It's a risky move for Leiweke to begin his stewardship of TFC with a rookie general manager, yet he sees Bezbatchenko's hiring as a forward-thinking move.

Boy, you get the feeling that the drawn out pursuit of Argentine forward Maximiliano Urruti was a Kevin Payne pet project, don’t you?

Speaking to media Thursday morning in the wake of the news that Kevin Payne had been relieved of his duties as TFC’s general manager and president, Leiweke said that MLSE will make sure it finds the right person to take over the club. But, at the same time, the organization needs to begin preparing for the next transfer window, which opens in January.

Payne, fresh from D.C. United, made the daring moves to stockpile allocation money on draft day, and then supporters were frustrated when that cash wasn't splashed.

But there’s an irony here, one that proves Payne may have a point about the friendlies having for his club. And that’s the fact that so many supporters who swore they’d show nothing but indifference to the Roma game were paying attention to the broadcast and/or the news that came out of that friendly. As much as they tried to unplug, they couldn’t. Sure, you can argue that you didn’t go to the game, you only watched it on TV. Still, the match or the events around the match grabbed your attention; they made you mad.

According to Newell's Old Boys, Urruti is under contract till 2014: “The team believes that the player is missing his contractual obligation and must report to work under the orders of his coaching staff. Should this not happen, Newell's Old Boys will exercise appropriate legal mechanisms to defend their rights.”

Spanish midfielder Alvaro Rey had been on trial with Toronto FC in June. Now, with international slots and cap space cleared thanks to a series of recent roster culls, Rey has officially joined the Reds.

That’s not to blame Payne for the Forlan mess. The sexy DP is a key part of the strategy of Maple Leaf Sports and President Tim Leiweke, who is quickly finding that selling star players on the notion of coming to a last-place team in Canada isn’t quite as easy as selling them on the rock-star lifestyle of Los Angeles. Let’s face it, Cherry Beach ain’t the Santa Monica Pier.

On Tuesday morning, the Reds announced they had successfully managed to secure the services of veteran defender Steven Caldwell until the end of the 2015 season, and made a deal with Sporting Kansas City to acquire depth midfielder Michael Thomas.

Today, Toronto FC waived Canadian midfielder Terry Dunfield.