"Letsh have de chit-chatsh..."It's safe to assume any TFC Media Day will be forever considered a success if the star player doesn't openly discuss going on strike. With that lofty criteria only a year old, today's meet and greet with the city's press will be considered downright cosy. Optimism, a seemingly happy squad, plans for the future and heck.

Ecks-iting news!Well that was surprisingly fast! After hearing about the "99% certainty" of Richard Eckersley's return to Toronto FC since late November, it took less than a day after his "Ecks'ual release" from Burnley to finalize a permanent move to Toronto.
　
The Reds officially announced the deal just hours prior to their big media day event, no doubt steering the news of the day onto the English defender.

"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".

Paul Mariner believes Khano Smith could make an MLS comeback. (Photo by Art Donahue/artdonahue.com)

Former New England Revolution midfielder Khano Smith's MLS career came to a screeching halt in 2010 at just 29-years-old thanks to extremely inconsistent and often frustrating play. Now former Revs assistant coach and current Toronto FC director of player development Paul Mariner believes the ex-pro could make a comeback at left back, according to a report in the Bermuda Gazette.

Welcome to The Yorkies' regular off-season rumour roundup - "The Rumoumeter". Too busy to keep your TFC ear to the ground every week? Just stop by the site and we will quickly show you what rumours are hot - and which ones have hit the back burner. Some of the rumours have weight - others little more than whispers; we take their temperature with.

"This ain't our house!"One of the worst kept cats in town is apparently out of the bag this afternoon. No, Nick Soolsma didn't visit the Humane Society - but John Molinaro at Sportsnet is reporting that Toronto FC will imminently announce that the Champions League Quarterfinal against LA Galaxy will be played at SkyDome.

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.

Last week, in the wake of England's heroic (cough) win against Spain at Wembley in what can only be described as the friendly international to end all friendly internationals, we took a look at a few matches from their past in which the national team had managed to pluck a result from somewhere against a decent team, but failed to capitalise upon it.

"From this day on - we will only play on Twitter"The post-season tinkering, or SIXual Healing preparation - depending on your view of time and space, is under way at BMO Field. While still awaiting official word from the club, two young Reds, Matt Gold and Demitrius Omphroy, took to their media of choice - Twitter - to announce that their days in Toronto were done.

Finding a replacement to fill the enormous shoes left behind by its most decorated manager in club history will be no easy task for the Revolution front office. That is a given.

But, the organization won't be at loss for possible suitors. Although the Revolution may have posted a franchise-worst five wins in 2011, there's still a number of talented players on the roster that could merge under a new manager.

Photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIphotos.com

With Steve Nicol's tenure on the New England Revolution sideline coming to an end, the search begins to replace a coach who was a fixture with the organization for the last decade.

Former longtime Nicol assistant Paul Mariner has to be on the radar, even though he took a position with Toronto FC as director of player development prior to this season.

All signs point to Toronto?Toronto FC's season has barely gone cold but it looks like plans for 2012 (aka SIXual Healing) are already starting to heat up. According to reports out of football hotbed Bermuda and East Anglian metropolis/tractor hotbed Ipswich, former Ipswich Town and Bermudian international midfielder Reggie Lambe is on The Reds' radar.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Did Saturday night's home finale signal the end of an era?

With the contracts of longtime manager Steve Nicol and skipper Shalrie Joseph set to expire in the offseason, last weekend's match may have marked the last time both walked off the pitch as members of the Revolution.

Not a Chip Butty in sightIt's that time of year when loved ones gather to give thanks for all they have received over the past year. While some Reds' supporters may have not reaped the harvest they expected in 2011, there are still some morsels worth savouring.
　
Yes, an autumnal playoff bounty is beyond our reach once again, but hopes of a winter (or Winter) seeding gives supporters a light ahead for spring.

By Chris Wright

Paul Breitner: German box-to-box goliath of the 70′s and 80′s, World Cup winner, possessor of a long-range shot akin to amplified thunder, vocal socialist, 60-years young today and the once-proud owner of a full 360° of seamless Afro/beard hybrid head fuzz thus making him a bona fide Horror Hair legend.

Liverpool travel to the Emirates on Saturday to face Arsenal in a 12:45 Premier League kick off, a ground that has so far not been too kind to the Reds in terms of positive results.

The last visit to Arsenal saw the game end in a 1-1 draw in a match of late drama as Robin Van Persie put the Gunners ahead in the 98th minute only to see Dirk Kuyt grab a point for the visitors in the 102nd minute.

One of the difficult parts of the whole three games in six days is trying to keep up with our regular features. But, we're on a great network, and in this case The Bent Musket reminded me of the Sunday 1PM game against the New England Revolution. Let's just ignore the future game for a moment and pay some attention to the whole issue concerning their supporters' groups battling with the front office.

Paul Mariner is the man in charge of reinforcing a TFC squad in desperate need for quality players. Thoughts on what he might have in store for Toronto FC in the next few weeks.
Rating: 5.0/5 (1 vote cast)

Roof goes here.Ask Toronto FC supporters what is wrong with the failing, and seemingly flailing, club right now and many will give an arms-length list of problems dressed in red kits or holding clipboards. In a season where on-field successes have been few and far between, it is hard to fault the average member of BMO Field's faithful for pointing at the pitch and screaming in exasperated frustration.

I guess that an event such as Philadelphia Union coming to Toronto in their second year and scoring a record number of goals against TFC was not a complete shock today. The question that was bouncing around my head on the way home today was a simple one, will TFC get worse before they get better? If you judge the TFC future by the post-game conference with Coach Winter saying these are not my players, my players will start arriving throughout June, you have to lean towards getting worse before it gets better.

Having already added a boatload of new faces in the off-season, Toronto FC has found one more European player to bring in and bolster the defense.

TFC has brought in defender Richard Eckersley on loan from Burnley. A right back by trade, Eckersley previously played for TFC director of player development Paul Mariner at Plymouth Argyle.

Farewell CaptainThere had been online buzz all afternoon of Toronto FC trade of Dwayne DeRosario. Sportsnet had an online post and Fan 590 had it on their 3:20 news (hey, that is just two forms of the same source, isn't it).
Then there were reports that a legal question had arisen and the trade was on hold.

The New York Red Bulls have acquired Canadian national team star Dwayne DeRosario in a trade with Toronto FC, sources have confirmed to SBI.

The trade, which will send Tony Tchani, Danleigh Borman and a first round pick in 2012, will be announced this afternoon.

MLS is finalizing details on the first blockbuster trade of the new year.

Five years ago, the phrase "Revolution attack" elicited vivid images of Clint Dempsey, Taylor Twellman, and Pat Noonan barraging opponents' backlines, breaking ankles, and burying barrels of goals. It was theatre. It was art. And it was breathtaking to behold.

Paul Mariner, who left his position as assistant coach of the Revolution in 2009, is now Director of player development in Toronto.

Head Counsellor at "Camp Wannafooty"
Dispatches from camp always have to be taken with a grain of salt. The campers often have a wide variety of emotions from good to bad and send the strangest messages to their loved ones waiting for news. TFC camp isn't all that different - lots of wide-eyed youngsters, surly camp veterans and wily counsellors make for an adventurous few weeks where anything seems possible.

Photo by ISIPhotos.com

By JOSE M. ROMERO

CASA GRANDE, Ariz. -- On a frigid desert evening in practically the middle of nowhere, in front of a handful of people, a Major League Soccer veteran played through a groin injury.

That last part probably wasn't good news for Toronto FC, which opens full-team preseason training for 2011 in just a few days.

-Jason Davis
After two and half years in Europe, Kenny Cooper is back in MLS as a member of the Portland Timbers. The Timbers get a proven MLS striker and something of a name; Cooper gets a chance to play regularly and return to the form that attracted so much European attention in the first place.

SBI Interviews Paul Mariner from Soccer By Ives on Vimeo.

It's official now. MLSE and TFC held a press conference today to confirm that Aron Winter, Paul Mariner, and Bob de Klerk will be joining Toronto FC. In a nutshell, here is what our staff will look like for the new season:

Aron Winter Head Coach & Technical Director
Paul Mariner Director of Player Development
Bob de Klerk - First Assistant Coach
Earl Cochrane - Director of Team and Player Operations
Stu Neely Head of Academy
Nick Dasovic, Jim Brennan, and Danny Dichio will all remain a part of the organization; official roles yet to be named

Basically, Winter is our main man.

Toronto FC announced Today that Aron Winter has been named the club's new head coach and technical director, and Paul Mariner will be the teams new director of player development.

A statement on the TFCweb site said:

"Aron will oversee our entire soccer operation and set the soccer direction of Toronto FC.

Aron Winter is officially the new coach of Toronto FC, the club announced on Thursday. Winter takes the title of coach and technical director, with Bob de Klerk named as his first assistant and former New England assistant Paul Mariner returning to Major League Soccer as the club's director of player development.

and
In case your resolution was to avoid online chatter, here is the official TFC leadership group announced at the ACC press conference today.
There is a team approach to the new TFC leadership. So forgive me if my labels are simple. Aron Winter seems to be both coach and technical director.

According to multiple reports, former New England Revolution assistant coach Paul Mariner will be named technical director at Toronto FC. Mariner's name was originally linked to the head coaching position in Toronto until Aron Winter's name recently surfaced as the new favorite to take the coaching reins.

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — Former Lazio and Netherlands midfielder Aron Winter has said he will become the new head coach of Toronto FC. Winter, 43, currently on the coaching staff at Ajax Amsterdam, where he began his playing career, told Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf a deal was reached last week. "I visited the club last week [.

Aron Winter. Get used to hearing that name. By all reports out of Toronto and Amsterdam this gentleman, currently an Assistant Coach with famous Dutch side Ajax Amsterdam, is about to be appointed Technical Director of Toronto FC. There will be a presser later this week sources tell me when he, along with Paul Mariner and Ajax youth academy coach Bob de Klerk, will be announces as the new Triumvirate in charge.

We talked last week about Toronto FC going after former New England Revolution assistant Paul Mariner, well it looks like he may not be the head coach after all, instead he will be the new technical director of the club. Now reports are saying Toronto FC will hire former Dutch midfielder Aron Winter as their new head coach.

Reasons to be cheerful.
- Leadership hirings finally completed- fans can start dreaming of the season ahead, rather than dreading another day of TFC vacuum.
- I can't be the only one impressed with a Dutch coaching hire (Aron Winter). Although I am usually dubious when nationalities are thrown around as the answer to any problem, the Netherlands have supplied the world with quality players and national teams out of proportion to their population.

From the Toronto Sun:
According to reports out of the Netherlands, former Dutch international midfielder Aron Winter has agreed to a three-year deal with the club to become its new technical director and head coach.

Winter had spent years as an assistant with Ajax, a club he scored 50 goals for as a defensive midfielder in his playing days.

After spending most of the off-season without a head coach and permanent technical director, Toronto FC appears ready to finally fill the two vital positions.

According to multiple MLS sources, Toronto is set to name former New England Revolution assistant Paul Mariner as Technical Director and former Dutch national team player Aron Winter as head coach.