Not to sound too harsh, but I never bought into the hype on him. Sure, he was capable of scoring some cracking goals (and did) but all too often he'd get into a good position and sky it way over or attempt a terrible pass. Easily the most frustrating player on the pitch to watch.
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Here's Tommy mentioning that it is highly unlikely Musse re-signs with Cavalry.
He had times where he was arguably the best player in the league, but often periods where he played so poorly he shouldn't have been on the pitch. Earlier this year when he picked up that red card most people were happy he was out of the lineup. He then went on an absolute heater and redeemed himself. Story of his time here.
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Musse could be the best player in the league when he felt like it. Fun player to watch, but incredibly frustrating.
My brother always said we'd know in the first 5 minutes of the match which Musse would show up. If he was tracking back, making some tackles, and playing the ball quickly to his teammates he was going to have a good game. If not, then he would try too much and unlikely his long shots would find the back of the net
Ingham is officially out in Ottawa so the dominoes for him signing in Cavalry are falling. Apparently he's out here for personal and business reasons outside of soccer.
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I mean, this quote makes it sound like he's just done playing completely -
Quote:
“It’s the hardest and most complicated decision I’ve ever had to make in my career,” said Ingham. “My entire life has been dictated by soccer, and to be honest, I’ve been playing longer than I ever thought was possible for me. This is the first time I allowed myself to make a decision about soccer with my life outside of the sport in mind.
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Cavalry retain former players into their business/development side; Mason Trafford, Callum Montgomery (and Ben Fisk before him), Nik Ledgerwood, etc. Wonder if Ingham plays for Cavs and then transitions into an non-player role after a year or two with the club; the precedent is already there. Although Ingham did say 'outside of the sport' in that article, so probably not.
Like Shermanator said, this is going to be a make or break season and we're not off to an encouraging start.
This was not an upbeat holiday message, and I think the semi-pro level wages are starting to catch up with this league. Really want to be wrong here and see some great new signings (plus Aird and Shome back), but $1.3m CAD is not going to cut it when USL Championship and NSL pay a lot more. I think we're seeing the limit of creative accounting and what a shoestring budget can buy while expecting fans to pay professional league prices.
All three of CPL's top clubs are all being forced to rebuild substantially while CPL is gifted entries to the largest tournament in Concacaf. We all expect a player or two moving on as CPL is a development league, but this isn't top young players getting a chance at Europe or MLS, this is looking like journeyman players not being able to afford to stay in CPL and going lateral. This is supposed to be Canada Division 1, and supposedly the #6 ranked league in Concacaf... a bank teller job should not be a raise.
I know I'll be putting my money where my mouth is and continuing to support this team and league, but I also worry if this is gonna hurt attendance.
Last edited by Thunderball; 12-20-2025 at 03:37 PM.
Cavalry's attendance has gone up every year since the pandemic. Even this year despite having the worst regular season in club history by a wide margin.
If enough people want this league to be around, it'll be around. I'm increasingly convinced Canadians don't want it. They'll sure line up to pay $3000 a ticket for Canada vs Italy at the World Cup though.
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Cavalry's attendance has gone up every year since the pandemic. Even this year despite having the worst regular season in club history by a wide margin.
If enough people want this league to be around, it'll be around. I'm increasingly convinced Canadians don't want it. They'll sure line up to pay $3000 a ticket for Canada vs Italy at the World Cup though.
Problem is that people want as high end as possible, and people expected CPL to get there by now (even with the pandemic), whether that is reasonable or not is another story... but its what was promised (16 teams by 2026 anyone?). Personally, I'm glad there is still a league after covid, but I also expected 12 teams by now.
Problem is, the league's marketing just hasn't broken through despite the gift of CCC, and is not perceived to be more than minor league by the mainstream casual fan, and so many feel entitled to $5 tickets (look at all the whining from Forge fans for frankly, pretty reasonable season ticket prices). Maybe having TSN on board somewhat will help that, but even they don't provide scores and standings on their site.
Realistically, its a league of horribly underpaid veteran pros and interesting youngsters putting out some relatively high quality soccer that can legitimately keep pace with MLS and LigaMX in one off matches... which is arguably the best Calgary has ever seen, save maybe the Boomers, which the majority of us weren't even alive to see.
Thing is if people want the CPL to look more like MLS (or Australian A-League), they have to pay and show up and support the growth. Problem is, the league has bobbled a lot of opportunities, is seen to be stagnant (if its seen at all), is losing big sponsors (like CIBC and Macron), and has seen terrible owners ruin what should be some of the best markets (like Edmonton and Winnipeg). This means the owners needs to double down too, and show everyone they are serious about this being Canada Division 1. Supra and "Inter Toronto" are actually good signs of that, but a fresh coat of paint isn't enough, they need to spend on players too, including some known ones.
I also strongly suspect it isn't the Cavs owners holding this league back on low salaries and lack of designated players. Complain as we may about ATCO being unsuitable for CCC, I think the owners genuinely care and aren't afraid to spend reasonably.
I spend thousands per year on the Cavs, including both home and away matches, and I'll be going down with the ship if CPL fails and would follow them to whatever league is next, but people need to wrap their heads around the reality that CPL is likely the best we'll ever see and has the ability (and legitimate connections to international club football) to become a legitimate (albeit smaller) major league. Or don't... but there isn't another major league sport coming to any Canadian city not named Toronto anytime soon.
Last edited by Thunderball; 12-20-2025 at 06:04 PM.
IMO the fact that the league is still around shows that the owners are taking it seriously. Or at least the ones that are left are anyways. Edmonton and Valour? Not so much.
If you're Spruce Meadows, you've had a pandemic in 2020, had to pay FC Edmonton's bills in 2021 and 2022, had to pay York United's bills in 2023, and Valour's bills in 2024 and 2025. They've had 1 year they haven't had to prop up another club. Cavalry have to fly across the country on some of the most expensive flights in the world, with no broadcasting revenue, limited corporate support and many people turning their nose up at the product on the pitch.
Valour even had a buyer lined up until the Blue Bombers ####ed around with the sale last minute. I don't think that happens if there isn't a fighting chance at this thing being around long term. But it's also put up or shut up time for Canadians here. Show you want it.
And for what it's worth, NSL is losing a lot of money right now, with better corporate support and the 4th highest attended women's league in the world.
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