Gerba Lashes out.. nice

 I really did not like the way TFC handled Ali Gerba. I felt like he was never given a real chance to prove himself with the team. Or maybe I feel like he never really had a solid chance to prove himself to the fans. It was a shame they way TFC let him go. In fact it is a real shame the way they handle all the players on the team.

Brian Edwards was released the day before the first game. Greg Sutton once a hero in Toronto, just let go like a fart in the wind. I felt Danny Dichio was forced into retirement. Alecko Eskandarian had a player blog on the TFC official website and he was supposed to be the go to guy for the team. He wore the red with pride and was brushed away with no thought at all. Jeff Cunningham struggled to find his way with the team and was forced out. Tébily came to play with us but was forced out with an injury... or was he? Rohan Ricketts was outspoken and forced out of town. Beloved Carl Robinson was shown no respect just the door. The list goes on and on and on. Who knows what the real story is with Jimmy Brennan. It was nice to see this interview yesterday Kristian Jack from "The Score" (footy blog) had with Gerba.

No holds barred. Unfortunately that wont change Ali's situation but it may shake up the front office in Toronto. There is a valuable lesson to be learned here for MLSE. Start treating the players with respect. There is NOT an never ending supply of these guys and its only a matter of time before players around the world realize there time would be spent better with another team.

Ilia Javorijan.. who is he?

I know this is very boring news but not much of anything exciting is happening right now. Unless you want to hear about how I am doing in FIFA10 on my DS. I think the people at EA sports screwed up when they added Vitti to the game cause the man is on fire in my game. Nothing like the real player. anyways..

Today I read on the IMscouting website that this fella Ilia Javorijan is headed for Toronto for a Trial with TFC. It seems he is over paid and no good so his current team Maccabi Tel Aviv wants to get rid of him. I can only assume that Mo Johnston see's the resemblance to Danny Dichio and has decided he would be a good replacement for the big bald man. I don't think Mo has taken into consideration that Ilia's name is probably not song friendly.

If you want to check out the article it is at the IMscouting site. Here is a clip of the story

MLS side Toronto FC have handed a 10-day trial to Armenian striker Ilia Javorijan , starting from February 8th.

The 28-year-old target man has been plying his trade in Israel since 2004, and this season he has been a major disappointment for Maccabi Tel Aviv despite scoring 4 goals in 10 league appearances.

According to reports in Israel, Maccabi Tel Aviv are trying to get rid of the striker who doesn't wish to play for other sides in the country and prefers a move abroad.

Javorijan has been playing for Israeli sides Hapoel Petach Tikva, Hapoel Tel Aviv, Irony Kiriat Shmona and Bnei Sachnin before moving to Maccabi Tel Aviv in the summer of 2008 for $515k. His contract runs out in the coming summer.

Adidas unveiled its World Cup match ball!!

It is getting close to World cup time. Even though Ireland will not be in it due to Henry's big hands. I am excited about the tourney. Not sure who I will cheer for yet but I am pretty sure I will cheer for any team that is playing France. The unveiling of a new ball is always a little bit fun and interesting. How many different things can you really change in a ball? It seems every world cup there are new advancements with balls. Well here are some excerpts taken from the Toronto Sun and The New York Times about the ball.

The Jabulani (which means “to celebrate” in isiZulu) is the 11th World Cup ball Adidas has designed — and according to product line manager Chris Niall, the early feedback is positive.

“The players like it,” said Niall. “(It has been tested) in the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich, and some of the MLS teams have been given the ball in advance, and it is well approved by the players.”

Former Toronto FC star Danny Dichio said ball technology has come a long way since he first broke in with Queens Park Rangers in England in the early 1990s.

“When I first started, we were using medicine balls, it was that long ago,” said the 35-year-old Dichio, who retired in September. “But you can see significant changes in the ball even over the past few World Cups.

“Now you come in with a ball like this ... compared to when I first started playing, it’s night and day.”

Dichio realizes that some people might wonder why Adidas bothers to tinker with the ball so much. But he says world-class athletes deserve a world-class ball.

“Without (a good ball), the game is nothing,” said Dichio. “The puck never changes in hockey, but (in soccer) the ball is everything. I’ve been in games before where a referee changed the ball three times because people were complaining about it.

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.

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