The CBC report on this topic is here:

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/story/2010/09/25/sp-dero-contract.html

What is clear is that DeRo is very confused. He has little or no understanding of how the salary structure in the MLS works or the concept of supply and demand. He also has no appreciation of his value in the world soccer market nor unfortunately does he have an understanding what is an appropriate way for a captain to behave.

The first, and perhaps most important thing that DeRo needs to understand is that whether JDG and Mista are underperforming is irrelevant when it comes to his salary. What DeRo seems to be doing is comparing his value and salary to the value/salaries of two underperforming players; not to the rest of the players in MLS and the rest of the players on the planet.

Designated Players like Henry, Beckham, Marquez, JDG or Mista have market values that are established based on proven abilities at the highest levels and what salary they could otherwise demand on the open market. For MLS to lure them here, they have to pay them the big bucks. Life MLS players, who are not sought out by top clubs around the world, will not be paid more than $450,000.00. DeRo is about at the top of the pay scale for career MLS players. Though one could point out Langdon Donavon is paid more, Donavon , if he was not playing for the Galaxy, could crack the Premiership and did so successfully last year on loan for Everton.

To be clear what we are talking about here, DeRo is currently unsatisfied with his $443,750 USD salary. JDG is paid $1,717,546 and Mista $987,337. At the other end of the scale, stand out defenders Attakora and Cann earn $40,000 and about $50,000 respectively.

Both Mista and JDG have not played up to expectations. What this means is MLSE are over paying and these players’ market values have dropped. This does not mean that DeRo should get a raise. What it means is Mista’s contract will not be renewed. JDG’s will probably also not be renewed unless he is going to take a substantial pay decrease. DeRo is not part of this equation, even though he thinks he is.

When DeRo agreed on his current contract, presumably it was negotiated and agreed by himself, with the assistance of an agent. If he was worth more he ought to have demanded a higher salary. The simple fact of the matter is that DeRo is now in the twilight of his career and is earning more now than he did when he was in his prime, in Houston. If DeRo was not playing with TFC, does he seriously believe he could go to Europe and get paid 2 million? The truth is he couldn’t crack the line up of a top 5 European league.

DeRo now thinks that he has outplayed expectations. Does this mean when he reaches ages 33, 34, 35, etc. and his abilities decline, that he will offer a salary reduction? In 3 years from now, when he is subbed off at the 60th minute because he’s too tired, will he do a pen signing paper motion indicating he’s prepared to cancel his contract and take less money?

What is even more concerning is that DeRo is the TFC captain/leader and he’s airing his private contractual dispute in public. Unfortunately, this is not a fictional movie starring a eccentric athlete who wants a pay raise (I already got suckered into that when I saw Jerry McGuire in the movie theatre with my buddy, thinking it was a sports movie and not a quasi chick flick). If the players follow their leader, should we expect next game to see Attakora ($40,000) and Cann ($50,000) making cheque signing moves on the pitch and publicly complaining to the press and fans?

Let’s hope that the rest of the TFC squad have a better understanding of how salaries work. If they don’t, let’s hope they have a better understanding of what it means to be a professional and do not air their dirty laundry in public.

With such small numbers of Canadian supporters showing up in Toronto and Montreal, it occurred to me that maybe the CSA should give another venue a chance, as a test, with improved marketing. I made the following post on the CBC website in this regard, which got 25 “thumbs up” clicks and only one “thumbs down”.

Posted 2010/09/08 at 10:57 AM ET

juvi177 wrote:

Best place to TRY an international friendly would be Moncton.

With a new 10,000 seat stadium, that has real grass, and a relatively minuscule immigrant population, a match there if properly marketed could be sold out, with 95% of the fans cheering for the home side.

If a friendly there went well this could be a good spot for future WCQ matches.

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/story/2010/09/07/sp-canada-honduras-friendly.html#socialcomments

Of course I cannot be 100% certain that this match would be a success. But the main point is, it’s worth a shot, as there’s a tremendous potential upside.

I’m not the only one who has had this idea. Apparently similar posts were made on the Voyageur website and a few days later squizz at Some Canadian Guys Writing About Soccer posted an articled titled “Why Canada Should Play in Moncton”, which can be viewed here:

http://canadiansoccerblog.ca/2010/09/16/why-canada-should-play-in-moncton/

Some Canadian Guys have also started a petition to the CSA calling for a match in Moncton:

http://www.petitiononline.com/nbsoccer/petition.html

I didn’t think anyone could disagree with the logic of having one friendly match in Moncton, as a test run, until I read the a “The 24^th Minute” article. In this article Duane Rollins suggests that the idea of playing a game in Moncton is “misguided”. The article can be found here:

http://www.24thminute.com/2010/09/geographically-correctness-and-other.html

What is misguided however is Rollins’ entire criticism of the idea of a match in Moncton itself. Why do I think it’s Rollins who is misguided? How about I start at the beginning, the very beginning; the title: “Geographical Correctness and other problems in Canadian soccer.” The use of the words “Geographical Correctness” is obviously a play on “political correctness”. The suggestion is that Moncton advocates are saying it’s only fair that we spread around CMNT games instead of always having them in Toronto-Montreal. This suggestion is obviously misleading. There is not a single argument being advanced that Moncton should host one match for “correctness”. The argument is clear: that it would be in the best interest of Canadian soccer.

Rollins’ next point is the CMNT should play in the best possible place where it can win games. One could argue that a 10,000 seat stadium filled with 95% Canadian supporters would be more conducive to a home win than would playing in a stadium where 50% of the seats are unfilled or filled by fans loudly cheering for the opposing team.

Of course no one can guarantee that no or few Hondurans will travel to Moncton to support their team. Logic dictates however that it would be a small number, compared to the prospect of simply riding a bus/subway across town in Montreal, for example.

Rollins next points out that a match in Moncton would be spreading the gospel to the Maritimes. As if soccer players/fans in the Maritimes did not know about the CMNT or were unable to watch CMNT matches on TV already.

He then goes on to say support for the CMNT needs to be solid in the core before we take it to the hinterland. Rollins is missing the point. There is no core and if Toronto is the “core” then the core is obviously rotten. He next says there is no pent up demand for soccer in Moncton. I have no idea what information he relies on for this statement, but I doubt there is any factual basis. By contrast, there is obviously no pent up demand for the CMNT in Toronto or Montreal either, as evidenced by the “record setting” recent attendance(s) and empty seats.

Rollins next says you don’t see many countries spreading matches around the country, other than the USA, out of a misguided sense of fairness. First, why would we want to emulate anything the US has done in soccer; what success have they had recently? Second, and again, no one is suggesting one match be played in Moncton out of fairness. The suggestion is to see if Moncton is a superior location for CMNT success.

Rollins then indicates it is slightly cheaper to fly to Toronto and slightly faster by plane. If however there are only 7,000 fans showing up in Montreal and 10,000 in Moncton (which we don’t know for sure; that is the point of one test match) any extra expense for travel would be offset by fan revenue for tickets, swag, etc. With regard to flights, the Halifax airport is only two hours from Moncton which would expand the list for travel options. This, I concede however, is Rollins’ strongest point (although I have not done research into just how much longer it would take to get to Moncton, if at all, and rely solely on Rollins’ expertise as a travel agent). If true, I believe it is offset by the other factors favouring Moncton.  Additionally, and possibly even tipping the scale in favour of Moncton is Rollins’ point, but apply it to, say, Honduras.  While it’s slightly inconvenient to fly from England to Moncton, or Toronto to Moncton, it’s a lot more inconvenient flying from Honduras to Moncton.  Honduras to Toronto is about as simple as you can get for inter-CONCACAF travel.  Why not make our opponents work a bit for once?  Why not tire them out a little through extra travel.  Rollins seems to suggest the travel is bad for Canadian players only.  That’s simply not the case.  The wear and tear for Central American players travelling to Moncton is either equal or harsher than it is for Cdn. players.  As such, Rollins’ best point is neutral, or favours Moncton slightly.

Rollins next states that Toronto is a better location because it has a bigger population, thus a bigger potential fan base. He applauds the 500 active Canadian fans who filled the South End. Rollins’ is obviously well aware that this was not the first friendly in Toronto. If the active fan base is only 500 by now, it is shocking that Rollins’ does not concede it might be worth a shot, one time, to see what kind of fan base could be developed elsewhere. It also should be obvious to anyone who follows sports that a bigger population does not always correlate to greater attendance.

The next point in Rollins’ piece is that if you neglect Toronto CMNT fans the support will “go away”. Frankly, this is absurd. First, the statement that Moncton hosting a game would be “neglecting” Toronto is downright pathetic. Second, would a true Torontonian CMNT supporter stop supporting the team if one game is held in Moncton. If that game was a sell out, with 95% fans being Canadian, would that Torontonian CMNT fan actually stop cheering for Canada and lose interest in future CMNT games if there were more games in Moncton? I do not believe he or she would. But if I am wrong, and Rollins is correct, Toronto CMNT fans would be the most fickle fans in Canada- which might explain why the attendance in Toronto has been and continues to be poor. If Rollins is correct, he may have made a strong case that no future matches should ever be played in Toronto; not the converse.

Rollins’ final point is that it’s a “TV World”. It is a TV World. And just about everyone in Canada has a TV. What would be of more interest to a casual or potential future fan, watching a match on TV played in a half empty stadium in Montreal, or a packed house in Moncton, loudly cheering for the home side?

MSLE, for reasons unknown, has chosen not to explore the realm of friendly soccer games outside of Toronto.  Sure, it likes to host matches which promote clubs from other countries; but what has MLSE done to expand the TFC brand within Canada, outside of the centre of the universe? The Canadian soccer geography is quickly getting gobbled up.  B.C. is Whitecaps land.  Edmonton FC is putting soccer back on the map in Alberta and Quebec is Montreal Impact territory.  Atlantic Canada is up for grabs however.  This may seem like peanuts but Atlantic Canada has a population of approximately 2.5 million, which is in the range of the population of one of this year’s World Cup semifinalists.  There are also no professional soccer teams in Canada east of Montreal.  Moreover, there are no significant professional summer sports teams in Atlantic Canada.  It’s the open and wild far west; only it’s east.

Toronto FC has hosted some big clubs and given its Toronto fans the opportunity to watch big clubs from other countries.  Why not share the love?  TFC games are shown on Sportsnet, CBC and available on Gol TV in Atlantic Canada.  Why not send TFC for a 5-6 day trip though Halifax, Moncton and Saint John’s and play against the top senior men’s competitive club in each city, or even against say, the Montreal Impact perhaps?  Silly idea?  It’s already been done by top soccer clubs in Canada, historically.  Both the Toronto Blizzard and the Vancouver 86ers (to name two) played against Senior Men’s teams in Halifax in the 1980′s and 1990′s (against clubs like the Halifax King of Donair for example - coached by none other than Stephen Hart, in 2000).

This is also not a novel concept limited to soccer.  Each year the Halifax Metro Centre hosts NHL teams such as the Ottawa Senators and Pittsburgh Penguins for exhibition matches.  If the NHL deems it worthwhile to maintain and expand the hockey market in a Canadian city, surely Toronto FC might consider its value for soccer.

Though an argument can be made that the MLS season, which commences in April and ends in October, makes Canadian friendly dates lack practicality, this would only be an excuse.  Once the MLS season schedule is known, it’s not difficult to find dates.  This season for example TFC had a World Cup “vacation” from June 5 to June 26.  A five-six day and three match trip to the East Coast would not have hurt and might actually have helped TFC remain sharp during the layoff.  And no one would expect De Guzman and Dero to put in a full 90 minutes each match but it would be expected they put in 45 minutes, if healthy.  It would also give a chance for some of the subs to get more time on the pitch outside of training.  Given not one Toronto FC player participated in the World Cup, six days off from the 21 day “holiday” would not have been too much of a burden.  And while the World Cup is only every four years, there are always some big gaps in the season.  If the gaps are small in any one season, one game in Halifax (as opposed to three across Atlantic Canada) would be better than none at all.

Atlantic Canada, and Halifax in particular, is a soccer hotbed.  MLSE, why not spread the love, grow your fan base, sell some TFC swag, expand your television audience and grow interest for potential future academy prospects?  For now, Atlantic Canada remains a region which has thousands of people playing Canada’s most participated sport but also thousands who are starved of any live professional matches or a team to cheer for.

The daily live and first showings of of soccer/football matches available for Canadian TV viewers are summarized on this website:

http://footballtvcanada.blogspot.com/

For a more specific breakdown of each network  including when “repeats” are on, i.e. when Setanta is showing a Premiership match in the evening, for example, here are the links to the schedules of the main networks:

Setanta:  http://www.setanta.com/ca/TV-Listings/

Fox Sports World:   http://www.foxsports.ca/schedule.html

Gol TV:  http://www.goltv.ca/schedule/

Sportsnet also shows Champions League matches both live and repeated in the evenings and its schedule is available here:

http://www.sportsnet.ca/tvschedule/

CBC shows sporadic MLS matches and the occassional NASL/USL1 match through the summer and has the rights to the World Cup in 2010:

http://www.cbc.ca/television/

theScore shows a weekly Sunday EPL match:

http://tv.thescore.com/schedule/

If you are looking for a match not available on any of the major networks you can try online.  One website that streams a lot of sports, including soccer, from around the world, though perhaps not 100% legally, is:

http://atdhe.net/

Ante Jazic

Trader Mo wasn’t up to his old tricks at this most recent MLS draft.  He stayed put until TFC got its 24th pick and opted for 17-year-old central defender Zac Herold.   In a post selection interview Preki stated that going into the start of the season Herold will be one of the players fighting for a starting spot.  While TFC are desperate for a top central defender, it is too much to expect this role to be filled by Herold, at this point in time.

If you look at the TFC back line there is a lot of youth and relative inexperience.  In addition to the 17 year old Herold TFC’s line up includes Gomez (dob. 1990), Attakora (1989), Wynne (1986) and two young goalies behind them in Frei (1986) and Edwards (1984).  The only experienced players at the back are Garcia (1979) and Serioux (1979).  Neither Garcia or Serioux are dominant MLS defenders.  Additionally there is Jim Brennan, who plays sometimes in midfield and sometimes at the back.

Of the players mentioned above, the only ones that should be part of TFC’s core going forward are Frei, Gomez and Attakora with Herold as an untested potential.

Serioux has upside with some leadership ability, the long throw, and a good work ethic.  He represents a cap hit of $119,070.00.

Although he’s the captain, this should be Jim Brennan’s last year, if he’s not dealt before this upcoming season.  His contribution on the field has been wanting and it’s not clear to me where he naturally fits in with the team on the field.   He seems good at giving the chat/pep talk while in the huddle at the start of the game, but that aside doesn’t pack a lot of bang for the buck at $185,000.00 in 2009.  The original face of TFC, the club will have to be sure to treat him fairly, but in a salary cap dominated league, his salary is one that will have to be given a long hard look.

I don’t see Garcia as being worth his $190,000.00.  Slower than average and he doesn’t always make the best decisions.

Marvell Wynne has upside, and he’s still on the radar for the US Men’s National Team.

In terms of the rear at TFC, the players who could be traded for value are Marvell Wynne, Garcia and Brian Edwards.

Instead of two inexperienced goalies, TFC should have a veteran as Frei’s back up.  That would be the first acquisition.

Next, to add some veteran presence, TFC might consider trying to acquire Ante Jazic (1976) .  A Canadian defender, he’s had a solid MLS career which is reaching its twilight playing with Chivas.  As recently as 2001, Austrian club Rapid Vienna paid a transfer fee of approximately $1 million Cdn to acquire his rights from Hajduk Split.  He’s still full value in the MLS for his $90,000.00/yr in 2009 and has been called by Hart for Canada’s upcoming friendly against Jamaica.  He also looked impressive and fit in well playing with DeRo and De Guzman at the 2007 Gold Cup.  At half the price of Garcia, he brings leadership and could help mentor the TFC youngsters.  Preki is also well aware of Jazic’s ability, as he coached Jazic in Chivas.  Seems like a good fit.  One issue however could be that Jazic himself may not be all that interested in the move.  His last move was from one Californian based team to another.  After several years of the good life in L.A., a return to Toronto (though he is actually from Bedford, N.S.), may not be on the top of his wish list.

As for a central defender, it will simply be a matter of cap space and seeing whose available.  This is where TFC will need to take a hard look at  Brennan.  If Jazic was inserted for Garcia, this move, plus Brennan’s cap space, would free up $275,000.00 a year.  That would go a long way toward paying the salary of a strong central defender, who flanked by Attakora/Jazic/Gomez/Serioux, pressured by Herold for playing time and with Frei mentored by a veteran goalkeeper, would be a pretty decent back end for TFC.

Here’s hoping Mo can do what needs to be done, and get as much as possible of it done before the season starts, so the team can build the cohesion its lacked in the past.

The proposed stadium is about a five to ten minute drive from downtown Ottawa. It’s real grass. Currently, the stadium can seat 10,000 fans.  There would be no CFL lines on the field, ever.  All of this is perfect for an NASL team which could expect to draw about 7,000 per game. The glaring flaw is that we are talking about a stadium configured for baseball.

As can be seen by viewing the image to the right, spectators would be centred around the focal point of the South-West corner. This will be fantastic when the Ottawa team is attacking from the East and gets a corner kick on the left side. But what about the rest of the game? Ideally there would be seats along both the South and North touchlines and behind the east goal line. The best solution would be to tear down the baseball seating and erect seating suitable for a 10,000 seat soccer specific stadium. With a SSS, a properly managed NASL team would have a great shot at being as successful as Montreal and Vancouver are in the USL1. Re-configuring the whole stadium would cost money; and lots of it. It is uncertain if there would be room, and unfortunately it doesn’t seem to be any part of Malholtra’s vision.

The big concern is that the stadium plan as is, has a “bush league” appearance. Ottawa is the fourth biggest City in Canada. The Ottawa soccer community, despite not having a professional soccer team, is quite sophisticated. The U20 World Cup games were a huge success at the box office. There are more registered soccer players in Ottawa than in Toronto, and not per capita either, which is quite surprising given the differences in populations. The NASL, if done properly, will be a good fit for Ottawa. I can imagine Ottawa selling out NASL games in a soccer specific 10,000 seat stadium. Ottawa fans can be fickle however, and can only tolerate so much “B” class. A tier 2 league is okay if everything is done properly. When you combine a second tier league with a baseball stadium, in a city that has two soccer specific stadiums with tier 1 leagues within driving distances of 2 and 4.5 hours (assuming Montreal joins the MLS), this might be too second rate for Ottawa soccer fans to ever fully embrace over the long run.

I’ve been noting for over a year that TFC needed a head coach with: 1) experience, and preferably MLS experience and 2) a proven winning record.  Neither Carver or Cummins had this.  Preki on the other hand has an impressive 40-29-21 record as head coach.  In addition to his MLS experience as a head coach, Preki has also played in the Premiership (Everton and Portsmouth), in the MLS (Kansas City and Miami- twice winning the MLS MVP award) and the World Cup.

Is Preki perfect?  No.  He is 0 for 6 as a head coach in the playoffs.  Is this a concern?  Sure, a minor concern.  I’d prefer Bruce Arena.  But, he’s not available, and what TFC needed was a good competent coach, not the perfect head coach. 

Under both Carver and Cummins I questioned what “system” TFC were using.  Frankly, it appeared there was no system.  Preki has made it very clear that  he has a specific system.  This system will start with good defence and every player on the squad will know his role within the system, which will be played as a 4-4-2.  The players are going to be on board with the system or they aren’t going to be playing for TFC.  This is the opposite of what TFC had for the past few seasons- which was a bunch of individuals whose occasional bouts of ability resulted in some good results, but for the most part inconsistency and no clear team vision aside from:  “Our goal is to make the playoffs”.

TFC has some good players currently.  Some changes will be made to mould the squad into Preki’s vision.  Once this happens, and with Preki at the helm, my prediction for next season is TFC will make the playoffs with 45 points, and something similar to the following record:  12-9-9.

Talk about telling it like it is.

This is one entertaining interview.  Very blunt.  Roy Keane is a quote machine.  He puts all blame on the defenders for not being goal-side of the French attackers and not clearing the bouncing ball, and blame on the goalie too:  “I’d be saying where the hell was my goalkeeper“.   Also blame the whole Irish squad for not finishing their chances against France earlier:  “France were there for the taking and Ireland never grabbed it . . .   France are going to the World Cup;  get over it“.

What I find almost even more entertaining is his reaction to the cel phone ringing.  And can you believe the cel phone guy:  “I’ll turn it off in a minute“.  What!?.. “oh right, that’s good manners“.

On this topic, here’s a fun little Henry goal-scoring game:

http://www.jeu-de-main.com/

 ”Macedonia does not have tv/internet for us, so we are updating details via our website.  Details to follow from polish FA per match on 18th.”

So, if this is true and Macedonia didn’t have any tv cameras at their stadium, we can’t blame the CSA or Sportsnet for this one.  The fact that there is no TV available from Macedonia does sound surprising, however.

Now, with Canada losing 3-0, maybe it’s good I didn’t see the match!  That said, apparently we didn’t score on two penalties while Macedonia scored on two penalties of their own, which could mean the game was closer than the score-line suggests.

P.S.  Since writing this, I’ve read that Canada was outshot 10-0 in the first half and 15-4 overall.  So, the score is a good reflection of the match afterall.

Pompey Canuck posted on the 24th Minute Blog that Sportsnet has the rights to these matches.  Does Sportsnet actually plan to air the matches on one of their four networks- no.  Duane Rollins reported on the same blog that GolTV tried unsuccessfully to get the rights to air these matches.

What is wrong with Sportsnet and the CSA?  First, the CSA should be doing everything in it’s power to make sure when selling the rights to broadcast Canada’s matches, that they are actually broadcast.  I’m not a TV network sportcasting lawyer, but a bit of common sense would indicate that the CSA TV rights contract should state that if Sportsnet will not air a match they have rights to, they must surrender the rights to that particular match to whichever other network or webhost makes the best offer. If no offers, the CSA should have the right to air the webcast on its website. 

The CSA goal is to promote the game in Canada.  How is this accomplished when our men’s team has NO visibility.  There are hundreds of thousands of children playing soccer in Canada.  It would be nice for some of them to be able to turn on the TV and find a role model wearing a Canadian soccer jersey.  Maybe then they would aspire to playing for our team, as opposed to Bosnia, Holland or England for example.  The Bosnian Men’s national team game tomorrow will actually be available for Canadian viewers to watch.  Granted it’s a big match, but this is Canada.  You would think on Canadian television you would be able to watch Canada before Bosnia.

If you want to complain about this situation and make an effort to get more exposure for the CMNT you can complain here:

Sportsnet:

http://www.sportsnet.ca/contact/

Rogers Sportsnet
One Mount Pleasant Rd.
Toronto, ON
Canada
M4Y 3A1

Phone: 1-888-451-6363

And the CSA:

Richard Scott
rscott@soccercan.ca