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Whitecaps rue wasted chances as spoils shared in Cascadian classic

When it comes to MLS games, a lot of Caps fans are more interested in the Cascadian rivalries than the Canadian ones.

The first Cascadian Cup clash of the 2012 season played out to an exciting 2-2 draw at BC Place this afternoon, as casual fans were left in no doubt as to why these games matter so much.

It was a game in which Vancouver should have been out of site by half time, but in the end, they go away feeling more like it was two points lost than a vital point won.

Martin Rennie again tinkered with the Whitecaps starting eleven, and Davide Chiumiento and Gershon Koffie both returned to the middle of the park, with Omar Salgado returning to the left wing.

The in-form Eric Hassli surprisingly dropped to the bench, allowing number one draft pick Darren Mattocks to make his first MLS start.

Vancouver nearly got off to a dream start within the first two minutes.

Sebastien Le Toux went down in the box and the ball broke to Darren Mattocks, who tried to get on to his preferred right foot and allowed Seattle’s defence to close him down.

The Caps had the chance of the match so far eight minutes in.

From just inside his own half, Le Toux put through Omar Salgado, whose speed and tenacity took him past Osvaldo Alonso, but he slightly over-ran the ball, allowing Bryan Meredith to come and smother the danger.

The Caps pressure finally saw the breakthrough in the 12th minute.

Salgado collected a pass from Jay DeMerit, turned and sent Alain Rochat clear on the left. The left back powered unchallenged towards goal and slotted the ball past Meredith with ease.

Vancouver were looking the far more lively but struggling to turn this into any real scoring chances, but they could have made it two in the 33rd minute.

Rochat floated a perfect long ball into the path of Salgado, who shook off the last Seattle defender but pulled his shot wide of the right hand post.

Seattle just weren’t in the game as an attacking force. Eddie Johnson won a corner for them with six minutes of the half remaining, in one of their few forays into the Vancouver box, but it came to nothing.

The Caps responded by mounting another attack and Rochat put through Mattocks for a one on one with Meredith, but again he pulled his shot wide of the right hand post.

As the game entered stoppage time, Johnson miss-hit a shot across the face of the goal but Fredy Montero couldn't close in to get a foot on it at the open back post.

The whistle brought to an end the best half of football that Vancouver had played so far in the MLS era. The general feeling was that the missed chances could come back to haunt the home side and Seattle couldn’t play as badly in the second half, and so it proved.

The second half got underway and Seattle were still finding Mattocks a handful, and he was put through once again after only 15 seconds but fired high and over.

From nowhere it was level in the 47th minute.

Mauro Rosales received the ball out left and sent a perfect ball into the middle for Johnson to rise and head home.

Joe Cannon’s first action of the game was to pick the ball out of his own net, but three minutes later he came up with a huge save to keep out Montero from point blank range.

Seattle kept the pressure on and Cannon again had to be alert to stop a Montero header.

The visitors were a different team and giving the Whitecaps defence a torrid time.

Cannon again came up with a huge save in the 57th minute, turning a Montero shot from the edge of the box acrobatically past for a corner.

Vancouver should have retaken the lead in the 62nd minute.

Davide Chiumiento got the ball just inside the Seattle box, twisted and turned and played a sublime back heel straight into the path of Mattocks who blasted over in front of goal from seven yards out.

It was to be the Jamaican’s last action of the game and he was soon replaced by Eric Hassli.

Hassli nearly made an immediate impact in the 66th minute, flashing a header from a Rochat cross narrowly wide.

Vancouver had weathered the Seattle storm.

Hassli almost mirrored his stunning goal from Wednesday night in the 78th minute, but this time he couldn`t keep the ball down and on target.

Two minutes later and Chiumiento came within inches of breaking the deadlock, firing inches past the left hand post and into the side netting.

As with Mattocks, this attempt on goal signalled his last action of the match, making way for Camilo Sanvezzo.

And what a substitution this proved to be.

With eight minutes remaining, Camilo sent in a long, diagonal free kick from the left. Gershon Koffie jumped for the cross and may or may not have got the slightest of glances off his forehead past everyone, including Meredith, into the bottom left hand corner of the Seattle net.

With seconds remaining of the ninety minutes, Montero tied the game up once more. Johnson flicked on a long kick from Meredith and the Columbian took a touch and hit a beautiful curling effort from the edge of the box that left Cannon rooted to the spot.

Seattle had the last chance of the game in stoppage time when an unmarked Zach Scott headed a Montero free kick over.

The spoils were shared, in what was very much the proverbial game of two halves.

Seattle fought back extremely well, and were only kept at bay by some fine stops by Cannon, but Vancouver should have been out of sight by the half.

It was a great game, but the Caps are left rueing their missed chances and what was ultimately two points dropped.

Now the focus of attention is firmly set upon Toronto on Wednesday, where Vancouver will have to take such chances if they are to win the Voyageurs Cup.

ATT : 21,000 (sell out)

FINAL SCORE : Vancouver Whitecaps 2 - 2 Seattle Sounders

VANCOUVER : Joe Cannon; Young-Pyo Lee, Martin Bonjour, Jay DeMerit, Alain Rochat; Sebastien Le Toux, Gershon Koffie, Jun Marques Davidson, Davide Chiumiento (Camilo Sanvezzo 80), Darren Mattocks (Eric Hassli 64), Omar Salgado (John Thorrington 74) [Subs Not Used: Brad Knighton, Etienne Barbara, Jordan Harvey, Matt Watson]

SEATTLE : Bryan Meredith; Adam Johansson, Jeff Parke, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Marc Burch (Zach Scott 85); Mauro Rosales, Osvaldo Alonso, Alex Caskey (Andy Rose 46), Alvaro Fernandez (David Estrada 72); Fredy Montero, Eddie Johnson [Subs Not Used: Andrew Weber, Cordell Cato, Roger Levesque, Sammy Ochoa, Zach Scott]

Le Toux with two as Caps advance to final

Vancouver Whitecaps and Toronto have unfinished Voyageurs Cup business.

After the debacle in Montreal and the monsoon in Toronto, the Caps will be hoping it will be third time lucky and they will finally get to lift the Canadian Championship trophy by the end of the month.

Vancouver set up the latest two game Cup showdown against Toronto with a 3-1 win over Edmonton at BC Place tonight. It looked comfortable in the end scoreline, but the Eddies made the Caps work every step of the way for their place in the final.

Martin Rennie surprised most people by ringing four changes from last week’s first leg and including Jay DeMerit in the centre of defence and going with a strikeforce of Eric Hassli and Camilo Sanvezzo.

Floyd Franks and Michael Nanchoff got their first starts of the season in midfield and Nanchoff thought he had his name on the scoresheet three minutes in, when he turned home a low John Thorrington cross.

The goal was somewhat mysteriously ruled out for offside, with Camilo looking to have been adjudged off when the cross came over and deemed interfering with play.

Edmonton settled down and took the game to their hosts, and they had a great chance to haul themselves back into the Cup tie in the 19th minute.

Yashir Pinto was sent through on the left, leaving Greg Klazura in his wake, and cut the ball back to Michael Cox on the penalty spot, whose first time strike was parried by Brad Knighton.

Two minutes later and Matt Lam tried a shot from distance that didn’t trouble the Caps goal, but showed the Eddies intention to attack.

Lam had a another long range attempt in the 27th minute, which Knighton got down well to save and Klazura hit the rebound out for a corner.

The Caps were looking a little lacklustre and only had a curling 35th minute Camilo free kick to show for their efforts.

Although having more attacking flair, Edmonton were being restricted to long range efforts and Shaun Saiko fired another one over the bar in the 37th minute.

That nearly changed in the closing minutes of the half.

A dangerous through ball from Shaun Saiko was deflected by the outstretched leg of Jay DeMerit into the path of Pinto and Cox, who has both got on the goal side of Jordan Harvey, but then got in each others way to spurn a great chance.

The momentum of big Cox carried him into Knighton. It was without any real malice but a slight stramash ensured to provide one of the few sparks of the first half.

The second half started off in a little lull but the game sprung into life in the 54th minute when Edmonton got the goal their play deserved, and their first ever Voyageurs Cup goal.

Cox played a short pass outside to Antonio Rago. The right back sent a dangerous ball into the six yard box that eventually came off the head of Pinto and past Knighton for 1-0 to the underdogs.

Nanchoff went down in the box in the 62nd minute, but was looking for the call as he fell over his man.

With everything now to play for, Vancouver brought on some heavyweight talent in to their attack with Sebastien Le Toux and Darren Mattocks, and what a difference they made.

Le Toux made an impact within five minutes of coming on to put the Caps level on the night and give them a two goal cushion of aggregate.

Davide Chiumiento sent a beautiful ball over the Edmonton defence straight into the path of Le Toux. Fabien Vorbe was wrong footed in dramatic fashion, allowing to the Frenchman to run into the box and fire past David Monsalve, who should have done better.

Camilo whipped another free kick just over the bar in the 81^st minute, as they sought to wrap things up.

The Brazilian then had the ball in the net a minute later but was flagged offside for the run through.

The Whitecaps brought on Etienne Barbara with five minutes remaining and the Malteser gave Caps fans an idea of what they can expect from him by immediately going on a mazy before being brought down for a penalty.

Barbara stepped up to take the kick in the best “makers-takers” tradition, only for Monsalve to brilliantly tip his well taken kick onto the right hand post.

Edmonton struggled to clear the danger and ended up conceding a kick on the left touchline. Chiumiento again flighted in a perfect ball to Le Toux, this time onto his head, and the Frenchman gave Monsalve no chance at his near post.

In the final seconds of the three minutes of stoppage time, Mattocks got his name on the scoresheet, whipping a Chiumiento cross into the bottom left hand corner, before picking up a booking by celebrating with a Jamaican flag in the Southside.

Overall, it was a patchy performance from the Caps, but they got the job done in the end and looked a much more dangerous side with the addition of Le Toux, Mattocks and Barbara.

Edmonton fought well and for most of the match they had turned in the best performance of all of the four Canadian teams on the night.

They should keep their heads up for they did their team and their city proud.

For Vancouver, it’s another Cup final against Toronto, following on from the pre-season Disney Pro Soccer Classic.

The Caps won silverware that time with the only goal of the game. Not many in Vancouver would argue with the same again.

ATT :  15,011

FINAL SCORE :  Vancouver Whitecaps   -    Edmonton

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS :  Brad Knighton; Greg Klazura, Carlyle Mitchell, Jay DeMerit, Jordan Harvey; Floyd Franks, John Thorrington, Davide Chiumiento, Michael Nanchoff (Sebastien Le Toux 70); Eric Hassli (Darren Mattocks 74), Camilo Sanvezzo (Etienne Barbara 85)  [Subs Not Used:  Joe Cannon, Michael Boxall, Russell Teibert, Bryce Alderson]

EDMONTON :  David Monsalve; Antonio Rago, Paul Hamilton, Kevin Hatchi, Fabien Vorbe; Shaun Saiko (Ilya Van Leerrdam 77), Kenny Caceros, Chris Kooy; Michael Cox (Kyle Porter 55), Matt Lam, Yashir Pinto (Paul Craig 81) [Subs Not Used: John Smits, Adam West, Jonathon Joseph-Augustin, Paul Craig, Dominic Oppong]

Match Preview: Vancouver Whitecaps v FC Edmonton

by Steve Pandher

After a dramatic win over San Jose this weekend, Vancouver Whitecaps return to Voyageurs Cup action as they host FC Edmonton in the second leg of the Canadian Championship semi-final.  The Caps hold a decisive lead over their Western Canada rivals, after Eric Hassli and Atiba Harris gave them a two goal away advantage.






KEY PLAYERS :

ATTACKING

The two time U17 Canadian player of the year, Russell Teibert, has yet to play for the Whitecaps in MLS this year but could make his season debut in this Voyaguers Cup semi-final.  The match could be an opportunity for Teibert to prove that he deserves more minutes with the first team.

Former Residency product, Kyle Porter was a dangerous player in the first leg but was unable to find the target on his multiple attempts.  It will be his first time playing in Vancouver since he left prior to the 2011 season, and he will look to take down his former club.

DEFENCE

With Rochat resting after two starts, it will be Carlyle Mitchell who becomes the defacto leader on the backline.  If he is partnered with Michael Boxall, Mitchell may have to compensate for the Kiwi defender’s lack of pace and that could play a factor against a speedy FCE frontline.

The two goals allowed in the first leg, especially the opening goal, could be considered stoppable by keeper David Monsalve.  If the Eddies have any chance of advancing to the Final of the Canadian Championship, the Ontario native will have to have a perfect game against the Caps.

WHO'S ON FORM :

It took some time but Eric Hassli seems to have gotten back on track when it comes to scoring, with two goals in his last two matches.  Hassli will once again face the smaller FCE backline and look to wear them down and create space for the smaller attackers to run in to.

Helping Edmonton get their first win of the season against Carolina at the weekend, Shaun Saiko picked up a hat trick and was named the NASL player of the week for his efforts.  Vancouver’s defenders will have to track the local Edmonton product as he is capable of scoring from distance with power and touch.

2012 RECORD :

Vancouver:

5W-2D-2L

3rd in Western Conference

Last Match: 2-1 Win vs  San Jose Earthquakes

Edmonton:

1W-1D-3L

6th in NASL

Last Match: 4-3 Loss vs Minnesota Stars

PROJECTED LINE-UPS :

GAME PREDICTION :

While the stats may indicate an easy win for the Vancouver club, FC Edmonton competed well in the first leg but were unable to finish their chances.  Omar Salgado played a huge part in this match, finding Hassli alone in the box for the first and hitting the post with a chip which then broke to Atiba Harris to sweep it in for the second.

The lineup will have some changes from last week’s match but expect Brad Knighton to get his second start against Edmonton.  In front of him will be Carlyle Mitchell, Jordan Harvey, Greg Klazura and Michael Boxall, who will make his first start of the season, having impressed in Friday's PDL game against Kitsap Pumas. 

The midfield should have only one change from last week as Thorrington and Chiumiento will start with either Floyd Franks or Bryce Alderson starting in Koffie’s place. 

The front line will have some changes as well. Salgado has earned a rest and Harris suffered a knock and may not be ready.  A couple of first time starters could flank Hassli, with Michael Nanchoff and Russell Teibert looking poised to make their first starts of the season.  After being passed fit to play, Darren Mattocks, injured due to a freak cooking accident, could be a wild card off the bench for the Whitecaps and Etienne Barbara has been added to the Caps' squad for the tournament, after coming through the second half of the PDL game unscathed..

Both teams are coming off highs. Vancouver won dramatically and Edmonton picking up their first win of the season over Rennie’s former club Carolina.  Edmonton were able to put all facets of their game together, holding firm defensively whilst Saiko was able to score three times.  However they will not be able to rotate through their roster and may be playing on tired legs, playing their third game in eight days.

The trio of Nanchoff, Chiumiento and Teibert are all interchangeable so look for those three to line up on the right, in the middle or to the left behind Hassli.  Rennie will want Nanchoff, Teibert and Thorrington to raise the tempo of the attack in order to wear down the FCE defenders over the ninety minutes.  The space in the final third will be even better if the defenders decide to collapse on Hassli and the Frenchman can find someone on a run.

With players like Lam, Porter, Pinto, Saiko and Van Leerdam always looking to shoot from distance, a key in stopping Edmonton from scoring will be the holding midfielders clogging up the area in front of the box.  The only serious danger when it comes to defending in the box on set pieces will be Paul Hamilton, who is only Eddie that comes close to scoring with his head.

The Whitecaps should be expecting the visitors to throw everything at them in the first fifteen minutes in order to get close on the aggregate score.  If Vancouver can stay patient and hold their lines, they will be able to find chances on the counter and cement their place in the final. 

AFTN Predicted Score: Vancouver Whitecaps 3  FC Edmonton 0

DNS problems over at CSN

AFTN is back on blogger! At least for a little bit!

Canadian Soccer News has switched servers causing some DNS errors on the West coast.

It will all automatically sort itself our over the next couple of days, maybe a lot sooner.

So in the meantime, we're going to post some stuff on here again until the problem is all fixed and then transfer all the content (and any comments) over to the new AFTN site.

Thanks for your patience.

AFTN Moves To Canadian Soccer News

December 11th is an important day for Vancouver Whitecaps fans.

It is the day that the Club were formed back in 1973 and we thought that it was thus a very fitting day to make a major announcement concerning the next chapter of Away From The Numbers.

From today (right now in fact!), AFTN is moving to the Canadian Soccer News platform.

Do not fret though.

It will be the same AFTN in all regards, only bigger, better and reaching a wider audience. You'll even still get all of our weird humour - whether you like it or not!!

We're putting together our own team of writers and columnists, some you'll have read on AFTN before, some elsewhere and some will be new to you.

The move will boost CSN's west coast coverage, making it the one-stop shop for all your Canada-wide football news.

Our Blogger site here will always remain here as an archive and reference of the last three years, but will no longer be updated with new material.

You can now read AFTN Canada Here.

Don't forget you can also still read our general AFTN football blog Here

We hope you continue to enjoy it, and thanks for all your support these last three years!

Onto the next chapter...

Paul Barber: He Came, He Saw, He Failed

Vancouver Whitecaps CEO Paul Barber surprisingly announced his resignation this morning.

Barber will step down at the end of February next year and he told the Sekeres and Price show on Team 1040 this morning (who have fast become my favourite sports radio hosts in the city, after Peter Schaad) that "it's been a very difficult decision and a slightly emotional one".

As far as AFTN is concerned, he'll not be missed.

And we're clearly not alone. When two ex Whitecaps front office employees post on the Southsiders forum that they are pleased with the news and think it is the best thing for the Club, adding "Trust me, the people in the office are thrilled", I think that is very telling.

Regular AFTN readers will know that we're not exactly fans of executives in football. We grudgingly accept them as a necessary evil.

When you look at the Caps and in particular the CEO position, you do find yourself wondering just what that role entailed and how did it fit in with all of the other executive positions at the Club.

Did Barber run the whole shebang? Did he micromanage and make all the decisions, like many suggest? Did he just act as an advisor, an overseer of sorts?

Paul Barber joined Vancouver Whitecaps in February 2010. At the time, no one expected his tenure to last just two years.

His appointment caused a lot of excitement.

We were getting a guy from Tottenham Hotspur. You know, a proper football team in a proper football league. The Whitecaps must be that too.

You did get the feeling that was how some saw it. Maybe it was a nod towards the Eurosnobs. Is such a move what it takes to make them accept the Whitecaps and MLS? Who cares about them anyway?

Taking my well worn cynics hat off for a minute, the acquisition of Paul Barber was somewhat of a coup for the Whitecaps. I don't think I will ever fully understand why a guy would leave his lifelong loves, when they are on the crest of a wave, and travel across the Atlantic.

He came with a bonafide footballing pedigree, although his early career was all PR with corporate giants in the UK.

He became Director of Marketing Communications for the English FA in 2000 and went on to become Executive Director with Spurs in 2005, a position he held until he made the switch to Vancouver last year.

Maybe we should have seen the warning signs earlier.

Barber was at Spurs when they went through one of their lowest points for many a year, and were seriously in relegation peril. Fan protests against the Board and manager intensified, until Harry Redknapp came on board and turned the Club's fortunes around.

Barber and footballing success don't seem to go hand in hand.

A lot of AFTN readers won't know who Del Boy is. He was a character in the long running BBC comedy show "Only Fools And Horses". A wheeler dealer, full of bravado, gusto and ideas, but one who usually ended up falling flat on his face and not being as clever or as good as he thought he/the idea was.

I don't know why, but whenever I heard Paul Barber talk, I was instantly drawn to think of the show.

As Barber steps down, it leaves us asking "so who were the fools here?".

Barber often came across to us being so full of hot air that we often checked his shoes to see if they were tethered to the ground to stop him floating away. All mouth and no trousers, as the English expression would have it.

He was the master of spin, no doubt instilled in him from his career in public relations, media relations and communications. He clearly missed out on what I'm sure would have been a very successful career in politics.

Whenever things went wrong in the FO or on the pitch, Barber always had a cheery, positive response. Things were never as bad as they seemed. Whenever people, like the Southsiders, raised concerns about issues, there were always emails from people sent to him with the opposite view.

What frustrated us more than anything was that the local media never called him out on his failings or the Caps string of clusterfucks.

There is no doubt that Barber had successes with the Caps.

He brought in an amazing amount of sponsors and money to the Club. He helped establish a 15,000+ season ticket base and helped the Club make two tricky, but smooth, transitions to two new stadiums in one season. He was also good at replying personally, and quickly, to fan emails.

We sincerely applaud him for all of that.

He helped build the Whitecaps brand into a corporate MLS monster, envied by many of our peers. Again, we grudgingly accept such things as a necessary evil.

We're not sure where all the money went. The fans saw little reward, as we covered previously, and it certainly didn't bring big name, quality players to Vancouver or help put a winning team on the pitch.

There's going to be a lot written about Barber's resignation, but it would be remiss of all media outlets not to look at where Barber has failed.

He helped bring false expectations amongst the fanbase that the Whitecaps were not an ordinary expansion team and his pre-season comments made many fans expect instant success.

He'll always be remembered by us for stating that the Whitecaps aimed to become one of the top 25 football clubs in the world. Under Barber's watch, the Caps struggled to be one of the top 25 football clubs in North America.

The buck stops with him for all of the farcical ticketing problems this season, particularly the Uniglobe fiasco, where it can be argued he put corporate sponsors before fan interests.

The relationship between the Caps and the Southsiders hit some pretty bad lows this year. When Barber came on board, the expectation was that an English guy would get supporters culture and help it to grow here to be on a par with Portland and Seattle.

As it turned out, nothing was further from the truth. A guy coming from England knows the trouble and nuisance a large group of organised unhappy fans can be. The last thing a CEO wants when he moved to a new environment.

Then there is what he said was his number one priority - to deliver a much needed, state of the art training facility. We're still waiting. It may be close, but he simply hasn't delivered it.

In fact, he hasn't delivered much at all, from our viewpoint.

Ultimately, Paul Barber will be remembered by AFTN as a cocky character who talked the talk, but didn't walk the walk, overseeing the worst season in Vancouver Whitecaps FC history. A nice legacy to leave behind.

The Barber spin with all of this is already in full effect, as we are told that his role was to be here for the transition of the Caps into MLS and the move to BC Place. Funny, I don't remember hearing this before and was always under the impression he was here for the long haul.

What does the future hold in store for Paul Barber? Where in football will it take him?

We certainly wouldn't be surprised if he makes the move to MLS Front Office and takes on some kind of role there. I personally think it would be a disaster for the League if he did.

Paul Barber may have had the football knowledge and experience in England, but his lack of success in Vancouver is another clear indication that in football terms, Major League Soccer and the North American market is somewhat unique to elsewhere in the world.

Barber's roles will initially be shared by Bob Lenarduzzi and Rachel Lewis.

Some may see that as a backward step. Reverting back to the D2 days of the Club. Maybe so, but it seemed to be run a hell of a lot better back then and maybe the Caps do need to take a bit of a step back.

Whoever eventually fills Barber's boots needs to be a football man and one who fully understands the worldwide game, the anomalies of North American football and the whole football and supporters' culture.

It is a huge appointment and needs to be the right one. I'm happy for the Caps to continue with Lenarduzzi and Lewis until they find the perfect match, but their taking over of duties should just be a short term fix.

Who that person might be is now the big problem for the Whitecaps.

Fans are already suggesting Dave Cobb. A former player, with Caps history, and with impressive experience with the Canucks and the 2010 Olympics.

With three Head Coach changes, numerous other changes in coaching personnel, a turnover of front office staff and now the resignation of their CEO, Vancouver Whitecaps' 2011 can be described as tumultuous.

What the whole football club needs now, is stability.

This interesting Whitecaps close season shows no signs of getting boring any time soon.

Timewasting: MLS Team Of The Week #3 - Sexcapades XI

Every week we think of a subject for a football team to be based around, then fill it with our starting eleven of MLS players with some appropriate name changes, or even better, just as is!

Your scouting job is to come up with the subs bench, from any player from around the world, and leave your player suggestions in the comments section.

This week, the R rated "Sexcapades XI"...

******************************************************************
GK: Nick Rimmingando (Real Salt Lake)

D : Jonathon Leathers (Vancouver Whitecaps)
D : Ty Hardon (Toronto)
D : Bilal Fuckit (ex Vancouver Whitecaps)
D : Rawshins McKenzie (Real Salt Lake)
D: BJ Soares (New England Revolution)

M : Corben Boner (Chicago Fire)
M : Brian Kneelson (New York Red Bulls)
M : Michael Munchoff (Vancouver Whitecaps)

F : Dominatrix Oduro (Chicago Fire)
F : Juan Pablo Anal (Chivas USA)

Will they be sloppy at the back?

Inside The Box: Who Doesn’t Love A Free Moustache Ride?

AFTN's new columnist, Wendy Jo, takes a look at the beautiful game from a female perspective. Don't miss your monthly dose of Wendy Wednesdays.

As scary as it may seem, we're officially in the final month of 2011. That's right, friends, December is upon us. Don't be alarmed though, that sound you've been hearing in the air isn't the end of days, it's the collective sigh of relief from women around the world, celebrating the end of Movember and the return of smooth upper lips on men everywhere.

I know there are many who will argue it, but unless you're Magnum P.I., Burt Reynolds, Freddie Mercury, or my father, sporting a 'stache is just not a good look. There are exceptions to every rule, readers, but they are EXCEPTIONS. End of story.

Now, what was the deal with the moustaches!? Well, if you were living under a rock last month, Movember is a global movement whereby men donate their faces (and the people who love/ridicule them donate money) in an effort to raise funds and awareness for the number one male cancer, prostate cancer. That's right, as the site suggests, "these selfless and generous men, known as Mo Bros, groom, trim and wax their way into the annals of fine moustachery."*

(*Note: It’s not every day you get to write "annals of fine moustachery" – so when you do, take a moment to celebrate it.)

Not to be left out, the MLS managed to raise almost $40,000 collectively with their network of more than 230 "Mo Bros" and "Mo Sistas" in both the United States and Canada.

Included in this was a small contingent of Whitecaps FC staff and players growing under the team name, "Caps and Staches" as well as a number of supporters groups from around the league, including my personal favourite, the Whitecaps FC Supporters Team.

As the month of Movember drew to a close, some last minute donations helped to push the Whitecaps Supporters ahead of the WFC team itself, and wouldn't you know it, of the entire MLS Movember network, the Whitecaps' teams of supporters and staff were the highest ranked Canadian teams with a combined total of nearly $12,000!

With the MLS regular season ending in October, and no playoffs in sight for my beloved Caps, it was nice to see the MLS continuing to bring players, supporters and communities together even though many of their teams (okay, maybe just MY team) were no longer taking to the field.

The Whitecaps even went so far as to send Carl Valentine, WFC legend-turned-news correspondent, out in the field to interview Caps CEO Paul Barber, Club President Bob Lenarduzzi and several dedicated Whitecaps supporters on the delicate art of moustache maintenance.

If you missed the videos the first time around (for shame!) you can see Valentine with Barber and Lenarduzzi HERE and with the supporters HERE.

So if you didn't "‘mo up" this year, definitely think about it when Movember 2012 rolls around.

It's a great cause, it's hilarious for those around you and hey, moustaches are cool...in an ironic, if only you were a porn star in the 70's, kinda way.

Until then, gentlemen, consider yourself warned – if you continue to offer "free moustache rides" in December, you will no longer be given the benefit of the doubt in the name of charity. Remember, what was once November's Movember Champion quickly turns into December's paedophilic creeper.

Wendy Jo

***
Despite lacking a Y-Chromosome, Wendy Jo has had a long-standing love affair with sports. Raised on NFL, but always a fan of "real" football, Wendy's an avid supporter of the Vancouver Whitecaps and the Seattle Seahawks, so in other words: she's used to disappointment. Not just your typical over-caffeinated Vancouverite, when she’s not watching, writing or tweeting about sports, Wendy spends her time preparing for the zombie apocalypse, baking cupcakes, sampling micro-brews, and fawning over the latest technology...say what you will, she's proudly Blue & White, all the way. You can read Wendy's "Inside The Box" column on the first Wednesday of each month on AFTN.
***

Martin Rennie Impresses Fans At Southsiders AGM

Vancouver Southsiders held their 2011 AGM and Christmas party last night at Doolin’s Irish Pub.

Vancouver Whitecaps on-pitch results may have been nothing to write home about last season, but the big success story off it was the growth of the supporters’ group, although it’s been far from an easy journey at times.

The Southsiders membership is currently sitting around the 800 mark, a pretty staggering growth from the 200+ figure from just a year ago.

The hard work is now beginning for the group, as they look to turn those 2011 members into 2012 renewals, whilst still looking at attracting new members to the fold.

One man that can certainly make their job a little easier is Martin Rennie.

If the new Whitecaps Head Coach can get success on the field, then the feelgood factor in the stands will certainly come on the back of that.

Listening to the Scot address the fans last night, it’s already hard not to be drawn into the mindset of the charismatic coach and believe that a change of fortune is on the cards for the Whitecaps. {Photo courtesy of Max Fornas}

All of this anticipation must be tempered by the stark realism of just how big a job the new manager has on his hands to turn things around.

We saw last season that talk and gusto is cheap and counts for nothing if you can’t put the results together. That’s a mistake that won’t be repeated next term.

Rennie came along after the formal part of the evening to meet the fans and spent time chatting with many and signing autographs before taking part in an impromptu Q&A with AFTN to look at what lies in store for the Blue and White faithful:

”We’ve had a busy few weeks. We’ve had to evaluate all the players, some of which you would have enjoyed watching and become fans of. Unfortunately we need to add to the team and improve upon it, so some of those players aren’t going to be here next year.

What I would say is that the players we’re bringing in, I think you’ll be really excited to see them and watch them play.”

Whatever new players do end up in Vancouver, it’s looking unlikely that they’re going to come from the MLS Re-Entry draft.

The Whitecaps passed on their first pick yesterday. Not through salary issues as some may have thought, but more from the quality aspect of what was available:

”We believe we can sign players that are better than that and hopefully we’ll prove that in the next couple of months.”

Always good to hear that the Club are not just settling for second rate and castoffs, but actively looking to try and get the best players they can to come to Vancouver.

Who those players are is now the exciting waiting game for fans, but does Martin have an idea of how many players he still needs to add to the squad to get them to the competitive quality he is seeking?

”It’s always hard to put an exact number on it, but we are in the process of signing a few players at the moment. Between now and the start of the season, there will probably be about 8 or 9 players that I think will make a significant difference to the squad we’ve got. The final number I’m not sure, but I believe there will be a significant improvement.”

The turnaround of the Caps fortunes doesn’t just lie in Rennie hands. It’s a team effort and an important part of the new team is assistant manager Paul Ritchie.

Having worked closely with Ritchie in Carolina, what does Rennie see him bringing to Vancouver?

”He’s really good at swearing! Much better than me.

He’s very effective. He gets on well with players but demands their respect. He’s played at the highest level with Manchester City and Rangers and so on, so he was a top player.

You’ll love him, he’s a great guy. You’ll like hanging out with him. You might not understand a word he says, but you’ll certainly enjoy being around him.”

The swearing aspect is obviously a Fife gene, so I’m sure AFTN and Paul will get on just fine.

Talking of genes, there’s clearly something in the Scottish DNA that makes top football managers.

The Caps now have their Celtic Connection at the helm, and in the English Premiership, seven of the current 20 managers are Scottish.

So just what is it about the nation that makes us Scots the best managers?

”I don’t think we know the answer to that. I think that maybe because Sir Alex Ferguson has done so well in England, other Scottish managers have followed in his footsteps.

It doesn’t really matter what they’ve done in England, it’s all about what we do here in Vancouver and that’s all I really care about.”

A sentiment I’m sure all the fans will agree with.

Martin Rennie clearly has a vision of where he would like to see the Whitecaps going and how they’re going to get there and it is genuinely exciting to see what's going to happen.

Can he deliver?

We'll get some idea of how things are taking shape on March 10th against Montreal.

I'm already counting down the days.

Jay Nolly: Goodbye And Thanks For The Memories

After four memorable years, Jay Nolly left Vancouver Whitecaps today to continue his MLS career with Chicago Fire.

Rumours began circulating on Friday that Nolly would be traded to the Eastern Conference side for allocation money.

Today it became official that he'd gone, but it was for a first round pick in the 2013 MLS Supplemental Draft. Not great value to us really.

We already eluded to this on Saturday's blog post, but the move is an excellent one for Chicago.

Having put two of their existing keepers (Jon Conway and Alec Dufty) up for today's MLS Re-Entry Draft, the Fire have put their faith solely in their highly rated 22 year old Sean Johnson.

Johnson is currently training with Everton and part of the US U23 set up, so there will be chances for Nolly to push for a starting spot if Johnson is away on international duty or is simply having a bad run.

Nolly is not on a huge salary ($65,000 in 2011), making him a very cheap option for Chicago, with minor impact on the salary cap. For very little money, they get a solid back-up with a four year, 22 appearance MLS record. At only 29, he also has a lot of years ahead of him in his footballing career.

It's one of the harsh realities of football. Fan favourites move on. It's always hard, especially so when the player doesn't want to leave the Club.

The writing's been on the wall for Jay for a few months now, ever since Tommy Soehn took charge of the team and immediately installed Joe Cannon as the number one keeper in Vancouver.

It's best for Jay to move on and try his luck at a starting job elsewhere. That's not to say that we're not going to miss him, for AFTN, the Southsiders and a lot of Whitecaps fans most certainly will.

Jay Nolly joined the Whitecaps in January 2008. After an early tussle with Srdjan Djekanovic at the start of the 2008 USL season, Jay soon established himself as the Caps number one, going on to make 126 competitive appearances for Vancouver over four seasons.

His time in Vancouver was a memorable one both for the fans and for Jay as a player.

Winning the USL Championship in his first season with the Club was a particular career highlight.

This was the third career Championship Jay had won as a player, winning back to back NCAA Division One titles with Indiana University in 2003 and 2004.

Whilst with the Hoosiers, Jay was named in the All Big Ten team of the year for his last three seasons. He went on to make the 2010 USSF D2 Team of the Year with the Caps, along with being named the League's Goalkeeper of the Year that season.

Nolly was also named the Whitecaps Most Valuable Player in both 2009 and 2010.

He became the Whitecaps player with the most consecutive appearances, when he played in the USSF D2 semi final defeat to Puerto Rico last season. He increased that record to 80 games when he started the Caps MLS opener against Toronto.

It wasn't just his peers that recognised Jay's quality, the Whitecaps fans did too.

Nolly won the Vancouver Southsiders inaugural 'Player of the Year' award ("The Willie") in 2009, repeating the triumph in 2010.

Jay's college success had seen him land a spot in MLS with Real Salt Lake, making seven appearances for the Utah side in his two seasons there in 2005 and 2006.

The following year he was traded to DC United, where he made just one appearance under Head Coach Tommy "The Reverse Midas" Soehn.

Soehn waived Nolly and his lack of judgement was a blessing for Vancouver, bringing Jay to Canada's west coast for four happy years.

Nothing lasts forever though and Jay is now moving on.

Last season was a difficult one for him. Beginning the campaign as the starting goalie, he went on to play 14 games and 1260 minutes for the Caps in MLS, conceding 23 goals and saving 39 of 62 shots.

Even when he lost his starting place to Joe Cannon, Jay was a class act. He never let his head go down and worked as hard as he could to regain that number one spot, telling AFTN back in July:

"Obviously you always want to play. You feel that you're not getting the results at the beginning of the season, when you're playing well. You know when you're not getting results that changes are going to happen and I was one of them.

It's a gut check and you gotta just rebound from it and for me now, I gotta challenge Joe and try and get back in there."

It saddens us that Jay's last first team appearance for the Whitecaps was the Stephen King induced nightmare in DC in August.

That's not how any Whitecaps fan should remember Jay Nolly.

This is how he should always be remembered by the Blue and White masses:


Jay Nolly gave his all to Vancouver Whitecaps. He and his family loved being in the city and loved the fans. That love was given right back.

If you were to ask AFTN for our favourite Jay Nolly highlight, there are a few important and spectacular saves that come to mind. For us though, we'll never forget this one particular highlight from the NASL game between the Caps and St Louis at Swangard on July 8th last year:


You'll never beat Jay Nolly indeed.

Jay, we salute you and wish you nothing but success in your footballing future.

You'll always be a Whitecap to us.

Goodbye. Good luck. And thanks for the memories Jay.

Whitecaps Have 53 Choices In MLS Re-Entry Draft

Vancouver Whitecaps will have 53 players to select from in Monday's 2011 MLS Re-Entry draft. Will they even use their first selection though?

By the time the 2pm deadline had come and gone, 13 players had come off the initial list of 69 available players, through a combination of retiring, renegotiating contracts, trades and taking themselves off the list.

Interestingly, from a Vancouver point of view, three of the Whitecaps players on the original list are no longer up for selection.

Greg Janicki, Jonathan Leathers and Peter Vagenas are all now technically ex-Whitecaps, although the Club can re-sign them if they are passed over by the other teams.

Mystery still surrounds Joe Cannon, Jay Nolly and John Thorrington.

All we do know is that the three of them have been taken out of Monday's re-entry draft.

Internet speculation is suggesting that Cannon and Thorrington have re-signed for the Whitecaps, but on reduced salaries (Cannon was on a guarantee of $209,756.25 and Thorrington on a staggering $207,200 - well he does have a lot of medical expenses to cover).

Both veterans may have simply taken themselves out of the process, in the hope of negotiating their own deals.

Jay Nolly is the interesting one.

He's been with Vancouver for the past four years, and many of the long term fans don't want to see him leave, but speculation is rife that he is moving to Chicago Fire for allocation money.

Any such move would make sense for both teams and especially for Chicago.

Nolly is not on a huge salary ($65,000 in 2011), so doesn't hit the salary cap much. He's going to be the second string keeper in either city, so it's a cheap option for a club like Chicago.

The Fire have declined options on two of their three current keepers - Jon Conway and Alec Dufty. This leaves them with just the highly rated 22 year old Sean Johnson, who is clearly the man they are continuing to trust to protect their goal in 2012.

Johnston is currently training with Everton and part of the US U23 set up, so there will be chances for Nolly to push for a starting spot if Johnson is away on international duty or is simply having a bad run.

The final list of players for the Re-Entry Draft doesn't exactly fill us with a lot of excitement.

Vancouver have the chance to get the best of the bunch, as they hold the first pick, but just who is that player?

Houston's Bobby Boswell was the man to get (on a much reduced salary), but unfortunately the Dynamo have re-signed him and he's no longer available.

If you look at our two most pressing needs, a right back (depending on the Young-Pyo signing) and a central midfielder with bite, we don't have a lot of great options in the list, looking at everything from performance to salary.

I would much rather that we use our own scouting to fill these two positions and just try and get the best we can in the draft, even if it means taking someone solely to trade away later on.

There are a few players who could be exciting on the pitch but poison off it, along with a few I'd love to have in Vancouver but not on their current salaries.

I include Jeff Cunningham in the latter. Sure, he's ancient and didn't exactly bang goals in last season, but he might be a good guy to have around for the right price. He could really help develop guys like Long Tan and Omar Salgado.

Many clubs will likely pass on their round one picks, as those picks need to offer the player his current salary, or close to it, unless they are out of contract and there's only four of them in addition to Leathers.

Most of the movement is likely to be had in round two.

So if I had to make a round one pick, who would I take?

The only pick that would make a lot of sense to me would Real Salt Lake midfielder Andy Williams.

He's out of contract, and was on $99,225, which is less than ten grand more than what Alex Morfaw was on.

Although a Jamaican international, he was born in Toronto. His 14 season MLS career has seen him turn out for six clubs, and at 30 goals in 343 games he could be worth a punt.

He's 34 now, but it's worth adding a bit of experience in the middle. We saw how well Gershon Koffie came on last season under the tutelage of Peter Vagenas.

I know he's 'Ol Man Moon River, but I've seen first hand what a guy like that can bring to people around him when Steve Archibald joined East Fife. Added a whole different dimension to the middle.

After all the toing and froing in the build up to Monday's draft, we could find that, like last year, it's all a bit of a damp squib.

If the Caps do make a selection, let's just hope it's one we'll truly benefit from.

Timewasting: Scottish Slang Words Every Whitecap Needs To Know - And How To Use Them

With the Caps new Celtic Connection of Martin Rennie and Paul Ritchie now at the managerial helm, Whitecaps players, front office staff, fans and local media will have to get used to hearing the Scottish brogue

They're also likely to be hearing some words and phrases that they may not be used to, and I don't mean "winning team".

The influx of new players is imminent, so, always eager to help, AFTN brings you a selection of Scottish slang words and how you might hear them and use them now in MLS...

AWFURFUXAKE : Pronounced aw-for-fucks-sake. A term of exasperation, usually shouted. Likely to be heard after Mustapha Jarju shoots on goal.

BAWBAG : Pronounced baw-bag. An idiot, stupid or useless person. Likely to be heard when Baldomero Toledo is refereeing - "Haw Toledo ya bawbag". In this sentence, "haw" means hey. "Bawbag" can also be replaced by CHOOB, DOBBER or NUMPTY for same effect. Also a slang term for scrotum.

CLUDGIE : Pronounced clud-gee. A toilet. An example of how this might be used would be - "I see Toronto's playoff hopes have gone down the cludgie again".

COWP : Pronouned cow-pp. Means a messy or a dirty place. A veritable shit-hole. Can also be replaced by MIDDEN. Likely to be heard when they step off the plane in DC or Philadelphia - "Man, what a cowp of a place this is".

CRABBIT : Pronounced cra-bit. Means to be angry and grumpy. The media will hear this after the Caps lose a game they should have won - "Sorry guys, I'm not gonna say too much, I'm way too crabbit".

DREICH : Pronounced dreek. Meaning a dull, usually rainy, overcast day. It's Vancouver summed up in one word. You're going to hear this a lot - "man, it's another dreich day today".

DROOKIT : Pronounced drew-kit. Meaning to be soaked to the skin. Also likely to be heard a lot in rainy Vancouver - "awfurfuxake man, what's with aw this dreich weather? I'm drookit again".

GLAIKIT : Pronounced glay-kit. A term often used to describe a person with a confused clueless look upon their face. An example of how this might have been used already would have been - "Come on Bilal, ya glaikit big lump".

HAVERING : Pronounced hay-ver-ring. Can also be substituted with SLAVERING. Means to talk incessant nonsense. Will be heard when Paul Barber is talking about the Caps being one of the top 25 Clubs in the world - "Hey Paul, quit your havering/slavering".

JOTTERS : Pronounced as spelt. Means to tell someone they're fired. Will have been heard in last few weeks and days and in the days to come - "Sorry Peter. I know Tommy loved you, but I'm giving you your jotters".

LALDY : Pronounced lahl-dee. Means to give it everything, especially in a celebratory fashion. Will be heard in the post-game dressing room celebrations in Toronto after the Caps have won their first Voyageurs Cup - "The lads are gonna gie it laldy the night".

MINGING : Pronounce ming-in. Means horrible. Something that looks and/or is disgusting. Can be used when Seattle come to town - "Man, the Sounders are wearing their third kit tonight. It's minging.".

OHYAHOORSIR : Pronounced oh-ya-hoor-sir. An exclamation similar to AWFURFUXAKE, but one which is used to express joy and often disbelief. Will be heard if Eric Hassli produces another Seattle-esque wonder goal.

PEELY-WALLY : Pronounced pee-lee-wah-lee. Used to describe a pale looking person, especially one who is ill, sick or injured. Was heard during the training evaluation camp - "Thorrington, you're looking awfly peely-wally. What you broken this time?".

PETTIT LIP : Pronounced petted-lip. Meaning to sulk or to force someone to pout with your actions. Likely to be heard when we go down to the Clink and steal the game with a last minute winner - "Poor Sigi. Look at his pettit lip". Can also be used to describe Omar Salgado.

POCKLE : Pronounced paw-kill. To steal, cheat or swindle. Also likely to be heard in the post match presser when we go down to the Clink and steal the game with a last minute winner - "Aye we pockled the three points from that game".

RADGE : Pronounced as spelt. Means a crazy person. A nutter. Would be put to good use if we re-signed Mouloud Akloul.

RAMMY : Pronounced as spelt. Meaning a fight. Will be heard if we ever sign a battling midfielder with a bit of bite and the desire to go in for hard tackles which lead to a bit of pushing and shoving on the pitch - "(insert name here)'s caused another rammy".

SCRAN : Pronounced as spelt. More likely to be heard from Paul Ritchie as this is a Fife word. Means food - "What's the scran like around here?".

SCUNNERED : Pronounced as spelt. Means well and truly pissed off. Will be heard in post match press conferences in the unlikely event that we've lost a match - Q: "How do you feel about the game Martin?" A: "Totally scunnered".

SKELP AFF THE LUG : Pronounced as spelt. Meaning to hit someone on the ear, primarily to chastise them. Will most likely be heard in training - "Jarju. If you keep missing the target, you're gonna get a skelp aff the lug".

WHEEN : Pronounced whee-een. Meaning a lot or a large amount. Will be used in sentences like "Eric Hassli's scored a wheen of goals for us this year".

WHEESHT : Pronounced whee-sshhh-t. Meaning to tell someone to be quiet and to shut up. Likely to be heard at meetings when Tommy Soehn is present and trying to talk.

YA BAS : Pronounced ya-basss. Meaning "you bastard". Can be used as a derogatory term - "Fuck aff Bunbury ya bas" - but also as a term of endearment when two Scottish people see each other for the first time in a long time. Might be heard when Portland come to town - "Haw Spenny ya bas. How ya doing big man?"


So there you go AFTN readers. Some new Scottish words for you to all get acquainted with over the close season.

And remember - IF IT'S NO SCOTTISH, IT'S CRAP.

There's our opening day tifo right there.

Vancouver Whitecaps Begin Countdown To MLS 2012 First Kick

Major League Soccer announced some teasers about the 2012 ‘First Kick’ fixtures on Tuesday.

We might not know yet who Vancouver Whitecaps will be playing, but we do know that in 100 days from today, the Caps will be running out at BC Place to kick off their second MLS season.

Saturday March 10th is the date for your diary.

The first games will be played over three days that weekend, Saturday to Monday.

Nine teams will be opening their new season at home, with DC United, Los Angeles Galaxy, San Jose Earthquakes, Seattle Sounders, Chivas USA, FC Dallas and Portland Timbers having that honour, along with the Caps.

With Western teams playing each other three times over the course of the season, it is perhaps surprising then that eight out of the nine of them will be kicking off at home, throwing the inter-Conference games into the mix from the off.

Some of that may have something to do with the weather in the east, but it’s still strange to us.

We would try and get the intra-conference games spread nice and evenly over the season and just fill in the dots with the inter ones.

So looking at our possible opponents, there are ten teams that the Whitecaps could face for next season’s home opener, and they really can be split into three distinctive groupings: exciting, moderate and who gives a fuck.

In the exciting options, we have….

Toronto – sure, it’s a repeat of last season’s home opener, but it’s always nice to beat the FC’s and it would be far enough removed from the Voyageurs Cup games to make it more interesting.

Montreal Impact – AFTN’s most hated team in the history of football. It would be a great chance to put the Frenchies in their place early on and make them spitting mad, again.

New York Red Bulls – The only team we could face with some “star” drawing ability really, assuming Thierry Henry wants to head out west this year. You would hope the home opener would be a sell-out anyway, without the need for Henry putting additional bums on seats. I would think that MLS would keep him and his New Jersey team-mates for someone like Chivas, Dallas or DC United, to give them the marketing boost for their home openers.

Then we have the teams that would moderately interest us…

Kansas City – The chance to abuse Traitor Teal in new surroundings and in front of a large, fervent crowd. Yes please! The big selling point would be the excitement of last season’s late late show. Let people see those last four minutes of stoppage time again and you have a ticket sale on the spot.

Real Salt Lake – Primarily because they are our Western Conference rivals. Get those points in the bag early, hopefully. RSL are the only chance to do that on day one.

Houston Dynamo - Houston, as beaten MLS Cup finalists, are somewhat of a draw. It would also see Adam Moffat line up against his old chum Martin Rennie, unless we’ve signed him ourselves by then of course!

After those six, you’re left with the four dregs that no-one really cares about seeing. They’re not ticket sellers, so maybe it would be better if the Caps got them as their opening opponents, when they know they’re going to probably have a full house anyway.

Those less than fab four are – Philadelphia Union, Chicago Fire, Columbus Crew and New England Revolution.

If we had to have one, New England would be nice, as it’s the most likely three points in the bag if they’re anything like last season.

Part of me really wants Montreal. Part of me is sick of the sight of them. Also, our record against them in recent years ain’t the best. Maybe we don’t want to start the season off with a bad showing.

I think I would be happy for Montreal or Toronto though.

Major League Soccer has indicated that they are hoping to have the fixtures on a reversed basis, so the 2013 season schedule, will just be like the 2012 one but with the home teams being away.

There are obvious logistical problems with this, namely weather and stadium availability, but we love the concept of this, as it allows fans to properly plan their holidays and travel possibilities way in advance.

If this was the way for MLS to go, I’d be more than happy to open the 2013 MLS season against one of our Canadian rivals and make the trip out east.

So who will it be in Vancouver on 2012 day one?

We’ll hopefully find out soon. MLS have previously said that they plan to have the schedule, or at least the opening part of it, published this month or early January at the latest.

In the meantime, lay those bets below as to who you think we’ll be seeing at BC Place in 100 days time or tell us who you would really like to see and who you wouldn’t.

The countdown begins….

Whitecaps Player Purge Starting To Pick Up Pace – Will Alain Rochat Be Next To Go?

It's been a busy day personnel wise for Vancouver Whitecaps and it's only going to get busier in the days ahead.

Some moves we expected, but there's been some surprises thrown into the mix.

There's still an air of uncertainty hanging over the camp, as players and fans wait to see who is going to still be in the Caps squad come the end of 2011. Martin Rennie is clearly making his mark on the team.

The two part MLS Re-Entry draft is looming on the horizon for the next two Mondays. Vancouver have the first pick in both parts and we can only hope that they use them wisely and better than last year.

In preparation for the addition of new talent, the Whitecaps announced today that they were not renewing the current options on five players: Joe Cannon, Jay Nolly, Greg Janicki, John Thorrington and Peter Vagenas.

In addition, defender Jonathan Leathers is now out of contract.

Whilst there won't be too many people up in arms at the thought of losing the four outfield players, it is surprising (to an extent) that both fan favourite goalies could be on their way out of Vancouver.

All six players could still be re-signed. The players and the Caps have until 2pm on December 2nd to renegotiate new deals, or else the players will go into the cyber Monday shopping basket, unless they choose not to be included.

Our first thought is that Cannon will get the chance to re-sign, but on a much lower contract. His 2011 base salary was $199,500, with a guaranteed compensation of $209,756.25 (that quarter could be the key!).

The contract makes Cannon the sixth highest paid goalkeeper in MLS, but way behind New York's Frank Rost and his staggering $545,460 contract. Jay Nolly, on the other hand, is picking up $65,000.

I personally think that Cannon will get first refusal on a new deal, and if he says no, then we’ll see Jay back here next season, otherwise Nolly will sadly be on his way to pastures new.

The others are most likely to be on their way out, although Leathers may pick up the offer of a new contract if he wants to just be a squad player.

Midfielder Shea Salinas has definitely gone though, traded to San Jose Earthquakes in exchange for allocation money.

Not a big loss to the Caps as far as I'm concerned.

Salinas played 26 MLS games for Vancouver, starting 18, in a season curtailed by a pre-season injury. 1695 minutes clocked up, with only 1 goal and 3 assists to show for it. Not really what you're wanting from a first team regular.

Perhaps that's why he wasn't one. He would get a run in the team, then drop back to the bench. Perform well one week, underperform the next. You just never knew what Shea Salinas you were going to get.

He certainly seemed to be more of an impact player for us when coming off the bench, having his best performances in a blue and white jersey when coming on late in the game and running at tired defences.

It's a nice luxury to have, but not one Vancouver can afford right now, especially when the end results weren’t prolific enough.

And talking of Impact players, that brings us nicely to Brian Ching.

We’re going to write more about Montreal and the whole Ching thing in our Metro column on Friday.

For now though, we've been hatching a plan.

Ching is not going to play for Montreal. No way San Jose.

Will he retire or will Montreal try and cut a deal somwhere, somehow?

Rumours are that they want to play hardball with Houston and take Canadian defender Andrew Hainault from the Dynamo.

With Montreal still not having a Canadian in their squad, it may make sense to the Frenchies but is likely to be no dice with the Dynamo.

So just how important is Brian Ching to Houston?

He is their poster boy, long time servant and the dream for all the Orange men (and ladies) is for Ching to play one final season for the Dynamo, open their new downtown stadium and then bow out to a hero's farewell.

It's a nice happy ending, but is it one that Houston are prepared to lose a top player for? I think yes, but not Hainault. And that's where Vancouver Whitecaps could come in.

Montreal best chance of a deal involving Ching could be with a three way trade and Vancouver may have just the player they are needing and wanting – Alain Rochat.

Although not officially confirmed, Vancouver should be adding South Korean defender Lee Young-pyo to the team by the end of the week.

An international who has appeared in the World Cup Finals, Young-pyo ticks the boxes as an experienced defender, if one who is getting on a bit, who will appeal to a certain demographic in the city, which always helps in getting some extra bums on seats.

He's primarily a left back, and we already have two of them in Alain Rochat and Jordan Harvey, but he's also been playing right back recently, in the latter stages of his career.

Harvey didn’t impress me much in that position after his move from Philadelphia, but he did once he pushed forward into a left midfield role late in the season.

He was great there and formed a productive overlapping partnership with Alain Rochat up that left flank.

When Young-pyo comes, it may be as another designated player, but if not, he’ll be commanding a fairly hefty salary at any rate and is unlikely to be a bench player.

So where does that leave Rochat?

Possibly on his way to Montreal.

Rochat moved to Switzerland at an early age but is from Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu in Quebec. He commands a Canadian spot under MLS rules. Just what the Impact need. Plus he speaks French and they may need that even more!

Trading Rochat for Ching, would then allow the Whitecaps to re-trade Ching back to Houston for Adam Moffat.

Moffat is the midfielder we need and is only over in the US thanks to Martin Rennie bringing him here from Scotland, as our previous interview with him outlined.

Pipe dreams or a realistic transfer possibility?

The next few days could get interesting.

Timewasting: MLS Team Of The Week #2 - Dog XI

Every week we think of a subject for a football team to be based around, then fill it with our starting eleven of MLS players with some appropriate name changes, or even better, just as is!

Your scouting job is to come up with the subs bench, from any player from around the world, and leave your player suggestions in the comments section.

This week, it's the "Dog XI"...

******************************************************************
GK: Joe Canine (Vancouver Whitecaps)

D : Blake Wagner (Real Salt Lake)
D : Aurelien Collie (Kansas City)
D : Michael Boxer (Vancouver Whitecaps)

M : Brandon Barklarge (DC United)
M : Corben Bone (Chicago Fire)
M : Spaniel Paladini (Chicago Fire)
M : Logan Paws (Chicago Fire)
M : Great Dane Richards (New York Red Bulls)

F : Josh Woof (San Jose Earthquakes)
F : Joao Pluto (Toronto)

Lining up in a 3-5-2 formation, this team is sure to be good going for those vital three pointers!

A Supporter's Lament: Franchise Relocation Shouldn't Result In Club Oblivion

A guest piece for AFTN by Devon Rowcliffe

With the possibility of DC United becoming the second MLS club to move cities in less than a decade, I would like to share several ideas for preventing Major League Soccer clubs from ever having to relocate in the future.

But first, a personal introduction. I am, admittedly, "that guy". Constantly unleashing my puritanical moaning across the internet about Houston Dynamo and Orlando City SC - or more specifically, chastising the fact that both clubs were born out of franchise relocation. (And bear with me when I use the F-word – franchise – for I am not using it as a synonym for “club”.)

I detest relocation. It makes my skin crawl. In my mind, it is the most fetid act of betrayal in professional sports.

Most fellow North Americans simply roll their eyes at my disparaging rants about relocation. Compared to me, they seem quite laissez-faire about the concept of a sports club having an itinerant existence. So how did I come to hate relocation so much? And why is my mindset different than the average North American soccer fan?

THE DEATH OF WIMBLEDON FOOTBALL CLUB
(Or, the Oakland/LA/Oakland Raiders)

I started off life as a baseball fan, having spent much of my formative years at Nat Bailey Stadium, Vancouver's baseball venue. And after investing several years of my childhood cherishing my local baseball club, it returned the favour to me by... moving to California. Without a single word of warning.

My adulation was instantly harpooned. So was my interest in baseball. Perhaps I should have been prepared for this, as baseball franchises being relocated was nothing new; but the cocoon of my youthful ignorance had protected me from that. Until one day, when my childhood fantasy became hemorrhaged in an instant.

Several years later, flipping channels on a rainy Saturday morning, I stumbled across English football. It filled a void. Clubs with more than a century of history based entirely in a single community, where the concept of relocation was entirely alien. Fantastic.

Perhaps it was my fault, but just a couple of years after I developed an interest in the English game, Wimbledon FC betrayed their fans by relocating to Milton Keynes (a grim "new town" in Buckinghamshire). It was completely unheard of: in England, a system of promotion and relegation is usually what helps to grease the wheels of Darwinism. The idea of a club being moved simply because the owner fancied a different town - especially a club that had been in the country's top level of football and had recently won the FA Cup - was unprecedented.

But what surprised me most about Wimbledon's relocation (as a clueless North American still learning about the country where football began) was the massive backlash against the Dons' migration. And not just from traumatized Wimbledon supporters who were directly hurt by the move, but from football supporters from across the entire country. An organized movement called for a boycott of all matches at Milton Keynes. Football fans were strongly encouraged not to follow their club to away matches there, as ticket purchases would help to put money into the hands of the new Milton Keynes "franchise", thus legitimizing the reprehensible act of club relocation. Most English football fans were repulsed by the notion that an American-style franchising system might come into play, and that other clubs could be relocated in the future.

Milton Keynes Dons became derisively known as "Franchise FC", an object of significant scorn that is still reviled in English football today.


SUBMISSIVE ACCEPTANCE VERSUS SOLIDARITY/ACTION

When an American professional sports club is relocated, however, fans simply shrug their shoulders and accept defeat, believing that it's all part of the franchise system. And that's arguably the biggest reason why U.S. sports club owners think they can get away with it - U.S. fans are so passive about and accepting of the concept of relocation that they don't put in the required effort to prevent relocation. Nor is there any significant solidarity between fans across the country to stop relocations.

Quite simply, American sports club owners know that they can get away with it. And so relocation regularly occurs.

Professional spectator sport is ultimately about the fans. Without fans, no club, league or sport can succeed. And that gives fans a tremendous amount of power - but only if they have the courage and fortitude to wield that power. Fans (with relatively modest resources) have the ability to influence or even derail the relocation plans of multi-millionaire owners - if they're willing to become more active, by putting the time and energy into doing so.


FRANCHISES TRUMP CLUBS (Or, Milton Keynes Dynamo)

Flashback to 2005: San Jose Earthquakes owner Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) announce their relocation to Houston. AEG, valuing their MLS franchise (ownership of a spot in the league) more than the actual San Jose Earthquakes club, move to Houston, thus killing the club in the process.

Isn't it bizarre that a mere spot in a league is perceived to be of more value than an actual club? What was AEG's point of creating an MLS club in San Jose in the first place? Did they care about the community in San Jose at all, or was it merely a convenient place to drop anchor? Was it to give the community of San Jose a club to call their own, or was it to simply "grow the sport" nationally, with the interests of actual San Jose fans being a mere afterthought?

That's the problem with franchised leagues that permit relocation: a spot in a league is sometimes worth more than not only a club, but the emotional connection between that the club and its community of fans. And ultimately, isn't it because of that emotional bond why any of us bother to become fans of a club in the first place?

So for two years, San Jose supporters had no club. And it's entirely feasible that it could have remained that way. San Jose fans are lucky that another rich owner decided to re-establish the club. But what if such a white knight wasn't to be found?


SAN JOSE, AUSTIN... NEXT UP: DC UNITED, COLUMBUS, NEW ENGLAND?

Relocation in North American soccer hasn't stopped there. English Premiership side Stoke City board member Phil Rawlins, who has emigrated to the US, moved Austin Aztex to Orlando, Florida at the end of the 2010 season (despite a 25% increase in attendance from the 2009 season). Had he attempted to do this to Burnley FC, he'd spend the rest of his life looking over his shoulder every time he stepped foot in northern England. But, again, here in passive North America, the victims of the relocation made a brief stink, while the rest of the continent shrugged its passive shoulders in contempt.

And with the dust barely settled on that, another MLS relocation scenario looms with DC United. The baseball stadium that they play in is old, a poor fit for soccer, and the lease charge is exorbitant. So the club has asked for planning permission to build their own stadium. After years of negative responses and red tape from local government, the ownership group have threatened to leave Washington DC.

But it's the future that concerns me most. MLS has stated that it intends to cap the league at 20 clubs (or is that "franchises"?). If true, once the league achieves that number, there would be no way for new clubs to enter, given the absence of promotion and relegation here in North America. So if a city in the MLS-barren southeast of the U.S., for example, wants to join the league in the future, there will be only one way to get in - by relocating a franchise. And that would almost certainly mean the death of yet another North American football club.

How do we solve this problem? In a league based upon franchises, is it possible to ensure that MLS clubs won't be extinguished again in the future?

Here are five ideas for ensuring that the clubs in Major League Soccer won't be asphyxiated by their "benevolent" owners in the future:


SOLUTION ONE - FRANCHISE LEAVES, CLUB STAYS

Perhaps the best solution of all: let a franchise relocate if it must, but keep the associated club alive in its home community.

Confused?

What if, when AEG moved their franchise spot from San Jose to Houston and created a new club (Houston Dynamo) based around that franchise, they had been forced to keep San Jose Earthquakes alive as a football club? Admittedly, that club would no longer be in MLS. It might have played in the professional second-division (NASL) or third-division (USL Pro). It could have been relegated down to the short-season USL PDL, a fourth-tier league aimed primarily at giving college students competitive matches during summer. Or perhaps San Jose Earthquakes could have even dropped down into the amateur USASA (D5). And while dropping down four divisions, and going from professional to completely amateur would have been a shock, at least the hardcore fans would still have had a club to support. Surely that would have been much better than instant oblivion between San Jose supporters and their local football club.

In order to ensure that a club would be kept alive after its associated franchise is relocated, MLS franchise owners would need to enter into a contractual obligation to continue operating that club, even if they decide to relocate their MLS franchise elsewhere. Move DC United's franchise to a different region and start a new club there if you must; but DC United as a football club must continue on for the benefit of the fans - even if that means playing in a (much) lower division.

When an MLS franchise is awarded to an ownership group, they should be required to sign a contract with the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) or the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) so that in the event of a franchise relocation, the ownership group would have to continue running that club in its home community for "X" number of years. Perhaps a certain annual budget (for at least several years) should be agreed to, and that fee should be paid to the USSF/CSA as a bond for running the club for the subsequent several years - and without it, the USSF/CSA would refuse to sanction the relocation of the MLS franchise.

And even better than merely forcing new MLS franchise purchases to participate would be to impose this upon all current MLS franchise owners.


SOLUTION TWO - SUPPORTERS BECOME MORE VOCAL/ASSERTIVE

Second, we as supporters need to assert the concept that clubs are more important than franchises. It is the clubs that are why we bother to become supporters in the first place. We don't support our local football club so that we can help a franchise owner make a profit, nor so that the league can hit their annual targets for TV ratings. We support our local football club because it is OUR club - albeit emotionally ours, rather than legally.

If clubs continue to be killed every time a franchise is moved, this process will continue to thwart the growth of professional soccer here in North America - particularly when MLS hits its cap of 20 clubs, and the pressure for relocation becomes higher than ever. If I can be certain that my club will exist in my community in 50 years, I will put a tremendous amount of passion, time and money into supporting it. However, if it could have been relocated to three different cities by then, why should any of us bother to make such emotional investments into clubs?

If short: as supporter, we need to become less passive and less accepting of our clubs being destroyed. We need to demand that our clubs will remain, and that there will be a proverbial shit storm against the franchise relocator, the league, and the USSF/CSA if our clubs are killed when a franchise is relocated.

Our clubs play in a league of franchises, and like it or not, that's the disappointing reality that we all have to accept for now. But that doesn't mean that we have to sit on our hands and meagerly watch as our clubs are destroyed when franchises are relocated. We have a voice. If owners who relocate franchises are happy to kill our clubs in the process, then the Independent Supporters Council (ISC) can organize a continent-wide boycott of that franchise's new team (just as the Football Supporters' Federation in England successfully organized a boycott of all Milton Keynes Dons matches for several years). But these actions will only work if there is solidarity - if we all care, and if we are all assertive enough to raise our collective voices when it matters.


SOLUTION THREE - MLS ENTRY ONLY TO EXISTING (LOWER-DIVISION) CLUBS

Third, Major League Soccer should stop awarding league franchises to ownership groups that are not currently running a successful football club. Only clubs currently in existence, and operating successfully in a lower division (ideally division two), should be allowed to buy an MLS franchise.

This demand might surprise some people, given the success of Toronto FC and Philadelphia Union, two clubs that were created only after their respective ownership groups were awarded MLS franchises. But if clubs were forced to start their existence in the lower divisions prior to joining MLS, the concept of clubs and their associated league franchises being innately intertwined would be significantly unraveled. As a result, there would be an expectation that these clubs would continue to exist, even if their associated MLS franchise were relocated to a different city. Rather than disappearing into oblivion, fans would expect their club to simply go back down to the lower-division league where it began its existence.

If an ownership group can catapult themselves directly into North America's top-flight by buying their way into Major League Soccer, it's no wonder why there is such a dearth of successful second and third division clubs here. And that's a huge problem for the growth of football on this continent, when the middle of our football pyramid is so pathetically anemic. Requiring clubs to start their lives in a lower division of American soccer would be an immense help in addressing this problem as well.

It's also less risky for MLS to pluck D2's best clubs than it is to award a league spot to a group that have never before operated a football club - which is a risk and a big leap of faith. In fact, I'm surprised that the USSF hasn't already pressured MLS to do this, considering the profound success of the three Cascadia clubs - which were all "promoted" from D2.

Remember during the MLS franchise bid process back in 2009, when there was interest from FC Barcelona (Miami), as well as groups based in New York City and even Ottawa? Imagine what the NASL/USL Pro would look like today if those ownership groups had all established lower-divisions clubs as part of a long-term process for joining MLS. And imagine the New York Cosmos playing D2 football!

SOLUTION FOUR - EVENTUAL PROMOTION/RELEGATION
(OR AT LEAST A USSF 50-YEAR PLAN)

Fourth (although admittedly less realistic) would be to have promotion and relegation here in North America. Rather than buying their way into MLS by purchasing a franchise and having league suits decide which clubs can compete in MLS, clubs could automatically enter the league by winning the second division. Struggling clubs would find themselves relegated, and stronger clubs would take their place. Promotion and relegation could allow the concept of franchises to potentially be scrapped, thus eliminating a major cause of relocation.

However, given the single-entity structure and high franchise purchase cost ($40 million for Montreal joining in 2012) in MLS, the only likely way that promotion and relegation would be introduced into MLS is if the league starts its own second division (MLS2). The setup would probably look similar to Japan, where there is promotion and relegation between the J1 and J2 in Japan's J.League, but no formal up-and-down with the lower divisions (D3 and below). NASL and USL Pro (the second and third division league, respectively) are simply too fragile to enter into a formal arrangement with MLS at this point, and thus MLS would likely have to set up promotion and relegation on its own.

Huge obstacles remain. The USSF's lack of interest in creating a healthy D2/D3, and their almost complete attention solely to MLS, means that lower divisions above USL PDL (D4) are in a shambles. I mention this because even if promotion and relegation were only to exist within MLS, the league would still need far more thriving D2/D3 clubs (who would probably start life in NASL or USL Pro) to absorb. We would also need many more clubs on the western half of the continent - at present, Los Angeles Blues are all alone on the west coast in D3, and San Antonio (a new club starting in 2012) will be the only D2 U.S. club in the western half of the country.

The question is: does either MLS or the USSF have any desire for promotion and relegation? We don't know, because unlike the Japanese FA, which has a publicly-available 50-year vision for that how country intends to grow its club football, there is no such document from the U.S. soccer authority (or if there is, it certainly hasn't been made public). While promotion and relegation is impossible in the immediate future, could/should it happen in the next 10/25/50/100 years? Does MLS want it? Does the USSF want it? Do the fans want it? For the health of club football and its growth here in North America, this discussion needs to happen.


SOLUTION FIVE - FORMAL SUPPORTER INVOLVEMENT/OWNERSHIP

Fifth, I would like supporters to realize a formal voice in how their clubs are operated. This could come in the form of independent supporters' trusts, in which fan representatives could sit on the club's board of directors and have a formal voice in club operations. Victoria Highlanders in the USL PDL recently became the first club in North America to offer their supporters 30% ownership through shares (via season tickets). And although MLS has an odd structure (where club owners only actually own 49% of their MLS franchise, as the league is the majority owner of all of its franchises), there's no reason why supporters couldn't have a formal voice within that 49%, and possibly even have an ISC representative on the league's board of directors.

When supporters are an active and participating part of a football club, that club is more likely to be seen as valuable on its own, rather than just as a disposable cover draping a league franchise. It would also help a club in its efforts to remain alive in its home community. For example, have DC United supporters played an active and organized role in expressing their displeasure about the difficulties of procuring planning approval from the District? Have they lobbied politicians, demanded their support, and threatened to vote as a block for whichever candidates support their objectives? If not, would DC United supporters have been more likely to have played such an active role if they had a formal ownership stake in the club?


DIFFICULT DECISIONS AHEAD FOR THE USSF

Achieving these five proposed solutions (particularly forcing MLS franchise owners to contractually agree to keep a club alive after franchise relocation, and clearly communicating a long-term vision for the growth of American club football) won't be easy. Interestingly, although these proposed solutions relate to MLS and its member clubs, the decisions would almost all be for the USSF to decide and to act upon.

Your move, Sunil Gulati.


Devon Rowcliffe is based in Vancouver, and is a major proponent of supporter-owned football clubs. He has been a member of the Vancouver Southsiders for nine years, and recently became a season ticket holder at Victoria Highlanders FC - the first partly-supporter-owned football club in North America.