TFC fires president Payne after less than a year

The Kevin Payne era at Toronto FC lasted less than one year.

Installed as team president and general manager last November, Payne was fired by the Major League Soccer club on Wednesday.

The Toronto Star first reported the story on Wednesday afternoon. Shortly after, Payne confirmed he had been let go by TFC via text when contacted by sportsnet.ca.

“I wish nothing but the best for TFC and hope you get to cover a playoff match next year,” Payne wrote in one of his texts.

Payne’s departure signals the first major shakeup within Toronto FC since June 30 when Tim Leiweke took over as president and CEO of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE), the company that owns the MLS team.

Rookie coach Ryan Nelsen, who was hired by Payne, appears to be safe. The former New Zealand international was in meetings all day on Wednesday and will travel with the team on Thursday to Oregon in preparation for the Reds’ road game against the Portland Timbers this weekend.

Wednesday marked the farewell to the latest “saviour” who was supposed to finally lift TFC out of the doldrums and help it achieve respectability.

Before coming to Toronto, Payne spent the previous 17 seasons with D.C. United where he was the key figure in building the franchise into one of the most successful teams in league history. During his time as president and chief executive officer, D.C. United won four MLS Cup titles, four MLS Supporters Shields and two U.S. Open Cups.

The hope was he could do the same for TFC, especially when he was introduced as the club’s first dedicated club president to run the entire soccer operation. The Reds had previously been overseen by former MLSE boss Tom Anselmi, an executive with little soccer knowledge, unlike Payne.

Payne inherited a Toronto team riddled with bad contracts and little salary cap room. TFC was also coming off its worst ever MLS campaign, finishing dead last in 2012 with a 5-21-8 record and missing the playoffs for the sixth straight year. They also set a new league record by losing their first nine games of the campaign.

Payne was brought in by Anslemi with a mandate to help turn around TFC and end its playoff drought. It didn’t quite work out that way, though. Payne leaves Toronto with the club sitting in second-last place in the 19-team league, with a 4-12-10 record and 22 points, and with the fan base even more disenfranchised than when he arrived.

Although technically still in contention for a post-season berth, the Reds were essentially out of the playoff race by the early part of the summer as the team struggled to earn results under Nelsen.

At the time of his hiring in January, Nelsen was still an active player with Queens Park Rangers in the English Premier League, and had previously played for D.C. United during Payne’s tenure. It was a bold, if not risky hire, because Nelsen had no previous coaching experience, and he even admitted at his introductory press conference that he hadn’t even taken any coaching courses.

Payne did a lot of good things, including shedding some hefty contracts (Thorsten Frings and Darren O’Dea) that were hurting the team, as well as signing some exciting and young prospects, including Canadian Jonathan Osorio and Argentine designated player Matias Laba.

But Payne also made many questionable moves, foremost among them being the trade that sent Luis Silva, another promising youngster, to D.C. United in return for allocation money.

Payne also rubbed many people the wrong with his brashness and sometimes arrogant demeanour, including when he told fans they would have to get used to the team to playing international friendlies during the season, like July’s exhibition against AS Roma, even though TFC supporters continually voiced their displeasure.

Payne made it a habit of publically promising to sign DP-quality players, but he continually failed to deliver.

He also had a propensity for making outlandish and sometimes comical statements, like the time he heralded new loan signing Tal Ben Haim as “one of the top defenders in the (Premier League) for nearly a decade,” even though that was a major stretch.

The Israeli defender never came to Toronto and ended up signing with Belgian club Standard Liége, leaving Payne with even more egg on his face.

Arguments will be made that firing Payne while he’s still in his first year on the job is a recipe for further disaster and will lead to more instability, a problem that has plagued TFC since entering MLS in 2007 – the club is on its eighth coach in Nelsen, it parted company with previous GMs Mo Johnston and Aron Winter, and has gone through unprecedented player turnover.

But credit must be given to Leiweke, who saw that it wasn’t working this season and decided to act quickly, as opposed to giving Payne more time and letting him become further entrenched in the position.

Payne’s firing does, however, raise one concern. If Leiweke doesn’t have someone already lined up, and instead convenes a search for a replacement that could take months, it will make any chance of a TFC turnaround happening next season less likely.

The key here is for Leiweke to hire the right person and right away, so they will have enough lead-up time and a full off-season to evaluate the roster, get a proper lay of the land and instil the necessary changes in order to set this troubled franchise down the correct path.

A spokesperson for Toronto FC declined to comment when contacted by sportsnet.ca.