http://www.thescore.ca/blogs/footy/index.asp?name=footy/2008/02/mo_johnston_ste.html "Reports out of Toronto FC this morning state that Mo will go upstairs and new coach will be former Leeds and recent Luton Town coach John Carver. A press conference is pending but we wanted to give you an opportunity to give your feedback as soon as we heard. Tune into the Footy Show tonight at 630pm EST for more details."
Surprising news. What will Mo "going upstairs" mean? A foreign coach might be good but it's good to have someone who understands MLS player pool (and what kind of talent to focus on) stay actively involved.
Terrible news for the rest of the league, especially the Eastern conference. At least TFC is sticking with Englishmen.
It means he will be Toronto FC's manager and director of soccer operations http://tsn.ca/soccer/news_story/?ID=228674&hubname=
TORONTO - Toronto FC is making a head coaching change. Mo Johnston is taking a new position with the Major League Soccer team. He becomes Toronto FC's manager and director of soccer. John Carver, a former head coach of Luton Town in England's First Division, takes over as head coach. Johnston coached the team to a 6-17-7 record in its inaugural season last year. http://tsn.ca/soccer/news_story/?ID=228674&hubname=
Info on Carver off Wiki, coaching resume already updated. (not by me) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Carver_(footballer)
Toronto FC is making a head coaching change http://www.tsn.ca/soccer/news_story/?ID=228674&hubname= Wow, did you all see this?
Re: Toronto FC is making a head coaching change yes, and you would have too, if you had searched for a thread already on this topic: https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=653682
According to Ives, TFC is set to make an announcement bigger than a DP signing. Could The Great One, Jose Murinho, be the next TFC coach? I seriously doubt it, but anything is possible right now. Its one of the only things I can see being bigger than a DP. The other possibility is a stadium expansion, but I doubt they could get it done before the season starts, so why announce it now? http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/2008/02/big-news-in-can.html
That article was before the coaching announcement. I think the coaching announcement was the big one.
mo is a nice guy. a real nice guy. he can't coach a lick. he's lucky with whatever role they give him now.
On another football forum theres a guy who's very in at Luton (I think he's a fitness coach there but he knows everything that goes on) and he said: "Carvs is going to be Head Coach and Mo Johnson is going to be "General Manager" or something. That's how I understand things anyway. He was also offered a role at Newcastle - As was every other person it seems! Good luck to him. He's a lovely fella and I hope he has a good time over there."
Mo's done a good job of stockpiling talent at TFC already. But for a brutal rash of injuries, they'd likely have made a stronger showing last year. In any case, personnel management at TFC was more about the future than Ws and Ls last year. Mo's going to do what he seems to do best. No doubt it was a full-time job in its own right w/his level of activity last season. With the qualifier that I know squat about Carver and he could be terrible, I like this move in spirit. I think it could be good for the league. Granted, foreign coaches with no prior ties to MLS have not fared all that well generally. But I like the idea of injecting qualified new blood into the league. Should be interesting. I hope it works out. TFC deserve some success w/the support that they generate.
Don't worry, the "star-player-who-sucks-as-a-coach-now-trying-his-hand-at-senior-management" thing really works for Isiah Thomas' teams, it could work at TFC too. Though, with Bruce Arena out of the league, you have to wonder how good a GM Mo Johnston will really be......d'oh.
I don't think MLS needs another long ball merchant as coach. I thought the league was going in the direction of a more technical based/latin style approach.