So it goes...the story of Toronto FC and Kevin Payne

Former TFC president Kevin Payne

In Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Billy Pilgrim, the book's main character consistently repeats the phrase "...so it goes." Vonnegut uses this phrase as a transition, coming after plot points where it might be used to explain the unexplained, such as with deaths. This concept can be immediately be applied to Toronto FC and its revolving door of management, players and staff.

The Kevin Payne era at TFC started nearly 10 months ago and impressively is also one of the shortest eras at the club. Mo Johnston, John Carver, Preki and the ill fated Aron Winter experiment all lasted longer. While Paul Mariner was let go only seven months into his managerial reign, he had been hired at the same time as Winter. This leaves Chris Cummins and Nick Dasovic as TFC's shortest term holders, however they were both interm.

What can be seen from this however is the constant turnover at the club. It is a club that has had more managers (including Ryan Nelsen) than it has years of existence. It is a club that trusted former German international and current US coach Juergen Klinsmann to make decisions for it, instead of from inside the organization. Finally, it is a club that has consistently failed on the pitch (outside of a run to the semi-finals of the CONCACAF Champions League).

Wrapped up in this story is the fans. Of whom, I count myself as one of them. Having to endure the constant failure on the field, the constant promises of success from management, want-away players, and an ownership group who initially at least, had no idea what they were doing, there is still a base (albeit slightly crazy) that would do anything for the club. This is where we come back to the man that is Kevin Payne.

His "get used to it" answer to Jason DeVos' question about whether or not the supporters should expect more international friendlies was the final 'fu*k you' to the supporters. The ones who have stuck around since the beginning. Payne's backed words (such as not bringing in an overage European type of player) and his 'outgoing' (for lack of a better word) personality, brought about his demise when new MLSE president Tim Leiweke came to town.

In a way, TFC supporters have come to expect this. Someone new comes to town, tries to do things his way and eventually gets fired. As Billy Pilgrim would say, "...so it goes."

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Moyes' Transfer Disaster

Moyes' had much trouble in his first window as United boss.

David Moyes' first transfer window with Manchester United doesn’t seem terrible on the surface. He managed to keep Chelsea away from Wayne Rooney and Marouane Fellaini should shore up the midfield with a physical presence. However, when you factor in how the transfer for Fellaini happened (and the failed bid for Everton’s Leighton Baines), the saga around Ander Herrera in Spain, the failed bid for Fabio Coentrao and having Arsenal sign Mesut Özil, Manchester United can be seen as one of the biggest losers in the summer transfer window.

The double bid for Everton duo Fellaini and Baines went through many phases, with an initial £15m bid rejected, then later a £36m bid rejected. United finally split the bid up, offering £15m for Baines (which was again rejected) and £27.5m for Fellaini (which was accepted). While the multiple bids for the two players that were rejected may seem embarrassing enough, it gets worse. Fellaini had a buy-out clause in his contract that had expired earlier in the transfer window. Had United bought their man then, they would have saved £4m. It’s not like they had the man instrumental in signing Fellaini at Everton helping to sign him at United or anything. It's not like he would know those details of his contract.

The window got worse for United when they tried to sign Herrera from Athletic Bilbao. So the story goes, the three men who were conducting transfer negotiations with Herrera were not associated with the club in anyway. They then decided against the transfer and walked away from the table when they balked at Herrera’s buyout clause (£30.5m). It now appears that these men were sport lawyers who had previously worked on football transfers (such as Javi Martinez to Bayern Munich).

These two stories help to play into the failed loan bid for Coentrao and having Özil taken from right underneath United’s nose. One feels that if Sir Alex Ferguson was still manager at United, none of this would have happened. Instead, Coentrao, Özil and Baines might count themselves as Manchester United players and Fellaini would have moved earlier and for less.

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The Bristol Derby and England's latest Striking Sensation

Tomorrow marks what is sure to be a momentous week for Bristol Rovers fans. John Ward takes his Rovers team to Ashton Gate, home of city rivals Bristol City in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy. In one of English football’s most fiercely contested derbies the Gas will be hoping to replicate their famous victory over City in the same competition 6 years ago.

On that night a certain Rickie Lambert scored the winner at the Memorial Ground to send Rovers through and the former Blackthorn End hero has delighted ‘Gasheads’ by once more being included in Roy Hodgson’s England squad to face Moldova and Ukraine in England’s forthcoming World Cup qualifiers.

I can’t think of a better way to mark the derby tomorrow night and celebrate Lambert’s second England cap than by revisiting that glorious strike way back in 2007. Come on Rovers!

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Levy’s Bailout Plan

As the clichéd riddled transfer window is slammed shut once more, here at Hoof! we are very excited about the hottest new imports to the league!

Now that the inevitable has happened, one team is left with a bizarre shaped Bale hole. Levy’s solution; get rid of the old, Caulker (Cardiff, £8m), Dempsey (Seattle Sounders, £6m), Huddlestone (Hull, £5m) and Parker (Fulham, £2m) and well as the release of seven players, including Gallas and Bentley. Then go on to spend £106.4 million building a new squad on somewhat unknown players.

First to come in was Brazilian Paulinho add energy to their midfield for £17M. Swiftly followed by Valencia’s superstar Roberto Soldado, for a weighty fee of £26 million, having scored 30 goals in 46 appearances for the La Liga club last season. Soldado has got up and running quickly (from the penalty spot), might he prove the striker they’ve lacked for years.

The direct replacement for bale comes in the form of 21-year-old Erik Lamela who came through the ranks at Argentine side River Plate, providing pace, assists, and goals. Although he is a different player to Bale, he’s definitely an exceptional talent. Fellow 21-year-old Christian Eriksen joined from Ajax Splits opinion but is generally very highly rated. This pair will no doubt entertain and provide some flair and elegance and might be the answer to that missing creative outlet.

Spurs will certainly miss Bale, however is he worth more than a Lamela/Soldado/Eriksen/ /Capoue/Paulinho combined, no. Levy and Spurs made the very best of a bad situation in selling the prized asset and injecting it into players who might gel and will have an impact on the league table this year.
Arsene Wenger predicted that Tottenham’s clutch of new signings may make them ‘unbalanced’, which was seen Arsenals 1-0 win at the Emirates Stadium. Arsenals much criticized lack of summer signings was ended with the arrival club-record smashing £42.5m midfielder Mesut Ozil. Arsenals defence once again looked strong against spurs (despite the opening day blip) but having failed in high-profile attempts to sign Luis Suarez and Gonzalo Higuain lacking in the striker department may prove to be there breakdown.

Undoubtedly the battle for fourth spot shall be a great watch this year!





Wenger has been left scratching his head after a difficult transfer window



Keep an eye out for the much anticipated first Pilchard's Premiership Predictions of the season…

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Who's Ozil-y boy Arsene

So with the transfer window firmly slam shut it’s now time to kick back and take in what the hell just happened in the last 24 hours.

By far the biggest deal of the day on every level was the transfer of Mesut Ozil who moved from Real Madrid to Arsenal for a staggering £42.5million. Arsene finally splashed the cash (it must have been burning a hole in his pocket) but is this transfer going to propel the gunners this into title contention this season?

Ozil is undoubtedly one of the finest playmakers in world football, a magnificent 72 assists in his last five seasons, the highest in Europe in the same period, shows the calibre of the player Arsenal have picked up. He is also sure to fit in with the quick passing, fluid football that Arsene has indoctrinated his players to play, yet is this really an area the gunners needed to improve? We all know Arsenal can play most teams off the park but what has let them down season after season is resilience; a doggedness to get the result and scrap to victory. Even the most ardent Arsenal fan would admit the priority for signings lay in a combative midfielder as well as defensive reinforcements. Yet in came Ozil.

Once all the celebrating and furore brought on by this marquee signing fades and the dust settles Arsenal may just realise that the same vulnerabilities remain. A goalkeeper has been brought in to put pressure on Szczesny, yet Emiliano Viviano is a player rebuilding his career after a fragmented few seasons disrupted by injury. As German football writer Mark Lovell put it “Mesut Ozil is a luxury signing. Alas trophy winners are built on sound defence and goalkeeper and Arsene Wenger has neglected these key areas. Arsenal will still get bullied.”

 Arsenal’s defensive frailties could still be prevalent. At least with Ozil in the team they will be even more attractive to watch in the face of defeat. 

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On Yer ‘Ead Son! - Week 1

Classic route one hoof play...

Welcome to the first edition of the weekly ‘On Yer ‘head Son’ blog. Each week three videos will be uploaded that show goals that have been scored through passages of classic hoof play.

Football purists and Arsenal supporters look away now!

Goal Number 1 – Franck Queudrue v Uhhh... His own team RC Lens. 

Hig’s Hoof rating: 7/10. Words fail to describe how good this goal would be if it was scored against the opposition and not your own teammates. Franck clearly had a ‘Have it’ moment and volleyed the goal over his goalkeeper and into his own net. It’s hard not to laugh whilst watching this clip but unfortunately with it being scored in the wrong goal, this has prevented it from scoring higher.

Goal Number 2- Maynor Figueroa v Stoke.

Hig’s Hoof rating: 9/10. This has to be an almost textbook edition of a hoofed goal. As Scott Sinclair is fouled just inside his own half, up steps Maynor Figueroa to launch the resulting free kick over Thomas Sorensen and into the top right hand corner of the net. Did he mean it? Or was he looking for the run of Hugo Rodellega? I’ll leave that up to you to decide!

                                                                           

Goal Number 3 – Tim Howard v Bolton.

Hig’s Hoof rating 10/10. One of my personal favourites for two reasons. Firstly the fact that Tim Howard scored from his own penalty area is always an impressive achievement and secondly, is that Tim clearly had the right idea on how the game should be played, whereby you can bypass 90% of the pitch and land the ball on your strikers head for him to head the ball in, but if you miss and it bounces over the opposition goalkeeper (embarrassing moment eh Mr Bogdan?) then it’s just as effective! This goal gets the Big Sam seal of approval. 

Thank you for reading.

Hooffootball would like to hear your hoof ratings for the above goals, please comment below.

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Rotherham United's Leap into League 1

2013 saw Rotherham United return into league 1 after a 6 year absence. After a rough ride over recent years which saw Rotherham have around 4 managers, a loss in the play off final and ever expectant fans waiting to be re established as a league 1 team, a combination of a move back to Rotherham to the brand new, New York Stadium and the appointment of Steve Evans in 2012 gave the fans some hope that Rotherham could finally be promoted after years of disappointment. 

Steve Evans did what he promised to do in getting Rotherham promoted by finishing second in league 2 after winning the final 5 games of the season. The big question that surrounded Rotherham was to be whether they could cut it at a higher level with a manager who has never managed at this level before and with a host of more established clubs facing Rotherham throughout the season. 

However after the first 5 games of the season, Rotherham remain unbeaten in the league and lie 5th in the playoff places. The pinnacle of the season so far coming from a 2-1 home win against championship local rivals Sheffield Wednesday in the Capital One Cup, Rotherham are showing that they are no pushovers and prospects are looking promising for the forthcoming season. After being favourited for relegation by a number of bookmakers can Rotherham upset all odds and gain a double promotion like 10 years ago. Stranger things in football have happened and could this be Rotherham's time to get back into the big leagues. 

Rotherham's strongest test is approaching this weekend as they take on Sheffield United who will prove to be a stern test in the fierce local derby. A win for Rotherham would show that they are a force to be reckoned with and the likes of Wolves, Peterborough and Brentford should all be looking over there shoulders as the minnows from Rotherham could cause a big shock this year! 

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The Premier League's newest bad boy

Not pictured: Lack of bathroom damage

A £2 million signing from German side Werder Bremen, Marko Arnautovic is a speedy winger/forward who has previously played for Twente and Inter Milan. However, it is not his football play that Arnautovic is most known for. Jose Mourhino stated that he “is a fantastic person but has the attitude of a child.”

During his time at Inter, Arnautovic and Balotelli became good friends. With Mourhino playing mental games with Super Mario, Arnautovic was going out partying multiple times a week while injured and was consistently late for training.

When he arrived at Bremen, he had 2010 Champions League Winner written on his boots. Journalist Tim Roehn said “In his opinion, he's a 2010 Champions League winner, even if he didn't play…he behaves like a megastar here in Bremen. He came from Inter and now he's in a relegation fight in Germany.” Later on during his stay at Bremen, he said the club was nothing but a “lemonade stand” and he told his manager to go back to his mother’s vagina. This was combined with more partying while Bremen were in a relegation battle.

His footballing talent has never been an issue. He’s a big, strong forward to can dribble and has an eye for goal. He’s good both technically and physically.

Under old Stoke boss Tony Pulis, Arnautovic would have never came anywhere close to the Potters. If he did, Pulis would have shipped him out at his earliest convenience. However, under Mark Hughes, Stoke are slowly shying away from the direct style of football of Pulis. Arnautovic is part of this shift. But what are Stoke going to get? A professional who wants to play everyday or a partier who is consistently late for training and makes quips at management?

Either way, it’s going to be fun to watch.

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