Columbus first team to qualify for playoffs

Salt in the wound weekend. Toronto Fc's Arch nemesis are the first to qualify for the MLS playoffs. ARGH!!
Jeff Cunningham pulls into a tie for "The Golden Boot" award scoring 2 goals over the weekend.
There is a strong chance Toronto will not make the playoffs. And all the talk around the team right now seems to be what is going to happen next season. I am not going to lie. Talk of next season drives me crazy!! This one is not over yet. Worry about next season in the off season.

On the TFC game over the weekend. The effort was there. unfortunately Garcia was the designated shit player. I do not really want to sum up the game so here it is in six minutes.

later

Adrian Seriouxly considers retirement

Hey Y'all.  Breaking news.  Or breaking rumour perhaps is more appropriate... Word on the street is that Serioux's done soccer.  For goods.  Which sucks, because he's the best defender on our team (IMHO).

Buddy of mine that lives a few houses down from Serioux was having some beers with him and Serioux mentioned that he's pinched a nerve in his neck and keeps re-injuring it.  Doesn't look like it's going to heal, so he'll probably retire at the end of the season.  He's in contract negotiations now and has to decide whether he wants to let TFC buy out his contract for the remainder of the year and retire, or try rehab to fix the problem.  Apparently he's leaning towards retirement.

You heard it hear first kids.

TFC vs. Columbus first game next season

Crew in Columbus on March 27th... TFC season opener.

I have a few thoughts on this and none of them are good. I think that the brain trust at the MLS has been working overtime. They know that the past 2 seasons Columbus vs. Toronto at the beginning of the season was a hit. well screw that... Apparently they were not paying to much attention. Otherwise they would have noticed the away fan attendance dwindle last season. They should have noticed in forums, newspapers and websites that traveling fans were getting pissed.

I went to the First BIG Columbus road trip. It was tons of fun but we were treated like shit and the people on Columbus made fans feel un-welcome. I went to the 2nd BIG road trip to Columbus and it happened again X2. Although Dave and Trav witnessed drunk boobs for the first time. How can the MLS expect us to travel to Columbus again? It is a shitty trip. I am not going (or at least at the time of this posting I am not going).

Reasons I do not like the idea of going back;

-Un-Organized
-Long ass drive
-No benefits for going other than supporting my team that can not beat Columbus anyways
-Treated like shit
-treated like shit just in case you missed the last one

I was really hoping the season would start in New England, Chicago or New York. Really those are places I would like to go to. It is difficult to justify to the wife why I need to go to an away game. First game of the season kinda fly's. Why would I want to waste it on Columbus!

I have been so annoyed about this announcement that I have not checked out the Red Patch Boys website to see the reaction they have but I am willing to bet it is similar to mine.

I hate Columbus.

I will probably go anyways.

Ricketts washes out again!

FORMER Spurs and Toronto FC winger Rohan Ricketts played for Orient reserves in their 4-1 defeat at Gillingham last week - but he won't be joining the club.

Orient Manager Geraint Williams confirmed: "There won't be anything happening."

Come on! Are you kidding me! Ricketts can not seem to catch a break anywhere. I am starting to feel real bad for the guy. Your trying to tell me he can not land a job anywhere? WHY. Twittergate could not possibly be influencing coaching decisions over seas? It is not like the guy has no talent. This is making me seriously question Toronto FC management because we seemed to have given him a better chance than a lot of other teams. Now I am embarrassed we held onto him for that long.

Wish I could go shirtless

Beckham on Fox Sports News after thumping Toronto. He thought he should have had 3!!

We lost.. ARGH..

Toronto 0 - L.A. 2

Scoring summary
Team: Player goal (assisted by) minute
LA: David Beckham 2 (Chris Birchall 1) 9.
LA: Edson Buddle 5 (Landon Donovan 6, David Beckham 3) 83.

Misconduct summary
Team -- Player (foul type) minute
TOR -- Julian de Guzman (caution; Reckless Tackle) 24TOR -- Amado Guevara (caution; Reckless Tackle) 64LA -- David Beckham (caution; Unsporting Behavior) 64TOR -- Nick Garcia (caution; Tactical Foul) 67

Toronto FC lineup
Player (substitute minute)
Stefan Frei, Sam Cronin (Pablo Vitti 79), Nana Attakora, Nick Garcia, Julian de Guzman, Ali Gerba (Lesly Fellinga 71), Jim Brennan, DwayneDe Rosario, Marvell Wynne, Chad Barrett (O'Brian White 62), Amado Guevara.
Substitutes Not Used
Brian Edwards, Amadou Sanyang, Gabe Gala, Emmanuel Gomez.

Los Angeles lineup
Player (substitute minute)
Donovan Ricketts, Todd Dunivant, Omar Gonzalez, Eddie Lewis (Chris Klein 46), Landon Donovan, Edson Buddle (Alan Gordon 86), StefaniMiglioranzi, Gregg Berhalter, David Beckham (Jovan Kirovski 89), SeanFranklin, Chris Birchall.
Substitutes Not Used
Josh Saunders, Yohance Marshall, Mike Magee, Bryan Jordan.

Ricketts on TRIAL again!

Looks like Leyton Orient a league one team is the next one to step up to try out the EX-Toronto FC player. Having failed to land a spot on a hand full of other teams it would be nice to see Rohan land somewhere. I guess the term "Don't mess with the Rohan" has been taken way to literally lately.

Jonathan de Guzman on the move?

Aston Villa have expressed interest in Julian's younger brother for the January transfer window. Jonathan currently is a Feyenoord midfielder and has had a lot of interest from big teams in the EPL. His contract with Feyenoord will expire next June making him a hot comadatity for the next transfer window. Villa is said to be willing to an offer of £5million to take De Guzman in January. Still waiting to see what the TFC offer will be HA. It would be nice to see the 2 brothers playing together in Canada.

Jonathan was born in Scarborough Ontario, but unlike his brother he has stolen a page out of Owen Hargreaves book. When given the opportunity to choose between playing for the Canadian or Dutch national sides. He picked the Dirty Dutch. Recent changes to FIFA regulations regarding switching nations now means that De Guzmán is again eligible for selection by both the Netherlands and the Canadian national team. So maybe all is not lost yet.

You can find a tiny bit more HERE

De Guzman may suit up against L.A.

Toronto Fc's newest designated player has met Beckham before. Over the past four seasons, the two matched up during Beckham’s time with Real Madrid.

“My first and only goal for Deportivo came against him and Real Madrid,” de Guzman told reporters after practice on Tuesday. “It’s always great to play against guys like Beckham and any kind of star that plays for Real Madrid or another big team in the world.”

Can Julian bring us to the promised land. This will be his first time suiting up since playing for the Canadian National side in the Gold Cup. I could not resist going to YOUTUBE for some highlights.

TFC improves playoff chances

I was away at the cottage over the weekend. So it took me a while to get caught up on the weekend football action. I watched the TFC game last night and it was very entertaining. I was a little disappointed to not see DeGuzman in the line-up.

De Rosario's goal in the 19th minute ended a 313-minute scoreless drought for Toronto FC. Rookie O'Brian White and defender Nana Attakora scored three minutes apart in the second half to help Toronto FC with a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Rapids!! I loved the fact that all 3 of the TFC goals are gems.



Ali Gerba looked better than he has in his last appearances I know some people would argue that with me but this is my blog so I can say what I want. He had some pretty close chances and debatable non calls. Nice to see Felinga finally or did I? Didn't really notice him out there that could be good and bad I guess. Overall I was impressed with the game but I still hate Chris Cummins.


Greg Sutton still wants to play

There is an article on the CBC website about Sutton still looking for some playing time.

"I'd like to keep playing as long as Pat," Sutton admitted. "Realistically, if I can keep playing for another five years I'd be pretty happy. That would take me to 37 and I could say I had a pretty good career."

That is nice to see. I really enjoyed watching Greg playing for TFC and I wish him the best of luck.

Jeff Cunningham gets his 3rd player of the week award in 11 weeks.

EX-TFC forward and now FC Dallas forward Jeff Cunningham was voted Major League Soccer’s Player of the Week for Week 26 of the 2009 season. The 12-year veteran now ranks second in the Budweiser Golden Boot race with 12 goals this season, behind leader Conor Casey (13) and ahead of third-place Fredy Montero (11).

Check out the story HERE

It is always a little painful to see when EX TFC players are doing so well. Cunningham chasing Casey. shit.

DANNY DICHIO say it ain't so...

Danny Dichio announced his retirement early yesterday morning 09/09/09 go figure. I probably should have posted something yesterday but work (as usual) got in my way.

Danny had a good run with Toronto FC becoming a huge Icon here. He scored our first goal, I had tickets to that game and I will never forget that I was outside the stadium still trying to find a parking spot when he scored that first glorious goal. From outside the stadium it felt like an earthquake had started and all I could see blast out of the top were seat cushions that had been given away for free that day.

While with Toronto FC Danny managed 59 appearances and 14 goals over a span of 2 and a half seasons. He added creativity and spark to the team. I am sure the team and the fans will miss him greatly. Danny meant a lot to the players on the field I am sure Gabe Gala will never forget him. Danny set up a beautiful play that lead to Gabe scoring the only TFC goal against Real Madrid in August.

The Londoner will continue in soccer, with Toronto FC appointing him an academy coach and team ambassador, working in the community for the club.

I can't help but wonder if DD just paved the way for Carl Robinson to make a similair move at the end of the season. Hopefully with Julian deGuzman in the mix we will have a more stable midfield and possibly a shot at the playoffs. I can not help but wonder though if TFC made a mistake by not using Dichio in more games this season I felt he still had and has a lot to offer on the pitch.

Here is a link to some of Danny's greatest moments.

Cheers Danny! thanks for the great memories.

TFC Lose in Colorado argh!@$

Conor Casey Ex-Toronto FC player put the nail in the coffin scoring the only goal of the game against his former team late Saturday night. The MLS leading scorer Conor Casey, who was supposed to be in the lineup for the U.S. when they met with El Salvador for World Cup Qualifying on the weekend. But U.S. national team coach Bob Bradley decided he wasn't going to use Casey, and the Colorado forward quickly boarded a plane and returned home. This Game was brutal to watch. Toronto FC had 2 red cards in the last 15 minutes of the game losing Sanyang and Serioux. In my opinion Sanyang did not deserve the first yellow card he received. The play was definitely a foul but I don’t think there was any call for a yellow which lead to the dismissal of Sanyang after he received his second yellow late in the match. Serioux bad temper showed up for the match no comment necessary on his blatant foul. This team looks like shit right now. With Amado Guevara away on international duty with Honduras, this leaves the team short a solid midfielder who has creativity in controlling and moving the ball up the pitch. Cummins tried loading the field with strikers at the end of the game but he still lacks the ability to manage this team.

Still we have not had the opportunity to see Lesley Felinga play. I figured when they put out such a shitty effort they should test this players ability on the pitch.

I still dis-like Cummins

It has been awhile since I have had anything to post here. So lets try to bang this out in order.

First the Game on the weekend with the attendance at 32,679 it was the largest crowd Toronto has played in front of all season. Given that 0-0 is a shit result. The game was embarrassing as usual coach Cummins never fails to display his incompetence when it comes to running this team. Toronto FC displayed a relentless attack in the first half as Seattle struggled to control the ball. Dwayne DeRosario missed a wide open net in the first half, Guevara dinged one off the crossbar and Chad Barrett lost his concentration as he made an incredible dive to try and head the ball in. Sanyang in my opinion was the star of the game, he managed to torment midfielder Freddie Ljungberg all game long . Freddie Ljungberg received a yellow card in the 73rd minute for unsporting behavior and arguing with the referee when he came racing across the field to engage in a scuffle that was ignited after a hard tackle by defender Jhon Kennedy Hurtado on Dwayne DeRosario. The booking is Ljungberg’s fifth, meaning he is suspended for the next league match. Seattle really had the best chances to win the game in the second half as it looked like TFC shot everything they had in the first half. After the break it looked as if there were entirely 2 different teams out on the pitch. Seattle was dominant with the ball and made some strong offensive pushes. When Barrett was subbed out for Gerba in the second half he was clearly pissed at coach Cummins. If my lip reading skills are as good as I think they are, Chad was questioning the coach while walking off the pitch. He was the only TFC substitution of the match. after leaving Danny at home vs. Chivas I guess because of public backlash the club felt compelled to fly Dichio to the west coast game and nail his ass to the bench. We still haven’t had a look at Lesley Felinga. Looks like things are still shitty in the TFC locker room.

I am a terrible writer.

Second thing I would like to address is the Red Patch Boys have decided to make a strong push to make Danny’s last 3 games of the season as comfortable as possible. The September 12th home game vs. Colorado will be the beginning of it. Here is a quote from the Red Patch website

“We will use the last few home games of the season to draw support from all areas. This campaign will be topped off at the end of the season by marking October 17th Danny Dichio Day.That is also the game that the south end supporter groups will unveil the Year end banner!!! On September 12 please be sure to support the Terry Fox foundation where some members will shave their heads in support of the Terry Fox Foundation.Be sure to support the year end banner by donating in person or by buying a very limited Danny Dichio t-shirt. The shirt will cost $10 and $5 will cover the production and $5 will cover the end of year banner. There will be a special Raffle on September 12th to raise funds for the year end banner at Shoeless Joe's after the game. More info will be provided here. Also, be sure to check the boards as we will have special pub nights set up so that members can get together and finally put that face to the board name. We will have special prizes and raffles as the dates draw closer.”

I think that this is a great idea. Danny Dichio is a great ambassador for the game in Toronto.

I lost my train of thought work has interrupted me. Anyways I am very much looking forward to the Celtic match on Wednesday at BMO field Vs. Benfica. WOOO hOOOOO