Soccer Coach
Well-Known Member
Excellent report. Well done. A bit generous for the Campo side and perhaps a bit harsh on GN, but overall you have nailed it. However, I would encourage that you do one for division 2. It can be a very intense division too.To get back on topic: Given how "well received" they were during cup season, I am going to issue my Completely Baseless Predictions for the season's final table. I'm not going to bother with Div 2 or 3 because 1) I REALLY don't no shite all about them, 2) There's way too many teams and groups and 3) Does Div 2 and 3 really matter? I mean Div 1 is kind of pushing it
Again, as usual, I am just pulling this out of my ass, so try not to take it too seriously (looking at you @nap)
So here goes:
1) Rinos Tigers
These kids had a helluva lot to learn, but after being the first team to go win less in the history of VMSL Premier they hit the books hard. The group rebounded by just about parading through the RRSL Div 1 Summer League and while no one is saying that summer league is in any way an indication of a team's strengths, they did match up against sides that they will be seeing in one form or another in the winter and they saw them off with conviction. I expect a year's playing experience, plus some success, combined with playing in a lower division should be enough so long as the group has their own internal ambitions pushing from within. Oh and of course all the "Saudi Money" and "Internal Collusion"
2) NorVan Lions
This spot is really up for grabs IMO. As far as I know NorVan's A program has undergone a full back room overhaul, but what of the players? Have they been able to keep their core mostly in one piece? Is there a desire to atone for getting the club relegated? I'm not convinced they have enough to bounce back up, but I am less convinced that there is a true challenger for the spot in the division. I would not be shocked to see NorVan mired in Div 1 for a time, but in the absence of an overwhelming favourite to challenge for second, I am tempted to default to the recently relegated team.
3) CCB Guilford
A great debut season for a powerhouse Div 2 team fizzled out down the stretch in the second half of the season. Div 1 is a grind with zero margin for error and in the end it proved too much. Now a make over, a merger and rumors of high profile exits to Premier teams. This team will be competitive, but with all the turn over are there enough parts remaining to be able to draw on last season's experiences? I'm not convinced. If there does exist enough of the core to build on that first campaign then I think there is every chance this team can pip NorVan for second. However, I am more inclined to think that THIS year will act as a foundation for a strong promotion push NEXT season.
4) South Delta
Quietly had a strong consolidation campaign last season after coming up from Div 2. Nobody is talking about these guys, but they have some half decent players and definitely a strong cooler camaraderie. These guys have grown up playing together and built a good little club out in Tsawwassen. Now the fruits of their labour are coming good and this would appear to be their "golden generation." The problem with SD is usually discipline. Suspensions piled up and hurt them during the back half of last season, so we'll see if they have learned to reel it in at all. I would be truly stunned if it was good enough to have them in the Premier conversation, but no reason to think these guys are going to take a step backwards.
5) Campo Athletico
OK yes, you can be underdogs, but can we please be realistic with the rhetoric? Despite not earning promotion via winning the league, Campo won the League Cup and Provincial Cup at the Div 2 level. These guys have proven they can play and that their players have enough talent to score goals in big games. The organization, tactics, desire and even the "coaching" of this team will help them pick up points all season. They could easily finish in 3rd or 4th. So yes "underdogs", but promotion underdogs, not relegation underdogs.
6) Metropolitan
A dismal season last year saw Students just the right side of the relegation line, but here's banking that was an aberration. The guys at Metro have worked hard into building that club into a VMSL mainstay and it appears to be gaining traction. Rumors their one or two superstars have finally left for Premier teams, but these guys seem focused on building a club mentality and tapping into the old "whole is greater than the sum of it's parts" mantra. Nothing attractive about their game style, but they're tough defensively and can score on set pieces (aka they are built for Div 1). I am predicting a bounce back season as Students begin to look up the table in coming years, rather than down it.
7) Bingers Army
The VMSL Div 1 poster boys for what seems like a century. Another year older with no natural youth links means chances are the back half of the season will be a grind as always for the Army. These guys are great lads and a dying breed; guys who are just in it to see their mates on the weekend, play footy and have a pint. Veterans that will take points off at least one of the promotion candidates at some point; Bingers are the prototypical Div 1 spoilers. Doubt they will have the same sort of dream first half that saw them top the table until Christmas last year, but I would be shocked to see them in a relegation battle.
8) Rinos Fury
A tight group willing to go to the mat for each other all season. These lads have fought hard to earn the right to play at this level and look for this fixture to be a tough one for every team week in and week out. Div 1 will definitely be a class above what they are used to so expect tough slogging all season. That being said I back these guys to have enough heart, grit and determination to find the points they need to stay in the division.
9) Rinos Vancouver SC
The forgotten child. Like the oldest kid when two divorcees get married; with a younger step brother who kicks and claws for all the attention and now a new baby who is the formation of a new family, the eldest child is left to figure out life essentially alone. OK, so maybe that metaphor is a bit of a stretch, but my point is these guys finished 8th last season, only won 6 games and were right on the threshold of being dragged into a relegation battle. I don't know where they would have recruited players from, with the Tigers surely attracting anyone with Premier ambitions and the Fury guys being their own distinct brotherhood. I say these guys are prime relegation candidates, but I'll bank on them having just enough to pull it out of the fire.
10) Akal
Finished 9th last season, not sure there is any reason to expect a drastic improvement for this campaign. If they can continue to have one or two star quality players who can win them close games they should find enough points to stay in the division. I expect them to be right in the relegation mix all season long however.
11) GN Sporting
Total wild card here. If getting back to Div 1 tempts back some of the best players from their community then they could easily finish comfortably out of relegation. If they come up with the same team that squeeked out a Div 2 Championship when Campo slipped up, then I see them battling their local rivals Akal to the bitter end for the last spot in the division. Glad to see the Akal/GN derby is back on the menu this season though, always good.
12) Romania
Finished 7th last season with 22 points, but 7 of those points came in their final 3 games of the season thanks to two abandonments and a make up half game against Guilford that I'm not sure even got played. Without those 7 points they finish on 15 and are dead last. They are old and don't seem to have any organization, ambition or direction. No idea where they would have recruited from. Again I don't know that for sure, perhaps they have been reinvented after last season, but if not, I don't see them lasting in Div 1.
Last season was truly a remarkable Division 1 campaign. It would be incredible to see a repeat of that level of intensity at the top of the table and I think it's unrealistic to expect it. If we could get 60%-70% of that kind of drama though, it should be a very entertaining year!
Stay tuned for my Completely Baseless Predictions for Premier (I know you're all on the edges of your seats...). Those are coming latter this week...assuming I have time and nothing better to do...
I think that we will have really interesting and entertaining battles in Division 1 and Division 2.
It will be a good year.
