HFX Wanderers Season Thread 2019

[Unnamed Trialist]

On 8/14/2019 at 1:46 PM, deschamp86 said:

I think that TSS Rovers, Highlanders, Foothills, WSA Winnipeg and Thunder Bay should be allowed in.

However, if a BC Div 3 were to come along, and TSS Rovers/Highlanders did not want to join, I would cut them from the Cup at that point. I think it is very important to create a proper pyramid in the country and I don't believe that having multiple different leagues playing at similar levels helps

The only possible problem for those PDL (USL2) teams is that their season does not get going until the second week of May. They can't get university players before late April, or only with difficulty. 

Now since they would likely be playing off against each other, that would even things out, but still, it does make it harder for them to be in earlier round.

Just the same, I would love to see it. 

Edited August 15, 2019 by Unnamed Trialist

[red card]

Some "stunning" tidbits on how well HFX is doing while the CFL group is fumbling according to this CBC article.

A sports economist says the backers of a proposed CFL franchise in Halifax should take a page out of the playbook of the HFX Wanderers FC to get more public support.

"That team has almost immediately built itself into the fabric of the city," said Moshe Lander, who spends part of the year teaching at Dalhousie University in Halifax.

After spending May and June in Halifax, he said he was "stunned" by the number of people he'd see out in the Spring Garden Road area every night wearing Wanderers jerseys and scarves.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/atlantic-schooners-cfl-franchise-halifax-hfx-wanderers-fc-1.5262867

Edited September 3, 2019 by red card

[dyslexic nam]

For anyone curious in other parts of Canada, it sounds like the Wanderers Grounds weathered the Hurricane Dorian without any damage. Halifax was hit pretty hard but a few folks drove by the grounds and said it looked fine. 

[Ansem]

Well, looks like CPL will be the only game in town in the summer for the foreseeable future

 

 

 

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

They will have been mainly trying to get the federal parties to pledge lavish funding as part of their election campaigns. If neither Justin Trudeau or the Tory dude go for it as seems to be the case then it's dead in the water. 

[BuzzAndSting]

4 hours ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

They will have been mainly trying to get the federal parties to pledge lavish funding as part of their election campaigns. If neither Justin Trudeau or the Tory dude go for it as seems to be the case then it's dead in the water. 

This is not the case. SSE has proposed a few different funding models but the preferred one by ownership is a tax incremental funding model where by SSE receives a portion of the provincial taxes paid on the developments surrounding the stadium. It’s the same model that was used in Ottawa for TD Place and in Edmonton for Rogers Place.

[grasshopper1917]

Politics aside. I have been telling people IF you are going to build a stadium atleast build a nice one. Even the artist rendition on this one looks terrible.

[narduch]

13 minutes ago, grasshopper1917 said:

Politics aside. I have been telling people IF you are going to build a stadium atleast build a nice one. Even the artist rendition on this one looks terrible.

I'm kinda surprised a stadium that bare bones costs that much

[Ansem]

 

[Macksam]

 

On 9/29/2019 at 9:59 AM, grasshopper1917 said:

Politics aside. I have been telling people IF you are going to build a stadium atleast build a nice one. Even the artist rendition on this one looks terrible.

The original rendering looked nice, looked like a soccer stadium. I think it was modeled after San Jose's recently built stadium. They probably needed to reduce the costs dramatically so they now want to go with what you see there. 

[grasshopper1917]

15 hours ago, Macksam said:

 

The original rendering looked nice, looked like a soccer stadium. I think it was modeled after San Jose's recently built stadium. They probably needed to reduce the costs dramatically so they now want to go with what you see there. 

Yea that is exactly what happened there is a lot of political pressure in Halifax against public funds for the stadium.The way it feels right now is it will be very tough to get the funding for the Stadium approved at a municipal level. The provincial government has already said no money is coming out of general revenue for the facility. Although they havent completely ruled out a rent a car tax with the proceeds going to pay down the stadium.

In general there seems to be heavy cynicism regarding the CFL  in Atlantic Canada. Especially after they had to cut ticket prices severely to fill up the game in Moncton ($29 taxes in got you a ticket a hot dog and a drink).

[HfxCeltic]

 

[Rocket Robin]

October 19, 2019  CPL York 9 FC vs HFX Wanderers played at York Lions Stadium. 

All the audio from the post game press conference with HFX Stephen Hart, Christian Oxner, and Juan Diego Gutierrez then York 9 FC with Jimmy Brennan, Luca Gaspartotto, and Ryan Telfer  

http://www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com/reports19/19york169.htm  

Besides their thoughts on this game, there were also questions about how they saw the season as a whole.  

[BradMack]

So the season is over. It was a great first season in the stands, with some good games to watch at home but ultimately a rough season on the pitch. What are we thinking going into the offseason? Here is my keep/release list 

Keep

Forwards : Akeem Garcia, Tomasz Skublak, Mohamed Kourouma

Mid: Elliott Simmons, Kodai Iida, Elton John, Scott Firth, Andre Rampersad 

Defenders: Zoom Langwa, Chris N'sa, Andre Bona, Chac Hocine, Matthew Arnone

Keeper: Christian Oxner

Release

Forwards: Luis Alberto Perea, Vincent Lamy, Yousef  

Mid: Juan Diego Gutierrez, Kouame Ouattara

Def: Duran Lee, Zach Sukunda, Alez De Carolis

Keeper: Jan-Michael Williams. 

 

I like a lot of the guys im saying we should release but the reality is that we finished in the basement and we need upgrades. From the forwards I'd keep I'd say only Garcia should be starting. Skublak and Kourouma are great depth options though. Perea just didn't preform. Even when healthy, he only scored 3 goals in 15 apps. Lamy and Yousef did not contribute. 

Simmons paired with John or Rampersad in the midfield was a good block, but without Simmons we were poor. Im still fine with keeping those three as I think they have more to give if everyone can stay healthy. We do however, need a proper #10. I like Iida better as a winger and could see a front 3 of Iida - New 9 - Garcia with a #10 behind them being very productive as Iida can create on his own and Garcia plays well running into space between defenders. Guti just didn't have the impact we needed him to have and was more of a slow, cut in on his strong foot winger. Obviously keeping Scott Firth for development. 

Defence was actually not too bad especially finishing off the year and at home.. But we still gave up too many goals considering we couldn't score. I'd love to get Schalle back but to be honest I'm not sure how that works. If we can't get him back we need a new starting CB. We also need new back up full backs because Sukunda and De Carolis were just not good enough. I really like Zoom Langwa and thought he was dominant early in the season. N'sa also had his moments. Bona was probably our best player or at least most consistent player. Hocine needs a healthy year. 

At keeper, I remember at least two games Williams cost us by giving up absolutely awful goals. deffinitely had more shockers than great saves this year. He might be past his prime. Thankfully Oxner looked good in nets at this level and its nice to have a local kid earn his starting position. Wouldn't mind having Oxner as the starter going into next year and another local as backup, assuming Williams is on a big salary we can use the money elsewhere. 

[Big_M]

langwa was really weak at the back..hart realized that after a while and went with the de carolis who was much better

[HfxCeltic]

Gives me Goosebumps. That first home match with Forge is unforgettable.

[FC_Hali]

On 10/23/2019 at 4:17 PM, BradMack said:

So the season is over. It was a great first season in the stands, with some good games to watch at home but ultimately a rough season on the pitch. What are we thinking going into the offseason? Here is my keep/release list 

Keep

Forwards : Akeem Garcia, Tomasz Skublak, Mohamed Kourouma

Mid: Elliott Simmons, Kodai Iida, Elton John, Scott Firth, Andre Rampersad 

Defenders: Zoom Langwa, Chris N'sa, Andre Bona, Chac Hocine, Matthew Arnone

Keeper: Christian Oxner

Release

Forwards: Luis Alberto Perea, Vincent Lamy, Yousef  

Mid: Juan Diego Gutierrez, Kouame Ouattara

Def: Duran Lee, Zach Sukunda, Alez De Carolis

Keeper: Jan-Michael Williams. 

 

I like a lot of the guys im saying we should release but the reality is that we finished in the basement and we need upgrades. From the forwards I'd keep I'd say only Garcia should be starting. Skublak and Kourouma are great depth options though. Perea just didn't preform. Even when healthy, he only scored 3 goals in 15 apps. Lamy and Yousef did not contribute. 

Simmons paired with John or Rampersad in the midfield was a good block, but without Simmons we were poor. Im still fine with keeping those three as I think they have more to give if everyone can stay healthy. We do however, need a proper #10. I like Iida better as a winger and could see a front 3 of Iida - New 9 - Garcia with a #10 behind them being very productive as Iida can create on his own and Garcia plays well running into space between defenders. Guti just didn't have the impact we needed him to have and was more of a slow, cut in on his strong foot winger. Obviously keeping Scott Firth for development. 

Defence was actually not too bad especially finishing off the year and at home.. But we still gave up too many goals considering we couldn't score. I'd love to get Schalle back but to be honest I'm not sure how that works. If we can't get him back we need a new starting CB. We also need new back up full backs because Sukunda and De Carolis were just not good enough. I really like Zoom Langwa and thought he was dominant early in the season. N'sa also had his moments. Bona was probably our best player or at least most consistent player. Hocine needs a healthy year. 

At keeper, I remember at least two games Williams cost us by giving up absolutely awful goals. deffinitely had more shockers than great saves this year. He might be past his prime. Thankfully Oxner looked good in nets at this level and its nice to have a local kid earn his starting position. Wouldn't mind having Oxner as the starter going into next year and another local as backup, assuming Williams is on a big salary we can use the money elsewhere. 

Agree with most of this ^^^. Would like to see a core of 12-15 returning players to ensure cohesion. KEEP: Oxner, N’Sa, Arnone, Lee, Hocine, Bona, De Carolis, Sukunda, Rampersad, Iida, Kourrouma, Garcia, Skublak. I suppose keep Firth as well. I would add in Langwa but I heard he was a bit of a cancer in the locker room. Even had a physical altercation with Steve Hart. I’m okay with De Carolis being the #1 left back. Definitely need some quality additions going into year 2. Agreed defensively we were relatively solid. Biggest needs are a goal scoring 9, wingers, CM, and a GK to compete with Oxner. 

[Zem]

Doesn't look like the Wanderers hype train is stopping anytime soon

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

 

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

https://northerntribune.ca/halifax-wanderers-2020-season-update/

[Ansem]

 

[Ansem]

 

[Shortdutchcanuck]

Skublak gone too.

HFX trying to level the playing field by cutting 2 promising young Canadians.  Seems odd but tough to analyze when we know nothing about budget and contracts.

[grasshopper1917]

2 hours ago, Lofty said:

In one of those 1S "unscripted" interviews, Clanachan said that the Salary Cap would not be increased for at least the next couple of years.

There seem to be quite a few signals that CPL finances are not rosy.

Would be interesting to see where their projections were off because surely the overall attendance, and revenue therefrom, must have been close to what was expected.

It may be a start up league being a little ambitious and exercising a dose of caution. However if I had to guess I would says likely corporate sponsorship is not what they hoped. They have virtually no media presence outside their CBC games and the odd local radio station that reports the scores.

Speaking of radio it is baffling why they don't have their games broadcast on local radio. Even out JR. hockey team broadcasts their games on one of the local radio stations. Seems like it would be a cheap and easy way to keep casual fans tuned in and promote the team. 

[dyslexic nam]

3 minutes ago, grasshopper1917 said:

It may be a start up league being a little ambitious and exercising a dose of caution. However if I had to guess I would says likely corporate sponsorship is not what they hoped. They have virtually no media presence outside their CBC games and the odd local radio station that reports the scores.

Speaking of radio it is baffling why they don't have their games broadcast on local radio. Even out JR. hockey team broadcasts their games on one of the local radio stations. Seems like it would be a cheap and easy way to keep casual fans tuned in and promote the team. 

 

I think radio sports broadcasts may work in hockey-mad Canada for a certain demographic, but I highly doubt CPL would attract any meaningful support via this method.