The Wanderer Grounds podcast: How to solve HFX Wanderers FC’s winless woes?

Patrice Gheisar is in a pickle: Eight games into the HFX Wanderers FC head coach’s debut Canadian Premier League season, his team has only lost twice—but the club hasn’t managed to find a win, either. At the quarter-mark of the CPL season, Gheisar’s Halifax side sits at the bottom of the league standings, with six points from eight appearances. (Six of those matches have ended in draws.) More concerning, the club has managed just six goals in eight matches—fewest of any CPL team. Never mind that the Wanderers sit in the top half of the league for shots and passes completed.

What gives, then?

“I think it’s a lot of little lessons,” Gheisar said ahead of his club’s 0-2 loss to Atlético Ottawa on June 3. “Finish your chances. Don’t give up cheap goals when you score goals. Close the game off. But most importantly, it’s also about us finding a continuous [starting] 11.”

Until Saturday in Ottawa, Gheisar had yet to start the same lineup twice. After a 1-1 draw against Pacific FC on May 27, the 47-year-old bet on the same lineup securing the Halifax club’s first win of 2023. Instead, Saturday ended in disappointment.

In this episode of The Wanderer Grounds, Coast reporters Matt Stickland and Martin Bauman break out their armchair whiteboards to settle the matter of HFX Wanderers FC’s ongoing struggle to secure three points. What happened on Saturday? How does Gheisar find his elusive starting 11? Is Halifax just supremely unlucky, or is there more behind the club’s string of results?