CPL General

[masster]

Nice season preview from One Soccer:

 

[Unnamed Trialist]

Prediction time: I suspect the usual suspects will be the competitive teams once again in CPL. This is odd, really, because you'd love to see a team rear their head and dethrone the teams near the top. But I am not sure it will happen. 

So prediction time: all 4 teams that made the playoffs last year will repeat this year. 

[sebdeserio]

A full season of Mo Babouli should be enough to bring York to the playoffs.

[Aird25]

13 hours ago, masster said:

Nice season preview from One Soccer:

 

As far as I know, I don't think they're right about the powerlines at Starlight. They've been moved, so I don't know why the camera angle can't be improved now

[Unnamed Trialist]

4 minutes ago, Aird25 said:

As far as I know, I don't think they're right about the powerlines at Starlight. They've been moved, so I don't know why the camera angle can't be improved now

Maybe Andi is confused about the stand on that side being ready. 

Point is, shooting from that side has other problems, namely often pointing into the sun. The angle was low, and the glare was often terrible. 

Ideally they should set up a camera on a crane or platform above the main stand, the lighting would be better. And with the new stand they would not have that "problem" of not seeing fans along that side in the game broadcast. IIRC, when they did women's rugby 7s, they set up the cameras on the side of the main stand and you looked at the hydro pole, they didn't care about not seeing a stand full of fans there. But the broadcast quality was superior.

[Watchmen]

45 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

So prediction time: all 4 teams that made the playoffs last year will repeat this year. 

Who's your 5th team?

[Unnamed Trialist]

1 hour ago, Watchmen said:

Who's your 5th team?

I really based myself on player continuities at Forge, At Ottawa looking good in their pre-season in Spain, so ready to go, Pacific getting the right signings, plus these extra quality touches like Manneh, then Cavalry having the continuity as well under Wheeldon and his consistent coaching results.

After these four, which teams have a statement to make? I see the Valour fans don't seem too optimistic, York has the squad on paper but is lacking the venue and fan support to help push their results, and HFX, like Valour, seems to have signed weakly. The VFC roster to me also looks a bit lacking.

So it would be York, fifth, which is me being a bit boring, I admit. 

I would love for any of the teams not in the mix to turn things around and shift the power balances, as it would be good for the league.

[EnigMattic1]

1 hour ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

I really based myself on player continuities at Forge, At Ottawa looking good in their pre-season in Spain, so ready to go, Pacific getting the right signings, plus these extra quality touches like Manneh, then Cavalry having the continuity as well under Wheeldon and his consistent coaching results.

After these four, which teams have a statement to make? I see the Valour fans don't seem too optimistic, York has the squad on paper but is lacking the venue and fan support to help push their results, and HFX, like Valour, seems to have signed weakly. The VFC roster to me also looks a bit lacking.

So it would be York, fifth, which is me being a bit boring, I admit. 

I would love for any of the teams not in the mix to turn things around and shift the power balances, as it would be good for the league.

Personally, I don't feel they have made the right signings. Don't get me wrong, they could come good, but they are still too thin defensively. Granted, there are still 2 roster slots available and the season is a few weeks away, so that could change. As much as I hate to admit it, I feel it will be harder for us to make the playoffs now than it was last season.

As far as York go, as you said, they have a decent squad on paper. I can't help but feel that, if they didn't have the injury problems that they did, they would have been closer to 4th than they were.

HFX are a team in transition. New manager with new ideas. Could be interesting to watch, especially given the L1 influence.

Vancouver are unproven. Give them a season or two and they could really push. Take a look at Ottawa. They were definitely a surprise package last season. I do, however, feel that Vancouver have a good core that they can build upon.

After all that, I think York have the best chance of reaching the playoffs.

[Kingston]

4 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

Prediction time:

Atletico and Forge will meet in the final again.

After a slow start, Halifax will make up ground and sneak into the playoffs for the first time.  Unfortunately we will have to wait longer for the spectacle of a home playoff game at the Wanderers Grounds because of the playoff format.

In the first ever D3 upset, TSS Rovers will knock Valour out of the Canadian Championship.  This will help propel Pacific along that side of the bracket through an upset of the Whitecaps to reach the final before falling to TFC.

Atletico will join Halifax in the over 5000 average attendance club.  York will continue to barely draw 1000 on a good day.

More CPL players will make moves to MLS and Europe and more CPL alumni will earn national team call ups.  The European moves will include a new record transfer fee for a CPL club.

Despite ongoing rumours, no new expansion teams will be officially announced before the end of the season.  This will not prevent some posters on this board from listing every city in Canada with a population over 100 000 and projecting a 32 team, multi-division, pro/rel CPL by 2026.  Others will predict the demise of a national level CPL by the same date.

[Unnamed Trialist]

37 minutes ago, Kingston said:

Atletico and Forge will meet in the final again.

After a slow start, Halifax will make up ground and sneak into the playoffs for the first time.  Unfortunately we will have to wait longer for the spectacle of a home playoff game at the Wanderers Grounds because of the playoff format.

In the first ever D3 upset, TSS Rovers will knock Valour out of the Canadian Championship.  This will help propel Pacific along that side of the bracket through an upset of the Whitecaps to reach the final before falling to TFC.

Atletico will join Halifax in the over 5000 average attendance club.  York will continue to barely draw 1000 on a good day.

More CPL players will make moves to MLS and Europe and more CPL alumni will earn national team call ups.  The European moves will include a new record transfer fee for a CPL club.

Despite ongoing rumours, no new expansion teams will be officially announced before the end of the season.  This will not prevent some posters on this board from listing every city in Canada with a population over 100 000 and projecting a 32 team, multi-division, pro/rel CPL by 2026.  Others will predict the demise of a national level CPL by the same date.

You get the feeling there are guys who sign up to the board for the sole purpose of doing those "I am a demographic wizard" posts. 

About TSS: I went to the L1 final last year, and that fan base is amazing, they are enthusiastic, very loyal to their club, and their merchandising is really excellent, they have all kinds of attractive shirts and the like. I think it is going to be a hell of a match, agreed, but it may be too early for TSS to pull anything off. 

Edited April 4, 2023 by Unnamed Trialist

[EnigMattic1]

48 minutes ago, Kingston said:

Atletico and Forge will meet in the final again.

After a slow start, Halifax will make up ground and sneak into the playoffs for the first time.  Unfortunately we will have to wait longer for the spectacle of a home playoff game at the Wanderers Grounds because of the playoff format.

In the first ever D3 upset, TSS Rovers will knock Valour out of the Canadian Championship.  This will help propel Pacific along that side of the bracket through an upset of the Whitecaps to reach the final before falling to TFC.

Atletico will join Halifax in the over 5000 average attendance club.  York will continue to barely draw 1000 on a good day.

More CPL players will make moves to MLS and Europe and more CPL alumni will earn national team call ups.  The European moves will include a new record transfer fee for a CPL club.

Despite ongoing rumours, no new expansion teams will be officially announced before the end of the season.  This will not prevent some posters on this board from listing every city in Canada with a population over 100 000 and projecting a 32 team, multi-division, pro/rel CPL by 2026.  Others will predict the demise of a national level CPL by the same date.

This made me laugh, purely because that is how the board is. Realistically, 16 would be an ideal size. There would be no need for a pro/rel system and I don't see any reason (other than travel costs) for an East/West split. There will always be speculation over expansion sides and, even if the CPL reaches 16 teams, the rumours won't stop. I would be very surprised if we pass 12 teams by 2026, and that is assuming Saskatoon get the stadium sorted and the Kelowna rumour is more than that. Even then, that is only 11 teams including Windsor.

[Unnamed Trialist]

25 minutes ago, EnigMattic1 said:

This made me laugh, purely because that is how the board is. Realistically, 16 would be an ideal size. There would be no need for a pro/rel system and I don't see any reason (other than travel costs) for an East/West split. There will always be speculation over expansion sides and, even if the CPL reaches 16 teams, the rumours won't stop. I would be very surprised if we pass 12 teams by 2026, and that is assuming Saskatoon get the stadium sorted and the Kelowna rumour is more than that. Even then, that is only 11 teams including Windsor.

Ok, it is obvious you are itching to lay it all out, city by city using the most recent Canada census stats. Go for it 😷!

[Kingston]

20 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

About TSS: I went to the L1 final last year, and that fan base is amazing, they are enthusiastic, very loyal to their club, and their merchandising is really excellent, they have all kinds of attractive shirts and the like. I think it is going to be a hell of a match, agreed, but it may be too early for TSS to pull anything off. 

You're probably right (unless my prediction comes true, in which case I totally saw it coming).  But there isn't much fun in vague predictions so, considering the zero cost of being wrong, why not be bold?

[Kingston]

Just now, Unnamed Trialist said:

Ok, it is obvious you are itching to lay it all out, city by city using the most recent Canada census stats. Go for it 😷!

Just to help out:  https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1710013501

[Unnamed Trialist]

16 minutes ago, Kingston said:

Just to help out:  https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1710013501

Kingston looks to be a few thousand short to sustain a team.....😁

[EnigMattic1]

58 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

Ok, it is obvious you are itching to lay it all out, city by city using the most recent Canada census stats. Go for it 😷!

Mate, I have no idea. All I know is the rumoured Saskatoon, Windsor and Kelowna teams 🤣

[Kingston]

14 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

Kingston looks to be a few thousand short to sustain a team.....😁

No way!  We're going to have a CPL team down town, a CPL2 team in the west end, and each of them will have academy teams in L1O!  The rivalry games will be huge!  And we'll have our own bracket in the V-Cup!

[Ansem]

 

 

TELUS’ iconic brand will also be featured on the front of fellow West Coast organization Pacific FC’s 2023 primary and alternate jerseys

 

Edited April 5, 2023 by Ansem

[Copes]

19 hours ago, EnigMattic1 said:

Personally, I don't feel they have made the right signings. Don't get me wrong, they could come good, but they are still too thin defensively. Granted, there are still 2 roster slots available and the season is a few weeks away, so that could change. As much as I hate to admit it, I feel it will be harder for us to make the playoffs now than it was last season.

As far as York go, as you said, they have a decent squad on paper. I can't help but feel that, if they didn't have the injury problems that they did, they would have been closer to 4th than they were.

HFX are a team in transition. New manager with new ideas. Could be interesting to watch, especially given the L1 influence.

Vancouver are unproven. Give them a season or two and they could really push. Take a look at Ottawa. They were definitely a surprise package last season. I do, however, feel that Vancouver have a good core that they can build upon.

After all that, I think York have the best chance of reaching the playoffs.

Hopping on the prediction bandwagon here. 

Personally, I'm expecting Cavalry to drop out of the playoff picture. Pacific I'm also not too sure about how comparable they'll be to last year. 

Teams I'm looking at challenging for a playoff spot that didn't snag one last year are also HFX and York. However I'm a bit hotter on them than other posters here. I actually think Halifax made some really strong signings - namely James at LB, Callegari in the mid, and Fillon in net. Goalscoring is the question mark but if it clicks I think we'll make the post-season. And Gheisar has a history of making scoring click. So I'm really optimistic about the Wanderers. I'm also a homer.

To stray from the norm I'll propose the following: 

1) Forge

2) Ottawa

3) York

4) Halifax

5) Pacific

6) Cavalry

7) Valor

😎 Vancouver

Let's mix it up!

[Aird25]

I feel like most people doubting Pacific think losing Bustos was somehow good for the team, when in reality he wasn’t the same player we signed as the top paid player in the league 

Edited April 6, 2023 by Aird25

[K Edgar]

1 hour ago, Copes said:

Hopping on the prediction bandwagon here. 

Personally, I'm expecting Cavalry to drop out of the playoff picture. Pacific I'm also not too sure about how comparable they'll be to last year. 

Teams I'm looking at challenging for a playoff spot that didn't snag one last year are also HFX and York. However I'm a bit hotter on them than other posters here. I actually think Halifax made some really strong signings - namely James at LB, Callegari in the mid, and Fillon in net. Goalscoring is the question mark but if it clicks I think we'll make the post-season. And Gheisar has a history of making scoring click. So I'm really optimistic about the Wanderers. I'm also a homer.

To stray from the norm I'll propose the following: 

1) Forge

2) Ottawa

3) York

4) Halifax

5) Pacific

6) Cavalry

7) Valor

😎 Vancouver

Let's mix it up!

Should 2023 season predictions have it own thread?

[Unnamed Trialist]

46 minutes ago, Aird25 said:

I feel like most people doubting Pacific think losing Bustos was somehow negative, when in reality he wasn’t the same player we signed as the top paid player in the league 

And he went through a long injury which possibly hurt Pacific, but then the team found ways to work without him. The real loss was Wero.

[Aird25]

6 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

And he went through a long injury which possibly hurt Pacific, but then the team found ways to work without him. The real loss was Wero.

Absolutely. Just look at the team's form

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

 

 

[shorty]

One of the signs of progress (IMO) is that there are now 8 distinct jersey sponsors for 8 teams, and we're down to only one with either the broadcaster of the league or the jersey manufacturer itself as a sponsor.

Edited April 6, 2023 by shorty