CPL General

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

The second sentence of the highlighted text is not likely to be good news for CSB:

 

Edited May 31, 2023 by Ozzie_the_parrot

[Aird25]

What are the odds players like Young and de Brienne are sold mid-season. Pacific got burned last year by losing Dias

[jonovision]

2 hours ago, Aird25 said:

What are the odds players like Young and de Brienne are sold mid-season. Pacific got burned last year by losing Dias

Ditto Valour with losing Akio. I don't know about Young but I'd be surprised if De Brienne moves on in the summer. I don't think he'd leave in summer for an MLS Next Pro deal and I can't see him getting anything better at this point.

[Ansem]

5 hours ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

The second sentence of the highlighted text is not likely to be good news for CSB:

 

They can't void the current contract, just means that they won't be able to negotiated a similar deal without the Feds scrutiny and full transparency after the current deal ends in ~2038 if CSB renew it on their end

[K Edgar]

[rkomar]

Anybody else finding the games a bit less entertaining this year?  The systems are getting better, the players are getting better and fitter, and chances are weaker and harder to come by than before.  I think the extra substitutions have changed soccer dramatically all over the world, since they were instituted.  You just don't see teams grind down the other side and reap the rewards at the end as much anymore.

[Aird25]

8 minutes ago, rkomar said:

Anybody else finding the games a bit less entertaining this year?  The systems are getting better, the players are getting better and fitter, and chances are weaker and harder to come by than before.  I think the extra substitutions have changed soccer dramatically all over the world, since they were instituted.  You just don't see teams grind down the other side and reap the rewards at the end as much anymore.

As a Pacific fan I’ve found most teams are now playing pretty defensively against us, which has resulted in some frustrating games. When teams do go toe to toe with us this year, it’s generally been very entertaining though

[Unnamed Trialist]

17 hours ago, rkomar said:

Anybody else finding the games a bit less entertaining this year?  The systems are getting better, the players are getting better and fitter, and chances are weaker and harder to come by than before.  I think the extra substitutions have changed soccer dramatically all over the world, since they were instituted.  You just don't see teams grind down the other side and reap the rewards at the end as much anymore.

I think we have to appreciate the season starts when European leagues and Cups are coming down to the wire. So you are watching top level clubs at a critical point in the season, then you contrast with CPL. And MLS too, though less so. 

I find I can engage with CPL, and enjoy it more, when there is less football on the agenda, and I am not watching a Europa League final the same week as a CPL match. I even do this with lower division I often go to, I go over the winter, but the only lower division I see at this time of year are promotion playoffs because they have that extra emotion. 

But stepping back a bit: CPL lacks a bit of narrative. One Soccer do their best, the clubs could do a bit more, and maybe having some stars or local boys really connected to the community would help. But the narrative is a bit thin, as I think it is in MLS, MLS is rather flat, the storylines are weak, and the rivalries, even the supposedly intense ones, are a bit soft. CPL is the same.

[Kingston]

1 hour ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

But stepping back a bit: CPL lacks a bit of narrative. One Soccer do their best, the clubs could do a bit more, and maybe having some stars or local boys really connected to the community would help. But the narrative is a bit thin, as I think it is in MLS, MLS is rather flat, the storylines are weak, and the rivalries, even the supposedly intense ones, are a bit soft. CPL is the same.

It's always interesting to hear other people's take on how they view and appreciate soccer.  For me, I could care less about any sort of story line or narrative - I just want to see my team win.

[Ansem]

19 hours ago, Aird25 said:

As a Pacific fan I’ve found most teams are now playing pretty defensively against us, which has resulted in some frustrating games. When teams do go toe to toe with us this year, it’s generally been very entertaining though

That's a good thing though. Great clubs can break down most defensive blocks with technique/creativity while being clinical whenever they get the chance and that's what Pacific with he coaching staff needs to learn to do consistently. This will be helpful in future Canadian championship and CCL.

 

[Big_M]

yikes...lights went out at york lions in a next pro game and they ended up abandoning it...big question is what do you do with this franchise in 2024

 

[Aird25]

20 hours ago, Big_M said:

yikes...lights went out at york lions in a next pro game and they ended up abandoning it...big question is what do you do with this franchise in 2024

 

Deleted

Edited June 6, 2023 by Aird25

[Stoppage Time]

In terms of star power in the CPL, which players might be considered to be stars - top end talent, somebody recognizable? To be honest, I do not know who might be seen as a star even though there will be some players who are far better than others.

[Kingston]

11 hours ago, Stoppage Time said:

In terms of star power in the CPL, which players might be considered to be stars - top end talent, somebody recognizable? 

No one.  At best there are a couple of names who are recognizable to more hard core fans because they used to be prospects for, for example, one of our MLS teams.  But that's recognition more in the line of "so that's what happened to him" than "I want to watch the CPL because he's there".

[RS]

18 hours ago, Big_M said:

yikes...lights went out at york lions in a next pro game and they ended up abandoning it...big question is what do you do with this franchise in 2024

 

Sorry if I'm being obtuse, but what does the lights going out at York Lions Stadium during a TFC2 game have to do with the CPL franchise?

[Cicero]

1 hour ago, Kingston said:

No one.  At best there are a couple of names who are recognizable to more hard core fans because they used to be prospects for, for example, one of our MLS teams.  But that's recognition more in the line of "so that's what happened to him" than "I want to watch the CPL because he's there".

Stars are almost always scorers and we still have not had a consistent scoring star. Diaz was having a breakout year, but then he was gone. Morelli had a good season...then he was done in by injury. Generally, any time someone has  good scoring run, they've moved on. Though Borges came back and became more of a facilitator than scorer. Same with Campbell at Forge, but he is still the all-time goals leader at 31. That's pretty low for 4.5 seasons. I would say Borges was an exciting player to watch in season 1, maybe not very efficient, but exciting. Now he plays his role in Bobby's system and is much less exciting.

[jonovision]

42 minutes ago, Cicero said:

Stars are almost always scorers and we still have not had a consistent scoring star. Diaz was having a breakout year, but then he was gone. Morelli had a good season...then he was done in by injury. Generally, any time someone has  good scoring run, they've moved on. Though Borges came back and became more of a facilitator than scorer. Same with Campbell at Forge, but he is still the all-time goals leader at 31. That's pretty low for 4.5 seasons. I would say Borges was an exciting player to watch in season 1, maybe not very efficient, but exciting. Now he plays his role in Bobby's system and is much less exciting.

Considering we're less than a third through season 5, and season 2 was only 10 games, it's more like 3.5 seasons. But I agree with the larger point.

[Kingston]

1 hour ago, Cicero said:

Stars are almost always scorers and we still have not had a consistent scoring star. 

That aside, Stoppage Time's original question was about name brand, recognizable stars.  A barn burning scorer will get some fame among CPL fans but its unlikely that a league with salaries well under $100 k is going to have any ticket-selling names on its player list.

Edited June 6, 2023 by Kingston

[Aird25]

43 minutes ago, jonovision said:

Considering we're less than a third through season 5, and season 2 was only 10 games, it's more like 3.5 seasons. But I agree with the larger point.

I think Campbell is the only one in the top 10 in scoring that’s been in the league the whole time too. 

It’s an interesting question though, because I don’t know that we’ve really had a player dominate with any consistency. Maybe a Bekker or Zator but it’s Ayman Sellouf right now who I find most interesting

Aird or Diaz might have the most global recognition just because they played for big clubs 

[K Edgar]

3 hours ago, Kingston said:

No one.  At best there are a couple of names who are recognizable to more hard core fans because they used to be prospects for, for example, one of our MLS teams.  But that's recognition more in the line of "so that's what happened to him" than "I want to watch the CPL because he's there".

Kekuta Manneh (Pacific), having played several seasons with the Whitecaps, is a recognizable name in BC.

De Rosario (York) is a recognized name due to his father.

A few former CMNT players (mainly with Forge) have some recognition value.

But as you say these are mainly in the "so that's what happened to him" category to most fans.

[SoccMan]

56 minutes ago, K Edgar said:

Kekuta Manneh (Pacific), having played several seasons with the Whitecaps, is a recognizable name in BC.

De Rosario (York) is a recognized name due to his father.

A few former CMNT players (mainly with Forge) have some recognition value.

But as you say these are mainly in the "so that's what happened to him" category to most fans.

Has Manneh been playing with Pacific and if yes how has he been doing ?

[jonovision]

He has 172 minutes over 6 appearances (4 league, 2 cup) including 1 start. I couldn't tell you how he's been doing, but he has one goal in this past weekend's match.

[Cicero]

3 hours ago, Kingston said:

That aside, Stoppage Time's original question was about name brand, recognizable stars.  A barn burning scorer will get some fame among CPL fans but its unlikely that a league with salaries well under $100 k is going to have any ticket-selling names on its player list.

I think the only way that happens is if some team discovers a phenom that is clearly special. But what is the likelihood they wouldn't be discovered by one of the MLS teams and how long would they stick around? It's probably a two season scenario at most.

[Watchmen]

3 minutes ago, Cicero said:

I think the only way that happens is if some team discovers a phenom that is clearly special. But what is the likelihood they wouldn't be discovered by one of the MLS teams and how long would they stick around? It's probably a two season scenario at most.

Think Tahid is the test case here.

[Kingston]

13 minutes ago, Cicero said:

I think the only way that happens is if some team discovers a phenom that is clearly special. But what is the likelihood they wouldn't be discovered by one of the MLS teams and how long would they stick around? It's probably a two season scenario at most.

Yes, and even then he wouldn't likely achieve fame outside of CPL circles before leaving the CPL.

For the foreseeable future, I don't see the CPL having any one player who is going to sell out stadiums on his own the way, say, Beckham did when he came to MLS.  Someone that a non-CPL soccer fan would say, "Wow, he's in town?  I'm definitely going pick up tickets."  Those guys are relatively rare to begin with and are way above the CPL pay level.