TORONTO -- Paul Mariner provided Toronto FC a boost when he took over as coach, but Major League Soccers last-place team seems to have crashed back to earth. Diego Costa Spain Jersey . A goal surrendered off a set piece and another blown second-half lead were the difference Wednesday as the Portland Timbers salvaged a 2-2 draw with Toronto. Darlington Nagbe headed home the equalizer in the 82nd minute after Eric Hassli and Luis Silva gave Toronto a 2-1 advantage with two quick goals in the second half. But it was Sal Zizzos opener off a corner kick in the 21st minute that had Mariner fuming as Toronto again surrendered a goal off a dead-ball situation. "Its the players fault. Youve got to execute," said Mariner, who is 4-4-5 since taking over for Aron Winter. "You look at the setups. Every single team in the world sets up slightly differently but the No. 1 thing youve got to do is to have that desire inside of you that that ball is not going to be won by one of the opposition. Cleanly. Cant happen. And if it does, then youve got to react and get the ball out of your box and its something that we have difficulty dealing with." Toronto (5-13-5) is now winless in three and still sits last in the overall standings, a point back of Portland (5-12-6). "Weve come to expect a standard and we let that standard slip. Giving away another set piece, its lazy in a way," Toronto FC defender Richard Eckersley said. "I just think youve got to have the willingness to go and win the ball. If you get anything on it just get it away and at the minute I dont think we have that." Added Toronto FC goalkeeper Milos Kocic: "Thats probably the weakest part of our team -- the set pieces." Trailing 1-0 at the half, Toronto changed its tactics after a dismal showing and saw immediate dividends in grabbing the lead. "We needed a shakeup at halftime. Everybody in the stand saw that and everybody watching at home on television saw that," Mariner said. "They responded extremely well. Came out of the blocks very very quick." Hassli, making his first appearance at BMO Field since being acquired from Vancouver last month, tied the score in the 57th minute on a rebound off a shot from Silva. Hassli was mobbed by his teammates before running to the sidelines to hug Mariner. Toronto then grabbed the lead in the 63rd when Silva buried a flick on from Hassli past Portland goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts. "You can see what Eric Hassli brings to the table," Mariner said. "Hes such an immense presence on the field." Despite the positives up front, a makeshift TFC defence that was missing five regulars because of international duty, suspension and injury, looked sloppy for most of the night. The Toronto back four was without newly-signed defender Darren ODea (Ireland), Dicoy Williams (Jamaica) and Doneil Henry (Canada), who were with their respective national teams. Add to that Logan Emorys suspension and Jeremy Halls ankle injury and Mariner was left with few options. The former England international implored his players to keep it simple in defence as Adrian Cann saw his first MLS action since June 16 because of a knee injury, while the out-of-favour Ty Harden played in the league for the first time since April 7. But things looked shaky from the outset as Portland carried the play for large chunks of the game. "Anybody who has played the game knows full well that you can train your backside off but as soon as that whistle goes, the tempo is totally different," Mariner said. "The level is different, the whole energy is different." The Timbers nearly doubled their first-half lead in the 50th minute when Zizzos free kick from the left flashed just wide of Kocics goal. After TFC took a 2-1 lead, Portland striker Chris Boyd found himself in alone on Kocic in the 70th minute, but the Toronto FC goalkeeper came up with a big save. Although the defence was Mariners main concern coming into the match, Toronto FC was also without midfielder Terry Dunfield (Canada) and forward Ryan Johnson (Jamaica) because of international callups. Toronto FC has never made the MLS playoffs but with another season seemingly lost, Mariner remained positive. "How many teams in MLS can have five starters out and put in a performance like that?" he asked. "Were nowhere near where we want to be but Im delighted with camaraderie, the togetherness that is in that locker-room." Notes: Toronto FC midfielder Reggie Lambe was substituted in the second half because of a knee injury. ... Toronto FC midfielder Aaron Maund made the first MLS start of his career. ... Ricketts made his Portland debut after coming over in a trade with Montreal last week. ... Toronto FCs next game is Saturday at home against Sporting Kansas City. ... Portland is at New York on Sunday. ... Toronto midfielder Matt Stinson (quadriceps strain) did not play and is expected to miss up to a month. ... Toronto striker Danny Koevermans underwent surgery to repair his injured left knee in Toronto on Tuesday. The Dutchman tore his anterior cruciate ligament against New England last month and isnt expected back until next May. ... Attendance was 18,773. wholesale nfl jerseys .500 for the first time this season, beating the Ottawa Senators 2-1 Saturday afternoon. Jakub Voracek and Wayne Simmonds scored for the Flyers, who fought past a lethargic start to win their second game in a row, and fifth of seven. r... weeks Brewers jersey . The mixed martial arts organization will holds its first Scandinavian show in Stockholm on April 14. ... Sanchez Arsenal Jersey . I had watched NHL, NBA and MLB All-Star games from a distance and was intrigued by their status as a big event but wondered why teams would want this kind of distraction in the middle of the season. . Their experience showed Tuesday as the No. 10 Badgers blunted a Saint Louis surge to win 63-57 and advance to face West Virginia in Wednesdays finals of the Cancun Challenge.Hands up anybody who has heard of Paul Tisdale, Chris Wilder, Mark Yates or Russell Slade. The four Englishmen might sound like members of a boy band but are in fact all in the top five of the longest tenured managers in English football. Ninety-two clubs form the top four tiers of English football and the summer departures of Sir Alex Ferguson from Manchester United, David Moyes from Everton and Tony Pulis from Stoke, all moved these four lower league managers directly behind Arsenals Arsene Wenger in time spent as managers at their current clubs. Wenger has now managed Arsenal for 17 years in the Premier League, over nine years longer than Exeter City boss Tisdale who is second on the list. The gap is staggeringly wider to the next Premier League manager and I will give you time to think who that might be..... Alan Pardew was hired by Newcastle United on December 9, 2010. He hasnt yet reached three years in the job but the Magpies are already ahead of 18 other Premier League clubs in terms of longevity with the man in charge. Six weeks away from his third anniversary in charge, incredibly Pardew ranks eighth out of 92 football managers in England for longevity at his club. Theres a good chance youve been on Twitter longer. Football clubs are hiring and firing football managers at a quicker rate in English football than they ever have before. Just 42 of the 92 managers (45 per cent) have been in their current job for one year or more. On this date two years ago, in 2011, 72 of the current 92 English league clubs (78 per cent) had a different football manager than they currently have. Fifteen of the current 20 Premier League clubs also had a different man in charge (75 per cent) and, even though it seemed just like yesterday, Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool (hired June 1, 2012) is now the 6th longest tenured manager at a Premier League club. These are unprecedented times in English football, but what are we to make of these changes? Why now? And is it good for the game? The pressure has always been on football managers to be successful. Chairman of clubs in the 40s, 60s, 80s, no matter when, were just as passionate as the ones currently in charge, if not more so, with many of them having a real connection with the club from a young age. However, never before have clubs evaluated themselves more than they currently do. Never before have fans had a louder voice than they currently have through social media and never before have managers had to deal with more self-entitled, rich, unmotivated players than they currently do. This was evident this very week after the Premier League lost another manager when Ian Holloway left Crystal Palace by mutual consent. Palace, new to the Premier League after winning the playoff final last season, are yet another clear case that three promoted teams to the top flight each year is one too many. Holloway, a man who openly talks about things like spirit and confidence in attempts to galvanize his team, is clearly a man who believes he can make a difference when the playing field is quite level amongst competitive sides, such as the Championship. He is also a man easy to like. He tells you what he feels and for fans and the media this opens up a rare and fascinating window to the goings-on in the game, many shield us from. [url=http://www.chelseateamshop.com/Nathan-Ake-Chelsea-FC-Jersey.html]Nathan Ake Chelsea Jersey. Holloway looked like a broken man in the press conference confirming his departure. A positive, candid and funny man, the emotions had drained out of him. He looked ten years older than he looked just a few months ago, lifting the Playoff Trophy at Wembley. "I am very tired, if I am honest. With the changes made, we didnt keep the spirit. Some of the new lads attitude, I am finding very annoying and thats not good. We probably made too many changes." Holloway had had enough and wasnt in the job a year. Footballers can wear managers down quickly as even the greatest will admit. "Four years at one club in enough," declared Pep Guardiola when he announced he was leaving Barcelona in 2012. Author Jonathan Wilson once told the story of the legendary Bela Guttman. "The third year," the great Hungarian coach always said, "is fatal." If a manager stays at a club more than that, he said, his players tend to become bored and/or complacent and opponents start to work out counter-strategies. And this brings us to whether or not it is good for the game. Long runs at football clubs, such as Wengers current one and Ferguson at Manchester United, are, of course, to be admired but they are now in the minority of the minority. What worked for them will not work for many others. Large football clubs with deep pockets and talent to win trophies regularly, in need of guidance from a legacy builder, obsessed with control and a need to be the true ruler of the club, is what kept them together for so long. Most other teams are positioned lower down the totem pole of English football hierarchy where successful managers will leave to move up the pole and where teams are forced to find a way of changing their fortunes much quicker. This is not good for current, former and future managers but it is great news for players, and their agents, who constantly can go in and out of the good books of managers as they move in/on. Crystal Palace, for example, signed 14 new players in June, July and August, all approved by Holloway and who will now play under a new manager who, most likely, will move many on sooner rather than later. The situation is similar at Sunderland, the other Premier League team to make a change this season, with Gus Poyet, in his third week, forced to work with players Di Canio and his recruitment staff wanted. Allowing managers to have a strong say on which players are signed is archaic and leads to these problems and clearly one of the next major changes in the sport is towards the North American model of recruitment, already used often in continental Europe, where a manager is left to simply manage the players his bosses get for him. It will never be only that way, however, and, of course, this way just reduces a managers stranglehold on a club even further, likely straining his patience even more, working with players he didnt necessarily want. Either way, it appears the future is not bright for managers to stay in one place for long. The way English football is looking, it appears Messrs Guttman and Guardiola were, much like their teams. Three years is now becoming a massive achievement. Just ask Alan Pardew in six weeks. If he makes it that far. ' ' '