Well that's it for the inaugural season of Toronto Football Club. They showed a bit of the old spirit to drag themselves back from 2-0 down today, with the fat, generally useless Collin Samuel grabbing the first, and "cult hero" (but crap footballer) Danny Dichio scoring the equaliser.

It's been an interesting, at times exhilarating and exciting, introduction of the MLS in a football-hungry city, and although it turned out to be a bit of a damp squib following some early promise, I think the organisation can be quite pleased overall.

One of the problems I suppose, is that the club was a victim of it's own "success". All things considered, it's quite an experiment to suddenly appoint a coach and then give him 15 new players and get him to try and build a team with them, especially when you are competing against squads that have been together for at least 3-4 years. Although the team started off slowly, Mo Johnston managed to put together a quite compact unit, and in the heady days of summer, the results were quite good. There were wins, unbeaten runs, clean sheets, and a thumping here and there, all backed vociferously by the U-Sector, Red Patch Boys, and more lazily by the Tribal Rhythm Nation. Not only that, but the club managed to string together a few results on the road, and there were serious hopes of a playoff spot in July.

And then it all went topsy turvy. The FIFA U-20 World Cup meant that TFC had 6 consecutive away games, and they lost their form. The casual fans began to lose their enthusiasm as the novelty wore off, and the whole Beckham spectacle seemed to distract everyone. Add to this a near-800 minute goalless streak, and you'd understand why there are some people that are quite happy for relegation NOT to exist in the MLS.

As it were, TFC finished bottom of the Eastern Conference with 24 points. If you'd asked most pundits at the start of the season where they saw a brand new team finishing, they would probably have said last, and so no one can really be surprised at how things turned out. The brief period of good form did make a lot of people overly optimistic, but things evened out in the end.

Mo did well with the players that he brought in, but they were generally quite limited, and once opposition teams figured us out, we didn't offer much of a threat. Injuries didn't help, but more quality will be needed next season. Jeff Cunningham and Andy Welsh must go, and Greg Sutton and Ronnie O'Brien must stay fit. Marvell Wynne and Maurice Edu are two of the best in the league in their positions, and will be a big part of this team's future. But there is definitely a need to bring in a top quality, marquee player ala Juan Pablo Angel, Beckham or Denilson.

TFC go into next season with the best fans in the league, and the highest attendance, and this on its own should be enough to attract some quality players. Here's to hoping for better for next year!

I'm a little peeved writing this. Denilson, once the most expensive player in the world, and entertainer extraordinaire of yesteryear has gone and ended up at the hallowed halls of FC Dallas.

Well, as a Toronto FC fan, I am more than a little aggrieved at this. Why couldn't we have got him? I'm sure he's being paid well (although not exorbitantly), but Toronto doesn't have a star name amongst their ranks yet, and he would have been perfect for that left-flank. Instead, we must suffer the gormless Andy Welsh - a player that is a player solely because he has a left-foot, and not a particularly good one at that.

Denilson would have been a hit in Toronto, especially with the massive Brazilian & Portuguese population we have here, not to mention the fact that he has played for the exalted Brazilian National Team, at multiple World Cups. If ever there was a player who put bums on seats, it's Denilson - magical control, clever invention, and a never-ending flow of elegant stepovers. Even if Andy Welsh had 10 legs, he still wouldn't be able to do what Denilson does with the ball. OK, the Brazilian has been inconsistent, injury-prone and kind of lazy for most of the latter part of his career, but it's only the MLS!

It's a nice thought I suppose, Denilson in our Red & White instead of theirs, zipping down the wing in Toronto, with the South Stand singing "Denilson, woah-oh-oh, Denilson woah-oh-oh, he once played for Brazil, but now he plays at BMO Field, Denilson, woah-oh-oh" (to those who are unfamiliar with the tune, please look up the Patrick Vieira song that Arsenal fans enjoyed singing for so many years).

I guess the sunnier climes of Texas were probably a big factor in Denilson going there (as opposed to elsewhere on the continent). Not really sure how well he'd cope with early snowfall of Toronto or New York, not to mention the windchill. And I suppose the stylistically very-British Mo Johnston wouldn't really have the best working relationship with someone like him.

Oh well.

Yes, yes, it just had to be.

But for the record, my opinion on the so-called Beckhamania is this - "YAWN".

Like so many others, I mised out on tickets for the highly-anticipated "biggest game of the season" - not because anything was at stake, but because poncy David Beckham was poncing around on the bench looking like a ponce.

Still, at least I didn't end up paying $300 on the black market to see him NOT play, and then feel like a complete chump for doing it.

The game was dull and drab, and an injury-hit TFC ground out a 0-0 draw against generally inferior opposition, barring Landon Donovan, who (despite being a moron), is along with Juan Pablo Angel, probably one of the best players in the league - at least in terms of quality.

Incidentally, my opinion on Beckham is this - decent guy, great professional, slightly above-average player, unbelievable amount of hype, more popstar than footballer - i'm sure most of you are in agreement. What is sad is that all the new "fans" who lack real soccer/football knowledge think that David Beckham is the world's best player, and are expecting him to score goals, and dribble past 5 people at a time, and generally be amazing, when in fact he will be chugging around the midfield, whacking long balls, and taking set pieces every now and then. Add his injury problems to that, and they'll be lucky to see anything worth watching.

I'm glad that the TFC fans had a bit of fun. The papers and MLS news made it seem like everyone in the ground had basically been wanking over Beckham's presence there, but the reality was that the fans were swearing, jeering and generally taking the piss. Excellent stuff. Read this article from the Toronto Star.