After the 3-3 draw in Houston, Paul Mariner is officially the worst head coach in Toronto FC history. That’s right, as a graduate of journalism in England, I’ve employed the standard British tabloid approach and made a sweeping judgement on Mariner a whole two games into his coaching career at TFC.

I even have the statistics to back up this prognosis. Just compare Mariner’s win percentage against the previous head coaches at TFC, the evidence is damning. He is at the bottom of the pile with a spectacularly inept 0.00% winning percentage.  Even everyone’s second-favourite Scotsman (after Groundskeeper Willie) Mo Johnston managed to win 20 percent of his matches.

Obviously this is all tongue-in-check but fans can’t be too optimistic after Mariner’s early returns. When MLSE asked for some consistency, I don’t think this meant for the team to continue finding ways to avoid winning.

Mariner’s English influence on the team has even extended to off the field.  As Ben Trattner previously blogged, Miguel Aceval, Nicky Soolsma and Luis Silva were arrested for their part in a drunken brawl in Houston, a scandal any Premiership footballer from England would be proud to be involved in.

I guess all that remains is to wish the former England international good luck in his new job.  I’m not implying the folks at MLSE are impatient, but after seven coaches in six seasons, I’m off to the bookies to see what odds I can get on Mariner lasting until the end of the season.

Photo: Mike Cassese – Reuters

• By paul.taylor
• June 21, 2012
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• 6

Another loss for the Toronto FC, and this one didn’t even come on the field of play. Three TFC players were arrested in Houston, early Monday morning after being involved in a “large fight” outside a Houston area nightclub, Club Escobar (sounds classy).

The three players, Miguel Aceval, Nick Soolsma and Luis Silva were involved in an incident in the parking lot of the club and according to police were causing a disturbance and refused to leave the scene. They were arrested for public intoxication, but not before one of the players tried to flee the scene on foot. He was chased down by police and taken into custody.

For TFC, it is obviously an embarrassment to have the team and players make the news for this kind of incident, but of further concern for the team is how one of the players was chased down by a police officer. How is one of your players going to keep up with Thierry Henry on the pitch if you can’t get away from the local PD.

As for the upcoming game, TFC take on Houston Dynamo Wednesday evening trying to secure their first points on the road. New coach Paul Mariner will try to rally the troops, overcome this distraction and put together a solid effort.

• By ben.trattner
• June 19, 2012
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