CPL General

[shamrock]

I agree with the point though, if he wanted to be in the Lower Mainland he should have done so. If not, shut up about it and focus on Van Island. 

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

What does it look like at this point if he says when asked about this, "No we are completely finished with the Fraser Valley, those bozos don't deserve a team", rather than saying a few diplomatic things to suggest that the league is still pursuing the various options there? It probably is over in the Fraser valley at least for now.

[Copes]

For anyone who missed in in the Halifax thread, the Wanderers have released this image attached to a Tweet inviting youth players to meet the head coach of the team. 

 

Quote is attached to Stephen Hart from 2017. As a local from Halifax, I think Hart was a frontrunner. At this point, unless we get blindsided, I think Hart as coach of Halifax is all but confirmed. 

Is Calgary the only other team who have announced their Head Coach?

Edited June 26, 2018 by Copes

[Watchmen]

5 hours ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

What does it look like at this point if he says when asked about this, "No we are completely finished with the Fraser Valley, those bozos don't deserve a team", rather than saying a few diplomatic things to suggest that the league is still pursuing the various options there? It probably is over in the Fraser valley at least for now.

The problem isn't the league being over the Fraser Valley, it's that he himself doesn't seem to be over it and we're all left to wonder how much of his focus is actually on all the work that needs to be done with Victoria still vs his continued pursuit of a team in the FV.  I think it's pretty clear that his heart is still on a FV team and that Victoria is happening just because the league needs a team in BC/to get to 8 teams.  And that's not an attitude you necessarily want from one of your first teams.

[CDNFootballer]

9 hours ago, Watchmen said:

The problem isn't the league being over the Fraser Valley, it's that he himself doesn't seem to be over it and we're all left to wonder how much of his focus is actually on all the work that needs to be done with Victoria still vs his continued pursuit of a team in the FV.  I think it's pretty clear that his heart is still on a FV team and that Victoria is happening just because the league needs a team in BC/to get to 8 teams.  And that's not an attitude you necessarily want from one of your first teams.

I think if he wants to be involved with Victoria and Metro Vancouver more power to him, BC gets 2 clubs in the end and there's others involved in the Victoria group as well, not just him. Doesn't necessarily have to be a negative with him being involved in both. Like Rob's said, he's put in 1.5 years of prep and if Surrey takes longer to get done because of red tape and such then keep on it till its done while helping to launch Victoria - this doesn't have to be a one or the other.

[Unnamed Trialist]

On 6/26/2018 at 4:12 AM, Watchmen said:

Also Unamed Trialist, from the Victoria thread:

""...we cannot and will not support a bid imposed on us by outsiders..."

I think this sort of language is ridiculous, guys, get a grip.

Who the hell are you calling outsiders? Do you all have your Victoria passports ready? 

I mean, Victoria is already one of the whitest most WASP cities in Canada, and they are using this sort of xenophobic terminology?"

 

Maybe it's just me, but I find the double standard of language use here amusing. ?

 

Oh, wow, Watchmen, you caught me out!!☹️

And to do that you've been stalking me. What dedication.

The language is deliberate, of course, sorry to say. That was obvious to most people on this board.

You did not catch me being racist after getting after the Lake Side Buoys, all you did was show you have a lowish reading comprehension level by pulling that out like Little Jack Horner.

 

[SpursFlu]

As much as I wanted the team in my backyard of the Fraser Valley. I find it strange that Friend worked with Surrey for over a year and it was squashed over a lease agreement and some other vague reasons but Victoria within a few weeks were able to arrange moving a huge hydro pole costing in the millions and than put together all the other details one must assume were too complicated to arrange with Surrey.

 

At the end of the day you either want to do something or you don't. I can't see Friend going back to Surrey. They obviously for whatever reason didnt want to do business with him. I see him going to the Abbotsford area next

[ted]

12 hours ago, SpursFlu said:

... but Victoria within a few weeks were able to arrange moving a huge hydro pole costing in the millions and than put together all the other details one must assume were too complicated to arrange with Surrey.

 

To be fair, the Mayor of Langford (where the stadium is located) is a pro-development zealot who never met a project he didn't like. If you want to build stuff he wants you to do it, no matter what it is.

[SpursFlu]

Yah ironically .. I guess that's why they call it Victoria's Surrey

[Unnamed Trialist]

8 hours ago, SpursFlu said:

Yah ironically .. I guess that's why they call it Victoria's Surrey

Fair enough, but they have just over 30,000 population. And Langford does not have to deal with decades of being slighted by the rest of the Greater urban area it pertains to.

The mayor is ambitious and we'd do well to have the same modest ambition in similar-sized towns. Our stadium infrastructure in Canada is very poor after the major cities, and even then.

[BradMack]

I think Mr. Stevie Hart has spilled some beans he probably was not supposed to spill to the Chronicle Herald today in Halifax.... Ottawa in for 2019 confirmed? 

[Bbeto]

http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/sports/1580886-hart-tabbed-to-guide-wanderers

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

2 hours ago, BradMack said:

I think Mr. Stevie Hart has spilled some beans he probably was not supposed to spill to the Chronicle Herald today in Halifax.... Ottawa in for 2019 confirmed? 

Looks like it. Don't think there was much doubt that would be the decision after the membership numbers started to look more than reasonable to very good in all but one of five markets, if they weren't already committed by that point. That removed any fears about it turning into a 1983 CPSL style fiasco.

http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/sports/1580886-hart-tabbed-to-guide-wanderers

...“There’s going to be a couple of teams that are already established and they just have to move things along,” Hart said. “For example, Ottawa is in a league in the United States — the USL — and they’re already up and running. They’ve had players selected and contracts running for a couple of years. Edmonton has been up and running for a number of years and so has Calgary. So those teams already have a head start but I think you will see a decent quality product on the field in our first year...

Also makes it sound like more of a Foothills thing is going on in Calgary on the technical side of things than it appears on the surface.

[johnyb]

17 hours ago, BradMack said:

I think Mr. Stevie Hart has spilled some beans he probably was not supposed to spill to the Chronicle Herald today in Halifax.... Ottawa in for 2019 confirmed? 

Rob Gale also said something similar at last nights event. Never actually mentioned them by name though.

[Rheo]

Recap of Whitecaps town hall with some CPL references http://aftn.ca/whitecaps-front-office-answer-supporters-groups-questions-and-concerns-at-town-hall-meeting/

[Cblake]

2 hours ago, Rheo said:

Recap of Whitecaps town hall with some CPL references http://aftn.ca/whitecaps-front-office-answer-supporters-groups-questions-and-concerns-at-town-hall-meeting/

Interesting about the CSA blocking the potential move of Whitecaps 2 to Calgary, Victoria etc. Really shows that want nothing to do with a MLS reserve team burning what was at the time a potential CPL market. It could be the same situation TFC faced if they wanted to move their team to a nearby city, thus still having the players in their setup on a daily basis. This decision by the CSA actually had a negative effect on playing opportunities for Canadians as there are now very few for them in Fresno as the article states.

[Yoginess]

But I guess that decision would have been made at a time when the 2018 CPL launch was still in the cards. 

[Ansem]

1 hour ago, Cblake said:

Interesting about the CSA blocking the potential move of Whitecaps 2 to Calgary, Victoria etc. Really shows that want nothing to do with a MLS reserve team burning what was at the time a potential CPL market. It could be the same situation TFC faced if they wanted to move their team to a nearby city, thus still having the players in their setup on a daily basis. This decision by the CSA actually had a negative effect on playing opportunities for Canadians as there are now very few for them in Fresno as the article states.

I find it equally interesting that after being told by the CSA they couldn't move WFC2 into obvious CPL markets, they stopped trying to find alternatives in say... non-CPL markets and just went to Fresno. From their own admission, it hasn't been great for them.

Personally, they tried to compete and CSA wouldn't let them.

Also, them seeking to send their players in needs of minutes to CPL sounds a bit off to me. After reading what Stephen Hart's trying to accomplish, it sounds like he has a plan, a vision for his team. I think accepting loans would happen if players fits his needs/vision. It just comes across through the text that there is this expectation of CPL to act as a developmental tool for them. I'm not sure that's the optics CPL is going for.

[Rheo]

Pretty sure Rollins and Laramee teased Atiba to CPL. Rollins talked about a marquee signing and Laramee asked was he onside or offside on Friday’s show

[BradMack]

Just now, Rheo said:

Pretty sure Rollins and Laramee teased Atiba to CPL. Rollins talked about a marquee signing and Laramee asked was he onside or offside on Friday’s show

Imagine if he's in the draft? 

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

5 hours ago, Cblake said:

Interesting about the CSA blocking the potential move of Whitecaps 2 to Calgary, Victoria etc. Really shows that want nothing to do with a MLS reserve team burning what was at the time a potential CPL market...

Unfortunate that people can't find a way to work together rather than being at cross-purposes. Getting to 8 stable franchises would be a lot easier that way, if the funding that is going into the three MLS academies was used to full advantage by Canadian soccer rather than being viewed as an alien intrusion.

[Complete Homer]

9 hours ago, Cblake said:

Interesting about the CSA blocking the potential move of Whitecaps 2 to Calgary, Victoria etc. Really shows that want nothing to do with a MLS reserve team burning what was at the time a potential CPL market. It could be the same situation TFC faced if they wanted to move their team to a nearby city, thus still having the players in their setup on a daily basis. This decision by the CSA actually had a negative effect on playing opportunities for Canadians as there are now very few for them in Fresno as the article states.

What would you rather have, a tentpole team in a Canadian league that not only will emphasize Canadian content, but one that will do so in a first-team environment and has ambitions higher than USL level, or a reserve team that played 6 Canadians and has really only contributed to the development of one player of note IMO

It would have been nice to have both, but by the Whitecaps own admission they needed the team to draw substantial numbers to be viable and that means being a direct competitor to a key CPL club. I know I'd rather have a secure position for a key launch club for a key part of the solution for Canadian soccer than playing time for 6 USL players, which  be immediately replaced in 2019

Plus, I'm personally not convinced that the decision to go to Calgary wasn't partially motivated by an attempt to preempt the cpl club, as they see Alberta as part of their extended catchment. They can pull the kumbaya card in a fan town hall, but they were the ones putting the message into the media that CPL won't be major league, which says more than what they say at a PR night with a bunch of angry fans who also support CPL 

Edited June 30, 2018 by Complete Homer

[Soccerpro]

I can't get over some people knocking Stephan Hart as a manager, let alone Halifax being fortunate enough to get him.

 

[longlugan]

7 hours ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

Unfortunate that people can't find a way to work together rather than being at cross-purposes. Getting to 8 stable franchises would be a lot easier that way, if the funding that is going into the three MLS academies was used to full advantage by Canadian soccer rather than being viewed as an alien intrusion.

You're so ridiculous....consistent but ridiculous

[Cblake]

3 hours ago, Complete Homer said:

What would you rather have, a tentpole team in a Canadian league that not only will emphasize Canadian content, but one that will do so in a first-team environment and has ambitions higher than USL level, or a reserve team that played 6 Canadians and has really only contributed to the development of one player of note IMO

It would have been nice to have both, but by the Whitecaps own admission they needed the team to draw substantial numbers to be viable and that means being a direct competitor to a key CPL club. I know I'd rather have a secure position for a key launch club for a key part of the solution for Canadian soccer than playing time for 6 USL players, which  be immediately replaced in 2019

Plus, I'm personally not convinced that the decision to go to Calgary wasn't partially motivated by an attempt to preempt the cpl club, as they see Alberta as part of their extended catchment. They can pull the kumbaya card in a fan town hall, but they were the ones putting the message into the media that CPL won't be major league, which says more than what they say at a PR night with a bunch of angry fans who also support CPL 

Honestly the CPL is going to be a USL level league when you consider the economics that is being discussed salary wise. Just looking at the size of the stadiums in most cases this league knows at what level they are starting at. I kind of wonder, are the CPL teams going to compare to say the Welsh League vs the teams that play in the English system.

The CSA did take away Canadian playing opportunities when the approved Americans being counted as domestics on Canadian MLS teams do there is come contradicts here.