Paris Olympics 2024

[Pomoxis]

I've seen some unhinged rants on this forum, but that one up there is top tier.

[The Ref]

1 hour ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

All of this self-flagellation is ridiculous I find. 

You cannot get anything from flying a drone, it is 95% useless, the only thing you could possible get is a set piece set up. Oh, they go far post off a left side corner. 

But even then you don't know if they trained near post off a left side corner last week. Or if the taker is just going too long by mistake. They are not even wearing numbers in training, you can hardly tell who have the players are from drone images.

Ok, maybe you can see that the two raised arms by the taker means going far post: but most teams decide on the non-verbal code on game day. They don't go out, use a hand signal, then repeat it every game. So not even that.

Practicing penalties: oh we won't go to penalties in the group stage. Oh, just look at recent results from NZ, look how many penalties they've taken, who takes them, what she does in her club play with them, and voilà: no need to use a drone for that either.

So it's bogus, and being bogus, the best thing to do is stop with this insane hand-wringing and making up all kinds of reasons we should be tarred and pilloried when it is a minor little thing, not significant. Getting rid of Bev when obviously the CSA knew about it, because they paid for the drone, packed it, got it through customs, trained someone to use it, approved it be taken to the NZ training session: ridiculous.

The CSA is scapegoating Priestman for other reasons, I'd say. Is that the post-Herdman decision, eliminating all vestiges of the Herdman era? They are not even letting her lead the team to prove the WC was a glitch and she's able to get results for us, which is frankly disgraceful. She is damned if she does and damned if she doesn't. They are crucifying her without a trial and when they are party to what happened anyways. 

I can't see why people can't distinguish between a legitimate disciplinary question related to a minor ethics issue, and a purge.

Another one of CSA brutal decisions.

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

Bev Priestman should have done the decent thing and resigned straight away. Her contract was highly likely to be voided for gross misconduct regardless. Now the question will be whether John Herdman has a future in the sport in Canada. Judging from the TSN tweet insiders are starting to talk about what was really behind the Honduras incident and how it wasn't a one-off occurrence.

Edited July 26 by Ozzie_the_parrot

[Unnamed Trialist]

2 hours ago, Goal_Kick said:

So why did they do it?

It's just technological fetishism, of which we have a lot in Canada. This is, of course, from Herdman, who not having been a player and having come up as an institutional coach, in New Zealand, has to supplement his lack of playing experience, and lack of club experience, with various tricks to compensate. One is him being the psychological guru able to take a rag-tag bunch and turn them into a brotherhood; another is having his metrics whizz, which I do admit is common nowadays; another is any sort of tech advantage to make it look like you are a step ahead. 

Maybe we should ask: why aren't the other nations doing it and getting caught doing it? Easy answer: because they know it does not give them anything substantial.

Drone recording an entire practice: have you ever seen a football practice? I have, I have seen Barça train, full sessions, and over a period of 30+ years. I have also see 4th tier teams, full sessions. And u-19s, full sessions. There is hardly anything at all you can spy. Or very minor subtle things, like what I said: set pieces. Penalty kicks. Other things, like how they play out from the back, how the mids change position, which full back attacks: well just start playing, and by m. 12 you have figured it out (does Bev not have assistants watching for this stuff?).

Everything else you just look at game footage, because a team that is not applying training to game situations is not going to be much of a threat. Watch games, that is all, and that is what the vast majority of teams do. 

This is a purge and they are making Priestman fall on her own sword, it has to be called out.

Edited July 26 by Unnamed Trialist

[Unnamed Trialist]

1 hour ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

Bev Priestman should have done the decent thing and resigned straight away. Her contract was highly likely to be voided for gross misconduct regardless. Now the question will be whether John Herdman has a future in the sport in Canada. Judging from the TSN tweet insiders are starting to talk about what was really behind the Honduras incident and how it wasn't a one-off occurrence.

But it wasn't a Priestman decision, or least it wasn't without the support of the CSA. 

Or do you think she went out and bought the drone with laundered money and snuck it into France without the CSA knowing? How naive do we have to be?

Anyways, you are being your typical contradictory self: if Herdman was the one who had this going over 2 years ago, then it was something that was there in the CSA. And if Honduras denounced it, it has been in the public domain. If the current CSA felt that the previous had erred allowing it, why did they approve of the drone, the case it was put in, the cost of shipping it, the custom's papers, the guy who flies it, the salary of the guy who flies it? 

This is the CSA grasping at the first thing they can find to eliminate Priestman now, for whatever motives they have (they have someone to replace her and this fast-tracks that). Otherwise, if she can coach the tournament, and gets a decent result, they won't be able to get rid of her, our success would be a problem for the CSA.

Now, without her, it won't be.

Edited July 26 by Unnamed Trialist

[Unnamed Trialist]

 

 

[Nick P]

I feel so bad for these Canada players and their fans they seriously don’t deserve this

[RJB]

Any press is good press?

https://www.bbc.com/sport/articles/c2x0y786rv0o

[RJB]

Can someone help me understand that use of the term 'contractor'?  I think of it as a third party that has been hired to do a specific duty that is otherwise temporary however I feel like it's being used in place of the term 'coach' at times.  

[Unnamed Trialist]

The only concession I'll make to the CSA, or the two-sided concession, is this: on their own, or more likely through the Canadian Olympic Committee, alone or under pressure from the IOC, has communicated that something had to be done to preempt or respond to a possible ban or sanctions against the team within the competition. 

So they made the Priestman decision. 

I still think it is totally unnecessary. 

Herdman was asked about this in his TFC press conference, he actually got quite a few questions, and at no point does he even mention or express any support to Priestman. He's a sneaky one that Herdman, lack of class to not say a word when he had 4-5 questions to at least say something. Especially since, from what we can induce, he was the one using the drones in WC qualifying.

 

[jonovision]

3 hours ago, RJB said:

Can someone help me understand that use of the term 'contractor'?  I think of it as a third party that has been hired to do a specific duty that is otherwise temporary however I feel like it's being used in place of the term 'coach' at times.  

I suspect some analysts/coaches are hired on limited term contracts prior to big tournaments, etc., rather than being full-time CSA staff.

[Joe MacCarthy]

 

[DoyleG]

 

 

[Gian-Luca]

17 hours ago, Kent said:

Actually, the tweet you were quoting wasn't about when Honduras accused us of spying on them. This was Herdman stopping a practice in Toronto because of a drone. I just looked up the dates and the tweet is from the day before we had a World Cup Qualifier in Toronto against El Salvador. So I guess the implication is that it was possibly a Salvadoran drone spying on Canada.

Here is the google translated text of the tweet.

A DRONE STOPPED THE PRACTICE!😬 While Canada 🇨🇦 was carrying out its training on the grass of BMO Field, a Drone was flying over the venue, and therefore, coach John #Herdman asked to suspend the practice. The security staff claimed to be unaware of the Drone's intentions.

Starting to think flying a drone is a bad luck charm - El Salvador lost that game 3-0

[Bison44]

Part of me just giggled that now the women get the "unnamed insider source" mud raking treatment....no so fun eh???  Maybe not so eager to run to Westhead with a bunch of anon complaints about the mens program and CSA after getting your reputation and accomplishments tarnished by insinuated involvement in a scandal.  Once again we are getting shamed (attempted to shame us) for doing something that is prob pretty widespread and likely falls in the "dark arts" of soccer like piss bags, tipping fans off to the hotel locations etc etc.  Now being stupid enough to fly a drone in a obvious no drone area, well that dude needs to go but decimating the coaching staff and lower CSA employees seems like taking it too far.  Unless your trying to get the rat bastards that keep popping up at the first sign of a scandal and run to Westhead with pages of notes.  You have integrity and believe its wrong--you quit then and there, you grin and bear it---later get called into a investigation, you tell the truth, but you mouth off to a reporter after the dude got caught by french police, your a dirt bag.  

[El Diego]

Shireen Ahmed from CBC said this is worse than the Ben Johnson doping scandal. Like, what are we doing here?

Too bad this is taking away from their actual performance, which was quite good I thought! Very nice to see Lacasse and Viens scoring, two players that should have been introduced sooner to the program. I certainly won't be cut up once Bev is inevitably fired. I get she won the gold, but I can't say there's been that much progress.

[The Ref]

I was told that this drone business started in 2019 with John Herdman.  If this is the case then I bet that the CSA was aware of the tactic.  So now putting all the blame in Priestman is asinine.

By punishing Priestman the CSA is punishing the whole team.  Players have nothing to do with this and they deserve to have their Coach for the whole of the Olympics.  The CSA can sort things out later after the Olympics.

[Gian-Luca]

5 hours ago, El Diego said:

Shireen Ahmed from CBC said this is worse than the Ben Johnson doping scandal. Like, what are we doing here?

It sounds like “we” (or the CBC at least) is hiring someone to comment on soccer who doesn’t know what she is talking about. That’s such an absurd statement to make. Although you shouldn’t really have to know much about soccer to figure out that there’s a huge difference between an athlete cheating with performance-enhancing drugs, and a non-athlete who isn’t even competing doing what amounts to illegal scouting

[ahmedou]

We're here! #JO2024

 

 

[dyslexic nam]

CBC just announced that the women’s team has been sanctioned with a 6 pt deduction for the Olympic tournament.  

[jonovision]

3 minutes ago, dyslexic nam said:

CBC just announced that the women’s team has been sanctioned with a 6 pt deduction for the Olympic tournament.  

Might as well send them home, then, rather than have them play 2 dead rubbers.

Edited July 27 by jonovision

[BearcatSA]

I am literally in shock.

Edited July 27 by BearcatSA

[mpg_29]

Supposedly Priestman banned for 1 year...surely she is out as coach then?

[A.D.I.D.A.S.]

Fucking heads need to roll for this shit.

[dyslexic nam]

4 minutes ago, jonovision said:

Might as well send them home, then, rather than have them play 2 dead rubbers.

Advancing will be hard but not impossible. 

We can finish with 3 points if we win all 3.  If France wins its other non-Canadian game, they would have 6 pts.  We could get second if either Columbia and NZ tie (they finish with 1 point each) or we beat the winner of that game on tie break (I assume it is goal differential).  Important that we win all 3 and score as many as possible.