For a man who once cited voodoo as the reason behind his goal-scoring record at BMO Field, it was fitting that Toronto FC's famous No. 9 shirt called it a career on September 9, 2009.
Shame on The Beatles for stealing the thunder.
But while the day was set aside by TFC and numerologists alike to properly honour a player who rose from absolute obscurity to become the poster boy for a franchise looking for one, an obvious air of 'What next?' permeated the press room at BMO Field.
The reality is Dichio's ascension from the player-to-coaching ranks now means the Reds hunt for a playoff berth will proceed short-staffed and without the franchise's most productive goalscorer.
A must-win home game against Colorado on Saturday will take place minus the services of Amadou Sanyang (suspension) and Adrian Serioux (suspension). It might also be played without Carl Robinson (ankle), Nick Garcia (eye) and Amado Guevara, who is scheduled to return from international duty on Friday. For Guevara, inclusion in Saturday's game will be his third match in seven days. That leaves the yet-to-play Lesly Fellinga, rookie O'Brian White and Ali Gerba on the bench -- with Gabe Gala and Fuad Ibrahim as wild cards.
Mixed in with all the 'atta boys and remember whens at Wednesday's farewell were a few interesting -- yet off-topic -- questions about the state of the club with six games to play.
To start, the Julian de Guzman rumour mill churns on, with no resolution in sight.
"This is about Danny, it's not about Julian de Guzman today," said Toronto director of football, Mo Johnston.
Fair enough, but hopefully Thursday or Friday will be about de Guzman. Johnston admitted that Dichio's announcement will provide a bit of relief under the MLS salary cap and the personnel void will be addressed before September 15, the league-wide deadline for trades and/or roster freeze.
"It (Dichio's retirement) didn't need to happen," Johnston said of the finances surrounding any new signing. "We have allocation money that we can use to buy cap space, so it wasn't a big issue. There will be a push until the 15th, we are in talks with one or two players and we will wait and see what becomes of them."
The second relevant question asked on Wednesday was over the status of Chris Cummins, who continues to coach as an interim in Toronto. Cummins is entering his fifth month in charge, which is also his fifth month of uncertainty.
"It is an interim coach at the moment, and we will wait and see at the end of the season," Johnston said of the coaching situation. "We can't make any decisions right now. Danny will be a part of it for years to come."
In my opinion, if Cummins can earn a win on Saturday with what will be a skeleton crew, it could not be considered as anything less than a miracle. As I recall, it was a short-handed victory in Colorado last year that launched John Carver into the supporters' stratosphere. Although Cummins is often dismissed for his tactics, or lack thereof, the growth of several young players under his watch has been remarkable.
With Dichio mentoring the academy players next season and sending each on to Cummins (a coach with documented pedigree in finding professionals) in the professional ranks, tearing it all down will be more detrimental than good.
As for the talk of retiring Dichio's number, I have to draw the line. I appreciate fully what the big striker has done for the club in three short years, but soccer numbers carry a certain tradition and if Toronto ever signs a true No. 9 again that player deserves to wear it. However, I was surprised to find out A) How many numbers have been retired; and B) There are only two retired numbers on this side of the pond, a No. 10 and No. 13.
That being said, maybe the 24th minute can be retired? I did witness the clock stop for a full minute earlier in the year.
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