Episode 1!!!!!

AFTN has moved under the Canadian Soccer News umbrella from yesterday. Nothing will change content wise. It will still be the usual analysis and general nonsense, but I've added some familiar faces as new writers and columnists.

I'll be posting all our latest article updates in this thread from now on.

You can go find AFTN at any time via the nice and simple: http://www.aftn.ca

Have my 1st interview with a past Whitecaps player on WhitecapsXI. It will be posted Saturday morning.

Can you guess who my guest is?

Obviously the Seba signing is the hot news of the day, but I found it curious on yesterday’s WFCD that they said Ben Fisk wasn't going to Arizona. Did anyone perceive this as meaning he won't win a contract this year?

I have been working on this for a week or so. Would love some input, suggestions or ideas.

Trying to make it a one stop shop for all up to date Caps stats!!

So I'm doing my old blog again, Maple Leaf Forever!; not as frequently but with more love. Visit it at http://www.maple-leaf-forever.com or follow it on Twitter as MapleLeafBlog.

Since everyone's talking about this kind of thing today, the announcement of the new US women's soccer league made me go on the warpath and shout how Canada should stop wanting to follow in the American's footsteps: we should, and could, have a women's professional league of our own.

Dreams of a National (Women’s) Soccer League

We've been talking about this for a year, but we've finally got our asses into gear and have recorded episode one of the new AFTN podcast "There's Still Time".

We look back at the Houston game and ahead to Chivas. How dirty will the Goats be? Should the Caps be worried about going home on stretchers? We get the thoughts of Martin Rennie, Joe Cannon and Erik Hurtado.

Plus we look at the Edmonton game and have a chat with former fan favourite Wes Knight about how he's finding life with the Eddies and his memories of Vancouver.

And there's stuff on this weekend's Cascadia derbies and we want to know about what stadiums are on your bucket list.

Have a listen! After all the problems with the sound on West Coast Weekly, this seems to have gone a lot more smoothly!

http://www.canadiansoccernews.com/content.php?4363-Theres-Still-Time-The-AFTN-Podcast-Episode-1

I run a blog about BC soccer called Little Rubber Pellets! It's basically Whitecaps analysis pieces at this point. I also write about CIS soccer and Whitecaps stuff, whenever relevant, for the Ubyssey, the student paper I work for. When I have something to post, I'll throw it here. Like it? Questions? Drop in a comment.

Also, anybody know why my posts on here always come out on a blue background and not white? In which particular way am I being computer illiterate this time? Thanks!

First episode chats with ex Canadian national team coach Dale Mitchell (now with Coqutilam Metro Ford in the BCPL) and Martin McMahon, correspondent with Sportsnet and MLSSoccer.com. Some interesting stuff in there.

Find out more details and have a listen at: http://www.canadiansoccernews.com/content.php?2568-New-Vancouver-Based-Football-Podcast-Launches

Who does everyone think will be wearing the armband for the Caps, Nigel Reo-Coker? Or Alain Rochat? Or someone else?

Saturday, 6.30pm, BC Place (TSN, RDS2)

First day of the season and first Canadian rivalry game, as Ryan Nelsen makes his bow as the latest Toronto Coach, facing a Vancouver team who Martin Rennie has added depth and pace to in the off-season. There's a decidedly premier league flavor to this one, with possible debuts for Nigel Reo-Coker for the Whitecaps and QPR's Hogan Ephraim coming in on loan for Toronto. And of course there's Nelsen. Vancouver will be hoping to start the year with a win. Toronto will just want to get going and put the memory of a dismal 2012 behind them. GP

Brenton Walters, @CapsOffside:

This past week the Vancouver Whitecaps, along with all other MLS teams, released their new jerseys. Ours is great: it's got diagonal lines, various blue highlights, and is mostly white. Bam. Instant classic, right? We'll see. I'm still holding out on the mythical 2014 hooped shirt.

In other news, we signed former Premier League midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker, and now have too many players for our starting XI. Wow. This is a great (and novel) problem to have, and has the fans buzzing. Should Reo-Coker start? Will YP Lee play at right or left back? Who will play up front? And has Cannon reclaimed the #1 spot from Brad Knighton, on the back of a stellar pre-season? And finally, where do our exciting new rookies fit into all this? Interesting questions all. I'm seeing a lot of variation in the line-up predictions.

Which leads me to the manager, Martin Rennie. Last season he had a squad rotation problem, in that he never rotated the squad. Consequently, we had a lot of tired legs at the end of the season, and limped our way into the final play-off spot. Has Rennie learned from last season, and will we see more line-up changes, more subs, and more chances given to fringe players? Here's hoping.

It all kicks off against our Canadian rivals Toronto, who seem to be in disarray (still? again? as always?). That would seem to be an easy win for us, but TFC have proven difficult for us in the past. Here's hoping our squad depth and cohesion give us the platform we need to start the season on a high note.

Sonja Missio, 90 Minutes of Hopp:

Earlier this week, team captain and German international Torsten Frings announced him retirement. Frings, who suffered a hip injury last season, had not recovered as expected and felt that stepping away would be best for the club. Another player who will not be returning to the club this season is forward Quincy Amarikwa, who was traded to Chicago Fire for a 2014 Supplemental Draft pick. However, Toronto recently acquired winger Hogan Ephraim on loan from Queens Park Rangers and the team is starting to take shape under new head coach –and former fellow QPR player– Ryan Nelsen.

Toronto have a lot of expectations to live up to. After last season – and all the ones prior-- fans will no longer put up with excuses and lackluster performances. With Kevin Payne, TFC's first president, leading the show behind the scenes, Toronto FC fans should be excited for this new era for the team.

However, one thing is for sure, at the very least, morbid curiosity of what the team will accomplish at the start of the season, under new leadership, new management, and new captianship, should lure fans back to the season opener.

http://www.teamradio.ca/live/music-player/index.html

Edited October 14: New blog post up with an attempt at an all-MLS Colombian XI.

http://ultrastoronto.com/2012/10/14/colombias-american-exports-mls-xi/]http://ultrastoronto.com/2012/10/14/colomb...exports-mls-xi/

Original post:

http://ultrastoronto.com/2012/09/19/when-canada-played-a-fixed-match/

New blog post with some musings about the recent CSL scandal and Canada's own history in fixed matches.

As an aside, I'm hoping to get to the Seattle game at the end of the month, but just moved to town and haven't been set up for membership or anything yet -- is my best bet to go through the club? In Toronto I always used the U-Sector board and can find people to vouch for my reliability. Is PMing someone on the ticket exchange thread considered forbidden? Don't tell me I need to deal with scalpers!

Here's the first:

The Guardian is expanding coverage of MLS, and to start they have a piece on the upcoming MLS draft. They asked us to answer a few questions about the club and the draft. We're at the bottom:

MLS SuperDraft 2012: club-by-club

http://www.whitecapsfc.com/video/2012/10/04/pitch-jay-demerit

Arne - maybe you could get your wish at giving Darren a cooking lesson ? Seems like we could have some fun with this. I'd love to have a day on the slopes with one of these guys

Yesterday, I interviewed Matt Watson for Prost Amerika. There will be more content on AFTN later today as well.

thoughts?

They were talking about what this game will mean to Portland and Tony basically said "who the hell cares about the Cascadia cup" he also seemed to think it is something that MLS made up recently to keep fans happy or something like that. Obviously some media in Vancouver still have no idea what Cascadia means to us and the history that it has.

Here's my latest Metro column though.

All about the importance of the ISC to ALL football fans in North America and why the ECS are selfish twats, or in the very least, just twats...

http://www.metronews.ca/vancouver/blog/post/1101853--away-from-the-numbers-fans-united-well-most-of-them-anyways

[Camilo's 2011 is] a good season which at the MLS market rate was worth more than $130,420. However, it is also Camilo's first year of competent high-level soccer: his only previous success had come in the low-quality Maltese league, and he completely washed out of Gyeongnam of the South Korean K-League in 2010-11. When he signed with Major League Soccer after a promising trial, Camilo opted for security rather than ambition, signing a two-year contract with a two-year club option.

http://www.eightysixforever.com/2011/12/14/2636316/how-do-you-solve-a-problem-like-camilo

To Show Their Support, Soccer Fans in the U.S. Need to Master 'Tifo'

Giant, Choreographed Displays in the Stands at Times Fall Short of Their Goals

SANTA CLARA, Calif.—Members of the 1906 Ultras, a fan club for the San Jose Earthquakes soccer team, had a lot at stake as they trooped into Buck Shaw stadium here for a game earlier this season.

The concern wasn't so much their team's prospects against rival Real Salt Lake. The big test was their own performance in the stands.

...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443696604577646143196168230.html?mod=ITP_AHED

A fair few questions on the Whitecaps. Doyle is not complimentary about the mid-season changes.

MOVED TO WHITECAPS MEDIA