Discuss on the Island Games results page, not here. You might not want to watch after the 87th minute.
Patiently waiting for another Canadian player to join Dunn this tournament in proving they can play at a higher level than this.... So far, no one has stepped up like Borges or Attardo from last year. I think Zator or Didic is the closest.
I think Zator is just as solid as last year. The defense could use more speed but for me Zator should at least get MLS minutes at this point like Joel Waterman. Hoping Didic isn't hurt too seriously
CPL to be broadcast in Africa Looks like @mediaprocanada is still going full steam ahead for @CPLsoccer broadcast expansion!https://t.co/UE4xT1jcpz#CanPL #IslandGames— Northern Tribune (@northtribune) August 25, 2020
There's an article on the CPL website right now showing how many U21 minutes each team has wracked up so far toward their 250 minute total season requirement (prorated down from the usual 1000 minutes per season). My question is, what happens to a team that fails to reach the target?
Confirmed by MediaPro! CPL is now broadcast across Sub-Sahara Africa! MEDIAPRO Canada has sealed a distribution deal with StarTimes, the digital operator serving some 13 million pay-TV subscribers across 47 territories across sub-Saharan Africa, for coverage of the @CPLsoccer #IslandGames tournament. Details: https://t.co/zZ1jI9Y1AX#CanPL pic.twitter.com/iTAvgQILIZ— MEDIAPRO Canada (@mediaprocanada) August 25, 2020
The deal with Fox Sports for the US and Caribbeans is confirmed. The first game was the highest rated on Fox Sports that day! "A total of 23 first-stage games will be broadcast across FS2 and Fox Soccer Plus, with live coverage beginning last week. The first game, the fixture between Pacific FC and York9 FC, was the highest-rated program of the day on FS2".— MEDIAPRO Canada (@mediaprocanada) August 26, 2020
Interview with CPL Commissioner David Clanachan with a Quebec media Island Games Racism European clubs interested in CPL The Quebec market - expansion in the province CPL helping young talents - level of play Champions League and Canadian Championship Division 3 restructuring - CPL involvement How does a MLS U23 league affects CPL - views on North American Academies CPL launching a Women's League Parity in CPL IMFC RADIO, 27 AOÛT 2020 AVEC LE COMMISSAIRE DE LA CPL DAVID CLANACHAN. https://t.co/yK4Oah3nFC— Le Podcast des Blue Jays (@PodcastBlueJays) August 27, 2020
Still so many players in CPL who look sideways or backwards when they get the ball. So few players who look to choose the forward option on a consistent basis. This has to be coached out of young Canadian players. Scan the field before receiving the ball, look to combine forward. So many Canadian players take the slow, lazy choice of the safe ball, rather than the risk of an offensively dynamic combination. I would lose my mind if I was a manager of some of these teams.
I hear you, I think they will be coach out of this eventually and you can tell Cavalry and Forge are different. Also, with L10 going under CPL umbrella, teams will be able to point that out to coaches from L10 and eventually PLSQ so they arrive more ready at CPL. The D2 level missing is showing as things progress. You can tell that some of the guys shouldn't starting or play in CPL but are too strong for D3.
When Stephen Hart used to coach the CMNT, he would yell from the sideline "ideas!" when players received the ball. That was a group of players who were largely devoid of thinking or playing in a dynamic offensive manner. It showed, they didnt qualify for the hex. We have some players now in the CMNT who have bucked the program's traditional history and can make the correct offensive runs, can take players one v one and look to combine. However, when I watched Edmonton vs Valour today, how many players operated that way? Aleman is the only one who at least consistently tried. When I watched Valour vs Wanderers, the offensive players from Wanderers who have that spark are all foreign: Garcia, Marshall, Morelli, Bent etc. If I was a youth coach I would reward those players who look forward and take necessary risks. I remember watching Roy Keane when he was a pundit a few years ago. He was criticizing (as he does) Man Utd players (when the team was struggling) for making the easy lateral pass, not attempting the difficult forward pass, players shying away from receiving the ball in difficult positions. It seems clear that players in Canada are taught to try to maintain possession above all else, no matter how ineffective that possession is at times. We don't need another Russell Teibert protege in the CPL. Enough with the "Safe pass" which results in no penetration and then eventually ends up getting booted up the field by a defender.
Interesting talks going on in the Voyageurs Forum regarding this tweet I’m hearing from sources within #VWFC FO, that ownership was looking to sell the club last offseason, but that COVID had obviously changed everything. Also told that Pannes’ hiring/firing was related to this situation, as he was meant to oversee the transition.— 𝕲𝖑𝖆𝖘𝖘𝕮𝖎𝖙𝖞 (@GlassCityFC) August 27, 2020 If the Whitecaps ownership does indeed sell their franchise back to the league, what does the league does with it? Seek an ownership committed to keep the club in Vancouver Issue with location Lease with the British Columbia for BC Place expires in 2027 The city had refused to give prime Waterfront land for a new Whitecaps stadium Sell the franchise to a US group willing to pay a steep price for the franchise & build a brand new stadium. Sub questions How does it view the Vancouver market vs US markets wanting an MLS franchise? Would MLS resist pressure to move the franchise in the US? If the Whitecaps are gone, what does it means for the Vancouver market? Owners sell the franchise and cash out? This would lead to a new ownership launching a CPL club in Vancouver Owners sell the franchise and "re-launch a club" in CPL One way or another, CPL would simply move in and create a rivalry with Pacific and the future Fraser Valley team while there would be potential against Alberta clubs.
Vancouver is actually a really good soccer market that has been treated very badly by the current owners. I don't see any reason they couldn't find an ownership group to keep it local and do it right. Done properly Vancouver should be able to sell out their 27 000 reduced capacity. The stadium issue can be resolved one way or the other by 2027 I'm sure. I'd think MLS would prefer to sell expansion fees to any potential US market over moving an existing team there. If the Whitecaps did ever move, a CPL team would be inevitable.
Indeed. Back in NASL days, Vancouver was more popular than the Sounders and Timbers. They also regularly sold out Empire Field during A-League/USL days. With a proper ownership group that didn't make horrible decisions on and off the field, I would not be surprised if they rivaled the Sounders in attendance.
The ownership group would not be selling the team back to the league. That's not how it works. If they weren't able to find an ownership group, MLS would help them find new owners, but it's not going to involve MLS buying the team. The only reason why Chivas was sold to the league and why RSL may do so was because they were forcing the owners out of the league. They aren't anywhere near that with the Whitecaps' owners and the owners are interested in selling the team. I'm not sure why the location is an issue. MLS knew when they expanded to Vancouver that it would not involve a waterfront stadium and that the team would use BC Place as their home stadium. While there are certainly valid reasons why an owner would want their own stadium, they have a pretty sweetheart deal with BC Place and I wouldn't be surprised if they just renewed the lease with them. Whatever the case, it's not going to be a factor in whether or not an MLS team remains in Vancouver. There is an approximately 0% chance that any sale would involve a relocation out of Vancouver. With a metro population of almost 3 million, Vancouver is a large market even by US standards and the team has been well supported by fans and local business since its founding.
Thanks for the clarifications, I got confused between the 2 scenarios I was raising the location because I know that Franscesco Aquillini, owner of the Vancouver Canucks, was interested in owning the Caps and Lions to emulate MLSE in Toronto. Location was an issue and more specifically, not being able to buy BC Place from the province unlike Rogers who were able to acquire the Skydome for the Blue Jays. The current owners of the Caps already said they wanted out of BC place once the lease is up which indicates that they aren't thrilled with the current terms which I heard were pretty bad and where most of the revenues stays with the province. Imagine if they had their own stadium with the amount of fans they drew controlling all their revenues - now we're talking about a different club I don't see the city giving the location that they want (Prime waterfront land) so they might be forced out of downtown (Burnaby) or stay in the stadium where they aren't getting the revenue. Their deal with BC is very different than what MLSE got for BMO Field from the City of Toronto. Understandingly, BC Place, while gorgeous is a problem as long as the province refuse to give the same deal as TFC currently have which they won't. This makes the more intriguing that tweet claiming that they might want out altogether. I'm just thinking about how realistic is it for the Caps to stay long term at BC Place because they obviously don't think so, neither did Aquillini. Just to give you some context, Saputo was NOT happy about MLS forcing Montreal playing how games this early in March. This forces them to rent the provincial-owned Olympic Stadium and he said that it was a guarantee loss unless over half of the tickets were sold (61k capacity). It can't be any better for the Caps at BC Place. At the level MLS is operating, the Caps can barely keep up as it is, how realistic is it for them to stay at BC Place long term under the current terms and grow the franchise? I don't know the answer to that but it's not like an Alphonso Davies will fall on their laps from Edmonton (this time around FC Edmonton would keep the next one). Metro Vancouver is a tough place in terms of land and real estate. CPL wanted Surrey but they weren't easy to deal with. (Surrey is projected to surpass Vancouver in population by the end of this decade). Modest revenues (in Canadian dollars), expanses in US dollars, annually losing money while in a terrible lease...this gives me flashbacks of the Nordiques all over again. Maybe, threatening the Whitecaps to move is what will force the city to help them with a location. The province won't save them.
I'm not sure how accurate this is. Vancouver is comparable to Seattle and the Sounders are able to keep up with the rest of the league. With competent owners, I don't see why Vancouver couldn't be at the same level as the Sounders. Of course, not owning the stadium will make it harder as the league grows, but getting 30-40k attendance per game and the associated merchandise and sponsorship dollars that would involve would put them above a lot of MLS teams. I don't think threatening Vancouver is going to do anything.. The Grizzlies peaced out of Vancouver back in the 90s and the city/province didn't really bat an eye at it. The city/province also just told FIFA to go pound sand with the World Cup, I really don't see them folding in front of MLS.
Unlike the Sounders, Whitecaps have all their revenues in Canadian dollars while having their expanses in US dollars but yeah, the key is "competent" ownership but the stadium issue matters because even the Ottawa Fury had a much better deal than BC Place. Just like Aquillini, being stuck with BC Place without a comparable deal as TFC can be a turn off
Just knock down BC Place and build a new stadium with a retractable roof. Should only cost US$1 billion or so.
The Whitecaps don't need to become a top revenue team to be viable and enjoyable. If they were run well, they could easily sell out their 27 000 seats and have the resources to be competitive. For a stadium, if they wanted out of BC Place but couldn't get waterfront ($), what's the transportation situation to other parts of the city? I don't know metro Vancouver well except that it's divided up into a bunch of different cities instead of being amalgamated. I doubt it would matter to the club whether their stadium was technically in Vancouver, Burnaby, Surrey, etc. so long as it was easily accessible to most fans.
I thought Empire Field was a great location which is in Burnaby. It comes down to the team's willingness to leave the downtown area which they should if they can't get the location or better terms. As I said earlier, Saputo hates being forced to rent the Olympic stadiums for game he knows he won't break even (Outside of Champions League) which requires over ~35k. With the Whitecaps being under similar terms (not like MLSE with BMO or even OSEG with TD Place), their venue situation is really bad and I understand why they want out. I don't see how they'd be in a better position to break even at BC Place, than Montreal at Olympic Stadium even with 27k ticket sold every games which I doubt is even enough. Initially, it could work but where MLS is trending, if you don't increase your spending you're going to be left behind and indirectly test your base patience...Status quo leaves little room for growth. But yeah, bad management is not helpful when you look at how they spent the Alphonso Davies money...it's not like a Davies will fall on their lap every 2-3 years,,, I don't envy their situation, it's not looking good
Vancouver's transit is pretty good for a West Coast city. This is particularly true if you are going to BC Place. Vancouver's SkyTrain uses a spoke system that is centered on BC Place, so if you live in one of the suburbs, it is super easy to hop on a train for a 30-60 minute ride and end up with about a 5-10 min walk from the nearest station to BC place. The problem is, the suburbs themselves aren't very well connected. So if you live in Richmond and want to get to Surrey, it's a 30 minute Skytrain ride into downtown Vancouver, then another 30 minute ride back out to Surrey. Of course, that's unless you live in North Vancouver, or south of Surrey. SkyTrain doesn't go there and while there is a plan to extend the Expo line to Langley (south of Surrey), there aren't any plans to extend to North Vancouver. All that is why the Whitecaps want to be in Vancouver proper. Not to mention the suburbs are really just bedroom communities. Even Surrey, which Robert likes to say will have a larger population than Vancouver, is primarily just housing for people that work in Vancouver. They only just created a city center (seriously, within the last decade or so) and it is only has a few skyscrapers, but less expensive land is likely to start attracting more construction in the next few decades.
^ Thanks. So it sounds like BC Place is the place to be unless they want to spend big bucks on their own downtown stadium. And I get the Surrey thing. Personally, I always view cities by their metro areas. It makes more sense than worrying about whether "Vancouver" is technically made up of a bunch of independent cities or has amalgamated into one big city of Vancouver. It's the same number of potential fans either way and transportation (whether roads or public transit) generally treats everything like one big city anyway.