SoccerNew beginning for Toronto FC

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I was once told by a season ticket holder at Ipswich Town that the reason he supported Ipswich is because the club's values reflected his own values. Ipswich is a family-oriented club that has a reputation for nurturing and developing players from their academy through to their first team. 

In essence, they look after their own and treat people with dignity and respect.

Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment caught lightning in a bottle when it brought Major League Soccer to Canada in the form of Toronto FC. Fans took to the team in the thousands, and the atmosphere generated by those fans at BMO Field is as close to a European experience as this country has ever seen. 

That atmosphere has been dwindling lately, as more and more fans are choosing not to use their season tickets. Empty seats number in the thousands, as fans have grown disillusioned by poor performances on the pitch, and poor management off the field.

Countless season ticket holders have told me that they have had enough, and when the call goes out to renew their tickets for next season, they won't be doing so. They feel that the club has let them down by ignoring them; by disregarding their concerns about the direction the club has gone under general manager Mo Johnston.

Like most general managers, Johnston has done some things well and some things poorly. But the overwhelming sentiment amongst supporters is that the team has not improved significantly enough over the first four years of its existence to merit his continued employment.

I completely agree. 

Today, in response to those concerns, Toronto FC terminated both Mo Johnston and head coach Predrag (Preki) Radosavljevic. 

I'm not going to debate the merits of that decision. I think it was the right thing - the only thing - for the club to do to turn around its fortunes.

The big question now is where does Toronto FC go from here? Where does it look to find someone to take the club in a new direction? 

The first place I think they should look is out west.

Whitecaps have a winning formula 

The Vancouver Whitecaps have built a diverse, experienced off-field team. They have assembled a group of individuals - all respected professionals - who are working together, as a team, to move their organization is the right direction. 

In Bob Lenarduzzi, they have a president who has been involved in soccer in Canada his entire life. In Paul Barber, they have an executive who has experience at the highest level of the game in the UK, who brings a skill-set to the organization that is extremely valuable. In Tom Soehn, they have a director of soccer operations who has not only coached in MLS, but has a vast network of contacts developed over a lengthy career.

They are three people who work in unison, all bringing different abilities to the organization.

Toronto FC made a mistake when it handed the reigns of its soccer operations to one man. Mo Johnston created a toxic environment in the dressing room because he was allowed to. He dipped in and out of the transfer market with little or no oversight because he was allowed to. While some of his decisions turned out to be good ones, many of them turned out to be disastrous. 

Ultimately, he paid the price for his mistakes. Toronto FC is a fourth year expansion team, for lack of a better term. They have essentially started over again every year, because Mo Johnston was allowed to do so.

Johnston is now history, as is Preki. It is time for a new era to begin in Toronto.

Earl Cochrane is now the interim general manager, which in my opinion is a good thing. He is a smart, classy individual who will bring respect and integrity to the position. 

Nick Dasovic is now the interim coach, which I also think is a good thing. Nick has been steadily gaining coaching experience over the last few years and is respected within the game.

Both Cochrane and Dasovic can lead Toronto FC in a new direction. But they can't do it on their own. It is a big job that requires the combined efforts of a group of experienced professionals. 

If the club can bring in the right individuals to fill out their off-field team, whose job it will be to improve their on-field team, it will begin to create a positive reputation of its own - one that the fans will be proud to support.

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