2015/16 Transfer Speculation

Piovaccari. 

Not suprising; Sarpong should've gone a few weeks ago.

save the money for next year..this season is a write off now.

He is from the Gold Coast, and Roar want him as well.

Bless You!

Good they can release or loan Devante Clut to us.

I think we need more than just one extra player for the next season. But for this season I am happy to see younger players tested, and Sarpong's farewelled. Sarpong's prompt departure (clearly paid out) probably explains why we did not bring anyone in to replace Krishna and Rufer with injury money.

If you mean Welli over Ipswich lols

When I watched him play for the Ressies twice while home I thought he played very well.  Might have had a mare once in the firsts, cant see it happeneing again given the fact he is playing regularily now.

Thank f**k for that.  Worst hyped up signing for a kiwi club ever.

People shouldn't assume that a lack of transfer outcomes means a lack of effort.

wish that line and train of thought would work on my boss :)

This from Oar's agent:

http://www.eadt.co.uk/sport/ipswich_town_s_style_o...

“There is a bigger chance he will go to Asia or the Middle East than back to Europe or Australia.”

Adam Taggart has just quit Fulham too and has signed for Perth, but he can't play until next season because of already playing for two clubs this season.

It's piss poor that the Nix haven't signed anyone in the January window.

Sarpong was always a mistake.

With not only Burns, but Brockie, Boyd and Cunningham gone from last season's squad, the need for a goalscorer has been obvious since the end of 2014.

As obvious as:

And the defence is as leaky as Julian Assange, Edward Snowdon, Daniel Ellsberg and Bradley Manning.

Should have signed a decent fullback and an experienced centre-back to replace Boxall... 

In Ernie's defence, in a league with squad rules as tight as they are how could he have anticipated Sigmund not playing as much as he has, with only 23 players you can't really afford to have 4 centre backs.  Fox was the like for like replacement for boxall.  If Siggie hadn't been out as much as he has then the back four would have been much more stable.  I think in the back of Ernie's mind there would have been the thought to replace Siggy after this season but I think he gambled on him being good for one more year.

Upfront well just got the wrong guy, it happens at bigger clubs than us, recruitment isn't an exact science.  Even Alex Ferguson had some duds, remember Bebe?

For me he has managed to get more out of the existing players in general, has brought through some youth and needs the licence thing sorted so he can go to the market and have a look for a new CB, ST and potentially another fullback.

The problem is that the problem was not Sarpong. If Sarpong actually played a good season they we would still be shark. If Sarpong was the problem then it would be an easy fix - just sign someone better! Ernie also signed Sarpong to do a role he had never done before. Unfortunately our problems run a lot deeper than that. Sigmund being out is just normal. Krishna being out too is a massive blow. Most teams have to deal with injuries to star players.

What should we think that? We have seen CCM, Newcastle and Perth all make signings to freshen things up. I hope we haven't been trying to sign up players. If we have been trying to sign up players and are this bad at it, that is a huge worry. License issues notwithstanding.

Would you sign a contract for a new company that potentially won't be around in 4 months time?

sorry i call bullshark on this one.  We don't and never have had the depth of other teams so injuries to key players are always going to hit us a bit harder then normal.  2nd Best will know for sure but i think from my memory Siggie has been pretty consistent in terms of appearances the last couple of seasons, so imagine Ernie uses a squad spot on another centreback and then Siggie plays the whole season and your still moaning about this player that we didn't need.

Was it last season when City had a massive injury toll and consequently they were average despite being one of the favourites.

Also i don't understand what your saying about Sarpong - if he had of fired and scored 10 goals so far, we would still be shark?  yeah ok.. 

Siggy's appearance in the last 5 seasons have been 28, 28, 24, 25, 26

The next time Ernie converts a player over the age of 22 to a striker, I do not expect he will scores 10 goals / season.

I may be wrong, but my assumption is that if the club "came to terms" with Sarpong it means they had to pay him a reasonable amount of money, if not the full salary amount remaining in his contract time. I am sure he was happy to accept less in order to get out fast.

The second part of my reasoning is that the only people the club would have brought in during the January transfer window (and we won't know who they were talking to) would have cost more than the injury money for Krishna and Rufer. And Rufer's money may actually be less / different if he plays predominantly for WeeNix but I do not know that so won't speculate.

So by releasing Sarpong (for money) they may have willingly foregone getting a decent player, if one was available and willing. As others pointed out, potential newcomers would have asked for extra cherry on top due to the risk of the license extension spat not ending well.

Twitter:

Welcome Alex Jones to the Wellington Phoenix!

Update: It is a Striker!

http://www.wellingtonphoenix.com/article/phoenix-s...

Injury cover for Krishna.

fingies crossed

youNix!!

If this leads to a Rick Astley youtube clip...

tick the "not an OMG nightmare negative" box...

We're gonna win the league!

Just for you, in case you forgot the definition (in bold):

striker (ˈstraɪkə)

n

1. (Industrial Relations & HR Terms) a person who is on strike

2. (Horology) the hammer in a timepiece that rings a bell or alarm

3. (General Engineering) any part in a mechanical device that strikes something, such as the firing pin of a gun

4. (Soccer) soccer informal an attacking player, esp one who generally positions himself or herself near the opponent's goal in the hope of scoring

Any idea how big/small he is?

Hopefully big enough to strike fear in opposition's hearts once he starts swinging it in front of their goal

It's a worry when the player will sign isnt good enough to warrant a Wikipedia page

That's because he hasn't played senior football... Apart from 6 games for Grimsby.

Wikipedia has new rules around Football players, and delete anyone without senior caps for teams below a certain level, and even then they can just be deleted as well.

City have had massive injury problems this season. Franjic has missed 9 games this season. Kisnorobo missed 3. Aaron Hughes has missed about 10. Gamiero is gone for the season. Koren was a bust in the same way Sarpong was for us. City was always overrated at the bookies last season. They were only rated highly because people there was buzz around Villa coming. 

Let's be clear - if Sarpong had banged in 10 goals so far, he would not be having a good season. He would be having a great season. Burns only ended up with 13 goals at the end of last season  So if Sarpong had banged in 10 then he would be on track to score more than Burns did.

The problem with the team clearly is not individual players. Even at the end of last season when we did have Burns we still got completely out thought in those final games of the season. We know the criticisms. We had no width, we were one dimensional, we could not break shark teams down etc. These are our problems. If Sarpong was having a good season, he wouldn't have scored 10 goals because the delivery has not been good enough. If Sarpong was having a good season and scored a few early, he would be shut down later in the season. If Sarpong had banged in 10 and everything else remained the same we would still have negative goal difference. A Sarpong banging in 10 goals could put us in the top 6 but I don't care about the top 6. I want to win the league. Making the top 6 is a silly goal in and of itself unless it is a springboard for more. No one coming 4th or lower from the regular season has ever made the grand final.

I actually don't think Dylan Fox has done much worse than Sigmund would have done, really. Fox has been playing close to Durante's level these last few games. FTR, despite your claims I don't believe I have ever said that we should have spent another spot on a centre back. I'm comfortable with the current configuration of the squad.

Happy with the signing, FTR.