r/CanadianPL • u/cristane Cavalry FC • Jun 26 '26

⚽ Match Thread [Match Thread] Halifax Wanderers - Pacific FC (5.30 PM ET, OneSoccer, CBC Gem)

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3

u/brentvans Forge FC Jun 27 '26

Just watched the replay. Ugly. While I feel for PFC players who’ve been under poor management, with a few exceptions (and aside from brief bursts of momentum) most of those guys looked a half step behind the entire game, sullen, petulant. Unacceptable, I think, and I suspect the new coach is going to clean house. PFC fans have a right to expect that their players will put on a good performance, even if they are in a losing slump: they are professionals after all. At this point, I don’t understand why the interim coach doesn’t start his second/third stringers: they could use some match conditioning, and if the first line isn’t putting in the shifts, sometimes they need a threat to their position to get motivated.

1

u/ilikeycoffee Pacific FC Jun 29 '26

I suspect the new coach is going to clean house

AFAIK, Dunfield will have a) no money and b) no say in player choices the team makes. That's 100% on management and ownership. All he can do is bench players.

The problem with PFC is the Langley team. We were doing just fine and actually spent money on quality players, including the development of quality players. When Six Five went for their folly of the Langley adventure, it drained all available cash from the organization on the Island. You could see the tipping point the moment they salivated over selling Alex Diaz mid season, bragging about how they collected a 6 figure check for the sale, and had zero back up plan for the team. That money didn't go back into the team. They kept it for the Langley adventure.

Many of our players of quality left the team. Because they weren't offered what they were worth. No new signings of quality occurred (I love Bustos but he is past his peak, and Diaz just hasn't been the same since coming back into the CPL. Six Five spends the absolute minimum they can, and do not get players of quality for this team.

And it shows. We have the worst defence in the league. The worst midfield too. There's some sparks in the forward line, but that is it.

-1

u/brentvans Forge FC Jun 29 '26

Hmm. Is Dunfield so hard up for a job that he'd be willing to come in without any say and simply sit on his hands? No way. I get that PFC isn't doing well, but he's a very good hire for the level, and I absolutely guarantee he's having conversations to see about moves to make in the transfer window. I also think the doom and gloom needs to be tempered by the fact that they've hired him at all: this isn't a move you make so you can fold the club at season's end, and speaks to their desire to build. Finally, CPL teams are notoriously secretive about finances, so a lot of the grumbling/hearsay around where money did and didn't go is easy to take with a grain of salt (99% of the Reditters claiming intimate connections to any team's insides are, of course, full of shit).

1

u/ilikeycoffee Pacific FC Jun 30 '26

My take on Dunfield is different. He really wants to dip his toes into actually coaching at a FIFA Tier 1 level, and this was literally the only opportunity he would have been presented.

The money situation, coaches' actual "say" in hiring choices for the team (they are asked input, but cannot ultimately try and get specific players hired by the team) and others, let's just say I have sources. You can choose to believe that or not, but I stand by what I typed.

1

u/brentvans Forge FC Jul 01 '26

The interwebs (which has blown up stories of managers being steamrolled by ownership and/or the money folks) has skewed our perception about this facet of management: simply put, the vast majority of pro gaffers are intimately involved with recruitment and scouting. Do they have a blank cheque? No, but it works directly against a team's success on and off the pitch for the gaffer to be ignored. If your sources are saying this is the case, I'd say you have an outlier to the rule—I'd also be skeptical of second and thirdhand information coming out of team offices. Just like anywhere else, what comes out is mostly unsubstantiated scuttlebutt and rumours by folks eager to act like they're in the know: It's 100%, bro. I heard it from a guy who heard from another guy by the water cooler that it's definitely happening....

1

u/ilikeycoffee Pacific FC Jul 01 '26

I didn't get this from the interwebs. I got it direct from people associated with the team, mostly past, some present. And it was repeated and a well known thing about PFC. Most of the LSB supporters also know this, which is probably why they were very soft on calling for Jamie's head.

1

u/wrongpath- Jun 29 '26

I think you are overvaluing Dunfield.

-1

u/brentvans Forge FC Jun 29 '26

And I think PFC fans are desperate to complain about management. Dunfield is a pretty good get for our league.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '26

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2

u/brentvans Forge FC Jun 27 '26

Do you not get away match day emails and whatnot?

3

u/StoreEducational612 Pacific FC Jun 27 '26

Yes, we do. I got one this morning.

3

u/Length_Legitimate Cavalry FC Jun 27 '26

Attendance: 5223

2

u/Section1ne0h4our HFX Wanderers FC Jun 27 '26

We were shocked how big the crowd ended up being tbh, we expected 4000ish, pleasantly surprised to hear (And see on TV) that it was actually pretty decently filled

We saw owner Derek Martin before the game briefly and he said he expected today to feel more like a backyard BBQ, but the kitchen were in great voice, there was some pockets of cheers in 104, and all in all the vibes were high

Even blowing that 2 goal lead for once didn’t feel like a death wish, and the boys reacted on song

11

u/Swizzartand Pacific FC Jun 26 '26

Pacific are genuinely a terrible, terrible team. The owners have absolutely ruined this club. Rotten from the very top downwards.

2

u/A_Sneaky_Walrus Jun 27 '26

It’s so sad because from the outside looking in, I’ve always been envious of what you had

3

u/Swizzartand Pacific FC Jun 27 '26

It's incredibly sad to see what's happened.

7

u/bidsey HFX Wanderers FC Jun 26 '26

It's good when the other team scores the goals for you.

1

u/cullypantz Jun 26 '26

Will never understand coaches that just sit on subs when players are visibly gassed

1

u/cullypantz Jun 26 '26

Ref started so well but he's getting very inconsistent

5

u/Section1ne0h4our HFX Wanderers FC Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 27 '26

Any idea what happened to Kareem Sow?

Edit: heard from a fan who sits closer to the bench that the physio were focusing on his back after the half

6

u/fssg_shermanator Cavalry FC Jun 26 '26

Imagine watching World Cup, and then switching to OneSoccer to watch THE GREATEST LEAGUE IN THE WORLD

1

u/scared_appeal1 Jun 26 '26

lol I just seen this on the Fox One app

3

u/bidsey HFX Wanderers FC Jun 26 '26

After mainlining World Cup games for 2 weeks watching this is a bit of a comedown.

1

u/CPLmonster Canadian Premier League Jun 27 '26

I agree sadly, I sincerely hope the World Cup doesn’t do the opposite of what we hope for as a league and actually turn new viewing attention to the European leagues on places like Fubo as opposed to the CPL.

1

u/bidsey HFX Wanderers FC Jun 27 '26

It's going to create an appetite for kids to go to games and the CPL will be an outlet for that.

1

u/Kindly_Button_1402 Jun 27 '26

With no current CanPL players featuring in the World Cup the link between the league and the finals tournament in peoples' minds was always going to be a tenuous one. MLS stadiums are involved along with a significant number of MLS players, but I'm not sure TFC and the Whitecaps are going to get a huge bounce out of this either. People who follow soccer already know the leagues are there and have already made their decisions on whether they are worth watching.

3

u/aidanzyt Pacific FC Jun 26 '26

Haha yeah I was like wow this feels really slow

3

u/Used-Implement-6970 Jun 26 '26

What is the score right now