The Winter and his discontentMake no mistake, Wednesday evening's victory over Montreal was a much needed breathe of fresh air for Toronto FC and their long-suffering supporters. Beyond the win and progression to the Canadian Championship finals, simply being entertained and having a bit of the old "BMO Field atmosphere" return was nice.

"Oh Bob, we didn't need you after all"
Times are indeed tough in the land of the Torontos. Supporters of the local side have had more than their fair share of heartbreak over the last six years but this time around just feels... well, sad. Last year's poor results were forgiven for the most part in patience for the inevitable improvement that was to arrive under Aron Winter's system but as we all know too well - it hasn't really worked out.

"Why so glum chum? Here, have a mocha latte."Let's not beat around the bush - things are bad at BMO Field. Toronto FC are shattering marks for futility and are one loss away from being record-breakingly bad. Aron Winter's Oranje Revolution seems to have gone the way of Dutch pancakes, players are openly butting heads with management and even ownership has crawled out of its hole to tell us what we already know.

[NB 1 This is the first of what we hope will become a popular weekly column about MLS. There are many places you can go to get a rote review of the weekend, along with who won and lost. Our ...
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"This guy was a thing, wasn't he?"With a number of season tickets still unsold, Toronto FC's bean-counters can't be happy with the sudden sputter of the 2012 season. After the highs of The Reds' CCL exploits, things looked very bright for "SIXual Healing" but a pair of major injuries coinciding with a pair of shambolic fixtures to open the MLS season has tempered emotions.

Hey handsome... where you been hidin'?"SIXual Healing" is about to touchdown at BMO Field and with a host of new faces and you need a program! While nowhere near as erotic as a "SIXual Healing" program should be (this is a family website... sort of) we bring you all of the must-know info on your 2012 Reds.

Major League Soccer kicked off the 2012 season with several surprise wins and last gasp winners. Montreal lost its MLS opener, LA suffered a home loss and Andre Hainault gave Houston a win versus Chivas.
Pedro Gomes has the recaps of MLS Week 1:
Vancouver Whitecaps 2, Montreal Impact 0
MLS opened 2012 with a First Kick double dose.

Fair warning, this post is 100% with my fan boy hat on, it's fairly corny as well. No impartiality here, 100% homer for Sporting KC. You have been warned.
To the players of Sporting KC,
Here we are at the start of the 2012 season. Here is your opportunity to finish what you started last year.

West may be best for baby (we think that's science) but the East is where it's at yo! That's right, hot off the heels of our highly factual and influential MLS Western Conference preview (see below) we shift focus to the continent's eastern seaboard... as well as Kansas and Houston.　
Everyone on this continent knows east is a beast!

The greatest time of the year has finally come. After weeks of previewing the teams, we are a day away from the beginning of the MLS season. Looking ahead to 2012, some things have stayed the same (star-powered LA Galaxy, ...
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For many in Toronto it feels like the season has already started. After the emotional roller-coaster that was the Champions League Quarterfinal on Wednesday, you can forgive Reds supporters for feeling a touch anti-climactic. But that won't last. Once the CCL hoo-hah has worn off there will be a palpable excitement for what 2012 holds.

Team: D.C. United Coach: Ben Olsen Last Season: 9-13-12, 7th Eastern Conference, 13th Overall Hashtag: #DCU There is a sense of anticipation around the DC United fan base this season, a sense of anticipation that fans have not had for a few years. ...
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First kick is Saturday, Sporting KC will step onto the field for the first time since losing to the Houston Dynamo in the Eastern Conference finals back in November at Livestrong Sporting park. It's the chance for redemption, for the chance to finish the unfinished business, and any other cliche regarding making a comeback after being knocked down.

The roster compliance deadline passed for Sporting KC without incident last week. KC is currently sitting below the roster max of 30 players, and is set on internationals currently. As of this moment, KC has 28 players currently on their roster. That only includes the players that are currently under contract, even if they are not in camp currently, and will likely not play a role in the team this year.

Team: San Jose Earthquakes Coach: Frank Yallop Last Season: 8-12-14, 7th Western Conference, 14th Overall Hashtag: #SJEarthquakes Although it is an overused phrase, this year is a critical year for the San Jose ‘Quakes. The team is at a crossroads and this season ...
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Photo: Paul Rudderow

It's 2012 and the Union have gotten younger and more inexperienced at the MLS level. That is not to say that they are any less talented. If anything, they've taken strides to be a deeper, more tactically savvy squad. But with so many variables left unknown due to youth, a midseason international tournament, and a still evolving system, PSP looks at the 10 players who have the most to prove in 2012 if the Union are to meet, and hopefully surpass, they're 2011 finish.

Name: Houston Dynamo Head Coach: Dominic Kinnear 2011 Record: 12-9-13, 2nd Eastern Conference, 7th overall Twitter Hashtag: #HoustonDynamo The Dynamo are the defending Eastern Conference champions, but all the talk this offseason has been about other teams. That's not to say ...
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Today, MLS released this year's reserve schedule for all teams. Once again Sporting is in the Central Conference, where they will play each of the other 5 teams home and away to give them a total of 10 games. Sporting though, has already announced one other reserve game, on their schedule on their team site.

Team: Chicago Fire Coach: Frank Klopas Last Season: 9-9-16, 6th East, 11th Overall Twitter Hashtag: #CF97 In our 2011 preview of the Chicago Fire, I predicted the Fire would either make a surprise long run in the playoffs or miss the ...
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That's the campaign for Sporting KC this season, "Live for It". The team debuted their commercial last night during the Grammy Awards. The team will be advertising with the commercial (another that will debut during the season opener), along with online, outdoor, print, and radio. The team will be doing billboards around the city, the billboards will include two of Sporting KC's newest national team players, CJ Sapong and Graham Zusi.

Did you feel that? That little shiver down your spine as you clicked on this story to read it. Was it too much caffeine this morning? Or was it the sense that the beginning of spring and the MLS season ...
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Photo: Daniel Gajdamowicz

With the signing of Lionard Pajoy, the Union may just be nearing the end of their offseason transactions (at least for outfield players). In a set of three installments, PSP's Eli Pearlman-Storch outlines the most likely formations for the Union in 2012 and how the roster, as currently composed, is suited to play in each.

Today, Sporting KC released information regarding the sell of single-game tickets. Starting next week, the team will start selling single game tickets to the team's first 8 home games. Games against New England, Dallas, LA, Real Salt Lake, Montreal, San Jose, Toronto and Chicago. Tickets will begin to go on sale starting February 13th for season ticket holders.

Right colour, wrong shirtIt's a Chile afternoon in Toronto! Great news for TFC supporters and pun-lovers alike as The Reds officially announced the signing of Chilean international defender Miguel Aceval today. The announcement concludes a signing-process that has been rumoured since December but spent the last few days floating around MLS red-tape limbo.

It's "Springtime for Winter" as Toronto FC today released the names of the 41 players (so far) who are taking part in the club's pre-season training camp. The major difference from past years on first glance is the absence of any professional trialists. Just a year ago, the likes of Javier Martina, Mikael Yourassowsky and King Osei Gyan (for you TFC trivia buffs) were training with The Reds in hopes of grabbing a contract but this year seems quite different.

"Kiss me, I'm orange!"We promised we wouldn't talk about this godforsaken story anymore until there was confirmation - but we are renowned liars... and desperate for some news. With that, there is movement afoot on the most protracted TFC transfer saga of the off-season, Richard Eckersley aka "The Ginger Affair".

The counsellors are back with their "campy" Dutch accents and the campers are arriving one-by-one at the big campsite by the lake. The weather forecast is looking a lot calmer than it was one year ago - but anything can happen at camp. Especially if that new camp up the river, "Le Camp Impact du Fromage", challenges us to a winner-take-all canoe race!

"Behind you Andy! Oh... never mind."A little bit of a shocker out of TFC's pre-pre-season today as the club confirmed that both Andy Iro and Peri Marosevic will not return to The Reds in 2012. "Both Andy and Peri declined our contract extension offers and now the club is ready to move on," were the words from the Dutch Master Aron Winter who is no doubt ready to welcome new recruits to fill their roles.

Like the SuperDraft... just less Super... and more MentalNo we aren't being all streets with French crazy people - we are being all streets with the 2012 MLS Supplemental Draft! And honestly, what's a draft if it's not a wee bit mental? And hey, Montreal's in it now so l vous allez.
　
The Torontos had five picks today in the annual hunt for gold (not Matt Gold) that slipped through the two rounds of last week's SuperDraft.

Now THAT'S a SuperDraft!Wow that's a lot of punnage in one title. With reason though, as something is definitely going on behind the scenes which will help explain Toronto FC's two First Round draft picks at the MLS SuperDraft. (Don't you just hate those non-Super Drafts? So boring.) With their braintrust gathered in Kansas City, TFC did their best to confound those who do mock drafts.

A three-year deal Joao?"El MosQuito" will be buzzing around BMO Field for the foreseeable future as Toronto FC announced today that Joao Plata has signed a multi-year deal with the club. The dynamic yet diminutive Ecuadorian was often the only bright spark in a miserable first half of 2011 and his re-signing was considered as an off-season must in most supporters' eyes.

"Mmm - you can barely taste the clog!"Toronto FC got the SIXual Healing bandwagon / promotional tour on track today with a breakfast event for season ticket holders in Downtown Toronto. The second year manager Aron Winter held court and was joined by players Danny Koevermans, Stefan Frei and Ashtone Morgan.

Today MLS released the 2012 MLS schedule with the new unbalanced format. The full schedule is at the end of the post, but here are some thoughts and information on the schedule.
KC opens the season on the 10th of March against DC, it's the 7th time in KC's history that they've opened against DC.

It sounds like we won't have to wait much longer for the 2012 MLS schedule to come out. It seems that the league has the schedule finalized and will be putting it out hopefully later this week. KC is set to have their home opener on March 17th, St. Patrick's Day, other than that, the schedule isn't really known.

You can never find FC Dallas on these damn Mayan calendars!Considering it's apparently our last year on the planet, people are surprisingly making plans for the next few months. According to the good and diligent folks over at the great Canadian Soccer News - this includes Toronto FC. With Major League Soccer preparing to officially release the schedules soon, a leaked version of SIXual Healing has found it's way online.

Wow, they are happy Thierry Henry's leaving on loan
Mere hours from now, Dick Clark will descend on Manhattan's Times Square riding a fully armed crystal ball where he will fight an army of Mayan warriors bent on destroying the world. Or something to that effect. 　
Yes, 2012 is upon us and while many fear that it is the year that marks the end of civilization, most TFC supporters just hope that it is the year that marks the end of futility.

Today Sporting Kansas City announced a portion of their preseason schedule. As expected, the team will be making a return Arizona, but as announced previously will not be competing in the Desert Cup, instead they'll also spend part of preseason in Orlando for the Disney Pro Soccer Classic.
Preseason kicks off on January 19th, a week after the MLS SuperDraft, and 2 days after the Supplemental draft, where the team has a combined seven draft picks, with physicals.

A Lambe in Reds' clothingNot baaaaad! Sorry, we promise that is one of the last couple of dozen lamb jokes we make... today. All for good reason though, as Toronto FC officially announced their first new recruit for 2012 today - tricky, young midfielder Reggie Lambe.
　
The 20-year old Bermudian international has been flirting with the English Championship since signing with Ipswich Town's youth program in 2009 - two years after his international debut with Bermuda at 16.

Today MLS announced the national television games for MLS First Kick the weekend of March 10th. Sporting KC isn't going to be on national television for their season opener, but the announcement does narrow the field for who Sporting KC could play on the first weekend. The national broadcasts kick off on Saturday on TSN in Canada as one of last year's expansion sides, Vancouver, take on this year's expansion side, Montreal in Vancouver.

Today MLS announced the dates for all teams' home openers for the 2012 season. Sporting Kansas City will have their first home game on March 17th, St. Patrick's Day. That's certainly going to make for a fun day for the Cauldron enjoying St. Patrick's Day and a game at the same time. KC will open home season the same weekend as 3 other teams, Montreal, Salt Lake, and Philadelphia, which means that any of the other 15 other teams could be KC's first opponent.