It is time to take off the tinfoil hat.
I admit when my colleague Gerry Dobson pulled up a chair last Tuesday and asked if I felt the silence surrounding Dwayne De Rosario was odd considering the circumstances I thought he might be on to something. In truth, I thought about it most of the afternoon and into the evening. De Rosario coming home to play for Toronto FC is the biggest player-related news in Canadian soccer since Owen Hargreaves cancelled a press conference and disappeared to Germany.
So why was TFC playing it so cool?
On Wednesday I sent Dobson an email outlining how I thought what we discussed 24 hours earlier might have legs and a few phone calls should be made.
'Leave it to me' was the response. A few hours later Dobson filed a blog that outlined his conversation with Director of Soccer Mo Johnston. Now the gospel according to Mo should never be taken as the absolute truth but what would Mo gain from lying about the happiness of his latest signing?
In fact, an argument for the exact opposite can be made. The court of public opinion is very powerful and if it is finances that has DeRo second-guessing his future in Toronto, painting him with that brush would benefit Johnston. The wily Director showed us in the summer negotiations with Chicago over Brian McBride that he can be ruthless.
The unhappy De Rosario storyline is sexy, and admittedly I had the conspiracy hook in my mouth when Dobson and I discussed it on Tuesday. But it seems common sense has prevailed since then. Dobson made the necessary phone calls and I moved the puzzle pieces around in my head until a picture emerged: The new Carl Robinson contract fits with the De Rosario trade and attaches to the rampant DP speculation to unveil a picture of Johnston, De Rosario, Robinson, dare I say a designated player and John Carver at a grand unveiling in January.
As an aside, Carver must love the fact that not a soul knew De Rosario was coming to Toronto until the deal was done. During one of his Monday chats at BMO, Carver pointed out how the media would be on a need-to-know basis in 2009. Meaning, we don't need to know. It drives us crazy; and quite often when we don't know, we speculate.
Lastly, the news that Freddie Ljungberg is lost for 10 weeks adds credence to every mention out of BMO that the commitment to a designated player is a delicate process. I questioned the Ljungberg move when it happens and a few more probably question it now. Seattle will begin training camp on Jan. 21. Ljungberg is expected to be ready in late February or early March. The Sounders play their first game March 19 against the New York Red Bulls.
Do the math.
