Pottsy3 Posted February 15, 2022 Share Posted February 15, 2022 One of the mystery players seems to have been Noah Jensen. Horizon League POTY, NCAA leader in assists, seems to be some pretty good pedigree for a first time pro. Kalongo is assumedly the third string keeper. They also slipped this into the bottom of the article: "The club has also announced the following players have been added to the roster: Goalkeeper, Baj Maan, (21), Midfielder, Simon Triantafillou (23), Defender, Cale Loughrey (20) and Defender, Guillaume Pianelli, (23)" Maan's return and bringing in CPL draftee Pianelli were expected. I mentionned Triantafillou a few times as a near shoo-in after not getting drafted to the MLS (former Sigma captain). I admittedly know nothing of Loughrey, but google says he spent some time at Seneca College before moving to the University of Alabama - Birmingham, and played League 1 at Unionville and Darby. Glad to see a few extra CB's under contract. aredding77, narduch and HochelagaFC 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cicero Posted February 15, 2022 Share Posted February 15, 2022 (edited) I guess Cisse is gone. That's too bad, he was a solid player. Wonder where he's ended up. As usual, tight-lipped approach to announcing player movements. Edited February 15, 2022 by Cicero Pottsy3 and rkomar 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzie_the_parrot Posted February 15, 2022 Share Posted February 15, 2022 Edgewater17 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgewater17 Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 (edited) Valiant effort by Forge so far against Cruz Azul. Very impressed with their fitness especially considering they're out of season. However, that one slip by Henry is separating them from a performance to talk about for years vs. a predictable 1 to 2 nil defeat at the hands of one of Concacaf's giants. Let's see if it gets better second half. Edited February 17, 2022 by Edgewater17 scooterlawrence5, narduch and Shway 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toontownman Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 This is a deep and exciting squad. Great mix of youth, experience, quality and promise. All the young guys they have brought through the past year or so look solid to exciting. On tonight's evidence there is more from where that came from. Given the depth of the squad it is going to be hard for other teams to touch them. Over the course of a long season there are starting lineups in other teams that cam match them but when injuries mount Forge look stacked to cope with it. gator and Shway 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzie_the_parrot Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 This should be sobering for anyone who thought no Leagues Cup participataion but direct qualification into the CCL in the middle of February is an automatic moneyspinner and attention grabber: Ansem 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
narduch Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 6 hours ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said: This should be sobering for anyone who thought no Leagues Cup participataion but direct qualification into the CCL in the middle of February is an automatic moneyspinner and attention grabber: Who said any of that? Why are you always fighting against made-up battles in your own head? Just admit you have a hard on for all things MLS related and you care more about MLS success than the success of the domestic game in Canada. NVsoccer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzie_the_parrot Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 (edited) That last part is beneath contempt. Stop projecting your CanPL vs MLS mindet onto me. I want all of Canadian domestic pro soccer to succeed. If this was a CMNT qualifier, the 24,000 seats would have been sold and filled with home fans without any difficulty regardless of the weeknight mid-Feb kickoff. There are plenty of people out there who will show up in large numbers for certain soccer events. It's disappointing that more people don't feel that way about an unprecedented Forge vs Cruz Azul CCL tie. Edited February 17, 2022 by Ozzie_the_parrot Free kick and red card 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ansem Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 4 minutes ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said: That last part is beneath contempt. Stop projecting your CanPL vs MLS mindet onto me. I want all of Canadian domestic pro soccer to succeed. If this was a CMNT qualifier, the 24,000 seats would have been sold and filled with home fans without any difficulty regardless of the weeknight mid-Feb kickoff. There are plenty of people out there who will show up in large numbers for certain soccer events. It's disappointing that more people don't feel that way about an unprecedented Forge vs Cruz Azul CCL tie. The problem with you is that you bring very little to the conversation. Did YOU go? Exactly! narduch 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cicero Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 Comparing any CCL game to a CMNT qualifier is pretty silly. I go to almost every Forge game, including last night's. I see the same core people in my section every time. For the whole stadium, that core seems to be about 3000-3500 fans that show up to every game. Not bad, but not great in a city this size. But we don't see any better support for other teams in the city, Ticats excluded, for now. Bulldogs get a similar number of core fans (as Forge), maybe more to the odd special event or playoffs. Not sure what the Rock are drawing. What I see when I go to pubs in Hamilton: NFL and Maple Leafs, maybe the odd Jays game if they're on a play-off run. If I ask for soccer of any kind on the tv's, I get weird looks. I even wonder about the longer term drawing power of the Ticats. The CFL demographic is getting pretty long in the tooth. Fact is, most people are band-wagon fans, the only way to really break through is to somehow become trendy to the average person. MLS has built a larger core of fans in most cities, but they have not succeeded at becoming more broadly relevant. It's really hard to tap into hometown pride these days. Most people are simply not connected to local media, so local teams are not a casual subject of discussion. Free kick, gator, red card and 1 other 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free kick Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 (edited) When i saw the number of 4688, i went wow! Thats impressive. In the middle of february? And in the evening? Irrespective of whether you are a casual follower or a hardcore, i would expect few ppl are going pay money to stand outside for 2hours in an outdoor stadium in an an evening in the middle of February? Especially if you can watch a streaming version in the comfort of your living room. Edited February 17, 2022 by Free kick gator, narduch and Metro 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pottsy3 Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 If people knew well ahead of time that it was going to be 9 degrees (and not the -10 we've been experiencing every other day lately), they might be out there. Truth of the matter is, the casual soccer fan does not understand the pedigree of Cruz Azul enough to bring them out in the middle of winter. There were a good chunk of Azul supporters, nowhere near half of the stadium but they were definitely loud. One thing I will say, my Dad (who has little to no soccer interest) asked me about the game, as he had seen it talked about in the newspaper. The buzz around local CPL teams is expanding, and with that you will slowly see more casuals converting. Early on, if you didn't seek it out you wouldn't know where/when to find these games if you weren't fully invested in the team. The CanMNT is making the sport trendy in Canada, and that increased demand will be fed by the CPL. gator, Free kick, Metro and 4 others 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cicero Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 9 minutes ago, Pottsy3 said: If people knew well ahead of time that it was going to be 9 degrees (and not the -10 we've been experiencing every other day lately), they might be out there. Truth of the matter is, the casual soccer fan does not understand the pedigree of Cruz Azul enough to bring them out in the middle of winter. There were a good chunk of Azul supporters, nowhere near half of the stadium but they were definitely loud. One thing I will say, my Dad (who has little to no soccer interest) asked me about the game, as he had seen it talked about in the newspaper. The buzz around local CPL teams is expanding, and with that you will slowly see more casuals converting. Early on, if you didn't seek it out you wouldn't know where/when to find these games if you weren't fully invested in the team. The CanMNT is making the sport trendy in Canada, and that increased demand will be fed by the CPL. I hope you're right. It would be great if that core could get up to 7-10k per CPL team. Then I think the league would be on solid footing. MtlMario and toontownman 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toontownman Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 It's a midweek game in the middle of winter, while winter olympics are on. I thought the crowd size was decent. We always want more obviously, hopefully that comes and I have no idea how good the promo was in and around Hamilton. Free kick 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free kick Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 (edited) 1 hour ago, Pottsy3 said: Truth of the matter is, the casual soccer fan does not understand the pedigree of Cruz Azul enough to bring them out in the middle of winter. Yes. That is a problem. I recall the CCL games at BMO over the years. The games would be part of the SSH pckg’s and the holder would either have them included or he/she would have to pick up the option on them. Thus they were guaranteed a certain amount of fans which wasnt bad this but it was always a noticable notch below your regular season match versus even the lowest profile MLS team. I found this frustrating because you could see that the quality of these mexicans sides was extraordinary. Mind you, i cant say the same for the other CCL teams outside Liga Mx and MLS. The CCL had greater opportunities to develop the profile of your club hence I always found CCL more prestigeous but unfortuntunately i was alone. Having said that, 4688 fans is pretty darn good. Edited February 17, 2022 by Free kick Pottsy3, Shway and gator 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SadOnMondays Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 I try to look at things both realistically and with a bit of a silver lining. 4688 is a good attendance for a CPL team by the relevant standards. Plus if there was a lot of Cruz Azul supporters, good on them, hopefully the game turned on the locals ones to supporting the Forge. Free kick 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gator Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 I thought the crowd was about what I expected considering the timing and the weather, it was horrendous at times and when I was waiting for my bus in the driving rain I even questioned whether I should just go back home and watch it on tv, I'm glad I went! I have friends who are casual fans and if this match was in the summer they would have surely gone, not so much last night! I do remember in 2010 in the middle of summer watching Cruz Azul in a half empty BMO, it will take time for fans everywhere in Canada to embrace this competition although Montreal has had some big crowds! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzie_the_parrot Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 toontownman, red card and Bbeto 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shway Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 Anybody think Ashtone will be an upgrade over Kwame? (I know what I think) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivan Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 25 minutes ago, Shway said: Anybody think Ashtone will be an upgrade over Kwame? (I know what I think) Certainly didn't look like it last night. And over the course of the year, I don't think he will. Pottsy3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzie_the_parrot Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 35 minutes ago, Shway said: Anybody think Ashtone will be an upgrade over Kwame? (I know what I think) Never rated him that highly personally, but left back is always a more difficult position to find suitable players for as fewer people are naturally left-sided so you often wind up having to make do with a technically less gifted player in that role. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gator Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 A little too soon to be making judgements on how players will perform over the course of a season, Morgan is a different player than Kwame, I personally think his wealth of experience will be much needed in the Forge lineup! Pottsy3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gator Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 narduch 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pottsy3 Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 Ashtone Morgan reminded me a bit of the Tissot performances we got with Forge. Doesn't have the athletic profile that he once did, but should be steady enough and provide some leadership at the back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shway Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 21 minutes ago, gator said: A little too soon to be making judgements on how players will perform over the course of a season, Morgan is a different player than Kwame, I personally think his wealth of experience will be much needed in the Forge lineup! Was just a question/train of thought. But yea, I think Kwame will be missed for the exact reason you mentioned - different player, but same position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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