Valour FC - 2024 Season Thread

[Soccerpro2]

The team (and roster) sucks.

The worst part is the team had decent (close to league average) talent 2-3 years ago and lost absolutely every single good player to other teams in the CPL or other leagues.

It speaks for itself when no good player wants to stay with Valour if they have options. I wouldn’t, either.

Hell, Vancouver had two of our former players today and one scored! The one who scored is more offensively talented than any player we have at the club.

Last year it was obvious our roster was bad and that no one would score. This year, our roster hasn’t really improved (added 0 offensively gifted midfielders and one striker who has scored a few CPL goals for half a season) while other clubs in the league consistently improve their roster.

PDS can stay or go, that won’t solve anything. Clearly the bigger problems are: 1. No one with options wants to play at Valour 2. The club spends the minimum.

Edited April 15 by Soccerpro2

[SoccMan]

Maybe a new owner that actually cares about this team is what’s needed here , don’t know if there is one out there but from the outside looking in it looks like these owners are just doing the bare minimum they need to do to run this team  which is pretty sad unfortunately. 

[Soccerpro2]

10 minutes ago, SoccMan said:

Maybe a new owner that actually cares about this team is what’s needed here , don’t know if there is one out there but from the outside looking in it looks like these owners are just doing the bare minimum they need to do to run this team  which is pretty sad unfortunately. 

There is no other protentional owner. Just like there is no stadium solution other than playing in a CFL stadium.

[yothat2]

24 minutes ago, Soccerpro2 said:

There is no other protentional owner. Just like there is no stadium solution other than playing in a CFL stadium.

Fort McMurray has an nice stadium.built in 2015.  SMS Shell Place but not sure if the league has contacted the owners of fort mcmurray oil barons or any of the big oil and gas players. see if they would invest aka be willing to lose money ..  

[jonovision]

7 minutes ago, yothat2 said:

Fort McMurray has an nice stadium.built in 2015.  SMS Shell Place but not sure if the league has contacted the owners of fort mcmurray oil barons or any of the big oil and gas players. see if they would invest aka be willing to lose money ..  

Moving Valour to Fort Mac does nothing for us Valour fans and from the league's POV surely it makes more sense to fold a team and expand than to move a team.

I'm not willing to write off this team yet, with several key players missing. Would 5 points from 7 games away to start the year be acceptable? For me, maybe.

[PegCityCam]

On 3/25/2024 at 9:59 PM, PegCityCam said:

Also mentioned they played Valour recently, lost 1-0, and "not to expect much from them this year". At least not as constructed right now. Take all that with a grain of salt of course.

Guess the kid was right😔

[rhadan]

Not a good start to the season, a thrashing... 

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

5 hours ago, Soccerpro2 said:

...PDS can stay or go, that won’t solve anything. Clearly the bigger problems are: 1. No one with options wants to play at Valour 2. The club spends the minimum.

What should be worrying about this first game is that Vancouver almost certainly were not one of the league's four obvious big spenders that required careful investigation by the league office where cap compliance was concerned.

[Aird25]

4 hours ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

What should be worrying about this first game is that Vancouver almost certainly were not one of the league's four obvious big spenders that required careful investigation by the league office where cap compliance was concerned.

No? They have more players signed than most teams, and they have a mix of experienced CPL vets and talented young players. It wouldn't surprise me at all if they were up towards the cap

[SpursFlu]

I've noticed the league referring to them as Winnipeg Valour. I think that sounds better. Is this an actual thing? 

[Cheeta]

^ No.

 

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

Valour fans please send tweets/emails/ messages to your club; it seems the France friendly overlaps with the match against Atlético.

[yothat2]

On 4/14/2024 at 7:10 PM, Soccerpro2 said:

The team (and roster) sucks.

The worst part is the team had decent (close to league average) talent 2-3 years ago and lost absolutely every single good player to other teams in the CPL or other leagues.

It speaks for itself when no good player wants to stay with Valour if they have options. I wouldn’t, either.

Hell, Vancouver had two of our former players today and one scored! The one who scored is more offensively talented than any player we have at the club.

Last year it was obvious our roster was bad and that no one would score. This year, our roster hasn’t really improved (added 0 offensively gifted midfielders and one striker who has scored a few CPL goals for half a season) while other clubs in the league consistently improve their roster.

PDS can stay or go, that won’t solve anything. Clearly the bigger problems are: 1. No one with options wants to play at Valour 2. The club spends the minimum.

Isn't the roster construction on PDS .. theres are many CPL jobs so it shouldn't that difficult an competitive roster. I agree it was better under Gale. Even think fced under Koch aka fc opportunity had more talent than this current roster. Even the internationals don't seem that dangerous 

 

[Unnamed Trialist]

3 hours ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

Valour fans please send tweets/emails/ messages to your club; it seems the France friendly overlaps with the match against Atlético.

Sorry, editing: The France friendly was originally at 3pm local time, as announced by the French Federation weeks ago; so now you could be right, they've moved it to 9:15 pm local time. 

 

Edited April 16 by Unnamed Trialist

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

4 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

The France friendly is at 3pm local time, as announced by the French Federation weeks ago; I don't think there is any sort of conflict at all.

I have 9:15pm local for the France match.

https://www.fff.fr/article/12300-luxembourg-et-canada-avant-l-euro.html

"Ils joueront ensuite contre le Canada (49e FIFA), le dimanche 9 juin (21h15)"

21h15 in France is 15h15 Eastern, 14h15 Central and 12h15 Pacific, right?!?

The Valour vs Atlético match is scheduled for 14h00 local (Central), right?!?

https://valourfc.canpl.ca/schedule

Did I mess something up?

 

Edited April 16 by Olympique_de_Marseille

[Unnamed Trialist]

20 minutes ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

I have 9:15pm local for the France match.

https://www.fff.fr/article/12300-luxembourg-et-canada-avant-l-euro.html

"Ils joueront ensuite contre le Canada (49e FIFA), le dimanche 9 juin (21h15)"

21h15 in France is 15h15 Eastern, 14h15 Central and 12h15 Pacific, right?!?

The Valour vs Atlético match is scheduled for 14h00 local (Central), right?!?

https://valourfc.canpl.ca/schedule

Did I mess something up?

 

I almost immediately edited my post after that, since I saw the time change. Merci.

[Soccerpro2]

5 hours ago, yothat2 said:

Isn't the roster construction on PDS .. theres are many CPL jobs so it shouldn't that difficult an competitive roster. I agree it was better under Gale. Even think fced under Koch aka fc opportunity had more talent than this current roster. Even the internationals don't seem that dangerous 

 

Sure it's on him, too. However, I think domestics avoid Valour like the plague now compared to when Gale was there due to the now long(er) club record of incompetence. PDS also has missed the boat on internationals. 

Edited April 17 by Soccerpro2

[yothat2]

17 hours ago, Soccerpro2 said:

Sure it's on him, too. However, I think domestics avoid Valour like the plague now compared to when Gale was there due to the now long(er) club record of incompetence. PDS also has missed the boat on internationals. 

Totally agree. The Canadians hardly seem wanna come to valuour even tho there's not many professional soccer jobs in Canada. The internationals are always underwhelming. 

Fordyce would have connections in Northern Ireland, england, usl to get some talent on loan. PDS could ask his brother for his old contracts. He seems have an preference  these players from the Australians league when there's the MLS/USL/Mexico/Carribean internationals all available ... 

Def think the roster was stronger under Gale. 

[Cheeta]

Riddle me this.

Is The Trench returning to 144 or is the migration to behind the east goal on for 2-4?

(By 2-4 I mean 2024.  I just like saying 2-4).

[jonovision]

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/2024/04/18/season-opening-loss-hasnt-dented-valour-fcs-optimism

Some local reporting from yesterday with quotes from Swibel and dos Santos. Not a whole lot by way of a preview, but I always make a point of giving the Valour articles a click.

[top cheese]

Sheppard is apparently in Halifax on trial. How do you draft a player number 1 in a draft and not offer a development contract that essentially costs the team nothing? It seems like a typical Valour use of the draft. Players must hope this team does not take them in the draft.

Watching the season's first two games, you have to wonder how many points this team will pick up this year. And if after starting 7 games on the road, how energized the fan base will be after they get home? It looks like a team that's starting Year 1 and having to establish an identity and grow. They look more organized and committed but simply don't have the talent and creativity to threaten to score. Their only real threat is T.A.'s delivery from left-back. 

I have sympathy for PDS and the coaching staff, they are working hard to turn around the culture in the club but it has to be challenging with the reputation the club has developed over the past couple of years. The league is littered with ex-valour players who have performed better elsewhere. Recruitment has to be difficult. 

Also, the goaltending looks horrible. Evan Barker would be more reliable. 

 

Edited April 20 by top cheese

[Aird25]

I thought Campbell and Antonoglou looked pretty good for Valour this match

[EnigMattic1]

The team is paper thin at the moment.

There is no central defender on the bench. Hell, the ONLY defender on the bench for the last two games has been Haynes. When you have a shortage of central defenders, you DON'T play 3-at-the-back. Given that no natural full back was signed, I am starting to get the impression that 3-at-the-back was always going to be the plan. But, if that is the case, why not sign more centre backs? 4 is not enough for that sort of system.

The centre of the park is lacking. That much was shown by starting Faria there against Vancouver. Yes, I know Ohin is coming back from two big injuries, but PDS knew this. We have an abundance of wide players (Binate, Williams, Alarcon, Sukunda, Faria, Hanson and, at a push, Verhoeven) so more central players should have been signed. 

In the last two games, a keeper untested in the CPL has been preferred over one who has CPL experience. How many more games before Murasiranwa gets a shot?

Hundal is yet to hit the ground. Looking at the stats, his supply is limited. Hopefully, this will change once Williams returns. But, one can't help but wonder, if another poor season is on the cards, how will we be able to keep players like Williams?

[Soccerpro2]

12 minutes ago, EnigMattic1 said:

The team is paper thin at the moment.

There is no central defender on the bench. Hell, the ONLY defender on the bench for the last two games has been Haynes. When you have a shortage of central defenders, you DON'T play 3-at-the-back. Given that no natural full back was signed, I am starting to get the impression that 3-at-the-back was always going to be the plan. But, if that is the case, why not sign more centre backs? 4 is not enough for that sort of system.

The centre of the park is lacking. That much was shown by starting Faria there against Vancouver. Yes, I know Ohin is coming back from two big injuries, but PDS knew this. We have an abundance of wide players (Binate, Williams, Alarcon, Sukunda, Faria, Hanson and, at a push, Verhoeven) so more central players should have been signed. 

In the last two games, a keeper untested in the CPL has been preferred over one who has CPL experience. How many more games before Murasiranwa gets a shot?

Hundal is yet to hit the ground. Looking at the stats, his supply is limited. Hopefully, this will change once Williams returns. But, one can't help but wonder, if another poor season is on the cards, how will we be able to keep players like Williams?

If another poor season is in the cards (and it absolutely is), I wouldn’t be concerned about keeping Williams. I think the bigger concern is that the club won’t exist anymore. 

How are fans supposed to return for yet another year of losing? Especially when the team is likely going to lose most of their first 7 games before even playing their first home game?

I’m a former FC Edmonton season ticket holder when I lived there. I’ve seen this scenario play out before. Things are not going to improve.

Edited April 20 by Soccerpro2

[jonovision]

The one ray of hope I have is that Valour has been playing so far without their best CB (or the player you'd expect to be their best CB), their best CM, and their best creative player. 

Unfortunately one can't typically count on Valour having a healthy roster.

I do view starting with 7 games away as a positive, not a negative, as most of the ticket buying public does not pay any attention to away games or the team's record. What they do pay attention to is the game results and experience when they're in the building. And Valour could use the extra month and a half to sell ticket packages.