TORONTO

Since joining MLSE’s front office before last season’s MLS Cup, TFC president and general manager Kevin Payne has been guarded, tiptoeing around questions concerning former head coach Paul Mariner’s future and rarely budging when asked to discuss the status of the club’s high-priced players.

But with the season upon us and next to no quality signings to speak of, Toronto’s once stern-faced GM had a much different demeanour this week, joking with local beat guys who pressed him on the dire state of TFC’s 30-man roster.

“We just haven’t been working very hard,” Payne joked when asked to explain why it’s taken so long to bolster his squad.

He paused for laughter: “Look, it’s very complicated,” he continued. “I’ve been on the job 80 days, (head coach Ryan Nelsen) has been on the job 30 days, (lead scout) Pat Onstad’s been on the job 30 days, so we’re playing catch up. There’s a lot of stuff that has to happen in a short period of time.”

Within days, actually.

The Reds open the 2013 season Saturday night in Vancouver looking as though they might have one of the worst Opening Day rosters the league has seen.

With Stefan Frei still weeks away from recovering from a broken nose suffered in pre-season and Danny Koevermans still on the road to recovery, Saturday’s lineup will be just about as patchworked as it gets.

“I wish that all of us had had a chance to start in October,” Payne said, referring to the fact he wasn’t brought aboard until well into the off-season. “I knew that this was going to be a challenge … We weren’t going to have the same runway everybody else had.

The aviation references didn’t stop there.

“We’ve been building this airplane while it’s in flight,” Payne said. “It’s a long season. I’m not too worried if we’re not the same team in the first weeks of March that we’ll be in August, September and October.”

Translation: Anyone with a non-guaranteed contract is on the chopping block and will likely be deemed expendable as players continued to arrive mid-season.

BRUTAL BEGINNING

That’s right, folks, the Reds look primed for a bruisin’ at B.C Place on the weekend, and it shouldn’t come as a surprise.

“I’ve said since Day 1 that I believe our team will get better as the season wears on,” Payne said. “A combination of adding strength to our roster and a better understanding of how Ryan wants to play.”

The Reds confirmed Friday they’ve signed former England youth international winger Hogan Ephaim, 24, on loan from Queens Park Rangers, while also reportedly bringing aboard pre-season trialists Taylor Morgan, 22, and Jonathan Osorio, 20, both squad players at the moment.

“We’re very happy with the job that those guys did in pre-season,” Payne said. “They worked hard, brought quality and in each of the instances (they) bring some a little different than we already had.”

In another indication the club is feeling outside pressure with First Kick fast approaching, Payne said the Reds expect to land a young Designated Player from Argentina any day now.

Toronto currently has a pair of open DP slots after sending Eric Hassli to Dallas this winter and buying out Frings’ contract this week.

“We hope that within the next two weeks we’ll land several players that will make us a better team and then we’re looking at some other bigger moves in the next six to eight weeks.”

Beginning Saturday, though, expect some unbearable moments, gaffes and scorelines until Payne’s promised help arrives.

“The calvary is coming,” Payne confidently stated, “it just won’t arrive quite as quickly as we might of hoped at the beginning of the year.”

A SIGNING THAT SHOULD 'EXCITE CROWD'



Toronto FC announced Wednesday the club has agreed to a loan deal with Queens Park Rangers winger Hogan Ephraim, 24, through June.

Undoubtedly the savvy work of new head coach and former QPR captain Ryan Nelsen, Ephraim, a former England youth international, fills a massive void in TFC’s roster just days away from Opening Day.

“Hogan is very strong technically, he has a great attitude and wants to get games under his belt,” said TFC head coach Ryan Nelsen. “We’re very fortunate to have him, he is a player that can excite the crowd and I feel the fans will look forward to being able to see him in action.”

After sending Joao Plata to Real Salt Lake during the off-season, the Reds were left with two wingers -- Reggie Lambe and Emery Welshman -- who struggled to provide any kind of threat out wide throughout pre-season.

Ephraim represented England at the U-16, U-17, U-18 and U-19 levels. He was a member of England’s UEFA U-17 European Championship squad in 2005, where he recorded two goals in three matches.