2015/16 Transfer Speculation

What a great introduction to Wellington weather today.

Any details about the length of the contract?

They have to work on their Marketing, very boring. We want more information, contract length, a Photo where he gets a Phoenix shirt, which number he plays. Create some hype, this is THE signing, we do not get much more than that.

Doubt we will risk big Jeff for a cup game after he just got off the plane

Video of Jeffrey training:

https://www.periscope.tv/w/aKuXNDkxOTE2ODN8NjkxOTQ...

Maybe we might see him sunday in Kapiti??

looks pretty good against those metal yellow things

Sarpong not travelling to Melbourne for the cup. Ernie wants him to train a bit more before playing a game. Expect to see him play on Sunday.

still pretty concerned that we have no central defender yet, dura and siggy getting pretty old and more prone to injuries. Would still enjoy a striker, Sarpong looks a good player but not an out in out finisher. 

2 year contract....so one year playing football during our A league licence period and then a year watching shortland street and teaching kindergarten?

Yeah.  Going to be one hell of an ASB Premiership team next season.

Nah, the EU is much harder to get relegated from than the A-League.

Not a striker..underwhelmed in terms of progression from last season.

He is a striker, I read it in the newspaper

Obviously he is a quality footballer but not all quality midfielders can just become strikers. Jury's out on this one. If he is a bust then I doubt we will have a good season.

Just as much of a striker as Burns was

Everyone is a midfielder these days.

-- Oliver Kahn

Finally watched the full 9 minute video highlight reel.

Provided he settles in as well as Roly did, we have a goodun!

He is strong on the ball, bloody quick, elusive, work rate seems good, he can pass, has the control you would expect of him. 

In that clip, I think I saw him pass the ball more than Burns did for the entire second half of last season.  If Ernie and Greenie can work their "not a striker" magic on him we may have another star!

Yeah it seems like he has come here because he wants to score goals. One of the big things he said was that Ernie's desire to improve him as a player was one of the reasons to come here.

Once again thank fudge for Ernie.

Not often players give to learn and grow as a player for going to the A-League. Normally its something like the shortness of the season and prolonging a career.

May 3, 2015, 2014/15 Transfer Thread.

How about exercising your right to common sense.

How do you feel about losing that top goal scorer and replacing? him (so far) with a person who is not?

How do you feel about who will then score another 10 goals or so (if Sapong replaces Burns stats like for like) to push on from being 4th and then falling off the required pace.

Goal Scorer not a striker

Football player not a striker

Probably been given an ultimatum by Ramon to commit to start of season ACFC training or lose his place to a Spaniard.

ill be honest, despite burns' great goal scoring, i never felt overly confident in his finishing unlike his ability to beat 2 or 3 players on a run. 

What got worrying at the end of last season was that our tactic of try to get Burns or Krishna running ontothe ball behind the defence, or cutting in from wide, was stymied by teams pying deep and narrow against us. Without a bigger, more traditional centre forward, or at least some comfortable playing with his back to goal, we lacked optolions in the attacking third and consequently struggled to break teams down. Sarpong looks like promising Burns replacement but the fundamental issue of how we address the deep narrow defence doesn't appear to have been answered yet. Maybe Powell will give us that option but I don't know enough about him to say. Just to make it clear, I'm not saying we need a classic target man but an aerial threat in the box so fullbacks feel they have to close our wingers down would help create space, and some who could play with his back to goal up front might give our small quick guys someone to run off. Griffiths would have fitted the bill, but sadly that didn't end well.

Kenny and Griffiths both scored 4 a piece, too - so we're missing those goals this season. We do have a more settled Appiah, though, who I think needs to step up for us.

Ignore the typos in my previous post. I'm having issues with the site on my phone and I've been way too lazy to download the app. 

Sigh. I don't know what it is but this site is so unresponsive on my phone that it makes tidying up long posts too damn frustrating. My  big thumbs mashing away on the tiny keyboard doesn't help either.

Best player at local level in Auckland is Nat Bowen at East Subs/Waitak. Also top scorer in NLP with 23 goals, twice as many as Boss, who's 2nd top. And despite those who say he's Canadian /American every soccer site I've seen lables him as an Australian.

The combined loss of goals from players that departed last season (including Brockie) is 28.

Ernie is a lot of things (Scottish, for example) however, stupid would not appear to be one of those things. There are over 50 days 'til the season... sure, I'd love our squad to be ready and gelling now well before things kick off. But that's not how football works.

In Ernie I trust.

For at least another 30-40 days.

Considering that last point about him coaching at this level with a very good track record, and none of us having done so, how about we leave it to him to determine whom is the best player for this team? So far he has not been wrong on Burns, Krishna, Riera, A-Rod, Roly... Should I go on or have I made my point.... no I throw in the biggest cock in the world in Griffiths who was effective as well....... Now I have made my point.

Jesus that looks dull. The definition of 'light training'

Right so that sigining has me fired up but now we need some more who is next people.

7 Released and 2 signed so 5 to go give me options and dreams people!!

When it comes to the attack, I wouldn't mind plan B in the squad. While plan A is clearly quick skilful wide strikers running at fullbacks and centrebacks, it would be good to have a more traditional target man/back to goal bloke as a squaddie to change things up or provide a different option now and again.

There are going to be sharkty wet days where such a person would be useful on the bench. 

Has anyone got Rory's phone number? ;-)

I guess another way to look at is is this:

Ernie wants someone who is fast, good with the ball at his feet, and can score goals, with the Phoenix budget we can probably only pick two out of these three criterea, at best.

We can't afford the perfect player, or probably even any proven goal scorer of a reasonable age and pedigree - we'd have to take a punt on someone who is potent in front of goal and get someone who is on the decline (Griffiths), recovering from injury, or from a lower division (Powell). Where was Smeltz playing when we picked him up? Down in the National League? 

Berisha was scoring a goal every 5 games before he went to the Roar. In the A-League his goal scoring ratio has more than doubled.

Jeffrey doesn't score goals, but his mandate hasn't been to score goals. If we put him in that position and provide the right service then why can't he do a Burns?

Spot on, Ryan. 

Some people seem to have short memories,many were moaning about Burns when he was signed that he wasnt a prolific goal scorer.Seems we have many of the same comments reappearing.For all Burns record of goals sadly he went off the boil when we needed him most.

I will trust in Ernies judgement that he will deliver what we need.

Anyway given what Ernie did to our last graduate from Ajax whose to say he isnt going to be a defender.LOL