EnigMattic1

All the more reason to either get Chandler signed or look at another CB from elsewhere. I can't help but feel that AJB is more injury prone than he used to be. I know Levis needed replacing, but not in that sense.

Can also play out on the left as an inside forward (similar to Niyongabire) which would allow de Brienne to play in his original full back/wing back role. Although, de Brienne's pace may be wasted that far back unless he was allowed to run with the ball and create an overlap.
However, I would be disappointed if Attardo ended up at Vancouver like a few ex Valour players seem to be. Guess they just miss being associated with VFC.

You knew that was going to happen though.
If we hadn't already announced 21 players, I could understand it. And everyone knows who the 2 trialists at camp are anyway.

Not necessarily. We still have Mzoughi, Pablo, Ulloa and de Brienne for the u21 minutes. But, yeah. The Bombers will take their cut.

Honestly? I have no idea. I am still surprised that it has taken 4 seasons before a player has actually moved between CPL sides for a fee.
Hang on..... Taken from the CPL website:
Transfer Fees
Any Transfer Fee included in the acquisition of a Player will count towards the Club’s Compensation Cap.
When a Club pays a transfer fee for an incoming player, the Club may pay out the whole transfer fee at one time if the given cap space is available or amortize it over the total number of years under the player’s contract length (including Club option years). If a player is sold or released before the end of his contract, the entire remaining transfer fee paid for the player is immediately counted under the Compensation Cap in the year of sale or release.
Player Sale Proceeds     
A Club that sells a player may deduct the proceeds of the sale from the Club’s Compensation Cap as follows:
If a player is sold, the player’s incoming transfer fee will be deducted from any compensation paid to the player up to the time of sale for the purposes of reducing the Compensation Cap hit of the player. For example, if the player had a contract for $50,000/season and had been paid $40,000 up to the point of sale during said season when he was sold for $35,000, only $5,000 of the $40,000 paid to the player would count on the Compensation Cap for that season.

Not necessarily. We still have Mzoughi, Pablo, Ulloa and de Brienne for the u21 minutes. But, yeah. The Bombers will take their cut.

Former Cav, Victor Loturi in the Canada squad for their next 2 matches.

I can only assume that PDS will be putting faith in Juan Pablo unless he brings another trialist in. To be fair, it wasn't announced that Novak was at camp, and then when he was announced as having signed, it turned out he had been there since the start of camp.
I am more concerned by the lack of defensive options as far as trialists go. Chandler has only just been announced and, if you don't count Campbell who is really a midfielder, we went into camp with 6 defensive players (7 if Laplante is there) and half of those are full backs. Unless PDS is looking to play a back 3 with wingbacks, we are defensively underpowered.
 
I think, in terms of position, he was always going to play second fiddle to Rea. Could he have improved given more game time? possibly. Will his departure be a negative impact? probably not. 17 games and no goals from an attacking minded, central midfielder/attacking midfielder isn't a good return.

Given that Catavolo didn't "re-sign" with Valour, one would assume a fee would be involved as his contract wasn't due to expire until the end of this year. I believe that the only way a fee wouldn't be involved would be if Valour and Catavolo agreed on a mutual termination.
I know it is a very hit-and-miss website, but November last year, Transfermarkt valued Catavolo at 150k which, converted, is a little under 220k Canadian.

Kinda disappointed if I'm being honest. Although, he didn't really light it up last season, I figured he would have had more of a chance this season with Rea not returning but I guess we will never know. Wonder what PDS has up his sleeve in terms of a replacement.
With the departure of Catavolo, that puts us at 21 roster slots. One would assume that, if he performs, Chandler would get one of the open slots as defensive cover and the other would go to a Catavolo replacement..... Or a left back.
Given the current state of the squad, I would take a left back over a Catavolo replacement as there are already a number of options in the middle of the park, whereas we only have Haynes as a recognised left back. Yeah, Laplante is a left back, but he hasn't signed, Mzoughi can play left back but is right footed and de Brienne is more of a winger, despite starting as a left back.

Kinda disappointed if I'm being honest. Although, he didn't really light it up last season, I figured he would have had more of a chance this season with Rea not returning but I guess we will never know. Wonder what PDS has up his sleeve in terms of a replacement.
With the departure of Catavolo, that puts us at 21 roster slots. One would assume that, if he performs, Chandler would get one of the open slots as defensive cover and the other would go to a Catavolo replacement..... Or a left back.
Given the current state of the squad, I would take a left back over a Catavolo replacement as there are already a number of options in the middle of the park, whereas we only have Haynes as a recognised left back. Yeah, Laplante is a left back, but he hasn't signed, Mzoughi can play left back but is right footed and de Brienne is more of a winger, despite starting as a left back.

Kinda disappointed if I'm being honest. Although, he didn't really light it up last season, I figured he would have had more of a chance this season with Rea not returning but I guess we will never know. Wonder what PDS has up his sleeve in terms of a replacement.
With the departure of Catavolo, that puts us at 21 roster slots. One would assume that, if he performs, Chandler would get one of the open slots as defensive cover and the other would go to a Catavolo replacement..... Or a left back.
Given the current state of the squad, I would take a left back over a Catavolo replacement as there are already a number of options in the middle of the park, whereas we only have Haynes as a recognised left back. Yeah, Laplante is a left back, but he hasn't signed, Mzoughi can play left back but is right footed and de Brienne is more of a winger, despite starting as a left back.

San Millan is also registered with OBELISQ who have a lot of dealings with the CPL so he could end up there sooner rather than later.

This was what the Northern Tribune said in their "deep dive on every Canadian in the 2023 MLS superdraft":
Matt Chandler – Wisconsin University, Defender
Standing at a towering six-foot-six, 22-year-old defender Matt Chandler made 21 appearances during his first year in Wisconsin, recording two goals and one assist as the seventeenth-seeded Badgers exceeded expectations this year.
Chandler arrived to Wisconsin by way of St. John’s University, where he earned a degree in sports management and featured no less than 52 times for the Red Storm. Having been named to the Big East Conference All-Academic Team from 2018 through to 2021, the big Toronto native can certainly impose himself here.
I was wondering why that name sounded familiar and then I remembered that article.

Honestly? With Diego here and PDS publicly saying that he likes Cristian, I would hope we would do something. We have a slot available don't we? Imagine both Cristian and Diego teaming up at Valour.

#RiseAsOne..... Unless you are from the Prairies 🤣
Apparently, this would also include PE and NL.

Think HFX picked up a kid from the same article. Was it them who signed Nimick (the guy from NL)? If Chandler did stick around, it would be interesting to see someone of his build lining up next to AJB. With a fit Ohin in front of them, it could be promising.
Although, how many slots do we have left? Bearing in mind we are short at LB and have contracts for Pianelli and Tisseur expiring on August 15th.

Here is all I can find regarding CPL contract rules:
https://canpl.ca/roster-rules/#1650986563997-12328774-0daa
Cristian will also offer the versatility that Levis had. Haynes is only really a full back. The up side is, as there appears to be a good relationship between PDS and the Guti family, it would increase the chances of a) him signing, and b) being able to convince both to re-sign with Valour at the end of the season.

Honestly? With Diego here and PDS publicly saying that he likes Cristian, I would hope we would do something. We have a slot available don't we? Imagine both Cristian and Diego teaming up at Valour.

Kinda makes you wonder why we signed Siaj, Williams and Niyongabire if he was always a target. Although, Williams and Niyongabire can play out wide.
Yeah. Valour Fury called it again. I'm sorry, but that just HAS to be someone connected to the club. When was the last time they were wrong?

That's now 2 players whos contracts expire on August 15th. If they don't sign proper deals then, we are screwed.

Personally? There is a slight advantage of not having a "star" player in a squad. I mean, if a team has an obvious star player, any opposition will look to keep said player quiet. Is there is no apparent star player, the opposition has to focus on the team as a whole. I believe that not having an obvious star player will be an advantage to HFX this year. Especially when there is a new manager with new ideas too.

All this says to me is that PDS has his favourites. I mean, there is a handful of players from Quebec in the squad now (the same province PDS himself is from), and none from Manitoba.
Comments like "Those words will be golden for Dos Santos, who has known the Gutiérrez family for years, including Diego’s twin brother Christián, who plays for the Vancouver Whitecaps." are not really the sort of thing you would want to hear when you are not entirely optimistic for the season.
Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to take anything away from Gutierrez, far from it. He is one of out better players and he was a standout last season, it just doesn't look good when a manager basically admits he has favourites.
I agree with the comment about interviewing the new guys though. Surely it would be good for the fans to get to know a little about them?

Wouldn't be at all surprised if he is co-captain this season. By all accounts, he would talk to the players after AJB and Fordy last season.

Wouldn't be at all surprised if he is co-captain this season. By all accounts, he would talk to the players after AJB and Fordy last season.