He's been at the heart of the worst defense in the league.
this season! not previously, I dont think Melb V's defensive issues have been solely his fault, just thinking that because of the shark season they've had he might want a new challenge. Agree that there could well be better options though.
would Nick Ansell be worth a go as a Taylor replacement/understudy?
2ndBest
He's been at the heart of the worst defense in the league.
He has only played 13 games cuz he keeps getting injured. Would prefer to wait and see how DeVere's injury looks long term, he had a set back it seems & that is why he isn't back yet.
would Nick Ansell be worth a go as a Taylor replacement/understudy?
2ndBest
He's been at the heart of the worst defense in the league.
He has only played 13 games cuz he keeps getting injured. Would prefer to wait and see how DeVere's injury looks long term, he had a set back it seems & that is why he isn't back yet.
De Vere's age doesn't help on the injury front, especially with a set back. I know Ansell has been a little injury prone which why I was thinking a back up to Taylor/Payne. If there are better options out there then we should definitely have a crack at getting at least one of them here.
would Nick Ansell be worth a go as a Taylor replacement/understudy?
There are other better defenders in that off contract list. Tongyuk, Susnjar and Elsey to name a few. Koutroumbis is one that stands out to me. Cover CB and RB.
Koutroumbis told me he liked Wellington when he's played there but his family is still here in Adelaide. And by the sounds of things I don't think he'd want to deal with the wind full-time haha
would Nick Ansell be worth a go as a Taylor replacement/understudy?
There are other better defenders in that off contract list. Tongyuk, Susnjar and Elsey to name a few. Koutroumbis is one that stands out to me. Cover CB and RB.
Koutroumbis told me he liked Wellington when he's played there but his family is still here in Adelaide. And by the sounds of things I don't think he'd want to deal with the wind full-time haha
He is in the off contract list but when the Jets announced his extension back in 2019, it said until the 21/22 season. So the Jets most likely have an option for next season.
Not sure Katroumbis is an upgrade on Fenton or as a backup to any of the CBs currently in the squad.
I have no idea who is in the young Kiwi talent pool but based on Rudan/Talay's success in bringing through NZ players in fullback roles I would echo the opinion that it might be worthwhile looking closer to home.
I do think there needs to be more competition for RB though. Much as I admire Fenton's determined character and workrate he does have some frustrating limitations.
Not sure Katroumbis is an upgrade on Fenton or as a backup to any of the CBs currently in the squad.
I have no idea who is in the young Kiwi talent pool but based on Rudan/Talay's success in bringing through NZ players in fullback roles I would echo the opinion that it might be worthwhile looking closer to home.
I do think there needs to be more competition for RB though. Much as I admire Fenton's determined character and workrate he does have some frustrating limitations.
Jack Henry Sinclair is the obvious NZer option for RB. Or Calan Elliot. But Calan is still under contact in Greece.
Not sure Katroumbis is an upgrade on Fenton or as a backup to any of the CBs currently in the squad.
I have no idea who is in the young Kiwi talent pool but based on Rudan/Talay's success in bringing through NZ players in fullback roles I would echo the opinion that it might be worthwhile looking closer to home.
I do think there needs to be more competition for RB though. Much as I admire Fenton's determined character and workrate he does have some frustrating limitations.
I can’t imagine we head into next season with the same depth, as things were, we were running things tight with depth due to the costs involved of this season, so centre backs were Devere, Laws and McGing and right backs Payne and Fenton, with Hudson-Wihongi covering either, but through injuries that’s been thrown off. Next season I’d imagine Talay views Payne as a centre back and will be looking for a specialist right back as a priority. It’s been done to death, but I rate Jack-Henry Sinclair and of the NZ based guys, he’d have to be favourite
Much as we want to see Kiwis do well, TAHW has been disappointing. Error prone from games I've seen going back to last season.
Hopefully he can have a full injury free pre season, and show he is A League quality. Could he be converted to a RB?
McGing seemed to be doing okay for a youngster. Then Taylor rightly took his place, then he got injured giving Laws another chance. I'd let DeVere go. Sign Taylor, keep McGing and Laws - and hope either of those 2 or TAHW can prove themselves as a quality backup to Taylor/Payne. Brotherton from domestic scene worth a trial.
Just remember should we go downthe New Zealand players only road, come the time when we actually might manage to get an International game (E.g. - World Cup), Australian Football hasn't been that supportive on fixture clashes in the A League in the past. Just saying.
Just remember should we go downthe New Zealand players only road, come the time when we actually might manage to get an International game (E.g. - World Cup), Australian Football hasn't been that supportive on fixture clashes in the A League in the past. Just saying.
True, but that was when FFA ran the league, now that the clubs run it, I reckon Morrison would be able to move games to midweek if necessary. That being said, of New Zealanders likely to be at the Nix next season, I’d say Sail, McGarry, Payne, Lewis, Waine and Rufer would be in contention, but I’m not sure any would be certain starters, so could bargain with NZF for releases if necessary.
All correspondence from OFC/FIFA has been that qualifiers for the World Cup will be in January or so next year (reasonable chunk of the A League season). No decision has been made of where that’ll be hosted yet, hopefully it is in New Zealand because January in Solomon Islands for example could be very dodgy. Danny Hay mentioned on the Between Two Beers podcast just how exhausting playing there was, and as was seen in 2012 when the AWs lost to New Caledonia there, anything could happen. Trouble is, the longer that the tournament runs, the longer players would be unavailable for their clubs, but shorter turnarounds would increase injury proneness.
Given NZF and the Phoenix seem to be working closer together now, I’m sure Hay and Talay will have some sort of dialogue as to what the plan will be. I do worry slightly that most of the in season European players could miss that tournament, meaning onus would be on A League and NZ based players to qualify. Hay has talked about building rapport with the clubs (ie he rested the Phoenix players (except Rufer) and Wood, Reid and Thomas against Lithuania in November 2019) to get himself more leeway in selecting players come the competitive qualifiers down the line, so we’ll have to wait and see what happens.
I reckon only a handful of Euro based players would be at risk of being unavailable for a January OFC tourney - likes of Wood, Reid, Thomas. Maybe Smith, Tzanev & Singh (wherever he'll be).
Others are more just fringe players at their clubs. Still others like Cacace, Woud, McCowatt/Just their leagues can be on winter breaks in January. Norway/Sweden/Finland/MLS are summer comps. So on paper should be an AWs side way stronger than the Island teams.
Even though a January comp would be outside a FIFA winter, is other international tourney precedents like African Nations Cup & Asian Cup which are often played around Jan-Feb.
And it's also not like Euro based AWs are constant absentees on interntaional duty, compared to all their international club mates! But yeah guess it will all come down to what relationships Hay is building with the club managers.
Likely of more importance is making sure the tourney is not in some hot house like the Solomons. But NZ's continued closed border policy & 2 week MIQ requirement, make it unlikely it will be held in NZ, without a major improvement in the Covid situation in PNG & Tahiti. Which will also cause problems for any Nix players if they have to head to somewhere in the Islands to play. Might need a travel bubble with Samoa or similar by then, for a venue that suits all the OFC teams. Sorry bit off topic.
Wihongi won't get a new contract - he missed out on one earlier due to injuries and hasn't shaken off his reputation as being made of glass. Shame and I felt he had the most potential out of Payne and him to step up.
Talay likes to play a possession based game, if I was him, I would be looking at Ole and seeing who they have coming through the ranks that is rated and give them a trial. Like them or hate them, they have been producing the goods lately.
TAHW is contracted until end of next season. That's why wonder if he could be converted to a RB, with a full pre season. Worked pretty well for Payne, last season.
TAHW is contracted until end of next season. That's why wonder if he could be converted to a RB, with a full pre season. Worked pretty well for Payne, last season.
would he survive that change though, if he is as fragile as he seems he wont really be able to complete the workload that Fenton completes in a game. Our FB's are used to support the attacking play ALOT.
TAHW is contracted until end of next season. That's why wonder if he could be converted to a RB, with a full pre season. Worked pretty well for Payne, last season.
would he survive that change though, if he is as fragile as he seems he wont really be able to complete the workload that Fenton completes in a game. Our FB's are used to support the attacking play ALOT.
Well he has a 3rd pre season, to prove both his fitness and worth for at least a spot on the bench come match day. He & Talay will have to figure out his role/best position. Needs to cut out his defensive errors to nail a CB spot, or does he move forward to become a DM especially if Devlin leaves. But that 2nd RB spot is also wide open.
He has a season to prove himself, or aka a Justin Gulley his lot will be a return to domestic football.
If you look at most of the places he's played, he been beside or very near the seaside (not nice ones in many cases). Maybe Wellington looks safer to him and his family right now then home (Israel).OzNix
I think Hemed gave us more of a glimpse yesterday of what he's capable of. Not only did he look dangerous every time he got the ball he also set up several chances for others (which sadly they weren't good enough to take). I wonder if it's a done deal that he's going back to Israel at the end of the season? He seemed to like playing in front of the Yellow Fever at the Ring of Fire. I'd be looking to sign him for another year. I hear he loved Wellington too. Anyone know the goss with him for next year is?
I agree with you that a lot of them are garbage but NZ doesn't exactly drip quality either. I remember well the days when the Kingz were stacked with kiwi journeymen and we sucked. carlind
Jazzy Jeff
Given the tough financial situation the club is in, obviously we’re not going to be able to go out and sign Ikonomidis, Noone, etc. I could imagine Uffie developing Stefan Colakovski or Carlo Armiento into something special, really like both of them. Dylan Wenzell Halls could form a pretty fun strike partnership up top with Waine, would be pretty raw though. Marco Urena might be one of the most underrated players in the league this season, reckon he’s been great for CCM with not a lot of service at times. Everyone has been complaining about Fenton recently - would Storm Roux or Dane Ingham do a better job? Paulo Retre? Outside of those names I can’t see many others I would want in a yellow shirt next season.
Might be an unpopular opinion but I don’t really like signing Australian guys to be backups. I think if the club signs them it should be similar to signing foreign players, in that they should be a level above, so Piscopo I’m happy with, but less so guys like Lokoli-Ngoy, Muratovic, even Sotirio, and last season Walter Scott. The club has a huge advantage that they can sign almost any New Zealander unrivalled, versus competing with every A League club for a recycled Australian guy. I’ve let this season go, because it’s obviously a lot easier to sign an Australian when the team was there and there wasn’t quarantine-free travel, and the club is better than they were a couple seasons ago where they almost didn’t want to sign All Whites players, but still, I’d be little disappointed to see them sign some recycled guys.
I wonder if its more of case that WelNix have done well out of Covid (like Amazon etc) due to their ownership of some quite successful online businesses and now that they know we are safe, are happy to spend some coin knowing it will bring a return for them ($ or toilet seat).Ryan
Jazzy Jeff
Given the tough financial situation the club is in, obviously we’re not going to be able to go out and sign Ikonomidis, Noone, etc. I could imagine Uffie developing Stefan Colakovski or Carlo Armiento into something special, really like both of them. Dylan Wenzell Halls could form a pretty fun strike partnership up top with Waine, would be pretty raw though. Marco Urena might be one of the most underrated players in the league this season, reckon he’s been great for CCM with not a lot of service at times. Everyone has been complaining about Fenton recently - would Storm Roux or Dane Ingham do a better job? Paulo Retre? Outside of those names I can’t see many others I would want in a yellow shirt next season.
I wonder if its more of case that WelNix have done well out of Covid (like Amazon etc) due to their ownership of some quite successful online businesses and now that they know we are safe, are happy to spend some coin knowing it will bring a return for them ($ or toilet seat).Ryan
Jazzy Jeff
Given the tough financial situation the club is in, obviously we’re not going to be able to go out and sign Ikonomidis, Noone, etc. I could imagine Uffie developing Stefan Colakovski or Carlo Armiento into something special, really like both of them. Dylan Wenzell Halls could form a pretty fun strike partnership up top with Waine, would be pretty raw though. Marco Urena might be one of the most underrated players in the league this season, reckon he’s been great for CCM with not a lot of service at times. Everyone has been complaining about Fenton recently - would Storm Roux or Dane Ingham do a better job? Paulo Retre? Outside of those names I can’t see many others I would want in a yellow shirt next season.
We might not be able to spend three million on a player like Macarthur apparently did, but it seems like we've got enough cash to compete.
Most of WelNix has their money tied up in Infratil which lost almost $50 million last year and was so weakened it was the target of a hostile takeover (which didn't succeed) so I wouldn't say the group as a whole did well.
Infratil had big gains in Canberra Data Centers, but then CDC is also investing a few hundred million into expanding into NZ so there might have been some capital requirements. Vodafone NZ recorded a loss in the tens of millions last year and obviously Wellington Airport would have been pretty dire.
Most likely the owners faced a cashflow crunch, which was why they had to get aid from the government, which affected 2020 as a whole, but when the economy recovered in the second half of the year cashflow improved and despite the loss their outlook improved which meant they felt better investing more money into the club.
When the consortium of owners that funded the Jets was announced it was initially without the Phoenix so the Phoenix must have joined at some point after the season started. What's surprising is city football group isn't there.
If you look at most of the places he's played, he been beside or very near the seaside (not nice ones in many cases). Maybe Wellington looks safer to him and his family right now then home (Israel).OzNix
I think Hemed gave us more of a glimpse yesterday of what he's capable of. Not only did he look dangerous every time he got the ball he also set up several chances for others (which sadly they weren't good enough to take). I wonder if it's a done deal that he's going back to Israel at the end of the season? He seemed to like playing in front of the Yellow Fever at the Ring of Fire. I'd be looking to sign him for another year. I hear he loved Wellington too. Anyone know the goss with him for next year is?
Hemed's obviously a proud Israeli, and I think I read somewhere both him & wife served their time in the IDF.
I reckon their mentality now will be about how do we get back to Israel, not away from it. Be very surprised if he has another season with the Nix.
If you look at most of the places he's played, he been beside or very near the seaside (not nice ones in many cases). Maybe Wellington looks safer to him and his family right now then home (Israel).OzNix
I think Hemed gave us more of a glimpse yesterday of what he's capable of. Not only did he look dangerous every time he got the ball he also set up several chances for others (which sadly they weren't good enough to take). I wonder if it's a done deal that he's going back to Israel at the end of the season? He seemed to like playing in front of the Yellow Fever at the Ring of Fire. I'd be looking to sign him for another year. I hear he loved Wellington too. Anyone know the goss with him for next year is?
Hemed's obviously a proud Israeli, and I think I read somewhere both him & wife served their time in the IDF.
I reckon their mentality now will be about how do we get back to Israel, not away from it. Be very surprised if he has another season with the Nix.
Basically, for Jewish people. Israel also has a large Arab popn, and seems for them is voluntary. Alon will know the exact rules.
My memory of crossing the border from Jordan, was all the immigration officials/border guards were young women - so presumed that was some way they could do their service without really being in the army.
Presumably at 18 Hemed was already a very handy footballer, so if he'd sought to sign with an overseas club he could have maybe 'got around the system', and avoided being called up?? Conscription exists in Israel for all Israeli citizens over the age of 18 who are Jewish (both genders), or Druze and Circassian (male only); Arab citizens of Israel are not conscripted. Arab citizens can enlist if they want to but are not required by law. Other exceptions are made on religious, physical, or psychological grounds. As of 2020, the normal length of compulsory service was two years and six months for men (with some roles requiring an additional four months of service), and two years for women (with some roles requiring an additional eight months of service).[1]
In 2013, 26% of potential conscripts were exempt from military service: 13.5% for religious reasons, 4% for mental health reasons, 2% for physical health reasons, 3% due to criminal records, and 3% due to residing abroad.[2]
It's important to know that one of the big fault-lines in Israeli politics is that Haredi ("ultra-orthodox") Jews don't have to do IDF service, and this really annoys the secular Right-wing parties.
It's important to know that one of the big fault-lines in Israeli politics is that Haredi ("ultra-orthodox") Jews don't have to do IDF service, and this really annoys the secular Right-wing parties.
Never thought I’d see a Taylor Swift fanpage on this forum tbh, let alone one talking about the IDF, we truly do live in strange times
Yeah can confirm Hemed and his wife served in the IDF like all able bodied Israelis. I don’t think they were in a combat unit though. More like intelligence and logistics roles I am pretty sure
Charlie Austin just got released from WBA. awesome goalscorer for QPR in two spells there. He might like the Kiwi lifestyle like David Ball, Paul Ifill, Chris Greenacre.....
Charlie Austin just got released from WBA. awesome goalscorer for QPR in two spells there. He might like the Kiwi lifestyle like David Ball, Paul Ifill, Chris Greenacre.....
He'd surely get picked up by another championship team tbh but if not would be a massive coup for us.
Charlie Austin just got released from WBA. awesome goalscorer for QPR in two spells there. He might like the Kiwi lifestyle like David Ball, Paul Ifill, Chris Greenacre.....
Definitely worth a go if Tomer leaves. I’d give Robson-Kanu a look too, not as prolific but was a much better player for Albion in the Championship, just couldn’t make the step up to the Premier League.
