Vancouver Whitecaps News Thread & other media

Discussion in 'Vancouver Whitecaps' started by whiteisthecolour, Aug 20, 2010.

  1. OldFan2015

    OldFan2015 Member

    Nov 29, 2015
    Club:
    Vancouver Whitecaps
    Long ago I said that it seemed that Kerfoot would never change until this thing killed him at the gate. As long as they got there 20000 they were never going to change. Well, the ticket renewals took a massive beating this season, and viola, things are changing.

    Jeff Mallet runs the SF Giants and they are a top organization and have won 3 championships under his watch. So it was always incredible to see how the Caps were run which clearly meant Kerfoot was running the ship and Mallet was window dressing.

    Looking at the last 4 months, I would suggest that someone (garber, mallet , etc) had a long talk with Mr kerfoot and expressed grave concern. I would speculate that Mallet is calling the shots on this now because this is not a Kerfoot way.

    So now we have signed the biggest salary in their MLS history, a sporting director, Bobby is out in a management role, Furlong is gone, and now a new CEO who has legitimate credentials and would not have come cheaply to be willing to leave a good career in Europe to come to Vancouver. Between Cavellini and these two new managers we are looking at 3 - 4 million dollars per year coming right out of the ownerships wallet.

    I hope this new CEO had the diligence to call Paul Barber to get the pros and cons of working for this ownership team before making a decision, and getting some assurances he would not be hitting a brick wall like Barber did.

    These are big and significant changes. Its sad they had to be at the precipice of extinction to get here (one more year of this shit show and they may have had movement talks).

    These are, however, very encouraging. The owners have spent some dough, and the comical front office now has professional people in decision making positions. I hope they ship out Lewis too, but if she counts the beans the way they want they may keep her as she knows the drill. As long she is not making important decisions anymore, it will be ok.


    This is like an expansion team all over again. I have to say I am highly encouraged at this change as this is a completely different style of operation than we have seen for 10 years.

    PS - MDS was not hired by either of these two new managers so he will be on a short leash I would think. If he doesnt perform by June he may get the sack and they bring in their own guy with an extensive top division resume. Reminds me a bit of Teitur as he was hired before Barber/Soehn regime and they stabbed him as soon as they could get away with it.
     
  2. hot potato

    hot potato Member+

    Feb 21, 2014
    Club:
    Vancouver Whitecaps
    i want to know why you have to parrot all my prior comments-- but its nice that others are having epiphanys LOL- joking of course, since you have been saying this for several years, alongwith a few others like myself

    the 2 biggest reasons:

    1. MLS Commissioner, don garber, visiting vancouver in september, 2019 and having meetings with the Club- laying down the law, i suspect (just like he did in columbus, montreal and chicago; his next has to be colorado)

    2. minority owner, jeff mallett, visibly taking over the sinking ship and giving stability, direction, sound professional decisions and seemingly hiring soccer-smart people with impressive resumes - hopefully, he becomes the majority owner- its nice to have a FACE of the ownership group that truly cares about the Club and is a proven winner with the San Fran Giants MLB, made billions for Yahoo and is worth north of $750 mill (and he was born in North Vancouver!!)

    hopefully more IS to come so the franchise can live up to its motto
    OUR ALL. OUR HONOR
     
  3. hot potato

    hot potato Member+

    Feb 21, 2014
    Club:
    Vancouver Whitecaps
    5 THINGS I HAVE BEEN IMPRESSED WITH SINCE THE END OF 2019 SEASON:

    1, signing of Canadian international striker, lucas cavallini

    2. not signing loanee, Michael chirinos (another mediocre player and we don't need more of that)

    3. the signing of axel Schuster as sporting director

    4. the hiring of mark pannes as CEO

    5. the ownership face and community connection of jeff mallet

    the foundation is finally being laid for a much better franchise that is PROFESSIONALLY run

    impressed- lets see what new players arrive prior to season starting
     
  4. OldFan2015

    OldFan2015 Member

    Nov 29, 2015
    Club:
    Vancouver Whitecaps
    They did get a MASSIVE pass by the media on that women's report and Ciara got dismissed after one day of short interviews. Don't forget their attitude towards that and how it took fan walkouts for them to even notice it.

    Only Daphne Braham at the Sun and Bob Mackin at the Breaker actually wrote blunt and frank pieces about this report. The rest did lip service and moved onto the next issue ASAP. Matt Sekeres on 1040 did an interview with Ciara that could qualify as material for a course on "bullying a victim 101"

    THe media in this city are beholden to the wealthy people that Kerfoot hangs with (billionaires do business together) so dont stop holding them to the fire if needed. JJ Adams and his ilk won't do it. He tried to be social justice warrior by meeting with Ciara but has been 100% quiet or complicit or minimal since then.

    The issue is dead and buried to the Caps and the media, but don't forget how they handled this. Let's hope the new people in charge view life differently.
     
  5. BearcatSA

    BearcatSA Member

    Jan 15, 2008
    Canada
    I think the Pannes hiring is a huge step for this club. Combined with Schuster, I finally feel that the club is getting a proper, accountable leadership structure, not someone's buddy or legacy tenured people being maintained in leadership positions as the club underachieved both off the field as well as on.

    Fingers crossed.
     
  6. OldFan2015

    OldFan2015 Member

    Nov 29, 2015
    Club:
    Vancouver Whitecaps
    The FO is much better, no question. Shipping out Bobby and Furlong retiring is a big deal.

    But in saying that, you know who is still the owner and still calling the shots. These more professional managers will still have to operate under the concrete ceiling he puts there as far as expenditures. Optimism is good, but I will have to see some results and so far it looks like they are still living under the old spending ways and using MLS funds for almost every dollar they can pay for salary.

    I do think that Pannes would not have taken this job without some assurances of resources, so that gives me optimism solely on that.
     
  7. BearcatSA

    BearcatSA Member

    Jan 15, 2008
    Canada
    Sadly, I still see this as a money ball operation but hopefully a much, much better applicant of this strategy in terms of getting more bang for buck with players. I doubt these guys would have let that alleged Brek Shea DP rollover happen, for instance.
     
  8. OldFan2015

    OldFan2015 Member

    Nov 29, 2015
    Club:
    Vancouver Whitecaps
    Moneyball for sure, but they will not get past the fringe of playoff spots if they dont kick in money above what MLS pays; thats just the size of it.

    last year's use of the salary cap was abysmal. So many players had to be shipped out that MDS personally brought in. He has to be on a very very short leash this year now that they are committed to giving him better players.
     
    ChrisSSBB repped this.
  9. hot potato

    hot potato Member+

    Feb 21, 2014
    Club:
    Vancouver Whitecaps
    with 2-3 more signings to come, we will see just how serious the owners are about being a playoff team- if nothing significant happens in the MF, we will end up below the critical line
     
  10. BearcatSA

    BearcatSA Member

    Jan 15, 2008
    Canada
    His leash has definitely shortened. His rapport with Cavallini could make or break his tenure, regardless of the nature of the team's results. My feeling is that apart from this team getting off to a cataclysmic start (TFC under Aron Winter in 2012), he'll be here for the duration of this season. I liked how the guys didn't quit on him when the playoffs were drifting out of sight in the summer last year, fwiw. However, I take a lot of what he says with a grain of salt.
     
  11. hot potato

    hot potato Member+

    Feb 21, 2014
    Club:
    Vancouver Whitecaps
    Sad Note- GlassCity's twitter is being used by hackers taking accolades for the research he has done which has been always interesting and informative

    hope that GC doesn't just shut it all down as he has done a big service to us supporters
     
  12. OldFan2015

    OldFan2015 Member

    Nov 29, 2015
    Club:
    Vancouver Whitecaps
    sure he does the research and posts things he finds online. But man, he does a lot of BS speculation and fake rumours that undermine his credibility. A fine news feed though for us busy people who don't have time to find it ourselves.

    I miss the days when he had Bobby as his source; he did get a lot of scoops out there to keep the Caps buzz going. (I am aware he denied that here, but the timeline made it pretty clear it was someone who was around from Rennie to MDS and stopped providing info around the time Bobby stepped back after the McCormack letter).

    But hey, we will never know!
     
  13. hot potato

    hot potato Member+

    Feb 21, 2014
    Club:
    Vancouver Whitecaps
    ChrisSSBB repped this.
  14. BearcatSA

    BearcatSA Member

    Jan 15, 2008
    Canada
    LAFC unloaded USNT CB Walker Zimmerman for a bunch of allocation and an international spot, so I think they are looking elsewhere for another striker (with Bradley Wright-Phillips now on board).

    Something's going to happen regarding Montero's situation: he's still listed as a DP and they already have three others. I'll know the ownership and management is serious if they eat the cap hit and just do the buyout before the cap compliance deadline (unless Pannes has some creative financing and other voodoo he can put into play)
     
  15. hot potato

    hot potato Member+

    Feb 21, 2014
    Club:
    Vancouver Whitecaps
    there is ABSOLUTELY NOWAY that this ownership and FO group buys out Montero's last year- it would cost the MLS salary budget almost GULP- $1 mill USD with nothing to show for it but another DP spot-- and there is no way we get another DP at this time, anyways

    a loan out would be the best solution and the Caps would pay some of the salary-- but what MLS team would take a flyer /pay $$$ on fredy ?? I think he stays and hopefully can nick us a few goals as a sub- its another brek shea year
     
  16. hot potato

    hot potato Member+

    Feb 21, 2014
    Club:
    Vancouver Whitecaps
    some soccer pundits are giving the Caps a 11% chance of making the playoffs-- sounds right to me, but maybe a little too high-- if we get 2 significant MFs, maybe we can move the needle to 25%

    reading between the lines of what the FO are saying, they see this as a 2-3 year project so we supporters might see progress from 11th place to 9th for 2020

    getting young players of 19-21 is an investment scheme- buy low, sell high- only new owners will change that vision for the Club- a MLS Cup will be as long away as the Canucks have had in the NHL for winning the Stanley Cup
     
  17. OldFan2015

    OldFan2015 Member

    Nov 29, 2015
    Club:
    Vancouver Whitecaps
    11% seems about right. They would have to over achieve to get there. It still boils down to whether Kerfoot will invest his own money into salaries beyond a few hundred grand . That answer is still a hard no.

    They also are almost out of Davies transfer money (although more may be coming based on his bonus structure). Which means, more loans and free transfers are coming the next 24 months.
     
  18. BearcatSA

    BearcatSA Member

    Jan 15, 2008
    Canada
    I was under the assumption that the DP cap hit (the DP spot is irrelevant because they have their full complement of 3 DPs) would be freed up and give them the money needed to maybe get the midfielder they need. That's what they really need here.
     
  19. tm13

    tm13 Member

    Jan 15, 2008
    Rocky Mountains
    #1894 tm13, Feb 20, 2020
    Last edited: Feb 20, 2020
    Won 2-0 against the Revs in pre-season. Both Ali and Cav scored. Montero assisted on one and drew the foul for the other. Good to see Freddy involved.
     
  20. hot potato

    hot potato Member+

    Feb 21, 2014
    Club:
    Vancouver Whitecaps
    are we seeing the fall of dajome ?? the game vs Portland, he was basically invisible- doesn't bode well for another MDS recruitment
     
  21. hot potato

    hot potato Member+

    Feb 21, 2014
    Club:
    Vancouver Whitecaps
    and the DMF owuso cant even enter the country and the Serbian CD has a long-term injury and isn't in the country- can MDS get it right with new recruits ??

    cava was an easy no-brainer, but this is year 2 and MDS is showing a lack of judgement
     
  22. tm13

    tm13 Member

    Jan 15, 2008
    Rocky Mountains
    2-1 win against Minnesota to wrap up pre-season and now on to the 29th.
    Both Cavalini and Montero scored.
     
  23. hot potato

    hot potato Member+

    Feb 21, 2014
    Club:
    Vancouver Whitecaps
    the Caps surprised me in how well they played as a unit and not launching so many long, high balls- a lot better than 1 year ago
     
  24. tm13

    tm13 Member

    Jan 15, 2008
    Rocky Mountains
    Here is hoping they can do that regularly.
    As much as I don't like the 4-5-1 formation it is the one best suited for weaker teams (like us) to stay in the game against better opponents. As long as we can maintain possession more we can reduce the other teams chances
     
  25. BearcatSA

    BearcatSA Member

    Jan 15, 2008
    Canada
    I'm hoping that the preseason performances transfer into the start of the regular season.

    Cavallini up top is big difference maker.
     

Share This Page