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It’s been quiet for Toronto FC so far. Very little noise has come out of the club since the final whistle of the 2012 season. Almost every player was asked, in the post-season press conference, if they would be returning next year; few could answer definitively.
Thursday morning, Toronto FC supporters were given some news at last; Adrian Cann, Dicoy Williams, Ty Harden, Oscar Cordon, Nicolas Lindsay and Keith Makubuya would no longer be a part of the squad. Their options for 2013 were not picked up, and now, Toronto FC is down to 22 players.
Releasing Dicoy Williams and Ty Harden will come as no surprise for followers of the team; the duo saw little playing time in 2012, almost none under Paul Mariner, and with a roster rebuild seemingly around the corner, their services in the backline were no longer required. The release of Adrian Cann, however, will come as a bit of a surprise. Though he was injured for much of the 2012 season, Cann remains a valuable defender in Major League Soccer, perhaps not starting quality but certainly good enough to make a team’s gameday shortlist.
With the release of these six players, Paul Mariner has some breathing room in the salary cap to the tune of approximately $420,000, though with Cordon, Makubuya and Lindsay occupying roster spots 21-30, their salaries did not count towards the team cap anyway.
In a way, it’s a good call by Toronto FC – with so many heavy salaries in the roster already, freeing up that kind of cap space gives Mariner plenty of options moving forward. Sentimental feelings aside, the backline is already quite expensive, between Richard Eckersley and Darren O’Dea, and having a plethora of centerbacks leaves certain players redundant.
One must assume Dicoy Williams will return to Jamaica, while Adrian Cann will shop his services to the Vancouver Whitecaps or the Montreal Impact, though nothing is confirmed just yet. Ty Harden is an MLS journeyman who may land on his feet anywhere in the league (and, as history shows, may end up dominating at centerback next season, too!).
It’s not so much the options of the three aforementioned centerbacks that causes any degree of concern; it’s the careers of Cordon, Makubuya and Lindsay that have taken a bigger hit. What are the options for these players?
NCAA is no longer an option, since NCAA rules do not allow players who have already signed a professional contract. The Canadian Soccer League is an option for these players, as are sides in the North American Soccer League, such as FC Edmonton.
These three Academy graduates have found playing time hard to come by throughout their careers at Toronto FC, and they were obviously not in Paul Mariners’ plans for next season, but releasing these three players is not a cause for outrage; it was signing them in the first place.
The problem comes in the structure of the organization that graduates a player like Cordon far too early. In the current model, there are two options for a player of Cordon, Makubuya or Lindsay’s level: stay at the Academy and halt further development, or graduate to the senior team and play reserve games.
We had a chance to talk to Oscar Cordon, who told us "I'm actually excited to be honest. This year was rough. But as bad as it sounds, this is what I wanted."
The case can be made that a TFC U23 Academy team could solve the problem of sending a player to the senior roster too soon. By graduating these Academy players and then cutting them in a few years, what kind of message is Toronto FC sending to the other Academy players (and their parents)?
Is this bad precedent? If a potential Academy graduate is looking at his future options, and sees that three graduates have now been cut, the risk of signing elsewhere is surely present. Is Toronto FC sending a dangerous message here?
Probably not.
Unfortunately, cutting graduates is a pretty common theme in the world of football. It’s is part and parcel of the business, and players in team academies all across the planet have had similar experiences. Toronto FC still retains four out of seven total graduates: Ashtone Morgan, Doneil Henry, Matt Stinson and Quillan Roberts. This ratio is actually quite high, in comparison to other sides, or entire leagues, like the Brazilian league, which cycles through players routinely, sending potential stars all across the globe before restocking on fresh new talent yearly.
Teams cycle through their graduates and pick up only those who fit the team, are capable of not just surviving, but thriving at the top level, and send the rest of the kids packing. It’s actually quite normal in football.
Cutting these players also reduces the Canadian content on the roster, something Toronto FC have always been proud of. The team goes from having nine Canadians to only having five, a decrease of about 44 per cent.
These are the growing pains of a brand new team like Toronto FC. We haven’t seen Academy players getting cut before – they may not be the only ones departing Toronto FC, either.
A long and painful offseason awaits; let’s see who survives.
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