Mo Johnston – the wrong guy. Or is he?
Under the circumstances, how do we fairly evaluate Toronto FC's Director of Soccer when for three successive years the team has failed to make the postseason and all fingers are currently pointing at the leader responsible for the technical aspects of the game. Difficult for Johnston to shirk any responsibility here and while my instincts tell me that in the long run he will find it difficult to succeed, there are two sides to the argument.
After all, there have been some positives and in fairness to Mo, he was presented with a Canadian quota system that no other team in MLS has had to endure and which has made the task of producing a winning team extremely difficult. To a certain extent it has been like an albatross around his and the club's neck. If paying over $2-million for Julian de Guzman (who has so far struggled) is any indication, the lack of Canadian talent should be a worrying concern as it highlights a poor infrastructure in Canada for producing enough quality players.
The Positives
• Drafted and subsequently sold Maurice Edu for $5-million, of which ¾ is to be reinvested into club infrastructure, including grass at BMO Field, and the academy setup.
• Traded Ronnie O’Brien for a draft pick which ultimately turned into Sam Cronin, a player who will prove to be a real asset for the club.
• Drafted a fine young goalkeeper in Stefan Frei.
• Trade of the year brought Dwayne De Rosario to town.
• Quite rightly acquired Julian de Guzman – but the debate remains over whether it was the right move to bring him in as the Designated Player.
Mo the Coach
Even though Mo was hired as the club's first coach it was abundantly clear that this particular profession was not suited for him. At any significant level, which the MLS most certainly is, you have to have a certain fanaticism about the role of coaching itself. Watching him perform it was clear he did not have the passion, inclination, instincts, nor the mettle for the demands of the job. The fact he had to perform the tasks of ostensibly a GM while he was coaching compounded matters and rather than help TFC achieve success, it would have hindered it. Moving to the position of Director of Soccer was the correct move and it is now here where he should be judged.
Director of Soccer
The hiring of John Carver – who was last seen pacing the pavements of Newcastle glassy-eyed, wondering if he did the right thing in quitting back in April – has turned out to be a poor decision and as a result, the success of the team on the field was always going to be limited. The issues though go beyond the hiring of coaching personnel and ultimately point to the selection of players. To be fair to Carver and Chris Cummins, both inherited someone else's collection of talent and so, to a certain extent, they were handcuffed. However, this should not absolve them of their own responsibility because neither showed the wherewithal to maximize the team's talents.
