James Cameron (2005)

[InglewoodJack]

Guess he’s due a thread. 18 year old LB for Vancouver FC, currently on trial with Luton Town, scheduled to go on trial with other prem teams too. Will his séjour abroad sink like the Titanic, or soar like an Avatar? Time will tell.

https://x.com/tv_jjd/status/1720203033638805557?s=46&t=spIaqlQfufAO3HreB1455Q

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

10 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

Will his séjour abroad sink like the Titanic, or soar like an Avatar? Time will tell.

Well said!

Let's just hope he performs well under pressure! 

[FC_Hali]

Good on him. Hope he sticks somewhere.

[toontownman]

Wow. I was very impressed with him but wasn't expecting someone like Luton to be taking him on trial. Maybe this is another league set up trial like they have done in the past?

Either way I hope he impresses! 

Is Nimmick there too or is he still trialing at the Bernabeu?

[Footyeh]

Another league setup, he is supposedly going to West Ham U21's as well to train.

Good on VFC for getting him a lot of minutes this season.  I don't think he's particularly special at his position or his skillset, but his UK passport will open doors.  Just hope they choose his destination wisely.  Luton Town is not a team for young players. 

[DeRo_Is_King]

2 hours ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

Well said!

Let's just hope he performs well under pressure! 

Oh, God... Back to the Cameron-pressure-submersible memes, I see. 

[Aird25]

1 hour ago, toontownman said:

Wow. I was very impressed with him but wasn't expecting someone like Luton to be taking him on trial. Maybe this is another league set up trial like they have done in the past?

Either way I hope he impresses! 

Is Nimmick there too or is he still trialing at the Bernabeu?

I must be thick. I don't get the joke.

[Dominic94]

12 hours ago, Footyeh said:

Another league setup, he is supposedly going to West Ham U21's as well to train.

Good on VFC for getting him a lot of minutes this season.  I don't think he's particularly special at his position or his skillset, but his UK passport will open doors.  Just hope they choose his destination wisely.  Luton Town is not a team for young players. 

Never a bad thing, seems like there’s nothing to lose.

If it works out we have everything to gain, if not it’s exposure. 
 

Are the U21’s really a step up from the CPL ?

[InglewoodJack]

Reading through the comments on the original tweet, it seems that Lutron’s other CPL acquisition, Aribim Pepple is now playing with Bromley (National League)‘a U21s. He did score a brace this week apparently though. The English pyramid is unforgiving man- scoring was too easy in the CPL and yet he couldn’t get minutes for a 5th division team in England. 
 

Another comment also said that Nimick is also being scouted by Luton Town and apparently Bournemouth too. Never heard that before. I guess the CPL is trying to send as many players to England in the hope that one pops off.

[narduch]

2 hours ago, InglewoodJack said:

Reading through the comments on the original tweet, it seems that Lutron’s other CPL acquisition, Aribim Pepple is now playing with Bromley (National League)‘a U21s. He did score a brace this week apparently though. The English pyramid is unforgiving man- scoring was too easy in the CPL and yet he couldn’t get minutes for a 5th division team in England. 
 

Another comment also said that Nimick is also being scouted by Luton Town and apparently Bournemouth too. Never heard that before. I guess the CPL is trying to send as many players to England in the hope that one pops off.

Pepple also seemed to do well whenever he did play with Luton's reserve team.

Which may say more about that league than anything else.

[InglewoodJack]

10 minutes ago, narduch said:

Pepple also seemed to do well whenever he did play with Luton's reserve team.

Which may say more about that league than anything else.

I do wonder what the issue with Pepple is- his hot streak with Cavalry was pretty short, so maybe it was just that- a hot streak- and not a sign of a player who is bound for greatness. On the other hand, these lower league teams are so hard to break into as a young player, especially on loan, because they all have their own goals, they need to win games, not just develop players. I look at Bromley's roster, and they're currently fighting for promotion. Their top goal scorer is 32, has 9 years of NL experience in which he's reached double digit goals in every single season. Their second top scorer is also 32 and has a very similar resume. You can play guys like that who can practically guarantee you a goal every other week like they've done for nearly a decade, or you can go with Pepple who might one day be good, and if he is, it'll be for another team, and if he's not good, you might lose games, not get promoted, lose out on a massive payment, etc.

Feels like he's on the Justin Smith path, though I think JS has shown more than Pepple has. Agreed on the comment about hoping Cameron doesn't go to Luton; they're going to get relegated this year, and it's not like they're going to bring on a youth movement in the championship next year to try and win back promotion.

[Bigandy]

18 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

I do wonder what the issue with Pepple is- his hot streak with Cavalry was pretty short, so maybe it was just that- a hot streak- and not a sign of a player who is bound for greatness. On the other hand, these lower league teams are so hard to break into as a young player, especially on loan, because they all have their own goals, they need to win games, not just develop players. I look at Bromley's roster, and they're currently fighting for promotion. Their top goal scorer is 32, has 9 years of NL experience in which he's reached double digit goals in every single season. Their second top scorer is also 32 and has a very similar resume. You can play guys like that who can practically guarantee you a goal every other week like they've done for nearly a decade, or you can go with Pepple who might one day be good, and if he is, it'll be for another team, and if he's not good, you might lose games, not get promoted, lose out on a massive payment, etc.

Feels like he's on the Justin Smith path, though I think JS has shown more than Pepple has. Agreed on the comment about hoping Cameron doesn't go to Luton; they're going to get relegated this year, and it's not like they're going to bring on a youth movement in the championship next year to try and win back promotion.

This is my bias speaking but I really think they are on different paths. I think smith ends up between a piette and johnston level player. 

I think pepple is more bair/bustos level. 

Incredibly harsh on pepple as hes literally contracted to a prem team but I think that once his contract is up, he goes back to the cpl or a low level in europe. I dont see genuine investment from luton into him, while i genuinely think nice sees JS as a future player and/or player they can sell on for a legit fee. 

[Aird25]

I don't remember Cameron standing out in matches against Pacific (which I suppose might be a good thing for a young defender) but can anyone that watched Vancouver more tell me about his strengths?

[InglewoodJack]

15 minutes ago, Aird25 said:

I don't remember Cameron standing out in matches against Pacific (which I suppose might be a good thing for a young defender) but can anyone that watched Vancouver more tell me about his strengths?

I haven’t seen much of him myself, but for those who have, how did a player who hasn’t stood out that much have been nominated as a finalist for best U21 in the league? Was it by default because he logged a bunch of minutes? I also wonder if the league is trying to get De Brienne some trials abroad too.

[InglewoodJack]

40 minutes ago, Bigandy said:

This is my bias speaking but I really think they are on different paths. I think smith ends up between a piette and johnston level player. 

I think pepple is more bair/bustos level. 

Incredibly harsh on pepple as hes literally contracted to a prem team but I think that once his contract is up, he goes back to the cpl or a low level in europe. I dont see genuine investment from luton into him, while i genuinely think nice sees JS as a future player and/or player they can sell on for a legit fee. 

The similarity that I see between them is both are owned by big teams that have loaned the players out to smaller teams who have a ton of good vets playing ahead of them and who have ambitions to win games, not just develop guys. Smith couldn’t crack the lineup at Rouen last year because older guys were ahead of him. Pepple was dropped from Grimsby when the team brought guys at the end of the transfer window to help their promotion push. Both ended up playing for their club’s second teams in very low tiers of their national pyramid, and no one knows for sure if it’s because of an inherent talent issue or if it’s just a case of a low priority player not being able to help his team win games off the jump. 

Edited November 3, 2023 by InglewoodJack

[Aird25]

8 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

I haven’t seen much of him myself, but for those who have, how did a player who hasn’t stood out that much have been nominated as a finalist for best U21 in the league? Was it by default because he logged a bunch of minutes? I also wonder if the league is trying to get De Brienne some trials abroad too.

Gazdov logged a bunch of minutes and wasn't nominated.

You've suggested the league is involved in outgoing transfers a few times. Is that true? I thought it would be clubs and agents

Edited November 3, 2023 by Aird25

[Bigandy]

3 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

The similarity that I see between them is both are owned by big teams that have loaned the players out to smaller teams who have a ton of good vets playing ahead of them and who have ambitions to win games, not just develop guys. Smith couldn’t crack the lineup at Rouen last year because older guys were ahead of him. Pepple was dropped from Grimsby when the team brought guys at the end of the transfer window to help their promotion push. Both ended up playing for their club’s second teams in very low tiers of their national pyramid, and no one knows for sure if it’s because of an inherent talent issue or if it’s just a case of a low priority player not being able to help his team win games off the jump. 

I see that and fully know im being bias in my response. 

Smith however is getting 90's in ligue 3 and made bench appearances for nice. He also was on loan to ligue 2 and played a bit there. It was unlucky that the best he could do if he wasnt playing was to drop down to the second team in div 5? I genuinely believe nice value him. Maybe his stock has dropped a bit but I think they would resign him today, even if its just to make a future profit. 

Pepple was directly loaned to division 5 though. Thats 3 levels of difference in where the clubs see each player. I believe luton would not resign pepple today though. 

[youllneverwalkalone]

21 minutes ago, Aird25 said:

I don't remember Cameron standing out in matches against Pacific (which I suppose might be a good thing for a young defender) but can anyone that watched Vancouver more tell me about his strengths?

He grew into the season, probably culminated in a stoppage time goal to win the last match I attended. I don't think he has a ton of technical or physical ability. He probably just stands out because of the minutes he played. That said, pro minutes make pro players, so he's worth keeping an eye on if he stays in the CPL.

[InglewoodJack]

15 minutes ago, Aird25 said:

Gazdov logged a bunch of minutes and wasn't nominated.

You've suggested the league is involved in outgoing transfers a few times. Is that true? I thought it would be clubs and agents

Just basing that off of Footyeh’s post- I think he’s mentioned that a few times. No clue how any of that works, but I would imagine that the league has some sort of connections with foreign leagues, more than agents who would be managing young, local CPL players would be. If Pepple, now maybe Cameron and apparently Nimick are all being scouted by Luton, if the CPL is putting quite a few guys in Scotland, I would assume there’s some sort of league connection to specific clubs/leagues, but I have no idea how that works.

[BearcatSA]

11 minutes ago, youllneverwalkalone said:

He grew into the season, probably culminated in a stoppage time goal to win the last match I attended. I don't think he has a ton of technical or physical ability. He probably just stands out because of the minutes he played. That said, pro minutes make pro players, so he's worth keeping an eye on if he stays in the CPL.

I really like his athleticism and that is a good foundation going forward as he develops his craft more.

[Aird25]

8 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

Just basing that off of Footyeh’s post- I think he’s mentioned that a few times. No clue how any of that works, but I would imagine that the league has some sort of connections with foreign leagues, more than agents who would be managing young, local CPL players would be. If Pepple, now maybe Cameron and apparently Nimick are all being scouted by Luton, if the CPL is putting quite a few guys in Scotland, I would assume there’s some sort of league connection to specific clubs/leagues, but I have no idea how that works.

Interesting. I hadn't heard that. I know they both have the same UK based agent. So does Davie Norman. Nimick grew up in the UK. 

Edited November 3, 2023 by Aird25

[InglewoodJack]

7 minutes ago, Aird25 said:

Interesting. I hadn't heard that. I know they both have the same UK based agent. So does Davie Norman. Nimick grew up in the UK. 

Agent part is just speculation on my part- I have no clue. Looking at Davie Norman's agency (FullNinety?), they have one player worth 12M pounds at Leicester, and then a couple in the low millions, then the rest are all somewhere within the mid to low six figures. I don't know how deep an agency like that's connections are where they can get clients of theirs who aren't diamond in the rough, blue chip prospects, trials with premier league clubs. I would also imagine that premier league clubs who are starting to see Canada as a potential untapped market for low risk, potentially high reward players might not necessarily allocate the resources to scout players individually, so it might make more sense for them to maintain contact with the league itself so the CPL can tell them who might actually be worth scouting. Luton town isn't exactly a poor club, but I don't know that they're going to send a scout all the way to Langley, BC, or Halifax, NS to scout a player unless he was very, very special.

 

On the other hand, that agent you mentioned also reps Pepple, so maybe the connections do come from the agent. I have no clue.

[Footyeh]

5 hours ago, Dominic94 said:

Never a bad thing, seems like there’s nothing to lose.

If it works out we have everything to gain, if not it’s exposure. 
 

Are the U21’s really a step up from the CPL ?

No it's really not.  It's not like they play Premier League 2 either.  

[Dominic94]

4 hours ago, Footyeh said:

No it's really not.  It's not like they play Premier League 2 either.  

So the trial is probably for show and won’t lead to a transfer 

[narduch]