TORONTO — Toronto FC have a message to all those concerned by the fact that the club has, as of today, gone 100 days without a permanent general manager or head coach in place: Be patient; TFC are after the right hire, not the fast one.
That’s as much as Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment vice president and COO Tom Anselmi would tell MLSsoccer.com.
“We continue to focus on finding the right candidate to lead the team and will announce something as soon as possible,” he said via e-mail.
One expects that Anselmi meant to add that the club would do so while taking things one game at a time and giving it 110 percent. Understandably, TFC aren’t going to give too much away.
So in lieu of direction from the club, fans have no choice but to speculate as to what type of boss Toronto will end up with.
Such an exercise isn’t necessarily about trying to guess who Toronto will hire – former US international Tom Dooley, Roberto Donadoni, Franco Baresi, Carlos Queiroz and Iain Dowie have all been linked to the post at one point or another – but rather a study in what type of person could fill the role.
There are several factors that need to be considered. The first is whether TFC wants to hire one or two people to fill the roles of GM and head coach.
Although the Reds separated the two roles in the past, it’s possible that they may be looking to make one big name hire and then keep the current front office staff in place to assist the “name.” Actually, this type of set-up is exactly what most people close to the team think Toronto will go with.
It's possible that current interim GM Earl Cochrane will go full-time, with the money saved going to a top coach who will call shots. Certainly, that’s the model used in most parts of the world and Anselmi has said that MLSE is open to that type of a set-up.
If the Reds are going with a Sir Alex Ferguson-type of guy, one can start to look for the qualities that will be important for the new manager.
First off, the new manager will need to be someone who can deal with the media. With the weekly sell-outs BMO Field has enjoyed comes increased interest, and TFC need a manager that is willing, able, and — most importantly — happy to talk to the hoards of journalists who surround him at every practice and after every game.
Toronto are also going to need to find someone who can inspire hope. The typical TFC fan doesn’t want to hear about five-year rebuilding plans or the need to be patient. It’s been four years without a playoff appearance and Reds fans want to immediately feel confidence in the person hired to lead the club in Year Five.
Although there are clearly many highly qualified managers from North America, the next TFC manager had best have a European passport (and, in a perfect world, be Italian). It’s bias and “Euro-snobbery” of the worst order, but it’s also the way many in the market feel.
The new manager will also need to be expensive. The fans in Toronto will want MLSE to flex its financial muscle to show them that they really care.
Finally, the Reds next manager must be bold and willing to make decisions quickly. Toronto fans don’t want subtle changes to the culture of TFC; they want someone to blow it all up and re-make it into something better. And they want that process to take a week-and-a-half (give or take).
So there you have it. We might not know who Toronto will hire, but we can be reasonably sure that it will be a quick-acting, media-savvy Italian that inspires confidence and drives a really nice car.
That shouldn’t be a problem, should it?
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