Players you expect to see in the CPL

[Chris 1976]

I know a young player (son of close family friend) who signed a CPL contract some time ago and I suspect will be announced at some point during the January transfer window. He is a young dual National Canadian and turned down a number opportunities to remain in Europe in order to return to Canada and play CPL. 

I acted as a sounding board for him during the negotiations so I know the figures being offered by at least a few clubs

He had healthy interest from more than one CPL club.

Im certain there is a modest salary cap in force for year 1. The owners are naturally being very sensible and cautious. 750k maximum for the squad would be my best guess. Maybe some clubs will have 22/23 players some only 18-20 which could provide more flexibility 

 I’m sure the odd marquee player will be on more than the others but I suspect the disparity between the main playing core of the squad will be no where near what people are predicting 

I am only saying this as there is so much misinformation and speculation  on the sites.  

The difference in packages offered by the  clubs was marginal . Perhaps a few grand here or there and some other fringe benefits thrown in, but at the end of the day he chose the club he felt would be the best environment for him and his style of play.

He knew from the outset he would earn less in Canada year 1 than remaining in Europe for 2019 (but not by that much to be fair given his young age). He turned down a very good club in Scotland to join the CPL as well as opportunities to remain in the country where he has been playing professionally during 2017& 2018

This was an opportunity to showcase his ability back in Canada having been away for a long time and hopefully move on to the MLS in a few years. The excitement of being part of something unique and brand new was a massive lure to him 

I think his was a typical profile of a young overseas Canadian player that the league were keen to try and get back to Canada 

Players that left Canada young to progress through some good professional European youth systems with personal profiles still on the way up and not down. There may not be that many of them out there but they do exist and I’m certain there will be a few more returning in the new year 

Money wise I have no doubt Year two CpL wages will rise. In the meantime please accept that some younger players especially returning from Europe are likely taking a pay cut to play in this brand new league and want to be here for varying career reasons, but most importantly they want to be here for the right reasons and be part of it!

Likewise some younger players are getting paid to kick a ball for the very first time and are just ecstatic at signing there first ever contract, they won’t even be thinking of numbers.  Some are coming to the end of their careers and just happy to be playing for another year and giving something back to the domestic game. We will no doubt have some international journeyman too to add to the mix.

Let’s just embrace this diversity of players coming together to compete.

The most important thing for me being a long distance fan  is to see a good quality product on the pitch and one that will entertain fans but also develop our younger players. We need more Jonathan David’s and  Alphonso Davies type talents being produced and sold on to Europe’s elite as it will only help our National team in the long term and put more investment back into the CPL and youth development.

in the meantime let’s enjoy all the new signings as and when they get announced as I think there will be some good surprises in store for every club

 

[dbailey62]

1 hour ago, Keegan said:

By this logic that would mean there isn’t a non-single-entity league in the world.  When people say it’s not a single entity they are referring to the fact it’s not MLS where the league owns all clubs and salaries.  Even existing teams had to change their names and aren’t actually the same clubs I.e. Vancouver, Seattle, Minnesota, Montreal etc. 

I think the fact FC Edmonton transferred it’s name/brand over from another league is proof enough that this isn’t like that. 

Anyways, just looking at 2007 MLS salaries and TFC had 11/25 roster players on $36k or less, 7 of those 11 LESS THAN $20k .. some internationals and living in TORONTO.  I think CPL players are going to be fine... 

They had players bringing Tupperware to practice so they could take the buffet leftovers home to feed themselves with two or three of those minimum wage players sharing flats. Creative survival! 

The MLS minimum wage was ridiculous back in those days.

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

3 hours ago, Keegan said:

...Just to play devils advocate as it relates to Bekker: He has a business degree from Boston College and is from Oakville so Forge may have been wise and offered him a future business role....

We know players can double dip in salary cap terms with a player-coach role, so I guess it's not completely beyond the realms of possibility that it can also be done with a junior front office role.

As for all the TFC players on very low salaries ten years ago, all I tend to remember looking back is that it was usually painfully obvious why any time they got significant playing time.

They will need the teams to have a strong spine to be able to have something reasonably watchable. I'm not sure players on $35k would get the job done on that. A month or so from now we will probably have a much clearer picture.

Edited December 27, 2018 by BringBackTheBlizzard

[Keegan]

Just for kicks.. how much did Noah Verhoeven make last year? 

We know players can double dip as player-coaches but that’s not what I’m referring to with special incentive deals.  I’m talking about Bekker being guaranteed a job on retirement for instance (not cap related) or running Forge camps on off days and earning an extra 10-15k.  

[Keegan]

24 minutes ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

We know players can double dip in salary cap terms with a player-coach role, so I guess it's not completely beyond the realms of possibility that it can also be done with a junior front office role.

As for all the TFC players on very low salaries ten years ago, all I tend to remember looking back is that it was usually painfully obvious why any time they got significant playing time.

They will need the teams to have a strong spine to be able to have something reasonably watchable. I'm not sure players on $35k would get the job done on that. A month or so from now we will probably have a much clearer picture.

Would you consider USL unwatchable? 

What we know so far is that all players signed but a few have played at a level at or higher than USL and $750k is quite a bit higher than the average USL team salaries.

Edited December 27, 2018 by Keegan

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

The sort of thing that may or may not have been agreed with MoJo by MLS before the Wiz signed him, depending on who you listen to. Do you think Bekker merits that? I'd be looking for a little bit more quality before doing that sort of thing.

[Ansem]

It's the holidays, we get it @BringBackTheBlizzard

Let us enjoy the process for once

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

3 minutes ago, Keegan said:

Would you consider USL unwatchable? 

Have you tried watching the youtube streams reasonably regularly? Sometimes I would have to say yes as a neutral watching out of curiosity who isn't cheering on a hometown team, while other times it's reasonably OK but far from stellar. 

[Ansem]

Just now, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

Have you tried watching the youtube streams reasonably regularly? Sometimes I would have to say yes as a neutral watching out of curiosity who isn't cheering on a hometown team, while other times it's reasonably OK but far from stellar. 

CPL has a higher ceiling long term and salaries will go up as the league succeeds. That's what matters.

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

We don't know any of that for sure yet. USL has no salary cap and varies wildly in quality terms from what I've seen of it. I see no reason to disbelieve the people in Ottawa who claim that the Fury have a significantly higher budget than the CanPL cap. There are some USL teams that might be lower especially some of the reserve teams.

[Keegan]

13 minutes ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

The sort of thing that may or may not have been agreed with MoJo by MLS before the Wiz signed him, depending on who you listen to. Do you think Bekker merits that? I'd be looking for a little bit more quality before doing that sort of thing.

Merits what exactly?  I don’t have a specific job in mind but his owner is one of the richest people in the country so may know an opening or two for a BC grad and former star on his sports team.  Doesn’t even have to be in football necessarily... just spitballing. 

[RS]

2 hours ago, Keegan said:

By this logic that would mean there isn’t a non-single-entity league in the world.  When people say it’s not a single entity they are referring to the fact it’s not MLS where the league owns all clubs and salaries.  Even existing teams had to change their names and aren’t actually the same clubs I.e. Vancouver, Seattle, Minnesota, Montreal etc. 

I think the fact FC Edmonton transferred it’s name/brand over from another league is proof enough that this isn’t like that. 

I'm not sure if that's proof of anything, given that FC Edmonton rebranded exactly the same way the other teams in question did before jumping leagues.

FC Cincinnati, Orlando City SC and Minnesota United FC all have the exact same names as they did in the lower leagues. Like FCE, all they did was change logos/branding while keeping the same names, even if the ownership structure is completely different than it was before.

There are hints that CPL works in a similar fashion, albeit not completely the same. Given Paul Beirne's past experience with TFC, he'd be intimately familiar with what would work and what would not in terms of implementing some of the single entity mechanisms that CPL deems desirable.

[Ansem]

3 minutes ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

We don't know any of that for sure yet. USL has no salary cap and varies wildly in quality terms from what I've seen of it. I see no reason to disbelieve the people in Ottawa who claim that the Fury have a significantly higher budget than the CanPL cap. There are some USL teams that might be lower especially some of the reserve teams.

Can you post something new for a change? You dont get how sick and tired we are at you saying the same thing over and over and over again.

We get it. You think CPL will forever be lower than USL and we should have merged with them. Thanks for your opinion but we heard you.

[Keegan]

5 minutes ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

We don't know any of that for sure yet. USL has no salary cap and varies wildly in quality terms from what I've seen of it. I see no reason to disbelieve the people in Ottawa who claim that the Fury have a significantly higher budget than the CanPL cap. There are some USL teams that might be lower especially some of the reserve teams.

Well Ottawa is essentially a reserve team, which is why many doubt their salary claims.  If you appropriate an MLS salary then sure you can say that.. but I think we all know that’s not reality and Ottawa isn’t paying their loan players.  So if you think that Ottawa is paying their players on contract over $750k I don’t think you’re being realistic.. people are saying their squad averages $75k plus housing, that’s not possible unless you include MLS salaries.  For example Mannella earned an average of $50k~ per year in MLS.. why the hell would Ottawa need to give him $75k?  Or any other player that couldn’t get an MLS contract that amount? 

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

Easy enough to use the ignore function, Ansem. Here's something to ponder. USL has a minimum preferred market size of 750k, while CanPL has 200k in mind for that sort of thing because Canada has fewer large non-MLS markets available. If MLS remains a fixture in the big three Canadian markets why would you expect CanPL to have the higher ceiling? It might pan out that way, but it's no slam dunk.

[Ansem]

15 minutes ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

Easy enough to use the ignore function, Ansem. Here's something to ponder. USL has a minimum preferred market size of 750k, while CanPL has 200k in mind for that sort of thing because Canada has fewer large non-MLS markets available. If MLS remains a fixture in the big three Canadian markets why would you expect CanPL to have the higher ceiling? It might pan out that way, but it's no slam dunk.

When did I compared CPL to MLS?

MLS, being in the 3 big cities account for around 1/3 of the Canadian population (I generously decided to include the metro area)

That leaves 2/3 up for grabs.

Last time I checked 

2/3 > 1/3

Correct me if I'm wrong

 

****Please quote me in another thread, (CPL General) let's keep this thread alone****

Edited December 27, 2018 by Ansem

[SthMelbRed]

3 hours ago, shermanator said:

I'll save you from having to search....

BBTB is a cunt.

Oi! That's my line! ?

[Ansem]

Nice to see CPL logo in there as a path to pro. 

Where's USL* ?

*No need to answer that BBTB

Edited December 27, 2018 by Ansem

[Blackdude]

Wrong thread.

 

Edited December 27, 2018 by Blackdude

[Kent]

5 hours ago, Ansem said:

When did I compared CPL to MLS?

MLS, being in the 3 big cities account for around 1/3 of the Canadian population (I generously decided to include the metro area)

That leaves 2/3 up for grabs.

Last time I checked 

2/3 > 1/3

Correct me if I'm wrong

 

****Please quote me in another thread, (CPL General) let's keep this thread alone****

Let me start by saying I agree with you that CPL has a higher ceiling than USL, but I think you misunderstood BBTB a bit. He wasn’t saying you compared CPL to MLS. He was just saying if you line up all the cities in USA and all the cities in Canada, then cross out the ones with MLS teams (thus giving an idea of potential teams in CPL and USL), the USA has a lot more big cities than Canada. There was no talk of comparing MLS and CPL.

To answer BBTB’s question I would say the reason to believe CPL has a higher ceiling (and I agree it’s not a slam dunk) is because it’s a top league in the country and could garner national attention in due time. It seems unlikely for USL to ever obtain national attention, and it will be interesting to see what happens with USL interest when MLS is done with expansion for an extended period.

[Ansem]

 

[dbailey62]

5 minutes ago, Ansem said:

 

http://www.transfermarkt.com/christopher-suta/leistungsdaten/spieler/125339

[Alex D]

18 hours ago, Kent said:

...and it will be interesting to see what happens with USL interest when MLS is done with expansion for an extended period.

Rochester, many Rochesters.

[CDNFootballer]

On 12/27/2018 at 2:01 PM, RS said:

I'm not sure if that's proof of anything, given that FC Edmonton rebranded exactly the same way the other teams in question did before jumping leagues.

FC Cincinnati, Orlando City SC and Minnesota United FC all have the exact same names as they did in the lower leagues. Like FCE, all they did was change logos/branding while keeping the same names, even if the ownership structure is completely different than it was before.

There are hints that CPL works in a similar fashion, albeit not completely the same. Given Paul Beirne's past experience with TFC, he'd be intimately familiar with what would work and what would not in terms of implementing some of the single entity mechanisms that CPL deems desirable.

Name changes and rebrands are two different things.

FC Cincinnati actually did change their name (From "Futbol" to "Football").

Teams moving to MLS usually change their legal names (for single entity MLS purposes). Whitecaps added "FC" in their official name when joining MLS. Seattle did the same. Its little known it seems and sometimes the changes are very subtle like in the FCC case.

Edited December 30, 2018 by CDNFootballer

[RS]

1 hour ago, CDNFootballer said:

Name changes and rebrands are two different things.

FC Cincinnati actually did change their name (From "Futbol" to "Football").

Teams moving to MLS usually change their legal names (for single entity MLS purposes). Whitecaps added "FC" in their official name when joining MLS. Seattle did the same. Its little known it seems and sometimes the changes are very subtle like in the FCC case.

I acknowledged that when I said "even if the ownership structure is completely different than it was before."

My point was that we don't know for sure if Edmonton changed anything behind the scenes to accommodate a CPL move like the MLS teams did. And even if Cincinnati changed from football to futbol, there are examples of MLS teams keeping names exactly the same (Orlando, Minnesota) but doing logo rebrands just like Edmonton. 

There's been enough smoke about CPL some sort of single entity structure to warrant the discussion. Hell, maybe that's the problem the Fury FO has with the league.

I'm not bothered either way, though. CPL should do whatever it feels necessary to make the league viable, IMO.