Toronto FC vs. Chicago Fire May 8th

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

Probably shouldn't respond to posts that appear to be predicated on the notion that I am some kind of spokesman for Mo Johnston (i.e. a case of responding to a stereotype rather than to what I have actually written, which has often been very critical of him to the point of suggesting that TFC should consider replacing him) but I would have thought that most people by now should have grasped that assembling the squad for this season was primarily down to Preki. Would Mo have got rid of so many key players like Amado Guevara, Marvel Wynne and Adrian Serioux he traded for and/or drafted if he had been making the key personnel decisions? No chance. The dent in the proportion of the salary cap that can be used on regular starters that was caused by so much money being wasted on Robinson, Gerba and Garcia is the main issue that can be pinned directly on Mo at the moment. If injuries can be avoided that shouldn't present an insurmountable obstacle to playoff qualification, however.

[jpg75]

I look at it this way:

Mo is still calling the shots and it's his fault we wasted the first 2 weeks of the season. Mo must Go!

Preki is now calling the shots and is the reason we have a decent squad, which begs the question "why do we still need Mo?". Mo must Go!

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

I strongly suspect that Mo would have been history by now if it had become clear that none of the top coaches available with MLS experience were willing to take the vacancy created by the departure of Chris Cummins, while he was still there in a GM type role. If Mo and Preki get along well (they appear to) and Mo does a competent job at handling the contract negotiations and phonecalls to agents etc while Preki focuses on the coaching side of things I don't see what is to be gained by making a switch right now. Most of the substance of the change people have claimed to want has already happened, in my opinion. A very different roster has been built for this season based on player personnel decisions made by a coach who knows how to assemble a winning side in an MLS context.

[El Hombre]

Would Mo have got rid of so many key players like Amado Guevara, Marvel Wynne and Adrian Serioux he traded for and/or drafted if he had been making the key personnel decisions? No chance.

You've mentioned this a number of times now, but it doesn't make sense when you include Serioux as Adrian seems like a lunchpail guy that Preki seems to favour and has stocked this team with. Also, it's been shown that Preki seems to like the long throw-in set play as Gargan has been known to cross the field to take them deep in the opponent's half. Couple that with the fact that Serioux didn't really make that match, why would Preki make the decision to get rid of him?

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

I included Adrian Serioux because of comments he made in a newspaper article.

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Columnists/Wheeler/2010/03/10/13177206-qmi.html

"I tried to negotiate a new contract halfway through last season, but things got prolonged. After the season, they didn't offer me a contract but Mo (Johnston) kept telling me he was waiting to hear what Preki wanted. When the new coach came, talks stopped dead."

Accordingly to Serioux, he was placed in a bad position when Johnston handed over all soccer-related decisions to Preki.

[jpg75]

^ You forgot to quote the part where Adrian said he'll never play for TFC as long as a certain person is still there. As far as i know, Adrian has never worked with Preki in his life so i doubt he's talking about him.

For those who have forgotten; Mo convinced Adrian to sign with New York so that he could be close to his mother who was struggling with severe illness, then during training camp trades him to Houston. Then Mo picks him up in the expansion draft and turns around to trade him to Dallas. Last year he picks him up from Dallas, has a chance to sign him to an extension, stalls and then takes the chance to pin it on the new coach and make it look like Preki's the *******.

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

It's obvious he is talking about Preki.

"..."I would have loved to stay in Toronto and want to thank all the fantastic fans for their support."...

... Everyone's not on the same page (at TFC). Some people wanted me, except the one person that has more power than anyone else."...

..."I might be back someday. But while a certain someone's there, you probably won't see me."

That sequence of quotes makes no sense if Mo is the certain somebody. Why would he want to stay with TFC if Mo being there is a huge issue for him and how would the not being on the same page part enter into it given contract negotiations broke off when Preki arrived?

[TheKottonmouthed1555362307]

So basically they are just letting Mo's contract run out for some reason instead of axing him in some sort of respect move.

I don't get it what Mo is in charge of anymore. Does he do anything?? As people have outlined it seems all the GM duties are now on Preki, leaving Mo to do what?

Is Mo just sitting in an office twiddling his thumbs waiting for his contract to expire? It seems unprofessional to keep someone on your payroll in a position like GM which is supposed to be an integral spot in the management team and stripped him of his duties while handing them to the Coach below him. Doesn't it seem odd to keep someone in a position of power, when he has none anymore?

To me moving Mo is purely an aesthetic move now to prove and outline clearly to everyone involved from Anselmi to the fans that Preki is in charge no questions asked.

[jpg75]

It's obvious he is talking about Preki.

"..."I would have loved to stay in Toronto and want to thank all the fantastic fans for their support."...

... Everyone's not on the same page (at TFC). Some people wanted me, except the one person that has more power than anyone else."...

..."I might be back someday. But while a certain someone's there, you probably won't see me."

That sequence of quotes makes no sense if Mo is the certain somebody. Why would he want to stay with TFC if Mo being there is a huge issue for him and how would the not being on the same page part enter into it given contract negotiations broke off when Preki arrived?

Uh, actually it's NOT obvious that he's talking about Preki. Why would he have any animosity towards Preki? He's never worked with him and from the sounds of it he hasn't even spoken to him since he joined the team. Mo is the GM. He had a chance to sign him last season, he stalled. Why? He was still the GM then, had all of the power and had no crystal ball to foretell whether the new coach would want Serioux to stay or not. He went ahead and signed Julian to a DP contract, i betcha he wasn't worried about the new coach when he pulled off that move.

As for Adrian, i'm sure he doesn't really care who his boss is as long as he's playing in his hometown alogn with some of his friends. My interpretation is that he's finally seeing a pattern loud and clear; once is an accident, twice a coincidence, but three times is purposeful.

[Juby]

So basically they are just letting Mo's contract run out for some reason instead of axing him in some sort of respect move.

I don't get it what Mo is in charge of anymore. Does he do anything?? As people have outlined it seems all the GM duties are now on Preki, leaving Mo to do what?

Is Mo just sitting in an office twiddling his thumbs waiting for his contract to expire? It seems unprofessional to keep someone on your payroll in a position like GM which is supposed to be an integral spot in the management team and stripped him of his duties while handing them to the Coach below him. Doesn't it seem odd to keep someone in a position of power, when he has none anymore?

To me moving Mo is purely an aesthetic move now to prove and outline clearly to everyone involved from Anselmi to the fans that Preki is in charge no questions asked.

I wouldn't mind keeping him on as an ncaa scout, but that's pretty much it, earlier it might have been wise to have someone who was privy to mls system but with preki there the points kinda moot.

Maybe i'm wrong but losing both gerba and serioux bugs me, i just feel like compared to other players, the hometown (or near for gerba) leverage meant something could have been worked out. (is the salary cap maxed out?)

[RS]

Let me preface what I'm about to say with the fact that I think Mo Johnston has had enough time to prove his work as TFC's GM, and he came up short. Thus, he should have been gone last year already.

Ok, now that that's said, I don't get why people think we as fans need to know exactly what Mo does. If Preki is comfortable with Mo doing whatever the hell it is that Mo does now, then what does it matter to us?

Quite frankly, I don't give a crap about how the FO works apart from the product they put on the pitch, so if the final product is improved (and it's still to early to say, despite the team looking better lately), who the hell cares if Mo is paid to bring Preki's morning coffee every day? If Mo's presence hinders the play on the field - which it may have done in the past - then absolutely he should go.

[TheKottonmouthed1555362307]

Let me preface what I'm about to say with the fact that I think Mo Johnston has had enough time to prove his work as TFC's GM, and he came up short. Thus, he should have been gone last year already.

Ok, now that that's said, I don't get why people think we as fans need to know exactly what Mo does. If Preki is comfortable with Mo doing whatever the hell it is that Mo does now, then what does it matter to us?

Quite frankly, I don't give a crap about how the FO works apart from the product they put on the pitch, so if the final product is improved (and it's still to early to say, despite the team looking better lately), who the hell cares if Mo is paid to bring Preki's morning coffee every day? If Mo's presence hinders the play on the field - which it may have done in the past - then absolutely he should go.

Well, I just find it odd, people here talk like its common practice to a have a GM that isn't in charge. If I was Mo I wouldn't really wnat to be GM unless I had GM roles and duties. Jim Brennan stated he wants to work beside Mo and learn from him, if Mo isn't working on anything what Brennan gonna learn.

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

Uh, actually it's NOT obvious that he's talking about Preki. Why would he have any animosity towards Preki?

Because he thought he was going to get a new contract to play in his home town but any prospect of that happening ended when Preki became coach and took over from Mo on making the key player personnel decisions, hence the part about people not being on the same page, which only makes sense if Mo and the portion of the coaching staff retained from last season would have wanted him to stay but Preki wanted him to leave. We are clearly going to have to agree to disagree on this so I probably won't pursue this any further with you if it's just a case of repeating the same stuff over and over again.

[MuirtonPark]

It may or may not shine any light on this, but at the time Adrian S. was being brought in, I interpreted comments from coach John C to mean that there were some attitude issues that he would have to deal with. Maybe this was known around the league.