Shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic.
It's a cliche, but it's going to be the first instinct of many to today's moves by TFC. Jim Brennan to the first team, Bob de Klerk to work with the kids and Paul Mariner...somewhere.
The move some wanted - Winter out, Mariner/Nicol in - was not on the table and it looks like it might not be for a while.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
It's possible this is a PR move designed to distract. That certainly within the M.O. Of MLSE. But could there be more to it? Possibly. Moving Brennan up could be a signal of management wanting To put a 'MLS guy' closer to the senior team and closer to the tactical decisions. Like many clubs in the world, the No 2 at TFC has a lot of game day responsibility. It's up to each fan to decide whether it's reassuring or terrifying that a TFC old boy with less than three year's experience could be running the game day bus for the Reds.
Brennan could also be placed in that role to act as a bridge to the players - a guy that can speak the language of the dressing room (a language that the far more accomplished player in Winter mysteriously doesn't seem to understand). There have also been rumours of the players tuning out de Klerk for some time and this move would address that while at the same time keeping the Dutchman around in a role he's more suited for.
And that's the other, less cynical, view of the move. De Klerk is an accomplished youth coach. It's what he did for Ajax and it might be his best use at TFC. With MLSE showing consistent support for the academy building model there is merit to that thinking. If the kids are more important than the first team right now, then give the kids more resources.
That it is Brennan rather than Danny Dichio getting moved might speak to that as well. Dichio is the more favoured coach. If this were a traditional promotion it would be him, not Brennan, making the move.
The bottom line, however, is that shuffling assistants is not likely to immediately pay off with first team points anytime soon.