Podcasts
PawedCast Episode 329: Haley Carter Interview, Cincy & Tigres Rewinds, D.C. Preview, Orlando Pride News, and More
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Before this week’s show gets underway, we’ve got some announcements to make and we are pretty pumped up about them all. There is our fundraiser to launch our independence, obviously, which has us all extremely emotional and thankful. To that end, we began the long process of giving out our shout-outs to our brand new Founders. It’s going to take a few shows to get them all in! If you were part of this week’s, it means we don’t have any way to contact you to get your benefits to you, so please email us.
Then there are some podcast-specific announcements that we feel will make everyone’s experience more enjoyable. We hope you like what’s coming!
Now, on to why you’re here…
Orlando City has played to two consecutive scoreless draws and the two results felt quite different from each other. The Lions survived squad rotation against a good FC Cincinnati side last weekend in league play and survived Tigres in Concacaf Champions League play on Tuesday night in Mexico. We analyze the two matches and make our Man of the Match selections for both games.
After our conversation about two straight 0-0 draws, Orlando Pride Vice President of Soccer Operations and General Manager Haley Carter jumps on with us to talk about the job she’s been hired to do. Among the things she shared with us is a huge tease about the summer transfer window, but alas…no specifics yet. Carter obviously has a lot of belief in Pride Head Coach Seb Hines and in strengthening the club through development at every level.
After our discussion with Carter, there was news from the Pride side about the team’s latest preseason win, the signing of draft picks Messiah Bright and Summer Yates, and a minor schedule change.
We dipped into a full mailbag this week to discuss Ercan Kara, the AFC Richmond players we’d want to suit up for Orlando City, and more. If there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the next show, just ask by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC.
Finally, we looked ahead to Saturday night’s showdown at D.C. United, with key match-ups and predictions, and we’re extremely amped about next Wednesday’s rematch with Tigres.
Stay safe and enjoy the show!
Here’s how No. 329 went down:
0:15 – Celebrating a shutout win for the second straight year and yet another opening day result for the Lions. Also celebrating a potential new deal for Torres.
36:09 – Haley Carter joins us to talk about her task of turning the Pride around, her thoughts on the current roster, and maybe a surprise is coming?
57:15 – The Pride won another preseason game and signed two more draft picks ahead of the 2023 season.
1:04:46 – Things we love: the mailbagbox, 5-star reviews on Apple Podcasts, and making predictions that will probably turn out to be horribly wrong.
Podcasts
PawedCast Episode 461: Facundo Torres’ Transfer, Orlando City’s 2025 MLS SuperDraft Class, and More
Facu officially flies away, we’ve got mail, and the Lions select some folks in the SuperDraft.
With Facundo Torres officially transferring to Palmeiras on Friday, we reconvened to discuss what it means for Orlando City this off-season and moving forward into 2025. The Lions are sitting pretty in terms of cash, but it remains to be seen how the club will approach having an open Designated Player slot, an open MLS U22 Initiative slot, plenty of General Allocation Money, and a good infusion of cash from Brazil.
There are multiple ways the team can address the situation, but the front office has never been in a position where it’s had an opportunity to stack the team with quality starters and depth.
This week’s mailbagbox asked which current Lion needs to step up most, which of our favorite current and former EPL teams’ players we’d like to see playing for Orlando, and what we like to eat at Christmas. Remember, if there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the show, just ask us by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC, or hitting us up on Bluesky Social with that same hashtag.
Finally, we discussed Major League Soccer not broadcasting or streaming the 2025 SuperDraft and the players Orlando City selected Friday afternoon. We’re not huge fans of the draft not being broadcast in some form, and it suggests the event may not have much more of a future. Orlando picked up four players out of college — two from the same school — and every position group except goalkeeper was impacted. Those who sign are likely to spend most of 2025 with OCB.
Be sure to rate and review our show wherever you get your podcasts. Remember, we’ll read any five-star reviews we get on Apple Podcasts on the next show.
Here’s how No. 461 went down:
0:15 – The Torres transfer is official and Orlando City has some cash to splash.
17:54 – The mailbagbox wants presents in the form of answers to our listeners’ questions.
37:28 – An overview of the lack of an MLS SuperDraft broadcast and Orlando City’s 2025 picks.
Podcasts
PawedCast Episode 460: Facundo Torres, Orlando City and OCB News, and More
The Torres transfer saga, surgery for Duncan McGuire, Kyle Smith’s return, a new Homegrown Player, and OCB news.
Our off-season podcast schedule is off to a slow start, as we didn’t even take a week off, but if the news doesn’t sleep, neither do we. This week’s show opens with a discussion of the Facundo Torres transfer saga as of the time we recorded, which we fully expect to be ruined by the time this post drops (because that’s just podcast life). Torres was off to Brazil, then Mexico, then back to Brazil, and it seems that we’re just waiting for the official word at this point. While it’s never fun to lose a likeable and productive player, the club stands to turn a good profit on his three years in purple and will have some cash to splash on an attacking replacement.
In also-bad news, we chatted about Duncan McGuire’s shoulder surgery and the recovery time needed not only from the procedure itself, but also the requisite time to regain his match fitness. McGuire is going to be unavailable for a while, and we think the club needs to add a striker to start the season as either the starter or someone who can at least push Ramiro Enrique and provide a different look up top.
There’s even more bad news to talk about, as the Lions lost MLS U22 Initiative midfielder Heine Gikling Bruseth before he’d even played a game for Orlando City. It may have been a gamble to leave him unprotected — or maybe it was intentional —and it could have been necessary due to contract language and greater needs with those 12 protected spots in the MLS Expansion Draft. Either way, Bruseth is gone after doing not much more than training with the Lions and warming up on a few match days.
In better news, the Lions re-signed Kyle Smith to a one-year deal, and we are here for it. Speaking of signings, the club added a Homegrown Player, signing OCB midfielder Colin Guske to the first team. We discuss Guske’s game a bit, then transition into OCB’s season-ending roster status update. There were 10 players on MLS NEXT Pro contracts in 2024. One of them was Guske, six are out of contract (but some could return), and three are still under contract.
This week’s mailbagbox asked a pretty good “what if” question, sought our thoughts on MLS free agents, wondered if Felipe is coaching material, and more. Remember, if there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the show, just ask us by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC, or hitting us up on Bluesky Social with that same hashtag.
Be sure to rate and review our show wherever you get your podcasts. Remember, we’ll read any five-star reviews we get on Apple Podcasts on the next show.
Here’s how No. 460 went down:
0:15 – We break down the Torres transfer saga and discuss what McGuire’s surgery recovery means for 2025.
16:02 – Losing Bruseth, Smith’s return, a new Homegrown Player, and OCB contract statuses.
32:27 – Something we love as much as the mailbagbox is finding loopholes to make some of the questions easier to answer.
Podcasts
PawedCast Episode 459: Orlando City Roster Decisions and Facundo Torres Gone?
Breaking news on a potential Facundo Torres transfer and our annual stays/goes segment lacks its usual drama and debate.
Orlando City’s end-of-season roster update undercut our annual stays/goes segment, but that’s OK. What it lacks in drama, it makes up for in us being able to say we were right more often. But we’ll get to that.
We open the show with an MLS NEXT scoreboard check and it turns out the Orlando City SC Development Academy is doing just fine.
After that, we bid former OCSC captain Nani an extremely enjoyable retirement. The flashy and fiery Portuguese winger has called it a career and left an indelible mark on the city of Orlando in his couple of years with the Lions. We also debate whether he could end up in Orlando City’s ring of honor at Inter&Co Stadium.
This week’s mailbagbox asked about stuff Alexi Lalas said and what kinds of things we prefer to put off until later. Remember, if there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the show, just ask us by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC, or hitting us up on Bluesky Social with that same hashtag.
Finally, we address some breaking news (as we recorded) that Orlando City and Palmeiras had reached an agreement on a transfer that would send Facundo Torres to Brazil. The report from Tom Bogert at the time mentioned the deal was contingent on Torres reaching an agreement with the club, and we debated how the deal makes sense (or doesn’t) for the Uruguayan winger.
That was the perfect segue into our annual stays/goes segment, in which we go through the Orlando City roster to figure out which Lions will still be on the team next year. As mentioned, the roster decisions release kind of makes things clear, but there’s a lot that can happen in an off-season, and if a domino falls (say…the transfer of the team’s leading offensive weapon), it could change the math. The MLS Expansion Draft also could throw a wrench into the works.
Be sure to rate and review our show wherever you get your podcasts. Remember, we’ll read any five-star reviews we get on Apple Podcasts on the next show.
Here’s how No. 459 went down:
0:15 – Some Orlando City academy scores and Nani’s retirement.
12:53 – Our mailbagbox is light but mighty.
31:02 – Addressing the breaking news report that a transfer might be in place to send Facundo Torres to Brazil and our annual walk through the Orlando City roster.
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