? Where are the bold promises (‘We’ll make the 2010 World Cup. Period.’) that fans want to hear?

Again, I realize this is a first effort. But it holds out little hope for the few who thought the CSA might take a stand this time.

Cathal Kelly