I guess I'm in the wait and see camp. Cunningham, Burns (marquee), Boxall and even Brockie leaving must have freed up some money. If we haven't made any signings that would indicate that the owners don't want to spend money. It would seem bizarre if they don't want to spend any money after making Burns marquee last season. I'm convinced that signings must be coming.
Merick has said that the owners are investing all the money from the sale of Burns back into that position, so he should have more money to spend than before.
As said above the real loss is of depth. Cunningham came on a couple of times last season and rescued the team, as did Boyd and Hicks. Even Boxall scored.
I looked at the Ultimate A-League website and the players we've lost scored 28 goals last season.
We should be getting more goals out of Bonevacia who has had a year in his new position, Rodriguez who has had a year in a first team environment, and hopefully Fenton who won't be quite so far back if he's playing as more of a winger, but still. There's a lot of goals to replace.