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Pacific FC - 2023 Season Thread


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13 hours ago, davey_twelve said:

I have no idea what next year's team will be like. So much turnover!

Feel like they are missing a big leadership and experience piece with Dixon gone and now Bustos likely not coming back. Hopefully that signing comes into the squad with some full backs. Other signings so far have been good.

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Irving is a big loss in that area too. He wasn't a stand out shot stopper but he was a great communicator/organizer in the back. I'm expecting a lot of leadership and consistency to come from the Didic/TMG combo. They had a solid stretch of games together towards the end of last season. With Yao and Zator gone (not sure what's happening with Ottawa's CBs...) Pacific could have one of the strongest backlines if they get a decent LB.

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Utrecht are a big step up from Pacific. Not quite Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord level but usually there or thereabouts for UEFA Cup/Europa League qualification over the years. Thought Michael Silberbauer was used as a convenient scapegoat back in 2019 for whoever decided that not signing import players so they could splurge on de Jong, Haber, and Nakajima-Farran was a good move. The likely culprit on that now has an Iranian coach he can jettison at the end of year one in Langley in a similar sort of way.

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9 minutes ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

Utrecht are a big step up from Pacific. Not quite Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord level but usually there or thereabouts for UEFA Cup/Europa League qualification over the years. Thought Michael Silberbauer was used as a convenient scapegoat back in 2019 for whoever decided that not signing import players so they could splurge on de Jong, Haber, and Nakajima-Farran was a good move. The likely culprit on that now has an Iranian coach he can jettison at the end of year one in Langley in a similar sort of way.

He assisted for Utrecht last year and assisted at Basel the year before. He also played 3 years for Utrecht and eventually became captain. So definitely a lot of ties but also deserved. He came in to Pacific with some years of experience in the Swiss Super League...seems they may have missed on a great coach by firing him after one year of a two year contract. 

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6 hours ago, nolando said:

Translated speculation from three days ago in Sweden: 

Screenshot_20230104_224953_Chrome.jpg

It sounds like Bustos would be a signing of magnitude for this club. I can't imagine that Varnamo has much of a history of throwing around transfer fees. From brief research, it looks like the club only entered the top division in 2022 for the first time and was able to avoid relegation. They had spent most of the last decade in the second division, but were relegated to the third tier for 2019 and 2020. It seems as though their recent advancement may be in part due to a large investment from a corporate group with local ties called Liljedahl Group. Varnamo only has a population of about 20,000.  

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Is this true?! I thought it was Langford footing the bill for Starlight so far, not Victoria.

"Wells said 2025 would be the earliest date for a Touchdown Pacific game featuring the Lions as home team in the B.C. capital. That’s because the prospective venue, Starlight Stadium in Langford, B.C., currently seats just 6,000. The City of Victoria last year approved an expenditure of $8-million for an expansion that would almost double capacity, and preliminary work began in late 2022."

https://windsorstar.com/sports/football/cfl/victoria-b-c-interested-in-hosting-a-touchdown-pacific-game

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2 minutes ago, Aird25 said:

Is this true?! I thought it was Langford footing the bill for Starlight so far, not Victoria.

"Wells said 2025 would be the earliest date for a Touchdown Pacific game featuring the Lions as home team in the B.C. capital. That’s because the prospective venue, Starlight Stadium in Langford, B.C., currently seats just 6,000. The City of Victoria last year approved an expenditure of $8-million for an expansion that would almost double capacity, and preliminary work began in late 2022."

https://windsorstar.com/sports/football/cfl/victoria-b-c-interested-in-hosting-a-touchdown-pacific-game

I am guessing the writer made a mistake

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8 hours ago, Pottsy3 said:

It sounds like Bustos would be a signing of magnitude for this club. I can't imagine that Varnamo has much of a history of throwing around transfer fees. From brief research, it looks like the club only entered the top division in 2022 for the first time and was able to avoid relegation. They had spent most of the last decade in the second division, but were relegated to the third tier for 2019 and 2020. It seems as though their recent advancement may be in part due to a large investment from a corporate group with local ties called Liljedahl Group. Varnamo only has a population of about 20,000.  

Did you also read online that they are traditionally an academy club, developing players, but that they made a shift and have pushed into top flight?

I'm always confused where these clubs get their money from. In any case, I'd love to see a half a dozen Canadians in each of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Austria. You'd figure our best CPLers and the lower rungs of the MLS contingent could find a way, mostly because it gives you a more solid base than eternal MLS journeymen.

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3 hours ago, Aird25 said:

Is this true?! I thought it was Langford footing the bill for Starlight so far, not Victoria.

"Wells said 2025 would be the earliest date for a Touchdown Pacific game featuring the Lions as home team in the B.C. capital. That’s because the prospective venue, Starlight Stadium in Langford, B.C., currently seats just 6,000. The City of Victoria last year approved an expenditure of $8-million for an expansion that would almost double capacity, and preliminary work began in late 2022."

https://windsorstar.com/sports/football/cfl/victoria-b-c-interested-in-hosting-a-touchdown-pacific-game

If I am not mistaken they've corrected that part now, I just read it and doesn't appear anymore. In any case, the promotional side is coming from Greater Victoria tourism, not any specific city hall.

The article is by Dan Barnes, longtime Postmedia sports journalist.

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17 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

If I am not mistaken they've corrected that part now, I just read it and doesn't appear anymore. In any case, the promotional side is coming from Greater Victoria tourism, not any specific city hall.

The article is by Dan Barnes, longtime Postmedia sports journalist.

Cleve Dheensaw at the Times has picked it up now, with a few more details. It sounds like the budget ($4.5 mil for expansion on top of the cost of moving the hydro lines) was approved last year, but current council is saying the number of seats to be added hasn't been confirmed yet. 

https://www.timescolonist.com/sports/bc-lions-in-langford-annual-cfl-game-eyed-for-starlight-stadium-6336066??utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=snd

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20 hours ago, toontownman said:

Back to L1? Or Europe.

I don't think he is good enough to be a CPL starter anymore. 

Doubt he goes back to L1. If he agreed to mutually terminate his deal, he probably has something else lined up back in Europe. Doubt he would terminate a guaranteed salary to go play for free in L1 (unless of course its a situation of a better paying non-soccer job, and then playing L1 on the side.)

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1 hour ago, rydermike said:

Doubt he goes back to L1. If he agreed to mutually terminate his deal, he probably has something else lined up back in Europe. Doubt he would terminate a guaranteed salary to go play for free in L1 (unless of course its a situation of a better paying non-soccer job, and then playing L1 on the side.)

Could be CanPL bound.  VFC (both of them) need a striker.  Growth in the USLC, USL1 and NextPro leagues will create opportunities for players who might otherwise have dropped from the CanPL.

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I live in the GTA- work trip took me to Victoria this week, just drove past Starlight stadium seeing it for the first time. Proper nice stadium TBH! seems very intimate and looks really good in person and while I have not been there for a match, I can imagine the vibe is good for games. Have been to Wanderers ground too for games, both stadiums look great in person!

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