Aron Winter has very fond memories of his time in charge of Toronto FC, but those warm feelings do not extend to the club’s current brain trust of Paul Mariner and Earl Cochrane.
TFC is coming off its worst-ever campaign in Major League Soccer, a campaign that saw the Reds finish in last place with a 5-21-8 record and fail to qualify for the playoffs for a sixth straight year.
During TFC’s season post-mortem with the media earlier this week, both Mariner (coach and director of soccer operations) and Cochrane (director of team and player operations) made it clear that they inherited this mess of a team from Winter, and that their influence over player signings and recruitment was minimal during the Dutchman’s tenure as coach and technical director.
But Winter paints a different picture, claiming that Mariner and Cochrane had greater influence than they’re letting on. As an example, he pointed to the acquisition of Geovanny Caicedo, a defender from Ecuador, who the club signed in January but parted company with two months later before he even played in a regular season game.
Caicedo wasn’t up to snuff and Winter didn’t want to bring him in at all, but he claims it was done at the behest of Cochrane. Several other questionable trade deals and prospective player signings presented by Cochrane and Mariner were turned down by Winter.
Winter also claims that both Mariner and Cochrane undermined his authority by going to Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment, the club’s owner, while he was attending to family affairs in his native Holland.
“They went behind my back to say bad things about me that weren’t true, saying all kinds of (expletive) about me,” Winter told sportsnet.ca on Wednesday.
Asked to give an example, Winter declined.
He later added: “I made mistakes and I’m not perfect. But I don’t like how those guys have blamed me for everything. For me, that’s not right. They made mistakes, too.”
Under Winter, the team stumbled to a 1-9 start, setting a new league record by losing their first nine games of the season. After Winter stepped down, Mariner took over. The club’s fortunes immediately improved, with the Reds going 4-2-4 under Mariner. But just as quickly things turned sour, and the team ended the season with a 14-game winless skid (nine losses and four draws).
Mariner: expects to be back as coach. Said he’s a good coach and that’s why he should be back. #TFC
— John Molinaro (@JohnMolinaro) October 30, 2012
Winter has kept close tabs on TFC since he left town. He’s not convinced Mariner and Cochrane can turn this team around.
“If they think they’re so great, let’s see them do it. But I don’t think they’re good enough. They don’t have quality,” Winter opined.
Winter is aware that his comments could come across sounding like sour grapes, but insists they are born out of genuine concern for TFC’s future.
“As I said, those guys aren’t good enough. I don’t think they can do good things for the club,” Winter said.
Despite the 1-9 start, Winter feels the team was on the right track, and just needed a bit more time before it started to show signs of growth.
“It’s a results business. I know that. Results were not there, but we were thinking in the short-term. We just needed a little more time to turn things around. I’m convinced of it,” Winter said.
His biggest regret? That he didn’t get to see his three-year vision for the club realized.
“After three years, I think we would have been in a good place. Challenging for the playoffs, winning the Canadian championship, competing in the Champions League, the youth academy doing very well, young players regularly starting for the club,” Winter stated.
Currently living in Holland with his family, Winter said he’s been approached by several different European clubs with job opportunities, but is planning to remain on the sidelines for the next few months.
“I just want to watch and follow football, and enjoy my time off for now,” Winter said.
A former midfielder of some reputation during his career, Winter played in such glamorous cities as Amsterdam (for Ajax), Rome (Lazio) and Milan (Inter Milan). But he still counts Toronto as one of his favourite cities that he’s worked and lived in.
“I have nothing bad to say about Toronto FC. It’s a wonderful football club. I love the city. I miss Toronto a lot. The fans and people of Toronto were great. MLSE is a wonderful organization. I got along very well with Tom Anselmi. I have nothing bad to say about any of them,” Winter said.
Sportsnet.ca contacted Toronto FC to get a response from Mariner and Cochrane for this story before it was published. They both declined to comment.