What a crazy week in Major League Soccer! The opening of the transfer window a couple of weeks ago led to plenty of rumour and speculation, and in recent days the talking has been backed up by action - and plenty of it. For me, the departures of Davide Chiumiento and Sebastien Le Toux from Vancouver Whitecaps were the biggest surprises of the week. They are bold moves by Head Coach Martin Rennie and part of a bigger plan. Its a risky decision to let players leave who have become fan favourites in Vancouver, but Rennie has already proven in his young coaching career that he is not afraid to make difficult moves for the benefit of the club. So far at previous clubs a hallmark of Rennies management has been the way in which he has managed to quickly build a squad to play the way he wants and get positive results. Sometimes that means going against popular opinion. I always enjoy the opportunity to sit down and chat with Rennie about the game. When I met with the Whitecaps coach in Toronto last week along with my broadcast partner Jason de Vos, it was another enlightening conversation that left me with every confidence that Rennie has a clear plan for how he wants to build this team. The departures of Chiumiento and Le Toux were clearly precursors to other moves for Martin Rennie. Over the weekend, the news broke in the UK that Scottish international captain Kenny Miller is set to join the Caps. It appears to be an ideal signing for Vancouver. In a career that has seen him play for Glasgow Rangers, Celtic, Wolverhampton Wanderers and most recently Cardiff City, Miller has shown all the qualities necessary to be a success in MLS. He is 32 years old, but still has plenty of life left in his career and remains an integral part of the Scotland national team. Of course, it will help having his international colleague Barry Robson in the Whitecaps ranks. Miller may not be the "big name" that Caps fans had been talking about, but he appears to be a shrewd addition for Rennies men. Across the country, Toronto FC is also in the midst of reshaping their squad under the new leadership of Paul Mariner. The departure of Designated Player Julian de Guzman followed the Reds win over Vancouver at BMO Field on Wednesday. The Canadian international midfielder wasnt in Mariners plans and trading him away now gives them much more flexibility to bring in a top defender. It also opens up a Designated Player spot. FC Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman described the trade as a "win, win" for his team. With the deal that has been done, it gives them an international player at very little cost. Toronto FC are now expected to add at least one central defender with the roster and cap space that has been opened up by the departures of de Guzman, Joao Plata and Nick Soolsma in recent days. Miguel Aceval also seems to be on his way out of the club to free up further room. Swedish international Olof Mellberg and Canadian Kevin McKenna are thought to be on the Reds wanted list. If they could add both of those players, it would immediately transform the squad and finally fix the defensive issues that have plagued Toronto FC for the last five and a half years. There is however another problem for Paul Mariner to deal with now. TFC followed up their win over Vancouver with a victory in New England on Saturday night, but the win came at a massive cost with leading scorer Danny Koevermans sustaining a serious injury just before half time. Koevermans has been in outstanding form of late. The club is yet to announce the full extent of the injury, but if he is done for the season as seems likely, it leaves a massive hole up front. Mariner would then be left to contemplate whether he needs to switch attention from bringing in a couple of defenders and instead go looking for a forward. Its a big blow for the Reds at a time when things are moving in a positive direction. The back-to-back wins against the Whitecaps and New England are further evidence of the confidence, character and resilience that have returned to the squad. It may be too late for this season, but the early indications are that they players are enjoying life under Paul Mariner, and that can only be good for the future. Montreal Impact Head Coach Jesse Marsch continues to fine tune his squad with the left back position the focus of his attention over the last week. Tyson Wahls departure to Colorado Rapids followed the arrival of 21-year-old Swiss defender Dennis Iapichino who came through the youth system at FC Basel. Defending continues to be the Achilles heel of Montreal during the ongoing absence of the injured duo Matteo Ferrari and Nelson Rivas. The way the Impact fought back into the game at Philadelphia on Saturday only to concede in shocking fashion in stoppage time was completely unacceptable. Hopefully the arrival of Iapichino plus the impending availability of Alessandro Nesta will bolster Montreals backline sufficiently enough to help them achieve some much needed consistency. Those are just some of the highlights involving Canadas three teams in the last week, but across the league theres been no shortage of talking points. From the firing of Head Coach John Spencer in Portland, two goals for David Beckham in LA Galaxys win and San Jose scoring five against Real Salt Lake, theres been plenty of drama over the last seven days. 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Regarded as the fastest man on a bike, the road world champion has not been as successful this year as in previous Tours, as he and his teammates are working to help Wiggins rather than secure stage wins for Cavendish. Kev... Garnett Jersey . Check out todays trade rumours and speculation from around the NHL beat. And follow TSN.ca each day until Deadline Day for all the updates. Broadway Bound? Less than a full season after returning to Edmonton, theres the possibility that Ryan Smyth could be leaving again, this time to New York. BOSTON -- The Boston Red Sox thought Bobby Valentine would restore order to a coddled clubhouse that disintegrated during the 2011 pennant race. Instead, he only caused more problems. The brash and supremely confident manager was fired on Thursday, the day after the finale of a season beset with internal sniping and far too many losses. Valentine went 69-93 in his only year in Boston, the ballclubs worst in almost 50 years. "I understand this decision," Valentine said in a statement released by the team. "This year in Boston has been an incredible experience for me, but I am as disappointed in the results as are ownership and the great fans of Red Sox Nation. ... Im sure next year will be a turnaround year." A baseball savant who won the NL pennant with the New York Mets and won it all in Japan, Valentine was brought in after two-time World Series champion Terry Francona lost control of the clubhouse during an unprecedented September collapse. But the players who took advantage of Franconas hands-off approach to gorge on fried chicken and beer during games bristled at Valentines abrasive style. More importantly, they didnt win for him, either. "We felt it was the right decision for that team at that time," general manager Ben Cherington said on Thursday in an interview at Fenway Park. "It hasnt worked out, because the season has been a great disappointment. Thats not on Bobby Valentine; thats on all of us. We felt that in order to move forward and have a fresh start, we need to start anew in the managers office." Under Valentine, the Red Sox started 4-10 and didnt break .500 until after Memorial Day. By August, when the contenders were setting their playoff roster, the Red Sox knew they would not be among them and traded several of their best players -- and biggest salaries -- to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Without Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Josh Beckett, the Red Sox will save $250 million in future salaries and have a chance to rebuild over the winter. But that will be too late for Valentine. "We have gratitude for him, respect for him and affection for him, and were not going to get into what his inabilities were, what his issues were," Red Sox president Larry Lucchino said. "I just dont think its fair." Cherington, who replaced Theo Epstein last off-season, will lead the search for a new manager. The teams top target is current Toronto manager and former Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell, who has a year left on his deal with the Blue Jays. Cherington said he has thought about potential successors but declined to comment on specific individuals. He said he is looking for someone "who can establish a culture in the clubhouse that allows players to perform, and sets a standard." "And we need to find a person that can bring some stability to that office," Cherington said. "When we hired Bobby, the roster was fairly mature and we felt, mistakenly, in retrospect, that we had a chance to win and the team was ready to win. Were now at a different point. Were trying to build the next good Red Sox team, so its a little bit different." A year after a 7-20 September cost the Red Sox a chance at the post-season, the club went 7-22 in September and October to close its worst season since 1965. Boston lost its last eight games, failing even in its role of spoiler as it was swept down the stretch by playoff contenders Tampa Bay, Baltimore and the rival New York Yankees. That left the Red Sox in last place -- 26 games out -- for the first time since 1992 and out of the playoffs for the third year in a row. "This years won-loss record reflects a season of agony. It begs for changes," Lucchino saaid.dddddddddddd "We are determined to fix that which is broken and return the Red Sox to the level of success we have experienced over the past decade." What was supposed to be a season of celebration for Fenways 100th anniversary was instead the worst under the current management, which bought the team in 2002. And though injuries probably doomed the Red Sox anyway -- they used a franchise record 56 players -- Valentines clumsy handling of his players forced him into frequent apologies that undermined his authority in the clubhouse. "Theres no single reason why we had this dismal of a season," Lucchino said. "But certainly the epidemic of injuries and the injuries to key players were major factors. ... Do I think theres an element of unfairness, given the shortness of his duration, given the injury problems. ... I think there is." The Red Sox had the ALs best record and a nine-game lead in the wild-card race on Sept. 1, 2011, before missing out on a playoff berth on the final day of the season. Francona, who led the Red Sox to Series titles in 2004 and again in 2007, was let go after admitting that he had lost his touch in the clubhouse. To replace him, the Red Sox picked Valentine, who took the New York Mets to the 2000 World Series and won a championship in Japan but hadnt managed in the majors in 10 years. The move was an intentional and abrupt attempt to change a culture that enabled pitchers to drink beer and eat fried chicken in the clubhouse during games on their off-nights. On that, Valentine delivered immediately: He banned beer from the clubhouse, and didnt hesitate to criticize his own players publicly -- something Francona took pains to avoid. But even before the season began, injuries began tearing the roster apart. Crawford missed much of the season, joining pitchers John Lackey and Daisuke Matsuzaka on the disabled list before opening day. Potential closers Andrew Bailey and Bobby Jenks had off-season surgery; Jacoby Ellsbury, David Ortiz, Clay Buchholz, Dustin Pedroia, Beckett and Youkilis also spent time on the DL. And many of those who remained resented the new accountability. Kevin Youkilis lashed back after Valentine said he wasnt as "into the game" as before, and Pedroia came to his teammates defence, saying, "Thats not the way we go about our stuff around here." "Hell figure that out. The whole team is behind Youk. We have each others backs here," Pedroia said. "Maybe that works in Japan." In August, management gave up on 2012 and unloaded several of the teams most burdensome salaries on the Dodgers. Los Angeles also missed the playoffs. Although Cherington openly conceded the season, Valentine refused to do so. Asked during his weekly radio show if he had "checked out," Valentine jokingly said he should punch the host in the nose. (He showed up for their next interview with boxing gloves.) In mid-September, with Bostons Triple-A team in the playoffs and reinforcements scarce, Valentine called the Red Sox "the weakest roster weve ever had in September in the history of baseball." Again, he was forced to backtrack. (But, again, he was probably right.) Ultimately, Valentine will be judged on his record. And it was dreadful. "I dont know how it could be more challenging than this season," Valentine said after saying goodbye to his players following Wednesday nights season-ending loss to the Yankees. "As I told them, theyre not defined as people by their record or the season. Theyre defined by who they are, not what they are. They were part of a really lousy season, but they gave a hell of an effort every day." ' ' '