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Kinnear staying at Newcastle: The TFC effect

JoeKinnear (Reuters) 

Newcastle manager Joe Kinnear had the interim tag removed from his title on Friday, meaning Kinnear will be the Magpies manager for the remainder of the season. The development should put to rest very real concerns in Toronto that head coach John Carver would leave Toronto to join Alan Shearer's staff if and when Shearer took over at Newcastle.

With Kinnear keeping his job, and Shearer continue to wait his turn to take over the club he starred for, Carver should be back in Toronto for the 2009 season, a season that could be a breakout year for TFC as it sits on $ 1 million in allocation money, three first-round draft picks and a Designated Player slot the team is expected to use in 2009.

What do you think of this development? Glad to know Carver will be back? Were you hoping he would go back to England? Think Toronto could be the surprise team of 2009?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. TheUltra—Pretty Sad when you’ve won both the Sheild and the MLS Cup and your Front Office can’t even rub two nickels together or manage to get 10,000 people a game!!

    Good Luck on continuing to “have” a franchise

    HAHAH Pretty pathetic!

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  2. Judging by your average attendance TheUltra, that’s the Columbus Few. Few. Mark it down.

    Gahd. Friggin’ cup winner and you can’t even sell out that erector set of a dive stadium. Unreal.

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  3. Oh, and Ives, that’s one imaginary bet to me! I put down an imaginary $10,000 at your 8-1 odds, so I’m up an imaginary $80,000. Double or nothing on the next one!

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  4. What most dont understand is that BMO is on crown land which essentially means that the city itself has to agree to grass being laid out at BMO as opposed to MLSE putting up the funds. Since BMO had been suggested to be a community field open to all for rental year round, grass would be too expensive for upkeep. As a result the city has to be convinced a) that grass is necessary and b) there are alternatives to BMO to rent (or something of the sort).

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  5. I find it very amusing that whenever someone comments on TFC on a board or blog that originates in the U.S., it’s always through the lens of what the press tells them to think; Mo Edu doesn’t even dress for most games at Rangers and, prospect notwithstanding, that’s a hell of a price to pay for a reserve player. He’s just not ready for primetime yet.

    Similarly, Julius James is a great natural athlete, but if Chicago thinks they’re getting something great by going after him in possible exchange for Justin Mapp, I’d have to say as a TFC fan “Yes Please! And can I have some more?” He’s two or three years off being ready to start, and after watching all of his appearances last year, it seems obvious to me that his lack of positional sense simply wasn’t exposed by the relatively plodding, inept college game.

    At MLS level, he’s disastrous. But you’d know that if you’d watched TFC.

    Same goes, for the first half of last season, for Marvell Wynne. By the end of the year, he’d corrected many of his positional errors and was one of the best fullbacks in the league. But in the first half, when he was truly dreadful and personally accounted for about a half-dozen goals agaisnt, he was still seen on non-TFC sites as being brilliant.

    I suppose this happens with every team.

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  6. Toronto can only use $500k of theEdu sale on players. The rest (that didn’t fo to the league) had to be used on infrastructure and development. Thus, it’s been suggested that the team would take some of that money and put it towards grass (either on the field or in a adjacent practice facility.

    Getting grass into BMO is far more complicated than most appreciate. There would be a lot of politics involved, even if there was private money willing to do it.

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  7. Ryan,

    I think it will happen eventually, but not for 2009. Part of the deal when the stadium was built was that it would be available all year round for public rental. With a grass field that is not possible.

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  8. A little off topic but…

    I heard that TFC was using some of there Allocation Money to put in “Real” grass and removing the crap they have now. Anyone know if they are still planning on doing this or not?

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  9. Newcastle is a mess and will remain so until Ashley sells the club abd the rabid fans get a grip and become realistic. They have pretensions of being a “big” club, yet they have not won a single trophy in 40+ years.

    Shearer should go and do what Tony Adams has done, get behind the bench as an assistant and learn his trade elsewhere.

    Carver staying at TFC is a reasonably good move in my mind. he needs to improve his tactical acumen, hopefully a year of MLS under his belt will help in that regard.

    The big problem is Mo. I deeply mistrust him, the relationship he has with his agent and how it ties into the players TFC has acquired, his lip service to issues such as a grass pitch, and his ability overall to build a contender.

    The clock is ticking Mo and most TFC fans are running or already have run out of patience with you.

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  10. I think that shoul Carver remain the coach at TFC it will guarantee another great year for KC, Columbus, Chicago and New England. Carver is a whining no talent hack, a perfect fit for Toronto

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  11. John:

    You’re way out to luch re: Edu.

    Mo Edu barely made an impact last season, and it was widely considered to be a colossal scam on MLS’ part to convince Rangers to pay 5 mil for an underperforming player (who can’t even get off the bench in Scotland).

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  12. Excellent news! Carver and the staff he brought from England are top notch, the players and fans love him and he loves Toronto. Look out MLS, cuz TFC will be energized by Carver staying.

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  13. Glad to know Carver will be back? No.

    Were you hoping he would go back to England? Yes.

    His tactics are poor and he is unable or unwilling to adjust those tactics to suit the players he has. He would rather blame referees and salary caps then adapt to the league. I’ve seen managers with less experience than him do more with much less against better competition.

    It doesnt matter who Mo brings in this team will underachieve under Carver.

    But I dont trust Mo will make the right decisions anyway, his contacts are limited and his “scouting trips” benefit his agent more than TFC. Actually most of his signings benefit his agent more than they benefit TFC.

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  14. Edu? Best player? No.

    Edu was an incredibly over-rated player, very talented, but nowhere near the godly hype that he received. I think he just looked so good in the midfield because he was partnered with a great if not the best defensive midfielder in the league.

    I’m looking forward to a big year for TFC. Now let’s start by signing a DP striker, and a solid CB.

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  15. John, dunno if you actually watched alot of Edus games this year but he was hardly TFCs best player. Especially this season. While he had a great first season and showed alot of promise he was quite inconsistent. As for the player acquisitions, i will have to agree with you to a certain extent. Id say its about 60/40 in favor of Mo (we are talking everything too trades/signings etc) and this is his last season, as a result he really has to step up to the plate. It does help that we have a nucleus from which only several players need to be added (pretty sure i read that off an interview with Mo, HA, its pretty true tho). Either way, theres a large off season and Mo better be working because last off season alot of purchases were made far too late. Like I said, its his 3rd and last year. If he wants to be resigned hes gotta earn it.

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  16. I’m with Dave on this. TFC’s player acquisition has been incoherent, on-going and impossible to generate much team chemistry. Additionally, without Edu, I would argue they’ve lost their best player.

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  17. I think Carver is a good coach, but he has yet to prove himself as a match day manager. I would like him to return to Toronto primarily because I think the club needs stability.

    Ives, I hope you are right about Toronto, but you were saying the same things before last season. I think you have loved almost all of Mo’s moves, but they haven’t gotten TFC very far yet.

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  18. Not surprised a all, my buddy whos been a lifelong Magpies fan (and is also a huge TFC supporter) has always said that anytime anything comes up in the papers with regards to FO/Coaching at Newcastle, Shearers name follows, its more or less well wishing from some supporters and a kneejerk reaction from press. Shearer is a god there but people gotta be realistic about the fact hes never coached in his life and now of all times is not the time for an inexperienced coach. Especially as relegation threatens.

    Really really looking forward to seeing what Carver has instore for us. Itll be him running the show the whole season (which means he has a say as far as preseason training is concerned, which was not the case last year), hes learned from last years mistakes (like allowing players who played in the last game to play the next, regardless of the level of talent available at the time). Consistency for TFC has been a huge issue, granted its only the 3rd season but alot of us TFC supporters speculate that we might go as high as 3rd or 4th in the eastern division. Mo also has alot of work to do as Carver cant do this alone. TORONTO TIL I DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  19. I think TFC could be a surprise if looked at now, but once MoJo uses the allocation money, draft picks, and the DP, I don’t think we will be a “surprise” anymore.

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  20. Great news. Like Carver and the intensity he brings alot.

    With his newcastle connection i wonder if we could get David Edgar on loan for a season. That would be amazing.

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