'We're in this to win': Wanderers looking for redemption as the 2025 season looms large
The feeling around the Halifax Wanderers heading into this weekend's final pre-season friendlies — two tilts against Ligue1 Québec side FC Laval — couldn't be more different than last year.
Internally, the expectations are similar: both the 2024 and 2025 iterations of the club eyed silverware, be it the CPL Shield, North Star Cup or Voyageurs Cup. But anyone who followed the Wanderers last year know they fell well short of their goals, eking their way to a disappointing sixth place finish. It's hard not to think the seeds for that failed campaign were planted in a dismal pre-season. Simply put: 2024's coast-to-coast training camp was a disaster.
Thankfully for the Wanderers, this year's pre-season has gone much more smoothly.
And with a strong training camp, which saw the coaching staff introduce new expectations for the group while garnering positive results during their friendlies in the United Kingdom, comes renewed urgency: the Wanderers are desperate to win.
"Last year, the reality is we didn't hit our targets," said sporting director Matt Fegan in an exclusive interview with The Wanderers Notebook.
"We're in this to win. There was always going to be some natural turnover of players. What we did recognize is that there are the makings of an excellent core that are very integral to the culture of any club. I think when you look at the teams who have won in this league, they’ve got an exceptional core they’ve retained year on year, who have organically created a player-led environment. Our primary focus starts with talent but character and drive and a willingness to buy into the project was also really high on the list of every player Mark (Watson), Patrice (Gheisar) and myself spoke to this off-season."
The signing of centre-back Thomas Meilleur-Giguère is the culmination of Halifax's focus on culture. Specifically, as a CPL champion, he's been asked to set the tone for the rest of the group on and off the pitch.
Winning a championship, he shared, is something that needs to be ingrained into an organization.
“The first thing I heard when I came here from everyone, staff, players, is that we want to win a championship. It has to be in the culture, it has to be cultural. You have to make the playoffs, you have to win with fans like this and a city like this. Now, it’s about finding a way to win something. It can be Canadian Championship, CPL playoffs, regular season champions, we need to win something," said Meilleur-Giguère. "When you talk to the players, it's clear."
Meilleur-Giguère added he's been impressed by the quality of his teammates, which includes new additions like midfielder Isaiah Johnston, speedy wingers Yohan Baï and Jason Bahamboula, and goalkeeper Rayane Yesli.
However, without hard work, he said, quality means nothing and is one of the reasons the coaching staff has pushed tirelessly to raise the tempo of play, with and without the ball. Given head coach Patrice Gheisar has spent time with Canadian men's national team head coach Jesse Marsch, it's easy to wonder if some of his Red Bull-style has rubbed off on the Wanderers.
“(Fitness) is something they've emphasized a lot. It’s the first thing they told us. I think it’s something new for the club. In the past years, they were about ball playing, ball playing, ball playing. They wanted to make us run more, it adds another dimension to our game," said Meilleur-Giguère.
"I think Patrice's team was always like this before and wanted to win the ball high. Now, the fact that he's worked with Jesse, he maybe got a new idea to get us to press high."
There were lessons learned from last year's training camp.
The Wanderers departed Halifax mid-March and began hopping its way across the continent, facing Forge, Toronto FC II, the University of Seattle, Whitecaps II and the University of British Columbia in friendlies. The results, to put it mildly, were underwhelming as the squad struggled to adjust on what was a long road trip.
But more worrying were the injuries: almost every Wanderers' attacker had a knock of some sort, with new additions like striker Christian Volesky — who was released by the club mid-season — and Ryan Telfer playing a total of one friendly between them. Tiago Coimbra, Vitor Dias and Massimo Ferrin also struggled with injury, the result being that the squad looked disjointed to start the season and failed to earn a win through their first 10 matches in all competitions.
In his 2024 end of season availability, Gheisar acknowledged the club's issues began in training camp.
"Going away for three weeks before our first two games and sleeping in six different beds didn’t work out. The guys were mentally drained, hence the bleeding. We definitely won’t be doing that again," he said.
The Wanderers instead opted for less travel this pre-season, sticking to Nova Scotia while organizing friendlies against St. Francis Xavier, Dalhousie University and FC Laval.
When they did leave to seek out a higher level of competition, they flew to England and spent nearly two weeks at The Nest, a state-of-the-art training centre operated by Norwich City FC.
"Being the easternmost club in the country, it's an easier touchpoint for us to get to the United Kingdom. It's only a five-hour flight to get to London, for example," said Fegan of the decision to go to England.
Once there, the Wanderers played well against Ipswich Town (2-1 win), Norwich City (3-2 loss) and Fulham (4-2 win), a stark contrast to last year's results.
A strong pre-season, of course, is only one piece of the puzzle.
In the short term, the Wanderers still have two matches against FC Laval before flying to Ottawa to kickoff their season on April 5. They then travel to York Lions Stadium for another away tilt on April 13.
And the Wanderers have something to prove after last year, a season in which they failed to meet expectations. That feeling of unfinished business is one of the reasons French midfielder Lorenzo Callegari opted to return.
"This year, when I came back, I said: 'We have to win.' It's impossible to do what we did last year. We've had to live with that," Callegari told The Wanderers Notebook.
"I'm really excited to be back on the field. Last year, we left something out there. We deserved more. We deserved better but we have to show it. With this group, with the new players, this year is going to be great, I can feel it. But we need to prove it on the field."
Similar to last year, there's little doubt that the Wanderers have amassed quality players. But how those players mesh and stick together on the pitch remains to be seen. Their season, inevitability, will be defined by how they answer that question.
"Quality will make it work in the end," said Meilleur-Giguère. "If you work hard, with (our) quality, I don't think any team can really stop us. Honestly."
A strong pre-season, bereft of last year's hiccups, will go a long way to helping the Wanderers start on the right foot. Another slow start — as exemplified by the first two years of Gheisar's tenure — would be an unwanted case of déjà vu.
Cover Photo Credit: Halifax Wanderers FC
