TORONTO – Toronto FC's work on the field may be winding down, but off it, it's just beginning to heat up.
While the club management is in the midst of repairing the relationship with its supporters soured by a poor season and a controversial 2011 season-ticket package, it’s sparing no effort to find a new director of soccer.
On Wednesday, Tom Anselmi, the executive vice president and COO of TFC's ownership group, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, told The Fan 590 radio station that the club is early in the search process and will enlist the help of high-profile consultants.
“We’re out there looking for a manager and looking to retain a couple of people to help us in that — people that have lots of experience and credibility in the soccer world both in Europe and North America," Anselmi said. "Hopefully we can announce something there in the next short while."
“Then we’re going to move as quickly as we can, but we’re going to wait and find the right person, and then that person will build the team and we’ll get on with it," he added.
According to Anselmi, interest in both the director of soccer and head coach positions has poured in from all corners of the world.
Former director of soccer Mo Johnston and head coach Preki were dismissed on Sept. 14 following 10-game stretch that saw Toronto post a 1-6-3 record. TFC academy director Earl Cochrane and assistant coach Nick Dasovic took over as director of soccer and head coach, respectively, on an interim basis.
Under Cochrane and Dasovic, TFC have gone 1-4-2 and were eliminated from both the CONCACAF Champions League and MLS Cup playoff contention.
Dasovic has expressed interest in the post full-time, but Anselmi was definitive in saying the new director of soccer will pick the coach.
Anselmi hinted the club would prefer someone with North American experience. However, he said the shallow pool of soccer managers with MLS experience combined with the evolution of MLS club management means someone with less North American experience may still be able to do the job.
“The conventional wisdom in MLS has been that typically Europeans without North American experience haven’t done well," Anselmi said.
“At the same time, the pool is fairly shallow in North America and it’s also changing now … Now it’s starting to evolve more like other sports in North America where there’s a GM that is really kind of setting the tone, but he’s built a team of people around him that have various expertise, so that tells me that maybe someone with a little less North American experience could do the job," Anselmi added.
MLSE expects its consultants to search far and wide for the right soccer man and recommend someone well-versed not only in the technical side, but also with the business side and MLS’ economic realities.
“This [new director of soccer] is really somebody that is well-connected in all the leagues all around the world, understands the various philosophies of playing the game and then can help us build a set of criteria that can satisfy the philosophy of the game that we want to play in Toronto," Anselmi said.
