Timbers lose in Vancouver. Again. Playoff chances fading

By: Bob Kellett | August 24th, 2008

The Vancouver Whitecaps can’t move out of Swangard Stadium soon enough as far as the Portland Timbers are concerned. The Timbers continued their amazing string of futility at the stadium in Burnaby, BC on Friday, losing 2-1 to the Whitecaps. That’s 13 losses in 16 games there. Bobby Howe, Chris Agnello, Gavin Wilkinson…it doesn’t matter who’s at the helm. The results are always the same.

In the grand game of calculating how many the points the Timbers will finish with this season and how many they need to make the playoffs this was the one game left on the schedule that was a sure loss. The Whitecaps had defeated the Timbers twice before Friday and they made it clear early on that they would make it a clean sweep this season. It is also clear that this Timbers squad, which knocked the Caps out of the playoffs a season ago, simply isn’t good enough to beat a Vancouver team that is talented in the midfield and more than capable at scoring goals north of the border. If the Timbers do squeak in the playoffs in the seventh spot there’s a good chance they’d face Vancouver again. They’d face a Vancouver team that outshot the Timbers 35-23 in three games and outscored Portland 6-2. They’d travel to Swangard Stadium again where dreams go to die.

Playoff watch
As was expected, Montreal passed the Timbers this weekend to claim the seventh spot in the USL First Division table. The Impact have two games in hand and they will make the playoffs, likely ending up in a higher position than seventh. Also expected, Atlanta dropped their back-to-back at Montreal and Rochester. With a game on Wednesday in Vancouver and a brutal road schedule ahead, the Silverbacks appear to be the team ahead of Portland most likely to fall out of the top seven. Meanwhile, Miami sent a message that they are very much in the running for a playoff birth with a 3-0 victory over the Charleston Battery to move a point behind the Timbers with a game in hand. Miami has two home games against struggling Minnesota before traveling to Portland for a Sept. 4 match. It is likely they’ll be ahead of the Timbers by then. Simply put, that is a must-win game for Portland. And fuck, even Carolina is still in the hunt. The RailHawks went to Minnesota and Seattle this weekend and came away with 3 points (and should have gotten at least one against the Sounders). Playoffs here we come. Last place here we come. Your guess is probably better than mine.

The Iron Man streak will come to an end
Cameron Knowles picked up a yellow card in the 43rd minute against Vancouver. It was his fifth yellow card of the season which means he will have to sit out the September 4 game against Miami. Thus ends his Iron Man streak of consecutive regular season games started and minutes played. Since joining the Timbers last season, Knowles has started and played every minute in 53 straight games. That’s 4,770 consecutive minutes. The only other player to start all 25 games this season? Leonard Griffin, who has started all but one game in his two seasons in Portland.

The Great Swoon
On May 30 the Timbers were sitting on 16 points from 10 games. Since then they have only picked up 12 points from 15 games. That translates to a June-August record of 2-7-6. If you really want to be sad, the Timbers have three wins in the past 22 games. They could very well need three wins in their final five games to make the playoffs.

Most losses in a season by a Portland Timbers team
2006: 15
2002: 12
2003: 11

With nine losses to this point and just five games left in the books, Chris Agnello’s dubious mark is safe for another year. So is his team’s record for fewest points in a season: 27.

The two-year totals
Gavin Wilkinson’s regular season record: 20-14-19, 53GF, 44GA
Gavin Wilkinson’s record against teams not named California Victory: 15-14-19, 42GF, 43GA

If he is the coach next season, Wilkinson should lobby the league to add three or four poorly financed expansion teams this winter.

Details, Details, Details
Like many of us, The Oregonian’s editorial board likes the idea of bringing MLS to Portland and is eager to see the details. I’d say the time to use the mimeograph machine and start handing out the thick informational packets should be sooner rather than later, Mr. Paulson.

Photo: The traveling Timbers Army makes the pitch for MLS in Portland in 2011 before having the banner taken down by Vancouver security. Ahhh, MLS expansion competitions.