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NOW is time for the players to speak


Toronto MB

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There is no longer the need to debate the ill-timed remarks of Jim Brennan and Dwayne DeRosario. The campaign is finished.

Now is the time for our team's most public figures to come out and express what they truly think about our national association. Not just in reference to this campaign, but everything from the grass-roots development to the management of the national team.

Our players are mostly individuals who have taken part in many different aspects of our development programs, they have gone overseas to learn more about the game, and as such they are the most qualified sources when it comes to the CSA's misguided efforts.

Can we all use our personal contacts within the team and try and get them to do what is right for the game, which is to come out and speak their minds without fear of upsetting the team, campaign and association?

They must speak now, and let the problems be heard. The revolution begins with them.

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If I had to hazard a guess, I'd suggest that the earliest you will hear from anyone is next week, when everyone is far far away from this nightmare situation. No one is likely going to want to speak to a reporter the next couple of days.

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quote:Originally posted by CoachRich

The players are all scared of being blackballed due to how the CSA & their politico system of protection works.

Maybe they're scared of someone calling them out for their non-performance. Pretty hypocritical to criticize a process when you were a big part of its non success.
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Agreed, now is the time to talk. Players like De Rosario and Brennan showed great immaturity in talking and critisizing when they weren't part of the crucial game, and talking when they were still able to qualify, but now the time is right.

But when Canada sends no reporters to Honduras, who will the players talk to? How many press passes have been issued to Canadian press for the game in Edmonton?

The players that need to talk are people like Radzinski, Stalteri, De Guzman, Hutchinson, McKenna, and other players of that mold. Players who play abroad(MLS players hold no clout) and play at a high level. If these players and others of that calibre remain silent, then maybe we should all stop complaining.

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quote:Originally posted by VPjr

If I had to hazard a guess, I'd suggest that the earliest you will hear from anyone is next week, when everyone is far far away from this nightmare situation. No one is likely going to want to speak to a reporter the next couple of days.

I don't think there will be much happening until after the Mexico game.

Long Weekend right now and election on Tuesday. Any news things right now will be buried in the press.

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Now that you guys give them permission, they will speak. laughable. Thanks guys for the player support. Remember that they wanted to make it to the world cup more than you guys do. They play the game and go through everything, while you sit back and just watch from the stands or you t.v. Players go from hero to zero, in the blink of an eye. Have you ever worked under bad management? sure you did your job, but did you raise your level of performance? Outsiders looking in but always the first to judge. Mitchell is one of the CSA good old boys. Failing in a major way at the youth world cup, then getting the mens duty is beyond words. The players gave him his chance and they've had enough.

I read these boards every once and a while. And I got to hand it to some of you guys. Without a doubt, you've never played this game above house or beer league. Maybe you coached your local kids soccer team, or a local referee. Some of the insane comments or rants baffles my mind. uneducated fans. Ranting on your computers means nothing.

What kind of change did you get wearing your sack the CSA shirts? Or writing on these boards? Let the players speak up, at will, so we can get change. Thats what we all want. The players are playing against all odds. Support them. Fight for them, not against them. They need your support.

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I'll tell you what Golden.

The same fans you're criticizing are the only positive thing that came out of this world cup. The Voyageurs support combined with USector, RPB, and the Ultras was THE ONLY POSITIVE thing to come out of the Qualification run.

If there is any one group in Canada that has the right to criticize, or rant on with 'insane comments' it's the people on this board. The same people that together probably spent about $30,000 on airfare alone to support our team. We have earned the right to speak our minds.

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"Golden"

You are obviously connected to one of the players so I will give you your due respect.

I personally have a ton of admiration for any player who puts on our jersey. I have travelled abroad to many clubs to see our players plying their trade because I am proud of, and support them.

Our sentiment is easy to understand. We ALL took a collective stand to try and focus on this WCQ cycle because we knew how gifted the team was. So when Jimmy B and DeRo came out days before a crucial game, we were just frustrated that this was going to affect the team's performance.

We can all agree that beyond past beefs, the time for positive change is NOW and we ALL need to be a part of it.

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quote:Originally posted by gwallace76

I'll tell you what Golden.

The same fans you're criticizing are the only positive thing that came out of this world cup. The Voyageurs support combined with USector, RPB, and the Ultras was THE ONLY POSITIVE thing to come out of the Qualification run.

If there is any one group in Canada that has the right to criticize, or rant on with 'insane comments' it's the people on this board. The same people that together probably spent about $30,000 on airfare alone to support our team. We have earned the right to speak our minds.

VERY TRUE. Now where else in the world, Ultras from different soccer teams would come together and form a website, join together in song and enjoy each and every second together. It was one hell of a ride and in Edmonton everyone who is going to the game will end everything with style.

A la prochaine. See you later (Until the Gold Cup)

ALLEZ LES ROUGERS. MAPLE LEAF FOR EVER

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quote:Originally posted by golden

What kind of change did you get wearing your sack the CSA shirts? Or writing on these boards? Let the players speak up, at will, so we can get change. Thats what we all want. The players are playing against all odds. Support them. Fight for them, not against them. They need your support.

Golden...welcome to the board. you are clearly passionate and clearly you have a connection to the team. I hope to see more posts from you.

Personally, I welcome and urge MORE outspokeness from the players. I was not upset that DDR and JB spoke out. If I had my druthers, I wish they, and others, had done so earlier (i.e. after the South Africa trip, after the Mexico game, etc...). Most V's will support the players, but when they speak out, they need to be prepared to put it all out there on the table. There can be no sacred cows.

However, I would suggest that you try to understand the frustration of the supporters. We all know that the players don't like their coach but if there's more to the story, how would most of us know that? The wall of silence makes it hard to know what's really going on. So most react to what they see on the pitch and what we've seen has not been good (I doubt you'd disagree that many of the performances on the field have been uninspired, to say the least).

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quote:Originally posted by VPjr

Golden...welcome to the board. you are clearly passionate and clearly you have a connection to the team.

It's the internet so we may be dealing with a Walter Mitty rather than the real McCoy. Assuming he is what he purports to be he should maybe bear in mind that without a passionate fanbase World Cup qualification would be no more significant in soccer than it would be in ultimate frisbee. Beyond that the time for action was last fall before the qualifiers started. The players keeping their heads down and giving CSA good old boy Dale Mitchell a chance led to a predictable outcome.

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For my part, I'm relatively new to the board and the soccer world. I'm a frenchie with no friends or family who knows at least a bit about soccer, and I'm first and foremost a hockey fan. But now I'm also an Impact fan. I began to follow soccer about 4 years ago because of them.

Last year, I started to do some research about the language of soccer and its tactics. I begin to open my mind to what is the soccer world. I now know what is the Premier League, the Serie A, the Bundesliga and all. Now, I know the major powerhouses, both club (Man U, Chelsea, AC Milan, Barça, etc.) and countrywise. But you know what, nobody in Canada ever encouraged me to do so. I've done it ALL BY MYSELF. And for this, I blame the CSA because they don't promote enough the game.

Don't get me wrong, I know I'm a rookie in terms of knowledge of the sport compared to so many of you V's on the board (plus the Ultras :), Southsiders, USector & RPB). I'm just trying to bring a viewpoint from a newcommer in the bandwagon of soccer in Canada.

I went to Saputo Stadium 5 times this year: 1 regular season game, the CCL game against Atlante and the QF game against Seattle (the craziest game all-sports I ever attended :)). Guess what was the other 2 games ? Yeah you got it, I was there for both MNT (STV & HON) WCQ games. And besides you V's (what a great job you've done), it was all about Honduras in the 2nd game.

I know better than many of you that the reality in Quebec isn't the same as the ROC, and I'm even a part of it. I sincerely declare that I'm really not into the canadian thing, but you know what, I went to cheer for Canada nevertheless. I was so ashamed of the support to the MNT that for the first time in my life (25 years old), I sang the national anthem (loudly) just to try to show the Hondurans they were not alone in the stands. And DON'T SAY that's because of political reasons 'cause if it was about the CANADIAN national team of hockey, the Bell Center would have been sold out in a second, you all know it's true. And it's not also about the popularity of soccer, 'cause we now have way more soccer players than hockey players. The Impact draws the biggest crowds of all the USL. And the U-20 WC in MTL was the biggest success (I was also there for the Chile-Poland game with more than 45,000 people in the big O).

So why ? The U-20 WC was really well advertised throughout the city and the media BECAUSE THE ORGANIZERS DID A HECK OF A JOB, EVEN IN A REALLY SHORT TIME. You know, the games were supposed to be played at Claude-Robillard stadium (capacity: 10,000). IN THE LAST MINUTE</u>, they found a FIFA-approved turf to put in the big O and they managed to draw more than 45,000 people !!! What a great demonstration of what a serious organization can do.

Oh, and the Impact does also promote well. The CSA just doesn't.

On topic, I agree with all the replies about golden's statements. You V's are the real supporters of the game in Canada and coming from me, be sure that's a real compliment. You're the reason why there's still hope for big time soccer in this country as opposed to the CSA, the main reason for the lack of success according to me.

So bottom line is, yeah players like DeGuz & DeRo should express more their thoughts and the CSA should accomodate the vast majority of their demands so, like de Vos said, they would be the only people to blame in case of total failure. LISTEN TO YOUR PLAYERS, they're probably the best squad we ever had (according to many of you as I lack knowledge about it) and firing Mitchell seems to be the beginning point. AND PLEASE, CSA, PROMOTE BETTER !!!

N.B. Just posted the same on the "Serious reforms in the CSA now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" thread as I think it's more appropriate there. Sorry for the repetition.

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Guest speedmonk42
quote:Originally posted by golden

Now that you guys give them permission, they will speak. laughable. Thanks guys for the player support. Remember that they wanted to make it to the world cup more than you guys do. They play the game and go through everything, while you sit back and just watch from the stands or you t.v. Players go from hero to zero, in the blink of an eye. Have you ever worked under bad management? sure you did your job, but did you raise your level of performance? Outsiders looking in but always the first to judge. Mitchell is one of the CSA good old boys. Failing in a major way at the youth world cup, then getting the mens duty is beyond words. The players gave him his chance and they've had enough.

I read these boards every once and a while. And I got to hand it to some of you guys. Without a doubt, you've never played this game above house or beer league. Maybe you coached your local kids soccer team, or a local referee. Some of the insane comments or rants baffles my mind. uneducated fans. Ranting on your computers means nothing.

What kind of change did you get wearing your sack the CSA shirts? Or writing on these boards? Let the players speak up, at will, so we can get change. Thats what we all want. The players are playing against all odds. Support them. Fight for them, not against them. They need your support.

You obviosly don't read the board enough. But please keep doing so and participate, we need more people like you. But try getting involved.

You are being super harsh over what amounts to people disagreeing over the timing of speaking out. That's it.

There are lots of people here who bust there ass and work hard to support the national team and pro teams here and the community in general.

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