Steven Sandor's Blog, page 27

Canadian Deltas make their moves to Ottawa

There are many Canadians who are part of the NASL diaspora, now that FC Edmonton is out, the San Francisco Deltas have folded and the league’s future is uncertain.

The Ottawa Fury can likely make a long shopping list of Canadians, and on Wednesday the club announced the signings of fullback Maxim Tissot and centre back Nana Attakora. The pair were part of a group of four Canadians who won the NASL title with the Deltas under the watchful eye of former Fury coach Marc Dos Santos.

Attakora captained the Deltas, and came back from knee surgery to help the team push for what might be the final league title awarded in the history of NASL 2.0.

“Nana is our team captain, he is important to how we play with three at the back, and his character, well it means a lot,” said Dos Santos of Attakora before the final. “He had a small surgery and everyone thought he’d be out for the season. He said to me that he would be back and even I did not believe him. The fact that he came back not only shows his qualities as a soccer player, but as a human being.”

Tissot scoring for the Fury against FCE in 2016.

Tissot spent part of the 2016 season with the Fury and scored a couple of goals. He left for an MLS job with D.C. United, appeared in both MLS action and with the team’s USL affiliate in Richmond, then was released by the club and signed with the Deltas.

“We are pleased with the way our club is shaping up,” said Fury general manager Julian de Guzman in a release issued by the club. “It was important for us as an organization to find players that fit our desired style of play, but also the culture we are looking to build and grow for the Fury FC. We feel that we are moving in the right direction and that we will have an attractive product to present our fans once the season gets started.”

Popovic wants a possession-oriented Ottawa Fury team that “connects” with fans

Several times during our phone conversation, new Ottawa Fury Nikola Popovic coach used the word “connection.”

He made it clear that there needs to be a better “connection” between the team’s fans and the players. There’s a magical bond between players and those who buy tickets to see them that we often take for granted. But, to make that relationship work, soccer has to become more than just a game. And so fans need to accept the players as family; they need to know that the team is doing its best to put the best product on the field it can.

“I like people who come to the stands, to the stadium, to have pleasure with what they are seeing,” said Popovic, who was named the Fury’s new head coach on Thursday. “We want to provoke emotion, to connect with our fans.”

Popovic left Swope Park Rangers, the affiliate team of MLS side Sporting Kansas City, so he could make the move to the Fury. Two seasons ago, he was an assistant to Marc Dos Santos at Swope Park, and that year’s edition of the team won the conference and went to the final. Then, after MDS moved on to take over the San Francisco Deltas — who he would lead to a 2017 NASL title —  Popovic led Rangers to another Western Conference title and appearance in the USL final.

“We did very well over the last two years at Swope Park,” said Popovic. “We had a very two good seasons, and get to  four finals and win two titles. After that, you have ambition for more. This is a very good step for my career, I think Ottawa has a very good future ahead.”

Of course, before going to Swope Park, Dos Santos coached the Fury to the NASL final in 2015.  And, with their relationship at Swope Park, there’s no denying the influence of MDS on Popovic.

“Marc has a fantastic brain for soccer,” said Popovic. “For me, he’s the best coach in North America. Of course we talked about Ottawa, he said it was a good situation and a good club.”

It’s amazing that both Dos Santos and Popovic were able to have such success with an affiliated team, where the coach’s roster decisions are often made or at least heavily influenced by the MLS parent club. Being at a club that’s officially independent is a welcome change for Popovic.

“Of course it is different being with a B or an affiliated team,” said Popovic. “When you are with a B team, there is inconsistency in what you have ahead of you. It is like working on ice. You don’t know what to expect. You could be preparing the team for a game and then you find out you’re not going to have five players. Or you could get five players you weren’t expecting to have.”

He said the reason Rangers was so successful was the team’s dedication to a possession game, and look for him to stress that in Ottawa.

“If you followed Swope Park this year, you saw that our success was based on possession and high pressure. We had the best passing accuracy. And that is not by luck, it’s by hard work. And that’s how I want to play.”

And back to the “connection” talk; he said it’s important for Ottawa to have Canadian players, in order to enhance the connection with fans. At Swope Park, he coached the likes of Amer Didic, Tyler Pasher and Mark Anthony Gonzalez, so he’s not coming across the border needing to be sold on the idea of playing Canadians.

“I think we have to have players with connections; connections with the city, connections with the country.”

Popovic makes move from Swope Park Rangers to the Ottawa Fury

If you can’t bring back Marc Dos Santos, you get as close as you can to bringing back Marc Dos Santos.

On Thursday, the Ottawa Fury announced the appointment of Nikola Popovic as the team’s new head coach. Julian de Guzman, who served as interim head coach after Paul Dalglish’s departure during the 2017 USL campaign, takes over as the team’s general manager. JDG will provide the players, Popovic will shape them.

Of course, when it comes to the Fury, Dos Santos still casts a long shadow. He was the team’s first coach, and was the one who led them to the NASL final in 2015. And, it’s impossible to look at Popovic without comparing his resume to Dos Santos’s.

In 2016, after leaving the Ottawa Fury, Dos Santos coached Swope Park Rangers to the USL final. In 2017, Popovic coached Swope Park Rangers and got them to the USL final. MDS is a citizen of both Canada and Portugal. Popovic is a dual citizen of Serbia and Portugal.

Swope Park announced in mid-November that the club and Popovic had mutually decided to part ways — and it was clear the move was made so Popovic could pursue another job opportunity.

Popovic’s quote from the Fury’s press release: ““We must build a very strong culture within Ottawa Fury FC. It is important that we have strong core values and a commitment to an attractive way of playing the game. Everything that I’ve seen in Ottawa and everything we have in place going forward gives me great confidence in the future of this club.”

Now, let’s look back at Dos Santos, talking about the Fury back in 2015: “From day one, we established a model of play for the club. And that did not change no matter the coaches or players we brought in. We stuck to our model of play, even when there were growing pains, even when there were several losses in a row. We believed that, sticking to our vision, we would create the right identity for the club. We’d create the right visibility of the club. And if we keep feeding that model, and by that I mean that we keep improving every day, then there are no limits to where this club can go.”

De Guzman said moving upstairs is the transition he’s been wanting to make.

“I took the time necessary to reflect on this next step in my career and I want to thank the ownership and management group for supporting me in my decision and supporting my appointment of Nikola as the club’s next head coach,” said de Guzman in a release issued by the Fury. “I am committed to this club and look forward to solely focusing on my role as general manager and building a club that we can all be proud to support.”

Zambrano says “major changes” coming to national program for 2018

Canadian national men’s team coach Octavio Zambrano says that, since taking over the team, the program hasn’t truly been his own. That will change in 2018.

Zambrano, who was named the head coach of the national program in March, said he will be instituting some “major changes” (his words) into the way Canadian players are scouted, and that he plans to significantly increase the size of the men’s talent pool.

“So far, this has been a rewarding experience,” Zambrano said Wednesday. “What I had thought about Canada, about the talent of the Canadian player, has been corroborated time and time again. I see a great future in soccer for Canada.”

Zambrano said the changes he’s bringing in “will allow more players to be seen and enlarge the player pool.”

He said that, in the past, Canada depended on regional camps. Technical directors from the various provinces would be sending players they recommended to camps that lasted three to four days each. There were showcases that saw youth teams from the three Canadian MLS teams play off against each other. Last year, a youth team from FC Edmonton also participated.

But, according to Zambrano, the old way didn’t allow for enough players to be seen.

So, instead, Canada will have three regional base scouts. One based in British Columbia, one in Toronto and the other in Quebec. Those superscouts will have regional scouts who report to them. For example, a local scout for Edmonton and/or Calgary would report to the B.C. scout. A scout in the Atlantic provinces would report back to Quebec. A player who might be seen in southwestern Ontario would be reported back to the Toronto scout. In Zambrano’s view, this will ensure that there will be more national coverage.  The idea is that more of the players will be seen in their natural environments.

Zambrano used Brett Levis as an example; the Whitecap who came up through the University of Saskatchewan. He said, while MLS teams do a good job developing players, each can only “absorb” 25 players or so per age group, and that’s simply not enough.

“We need 50 players, we need 100 players, we need more players,” he said.

And he said those staff members will be tasked with not only identifying players, but helping them develop. If they need to be referred to the still-yet-to-be-announced Canadian Premier League, that’s what will be done. If there’s a collegiate soccer opportunity, that will be sought out.

As for the youth program, Zambrano said he will bringing 1997s, 98s, 99s and maybe an 00 or two together on January 9 for an Olympic program camp in Florida. They will play two opponents, one of them being Colombian side, Atletico Nacional.

There will be three camps this year for 99s and 00s.

And, moving from the junior players to our senior star, Zambrano revealed that Atiba Hutchinson, who on Wednesday was named this country’s men’s player of the year for the sixth time in his career, may still wear Canada red down the road. Hutchinson is playing a key role for Besiktas as the Turkish side moves onto the knockout stages of the Champions League. Hutchinson will turn 35 in February, but still plays like a 25-year-old.

Zambrano said that earlier this year, Hutchinson told him that he was planning to play his final game for Canada.

“I know that when I spoke to Atiba he was feeling down, he was going through an injury, he wasn’t sure if Besiktas was going to extend his contract. But they did… I talked him out of it. I said ‘don’t make a decision you don’t have to make.’ You can still give Canada some precious moments in soccer. You can help this country achieve some milestones. You can be part of us making it for 2022.

“I know that he wants to come back to Canada, to play for one of the teams in MLS. But the way he’s playing now, I think it serves us better for him to keep playing in Europe, so we can continue to enjoy watching him play there.

And Zambrano said that the new advanced statistic measures only add proof to Hutchinson’s value.

“Amongst the best players in the world, he sneaks into the top 10, the top eight. I think he might be the most underrated sportsman in Canada.”

Zambrano said he looks forward to CONCACAF’s new League of Nations, which will see the region’s countries divided into various divisions, and will mean fewer friendlies and more competitive matches going forward. We will learn more about the competition’s format in January

Zambrano noted that many of the smallest countries in the region really didn’t have many chances to prepare and scout for their “A” matches. With more game action, the teams at the bottom will rise, and will give them a greater opportunity to prep to play the bigger guns in the region.

“It’s all for the best. It’s the right thing to do,” said Zambrano.

 

Fath was at last week’s CanPL meetings, but warns not to expect a quick resurrection of FC Edmonton

As Toronto was in the midst of MLS Cup frenzy, the city hosted the most recent meetings of potential Canadian Premier League investors.

Amongst them was FC Edmonton owner Tom Fath. He confirmed that he was at last week’s meetings, but warned that those hopeful for a quick resurrection of the franchise shouldn’t get their hopes up.

Fath said his presence at the most recent round of CanPL talks was of an “exploratory” nature.

Just over two weeks ago, Fath confirmed that FC Edmonton, which had been an NASL member since the 2.0 version of the league launched on-field in 2011, would not return to that league. In fact, he said that the team would not return to any pro league unless a model could be found to make soccer sustainable in Edmonton.

Of course, soccer fans in the city are pinning their hopes on FC Edmonton being re-started for the Canadian Premier League, which is expected to begin operations in 2019, though the league itself has not confirmed a hard start date.

Fath has repeatedly said that he thinks the CanPL will be good for Canadian soccer. But, on Tuesday, he once again stressed that his appearances at league meetings doesn’t mean he’s committed to reviving FCE for CanPL.

He said that, just two weeks after announcing the franchise would discontinue operations, it would be premature to read anything into his recent trip to Toronto.

“We are not prepared to go from one situation where it wasn’t going to work, to another situation where it’s not going to work,” Fath said.

Despite Toronto FC’s dominance, ratings slide for MLS Cup in Canada

The favourite post-MLS Cup tradition in North American soccer media is to pick apart the ratings for the big game.

So, let’s dive in.

In 2016, with the game on in  prime time for Eastern viewers, MLS Cup drew 1.43 millions viewers on TSN, and 92,000 more on RDS. From the 2016 TSN release on its ratings: “Overall, 4.2 million unique viewers watched some part of Saturday night’s championship game on TSN and RDS. Audience levels peaked at 11 p.m. ET with 2.7 million viewers as Sounders defender Román Torres slotted home his penalty kick to seal the victory for Seattle.”

In 2017, with the game moved to the afternoon, and the same two teams — Seattle and Toronto FC — playing in the same venue, the Canadian numbers were down slightly. TSN reported Monday that it got a viewership of 1.3 million for MLS Cup in 2017, with the peak coming in at 2 million (down from 2.7 million last season).  The number of Canadians who watched some part of the game came in at 3.4 million, down from 4.2 million the year before.

That downward trend for the final bucked the season trend for the season. TSN says its ratings for the MLS season in total for 2017 was up 25 per cent over 2016’s numbers.

Now, there are a lot of factors to why the 2016 game did better than 2017; cord-cutters, the move to an afternoon game and the fact that 2016’s game was one of most boring things ever, maybe that scared a fraction of the audience away for 2017 (“fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice, shame on you”). The fact that Toronto FC put up one of the most incredible seasons in MLS history didn’t help increase the reach of the big game.

With no extra time or penalties, the 2017 game took up a smaller window than the 2016 game, which would hurt peak viewership and the number of total views.

But, even though the numbers were down in Canada, 1.3 million is a very healthy number, and it continues to show that MLS is seen as more of a major league in Canada than it is in the United States, where the MLS Cup broadcast drew a 0.7 rating on ESPN, down from Fox’s 1.0 in 2016. Fox has a larger footprint than the we-can’t-make-cuts-fast-enough ESPN, but the MLS PR staff will point to the fact that ESPN’s ratings for MLS Cup in 2017 were actually up over the last time the Disney-owned network broadcast the league’s championship match.

Toronto FC caps most dominant season in MLS history

In MLS, history tells us that teams that finish first overall don’t go on to win MLS Cup. Teams that lose MLS Cup the year previous don’t come back to win.

So much for that wisdom. With an absolutely dominant effort in Saturday’s MLS Cup game, Toronto FC became the first team in league history to celebrate a domestic treble. They capped off what has to be seen as the most dominant season any team has achieved so far in MLS history.

Based on the run of play, the chances created, the scoreline should have been far more severe than 2-0. Really, 6-0 or 7-0 would have been fair. But, with a year to think about last season’s penalty-kicks loss to Seattle, Toronto FC was able to slay the Sounders, including keeper Stefan Frei, who could easily have been voted the game’s Man of the Match in a losing effort.

After Frei repelled a legion of TFC efforts, he was finally beaten in minute 66; as we;d seen throughout the game, the Reds played the ball with lightning quickness through the midfield, and Sebastian Giovinco sent Jozy Altidore in on goal with pass that shattered the Sounders high line at the back.

Frei charged at Altidore, and the TFC striker touched the ball with his right, the lifted the ball over the keeper with his left. There’s no point in describing this goal in any greater length. You will see it replayed over and over and over.

Meanwhile, at the other end, TFC keeper Alex Bono could have jumped in the stands and watched the game with the supporters. Even when down a goal, a toothless Seattle team did little to threaten to Toronto goal. Actually, the Sounders’ attempts on goal were limited to a Joevin Jones cross that was credited as a shot on goal, and a Clint Dempsey grass-cutter that an Atom-level goalie would be expected to stop with ease.

Just before the end, TFC got its second goal, with Victor Vazquez steering the ball into an empty net after an Armando Cooper shot banged off the post.

Then, the celebration was on, and it will likely continue through the weekend.

But, without Frei, the hero of last year’s MLS Cup, Toronto could have started the party about an hour earlier. He was absolutely magnificent again — and, when the teams went to half 0-0, you had to wonder if the former TFC keeper would find a way to steal his team another title.

Frei made a diving stop to deny Jonathan Osorio; he and defender Chad Marshall got together to deflect a shot from Giovinco just wide. He made a leaping stop on a Giovinco effort that had caught the keeper wrong-footed. He dove to rob Vazquez.

And, in the second half, before Altidore finally killed the wicked witch, Frei made a hellacious diving stop on Giovinco.

In the end, Frei could not stop the TFC machine. And, Toronto finally has its first MLS title. Tonight, a lot of people who have been there throughout the last decade will tell stories of the chokes, the last-second goals yielded, the comedic management that once plagued this franchise. But, finally, they’ll be able to think back to those times and laugh. They’ll know that those demons and are now truly exorcised.

Toronto FC didn’t just seize MLS Cup. The team ripped it away from its competition. The Reds ran away with it. They won everything you could put in front of them. Guess it’s CONCACAF Champions League or bust next year, right?

MLS Cup in ’17 will be one last hurrah ahead of a harsh 2018 for Canadian club soccer

For soccer fans in Canada, this weekend’s MLS Cup is going to be like enjoying that last beer in the fridge, knowing that the liquor stores and bars are all closed. This will be the last hurrah.

While most of us are talking about just how much snow BMO Field will get for Saturday’s MLS Cup match (and, let’s face it, if you’re not pulling for a blizzard, you’re lying), with the Reds and Sounders both doing their big pre-game media events Thursday, you’d almost be fooled into thinking that soccer in Canada is thriving. Hell, you could probably make some kind of MLS Cup drinking game, shoot one back every time a commentator talks about the championship match being a high point for Canadian soccer or that a BMO Field full of passionate fans is a sign that Canadian soccer is on an upswing.

The truth is, 2018 will be a low point for men’s soccer in Canada. Boy, is it going to suck. It will be ultimate in lame-duck years. Canadian jobs will dwindle. We’ll have fewer teams to support. And even in TFC beats Seattle 10-0 on Saturday, that’s not going to change a thing.

In the past couple of months, we’ve learned that:

The NASL’s FC Edmonton has discontinued operations, and will only rise again in a new Canadian Premier League if ownership feels there is a sustainable path for the team going forward. Players have been released, as has the team’s Canadian head coach.

The San Francisco Deltas, a Canada-in-America haven, with four Canadian starters and coach Marc Dos Santos, ceased operations after winning the NASL title.

And WFC2, the USL affiliate of the Vancouver Whitecaps, was discontinued. The Whitecaps will now affiliate with Fresno FC, free of those pesky Canadian-content regulations.

As the Sounders and Reds were at the dais talking up MLS Cup in Toronto, the Whitecaps issued a release stating that Canadians Matthew Baldisimo, Terran Campbell and Sean Melvin would be assigned to Fresno — and that a whole slew of players who were with WFC2 would be cut. Those names included Canadians Gloire Amanda, Kadin Chung, Thomas Gardner, Patrick Metcalfe, Chris Serban, Dominick Zator and Mark Village (though Village had already signed with FC Cincinnati). The Whitecaps will retain MLS Homegrown player rights on Amanda, Chung, Gardner, Metcalfe and Serban.

While prospective Canadian Premier League investors are meeting in Toronto this week (with all of the MLS Cup hysteria distracting folks from the fact CanPL is having key meetings in Toronto, nice work on the “hiding-in-plain-sight” thing), we’re all pretty confident this league won’t start till 2019. FCE is not playing in ‘18, the Ottawa Fury is committed to USL in ‘18, even though the league’s president, Jake Edwards has officially said he backs the notion of the CanPL and that this country needs our own league. All signs point to 2019, even though the CanPL itself hasn’t yet confirmed that timing.

“With the news about FC Edmonton, the Deltas and the Whitecaps 2, it’s been a tough period for Canadian players,” said CanPL president Paul Beirne. “But, a tree needs to drop branches so it can stimulate new growth.”

So, for what looks to be a full year, we’re going to see a regression in Canadian pro soccer. Fewer opportunities and fewer teams.

But, let’s make sure to drink every time an MLS Cup commentator or pundit says how everything is coming up aces in Canadian soccer.

Miller, FC Edmonton part ways on “great terms”

Colin Miller compared his contract situation with FC Edmonton to knowing someone with a terminal condition. You know that there is no escaping the inevitable, but it still hurts when it comes to pass.

“I’ve known for a while that it’s coming, but, still when you see it in the press release, it really sinks in,” Miller said.

On Monday, FC Edmonton, which has already announced it had discontinued its professional operations, announced that Miller’s contract as the team’s head coach was no longer, and that goalkeeping coach Darren Woloshen’s time at the club was also done.

At this time last year, the club was announcing an extension to Miller’s contract, a show of confidence in what was an uncertain time for the NASL. Well, times continue to be uncertain for the NASL, with the league facing a court case against the United States Soccer Federation with its very survival at stake. No matter what happens, FC Edmonton has withdrawn from that circuit.

As for FC Edmonton, coaches Sean Fleming and Jeff Paulus remain with the team, as the club will continue its academy program. Co-owner Tom Fath has said that the team would only rise again in the new Canadian Premier League if there were indications that the team, which launched in NASL in 2011, could be sustainable.

Miller said some of the blame for FC Edmonton’s problems should be doled onto the City’s administration. The team paid for new stands and a scoreboard at City-owned Clarke Field, but didn’t always get first choice for game dates. The team also held training camps at City-owned Commonwealth Fieldhouse. 

“The fact is, the team did not get a lot of support from within the City of Edmonton,” Miller said. “Our fan base was growing, support was growing, but we did not get the support we needed from the City of Edmonton.”

Miller said Edmonton’s training times at Clarke Field were strictly monitored; even if there was no one scheduled to use the field on a weekday afternoon.

“There were times that we’d have guys on the field having a chat at the end of practice, and the City would send an invoice for that,” said Miller.

He also said that Canadian soccer is hurt by the media’s refusal to put it into the mainstream.

“There are some who did a wonderful job covering the club,” he said. “But I can’t help but feel that there is still a fear in the North American media about our sport.”

About FCE, though, Miller had nothing but good things to say.

“I have to say that we (he and Fath) have left on great terms,” said Miller. “We’re good friends. And we have an incredible amount of respect for each other.”

Miller has many fond memories of the times he spent in Edmonton — and he thanked his family in Abbotsford, B.C. for being so supportive of his career choice. He remembers what it felt like to beat Montreal in the first leg of a Canadian Championship semifinal (though most of us might remember him exchanging words with Impact owner Joey Saputo after the controversial late second-leg penalty decision allowed Montreal to advance). He said he treasures a win over the New York Cosmos, where the winner came from all-time FCE leading scorer Daryl Fordyce, just days after captain Albert Watson’s father had passed away.

And he remembers being hired and the huge job that was laid out for him.

“To be a Canadian coach at a Canadian club, at a time when Canadian clubs weren’t hiring Canadian coaches, that was pretty special.”

Canadian keeper Powley makes a Gute career choice

Imagine eating at the same restaurant, day after day. Now, imagine knowing that, for the next year, you’ll be eating at the same restaurant — daily — but you haven’t even been to the place.

You’d better hope the menu is pretty good.

Canadian goalkeeper Dylon Powley, a Grant MacEwan University graduate who spent two years with Calgary Foothills of the PDL, will soon know what it’s like to be the most loyal of restaurant eaters.

In January, Powley will move to the Swedish island of Gotland, home of fourth-tier side FC Gute. He will begin his one-year contract with the club. His contract calls for him to eat at the same restaurant — which is one of the club’s sponsors — daily. A meal plan will be submitted by the club.

Gute was the third of what had been four planned Swedish-club trials for Powley. But the team, which employed Foothills alumnus Tyrin Hutchings last season, ticked off the boxes for the young Edmonton native. The team finished fourth in the fourth tier last season, and manager Jens Wedeborg has hopes for the team to move up in 2018.

“They had a brand-new coach, and he still hasn’t had the time to implement his vision,” said Powley, who is back at home in Alberta for the holiday season. Wedeborg came in last season, and managers need time to put their stamps on the clubs they inherit. 

And Powley said that his conversations with his manager have him hopeful that he’s going to have the No. 1 shirt coming out of camp.

“He told me that they weren’t going to go to all the trouble of bringing me halfway across the world to have me sitting on the bench,” Powley said.

Powley had a goals-against average of 1.07 in 14 games for Foothills last season.

He’s excited for the move to Europe, but it’s one that, this season, more young Canadians will have to make. With FC Edmonton discontinuing operations, Canada loses a division-two side. The Whitecaps have folded their USL side and will instead affiliate with a team in Fresno. And the San Francisco Deltas, who had a Canadian coach and employed more Canadians than many pro teams north of the border, called it quits after one NASL season.

That means the job market for young Canadian players is much smaller.

“It’s frustrating for a lot of Canadians,” said Powley. “In a town of Europe that has 10,000 people, there’s support for a club. That, in a city (Edmonton) of more than 1 million, that we couldn’t fill a stadium, for those who want CanPL to happen, that’s a wake-up call to everyone.”

Powley said, ironically, that Gute’s home stadium reminds him a lot of his hometown Clarke Stadium; with the older stand on one side and the bigger grandstand on the other. Their capacities are similar, too, with Gute able to max out at about 5,000 fans — which is the club’s largest recorded home attendance.

But, after playing in the Canadian university and then PDL ranks, Powley is prepped to make the next step as a professional.

“I want to either help this team advance and make the move up, or use this as the opportunity to improve and then get an opportunity elsewhere.”