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Mo Johnston to move into front office role for Toronto FC, John Carver to take over as Toronto head coach

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Well, the big news out of Toronto involved none other than Mo Johnston, who is stepping down from his position as Toronto FC head coach to move into the front office, clearing the way for former Leeds manager John Carver to replace him. A high-level source at Toronto just confirmed this for me.

Rumors about Johnston making this very move began circulating two months ago but Johnston steadfastly denied them. He was busy trying to secure the services of Carver.

Toronto FC nearly lost out on Carver when the Newcastle United manager’s job came open. According to sources in Toronto, Carver, a former assistant at Newcastle under Bobby Robson, would have been a prime candidate to join Alan Shearer’s staff if Newcastle had hired Shearer. Newcastle hired Kevin Keegan instead, clearing the way for Carver to take charge in Toronto.

Johnston has one of the best track records in the league at identifying and drafting young talent and will now handle player personnel decisions with the club. The move to the front office was Johnston’s decision, as was the appointment of Carver, according to sources in Toronto.

Toronto ends up with the best of both worlds in theory. It keeps a man who knows the league and the talent in the United States and adds a head coach with a good amount of coaching experience.

What do you think of the news? Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I fail to see how Johnston was “forced” to sign anyone. He signed the vast majority of his Canadians through one stupid agency. That doesn’t sound like a prudent search for talent to me.

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  2. Who else do you see coming into this club prior to teh start of the season. Certainly Carver was hired with some kind of a plan in mind?

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  3. Heh heh, just taking an inside the biz shot Ives, like any typically bloody cynical reporter. You and Goff both do a helluva job.

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  4. Smart Mo.
    He would have gotten the boot half way into the 08 season as TFC have made minimal improvements as compared to other MLS teams down here.
    TFC will struggle but you fans are what we all want to see on highlights on ESPN…
    Everyone wants to come to Toronto to party like a rockstar at the games…

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  5. If you read some of Johnstons comments when he acquired Robinson who at best was a journeyman player throughout his career, what did he do last year at that salary? Welsh,Reda, Braz,Samual,Canero, Taylor Graham, those were his big moves. I think I have a very good case.

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  6. please also note alot of those players (Reda and Braz particularly) were picked as we had no choice having to fill the canadian quota.

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  7. perhaps i missed out but i dont ever remember Welsh or Reda being hyped. As for Robinson, it was said that he was a solid defensive mid which he was even though often he was playing way more defensively then he should have due to the lack of depth in our defense. Youve got a pretty weak case right now Emilio…

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  8. Robinson, Welsh, Reda, etc. all hyped up by Johnson and they were below par. Robinson is not worth his salary. Not to mention Canero while with us.

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  9. Nice try JLoome but no, it was a high-ranking Toronto official who confirmed the story for me, that doesn’t mean the word hadn’t begun to circulate. In case you didn’t know, there wasn’t exactly mass coverage of that press conference in the New York/New Jersey area.

    Now if there’s a press release with my details on Carver you let me know, okay?

    And guys, I had my doubts about the news being bigger than a DP but for some, this was a big deal.

    And are people really getting on Johnston for his player acquisitions? Which acquisitions were terrible exactly? Toronto had a ton of injuries just as they started to play better at mid-season. The roster is pretty good actually and Johnston helped build it with two good drafts and several good trades.

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  10. Pretty happy with this, Mo obviously has an eye for talent (lets hope we sign Lapira next!) but his tactics left alot to be desired. Im hoping this pans out well! Now all we need is some signings in the mid and we are set for the new season…

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  11. This isn’t earth shattering news but it was widely agreed that Mo is not a great coach and his practices last season were terribly mismanaged. At worst, bringing in a coach with decent experience will hopefully result in a better prepared team on gameday and less complaints about poor decision making by Mo.

    Now…where are our players that we were promised…. a #10, someone to play the left side of midfield and a forward to pair with Dichio

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  12. Considering the TO presser was at 11 am, I’d suggest Ives’ highly placed source on this one is the press release, wire or TO Star.

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  13. I think this is big news. You are bringing in a European coach that may not have had a great record but can bring something new to MLS. Hopefully between LA and Toronto we get some sound technical play and as fans we get to watch better players because of the training this coaches bring. Maybe I am wrong on that happening but it is better than having the same unsuccesful coaches that have been through the MLS.

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  14. I actually think this is fairly big news within the league. A new coach could have serious effects on how Toronto plays this season. They’ve got some talented players on that team (Edu, Dunivant, Wynne, O’Brien, Robinson… Need I go on?).

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  15. Lorenzo, many of those “rumors” are pure crap without an ounce of truth to them. that site is a joke. If you love fiction so much why not just buy a Stephen King book?

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  16. What did all those trades for the team do nothing? You need to get players from the beggining and have stability, not two or three new players every week, anybody can make trades but do they work, did they help the team win?

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  17. mo does not want to lose his job, so he brought in someone else to blame. Mo is great at drafting, and pulling off trades, but he really needs to get on the ball and focus on bringing in some canadians or else we are screwed for depth… again.

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  18. I tend to disagree with many of the posters here. Maybe not “bigger” than a DP signing, but a change of coach for a team is pretty big news imho.

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  19. Typical Mo move, he thinks mediocre players from the british isles will be great mls players, so he must think mediocre coaches from the british isles will be great MLS coaches. Mo’s track record isnt very good.

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  20. This Carver guy is no Mourinho, at least statistically speaking. Heck, with that record, I am not sure that Lawrie Sanchez would not have been preferable.

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  21. I’ll tell you why Jerry, because they do a good job condensing and bringing all the rumors under one roof. Are they all true? No, but that’s why it’s called a rumors site. Honestly don’t you read any of the rumors sites abroad?

    Besides, it beats hitting refresh on Goff or Ives all day.

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  22. Why do people even mention MLS Rumors anyway? More than half of their “rumors” are completely wrong and the rest are legit stories stolen from other sources.

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  23. Shrewd move by Mo, this way when he doesnt get the results he can blame Carver. Mo did a terrible job of assembling a team in Toronto last year, trading players at will, acquiring mediocre players etc.

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