It will be really interesting to see how fans, those that brave the god awful weather forecasted for this evening in Toronto, will react to team captain Dwayne De Rosario after his “Cut Me A Cheque” routine last Saturday in the loss to San Jose that in all but mathematics ended TFC’s chances of making the MLS Playoffs for the fourth year in a row. By now everyone has seen DeRo do what he did and also probably read what CBC reporter John Molinaro heard from DeRo about this very issue after the game. And for the first time tonight I think we may very well see some anger being directed towards the captain of TFC and it’s best player in their short history… And I can’t blame them one single bit.

When in the early part of this season MLS came out and announced changes to the Designated Player rule that allowed clubs to sign three DP’s I went on the record in this space stating that DeRo should be given a DP deal. And I stand by that.  His on the field performances have earned him the spot in my eyes and on the south side of 30 his days to make the coin he deserves are definitely getting shorter. DeRo has been grossly underpaid in his MLS career before he came to Toronto and I understand fully his point of wanting to take care of himself and his family to the best of his ability in the time he has left to play. And from a cap management perspective  (and how the DP rules actually work) giving him a DP deal actually lowers his salary hit against the cap by about $65,000. That may seem like small potatoes on a cap of $2.55 million but remember how much Adrian Cann is getting this year? Cann is earning $65,000. Every penny matters in MLS.

So even though I agree with the logic DeRo made a huge mistake on Saturday. And that is where it ends for me. I never want to see the  captain of a club that I choose to support do this kind of selfish display. And the choice was planned. it was not a spur of the moment thing. He chose to speak to the press about it after the game. He chose the most public way possible to get his message out there.

It was the wrong thing in the wrong way at the wrong place at the wrong time!

I do not want him as Captain of the club I support anymore. I  think that he should be stripped of his captaincy with immediate effect. There has to be consequences to doing this sort of thing and if it goes unpunished by management then where will the drama end with this team? No single player is supposed to be bigger than the badge. A captain of all people on the pitch is supposed to be the one individual player that gets it, enforces that fact upon others and leads by example.

TFC has a general manager and coach that have the word “interim” attached to their current job titles. We do not know how long or whom or in what form the new regime will take shape for 2011. And DeRo’s antics added to the results on the pitch, the firings of Mo and Preki, the anger of supporters over results and ticket prices only makes what should be a wonderful job that much harder to fill.