Toronto FC set for major announcement, more questions lie ahead for MLS team

TORONTO – Toronto FC, which has been searching for a new general manager, has scheduled what it calls a major announcement for Friday morning.

The underachieving MLS team is no stranger to upheaval — or news conferences heralding a new beginning or signalling the end of another era.

The 4-14-11 team fired president and general manager Kevin Payne on Sept. 5 with Tim Leiweke, CEO of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, saying the two were no longer on the same page.

Earl Cochrane, Payne’s right-hand man and Toronto’s director of team and player operations, was also fired. Chief scout Pat Onstad subsequently left.

The team then traded Argentine striker Maximiliano Urruti, Payne’s prize acquisition, to Portland after just 37 minutes action in a Toronto uniform.

Leiweke told season tickets-holders at a team barbecue on Sept. 8 that work was well underway on the GM search.

“This won’t be a long search. We’re already down to two (candidates),” he said.

Garth Lagerwey, Real Salt Lake’s GM and senior vice-president of soccer operations, was reported to be a man in demand. But it is believed he is sticking with his 14-9-6 franchise, one of many looking down at Toronto in the standings.

In firing Payne, Leiweke was specific about what he wanted in the new GM — someone with intimate knowledge of the league’s intricate salary cap and with a playing background.

He also gave a vote of confidence to rookie manager Ryan Nelsen, saying the new GM would have to work with him in 2014.

Nelsen’s role in the club has grown in recent weeks, given the leadership void around him. The team’s eighth coach in seven seasons has his hand firmly on the team tiller.

The club has more decisions to make. Nelsen and Leiweke have both said they are after two marquee designated player strikers in the January transfer window.

The MLSE board is behind them, having authorized US$26 million to spend on two such signings in the August transfer window. The money went unused.

Nelsen also looks to revamp his roster, using allocation money and the space he now has under the salary cap to bring in some battle-hardened MLS veterans.

He has several players he can move to facilitate bringing in such new talent.