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Happy for Liam to be back amongst the goals. The football Kilmanock were playing was pretty dire at times. Be good for his confidence. Come back and get a reset. .... 😁

Two goals from David at 74 and 77 minutes to put his side up 3-1.

Saying you feel 0% Canadian when you were born in Canada, lived there for 16 years, play for the national team, have family who live here and you now live here and the team that just signed you did it under the context that you are a Canadian. Then you go and say you feel 0% Canadian when Canadian soccer fans already have to put up with constant disrespect from abroad but here in Canada basically on a daily basis. It's kinda feels like he's embarrassed of us. He's embarrassed of being Canadian. I'm practicing forgiveness because I think he will see the light and I'm trying to put as much positive energy out as possible but I can understand completely why this comment stings Canadians and Canadian soccer fans because make no mistake about it. Regardless of what Lucas would like to believe, he is far from being 0% Canadian

Ignore the person above making up statistics because they don't understand how math works. We're 14 points back with 2 official windows (March and June), plus an out of window (May), plus another potential out of window (July). If El Salvador does nothing in March, Herdman said Canada are looking to gain 10 points in March. A couple examples would be 2 wins over (Jamaica, Trinidad) or (Panama, Curacao). If we win those games we can beat some minnows in May and ride into June almost level with El Salvador. However, El Salvador have said they're looking to play some mid level European nations in March and if those matches are for FIFA points, we can pass them in the March window quite comfortably.

Well, if Mediapro did indeed have a role in making this happen, that suggests to me that the Mediapro deal is even better than we all think it is or may be.

Team for 2020 confirmed, players already being scouted, plans in place - this might just be the real deal. 🙂

Amazing news !!!!! Breza is an amazing GK! So excited for him! He should be the starter for the U23 team. It’s a shame they pick Pantemis all the time and guy doesn’t even play! Breza has been playing and playing well and he doesn’t get a call up! It’s a joke!

The main takeaway is clearly the lack of dynamic attackers on the field. I have little doubt that Borges would have shown more and I'm really disappointed in his lack of chances. Why is Jayden Nelson getting a run out? Let's be honest, I know people want to praise him because he's young but he's clearly not at this level yet. He's barely even played in the US 3rd division. When Davies was playing at that age it was because he belonged. Adekugbe was really poor. It's now clear why we've avoided him like the plague for other options at LB. Didic I cannot understand the hype for the life of me. He wasn't even a top 5 Canadian CB in CPL last year and he's sloppy. Now suddenly at 25 we're all pretending like he's some young prospect that is going to break into MLS... it's not happening. Good news is that the guys who I would expect to actually feature looked pretty good (Osorio, Piette).

It feels like Tabla is playing catch up, but let's keep in mind he is the same age as Bair and Schaffleburg, and younger than Tristen Borges. In his very young career he has already played 30 times for Barca B, arguably one of the best second teams in world football (and they play against men btw - so not exactly reserve football) and 25 times for Montreal in MLS. Sprinkle in a handful of Voyageur's Cup games and a few Albacate games in the Spsnish Segunda and you are looking at a young player who is still ahead of his peers in terms of experience.

I am here simply to trot out the obvious play on words for the fan groups: Athletic supporters. I'll see myself out ...

I don't even need to listen to this to know people are about to make something out of nothing. This is my perspective on it. Context: soccer Comment: "I am zero percent Canadian" Translation: My parents are both Latinos and this cultural influence has ultimately shaped my football.

Anyone else think Iceland played really hard for that win? Even to the point of time wasting. The Icelandic players are not flashy but tough as nails and know how to use that to their advantage. They were knocking our players off the ball, clutching, dominant in the air and on set pieces. Its no surprise that their NT has had success vs top teams. We have to up our compete level and our set pieces. There is a massive drop off from our A & B forwards. For vets,Tesho and Tos were very poor. Playing minnows like we did in CL over the past 2 years will not give us an accurate assessment of our players/team/coach. I say we go for it in March/June and if we fail we go down fighting. We will have plenty of games vs minnows if we fail.

Another one for the "parrot" who preached for USL USL sold 3 players in 12 years in comparison...

I could see Brym starting and bring on Ricketts for final 25-15 mins. At the same, I could see Ricketts starting and bring on Brym as the first forward sub. Regardless, I think the first sub will be Brym or Ricketts, whoever gets the start. Me personally, I prefer the Ricketts start.

Waterman is more versatile. He can play CB/FB/CDM/CM. Could be a great depth player that can be slotted in all over the place.

I think too many people think of Haiti as “that team we crapped the bed against in the Gold Cup”, and not “that team that won Costa Rica’s group in the Gold Cup and then took Mexico to extra time (only to be beaten on some kind of BS call if I remember correctly) and then got two more draws against Costa Rica in the Nations League”. Those same people probably think of Curaçao as “some Caribbean minnow” instead of “that team that finished ahead of 2 would be future hex teams (Honduras and El Salvador) in the Gold Cup group stage then finished only 1 point behind Costa Rica in the Nations League group stage, despite getting a draw in Costa Rica”. Hex is very hard, but I think the lower route is very, very hard. And yeah I think the math was a good illustration. It feels like a lot of people think that if you have a 90% chance in round 1, 90% in round 2, 90% in round 3, 90% in round 4, and 90% in round 5, that you have a 90% chance. But you don’t. You have a 59% chance. And of course, we don’t have a 90% chance at each round in the lower route.

They will need a champion on the inside to negotiate a good stadium deal with OSEG and Jeff is the man for that. No surprise here.

in the end he simply needs to avoid making those comments when hes a national team player

Not sure what the Ottawa Athletic Supporters would think of that ...

The only thing about Cavallini saying he's not Canadian that would worry me is if it turns into him not playing full tilt for the NT, and under Herdman I strongly believe that if you are not fully committed he would drop you. Cav has had a checkered past with the NT and his commitment to it, and even if he says it's got nothing to do with Canada and that it was personal reasons, I would be lying if I said I wasn't concerned. That being said, no NT player shows more passion for the game than this guy (except maybe another 'non-Canadian' - Scotty Arfield). I would guess Cavallini and Canada are a marriage of convenience of sorts. I think he likes playing internationally and realizes Canada was/is his only option, and at the same time the only way he knows how to play is 100% commitment so even if he doesn't 'feel' Canadian he can't help but give everything to the cause. Last bit: I do think it's pretty tone deaf to say something like that in a presser for your new Canadian team. You don't have to lie but you also don't have to be so blunt (DISCLAIMER: I have not seen the interview nor do I speak Spanish).

And how do you know any of them would have done any better? Nelson is unpredictable, the others are decent players but not as quick either. I would have been bothered if Herdman hadn't rolled the dice in that situation.

Although it went against the prevailing group think on here at the time, having a relatively low salary cap is one of the things that CanPL have got right and that will have been from examining what went wrong previously and elsewhere. They are not a carbon copy of MLS, but they have also clearly emulated certain aspects of the MLS business model to a greater extent than the strange fixation over club vs franchise distinctions would suggest at first glance. Doing that and apparently insisting on ten year commitments up front has minimized the risk of the weaker links on paid attendance falling by the wayside. Now they appear to be crossing the Rubicon on having a club from a larger league involved and people seem to see players being signed by MLS as a triumph rather than a loss things are beginning to move in the direction I thought they got wrong initially. Being linked to Atletico Madrid would add credibility rather than undermine the status of the league by making it look like a "development league".

Welp CONCACAF qualifying is stupid

I'm not a fan of the Fury name either, despite its Winnipeg history.

Except when he’s blocking Brym’s shots....

Ya. Atletico has essentially been the 3rd most successful team in La Liga over the last 10 years. They are the last club to beat the Barcelona-Real hegemony. They have been in 2 Champions League finals in the last decade. It's not even close. They are the 3rd biggest club in Spain by a wide margin.

Would you leave the dead horse alone please? Thank you

To be fair, it take time though. We don't need to say "Montreal" to know where the Canadiens play. That comes with time.* *Took me a while to learn that Juventus played in Torino and not in "Juventus" when I was a football newbie

Possibly but there are rumours out there that a bunch of the ex-Fury players haven't signed anywhere else because of this. We know Haworth and JGL are gone, but who else? Team front office logistics are a concern but considering everything is there, in place from the Fury, it's possible that the new club works with OSEG or brings on some of the staff. It's tight but I think it's possible.

I can remember when the value of our entire squad might have been €6 M and that wasn’t too long ago either. How things have come along in Canadian soccer.

Where are my naysayers? 9M is pure robbery

Or maybe Zorica is coming home to join Attardo at Valour😎

Tbf to Ben, I don't think he is in charge of pricing (thouhg I might be wrong), and he was very responsive to feedback and questions. I've heard the issue is simply resources/funding for the marketing side. I mean it's flabberghasting that they needed fan volunteers to distribute ssh scarves at the game for example. When they did try a concerted attempt at bringing people out - albeit with free tickets - it was a huge success (I am talking about the Voy Cup game against Montreal). That game showed the potential, and it truly was a top 10 all time live soccer experience for me - in terms of drama and atmosphere

If there is widespread pessimism amongst At Madrid fans, and I report it, that is not the same as being fundamentally pessimistic about CPL. You do have to consider that if At Madrid were to have a rough patch in terms of results, and their revenue fell, they could respond by calling in all bets and pulling out of investments that meant less to their immediate fan and sponsorship base. That said, I suppose there is no reason to think that the committment of a foreign investor is any less solid than that of a local investor. You could argue they have less engagement with the local context. But history has proven that even locals can abandon a project quickly, that leaving your own neighbours without a team need not be a problem for some.

Take no notice, it's just the never ending trolling he does against CPL.

That could certainly be as much about waiting for his preferred destination or even forge waiting for a decent offer but agree in general. It's a positive start for the league. If as many as those 5 names move up somewhere that's a big win, even if it means losing some of the leagues best players. Chances for others to step up. We will see how deep our talent pool really lies.

It is telling that Borges is still with CPL. It will take time for CPL to establish itself as a credible league, so that teams in other leagues will give some weight to success in CPL when evaluating players. Not there yet, but as CPL graduates prosper and CPL players play for national teams, it will come.

with vito mannone gone, minnesota picked up tyler miller from LAFC: https://www.mnufc.com/post/2020/01/16/goalkeeper-tyler-miller-joins-mnufc positive development on dayne's side of things, miller can be quite shaky and is a clear downgrade from mannone.

Fordyce Ready To Embrace Utility Man Role With Valour FC https://northerntribune.ca/valour-fc-daryl-fordyce-utility-player/ "Over the last season, that’s probably the most versatile I’ve had to be at Sligo. I’ve played holding mid, attacking mid, tip of the diamond, number nine, so again it’s totally down to Rob and Damian. Whatever plan they come up with, whatever formation and system they want to play, I’ll do it to the best of my ability. "

Since I don't know enough about any city to come up with names like "Valour", "Wanderers", "Forge", or "Cavalry", I figure it will just be a random word. So I found a random word generator to come up with my guess as to what the team name will be. I took the first one it generated, and the winner is... Corpse FC

Ottawa CPL 2020 = Ott v York9 road trip for me too.

Herdman must find a way to get Osorio more involved so he can dictate the game. Too much passing sideways and backwards in general from us. We have to start being brave and playing forward. Liked what I have seen from Brym. As I expected he'd be the only player trying to take players on the dribble. He's had a bit of success with it. Very curious to see who Herdman calls to try and change the game. One of Borges or Nelsen I think may be called upon.

Man our defending is awful..lol@crepeau there. Piss poor

The Panama/Costa Rica golden age is done I think.. incoming Canada, Curaçao and Haiti

This sounds right, but keep in mind the following [FIFA Statues 2015, Article 82(1]): "The Executive Committee shall be responsible for issuing regulations for organising international matches and competitions between representative teams and between Leagues, Club and/or scratch teams. No such match or competition shall take place without the prior permission of FIFA, the Confederations and/or the Members in accordance with the Regulations Governing International Matches." El Salvador and Iceland are members playing on another member's (USA's) territory. I think what Obinna may be asking is something like, can these members make money off of a non-FIFA-sanctioned match? I would think that is really why the above rule is in place, frankly -- so that FIFA can charge levies on its members. Of course, two countries can always do whatever they want -- FIFA isn't going to physically stop them. But FIFA gives itself basically unlimited power to do what it wants so you probably don't want to piss them off. EDIT: Thinking about it a bit more, the above Article may also simply exist to ensure that only FIFA is able to sanction official matches, rather than to stop non-official matches. The story seems to be that El Salvador, Iceland, and the USA signed off on this being a tier 1 (or national 'A', whatever you wanna call it) international match, and that El Salvador wants to renege but it's too late so they are asking FIFA to us its power [Ibid., Article 84(2)] to make this a non official match. I'm speculating a lot, of course, but I find this fun. I don't know what FIFA cares about in this situation. It probably just wants money from this match even if it's not really a money spinning tie. The thing is, the host country is the one that does the final accounting of the match, so the US is a player if money is a factor. Perhaps I'm being too dramatic with my analysis, but it's easy to imagine this type of thing to be pretty cloak & dagger.

Yeah, because CONCACAF and FIFA would never allow anything shady.

So to summarize the last couple pages, there is no new info about a possible Ottawa team in CPL.