Pacific FC - 2019 Season Thread

[ted]

General talk about the 2019 season for PFC.

Note: each game will get a separate thread. 

[youllneverwalkalone]

It will be interesting to see if CPL can escape MLS' inability to get into the global transfer market. I've heard a few execs, Shillington included, mention transfer fees as a revenue source. Not to get too far ahead of ourselves, but seeing Verhoeven and Baldisomo last night made me think these kids are heading for better things. It would be nice if they could land in D1 Denmark for example, and for a fee.

Also noticed Zach Verhoven added to the squad very quietly and was on the bench last night.

[shamrock]

1 hour ago, youllneverwalkalone said:

It will be interesting to see if CPL can escape MLS' inability to get into the global transfer market. I've heard a few execs, Shillington included, mention transfer fees as a revenue source. Not to get too far ahead of ourselves, but seeing Verhoeven and Baldisomo last night made me think these kids are heading for better things. It would be nice if they could land in D1 Denmark for example, and for a fee.

Also noticed Zach Verhoven added to the squad very quietly and was on the bench last night.

Problem is most leagues don't pay. Especially not on this level. But of course, if you find a diamant in the rough, that can be very lucrative. 

[youllneverwalkalone]

Denmark does pay small, say less than 500,000 Euro fees, all the time. Much of Belgium and Holland as well. CPL needs to find a way to connect with these clubs. MLS has ignored this revenue stream thinking it far better to try to keep a $500k player. Who ultimately leaves on a free anyway.

[ktf]

Having now watched the game (Onesoccer is great! Camera angle a little too low) I will give some thoughts on individual players...

Village- Seemed confident and was brave on a few takes. Was not really tested, but got some help on a few scrambles. 

Backline- This starting backline could be quite good. Chung has a chance to be one of the best players in the league and someone who does move on. Staro was a MotM contender. Red card aside I think that Macnaughton was pretty solid (better then expected). Smith was decent, although I think he may have conceded a few corners too easily. 

Baldisimo, Verhoeven were both quite relentless in ther midfield. Both, especially if they remain focused defensively, could really be quality players.Excellent

Blasco had moments, but as the CC said (she was enjoyable to listen to) he ultimately was relatively limited in generating much, and hopefully will show more in the future. 

Fisk- Clearly an established pro. He showed the quality to his movement, passing, etc. in flashes, and hopefully will just grow more comfortable as they gel.

Campbell was useful, but he definitely struggled to really link up.

Haber... well he was kind of what I expected/remember. He seemed to have a very high work rate, and he was tracking back defensively. He definitely made HFX nervous. However, I can definitely see that he is not going to score in buckets, as people may have expected. However, hopefully he continues to open up space. 

 

For Wednesday's game... I suspect Issey will start and possibly Blasco as well, as both played significantly less minutes. McCurdy will start and this will really test our depth. I think I understand why the roster is at 18 (not counting de jong), they have a few guys hanging around the team, and will wait and see what injuries they have before replacing them. 

[A_Gagne]

12 hours ago, youllneverwalkalone said:

It will be interesting to see if CPL can escape MLS' inability to get into the global transfer market. I've heard a few execs, Shillington included, mention transfer fees as a revenue source. Not to get too far ahead of ourselves, but seeing Verhoeven and Baldisomo last night made me think these kids are heading for better things. It would be nice if they could land in D1 Denmark for example, and for a fee.

 Also noticed Zach Verhoven added to the squad very quietly and was on the bench last night.

 

11 hours ago, shamrock said:

Problem is most leagues don't pay. Especially not on this level. But of course, if you find a diamant in the rough, that can be very lucrative. 

IMO MLS isolates itself from the global transfer market (i.e. neither a developing/selling league or a buying league either) because of it's salary cap and aspects related to it's single market structure.

The salary cap and limited roster spots favours the signing of low cost journeymen over young players who may earn a transfer fee in the future, but who are less likely to contribute to team success in the short term. Moreover, the fact that the league takes a healthy cut of any transfer fee is a huge disincentive for clubs to focus on transfers as a part of their business model. 

Realistically, at this point we don't know that much about the CanPL's business structure. We don't know if the league will take any cut of transfer revenues, but we do know there's a salary cap, which again may  disincentivize using roster spots for and giving game time to "project players". This latter issues however may be addressed by the stipulation that each club needs to give a certain amount of minutes to U21 players per season.

[shamrock]

15 hours ago, youllneverwalkalone said:

Denmark does pay small, say less than 500,000 Euro fees, all the time. Much of Belgium and Holland as well. CPL needs to find a way to connect with these clubs. MLS has ignored this revenue stream thinking it far better to try to keep a $500k player. Who ultimately leaves on a free anyway.

Sure there's some fees being paid in all leagues, but I bet you 90% of transfers in the Netherlands are free, and similar for Denmark and Belgium. Only the bigger clubs even have the possibility to pay off contracts and they do so with an eye on profitability. 

[Unnamed Trialist]

17 minutes ago, shamrock said:

Sure there's some fees being paid in all leagues, but I bet you 90% of transfers in the Netherlands are free, and similar for Denmark and Belgium. Only the bigger clubs even have the possibility to pay off contracts and they do so with an eye on profitability. 

In Spain both 1st and 2nd will pay transfer fees. Below that, you see little shifts, in the tens of thousands, on rare occasions. 

In 2nd, you'd be lucky to see more than a million paid, ever. There are frequently stories of a hundred thousand paid, often to S American teams as the quality is high and transfers are modest.

I know of one big transfer paid from a 2B team to another, apparently 200 grand, by a team that was pushing to promote, Extremadura, and they did go up. Meaning the value they got from his goals was worth it (they are now, stupidly, threatended with relegation again). A year later, that player, Enric Gallego, is a striker in first division Huesca--so they actually sold him this Xmas for a good fee, 3 million euros, making money off him. Gallego is in his thirties, he went from 3rd division to La Liga in 12 months. This season he has 15 goals in 2nd division and 5 in first, pretty good.

You'd have to be a very hot player in CPL to warrant interest from a club in any league in Europe, enough for them to pay a fee I mean. They have no way to calibre the level, so they'd prefer he move up to MLS and judge him there, since what is a fee for a solid young MLSer (not talking Davies)? A few hundred thousand maybe? Great play is meaningless if you cannot gauge the quality of the rivals properly. I mean, Verhoeven the other day, very sharp player, great prospect IMO. The real step for a guy like that is either MLS, working his way in, or signing into a team in Scandinavia that might pay him 80 thousand euros a year and give him a solid pro career with a chance to move up. But no one is going to pay a fee for Verhoeven, don't think.

Edited April 30, 2019 by Unnamed Trialist

[ktf]

In terms of potential fees or no fees...considering that basically every player and prospect in this league was signed for free, any fee in the future for anyone would be great. 

I will just wait and see how the season continues to go before I weigh on whether anyone will be worth any fees...

But fees that might be considered paltry compared to any major transaction in the football world, would make a big difference to any of the CPL teams right now. 

[youllneverwalkalone]

3 hours ago, shamrock said:

Sure there's some fees being paid in all leagues, but I bet you 90% of transfers in the Netherlands are free, and similar for Denmark and Belgium. Only the bigger clubs even have the possibility to pay off contracts and they do so with an eye on profitability. 

This is true, although there are probably 10 clubs between these 3 leagues that do pay for players. I'd suggest the league get to know these clubs well and/or slightly lesser clubs with history of successfully selling players. (Which would be another 10 clubs at least). Free transfers with a 50/50 sell-on fee would also be worth looking at.

[Aird25]

I don't imagine the first transfers away from the league will bring in much of a return. Not until the league garners some notoriety, but that will come if those first transfers perform well at their new clubs. There's always the option of including a sell on fee or performance bonuses though, even if there's no guaranteed fee. The transfer market is a game in itself

Edited April 30, 2019 by Aird25

[MM3/MM2/MM]

The only transfer i recall from the old CSL was John Limniatis from Ottawa to Greece for $40,000.00.

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

Think there was a transfer involved with Paul Peschisolido's move to Birmingham City

[youllneverwalkalone]

And Bunbury to West Ham, one would think unless the league had folded by then.

[ted]

Of course transfer fees are a viable revenue stream.  We don't have to talk crazy Phonzie money, but $50-100,000 for a transfer is also about the amount of gross ticket sales for a game @ Westhills. Not gonna make the club rich but it will help when we are buying players. 

[masster]

All you have to do is look at the case of Marcus Haber as a prime example of what the CPL can do for young Canadian players. Marcus was part of a youth team in the Netherlands, didn't make the jump there so came back home. Signed with the Whitecaps, who at that time were a Div 2 team. Played well, won Rookie of the Year in USL, and was sold to West Brom. 

A young Canadian player signed on a free, gets a chance, performs well, sold for a profit.

This may be the exception, not the rule, but we can't discount it as a possibility.

Another thing to consider is the use of trials and training stints. Given the relatively short length of the CPL season, there will be lots of time in the winter when CPL clubs could send their young players to Europe for extra training. If these European clubs are skeptical about the level of the CPL given its lack of history, send the players over to them for a month so they can look at them first hand.

Would be a great experience for the young players. The Euro clubs will have lots of professionally produced CPL game tape on the kids that they can review. They also get to try before they buy.

[shamrock]

13 hours ago, masster said:

This may be the exception, not the rule, but we can't discount it as a possibility.

Of course it's possible. You need 1. an Academy, 2. Longterm Contracts 3. a bit of luck. 

[masster]

Although nothing was announced, here is the info on Ahmed Alghamdi who made his debut last night. 17 year old Vancouver kid who has attended a Saudi Arabian youth team camp. Has been playing in the local mens league in Vancouver. 

 

[Ansem]

 

[deschamp86]

All this time I had assumed that Noah Verhoeven and Zach Verhoven were brothers

[Ansem]

 

[masster]

Radio interview with Pacific FC owner Dean Shillington. Starts at 2:30
http://ckstam.streamon.fm/listen-pl-17030

[davey_twelve]

Anyone know if Starostzik was injured or just rested for last game? I'm hoping he starts tomorrow.

[Aird25]

23 minutes ago, davey_twelve said:

Anyone know if Starostzik was injured or just rested for last game? I'm hoping he starts tomorrow.

He's apparently injured, but I don't think any details have been released. I wish we knew how long we might have to cope without him

[ktf]

One thing that could certainly be improved with the club so far is communication on the roster. I do not see why there is a cone of secrecy. It is one thing in hockey when teams try to shield their scouting prior to the draft, but here we have had two signings announced, after the players where included on a gameday roster. That definitely should not happen.