Greg Sutton's 2008 Player of the Year Award.

It’s voting time.

Head to the poll on the message board and select your U-Sector 2009 Player of the Year.

Voting is open until Tuesday, November 25, at 12:00pm.

Will Preki become TFC's fourth head coach in four years?

Preki (a.k.a. Predrag Radosavljević) was widely rumoured to be on Mo Johnston’s three-man short list (along with Houston assistant John Spencer and long-time New England head coach Steve Nicol), and was probably the most realistic choice of the three.

The Serbian-born former two-time MLS MVP is the only one of the three who has been the top on-field man at an MLS club and is currently available. While some have been pining for Liverpool and Scotland legend Nicol to take the reigns under his good buddy Mo, the reality is that Nicol is still under contract for two more MLS seasons, and New England would not allow its stellar coach to simply walk into the awaiting arms of an Eastern Conference rival.

Spencer would have been a good choice, if Toronto fans hadn’t already experienced two former assistant coaches working through growing pains as the head man. Johnston knows that this is likely his last shot to get the coaching gig right, and risking his job security on yet another unproven guy could have spelled disaster, despite the fact that Spencer has all of the tools (and MLS experience) to become a very good coach in this league.

So Preki it is (if Ives is to be believed, and why shouldn’t he?). The man who turned sad-sack Chivas USA around is now tasked with doing the same at an even bigger club. Preki’s task-master style of man-management will be a stark turn around from Chris Cummins’ “friends with everyone” approach, and perhaps that’s exactly what this team needs.

But there are some questions that need to be answered.

What happens with Amado Guevara now? Guevara and Preki famously fell out at Chivas, to the point that Guevara – after all of four games under Preki – swore he would never play in MLS again. Of course, when he realized that the pay in his native Honduras is just slightly below what he could demand in MLS, he changed his tune, but only after his rights were traded to Toronto.

Will Guevara and Preki be able to play nice? Or was that horrific 5-0 debace in the Jersey swamp the last we’ve seen of the fiery Honduran?

Much has been made of Mo Johnston’s allegedly meddling ways, especially in the aftermath of Cummins’ inglourious departure. Will Mo be able to keep his hands off and give his new hire the freedom to coach as he sees fit?

Also, while his regular season record over the years has been stellar, Preki hasn’t exactly proven himself as a coach in the MLS playoffs. Will TFC’s vast resources give Preki what he needs to finally lay claim to his first win as a coach in the postseason?

And finally, will an “In Radosavljević We Trust“ banner fit in the BMO Field south-east corner gap?

Only time will tell.

Posted by Rudi Schuller

Discuss the potential Preki hiring here.

The USL has indicated that interested investors from Edmonton and Ottawa may land teams in its First Division within the next two years, effectively replacing (or joining) the disgruntled Whitecaps and Impact as the Canadian flagbearers of USL-1.

TFC won the Voyageurs Cup in 2009.

Should Edmonton and Ottawa kick off next spring, and Vancouver and Montreal figure out their situation (USL or otherwise), the CSA will have little choice but to organize a five-team tourney to crown a Canadian club champion. And while I’m sure the long-term strategy was to eventually have more clubs of a certain level – the minimum standard being USL-1 level at the moment – involved in an expanded competition, I don’t think anyone could have fathomed the possibility of that happening by the third year.

Should all the pieces fall into place, TFC supporters groups can look forward to planning an in-province road trip next year in addition to their annual pilgrimage to Stade Saputo to collect three points.

Before anyone starts asking when the bus leaves for Ottawa, there are some other questions that need answering. Who is behind these potential expansion teams? Are they committed, deep-pocketed owners, or are they the same type of fly-by-the seat-of-your-pants operations that proved so disastrous the last time the USL expanded to Canada?

And what about on the field? Can Edmonton and Ottawa reasonably expect to put together a competitive side on six months’ notice? If indeed one or both of those teams kick off in 2010, they will find it nearly impossible to field a team to be competitive in USL-1, there’s simply not enough time to put together a technical staff and quality roster in such a short window. And a bad team would be would be a hard sell in markets with no real track record of supporting club soccer, especially with so many other attractive options for local fans to watch on TV, domestic and otherwise.

That’s not even mentioning the Nutrilite Canadian Championship. For my money the NCC is a calibre somewhere between USL-1 and MLS. If a team hastily thrown together finds it hard to succeed at the USL-1 level (and it will), it’ll find it nearly impossible to win in what is arguably the most hotly-contested domestic cup competition north of Mexico. For those fans still bemoaning a certain 6-1 scoreline as a blemish on the integrity of our beloved little tournament, imagine what two more teams at the level of the Trois-Rivières Attak will do for the credibility of the Voyageurs Cup.

For the good of the game in this country, let’s hope that the rumours of Edmonton and Ottawa joining USL-1 are true… for 2011. Canada needs more success stories in the club game, and diving into a turbulent league just because the opportunity has presented itself is not the way to write those stories.

Posted by Rudi Schuller