Martin Rennie Archive

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Ref takes centre stage in Portland-Vancouver clash

By
Martin MacMahon
– 05/19/2013

Camilo

Camilo

The Vancouver Whitecaps conceded late to Jose Valencia in controversial circumstances on Saturday, as they drew 2-2 with the 10-man Portland Timbers in front of 19,823 at BC Place.

On the game-tying play, in the 84th minute, the substitute appeared to bring a long ball from Will Johnson down with his hands – match officials were asked by a pool reporter what they saw on the play, and responded that from their view Valencia brought the ball down with his chest.

Replays proved otherwise, but Whitecaps head coach Martin Rennie seemed dissatisfied with the officiating both ways.

“I thought it was a hand ball,” Rennie remarked when asked about Valencia’s equalizing goal, before later addressing Portland’s red card, in which Futty Danso collided with Camilo as last man back. “Whether it was a red card or not – I don’t necessarily think it was – both players were running together so that was a little harsh.

“Sometimes when a team goes down a man, it doesn’t necessarily help you.”
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Whitecaps recall Mitchell from FC Edmonton for Portland match

By
Steven Sandor
– 05/16/2013

Carlyle Mitchell

Carlyle Mitchell

The Vancouver Whitecaps have issued a one-game recall for defender Carlyle Mitchell.

The Trinidad and Tobago central defender has been a regular starter for FC Edmonton this season. He is on loan to the Eddies for the 2013 campaign. But, with the Whitecaps in roster difficulty with the suspension of Johnny Leveron for this Saturday’s match against Portland, and the Eddies being on a bye weekend in NASL, the conditions were perfect for a Mitchell recall.

FCE confirmed that Mitchell is scheduled to return to the Eddies on Sunday.
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Whitecaps’ defence-first strategy pays off in Montreal; Brovsky breaks nose and “maybe” his cheekbone

By
Mike Wyman
– 05/16/2013

Jeb Brovsky: Injured after collision with Jordan Harvey

Jeb Brovsky: Injured after collision with Jordan Harvey

The first leg of the Amway Canadian Championship final finished in a scoreless draw as the Vancouver Whitecaps played the Montreal Impact in front of an announced crowd of just over 12,000 fans at Saputo Stadium.

“It was a tight game tonight. Montreal has started the season very well with some excellent results. Tonight I think we did a good job of shutting them down, had a couple half chances ourselves,” said Vancouver head coach Martin Rennie.

“It would have been nice to have stolen one but overall we’ve given ourselves a good chance going into the second game. The game’s still alive. We get 10 days off before the next leg. It’ll be nice to be playing at home at BC Place but tonight I feel as if it was close game.”

The visiting side fielded a defensive lineup and left with the result for which it had hoped, to keep the home side off the scoreboard and return to their home pitch to try to prevail in Vancouver on the 29th of this month.

“I feel like on the road we’ve been a little bit too open. At times we’ve played quite well but our results haven’t been as good as I would have liked on the road so I felt we should become more difficult to play against,” Rennie opined. “I think the players did their jobs tonight. They made the game more compact and we weren’t as open and easy to play against.”
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Whitecaps’ Lee: “I think today we lost because of me”

By
Randy Davis
– 05/05/2013

Young-Pyo Lee

Young-Pyo Lee

Coach Martin Rennie was not a happy man following his squad’s 2-0 loss to Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday night. After coming off an important win on Wednesday against FC Edmonton to move into the Finals of the Canadian Championship, his team had a listless performance on the road in Salt Lake City.

However, Rennie was relatively pleased with how his team started as they remained compact and found a few countering chances but failed to score.

“I think the first half was a good road performance,” said Rennie. “We played quite well. We created some good chances. We didn’t really look at any danger. So it was a solid half from us, but obviously that’s only halfway through the game.”

To be fair, it was a rather boring, uneventful half, but when you are on the road that’s not a bad result. Both sides really lacked any intensity in the opening stanza. The only player for either side who showed a lot of fire was Nigel Reo-Coker, who was very aggressive in the defensive half of midfield, picking up a yellow card for a tackle in the 19th minute and remaining physical for the remainder of the half.
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Whitecaps finally ink Aminu Abdallah

By
Steven Sandor
– 05/02/2013

Aminu Abdallah

Aminu Abdallah

The Vancouver Whitecaps have (finally) added 19-year-old Ghanaian midfielder Aminu Abdallah to the roster.

Abdallah has been in the Whitecaps camp so long, no one could blame a fan of the team for thinking that the players was actually signed by the team weeks ago. But, no, the announcement was made Thursday.

Abdallah has already made six appearances for the Whitecaps Reserves, and has registerd a goal and an assist.
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Whitecaps dispatch 10-man Eddies from ACC; will face Impact in final

By
Steven Sandor
– 05/02/2013
Corey Hertzog

Corey Hertzog

In the four times the Whitecaps have beaten in FC Edmonton in Amway Canadian Championship action over the past two years, Wednesday’s win was the most comprehensive.

Oh, there have been more lopsided scorelines than Wednesday’s 2-0 result at BC Place — which, paired with a 3-2 road win in the first leg of the semifinal last week, sets up a Whitecaps/Impact ACC final. But in terms of chances created and the possession gap, the Whitecaps dominated by a huge margin.

Maybe some FC Edmonton supporters will scream injustice, and point to the fact that Corey Hertzog’s opening goal, a 30-yard screamer, came after Eddies’ centre back Adrian LeRoy was sent off for what was ruled a professional foul. Hertzog drew the red-card foul just minutes after coming into the game as a a halftime sub, so the goal rubbed salt in the wound.

“All week, me and the goalie coach have worked on volleys. Tonight was a good one,” said Hertzog after the game.
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Whitecaps plan to start strong lineup for second leg against FCE

By
Martin MacMahon
– 04/30/2013

Whitecaps Russell Teibert, left, and Johnny Leveron, right, sandwich FCE's Robert Garrett in last week's first leg.

Whitecaps Russell Teibert, left, and Johnny Leveron, right, sandwich FCE’s Robert Garrett in last week’s first leg.

The Vancouver Whitecaps are happy with where they stand going into Wednesday’s second leg of the Canadian Championship semifinal against FC Edmonton, but know they must maintain readiness from the first whistle.

Leading 3-2 on aggregate after last week’s controversial win over the Alberta-based NASL side, in which Camilo scored a goal in which Darren Mattocks appeared to be involved in the play from an offside position before scoring again from a penalty earned with minimal contact, the Whitecaps are hoping – but not expecting – smoother sailing in the second leg.

“It can be a situation where they have a lot more to gain than we do,” said Tom Heinemann after a training session at BC Place on Tuesday in relation to FC Edmonton. “I think clubs take advantage of that. I’ve been on the other side of the ball with clubs – with Charleston [Battery]. We cherished the opportunity to go into MLS clubs and try and take it to them, and beat them.

“As players, those guys want to be where we are, and we have to stand up to that and we have to acknowledge that and be prepared to fight and outmatch them.”
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Whitecaps send Alderson to Charleston on season-long loan

By
Steven Sandor
– 04/30/2013

Bryce Alderson

Bryce Alderson

Former two-time Canadian U-17 player of the year Bryce Alderson is headed for Charleston.

On Tuesday, the Vancouver Whitecaps announced that Alderson will join Ben Fisk and Emmanuel Adjetey on loan to the Charleston Battery of the USL. Fisk and Adjetey have been in South Carolina for a couple of weeks.

For Alderson, this move offers a chance to accumulate some needed professional minutes at the Div.-3 level. Alderson didn’t feature at the MLS level last season, despite being on an MLS contract. He played 21 times for the Whitecaps U-18 side, six MLS Reserve League appearances and five more games for the U-23 team.

“Bryce is one of the top young talents in Canadian soccer and he possesses a great deal of potential,” said Martin Rennie, Whitecaps head coach, in a release issued by the club. “At his stage of development it is important to get as much competitive action as possible and we feel that he can benefit from spending time with Charleston Battery, who we have an excellent relationship with.”
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FCE expected to make lineup changes ahead of ACC second leg in Vancouver

By
Steven Sandor
– 04/29/2013

Whitecap Nigel Reo-Coker, left, challenges his close friend, FCE's Chris Nurse, in the first leg of the ACC semifinal.

Whitecap Nigel Reo-Coker, left, challenges his close friend, FCE’s Chris Nurse, in the first leg of the ACC semifinal.

FC Edmonton coach Colin Miller said he expects to make four changes to his lineup from Sunday’s NASL win over San Antonio to this Wednesday’s Amway Canadian Championship semifinal second leg in Vancouver.

The game at BC Place will be the fourth the Eddies have played in 11 days. And fatigue was clear to see as FCE held on by its fingernails for a 1-0 win Sunday over a San Antonio team that came off a bye week. Shaun Saiko, who scored the penalty-kick decider, was named NASL Player of the Week for his efforts.

We know central defender Carlyle Mitchell has to come out, because he’s ineligible to play against the Whitecaps, because he’s on loan from them. But, as for the other changes, Miller was pretty tight-lipped.

The Eddies go into the match against the Whitecaps trailing 3-2, though FCE deserved better than the scoreline showed. Two of the Whitecaps’ goals were controversial. The opening goal stood even though Vancouver striker Darren Mattocks appeared to be influencing the play from an offside position; the second Caps’ goal came after referee Silviu Petrescu pointed to the spot after Camilo went down rather easily in the FCE box.
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Controversial goals, “leapfrogger” accusation: Late Whitecaps’ surge breaks FC Edmonton’s hearts

By
Steven Sandor
– 04/25/2013

FCE's Michael Cox, left, passes Vancouver's Daigo Kobayashi.

FCE’s Michael Cox, left, passes Vancouver’s Daigo Kobayashi.

FC Edmonton Colin Miller wasn’t around to see the Vancouver Whitecaps score the game winner.

Miller was sent off for abusing the officials after referee Silviu Petrescu made a controversial penalty decision, allowing Camilo to tie the first leg of the Amway Canadian Championship semifinal, 2-2. Then, as Miller was making the long walk down the Commonwealth Stadium tunnel, he could only hear the groans from most of the 2,838 in attendance as Tom Heinemann, in the process of falling down, banged in a rebound to give the Whitecaps the 3-2 advantage heading home to BC Place.

After going down to a disputed goal in the fourth minute, the NASL Eddies roared back with goals from Michael Cox and Chris Nurse to take a 2-1 lead at halftime. And only a fantastic face save by Whitecaps keeper Brad Knighton kept the Eddies from going up 3-1. But the Whitecaps pushed forward in the second half — but still couldn’t find the equalizer, raising hopes for a Cinderella story in this year’s cup.

But, with 10 minutes left in the game, Camilo went down in the box, feeling a touch from the boots of FCE defender Mallan Roberts, who was making his professional debut. Petrescu pointed to the spot. With Camilo already on a yellow, had Petrescu called a dive, the Brazilian might have been sent off. Instead, he finished the PK and the Cinderella story turned into A Nightmare on Elm Street for the home fans.
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