Hello friends and welcome back to a special post season report as Vancouver participate in the World Club Championship scheduled for mid — December 2013. Of course as I like to do my updates chronologically any Vancouver activities related to the MLS will also be added as well. Helps me remember what’s going on too!
Financials
We ended the domestic season with roughly $8,000,000 in the bank which is not bad at all despite the investments in both training facilities and a new stadium – which I still don’t get?
Moneyball
Even though the season is not quite over for us we got together to review the team stats (before they are wiped out) from this past season to give us an early indication of where we can possible improve.
Defensively things hadn’t changed much since the summer other than I hadn’t released CB Esnal whom I should have done as he hadn’t played much. Heath Pearce I felt was time for him to move on as at 29 his value would quickly diminish. He was sold to FC Midtylland for $825,000 which the MLS will snag 33% but with his book price being $525,000 I felt that was a good deal.
The full back situation still remained solid so any new player would have to be better than 4.2 in tackling and probably + 30 in passing – though for now I’m not looking.
My plan for the CB’s are is to sell off Esnal and give Rodriguez who is younger more playing time. At the DMC slot Canadian Tyler Hemming may be a casualty of post season activity but I haven’t quite made my mind up yet. My scouts have an eye on a replacement for him.
On the offense side of things the crossing ability of both Teibert, who is valued at $1.2million and Salinas is looking very suspect especially when compared to the strikers who filled their roles. I do have one left winger on the way in and currently negotiating with a new AMR (ST).
The scouting team had brought to my attention 20 year old Doneil Henry in the Toronto reserve team who when compared to Esnal was showing some great potential in defensive stats. We offered a part exchange and Toronto accepted the deal.
We also gazumped Toronto for another defender Giuliano Sacco whose been showing great promise with Thunder Bay which is located in Northern Ontario.
Doneil Henry
Giuliano Sacco
Club World Championship: Quarter –Final
We flew half way around the world to Rabat, Morocco for our debut in this tournament where we got off to a brilliant start against Saudi side Al-Hilal with Tardelly opening the scoring, smashing the ball home off a cheeky flick on by Castillejos.
Al-Hilal tied things up very quickly with a rare insurgence into our half but in the second period we laid down the gauntlet with Darlington Nagbe pressuring the Al-Hilal defenders into an own goal and Josh Galloway neatly tucked away a penalty kick to round things off.
Club World Championship: Semi –Final
A few days later we face Argentinian power-house River Plate in a gruelling encounter that was highlighted by brilliant performances by both keepers that took the game to 90 minutes and beyond. Although fatigue set in we somehow were the better side in extra-time but were unable to break the deadlock and to my surprise we took River to a penalty shoot and we won!!!!!!!!
**Authors note
To be honest I couldn’t watch it and went and at on my patio for 5 minutes until it was all over :)
Finally we get some freaking prize money as there seems to have been none for winning the MLS or the NACL – well at least from what I can see.
Club World Championship: Final
On a mild December evening we took on Inter Milan at the Stade du Prince Moulay Abdallah in Rabat. Thirteen minutes in and my heart skipped a beat as Inter were reduced to 10 men after a crunching tackle on Galloway who thankfully wasn’t injured. I thought we now had a chance but the Italians could play just as well with 10 men and took the lead just before half time with a rocket of a shot by Wesley Sneijder.
Inter put us under intense pressure for most of the second half which led to the sending off of RB Steve Draper but surprisingly we finished the stronger of the two teams but couldn’t quite do enough to penetrate the Inter defence and cause another upset.
Hey, not bad a pay-out for coming second…
Before the end of the year the board finally made an announcement about the new stadium as well as a new sponsorship deal.
However, our finances now make very grim reading as we’ve amounted some massive debt with this capital project underway.
Who would have thought back in pre-season that we would end the year in the North Africa playing Inter Milan in the Club World Championship Final? It’s been a remarkable season and I’m very proud of what the team has accomplished.
Thanks a lot for following along and taking the time to read this special report. See you all next season!!
Have a great weekend.
Tegar Triemanudigdo
27 апреля, 2012 at 10:15
Damn, that was tight there! But congratulations for being runner-up there! I couldn’t imagined how happy those fans if it was in real life.
So a new stadium for the magnificent team, I couldn’t ask more than that! I’ll be waiting on your next adventure.
Kevin
27 апреля, 2012 at 12:29
Hi Tegar
The CWC went a lot closer than I expected so I’m very proud of how well we did. Gald you are liking th story too.
Darren Smith
27 апреля, 2012 at 11:03
Very unlucky Kevin and I think the fact we are saying that about the CWC final against Inter speaks volumes. Vancouver have come a long way since you took charge, I guess the challenge is to maintain while putting the finances right now.
Kevin
27 апреля, 2012 at 12:38
Thanks Darren
When I started this journey I never thought we’d been playing anyone like Inter so I’m just delighted. Aside from the financial challenge I would like to beat DC United’s 4 Championships :)
TheZiggy
27 апреля, 2012 at 11:18
You put up a decent fight against Inter in the final. Shame you couldn’t take advantage of them being reduced to 10 men, but it’s amazing how many times a team seems to play better after they have a player sent off.
I’m sure you’ll get the finances back in order, but for someone who takes great pride in them, it must be a bit of shock when the board took you quite deep into the red.
Kevin
27 апреля, 2012 at 12:41
Hi Ziggy
Yeah, even we’ve palyed better with 10 men during regular and paly off games so it’s not always a disadvantage as Inter proved. As for the finances I was bit upset to see them dive so far into the red. For now I’m not about to offload players to compensate but that always is an option. At some point I will have to rebuild and take a hit in terms of winning, that’s how sport works in N America.
Dan
27 апреля, 2012 at 12:54
Hey Kevin,
You did really well against River Plate and Inter and have every right to be happy with your effort. So unlucky not to win the competition. As for your finances they look pretty bad now but I’m sure they’ll spike the other way when the stadium is completed and a full house turns up week in week out! They weren’t too creative with the name though were they! ;)
Kevin
27 апреля, 2012 at 23:14
Hey Dan
After Intr went down to 10 men I thought we could win it — never mind. I much prefer BC place to Vancouver Stadium. Perhaps The Mayo Colliseum :)
Johnny Karp
27 апреля, 2012 at 14:22
Well, that was awesome Kevin! Being in the final of the Club World Championship is simply outstanding and you deserve huge congratulations on that achievement. Next step, win it! :) Best of luck!
Kevin
27 апреля, 2012 at 23:18
Hey, thanks Johnny for that awesome compliment. I think this is possibly my best save since you brought me on board to FMS. I think I’ve found my FM niche and in my own «backyard» too :)
saltwater
27 апреля, 2012 at 17:19
A great effort and Inter had to pull through against you guys, and made it only just, whereas three or five years ago they would have slayed you within fifteen minutes, so that show just about everything you’ve done for this club. Interesting transfer activity, and hopefully the debt won’t take you too far back. One thing that I’ve not mentioned about the moneyball method, is how it really seperates the players putting in a shift and the ones who are there to collect there pay checks. Good luck, Kevin!
Kevin
27 апреля, 2012 at 23:24
Hi saltwater
Thanks very much for highlighting how far Vancouver have come. I think moneyball is working a treat and you make a good point about lazy players as Esnal had the worst stats out of al my DC’s. My new signing Henry will hopefuly be hungry for a starting place and continue with those heading percentages.
Martin F.M.J.S
27 апреля, 2012 at 19:59
Well done Kevin I think you have done Vancouver proud. Inter are a big club and you made them work hard for the win. I would be very happy with that result :D
Kevin
27 апреля, 2012 at 23:25
Thanks Martin
I’m delighted that we made it to the final and beating River Plate along the way!
Ana Garcia
27 апреля, 2012 at 20:00
Great effort!
Beating River was an amazing result albeit on penalties but a win is win and you looked liked on put in another terrific performance against Inter only losing by a goal.
Shame all your hard earned prize money went on that new stadium!
I found America an ok league to make money in so am sure you can turn around that negative into a positive balance so good luck! :)
Kevin
27 апреля, 2012 at 23:27
Gracias Ana!
River Plate was just an amazing result -one of my best without actauly scoring a goal :)
I think you are right about the finances — they will soon turn around.
CsAtlantis
28 апреля, 2012 at 13:09
That was a great performance by your team in the World Club Championship, going all the way to lose narrowly in the final (Sneijder was probably paid more than your whole team too!)
Well, your finances don’t look good but your club did not take out a loan for the stadium so you don’t have to worry about repayments Kevin!
I like those 2 young Canadian defenders you signed, hopefully they will develop well
Kevin
29 апреля, 2012 at 21:06
Hi CsAtlantis
glad you like those new recruits — I think Henry will be the best out of both of them. Yes, it’s good to know that we’ve got no loans attached to the club though I’m stillcan’t figure out why we had to move :)
Sears
29 апреля, 2012 at 13:32
Well done on reaching the CWC final Kevin, that was a magnificent achievement! Congrats on the new stadium too, despite the finances taking a big hit.
Kevin
29 апреля, 2012 at 21:08
Thanks Sears
Totally unexpected to reach the final of the CWC. I think this is my best FMS effort yet?
vaibhavc
29 апреля, 2012 at 18:04
It was great getting to the CWC final Kevin! It was a great effort, too bad you couldn’t win it. Still, you made so much money from it. The stadium will cost a lot of money!
Kevin
29 апреля, 2012 at 21:14
Hey vaibhavc
Yep all the money is going to a capital project which I still can;t figure out why? I enjoyed that brief tourney but totally shocked we did so well :)
Ste
1 мая, 2012 at 20:44
Alright Kevin mate, just a quick question. I’m aswell playing as Vancouver, I won the NACL and MLS second season and I am now in November third season. I haven’t however received an allocation fund off the MLS this season, did the same happen to you after you won it? I was thinking that the winners maybe don’t get a fund to make it fair or something. I had to sell my best player to raise funds aswell. Just wondering if this was a glitch, only fund I receive at all is 70k after winnind the Canadian Championship.
Kevin
1 мая, 2012 at 23:37
Hi Ste
Best I can tell you is keep an eye on the boardroom screen as somehow funds magically appear without any annoucement on the main page. I still don’t understand how the funds get allocated, bit furstrating really :)
hils
2 мая, 2012 at 15:33
Hey Kevin!!!!!!!!!!
Kevin
2 мая, 2012 at 20:07
Where the heck have you been :)