2015/16 Transfer Speculation

At this rate adding Ifill (midfield now maybe????) couldn't hurt.

I've seen him play many times & he was FUCKING good

right,bugger

will reserve judgement on these two young guys due to the over-hype that was rufer and ridenton.

Ridenton seems to have lost ground and confidence, but actually contributed quite reasonably in his first season and has good technique and vision, IMO. Hicks seemed to have come on better than him last year, but then again he didn't get to play as a playmaker much.

Rufer seems like a decent footballer, just hard to dislodge Roly TBH. Again, haven't seen him much in his midfield roles. 

I'm certainly not underwhelmed by those two, considering that we didn't see Hicks or Boyd much and they made really good contributions last season, if not extensive contributions.

Does this mean they won't sign Joel Stephens? He's always seemed quite a decent player when he's had opportunities.

Hmmm...would be a good guest player yeh? An international with a huge A-league rep and a huge rep in NZ.

Yeah Schalke 04 were keen on him apparently

Any word on the non-visa (starting) (not-a-) striker we're looking at/trying to sign?

Whered you see reference to that? I thought Sarpong was it in terms of attacking recruitment?

Interesting - I thought that this was it for the starting lineup.

Who would be on the market? How's Joel's rehab coming along?

Adebayor

He'd want 100k p/w though.

...and he's hardly non-Visa.

just offer him the "wind rain and Phoenix.."

"

Aston Villa boss Tim Sherwood remains interested in signing Emmanuel Adebayor and believes the striker “would play for nothing”.

Villa were heavily linked with the Togo forward in the summer transfer window, but Adebayor’s reluctance to leave White Hart Lane unless the remainder of his contract was paid in full acted as an obstacle for any potential deal.

The 31-year-old has since been released from his Spurs contract, and will now be able to pursue a move to another club when the transfer window re-opens in January.

Speaking before news of Adebayor’s release broke, Sherwood admitted he would be keen to revisit his interest in the striker when possible.

“I would not hesitate,” Sherwood said. “If he had the desire to want to come and play football again, I would have taken him in a heartbeat.

“It’s not financial. It’s easy to say that when you’re on his money, but he would genuinely play for nothing,” Sherwood said of Adebayor, who was on £100,000-a-week at Spurs.

“If he wanted to play in Qatar he would have gone there a long time ago. It’s hard to say,” Sherwood insisted. “We still have to respect his decision, whatever he makes. It’s his – I can’t influence it.”"

Call me obstinate, but I am still pretty cut up that we let Hicks go.  While obviously not a 'game winner' in his own right, he was a useful player to have and was developing nicely. Showed more confidence on the park than Ridenton. 

Hicks did not get enough game time (regardless of position). Who did we get to replace him with?

Did score decisive goals on at least two occasions. That's at least a super sub.

Did we release him? Has he turned up playing football elsewhere?

Maybe he realised he was fringe of the first team at best and decided to focus on his plumbing career.

Would have been cheep and was a good player who proved he could do the job when called upon, wouldn't find a much better squad player. So odd to let him go.

He's playing state league right? That's what I thought. Lots of players have been able to get somewhere from there. 

Reason for letting him go? I think that they want to develop players they can sell on and profit from. Wasn't going to happen with Hicks and younger players can fit into the youth category, play the same number of minutes and perhaps fit the Welnix goal of making the club more self sustainable.

I'm with ya Mainland FC.

I really like Hicks.  He keeps the ball moving and provides good energy in midfield, and can certainly score goals.  Sure, sometimes his passing can be wasteful.

I don't feel he got a fair crack last season and I would have loved for us to keep him.

Anyone at the WeeNix Utd game the other day? Did Paul Cunningham play for Team Taranaki and if so would he be worth a look for the Nix?

Lia.

He could have had much more time off the bench, especially when we were struggling so badly

Hicks isn't a defensive midfielder.  You may say neither is Vinnie  , but really last year it was either WeeMac or Roly.

No, you'd push hicks up,I think you could play a midfield such as:

   Riera -- Rodriguez

       Roly

Hicks

But it's irrelevant now anyway

Lia had a fairly good season last year...

I thought last season was Lia's best; though he only played a lot because A-Rod dropped off badly.

I thought Ernies first season was Lia's best. Still he's done well the last couple of years.

Two positive posts about Lia in a row... the forum has gone crazy!!

The times they are a changin'.......

So are we saying he should retire on a high note?

What's this about Paul Cunningham?

I agree with that, and i am not one to blame Lia all the time either. But Lia is not getting any younger and Hicks would be a good backup for him, especially when we also had Rodriguez fading in the last few rounds of the season.

Mind you, Hicks is not a proper playmaker, at least not yet, but could be developed into a McGlinchey type player with time. He would be a useful non-visa player to keep in the squad and put on the park often. 

While Ernie used him mostly as impact sub (same as with Kenny), I think Hicks needed more time to get going on the park, while Kenny would simply start tearing up the pitch with his explosive (and occasionally wayward) runs.

Yes I know this is all too late, and Hicks is gone, but I have not seen promising replacements for him. While it is commendable for the Nix to bring up younger players through the system, I am already seeing all the usual signs of a "transitional season", come next month.

whats what about who?