Ryan Nelsen oversaw his first victory as head coach of a MLS club on the weekend as Toronto FC beat Sporting Kansas City 2-1 at the Rogers Center.
New Zealand great Nelsen took the reins from Paul Mariner during the offseason and managed to guide the Canadian club to a win in just his second game in charge, delighting defender Darren O'Dea.
"From Day 1, since the new manager has come in, there has been a certain type of way that he wants to play and we are building to that every day and we are improving," O'Dea told reporters.
"We've beaten a very good Kansas [City] team today. It is the gaffer, but also the players that he has brought in as well. Players like Danny Califf at the back and Robert [Earnshaw] up front. It's a bit of experience and a bit of mental toughness and we probably lacked that last year."
The former Leeds United and Celtic man added: "We need to move forward so we don't take one step forward and two steps back. It's the first step in the right direction and we need to keep going.
"We now need to keep our heads down and stay grounded."
