Last night was my first chance to see newly minted TFC head coach Paul Mariner at an in-person press conference. And despite some oddly overreaching optimism, I very much liked much of what I saw.
Here are the fair comparisons – every previous Toronto FC bench boss:
Mo Johnston: Gabby and friendly enough, but there was never much tangible reason to believe anything he said.
John Carver: Hugely entertaining, but always seething about a player, an MLS rule or a referee.
Chris Cummins: Everyone was pulling for him, but his naiveté and inexperience were impossible to ignore.
Preki: A man of few words, many shrugs and lots of cutting gestures. About as cuddly as a nail through a teddy bear.
Nick Dasovic: Thrown in, then thrown out. Good guy, but never had a chance to get comfortable.
Aron Winter: Bland, emotionless, vague, inconclusive, simplistic – all the things his “system” wasn’t supposed to be.
Huckster, grouch, sweet kid, bully, innocent bystander and dotty professor – who is Paul Mariner compared to all of that?
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
Uncle Paul. The good uncle. The encouraging one. The one with some wisdom to impart, who wants everyone to enjoy themselves.
With three wins on the trot, Toronto FC players are certainly enjoying themselves. They’re still in last place, but no longer buried there.
Under Mariner, they now have four wins, two losses and four draws. If the defence hadn’t chasm-bombed two-goal leads at Houston and home to New England, they’d be 6-2-2, and three places higher in the Eastern Conference standings.
The suspicion that TFC’s roster is better than it showed under Aron Winter appears to be confirmed. The ugly fact that they’re still significant playoff outsiders remains.
But Paul Mariner was positive last night – and firm.
- Yes, he chewed the team out at halftime. Told them they should be winning, and to get out there and win.
- Yes, he did single out youthful defender Doniel Henry for not covering Connor Casey on Colorado’s goal. He also said he normally wouldn’t publically criticize a player, adding that Henry, in terms of his fitness and his strength, is “a beast.”
- Yes, he acknowledged that this weekend’s upcoming friendly with Liverpool couldn’t come at a worse time, and that he has “no choice” but to send some academy kids out to knock ankles with Steven Gerrard.
- Yes, this is a happier team.
Asked why the team is happier, Mariner said he wants to engage his players – and the media, and the fans, and everyone who works for the organization. He then praised his media staff and equipment managers for their “Rolls Royce” service.
(Okay, TFC media relations have been upgraded significantly since the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policies of original question-screener Michelle Lissel. But the scribes aren’t driving in ultimate luxury just yet.)
The biggest overreach came right at the end. I asked Mariner if he saw enough chance-generation from his forwards to keep his main focus on landing a DP defender.
He said yes, but added that he felt his back four had been “absolutely spectacular,” a notion that certainly hit me in the gut. A backline half that spectacular would have found a way to cover Connor Casey all night, just for example. And it certainly wouldn't have coughed up four vital points in two games.
But I’m a huge believer in positive thinking, and praising people for a job well done. I’ve turned my entire life around doing that. Why wouldn’t it work for a struggling soccer team?
The danger will come, though. Mariner certainly handled his first major blip well, the public-intoxication arrests of three of his players in Houston, followed by the axing of productive-yet-Aron-Winter-induced swingman Nick Soolsma.
As enjoyable as this present run is, the main focus still has to be on next year. Anything this side achieves in 2012 will be gravy.
Yes, the team is happier. But they’ve also a helluva lot less confused. Happy comes and goes, but clarity has a way of making things better in the long run.
My biggest fear with Mariner is that rah-rah coaches don’t usually have extended shelf life – and that he lacks the experience to know when he’ll need to set a sterner, more pragmatic course.
But the honesty is certainly refreshing, and I’d rather have a TFC coach who exaggerates than one who lies, demoralizes or just doesn’t give a sideways flapping fadoo.
At least we know Toronto FC isn’t that bad. Only time will tell if they’re really any good.
Onward!