Chris Cummins FIRED!

It did not take long for the dust to settle in Toronto. Looks like Mo Johnston is trying to be pro-active here maybe trying to cover his own ass a little. Few stories today about this

One from USA Today-
TORONTO (AP) — Toronto FC has dismissed interim coach Chris Cummins after the team missed the playoffs and finished with a losing record.

Toronto FC did not renew Cummins' contract on Tuesday. The team finished the season with a 10-11 record with 9 draws.

Cummins' coaching record was eight wins, nine losses and seven draws in 24 matches.

One from the CBC-

The Chris Cummins era is officially over.

Toronto FC general manager Mo Johnston announced at a Tuesday morning press conference that the team will not renew the contract of the head coach.

The announcement comes three days after the Major League Soccer club failed in its bid to secure a historic playoff berth.

"We have decided to move forward without Chris for next season," Johnston said.

Good luck in the future Chris.

THEY LOST....

Against the worst team in the MLS. New York Shit Bulls pummeled TFC 5-0. The Fan590 Blog summed it up pretty good calling it the "Manhattan Meltdown" I like it, very fitting. The Globe and Mail calling it "Canada's Soccer Shame" also very fitting.

I truly thought I would see the team give there best effort. Instead I watched a team of individuals showcase there talent. I think some of them are unsure of the future they hold with the team and do not understand they need to play as a team to stay on it!... What a mess. Hopefully next season will not be as glum.

I wish Chris Cummins the best for the future. Looks like he will be out of Toronto when the dust settles. He is claiming that TFC reneged on some of the promises they made when he first took over for quitter Carver. "There were things promised me" when they first came over that were never fulfilled.

Anyways I will try me hardest to keep up to date with the MLS playoffs as clearly TFC is not in them. Below is a chart with the playoff teams. I will try to make a Bracket with dates and stuff if I have time ( I doubt it).




I guess from here on out it is all Celtic, Arsenal, and Republic Of Ireland news! The Occasional TFC off season update and MLS cup action minus..

cheers

I got nothing today...

I don't have to much to say today. Mostly cause I'm working so here are a collection of stories around TFC TODAY. :)

Toronto FC coach not worried about keeping job - (He should be)

On the eve of what could be his final game as coach of Toronto FC, Chris Cummins insists he's not feeling any added pressure to win for the sake of his job.

"I was asked to do the job until the end of the season," said the 38-year-old Englishman, who was named interim head coach in April after John Carver abruptly quit.

-From the Toronto Star

TFC's De Rosario looks to keep playoff streak alive - (I hope so)

Just call Dwayne De Rosario Mr. November.

The 31-year-old attacking midfielder, who joined Toronto FC via a trade prior to the current Major League Soccer season, has a reputation for being a clutch performer during the playoffs, having won four league championships (two each with San Jose and Houston).

He also scored the game-winning goal in two MLS Cup finals, and twice was named player of the game in the league's championship contest. Most impressive of all, though, is the fact that he has never missed the playoffs in his eight previous MLS campaigns.

- CBC Sports

MLS enters frantic finale on last weekend - (YES! heard this a million times now lets get down to it)

Since the beginning of Major League Soccer's existence, the league has been faced with criticism for a playoff structure that saw all but a few teams make the playoffs. In years when eight teams would qualify out of a field of 10 or 12, teams that had endured awful regular seasons could still sneak into the playoffs and potentially win an MLS title (like the 2005 Los Angeles Galaxy).

Expansion has helped ease the problem, and the arrival of a strong expansion Seattle Sounders team has helped turn the 2009 playoff race into the toughest in league history, with six teams heading into the final weekend battling for two remaining playoff spots. Four of those teams (Toronto FC, New England, D.C. United and FC Dallas) have the same point total going into the last game.

- From ESPN

PREVIEW RED BULLS VS. TFC - (nice about a million previews on the net this one is good though)

After hosting MLS games for more than a decade, Giants Stadium will close as a soccer venue with what could be a memorable finale.

Toronto FC tries to emerge out of a complicated playoff picture with one of the two remaining spots Saturday when it visits the New York Red Bulls.

Toronto (10-10-9) is one of four clubs currently tied for the eighth seed in the MLS standings with 39 points. Those teams are one point behind seventh-place Colorado, putting Toronto in a must-win position - along with the right combination of results in the other matches this weekend - if it hopes to clinch a spot.

- From CBS

Republic of Ireland vs. France

This is not TFC news but I had concerns over Ireland missing another world cup until I heard this news! It gives me hope for the future.

Franck Ribéry is likely to miss France's World Cup play-offs against Ireland next month.

He has been hampered by left knee tendinitis this season, the specialist says he needs to rest his knee for four weeks. wooo hooo! I'm not gonna lie, that gives me some hope that Ireland will be able to pull thru!

Ireland will face France in a two-leg playoff on 14 and 18 November for a spot in next year's World Cup finals in South Africa.

Ribéry has already missed France's last two World Cup qualifiers against the Faroe Islands and Austria. Hopefully he stays injured and misses the Irish games.

Coach says backup goalkeeper 'deserves a chance'....

There is a story in today's Toronto Star that indicates Brian Edward's is going to be the man this weekend.

Looks like Edwards for FC's last stand

This should be a good thing. I like Edwards in net right now only because he has played reasonably well over the past 2 games. It was only last season that John Carver thought so highly of Brian Edwards that he awarded him the starting job over Gregg Sutton. This distresses me a little cause I don't know how I feel about any of Carver's decisions.

Also I found out that The Red Bulls will honor forward Juan Pablo Angel and defender Mike Petke for reaching milestones, after the team’s season finale against Toronto FC Saturday.

I can not believe they are honouring people after having such a shitty season. Couldn't they wait till next season. Unless of course Angel has played his last MLS game leaving room for much rumoured Thierry Henry.

Speaking of rumours I heard a good one today. Apparently Jeff Cunningham is rumoured to head to Reading. This is the guy that EX-TFC coach John Carver said "I am thinking, ‘How did he score 99 goals?’ That’s what I thought.’"

Like I said at the top. I don't know how to feel about Carvers decisions...

Edu tweets claim racial abuse.

I am sad to say that I am not surprised. Well maybe I am.

In my opinion Rangers fans have a history of taking things to far and it looks like they have done it again. Maurice Edu in one of his tweets revealed "Not sure what hurt more: result last nite or being racially abused by couple of r own fans as I'm getting in my car,".

I liked Edu when he played in Toronto and as much as I hate the Rangers I wish him all the best. No one deserves that sort of behaviour no matter what your background is.

Maurice you are always welcome back in Toronto!

Liverpool Balloon incident

This weekend there was a great goal scored by Darren Bent of Sunderland vs. Liverpool. It went off a beach ball. To funny. The goal should have been disallowed with a drop ball given after the intervention of an 'outside agent', but referee Mike Jones allowed it to stand.

Reina told a Spanish radio station: "It was such bad luck. I lost sight of the official ball and stayed on the red one.

"When he shot, it startled me and I went for the red ball instinctively as it was the closest to me and the other went past me. It all happened very quickly.

"This had never happened before in my life. I didn't know what to do.

"A lot of things were going through my head but I honestly thought that the goal would stand and no-one was going to disallow it."

Well Pepe... (Pepe LOL) I am sure you never had to deal with a beach ball in the past but I am guessing you are going to have to deal with a lot more soon enough. Apparently the Liverpool online store is sold out of beach kits. The suspicion is that the £10 kits – including towel and ball – had been bought by Manchester United fans for their visit to Anfield in the Premier League on Sunday.

Don't forget your sunscreen

October 20th

Well, I am sitting waiting for the Arsenal Game to start. I found this site that gives a good run down on the playoff picture.

Playoff berths still up in air in final week

Three open spots remain as seven teams fight for postseason shot

Will Edwards Start Again?

I know I did not write about it, by now you must know that Jim Brennan scored the goal that won us the game on the weekend. TFC took down Real Salt Lake despite poor officiating. Actually check that. Beyond poor, truly atrocious! The real hero of the game had to be Brian Edwards.

The team overall looked good, but I truly believe Brian Edwards was the decisive man in the line-up. Edwards posted his first shutout of the season and his 3rd in his MLS career. Without him Toronto would not have won that game.

So I guess going into the weekend the big question will be who plays in goal this weekend. Stefan Frei is a great goal-tender but Brian Edwards owns this team right now. In my opinion Edwards should be the man in front of the mesh against the Red Bulls this Saturday.

TFC is currently sitting in a playoff spot due to some weird and funky tie-breaking rule. A win will help this weekend but they may also need a prayer.

Frei please stay injured.

Edwards Back In...

This weekend TFC have a very important match against Real Salt Lake. They need to win to keep the play-off drive alive.

A lot of tough decisions will need to be made by the Interim manager Chris Cummins. Goal-keeper Stefan Frei is still out with finger injury. Edwards will make his second straight start.

Defender Marvell Wynne returned to training yesterday after suffering from a thigh injury. Cummins choice here will probably be to yank Garcia and take a chance on Wynne. Frankly if I was on the team I would probably kick Garcia in the thigh and make Cummins decision a little easier. Wynne would be in for sure then.

Amado Guevara is back from international duty after helping Honduras secure a spot in the World Cup. Now hopefully Cummins feels the man is match fit (I mean he was playing when he was gone) and puts him into the line-up. Our squad looks a lot better with DeRo, Guevara, DeGuzman, and (hate to say it) Cronin in the midfield.

I think the last big decision that Cummins needs to make before the weekend is which motivational speaker to bring in and talk to the team. Tony Robbins is a no brainer! This team needs to learn NOW! how to hold onto the lead.

A hypnotist might not be a bad Idea either.

Toronto FC hosts Philadelphia in first MLS game on grass at BMO Field

From the Canadian Press

Toronto FC hosts Philadelphia in first MLS game on grass at BMO Field

(CP) – 11 hours ago

TORONTO — Toronto FC has set a date for its first game on grass at BMO Field.

Toronto will host the expansion Philadelphia Union in its 2010 homer-opener on April 17, a later date than usual due to the installation of a grass pitch.

Toronto opens the season March 27 against the Crew in Columbus, followed by an April 10 game in New England against the Revolution.

Here is an excerpt from "The Toronto Sun" today. It makes some good sense.


And those goals have transformed a team that should be in first into an also-ran.

Here's the sad history:

- April 11: Allow late goal in 1-1 draw with FC Dallas. Cost: Two points.

- April 19: Concede late penalty kick in 3-2 loss to FC Dallas. Cost: One point.

- May 9: Concede late goal that allows D.C. United a 3-3 draw. Cost: Two points.

- July 18: Give up late goal to Houston Dynamo in 1-1 draw. Cost: Two points.

- July 25: Lead Columbus 2-1 late into second half, then concede two late strikes in a 3-2 collapse. Cost: Three points.

- Aug 1: Give up equalizer in 76th minute to New England in 1-1 draw. Cost: Two points.

- Sept. 26: Defensive lapse allows Chicago to get late equalizer in a 2-2 draw, and Fire sub Calen Carr actually misses an open net in time added on. Cost: Two points.

- Last Saturday: Allow an injury-time equalizer to the already-eliminated-from-playoff-contention San Jose Earthquakes. Cost: Two points.

Do the math. Toronto FC's defensive lapses in the final 15 minutes of games have cost the Reds a grand total of 16 points. Add 16 to their current total of 36, and you come up with 52.

Weekend match VS. SanJose

I was at the game on the weekend, the atmosphere going in was not that great. You can feel it in the air no one on the team believes they will make the playoffs. I am sure of this. If you watch these guys play there are only a few men on the team that play with any sort of urgency. Dero clearly wants to prove that this team belongs in the playoffs. Nana Attakora has an undying love of solid play. Aside from that everyone else is a one man team out for personal stats or acceptance.

I liked the play of Lesley Felinga, he handled the ball well and looked like he belonged. It is to bad they waited so long to start this guy. You can not expect a guy to gel with the team so late in the season.

Barrett looked like Barrett. I truly believe we should keep this guy he is still a young fella and maybe with better coaching he will provide us with some exciting play in seasons to come. This season was way to unstable for any players playing up front. No rhythm was set because of the coaching staffs inability to show confidence in any of the strikers up front.

I found Cummins said something interesting about his limited substitute options. He talked about not having "a defensive midfielder on the bench." But wasn't Amadou Sanyang there? And didn't the young Gambian make three starts at defensive midfielder just a few weeks ago, with reasonable effectiveness by most accounts?

The nice thing about the weekend is that New England lost against Columbus so that still gives us playoff hopes. The Revolution in the last 2 games need to beat Columbus and Chicago. 2 teams that they definitely will struggle with.

Let the playoff PRAYERS continue!

Here's the highlights of the game.

GRASS!!

PRESS RELEASE

Oct. 9, 2009

Plan to increase access to soccer facilities, lay grass at BMO Field get final approvals

Toronto Mayor David Miller today announced that with Provincial and Federal government approvals now in place, a plan by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment to increase public access to year-round soccer facilities and install grass at BMO Field can proceed.

"The agreement of our government partners means tremendous things for soccer at both the community and professional levels," Mayor Miller said. "Since BMO Field (Canada's National Soccer Stadium) was built with public money from all three orders of government, their support was necessary to allow this plan to proceed. I want to thank Federal Infrastructure Minister John Baird and Provincial Health Promotion Minister Margarett Best for recognizing this tremendous opportunity and working with the City and MLSE to make it happen.

"This is a terrific example of the public and private sectors working together to build our city and the sport of soccer and also means good things for the community and for the players on Toronto FC and all our National teams."

With the final government approvals - including a unanimous Sept. 30 City Council decision - and the required building permits now secured, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment will invest $5.5 million and manage the work required to advance the sport in Toronto including investments of:

• $3.5 million to replace the Field Turf at BMO Field with a natural grass field.

• $2.0 million investment in community sports facilities; including an estimated $1.2 million to upgrade Allan Lamport Stadium with a winter bubble and an $800,000 investment in another artificial turf soccer field in the city.

"Converting BMO Field into a natural grass surface will have tremendous benefits for our community, our city, Toronto FC and soccer in Canada," said Bob Hunter, executive vice-president of venues and entertainment for Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment. "BMO Field's natural grass surface will support growing and developing soccer at amateur, national and professional levels, by creating greater levels of access and opportunity. It will also help attract high-profile soccer events to our stadium, creating a positive economic impact for our city."

Hunter added "There are so many people to thank for their support and approval of this positive initiative including represents from all three levels of government and especially Mayor David Miller and Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone."

The upgrades to these three facilities will result in more than 2,500 more hours available for community sport use and have met with support from the Canadian and Ontario soccer associations as well as residents and businesses near Lamport Stadium in Liberty Village.

It is expected that the bubble will be installed at Lamport by the end of November with work to install grass at BMO Field taking place this fall with completion next spring in time for the start of Major League Soccer's 2010 regular season.

They are in the pink...hopefully they don't stink!!

I received a note from MLSE this afternoon to inform me that TFC will be wearing pink at Tomorrow's game.

here is what it said

Toronto FC are three points off the playoffs with three games left to play! The boys return home to face the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. The match will be broadcast live on CBC and The FAN 590.

The Reds will be going pink again on Saturday in support of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation as part of MLSE Team Up Foundation’s Pink Ribbon weekend. The goal of Pink Ribbon Weekend is to raise awareness and funds for the CBCF.

Here’s how you can help!

• We will be collecting donations at the gates as you come into the stadium on Saturday.
• Purchase a Toronto FC pink jersey from CentreSports or at BMO Field on game day. 10% of every pink jersey sold will be donated to the CBCF.
• Participate in an online auction for some great Toronto FC items including 13 game worn autographed jerseys.

SCOUTING REPORT
THIS MATCH IS IN SUPPORT OF CBCF
Toronto FC vs. San Jose Earthquakes
Saturday, October 10, 2009

ROBO goes for face surgery

Tomorrow TFC will face San Jose in hopes of keeping the play-off dream alive!! San Jose and Toronto have met only three times previously and sit even a 1-1-1. The Earthquakes can be eliminated from playoff contention, but have been strong of late. They are undefeated in their last four League games with a 2-0-2 record, and are 3-1-2 in their last six games. The Reds will be without the services of Guevara he will be away on international duty as Honduras plays a pair of crucial World Cup qualifying games this week.

Amado out is bad news.

but

the good news is

Toronto FC's Robinson out for the season

I appreciate everything Carl has done for the team since its inception but time ticks on we all get older. Missing the playoffs is getting old to me. Having an aging holding midfielder in the line-up does nothing for the team. I am sure we will not see RoBo suit up ever again in a TFC kit. Maybe the team will find him a role in the coaching ranks.

Monday.... blah...

Not a whole lot going on... or at least I don't think there is. I know Dichio had some sorta thing on the weekend. This is form his Twitter

"Fantastic day at my Soccer Festival yesterday. Thanks to all the teams that participated and to DeRo, Stefan Frei & Nana for turning up"

here are some other stories around the interweb that involve TFC one way or another.

From the CBC sports website

"Three weeks to go and Toronto FC needs some help if it's going to make the Major League Soccer post-season for the first time."

From GOAL.com

"Chris Cummins must have smiled as he watched Chivas USA thump United at home. The road to the postseason just got a tad bit easier."

From the National Post

"Three weeks to go and Toronto FC needs some help if it's going to make the Major League Soccer post-season for the first time."

and last but not least a blurb on salaries from InsiderMediaGroup.com

"If a team has a $500 million budget, a player earning $25 million is not being overpaid"

Natural Grass

ok

This is a day old and the story has been kicking around forever. Obviously BMO is going to get grass eventually. I think the fan calls for it have been way to loud to ignore.

so here is a clip from yesterdays Toronto Star

-"The fact the MLSE pays the full $5.5 million means it was really a no-brainer for city council to approve it," Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone said after the 29-0 vote. Pantalone is the chair of Exhibition Place, where the stadium is located.

ya that's right. A no-brainer called it a no-brainer.

nice

Pat Phelan

Here is a little summary of some stuff I read on the interweb today

New England picked up Pat Phelan from Toronto FC in June 2008 in exchange for an international roster spot.

Pat this season has 18 games played 11 started and 953 minutes. New England now has to lean on him a little as Shalrie Joseph is out with an injury.

"I got drafted out of Wake to Toronto and never played a game, never got a shot with the first team," said Phelan. "Fair enough, that’s what happens a lot of times if you’re a rookie, you’ve got to pay your dues. They needed the international roster spot, they needed to bolster their roster."

"When I first heard about the trade I thought they just thought I was an unhappy kid who just wanted to go home," said Phelan, (this Blogger believed that to be just the case) "which wasn’t the case at all, but it’s nice to be close to home – my parents are close, my wife’s here. I’m a local kid and think New England might have drafted me had I been available, so it worked out well for both parties. I was also playing center back there which I didn’t really want to, so I was really excited to jump at the chance to come down here and start contributing. Fortunately, I’ve been able to stay within the top 15 players."

"There’s really no way to replicate the way Shalrie plays," said Phelan, "and that's usually when I’m in there - when he’s playing forward or suspended."

"I’ve got to wear this cast till about the middle of December, three months - it’s a long time and pretty obnoxious. I ran into the boards and lost my footing on the asphalt and landed on my wrist with all my weight and broke my scaphoid, which is an area that doesn’t get a lot of blood flow which is why it takes so long to heal. Instead of opting for surgery and missing a couple weeks I’m just going to wait it out in a cast."

It's nice to see Pat did not have anything negative to say about Toronto and he is doing well in the MLS for a second year player. His success says something about our scouting but not a whole lot about our General Manager.