Ballou Tabla

[dyslexic nam]

1 hour ago, Colliedor said:

Really? I didn't think he looked good at all. Missed some real sitters too. I really don't think he'll be reaching his true potential. His ego is in the way and he still has a lot of improving to do. Feels like a lost cause for me.

 Not going to comment on ego because it is all really just a bunch of us speculating (and a few insta photos).  I thought he was good in OQ.    The one shot that everyone freaked out about was a shot that the keeper manager to get a trailing foot to - otherwise that would have been a big goal at the time.  And he provided a spark in attack that most others did not.  I know there are mixed opinions about the OQ campaign, but for me it was really only Tajon who was a cut above in attack.  
 

I am not yet ready to give up - but there is no doubt that he needs to really focus on being the best footballer he can if he wants to stay relevant.  

[yothat2]

On 4/19/2021 at 9:46 AM, VinceA said:

He's edging more and more into Boakai land.

It be fun if they played on the same team.

 

Prob at the exact same stage of their careers. If I were both of them. Try to play for African nationataties. Get a run of games and confidence. Canadian national team with the current depth is out of the picture.

[dyslexic nam]

55 minutes ago, yothat2 said:

It be fun if they played on the same team.

 

Prob at the exact same stage of their careers. If I were both of them. Try to play for African nationataties. Get a run of games and confidence. Canadian national team with the current depth is out of the picture.

Disagree.  Not that he will get a call to the senior team soon, but he is still young and just played for the U23 team where he was (IMO) definitely one of our better players.  That is despite an obviously difficult club situation.  If he can sort that out at some point soon and get some good playing time, there is no reason why he couldn’t put himself back in the picture in the in the coming years.  

[Shway]

I think some of you are so harsh/written him off is because he came in the rise of David, and Davies - and was also attached to Barcelona.  Because he didn't meet YOUR expectations, he's a 22yo bust with nearly 100 professional games, being compared to  

My God we have come a long way, but if we have these expectations for every "early emerger kid" we are in for a lot of disappointment. 

[Bison44]

7 minutes ago, Shway said:

I think some of you are so harsh/written him off is because he came in the rise of David, and Davies - and was also attached to Barcelona.  Because he didn't meet YOUR expectations, he's a 22yo bust with nearly 100 professional games, being compared to  

My God we have come a long way, but if we have these expectations for every "early emerger kid" we are in for a lot of disappointment. 

Many had him ahead of Davies and we hadnt even heard of David when Tabla was the hottest thing to come along since Ryan Gyaki.  Hes gone from playing all the time as an 18 year old in MLS (and playing pretty well) to being almost an afterthought last season.  I cant imagine that lives up to HIS expectations.  Still lots of time to have a nice career, but he needs to turn the trajectory around, build on a nice u-23 showing.  We are all rooting for him to succeed.  

[costarg]

Word on the street is Talba is finally back in training with CF Montreal after a long recovery from injury.  Would love to see him loaned out to a CPL club, to get minutes and shake off the rust. 

[VinceA]

4 minutes ago, costarg said:

Word on the street is Talba is finally back in training with CF Montreal after a long recovery from injury.  Would love to see him loaned out to a CPL club, to get minutes and shake off the rust. 

He can't unfortunately Montreal has used up their available loans to the CPL.

[HochelagaFC]

7 minutes ago, costarg said:

Word on the street is Talba is finally back in training with CF Montreal after a long recovery from injury.  Would love to see him loaned out to a CPL club, to get minutes and shake off the rust. 

I agree, unless Montreal plans on giving him substantial minutes (that would surprise me) he should be loaned out at a club where he can be a starter.

[Dominic94]

6 minutes ago, HochelagaFC said:

I agree, unless Montreal plans on giving him substantial minutes (that would surprise me) he should be loaned out at a club where he can be a starter.

He can’t be loaned period, MLS teams can only loan out 5 maximum to my knowledge. They’ve loaned Sirois, Ferdinand, Giraldo, Rea and Yao.

[HochelagaFC]

1 minute ago, Dominic94 said:

He can’t be loaned period, MLS teams can only loan out 5 maximum to my knowledge. They’ve loaned Sirois, Ferdinand, Giraldo, Rea and Yao.

Isn’t the limit only from Mtl to CPL? I thought he could be loaned elsewhere as long as it’s not CPL.

[Dominic94]

34 minutes ago, HochelagaFC said:

Isn’t the limit only from Mtl to CPL? I thought he could be loaned elsewhere as long as it’s not CPL.

I think it’s MLS as a whole.

 

each can PL team can only loan in 3 from MLS I believe. 

[dyslexic nam]

That’s too bad.  While I would always prefer a Canadian player to land in CPL over USL, a stint in any lower division would be an improvement at this point.  Unless the Montreal brass plan to play him (and you never know, I still think he had a solid Olympic qualifying campaign) another season of watching from the sidelines will be unfortunate.   Fingers crossed things work out for him though.  Still rooting for the guy.  

[Dominic94]

38 minutes ago, dyslexic nam said:

That’s too bad.  While I would always prefer a Canadian player to land in CPL over USL, a stint in any lower division would be an improvement at this point.  Unless the Montreal brass plan to play him (and you never know, I still think he had a solid Olympic qualifying campaign) another season of watching from the sidelines will be unfortunate.   Fingers crossed things work out for him though.  Still rooting for the guy.  

Hilarious… 

Montreal playing their youth….. look how long it took Choniere to get a crack.

 

He’ll be benched I can feel it.

[costarg]

3 hours ago, Dominic94 said:

He can’t be loaned period, MLS teams can only loan out 5 maximum to my knowledge. They’ve loaned Sirois, Ferdinand, Giraldo, Rea and Yao.

Well perfect then!  Lets bring back Sirois to teach Pantemis a lesson for giving up a goal dicking around with the ball in his own box and send Tabla to CPL.  No?

[Bison44]

Well that sucks.  He needs to get into a game....this is just silly.  

[The Real Marc]

Would Tabla even take a loan to Can PL or CSL? I feel like he might turn that down.

[MM3/MM2/MM]

3 minutes ago, The Real Marc said:

Would Tabla even take a loan to Can PL or CSL? I feel like he might turn that down.

CSL?

[Bison44]

Loan him to someone in USL, ie TFC2...make a deal with the evil empire, get this kid some games to regain some confidence.  

[Atlantic]

I’d loan him to a 2nd tier (on the league pyramid not in quality) league in Europe, such as Denmark, Belgium or the Netherlands. 

[The Real Marc]

1 hour ago, MM3/MM2/MM said:

CSL?

Meant USL

Though I’d take a loan to the CSL just to snap up some of those retro 1980s jerseys!

[CanadaFan123]

13 hours ago, Atlantic said:

I’d loan him to a 2nd tier (on the league pyramid not in quality) league in Europe, such as Denmark, Belgium or the Netherlands. 

If he was going to any of those countries I'd hope it was in the first division. His resume is impressive enough with experience in MLS, Segunda Division and caps for Canada. 

[dyslexic nam]

1 hour ago, CanadaFan123 said:

If he was going to any of those countries I'd hope it was in the first division. His resume is impressive enough with experience in MLS, Segunda Division and caps for Canada. 

Injuries aside, he hasn’t been able to crack the first team of an MLS side for basically 2 years.  If getting assured playing time is priority 1 (and it is) I don’t think a loan to a team in the top division of a middling Euro league is realistic.  Better for him to drop a tier and be relatively sure of playing time.  

[An Observer]

What I have seen of how Nancy has set up CF Montreal this year, I think it suits Ballou better than what Henry did.  Plus Henry spent so much time screaming at his players, I suspect that would negatively impact those suffering from confidence or with more temperamental personalities. I think both of those applied to him.  I would like to see what he can do with Montreal once he is fit. 

[farrelld]

17 hours ago, An Observer said:

What I have seen of how Nancy has set up CF Montreal this year, I think it suits Ballou better than what Henry did.  Plus Henry spent so much time screaming at his players, I suspect that would negatively impact those suffering from confidence or with more temperamental personalities. I think both of those applied to him.  I would like to see what he can do with Montreal once he is fit. 

This! Toye is another example of this, too much pressure under Henry last year and he couldn't perform. Montreal's current coaching staff have known Ballou since he was part of the academy. Once he is fit he'll hopefully get his chance. Montreal also has a lot of attacking options so he won't be given anything for free.

[dyslexic nam]

Anyone hear anything about Tabla's situation lately?  He is still listed as injured, but a comment above says he was back from injury and training in July. 

Part of me wonders if this injury status is just a bit of a smokescreen for a player who is basically done with the team.  Honestly, I am not sure what would be worse - having an injury serious enough to keep him out of any consideration for this long, or just being consistently not good enough to warrant any sort of inclusion with the team.  I have always held out hope he would make a leap and get back into the picture, but it is basically radio silence on him and has been for a long time.