Dein erstes Forum » sent to the Los Angeles Kings in January for

On Thursday morning at Toronto FC’s Downsview training ground, members of the media sat down with the club’s management team to hear an outline of their vision for Toronto FC and its academy. On hand to explain the details were Tim Bezbatchenko, the teams general manager, Greg Vanney, TFCs head coach, Jim Liston, their head of sport science and Michael Rabasca, director of cognitive development. If this all sounds vaguely familiar, there is a reason: it was the same strategy employed by Bezbatchenko’s predecessor, Kevin Payne, back in January of 2013. “I’ve mentioned a few times – kind of every time I talk – about culture; that really was the first order of business. I really felt strongly that we needed to change the culture of the organization, particularly out here at the training ground,” said Payne at that meeting in early 2013. “Good teams, if they do things right, can create a virtuous cycle. And bad teams tend to create a vicious cycle,” said Payne. Well, Payne hit the nail on the head with that that last one. Over its eight-year history, TFC has created a vicious cycle - one in which the club stumbles from one terrible appointment to the next. A quick look at the club’s recent history shows you just how often they’ve made a mess of things. Let’s start with Jurgen Klinsmann, the “football consultant” hired to search the world over for the right man to take the club forward, only to come back with Aron Winter - a rookie head coach who knew nothing of MLS and was completely out of his depth. Then there was Kevin Payne, the club’s American president and GM who thought the best way to symbolize what Toronto FC was all about was to erect an inukshuk – since he couldn’t think of a more clichéd symbol of what it means to be Canadian. Payne followed that up with the bizarre decision to hire Ryan Nelsen as his head coach. Nelsen was, at the time of his hiring, still a player with Queens Park Rangers in the English Premier League and had no coaching qualifications or experience. When Tim Leiweke rode into Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment on his white horse to save its three sports franchises, he jettisoned Payne in favour of rookie GM Bezbatchenko. Rather than giving his new GM the freedom to hire his own coach, Leiweke instead decided to shackle Bezbatchenko to Nelsen, insisting that Nelsen was the man to lead the charge on the “Bloody Big Deal” that was the signing of Jermain Defoe. The relationship between Bezbatchenko and Nelsen was doomed to fail from the beginning and, when Bezbatchenko hired Vanney to be TFC’s assistant GM and academy director in December of 2013, Nelsen was looking over his shoulder at the man he knew would be his replacement. When the inevitable axe fell on Nelsen - with 10 games remaining in the 2014 season and TFC sitting in third place in the Eastern Conference – Vanney took over the reins. The team picked up just eight points from its remaining 10 games and finished in seventh place – outside the playoff picture for the eighth-consecutive season. Toronto FC fans have seen and heard it all. The last thing they want to hear is yet another pronouncement that the club is “going in the right direction” and is “building the foundation of success for years to come. That is a shame, because I liked a lot of what Vanney and his staff had to say on Thursday. For starters, the club is finally taking its academy seriously. While it has been investing over $1 million a year in its academy, there was never the sense that there was a plan in place to systematically develop talented youngsters. That has changed under Vanney, who spent a lengthy amount of time on Thursday outlining the eight player development traits the club is looking to develop in its players, from the academy right through to the first team. Vanney also outlined how the club’s USL Pro team will allow it to better aid players in making the transition from the academy to the first team or even to another development pathway, such as the NCAA or the CIS. Toronto FC aims to develop as many prospects as it can through its academy and, while it is an ambitious target, Bezbatchenko highlighted that the three-to-five-year plan is for the club to increase the number of academy graduates in its core roster to as many as nine players. Liston and Rabasca discussed the roles of sport science and cognitive development in building future professional soccer players – areas that are often understaffed or even ignored at other clubs in Major League Soccer. With the resources provided by its parent company, MLSE, there are no excuses for TFC not to have the best academy set-up in the league. But all of this will be for naught if the first team continues to struggle. The execution of any long-term plan is entirely dependent on achieving short-term success. That, in the form of a post-season playoff berth, has, thus far, proved to be an elusive thing for Toronto FC. Cheap Salomon Shoes Free Shipping . Liriano pitched in and out of trouble in his duel with Josh Beckett, and Ike Davis homered to help the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 Friday night. Wholesale Salomon Shoes China . The Maple Leafs handed their embattled head coach a two-year contract extension on Thursday, while at the same time announcing that assistants Dave Farrish, Greg Cronin and Scott Gordon will not be back. http://www.wholesalesalomon.com/ .C. United on Saturday night and boost the Unions playoff hopes. Nick DeLeon scored in the 36th minute for United (3-23-6), which had ample opportunities to build on its lead but went its 10th straight match without a victory. Salomon Shoes Clearance Sale . - The Cleveland Indians will place centerfielder Michael Bourn on the disabled list before their opener at Oakland on March 31. Wholesale Salomon Shoes . -- Jerome Williams glanced at Philadelphias schedule and realized he would be facing the Oakland Athletics yet again, with another new team.The Edmonton Oilers have another top-10 draft pick and with that comes another chance to build around its young core. The Oilers have the third selection in Friday nights first round, a year after taking Darnell Nurse seventh and two years removed from a streak of three consecutive No. 1 picks. But even with forwards Nail Yakupov (2012), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (2011), Taylor Hall (2010) and Jordan Eberle (23rd in 2008) in the fold, Edmonton isnt in a position to be position specific. "Youre just trying to get the best available player you can," head amateur scout Stu MacGregor said in a phone interview. "And if you end up with too many of one kind of player, it would then be up to management to trade whichever asset you have to attain something else at a different position." General manager Craig MacTavish has made no secret of his desire to acquire a puck-moving defenceman this off-season, which isnt exactly a unique need in todays NHL. The No. 3 pick isnt likely the place do that, unless it becomes a trade chip. The Oilers hosted defenceman Aaron Ekblad, centres Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart and multi-purpose forward Leon Draisaitl recently, MacTavish said in a radio appearance on AM-630 in Edmonton. Two of those players are sure to be available third overall, though Ekblad — a pro-ready two-way defenceman — is considered the likely No. 1 pick to Florida or whichever team trades for it. With Hall and Eberle taking up top-six wing spots, there could be room for Bennett or Reinhart, perhaps even right away, behind Nugent-Hopkins. MacTavish wants to fill in his top three lines so that grinders like Matt Hendricks and Boyd Gordon can slide down the lineup. NHL Central Scouting director Dan Marr said during the scouting combine that he sees this draft as being full of players to stock the bottom half of teams rosters.dddddddddddd The top-end talent is limited, but Marr thinks there are plenty of prospects with long-term staying power as role players. At No. 3, or if they move down slightly, the Oilers should be able to get a difference-maker. While not as good as the "incredible" 2013 crop, MacGregor thinks the top 10 players available are strong. After the first round, things get murky for the Oilers. They dont have a second-round pick — sent to the St. Louis Blues last year for winger David Perron — or a third-round pick — sent to the Los Angeles Kings in January for goaltender Ben Scrivens. MacTavish said on AM-630 that hes not in a position to trade assets to get draft picks, certainly not after dealing some away for more immediate help. With two fourth- and two fifth-rounders, Edmonton can continue to stock the cupboard, although the team hasnt unearthed a full-time NHL player beyond the third round in a decade. Unrestricted free agency will likely go a longer way toward determining the Oilers 2014-15 roster than this draft, and the chances the team has of reaching the playoffs for the first time since 2006 when it went to the Stanley Cup final. MacTavish said the Oilers will chase some of the bigger names available but are more specifically looking for secondary help behind the primary pieces already in place. As trade talk heats up — MacTavish said hed had "some fairly intriguing conversations" about moving up and down from the third pick — the Oilers are in position to add salary. MacTavish hopes they can give up less by doing that and improve in the immediate future. --- Follow @SWhyno on Twitter ' ' '