Stefan Cebara interview

[matty]

Hey guys just finished up my latest interview after a holiday break with Stefan Cebara of FC ViOn Zlaté Moravce in Slovakia. It's one of the best ones I've done so far I think. Let me know what you think. Enjoy

https://somesoccerplayingcanadians.wordpress.com/2016/01/18/stefan-cebara/

[BuzzAndSting]

On 1/18/2016 at 10:16 PM, matty said:

Hey guys just finished up my latest interview after a holiday break with Stefan Cebara of FC ViOn Zlaté Moravce in Slovakia. It's one of the best ones I've done so far I think. Let me know what you think. Enjoy

https://somesoccerplayingcanadians.wordpress.com/2016/01/18/stefan-cebara/

Great interview. 

Interesting to note that when you asked about coming back to NA to play in the MLS, NASL or the proposed Canadian league he responded "I would be interested in MLS one day..." 

[Jason]

48 minutes ago, BuzzAndSting said:

Great interview. 

Interesting to note that when you asked about coming back to NA to play in the MLS, NASL or the proposed Canadian league he responded "I would be interested in MLS one day..." 

I think that will be the attitude of players re: the Canadian league.  If I was a player, I'd have a hefty dose of skepticism.  I think they are expecting it to be a semi-pro league (below NASL and maybe not even USL) with a salary you can't live on.  They will think this until proven otherwise.  There is nothing official yet at all, but once the GM's start contacting the agents and letting them know how much the pay will be, that will start the conversation.

Jason

[BuzzAndSting]

10 minutes ago, Jason said:

I think that will be the attitude of players re: the Canadian league.  If I was a player, I'd have a hefty dose of skepticism.  I think they are expecting it to be a semi-pro league (below NASL and maybe not even USL) with a salary you can't live on.  They will think this until proven otherwise.  There is nothing official yet at all, but once the GM's start contacting the agents and letting them know how much the pay will be, that will start the conversation.

Jason

I found it more interesting that he didn't mention the NASL as I would think that would be the likely place for him talent wise.

[Soccerpro]

1 hour ago, BuzzAndSting said:

I found it more interesting that he didn't mention the NASL as I would think that would be the likely place for him talent wise.

Many young players have very high opinions of their ability. Sometimes, unrealistically high.

[matty]

1 hour ago, Jason said:

I think that will be the attitude of players re: the Canadian league.  If I was a player, I'd have a hefty dose of skepticism.  I think they are expecting it to be a semi-pro league (below NASL and maybe not even USL) with a salary you can't live on.  They will think this until proven otherwise.  There is nothing official yet at all, but once the GM's start contacting the agents and letting them know how much the pay will be, that will start the conversation.

Jason

I've found that most of the players like the idea of a Canadian league but no one has come forward and said "I'd love to play in int from day 1" with the exception of Adrian Bečić who seems open to the idea. I think they (the guys under 30) view playing in a Canadian league and NASL as a step backwards from playing in Europe.

[shermanator]

9 hours ago, BuzzAndSting said:

Great interview. 

Interesting to note that when you asked about coming back to NA to play in the MLS, NASL or the proposed Canadian league he responded "I would be interested in MLS one day..." 

I think many Canadian players will want to play in MLS one day, but then realize how difficult the chances are that a club snaps them up based on their passport, and will see the Canadian league as the place they can play in.

[Jason]

8 hours ago, Soccerpro said:

Many young players have very high opinions of their ability. Sometimes, unrealistically high.

Not just young players but pretty much anyone that makes it to the pro ranks.  You really need to have confidence in your ability to have a chance to make it.  Non-soccer example: ask any CFL player if they could play in the NFL.  Virtually all of them would say they could play in the NFL, if only they were given a chance, they didn't get injured, or some other reason.  Of course the reality is they are almost always not good enough.  But you need to have this kind of attitude to make it to any level as a pro.  

I'm sure if you asked most NASL players if they could play for a MLS team or a decent team in Europe, you'd get the same answer.

Jason

[Jason]

8 hours ago, matty said:

I've found that most of the players like the idea of a Canadian league but no one has come forward and said "I'd love to play in int from day 1" with the exception of Adrian Bečić who seems open to the idea. I think they (the guys under 30) view playing in a Canadian league and NASL as a step backwards from playing in Europe.

They won't look at it as a step backward if the money is there.  If the reports are correct and making 50K-75K in the CPL are accurate (better money than average NASL salary and for a MLS backup), just watch the mass exodus of Canadians playing in lower level Euro leagues where they aren't making close to that.  If this league happens, the only Canadians left in the lower Euro leagues are young guys who are convinced the path to a big Euro league is through a smaller Euro league, or Canadians that aren't good enough to play in the Canadian league.

Jason

 

[matty]

33 minutes ago, Jason said:

They won't look at it as a step backward if the money is there.  If the reports are correct and making 50K-75K in the CPL are accurate (better money than average NASL salary and for a MLS backup), just watch the mass exodus of Canadians playing in lower level Euro leagues where they aren't making close to that.  If this league happens, the only Canadians left in the lower Euro leagues are young guys who are convinced the path to a big Euro league is through a smaller Euro league, or Canadians that aren't good enough to play in the Canadian league.

Jason

 

Oh if there's enough money a lot of guys will come but until there's confirmed numbers I think a lot of them feel this league is gonna be on par with the NASL in terms of pay, which is less than than Finland's league, and possibly weaker than the NASL when it comes to the level of play and we've already seen Floro's preference for the lower European leagues to the NASL.

[Unnamed Trialist]

1 hour ago, Jason said:

They won't look at it as a step backward if the money is there.  If the reports are correct and making 50K-75K in the CPL are accurate (better money than average NASL salary and for a MLS backup), just watch the mass exodus of Canadians playing in lower level Euro leagues where they aren't making close to that.  If this league happens, the only Canadians left in the lower Euro leagues are young guys who are convinced the path to a big Euro league is through a smaller Euro league, or Canadians that aren't good enough to play in the Canadian league.

Jason

 

So we are talking about teams with salaries at 1.5 million and overall budgets well over 2 million and more like 3, is that the idea?

You can only sustain that if you have over 5000 regularly paying fans, strong sponsorship, some minimum TV deal, and discounts on stadium rentals.

[Jason]

38 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

So we are talking about teams with salaries at 1.5 million and overall budgets well over 2 million and more like 3, is that the idea?

You can only sustain that if you have over 5000 regularly paying fans, strong sponsorship, some minimum TV deal, and discounts on stadium rentals.

Supposedly that is what we are looking at re: player budgets at least.  Duane Rollins has really been the only source mentioning salary range, and he's cited those numbers - higher pay than average NASL salaries, likely in the 1.5 million overall range. 

Yep, you would probably need 5000 fans per game to make this work.  The two big advantages I see with a Canadian league are: the much better at getting league wide sponsorships than NASL and they also have a much better chance of getting a TV deal.  If 4-5 of the 8 clubs are owned by CFL teams, there is a lot of synergies that can work (they control their stadium, special offers to CFL ticket holders, coupling of corporate sponsorships so companies support both leagues, sharing front office staff, connections with TSN).  If you work on the basis that NASL Ottawa was able to bring in numbers like that, you would think that the other CFL clubs have the ability to do comparable jobs.  That leaves 3-4 non-CFL connected clubs.  Those ones could be a bigger challenge getting to 5000 per game.   

While I would like to see salary numbers like that, I think it's a bit optimistic.  Do you really need to pay more than NASL?  At the start, it would seem reasonable to have the pay at USL level and build it up.  But if you really want to bring home all of those Canadians playing in lower leagues abroad (and also entice Canadians in USL and fringe MLS payers), you would need to pay about $60-75K.  

If the league gets off the ground, I'm betting the salary budget is maybe a bit over $1 million with the average salary being just under $50K.  Every team will have their top end players making $60-80K while most are making $35-50K and some young guys are making $25K to fill out the roster.  I think this is the minimum level you can go and have professional quality of play.  Who can you get if you're paying an average salary of $30K for example, especially if you are going to mandate a high Canadian quota?  Only players who have no other pro options and are desperate to keep playing and not get on with their lives.  If the CSA really wants this league to develop players, having guys at this level probably won't help much.

Jason

[Unnamed Trialist]

1 minute ago, Jason said:

Supposedly that is what we are looking at re: player budgets at least.  Duane Rollins has really been the only source mentioning salary range, and he's cited those numbers - higher pay than average NASL salaries, likely in the 1.5 million overall range. 

Yep, you would probably need 5000 fans per game to make this work.  The two big advantages I see with a Canadian league are: the much better at getting league wide sponsorships than NASL and they also have a much better chance of getting a TV deal.  If 4-5 of the 8 clubs are owned by CFL teams, there is a lot of synergies that can work (they control their stadium, special offers to CFL ticket holders, coupling of corporate sponsorships so companies support both leagues, sharing front office staff, connections with TSN).  If you work on the basis that NASL Ottawa was able to bring in numbers like that, you would think that the other CFL clubs have the ability to do comparable jobs.  That leaves 3-4 non-CFL connected clubs.  Those ones could be a bigger challenge getting to 5000 per game.   

While I would like to see salary numbers like that, I think it's a bit optimistic.  Do you really need to pay more than NASL?  At the start, it would seem reasonable to have the pay at USL level and build it up.  But if you really want to bring home all of those Canadians playing in lower leagues abroad (and also entice Canadians in USL and fringe MLS payers), you would need to pay about $60-75K.  

If the league gets off the ground, I'm betting the salary budget is maybe a bit over $1 million with the average salary being just under $50K.  Every team will have their top end players making $60-80K while most are making $35-50K and some young guys are making $25K to fill out the roster.  I think this is the minimum level you can go and have professional quality of play.  Who can you get if you're paying an average salary of $30K for example, especially if you are going to mandate a high Canadian quota?  Only players who have no other pro options and are desperate to keep playing and not get on with their lives.  If the CSA really wants this league to develop players, having guys at this level probably won't help much.

Jason

Thanks, very interesting summary. 

I agree you have to have a respectable minimum wage. In the old USL days I heard of players complaining they could not live on their salaries in spite of being full-time pros (young Canadians playing in cities other than their home towns). You cannot have that.

After that, I also think you are inevitably going to have players over 60-80 for top end, for results you need to pay a bit more to key players, strikers, creative mids, experienced veterans.

The other problem is roster size. Normally you'd have 25 or so, but if you wanted to have more, or develop youth and keep them all playing, you should really think about a B team of sorts. What has been said about that?

[SthMelbRed]

People love to hate on the MLS league structure  (single entity), but I think for a Canadian league to work at the level being discussed, there will have to be some similar level of socialism involved. How else are you going to expect teams from tiny markets (Moncton, Victoria, etc) to compete with teams from the medium-sized markets, let alone the three large markets?

[Jason]

8 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

Thanks, very interesting summary. 

I agree you have to have a respectable minimum wage. In the old USL days I heard of players complaining they could not live on their salaries in spite of being full-time pros (young Canadians playing in cities other than their home towns). You cannot have that.

After that, I also think you are inevitably going to have players over 60-80 for top end, for results you need to pay a bit more to key players, strikers, creative mids, experienced veterans.

The other problem is roster size. Normally you'd have 25 or so, but if you wanted to have more, or develop youth and keep them all playing, you should really think about a B team of sorts. What has been said about that?

I think starting youth/B teams will not be a priority for the first years, unless the teams partner up with existing programs (Rollins is reporting Sigma is going to work with the Hamilton club).  I think that would be the longer term plan though.  

If you want an idea of who would get how much in this league, probably look to the CFL as a template as they have a Canadian ratio and are in the shadow of bigger league (NFL as opposed to MLS).  The biggest salaries would go to the top 2-3 imports per team who are difference makers, likely playing key positions (striker, creative midfielder, centre back) and also to any Canadians who could play these positions well.  I could see Toisant Ricketts making big $ in this league as he would count as a Canadian and has a scoring touch.  The best paid players in the CFL are the quarterbacks and star WR and LB.  If a Canadian can play middle linebacker or another position usually held by an import (a so called "ratio breaker") he is paid a big salary. 

Jason

[Jason]

9 hours ago, SthMelbRed said:

People love to hate on the MLS league structure  (single entity), but I think for a Canadian league to work at the level being discussed, there will have to be some similar level of socialism involved. How else are you going to expect teams from tiny markets (Moncton, Victoria, etc) to compete with teams from the medium-sized markets, let alone the three large markets?

Totally agree.  You need at least 8 teams for a league I would think.  Even if you make the argument that the CFL owners are driving the bus in the league set up, there are only 4-5 of them.  That means they need 3-4 other teams for the league to exist, and for the most part these teams will be playing in much smaller venues with an overall lower ceiling for gate revenues.  Where else in Canada is there a 10K+ stadium available outside of these CFL teams' homes?  Quebec City I suppose.  But nothing in Toronto or Vancouver, and probably nothing for Montreal either (not sure on this one).  So if you want teams in these markets, you will have to go smaller.  Not only that, these teams merely be tenants and not control their buildings, and will not have the off the field head start the CFL run teams will.  It will be really tough for them to make it, and the league will have to account for it to have a chance.

I think the new C-League should also take a page from MLS and set up their own division that runs Euro friendlies.  Apparently this is a cash cow for MLS.  Maybe they could not get the very top Euro clubs, but they could get decent teams.  I think Eurosnobs in Winnipeg or Ottawa would be happy to part with their money to watch Everton vs Ajax, or Wolfsburg vs Lazio, or Celtic vs Valencia.  

Jason

[matty]

6 hours ago, Jason said:

I think the new C-League should also take a page from MLS and set up their own division that runs Euro friendlies.  Apparently this is a cash cow for MLS.  Maybe they could not get the very top Euro clubs, but they could get decent teams.  I think Eurosnobs in Winnipeg or Ottawa would be happy to part with their money to watch Everton vs Ajax, or Wolfsburg vs Lazio, or Celtic vs Valencia.  

Jason

I'm betting there will be something in place for the first season, be it tours, partnerships or an all-star game, but what type of teams would take part now has be me wondering. I'm doubtful a Canadian league, backed mostly by the CFL, would be nab a noted Bundesliga or Serie A or La Liga or any EPL team even Ajax and Celtic seem like a reach. Maybe a Genoa or Sassuolo if they wanted a club from the big four or a Braga if they wanted a club with a name and that sees regular action in European competition. For the record: If they just threw a league all-star team vs Genoa, I think everyone who is currently interested in the league would be pissed.

I personally would prefer something a bit more than just a big friendly. Something that would have maybe 4 good clubs from good leagues (e.g. Belgium, Netherlands) come over once a year for tour of 2 cities each and in exchange they'd take a handful players, from the cites they'd each of visited, during the off season for training and run a clinic for coaches (i dunno). They get money from friendlies and our teams get friendly money and development.