Jermain Defoe’s departure the latest chapter in the sad story that is Toronto FC

Here we are again. Melodrama appears embedded in the fabric of Toronto FC. But like any tiresome soap opera, the storylines are beginning to grind. We're all a bit bored, you see. Eighteen months ago, the TFC show got a new, hard-hitting executive producer. Tim Leiweke had big plans. He wanted to get people talking. He wanted to grab some headlines again. But, like any tiresome soap opera, the ideas were one-dimensional and badly executed. The changes were cosmetic. A nip here, a tuck there. Very Hollywood. But what remained was bad scripting, bad acting and a soul-less production devoid of even the faintest flicker of potential.

[Related: TFC reportedly completes Jermain Defoe for Jozy Altidore swap with Sunderland]

Since Jermain Defoe arrived in Toronto, it was clear his tenure would be brief. His signing was strange for various reasons. He was a consistent Premier League performer, a valuable goal scorer and still relatively young. He retained aspirations of featuring for his country again. So, why choose MLS, a league still considered a backwater destination by many in the highly-influential British press? And why choose Toronto FC - an organization that specializes in hiring, firing and not much else? Whatever the reasons, Defoe was badly advised. But he's relatively blameless for everything that accompanied his short stint at the club.

The reaction to Defoe's switch to Sunderland this week has been bizarre in some quarters. Many are angry with him for not embracing the club or the league or the fans or the country or the media. Or all of those things. He had no interest in becoming an ambassador, they say. He had no interest in being someone who would spread the word and help sell the MLS dream to others. Was that why Defoe was bought? To be a flag waver? No. He was signed to score goals and that's what he did. Despite struggling with the move, despite plenty of off-field distraction and injury problems, he managed 11 goals in 16 games. In one, injury-ravaged “disappointing” season, Defoe scored enough times to place him in a tie for fifth spot on the list of all-time Toronto MLS goal scorers. That's all kinds of depressing.

There are a few worrying elements to this story. Firstly, fans of MLS teams need to stop being so precious. They need to stop looking to build everlasting, deep-rooted relationships with everyone that walks through the door. Soccer players are employees. They're paid to do a job. They don't owe anything beyond that. Yes, it's nice when they care. It's nice when there is a bond and players retain a genuine affection for a franchise and its stakeholders. But for a continent so used to a cutthroat-trading culture, it's odd that supporters get so possessive over soccer players.

[Eh Game: Canadian Cyle Larin taken first overall in 2015 MLS SuperDraft by Orlando]

Everywhere else, a player that spends one season at a club, does very well but subsequently wants to move, isn't treated as some sort of traitor. There are no had feelings. And, when he returns to the club, fans will applaud him, sing his name and fondly remember what he did during games. In MLS, there's disgust. Like some kind of deluded jilted partner, they go off the deep end with their irrationality. They should have entered the relationship with eyes wide open. Defoe was never going to be forever. It was a short fling, a temperamental tryst. Break-ups are always painful but some are inevitable.

Then, there's the embarrassment. That's not Defoe's fault either. It's the league's. MLS continues to put so much weight behind marquee, Designated Player signings that it creates a weird, uncomfortable competitiveness between franchises. We've seen the cost of that in recent weeks, where the lengths clubs go to in an attempt to glorify a high-profile capture can leave them vulnerable to what follows. In the cases of Frank Lampard and Defoe, teams desperately wanted to show off shiny objects. They wanted to tell the world that they were stepping up to the mark, ready to play in the big leagues. But everywhere else, with the exception of Real Madrid, clubs release a photo of a new signing wearing a jersey. They tweet about it and post a statement on their website. In MLS, signing a DP becomes a week-long party.

At Toronto, self-sabotage continues to be the order of the day. Behind the scenes, there is chaos. But it's harder to get angry at the suits in the boardroom. Despite doing precisely what was asked of him by TFC, Defoe is getting criticized for his decision to walk away so soon. So disinterested, they say. But where is the same level of abuse and vitriol for Tim Lieweke? There are plenty of similarities. He was a big-money signing who promised much. But he's slipping away, prematurely, having failed. At least Defoe scored goals. And what's left?

There is no identity. Instead, the franchise revels in fads. They appointed Aron Winter in an attempt to change the playing philosophy. When it didn't work, you know, after one season, they looked for their next flash in the pan. They appointed a coach who had never coached before. And then sacked him, you know, after one full season.

"We are in a results-oriented business," said TFC general manager Tim Bezbatchenko when Ryan Nelsen was fired this past campaign.

If that's true, TFC should've been knocked to the ground a long time ago.

Bezbatchenko was hired because of his knowledge of MLS's salary cap - clearly a clever reason to appoint someone to run a soccer team. But, despite his inexperience, he was a vocal critic of how poorly TFC were playing under Nelsen - an accomplished and well-respected figure within the game owing to his fine career in England.

So, making the big decisions at Toronto is a brave boy with an itchy trigger finger. Nothing like another cliche to add to this tedious, torturous, trashy tale.

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Eoin O'Callaghan is a soccer journalist and broadcaster. Best known in North America for his TV work with Fox Soccer, he has also reported extensively for BBC, RTE and Setanta Sports. He writes about soccer for The Irish Examiner newspaper, beIN Sports, One World Sports and TheScore.ie. Follow him @EoinOCallaghan