Then he was fired. It was sudden and seemingly without cause. Rather than being poor at his job, he simply did not fit into the great Dutch experiment that the Reds were embarking on. Thomas Rongen was brought in and a new era at TFCA began.
It was an era characterized by conflict between the Ontario soccer community and TFC. It was felt that the club had let a guy go with deep roots in the local scene for an outsider. The relationship grew worse as many in the community felt that Rongen didn't do enough to reach out to the grassroots or to help develop the technical side of the game beyond what was happening at the Kia Training Ground.
Beyond that, the way Neely was let go was held up as an example of how TFC treats people poorly. For years, his firing has been a source of far-reaching resentment.
Neely wasn't happy either. He didn't hide his disagreement with being let go.
Up until today, the idea that Neely would be brought back to TFC seemed far-fetched, to say the least.
Yet, here we are. He's been hired to be the senior academy head coach and to be an assistant coach with the USL-Pro side.
The role hardly matters. What's important about the hire is what it might mean about TFC's willingness to change and to listen to stakeholders in the region. One of the biggest complaints you hear about TFC is that they are arrogant. When they do talk to the community they dictate, rather than communicate. The fact that almost no one at TFCA has a deep knowledge of the region has also been an area of complaint – how can you maximize the academy's full potential if you don't have good relationships with the region's clubs?
With one move TFC has started the process of addressing those concerns. When the announcement was made I reached out to a few people in the community that had expressed concerns to me about TFCA in the past. The reaction to his hiring was universally positive. Nothing TFC does is universally liked in the community, yet this is.
This doesn't instantly fix things, of course. But, for the first time in a long time there's a real chance of things being fixed.
Beyond the literal impact of the move, there is also a symbolic benefit. Outside of increasingly grumpy fans, people don't forgive TFC. Yet, Neely has. Maybe TFC is trying to change.
Time will tell, but this is a great first step.