Grizzly

All three Canadians in the starting lineup for Orlando tonight

2 hours ago, shamrock said:

Kennedy starts for Austria against #last Horn. 6 minutes in. 

Kennedy played 90. Klagenfurt tied it up on a stoppage time goal for a 2-2 finish. A loss to a fellow relegation threatened side would have been terrible for them especially after a run of pretty good results brought them out of the relegation zone. They are presently tied with 3 other teams, 3 points above the relegation zone.

37 minutes ago, Big_M said:

Apparently gk Mario Gerges of Egyptian origins signed a 5 year contract with a team in the first tier of Egypt..played plsq with Longueuil and Dynamo and last year pdl with TSS..in the winter had a trial with Deportivo Guadalajara in Spain 

https://www.uslleaguetwo.com/roster_players/24327079

An article on him: https://aftn.ca/pro-dream-drives-quebecer-mario-gerges-to-head-back-to-bc-with-tss-rovers/

Neither Tesho or Henry belong on that list. If they had good seasons they could maybe work their way into the top 5 but they would not be the players I am betting on to be in the top 5 this year. 

1 hour ago, shamrock said:

They play in the topflight?

Anyway since he was on a 2-year contract a transferfee must have been paid. Must have made a couple of bucks for FCE then. 

Finished in 7th last year in the top flight. Nice move up for Boakai, hopefully he can get his career back on track.

On 7/20/2018 at 3:44 PM, Toje said:

Yann Fillion is on loan until the end of the season with FC Aarau.

https://www.fcz.ch/de/profis/news/2018/yann-fillion-wechselt-leihweise-zum-fc-aarau/

This is a pretty promising move for Fillion. FC Aarau is in the 2nd tier Challenge League but are one of the bigger teams there. His competition at keeper is Steven Deana who is a veteran of the Swiss 2nd tier and started the first game but if he gets some chances and takes advantage of them he will be playing at a decent level with possibilities of moving to the Swiss 1st tier Super League especially given that he is owned by FC Zurich of that league. We definitely need some keeper depth for the national team so hopefully he will be one to watch.

Same level but a bit of an upgrade in club.

10 hours ago, Jason said:

I'd say this is pretty bang on accurate.  Hopefully the player does have some education or skills to fall back in the likely event they don't make it.  The sad cases to me are the ones who are 30+ still hanging around in 4th division Germany or lower divisions in Scandinavia.  I would guess most of them don't have a lot other career options. 

The majority of German 4th division players are either studying or have another job on the side. Top teams like Energie Cottbus are fully professional but most of the others have a few professionals mixed with semi-pros and some teams are completely semi-pro. Most of the 4th division teams train in the evening due to that which gives another advantage to teams like Cottbus who not only have better players but their players are training under better and more professional conditions. The younger players with hopes of moving up the pyramid might be focusing only on soccer but I suspect most of the players in their mid 20s and older are doing other things both in relation to having a future career and just being able to live in the present on a 4th division wage.

Gomel has an article about Kapor now which states he is on trial. The refer to him as a Serb with Canadian citizenship (Voyageur panic mode: CAP HIM NOW!   )

http://www.fcgomel.by/press/news/2018/na_prosmotre_v_gomele_serb_mil/

40 minutes ago, Toje said:

Thanks for finding the info.  It has been confirmed that he has signed for FC Gomel in Belarus.

https://doublepass.sport5.co.il/story.php?id=19539

I can't find anything about him on the FC Gomel site even though there are various announcements of signings of other players. He also is not listed in the game summaries of their friendlies even those in which they played an entirely different 11 in the second half than the first. Also I google his name in Russian and also nothing connecting him to Gomel. Not saying it isn't true and it is possible they are waiting for the transfer clearance but I don't think we should think it is confirmed until there is some notice from Gomel.

I am not doubting that he is Canadian just stating that he seems to have a pretty complicated history in several countries which is probably one reason I can't recall ever hearing about him. He may also have several other citizenships so we may not be his first choice if he ever gets to international playing level.

1 hour ago, Toje said:

19-year old Aramis Kouzine has signed with Obolon-Brovar Kyiv in the Ukranian 2nd division.  He is Canadian but with Ukrainian heritage.

http://isport.ua/football/ukraine/310912-V-Ukraine-pojavilsja-pervyj-kanadskij-futbolist

http://www.pennathletics.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=4245

He seems to have gone to high school in the US and Russia so not sure how long he lived in Canada. The Ukrainian article calls him Canadian but also says it was reported the Dinamo player (not clear whether they mean Kiev or Moscow) might continue his career in Russia. He also played for University of Pennsylvania so a pretty confusing history.

3 hours ago, shamrock said:

Yeah except Canadians can watch MLS, or USL and won't take the CanPL seriously when the difference is too big. 

The CPL level may not be that high or a real first division but I don't think it will be all that hard to reach USL level. There are a lot of Canadian players who aren't currently playing USL for a lot of reasons other than they are not good enough. The major reason is the low salaries and it is not really worth it moving to a different city and in most cases a different country to play for $25 to $35 k often on a non guaranteed contract unless you are either a strong MLS prospect or really determined to keep your career going. There is no real pyramid either except for young talented players, ie. a 23 or 24 year old player going to German 4th division could conceivably move up to 3rd division if he does well while very very few players that age or older will have a chance at MLS because the gap in levels is too big. Plus there are tons of USL players in the US already so you have to be better than them to get a spot on a team and also a work permit in which case there are probably better places for you to go career wise. I think in Quebec if we took the 7 PLSQ teams and made 2 all star teams from their best players we could put out 2 USL level teams. To have USL level teams the CPL will just have to offer salaries that are equal or slightly better than the low salaries USL offers and if they can not reach that budget minimum level then the league is not adequately financed to have a chance of survival. However, that level is still going to be way below the MLS level though so the challenge is not getting people to take it seriously because it is not USL level the challenge is to get people to take it seriously because it is not MLS level or the level of leagues they are watching in Europe.

4 hours ago, shamrock said:

From D4 Germany to D1 Poland? On paper, that looks like a bridge too far. But maybe he can sign for a d3 or d2 team there. 

Actually he was playing for Nordhausen's 2nd team so he was playing in the 6th division. I doubt he would be signed as a first team player, he is only 19 so possibly Kielce thinks he has the talent to develop and would likely play on their second team at first.

12 minutes ago, shermanator said:

Massih Wassey has signed with SC Paderborn of the 3. Liga.

https://www.transfermarkt.de/paderborn-verpflichtet-wassey-von-bvb-ii/view/news/278194

Nice to see a guy who has bounced around the 4th and 5th division for a long time stick it out and finally get a shot to play at a higher level.

Opare is a Canadian citizen who wants to play for Canada. For me that is enough to warrant being interested in him and following his career even if FIFA regulations prevent him from ever playing for Canada.

According to Aalen's website they will continue to play and pay their players. They will lose 9 points due to the bankruptcy but it could be less depending on how the process goes. Apparently the bankruptcy is due to a couple of their sponsors going bankrupt a few years ago and they need to clear the resulting debts. Stanese is occasionally coming on as a late sub which means he is in the picture for getting playing time so hopefully everything will go fine with Aalen and he can increase his playing time.

Derek Cornelius has signed a 3.5 year contract with Serbian Super League team FK Javor Ivanjica. They are currently in 6th place in the Serbian table. He has been playing centre back recently with Neumunster. Serbian league is not a bad place at all for a 19 year old especially if he can get playing time. Very good record of developing players and a league where even the flawed players who won't rise higher have a good technique and tactical awareness. 

http://www.sportbuzzer.de/artikel/derek-cornelius-unterschreibt-profivertrag-in-serbien/

I don't see what is wrong with this move. A starter on a Spanish 3rd division club is not a bad place for a 21 year old Canadian player. He has left a bigger club but we do not know how much he was in their plans or in those of Dusseldorf before. If you look at the average league level of our national team players he is not that far below it in the Spanish 3rd division. A good season with Izarra and he could attract interest from the 2nd division which would put him at a level as high or higher than most of our national team starters. He is in a good pyramid and needs to play to showcase himself and move up it. He may or may not do so but I don't see this as a bad move at all.

Do you even read what people write in their responses or is it all just an illusion from the alternate universe you appear to live in?

9 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

Besiktas is a bigger club, and so is Hamburg, and Newcastle. I guess folks don't have memory, this is a team that has been in Champions and gone further than any Turkish side ever. Deportivo is a stronger more competitive club in the best league in the world. To break into the first team would be huge for Sam.

I have a memory and my memory tells me that Deportivo had an exceptionally strong period in its history in the early 90s to early 2000's both in the league and European play but previous to that and since then has been mostly a yo yo club between the first and second division and usually a mid to lower table team when it is in La Liga. Not that that is bad or that playing for them would not be a great achievement for Piette but if we are going to compare them, Besiktas has consistently been one of the top Turkish league teams while Deportivo has as often as not been in the 2nd division. But yes if folks like you have a memory that only remembers 1992-2004 Deportivo they were indeed a stronger team during most of that period. In general though Besiktas has been and is currently the stronger team and are the reigning Turkish Champions while Deportivo was only 4 points away from getting relegated this season. One would think someone who is such a big soccer fan and lives in Spain would have some memory of Spanish soccer history.

I think it is pretty clear that Besiktas is a better team than Deportivo but Deportivo plays in a better league. However, the league advantage is neutralized somewhat by the quality of opposition Besiktas will face in Champions League. Regardless, of arguments baited by Jeffey about league level, it would be a great accomplishment for Piette if he managed to crack the 1st team for Deportivo sometime next season. Whether it is good for him to re-sign with Deportivo or not depends on why they re-signed him and how their coaching staff rates him. If they really see him as having first team potential then it is good that he re-signed with them but if he is just there to help their 2nd team promote a division he probably would be better off elsewhere. Obviously we do not know the opinion of Deportivo's management in this regard but one would think that he and his agent discussed this with the club before re-signing. I don't think it is all that far fetched to think he might get some opportunity with the first team this year depending on the situation at the club this season. He has with Canada faced some pretty strong opposition and looked pretty decent. On the other hand I think his skill set is clearly that of a high level role player not a star player for a team similar to his Deportivo predecessor DeGuzman or Imhof in the Bundesliga. That is not a bad thing as long as we can surround players like that with enough players like Hutch and potentially Arfield and Hoilett who are top level players on teams at a good level. 

LOK Leipzig will be officially promoted in 3 days (or earlier if they win tomorrow) to the 4th division after getting awarded a win for a cancelled game. The decision goes into effect in 3 days so it is not yet official and the opposing team Schott Jena can appeal but apparently will not do so. The game was cancelled out of security concerns as last weekend was a holiday and Jena did not have adequate police to provide security for a game with LOK and all their mostly far-right hooligan fans. The league awarded the points to LOK because it is Schott's responsibility to provide adequate security (the club most likely thought it was too expensive to provide private security to make up for the lack of police and didn't want to risk the expense of stadium damage for a game that was meaningless to them). There is something wrong with being awarded a match because your club has a lot of hooligans although to be fair LOK did offer to hold the game in their own stadium and were turned down by the league.  As much as I hate LOK, it is nice to see Julien Latendresse-Levesque get back into a decent playing level. He played 90 minutes every game this year for LOK except for the 5 games he was suspended because of a fight.

 http://www.lok-leipzig.com/verein/news/detail/article/fcl-bekommt-punkte-vom-schott-jena-spiel/

http://www.fanreport.com/de/thueringen/liga/oberliga-nord-ost-sued/news/saisonhoehepunkt-abgesagt-schott-jena-vs-lok-leipzig-faellt-aus-235035

It is never nice to see players end their careers early (if that is what he is doing) but he is turning 25 and how much would he be earning in lower division Scandanavia or if he went to USL. Even if he tried out for FCE and made it (which I am not that sure he would) he would be still living 300 kms from his home town and not earning very much. At some point players have to realistically assess their career and take other opportunities if they are available.

41 minutes ago, Obinna said:

Happy he found a club, unhappy with the level he'll be playing at. How long is his deal?

I think it would be more accurate to say we are unhappy with the level of his play. Given his level of play recently this is the right level for him because if he was at MLS or similar he would be sitting on the bench like he was at Kansas City and Augsburg before that. Possibly his lack of playing time for so many years is what has caused his decline in performance or possibly it is other reasons like age, accumulated injuries, etc. We can hope that regular playing time in NASL will bring him back to his previous form but at the same time we need to be developing other players to take over his spot in the starting lineup.