Another great gone!!!  The turnover at the Whitecaps over the last 12 months has been tough to take, especially when those who have left have been the ones carrying the biggest burden for the Whitecaps for years and years.

When we name the long time players that have left, they really have been the heart and soul of the Whitecaps: Valente, Jordan, Clarke, Kindel.  Lyall was perhaps the longest serving of them all, and not the least important. Geordie was a joy to watch over the years with his fantastic speed and strength.   What made him the complete player was his character, which was impeccable.  He gave his all for the Whitecaps and 86ers jerseys, and never pulled out of a tackle.  When you consider these guys are not paid big amounts of money and are playing for the love of the game, it really is a credit to them that they play so hard.

I missed one of Geordie’s best moments: a goal scored against Romario’s Miami FC back in what was the Quarter Final in 2006.   I was out of town.  An ecstatic Geordie jumped into the spot where I usually stand and nearly knocked my dad over!

Geordie struggled all this year for fitness due to back injuries that have plagued him.   Perhaps the struggle for fitness became too much, or perhaps it was just time to move on.

In any event, words can’t express the gratitude the fans feel for a guy like Geordie.  Geordie was key in bringing us two USL-1 Championships. He was a real fan favourite who enjoyed the respect and admiration of all.  In the years we watched him play I never heard one word of criticism about him from any of my fellow fans.   I certainly never found fault with anything he did.

I hope Geordie comes to future matches so we can see him and thank him in person.  We love you Geordie!   All the best in the future and thanks for the memories.

Negotiations between Several USL-1 teams and the United Soccer Leagues have come to a crisis point.

USL used to be owned by NIKE.  NIKE recently sold the League to an Atlanta outfit known as NuRock.  The team owners had looked to buy the USL from NIKE but NuRock swooped in and bought the league from under the noses of the team owners. The team owners were not pleased. Some, including the Montreal Impact and the Vancouver Whitecaps, formed the team owners association (TOA) as a group to negotiate with the USL.

Today the USL announced that negotiations with the TOA were over.  No deal had been made.  The League later released a press release claiming that it was still open to having the Whitecaps and the Impact play in the USL-1 next season.   This would appear to open the door to more negotiations, or might represent a last-ditch attempt to have the Whitecaps and the other owners accept the USL’s terms in their entirety.   The parties appear to have stepped to the brink, but have now stepped back somewhat.

The Whitecaps have released a statement to their fans saying the Whitecaps will be involved in “league play” next year, but don’t say which league.   It appears as though the TOA will begin the process of setting up a parallel league in case negotiations fall through completely with USL.

The Whitecaps should not give in to the USL on terms that are unacceptable.   In my view, however,  it would be sad to not see the USL split up by this dispute.  The standard of play in the USL has gone up considerably in the last 5 years and the league is now very competitive.  If the TOA want to set up their own league, they should ensure that it is of high quality.   I don’t want to go back to the days of watching inferior teams as we used to with some of the teams in the old A-League.  Lets hope the USL and the TOA can step back from the brink and negotiate a deal which is good for all, especially for the sport itself. The game is bigger than all of this.

Though things perked up for the Whitecaps this year in the playoffs, I have to say that this was one of the least enjoyable years we have had at Swangard in recent memory.  The only season I can remember which was less enjoyable was when previous owner Stadnyk abandoned the team mid-season.  Saying why this season was so bad is difficult, however.  Perhaps it was because a lot of the best loved players departed in the off season: Sebrango, Clarke, Kindel, Valente and Jordan.  We had to get used to a whole new mob of players, many of whom were hardly inspiring.   Furthermore, the team struggled all year until the very end when they came good.

The schedule was diabolical this year.  At one point we only had one home game between June 12 and July 25, which was verses the Minnesota Thunder on July 9th.  The lack of games to watch in this period alienated the fans from the team.  Some have speculated that the bad schedule was because of the fact that the Whitecaps were leaving the USL-1.  Whatever the reason, some of my buddies at the game felt that this gap really damaged their enjoyment of the season.

I suppose we all felt disappointed that we had won the championship last year, and then we came out so mediocre as a team this year.  I had hoped that we would win the points race for the first time since the ‘86ers days.  I believe that only one team has ever won the points race and the USL-1 championship in the same year: our arch-rivals the Seattle Sounders.   I though this was the year we might do it.  How wrong I was.  The wholesale change in playing personnel put paid to that.

Then there was the fight between Gbeke and Charles during the Miami match.  This was the low point in the season.    The team had become downright unsavory to watch.

Then there was the Canadian Championship scandal, where we were let down by Montreal’s 1-6 capitulation to Toronto FC .  This result ended up with us losing our CONCACAF Champions League spot to TFC.  The sight of our players, who had travelled all the way to Montreal to pick up the Canadian Championship Trophy , forlornly standing in the rain when it dawned on them what was happening, was a depressing sight indeed.

The playoff run really saved the year.  Other than that, it was a weird season.  The regular season performance was poor stuff.  Hopefully 2010 will be a better year.  My belief is that the Caps should have as a goal winning both the League and the Championship trophy.  Why not?

Lets leave USL-1 with a bang and with our heads held high.

The Toronto Football Club is becoming the Newcastle United of the MLS.   TFC enjoys huge support, fanatical fans, a lovely stadium and yet they fail on the pitch miserably.  Yesterdays’  5-0 beating against Red Bull New York was nothing short of a disgrace to the club and the fans of TFC.   While I don’t count myself as a TFC supporter, I do count myself as a Canadian soccer fan and had hoped TFC would crack the playoffs this year.   They have failed to do so for the third straight year.   The fact that the Seattle Sounders have made the playoffs in their first MLS season makes it all the more embarrassing.

While TFC fiddled about trying to get  De Guzman for most of the season, and only got him when it was too late, Seattle had Freddie Lungberg from the start of the season as well as veteran keeper Casey Keller.

The fellows that TFC hired to manage the team were poor.  Neither John Carver nor Chris Cummings are fit to coach at the MLS level.  Neither is an intelligent football strategist who can get the best out of the squad.   Neither have proven they can manage with any success, while Seattle hired proven winner Sigi Schmid.  It is time to get an established winner in charge of the squad.

It is also time for TFC owners to stop taking for granted their fan’s enthusiasm and actually got serious about success on the pitch.   USL-1 teams Vancouver and Puerto Rico were both able to beat TFC quite comfortably this year. Cummings must go, and so should much of the squad.  TFC as it stands is rubbish, and it is time to take the rubbish out.