Valour FC - 2024 Season Thread

[SpursFlu]

38 minutes ago, jonovision said:

Winnipeg has the hottest summer temperatures of any CPL city!

Well you had to go ruin my joke with facts. Ok well maybe he won't be able to climatise to exotic Winnipeg 

[K Edgar]

Rhino is captain

[Unnamed Trialist]

The podcast Offsider, about guys with modest careers in football, has a long interview with Jose Galán, the Spaniard who's played in most countries. Including at Valour. It's in Spanish, marked towards the end. He speaks with passion about the great treatment he got there, the fan support, chants, the section 21. Says his first daughter had serious medical problems after being born and it made it hard to stay in Canada as his wife was alone and isolated, like during the PEI bubble. Not a lot of details but also says it was very professional. 

 

[jonovision]

Maybe I should have been paying closer attention but I did not realize that league starts this weekend. 

Anyone brave enough to attempt to guess our opening day XI?

[EnigMattic1]

2 hours ago, jonovision said:

Maybe I should have been paying closer attention but I did not realize that league starts this weekend. 

Anyone brave enough to attempt to guess our opening day XI?

4-3-3

Viscosi

Campbell

Haris

Tass

Haynes

Ohin

Verhoeven

Polisi

Alarcon

Williams

Hundal

[K Edgar]

2 hours ago, jonovision said:

Anyone brave enough to attempt to guess our opening day XI?

                      - Viscosi -
Alarcón - Samaké - Mourdoukoutas - Antonoglou
          Ohin - Campbell - Sanchez
           Williams - Hundal - Binate

Could change as I expect at least 2 more players will be announced before Sunday

[EnigMattic1]

3 minutes ago, K Edgar said:

                      - Viscosi -
Alarcón - Samaké - Mourdoukoutas - Antonoglou
          Ohin - Campbell - Sanchez
           Williams - Hundal - Binate

Could change as I expect at least 2 more players will be announced before Sunday

Think either of the U-Sports guys will get signed?

[jdheid]

8 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

The podcast Offsider, about guys with modest careers in football, has a long interview with Jose Galán, the Spaniard who's played in most countries. Including at Valour. It's in Spanish, marked towards the end. He speaks with passion about the great treatment he got there, the fan support, chants, the section 21. Says his first daughter had serious medical problems after being born and it made it hard to stay in Canada as his wife was alone and isolated, like during the PEI bubble. Not a lot of details but also says it was very professional. 

 

Neat idea for a podcast theme. He's gone around the globe playing the sport he loves. What he's lacked in pay, he must have made back in interesting stories. Wish I understood Spanish.

[K Edgar]

54 minutes ago, EnigMattic1 said:

Think either of the U-Sports guys will get signed?

Facchineri has figured prominently in train camp pics.  Both Facchineri and Sheppard were interviewed by Ed Tait.  USports contracts fit Valour low budget style.  I think they will both be signed.

That would put the number of signed players at 22.  This year USports contracts do not count towards the 23 player "primary" roster limit.  20 on the primary roster is the minimum, so does Valour add 1 more to the roster becomes the next question?  Another winger?

(Cavalry just added 3 USports contracts!! - only 1 was a draft pick)

 

Edit: They include Facchineri as a defender in this new article, matter of time before it is officially announced

https://valourfc.canpl.ca/article/valour-24-preview-the-defenders

Edited April 10, 2024 by K Edgar

[EnigMattic1]

29 minutes ago, K Edgar said:

Facchineri has figured prominently in train camp pics.  Both Facchineri and Sheppard were interviewed by Ed Tait.  USports contracts fit Valour low budget style.  I think they will both be signed.

That would put the number of signed players at 22.  This year USports contracts do not count towards the 23 player "primary" roster limit.  20 on the primary roster is the minimum, so does Valour add 1 more to the roster becomes the next question?  Another winger?

(Cavalry just added 3 USports contracts!! - only 1 was a draft pick)

 

Edit: They include Facchineri as a defender in this new article, matter of time before it is officially announced

https://valourfc.canpl.ca/article/valour-24-preview-the-defenders

I would like to see some more defensive reinforcements. We do seem a little thin at the back if you count Alarcon and Sukunda as wingers (the CPL site lists Alarcon as a defender but that only makes 6 including full backs). Maybe even a backup keeper on a U-Sports contract.

Edited April 10, 2024 by EnigMattic1

[jonovision]

18 minutes ago, EnigMattic1 said:

I would like to see some more defensive reinforcements. We do seem a little thin at the back if you count Alarcon and Sukunda as wingers (the CPL site lists Alarcon as a defender but that only makes 6 including full backs). Maybe even a backup keeper on a U-Sports contract.

Campbell played a lot of right back last season, so I guess that is always an option in an injury crunch.

[EnigMattic1]

13 minutes ago, jonovision said:

Campbell played a lot of right back last season, so I guess that is always an option in an injury crunch.

Yeah, but it will always be a better option to have someone who is a natural fullback. Obviously, that isn't always possible.

[K Edgar]

A MF they picked up in Portugal...

Edited April 10, 2024 by K Edgar
youtube link

[Soccerpro2]

It’s nice that they signed someone but I’m still holding out hope they signed someone who can help offensively because I don’t understand where the goals are going to come from.

[Unnamed Trialist]

6 hours ago, jdheid said:

Neat idea for a podcast theme. He's gone around the globe playing the sport he loves. What he's lacked in pay, he must have made back in interesting stories. Wish I understood Spanish.

The podcast is almost entirely dedicated to guys who may have come up through big clubs, but ended up having more modest careers, often in lower tiers, abroad. Only a few are better known. Two young guys run it, it is very simple, not at all profound, but if you look at the numbers they are solid, usually over 50,000 and often pushing 100k, for basically an interview.

Galán's stories about Vietnam, Thailand, were more interesting, because they were weirder, but he was very grateful for all the support from Valour fans.

[Unnamed Trialist]

4 hours ago, K Edgar said:

A MF they picked up in Portugal...

He played for the team in Sintra partially (or majority) owned by Alex Bunbury. Little connections. Not a bad resume, though not sure how much he played last season.

[nolando]

1 hour ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

He played for the team in Sintra partially (or majority) owned by Alex Bunbury. Little connections. Not a bad resume, though not sure how much he played last season.

Could be nothing but conspiracy theory-style speculation on my part but wouldn't it be interesting if this was the first sliver of foreshadowing of some connection between Valour and a possible move to Quebec under Bunbury's future direction?

Edited April 11, 2024 by nolando

[MtlMario]

12 hours ago, nolando said:

Could be nothing but conspiracy theory-style speculation on my part but wouldn't it be interesting if this was the first sliver of foreshadowing of some connection between Valour and a possible move to Quebec under Bunbury's future direction?

We should have more info in the next 2 to 120 months.🙃

[jdheid]

18 hours ago, K Edgar said:

A MF they picked up in Portugal...

I wonder if he's friends with Edmonton's Dieu Merci Michel who also plays for Vitoria de Guimaraes B? Maybe he shared what he knows about CPL with Ressurricao who was intrigued anough to make this move. Hope it works out for Valour. They're going to need all the help they can get to compete this season.

[Cheeta]

19 hours ago, K Edgar said:

A MF they picked up in Portugal...

Right footed with a decent left peg it looks like.   Seems to have an eye to attack as well.  At least from that sample.

Good.  Fingers and toes crossed.  This league needs more shooters, nevermind just Valour.

[K Edgar]

On 4/10/2024 at 8:49 AM, jonovision said:

Anyone brave enough to attempt to guess our opening day XI?

canpl.ca guess...

[jonovision]

44 minutes ago, K Edgar said:

canpl.ca guess...

Kind of strange not to have the captain in the XI?

Also, Samake had this quote about Alarcon in the defenders preview linked above: "Playing on his right side has been a real joy to combine with him" 

Suggests to me that Alarcon will be lining up on the left.

I can not possibly imagine a midfield with less offensive talent than the one listed above so I hope it's wrong.

Edited April 11, 2024 by jonovision

[K Edgar]

1 hour ago, jonovision said:

Kind of strange not to have the captain in the XI?

Also, Samake had this quote about Alarcon in the defenders preview linked above: "Playing on his right side has been a real joy to combine with him" 

Suggests to me that Alarcon will be lining up on the left.

I can not possibly imagine a midfield with less offensive talent than the one listed above so I hope it's wrong.

OneSoccer's guess any better?  Captain in the lineup.  But Haynes over Antonoglou?  Sanchez at LW??

[jonovision]

PDS played Haynes and Polisi more often than not when healthy. So I wouldn't be surprised if the OneSoccer lineup is closer to the truth.

I hope not, though. 

I suspect they will have to find a place for Sanchez, because he seems the player likeliest to be counted upon to earn the bulk of the U21 minutes.

Whatever the lineup, I am starting to feel optimistic about the season. Nearly everyone making predictions has Valour 8th, and these same people are nearly always wrong. I think the 7 game run away from home will be good for the team, and I think starting home dates in June instead of April will be good for selling tickets, if they bother to try. 

Edited April 11, 2024 by jonovision

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

https://www.bluebombers.com/2024/04/11/wfc-announce-operating-profit-of-5-7-million/#:~:text=Club revenue totalled %2450.5 million,and 10.5% increase from 2022

... There is one downside the financial report with Valour FC, the Canadian Premier League team operated by the Winnipeg Football Club, having recorded a loss of $1.25 million. There have also been rumours since last fall of the team being for sale.

“It’s the same thing I said a year ago,” said Miller of Valour’s situation. “We’re going to do everything we can to make this team successful and profitable in our city. You can see already some of the changes we’ve made for this year.

“We’re making changes to find ways to get better results on the field with new hirings in soccer operations and coaching and have dedicated two sales reps specifically to Valour. We must get the attendance back up to an average of over 5,000 and find a way to make this successful going forward.” ...