As the Dwayne De Rosario-to-Celtic drama plays on, it’s time to address the elephant in the room. And that’s the work permit. If Celtic was to make arrangements with Toronto FC and MLS to bring the Reds’ captain to the Bhoys, even though TFC is claiming that De Ro is in Scotland without the club’s permission, there is no guarantee that a 32-year-old Canadian forward would be quickly granted permission to work in Glasgow by the U.K. government.

There have been more than a few embarrassing moments in the four-plus seasons of Toronto FC’s existence; but the fact that Dwayne De Rosario was training with Celtic —less than a full day after acting GM Earl Cochrane vehemently denied that the team’s all-time leading scorer would be leaving the club —has to go right to the top of the charts when it comes to egg dripping off the faces of those running the Reds. De Rosario checked into Celtic’s training session Tuesday morning, wearing shirt No. 19.

Celtic manager Neil Lennon was quoted in The Telegraph today, confirming that Toronto FC’s all-time leading scorer, Dwayne De Rosario, could be in Glasgow for a trial — and might sign with the Hoops in time for the next Old Firm derby against Rangers. De Rosario, TFC’s leading scorer in 2010, could join former Arsenal star and MLS Designated Player Freddie Ljungberg, who is already in Glasgow.

The team still has an interim coach and interim general manager. But the heat on Toronto FC was turned up when MLS released its First Kick schedule Monday. As was widely expected, TFC kicks off its season in Vancouver against the Whitecaps on March 19. The game is exactly what CBC, which would love to expand its reach for soccer broadcasts, would need to create a new national brand that shows that it could create a soccer broadcasting franchise built on the Hockey Night in Canada model. The next week, Toronto FC returns to BMO Field to welcome the Portland Timbers for the home opener.

There’s no doubt about it. Canada’s soccer capital is... Brampton, Ont. Flowertown —the place that gave Canada Rick Nash, Scott Thompson from the Kids in the Hall, Michael Cera, Alan Thicke, Russell Peters, Rohinton Mistry and, ahem, this writer, is unquestionably the place to be if you want to raise a child who is going to be a soccer prodigy.

The Vancouver Whitecaps might only be joining MLS in 2011, but the club’s youth development programs is still miles ahead of TFC Academy. The Whitecaps Residency got another feather in its cap Monday when the Canadian Soccer Association named Bryce Alderson the country’s male U-17 player of the year.

Earlier this week, the Vancouver Whitecaps named Carl Valentine, a member of Canada’s 1986 World Cup squad, as the club’s official ambassador. Valentine was a member of the 1979 Whitecaps squad that won the NASL Soccer Bowl, defeating the Tampa Bay Rowdies at Giants Stadium, just a week after Vancouver stunned the heavily favoured New York Cosmos in the semifinal. “Valentine, at 21, the kind of young recruit NASL teams should be looking for—rather than the big-name, passe players they are forever signing—was continually showing thrust and speed,” wrote Sports Illustrated’s Clive Gammon about Valentine’s performance in the Soccer Bowl. As well, you can’t miss the fact that, on the Whitecaps website, right beside the logo, reads a simple statement: “Since 1974.” This a team that was forged in the NASL, and doesn’t talk about the league in embarrassed hushes.

Bas Ent could be in Toronto FC colours next season. Ent, a 23-year-old from Zaandam, Holland, has received serious interest from TFC, who gave the pacy winger a 45-minute trial in a friendly with EPL side Bolton Wanderers earlier this year. Dutch media has reported that Ent has already signed with the MLS club but there are plenty of details to work out before he officially goes to Toronto. “He is not eligible until we let him go,” says Mike Mossel, co-owner of Dayton Dutch Lions FC, the USL Premier Development League team that Ent played on last season. “The question is what does Toronto want to pay for him and how much do we want for him?”

The referees are on strike in Scotland. They have had it. They’ve had it with the criticisms of coaches and players. They’re tired of being made the scapegoats whenever a close decision goes against a fiery manager with an axe to grind. Good for them. They’ve gone on strike, leaving the Scottish FA scrambling to find refs for this week’s matches. Polish and Portuguese refs who the SFA thought it had secured to officiate this weekend’s games have gone back home. Scotland did find enough foreign refs to keep the Premier League going, so fans could be treated another weekly instalment of Rangers, Celtic and Everybody Else.

While we are months away from finalizing the format for the 2011 Nutrilite Canadian Championship, we know this much; the chance of the Canadian Soccer Association going with a four-team full round-robin is nil. Under that system, each of the four clubs would need to play six games. There’s no time in either the MLS or NASL schedule to make that happen. Remember that a winner needs to be crowned before the summer, when CONCACAF needs the entrant for Champions League qualifying-round play. So, what is the likely course — and that is what is on the table at the moment — is a simple knockout Cup tourney. The four teams would be seeded; TFC would get the No. 1 slot, and would play the newbies, FC Edmonton. Vancouver and Montreal would play in the other series. The winners would face off in a true Cup final.