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FC Tampa Bay v FC Edmonton - May 11, 2011


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FC Tampa Bay v FC Edmonton

11/05/2011 5:00 pm @ Al Lang Stadium

Having rebounded from our humiliating loss (at the feet of Les Impact) with a morale-boosting road win over the Atlanta Gorillaz, the Eddies move on to Tampa, FL. It will be a battle of 3rd-placed FC Edmonton v. the 3rd-from-bottom T-Bay (w/ only two teams and 4 points separating us).

Sinkgraven’s insertion of Paul Craig on striker was immediately validated, as he potted and goal and added an assist – his first points of the season. Aside from the second TFC encounter, the Eddies seem to consistently generate a fair amount of scoring chances. On the whole, I think our offense has looked as good as any we’ve faced in the league.

Of any position, striker seems to be one that the Eddies have a decent amount of depth at. I’ve been really impressed with Kyle Porter – at times, he looks too good for this league. Conrad Smith, Craig, Lemire and Antoniuk have all looked more than capable up front. I’m really looking forward to seeing Semenets again (Any word on how long he’ll be out for?). Any opinions out there on who our top pairing is?

At any rate, it would be nice to see the boys be a bit more clinical with their finishing tonight – but I won’t complain as long as we keep winning.

Parker looked strong in net v ATL and will surely get the start again tonight. With Baart staying back in Edmonton (is that confirmed?), Gill should be on the bench as backup.

Tampa was expected to fare better than it has so far this season, and here’s hoping that trend continues tonight.

My guess: FCTB 1 - Eddies 2

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A 1 - 1 tie in the 90th + minute thanks to Captain Chris Kooy, saves the Eddies. I thought they dominated and showed good ball control in the first half and then lost it throughout most of the second with bad passes and very little play making. The pressure put on in the dying minutes paid off and gave the team a point. Should have been a win with way more shots on goal than FCTB.

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Yeah, I thought they deserved more than a draw in this one as well... of course right near the end there, I wasn't complaining. We looked the better team by far at the half, but then we lost the plot... maybe a few too many roller coaster rides by the boys on their day off.

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Dive into the house tonight all ready to flick the Ustream on, Only to be met by Mrs AW, who whisked me away to Home hardware to buy a Steam Vaccum.

Oh the wonderous banalities of a Modern Matrimony eh?:(:o

Anyway what was the quality of the feed like? any idea of the crowd size etc.

Hope the feed was acceptable as I Emailed a few mates back in old blighty to see if I could drum up some intrest for the club overseas.

Why not? Most of us watch the ELP/ECL at some time or another right?

using the Old “FC Edmonton –Everybody’s second favourite Overseas football team. “ routine.

Never know might get the FCE Scarf to be next years Championship fashion accessory?:D

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Yep, I missed this one too. 5pm start time is a lot to ask. It is a shame we couldn't grab another 3 points, but no complaining when you score one in stoppage time to earn a point. It shows character that this team has already earned four points from a losing position.

So who stood out for us?

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Parker kept us in the game for sure. There were a few diving, fingertip saves that I saw (missed the first 15 min or so). Great game by him and most of the back line. FCE really seems to have found a good system for disrupting play at midfield and regaining possession and it was shown again against Tampa. Very frustrating for the oppontant I'm sure. Hopefully they can keep the trend that they've developed away at home this time!.

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What's the over under for this league surviving past this season?

USL/NASL clubs can and have been known to be able generate revenues and even stay afloat by offering soccer clinic and camps for minor soccer clubs and associations. Anecdotally, this is one of the things that I kept hearing as being something that kept the lynx going. I hope that FCE is not counting only on gate receipts because if they are are, those numbers just won't cut it. That's considerably less than what the Lynx ever managed after they moved to Centennial stadium. Word, at the time they played at Varsity, was that they need 5k to break even.

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FC Edmonton has already taken that route actually! They've got several camps running this summer, and are looking at starting an academy I believe. If rumours about how much they're renting Foote Field for are true, I'm not worried about the state of the team. They have a pretty good set of sponsors, and merch (good quality merch too) is starting to roll in. The scarves were sold out at the FCE vs TFC game.

Not sure how the interest is in the camps (don't have any kids of my own), but the club has been advertising on their facebook pages, as well as with younger soccer clubs and community teams.

I'm not so much worried about FCE surviving, its the rest of the league that I'm worried about. The Fath's have the cash and drive to continue FCE for awhile it seems.

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I wouldn't put it past the Fath Brothers to enough of the folding stuff to front up an MLS consortium in years to come. I think at the moment its all about surviving and establishing in the First Five years.

Its A bit like Stoke City and other promoted EPL clubs, or their alternates in La Liga or the Bundersliega etc.

Year 1. Don't get relegated.

Year 2. Don't get relegated again.

Year 3. Push on into the mid table top 10.

Year 4. Try to do well in a cup.

Year 5. Win a cup, A try not to get relegated.

In Edmontons case.

Year 1. survive

Year 2. switch to USL (if the NASL folds) and survive

Year 3. Seriously try and win the Voyagers and build some out of province profile.

year 4. Build a strong consortium.

Year 5. Start a serious push for MLS.

If its done in year 5 people might take your seriously.

All that been said. Here's hoping the NASL survives.

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No, never heard of that lot before. I'm a big Blackburn Rovers supporter...from Edmonton, so it just seemed like an apt handle.

Speaking to the attendance question, I saw that Minnesota's last match drew under 1000...that is worrying. Oh well, I'm more concerned about the Eddies getting it right. Like others have said here, if our house is in order, there will always be a league to play in - even if it's the USL.

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I was actually quite suprised to see the average numbers for the first few games of the season. Obviously Montreal is walking away with it, but Edmonton is third last in the league with 2600. Seems positive! For me the concerning note was that the runners up last year (Carolina) are actually behind Edmonton.

Also not quite sure how Minnesota thinks they'll support a MLS team if an NASL team draws less than a grand...

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I was actually quite suprised to see the average numbers for the first few games of the season. Obviously Montreal is walking away with it, but Edmonton is third last in the league with 2600. Seems positive! For me the concerning note was that the runners up last year (Carolina) are actually behind Edmonton.

Also not quite sure how Minnesota thinks they'll support a MLS team if an NASL team draws less than a grand...

Seattle drew worse than Portland or Vancouver in the USL, and look at them now. There's not much correlation between what Minnesota gets at that soccer complex 40 miles from the city in the NASL, and what they'd get in a downtown stadium in the MLS.

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Guest Enceladus09
I was actually quite suprised to see the average numbers for the first few games of the season. Obviously Montreal is walking away with it, but Edmonton is third last in the league with 2600. Seems positive! For me the concerning note was that the runners up last year (Carolina) are actually behind Edmonton.

Also not quite sure how Minnesota thinks they'll support a MLS team if an NASL team draws less than a grand...

Although I hope for 2600 per game, I believe that may not be entirely realistic. That is only one home game against another well known canadian team and was the home opener. It also won't help that they lost 5-0. I am optimistic in hoping that we have a 2000 average but either way we'll be there. Someone has to help the ref to their car... Seriously though, I would apreciate a home match where we don't take a red (and I have to say that after watching the replay, two of them were somewhat warranted).

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Speaking of the Red cards,

I would say that Pyshco fell foul of rather 'pernickety' referee. Yes it was swift challenge but both feet were low, to the point of been grounded; against an opponent who didn't have full control of the ball making the challenge 50-50. Chances are on a grass field I doubt there would have been such audible contact.

As for the Bartman.

I think all referees in "Reffing School" are show the following Video*...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3byTNRoxujo.

and are told, " If a Keeper launches himself at the edge of the Box and catches a forward with his boot, Under no (I repeat NO)cirumstances award another goakick."

*For those with weak french, like me. The following comes from the font of all 'knowledge'- Wikipeidia, However been that I saw this game on the BBC that year (My Second World Cup) I generally concur with the text.

"Battiston was knocked unconscious, and later slipped into a coma. He also lost his two front teeth and had a damaged vertebra. He received oxygen on the pitch. Michel Platini later said that he thought that Battiston had died, because "he had no pulse and looked pale".

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Speaking of the Red cards,

I would say that Pyshco fell foul of rather 'pernickety' referee. Yes it was swift challenge but both feet were low, to the point of been grounded; against an opponent who didn't have full control of the ball making the challenge 50-50. Chances are on a grass field I doubt there would have been such audible contact.

As for the Bartman.

I think all referees in "Reffing School" are show the following Video*...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3byTNRoxujo.

and are told, " If a Keeper launches himself at the edge of the Box and catches a forward with his boot, Under no (I repeat NO)cirumstances award another goakick."

*For those with weak french, like me. The following comes from the font of all 'knowledge'- Wikipeidia, However been that I saw this game on the BBC that year (My Second World Cup) I generally concur with the text.

"Battiston was knocked unconscious, and later slipped into a coma. He also lost his two front teeth and had a damaged vertebra. He received oxygen on the pitch. Michel Platini later said that he thought that Battiston had died, because "he had no pulse and looked pale".

Are you actually saying that the referree made the correct decision here? And then going further by saying the penalty against Baart was improper based on this precedence? If that is what you are implying it is a level of ignorance and stupidity only rarely seen on this forum. This Schumacher-Battiston incident is considered one of the greatest referreeing errors in the history of football. That was a clear straight red card and penalty, Schumacher did not even attempt to play the ball and Battiston was clearly in the box. As the French commentary said, "the whole world saw it except for one person, the referree". Even most German fans would admit that this call was wrong. In addition to Battison's serious injuries, it also cost France their deserved place in the World Cup finals (they lost to Germany on penalties adding further injury to Schumacher's ) where fortunately German was defeated by Italy (probably the only time I will ever be happy Italy won the World Cup).

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Are you actually saying that the referree made the correct decision here? And then going further by saying the penalty against Baart was improper based on this precedence? If that is what you are implying it is a level of ignorance and stupidity only rarely seen on this forum.

Apologies. I apparently let the Information get in the way of the sarcasm. I would have though my refrence to "Reffing School" ( similar to "There's only one F in Fulham") would have given the game away.

Of course I think the decision against Bart was harsh. When you review his attempt to get the ball, his feet are pointing down and the Impact players head is also down. The ball is also in open play and not under control by any player. I wonder hoe the referee would have reacted if Bart had made the attempt to head the ball and the same result occured?

What does not help is that the flight of the ball is effected by the surface, which behaves differently to the turf on commonwealth which again, also behaves quite differently to grass.

But I do content that the refereeing in North America, to be kind, can be rather Idosyncratic. I actually think because contact was made this ref decided that an infrigment had occured, even when you could argue that it didn't and was just accidental contact.

That been said i would content that this guy would probably have sent off the two Tottenham players who clashed heads the week before last; Or the Stoke Player who last night kicked Zabaleta in the head, when he again duck downwards to head the ball.

Still considering that most of the modern rule changes and edicts comming from FIFA have essentailly outlawed the ability of defenders to defend what would you expect.

As for Psycho's card? In the lower English divisons, It would have probbly been met with a "Play on " from the official and a with a rousing chorus of "GET IN THERE!" from the crowd.

Oh for those wet Wednesdays November Nights in Wallsall.

Now if only we had a face Icon with its tounge firmly stuck in its cheek.

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As for Psycho's card? In the lower English divisons, It would have probbly been met with a "Play on " from the official and a with a rousing chorus of "GET IN THERE!" from the crowd.

And we all know England knows bet.

I'm glad you're saying you're joking... Baart kneed a guy in the head.

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