Alistair Johnston

[Wingback6]

On 12/24/2021 at 2:09 PM, GasPed said:

Wow.  Doesn't that say that he was only in Montreal for 3 years (ages 4 to 7)?  And he can still speak French?  Impressive.  (Please correct my translation if I'm wrong - it has been a long time since my high school French days. 😀)

I was in French immersion until the fourth grade. (9-10). It def sticks at that age. In fact languages are best learned young. Sometimes I can even still speak the language, though usually only when I'm drunk, and not very well. But in truth, my French was more or less bullied out of me once I made the switch to an English language public school.

[Tyson M]

I teach French Immersion High School in Ontario. There is a wide array of abilities. A lot of students take the bare minimum amount of courses as necessary to receive their certificate and as such I would not say they are functionally bilingual, but some students do indeed learn to speak French, although perhaps not with the preferred French Canadian accent!

[BearcatSA]

I guess they must be regularly committed to three in the back as their base.  How often did Nashville use him as a CB in a four man line?  

[Bison44]

1 minute ago, BearcatSA said:

I guess they must be regularly committed to three in the back as their base.  How often did Nashville use him as a CB in a four man line?  

I didnt catch them all, but I dont think I ever saw him at CB in a 4 man line, in the Nashville highlight packages.  

[BearcatSA]

5 minutes ago, Bison44 said:

I didnt catch them all, but I dont think I ever saw him at CB in a 4 man line, in the Nashville highlight packages.  

If they go to a four man back line more, then you likely end up with either Johnson or Brault-Guillard on the bench. 

[Bison44]

Yeah its a couple of strange moves...something else must be in the works.  Its the same with picking up Fraser, hard to see where he fits in.  I liked it better when these guys were scattered through the league and not taking minutes from each other all on one team.  

[VinceA]

58 minutes ago, Bison44 said:

I didnt catch them all, but I dont think I ever saw him at CB in a 4 man line, in the Nashville highlight packages.  

He did play in a back 3 a few times but more often than not he was a RWB but a few time he'd switch with the RCB depending on where they were.

[MauditYvon]

https://www.lapresse.ca/sports/soccer/2021-12-30/cf-montreal/alistair-johnston-ou-l-art-de-faire-une-bonne-premiere-impression.php

[red card]

6 hours ago, MauditYvon said:

https://www.lapresse.ca/sports/soccer/2021-12-30/cf-montreal/alistair-johnston-ou-l-art-de-faire-une-bonne-premiere-impression.php

Another player missed by TFC for backward thinking reasons:

L’Académie du Toronto FC m’a toujours ignoré parce qu’on disait que j’étais trop petit, dit-il en riant. Alors, pour être honnête, je ne suis pas le plus grand fan de Toronto. Je parie que les partisans de Montréal seront heureux d’entendre ça !

 

[The Real Marc]

Ontario’s French immersion program generally makes you fluent in one language : franglais. His is better than that.

Assuming he hasn’t used his French for a few years, respect to him for giving it a try - which most anglophone hockey players never ever do.

 

[VinceA]

I wonder with the success of Johnston, Buchanon and Miller if the Canadian teams will go after Canadians in the draft.

Although Raposo has not been a success for Vancouver, nor has Nyal Higgins at Toronto.

 

It's all still a crapshoot unless you have a particular need.

[narduch]

3 minutes ago, VinceA said:

I wonder with the success of Johnston, Buchanon and Miller if the Canadian teams will go after Canadians in the draft.

Although Raposo has not been a success for Vancouver, nor has Nyal Higgins at Toronto.

 

It's all still a crapshoot unless you have a particular need.

I think we may find these 3 players are outliers

[VinceA]

7 minutes ago, narduch said:

I think we may find these 3 players are outliers

Yeah for every Johnston you get like 3 Emery Welshmans.

I'm interested in how Alistair's brother fairs, sounds like he will be in the upcoming draft.

[Ruffian]

15 hours ago, narduch said:

I think we may find these 3 players are outliers

Don't forget about Larin and Laryea.

[sebdeserio]

1 hour ago, Ruffian said:

Don't forget about Larin and Laryea.

And St. Clair

[Bison44]

Tesho, Ricketts, Friend, Bernier, Stalteri...Onstad.  Like the CPL, its nice to have another development stream to catch the late bloomers and kids that dont get swept up in MLS academy net.  Malcolm Johnston is a junior at Maryland...I wonder if he is coming out this year?

[gigi riva]

22 hours ago, VinceA said:

I wonder with the success of Johnston, Buchanon and Miller if the Canadian teams will go after Canadians in the draft.

Although Raposo has not been a success for Vancouver, nor has Nyal Higgins at Toronto.

 

It's all still a crapshoot unless you have a particular need.

No matter the sport or League  drafts are crapshoots. 

[Tyson M]

16 hours ago, The Real Marc said:

Ontario’s French immersion program generally makes you fluent in one language : franglais. His is better than that.

Assuming he hasn’t used his French for a few years, respect to him for giving it a try - which most anglophone hockey players never ever do.

 

Having watched his inteview now, I am 99.9999% sure his French is immersion French. He understands all the French and is eager to try(which is amazing and he is to be commended for). His accent and lack of vocabulary remind me of several of my current students. IMHO he's good and will get alot better playing in Montreal.

[Sal333]

3 hours ago, Tyson M said:

Having watched his inteview now, I am 99.9999% sure his French is immersion French. He understands all the French and is eager to try(which is amazing and he is to be commended for). His accent and lack of vocabulary remind me of several of my current students. IMHO he's good and will get alot better playing in Montreal.

Are you referring to his French or his soccer?

[VinceA]

I just learned today that his dad Bill runs SoccerX.

[baulderdash77]

On 1/1/2022 at 6:45 PM, Tyson M said:

Having watched his inteview now, I am 99.9999% sure his French is immersion French. He understands all the French and is eager to try(which is amazing and he is to be commended for). His accent and lack of vocabulary remind me of several of my current students. IMHO he's good and will get alot better playing in Montreal.

The media in Montreal will always give him the benefit of the doubt as well for that.   They appreciate the fact that he speaks French fairly well and a little Franglais to fill in where his vocabulary is missing is acceptable; especially from an Anglophone player.

Also him spending some of his childhood in Montreal will make him a local in their eyes.  I think Alistair is going to do quite well in Montreal.

[SthMelbRed]

4 hours ago, VinceA said:

I just learned today that his dad Bill runs SoccerX.

Can he do me a deal on a new pair of Copas? Size 10. 😄 

[Free kick]

18 hours ago, VinceA said:

I just learned today that his dad Bill runs SoccerX.

That would make sense because when he was interviewed on a Montreal radio station, he said that his father works in "the soccer business".   i was trying to figure out what that meant.  

[nolando]

19 hours ago, VinceA said:

I just learned today that his dad Bill runs SoccerX.

I think it's likely his dad is a fellow by the same name who won the  Canadian Challenge Cup with Vancouver Westside Rhinos in 93 and 96. Same general group as John Catliff, Steve Kindel, Colin Elmes: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://bcsoccer.net/files/MemberService/BC%20Teams%20Winning%20CSA%20Club%20Championships%20-%20Games%20and%20Team%20Details%20-%20web.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiO5cbvr5j1AhUDNH0KHURNBAAQFnoECAMQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3C5sNRRWxG8OwxJkGH1BYD

[shorty]

Cool. Pat Onstad is there as well. Tom Pinkerton was on the 96 team. He played at Queens and his whole family were good too. I played with his younger brothers Rich and Andrew in high school (Tom had graduated already)