WPM 2021/22 Squad Speculation, Confirmation and Mutual Termination

Friar Tuck

RR

As for Academy players stepping up, you gotta think anyone close to 1st team ready would already be with the squad.

Yeah I think Van Hattum and Surman will be the ones that stick around in the senior side. Bidois, Ott, Manuel, Mogg, Toomey and Gray would probably be better off with another season for the reserves.

Kurtis Mogg's already had 3-4 seasons in the Reserves. Age 20. Feel if he's not good enough to be in the first team squad next season, likely never will be. 

Unfortunately for him Surman, has come in take his chances and gone past him.

And yeah Covid has made it hard for NZ domestic (non Weenix) players to trial last few seasons. Auckland was in lock down from memory last year, when Nix were trying to do preseason in Welly with many players stuck in Aussie or overseas (Pennington in Italy). Only Oli Whyte trialled for the Nix (who they probably should have picked ahead of Prso), and so they bought in a heap of Weenix kids.

Hopefully Talay/Gill, look at some Kiwi domestic guys this coming pre season. Schnell, Kalua, and a backup keeper mentioned above are some options. Others no doubt.

If we're talking NZ amateur players - I cannot understand how Taylor Schrijvers cannot get a look in at the Phoenix. Tall, strong, quick and very good with his feet. I've watched him in several games over the past few seasons both TW's and Miramar and have not seen him have a poor game. IMO the best defender in NZ's amateur setup bar possibly Brian Kaltak.

If Oli Sail moves overseas. What about getting Marinovic back. 
His Israel team just got relegated. Surely he's now looking for a new deal somewhere.

Ranix

If Oli Sail moves overseas. What about getting Marinovic back. 
His Israel team just got relegated. Surely he's now looking for a new deal somewhere.

Never say never, but I doubt he'll want to be no 2 to Paulsen!! 

You'd think he'd be keen on a move to a Bundesliga 2 or 3 side. German partner, speaks the language etc. But that may not be so easy as no shortage of quality keepers in that country.

Plenty of Kiwis now playing in Denmark & Sweden. A door could open there.

Ranix

If Oli Sail moves overseas. What about getting Marinovic back. 
His Israel team just got relegated. Surely he's now looking for a new deal somewhere.

nah he can stay away, I'd rather have Paulsen as number 1

theprof

Ranix

If Oli Sail moves overseas. What about getting Marinovic back. 
His Israel team just got relegated. Surely he's now looking for a new deal somewhere.

nah he can stay away, I'd rather have Paulsen as number 1

Yes but we need two decent keepers in the squad to push each other for the starting spot. You look at this years top 6. All have good keepers that make game changing saves (except for Glover). 
You put all you eggs in the the Paulsen basket who is still young, with another teenagers as back up. That's huge pressure on Paulsen to perform. And if he loses confidence ??? Yes Paulsen has made some good saves but he has already shipped a ton of goals at A league level. With 0 clean sheets.
Teams with average keepers like The Jets and Brisbane invariably end up in the bottom half of the table.

Best case senario is that Sail see's out his contract here. Otherwise we are going to need another good keeper. Who better than Marinovic.

Bring back Kurto ...

RR

Bring back Kurto ...

Need to use those visa spots at the other end of the paddock

RR

Bring back Kurto ...

Good shout, but Import spot that we probably need to use on a DM. With Rufer not coming back from injury till mid next season

Paulsen is easily good enough to start in the A-League. That's not even a question in the slightest. We should focus on bringing in a backup rather than stunting the growth of likely the greatest goalkeeping prospect New Zealand has ever seen - zero hyperbole. Would much rather he leave if he's not guaranteed the starting role

ChopperNZ

If we're talking NZ amateur players - I cannot understand how Taylor Schrijvers cannot get a look in at the Phoenix. Tall, strong, quick and very good with his feet. I've watched him in several games over the past few seasons both TW's and Miramar and have not seen him have a poor game. IMO the best defender in NZ's amateur setup bar possibly Brian Kaltak.

Absolutely! Both Schrijvers and Kaltak are physically incredible for the amateur level and need much bigger challenges. Both would be nice, think Kaltak's the best CB in NZ (slightly ahead of Schrijvers and Mitchell) but his age limits his potential development that comes with the exposure to A-League football

Ranix

theprof

Ranix

If Oli Sail moves overseas. What about getting Marinovic back. 
His Israel team just got relegated. Surely he's now looking for a new deal somewhere.

nah he can stay away, I'd rather have Paulsen as number 1

Yes but we need two decent keepers in the squad to push each other for the starting spot. You look at this years top 6. All have good keepers that make game changing saves (except for Glover). 
You put all you eggs in the the Paulsen basket who is still young, with another teenagers as back up. That's huge pressure on Paulsen to perform. And if he loses confidence ??? Yes Paulsen has made some good saves but he has already shipped a ton of goals at A league level. With 0 clean sheets.
Teams with average keepers like The Jets and Brisbane invariably end up in the bottom half of the table.

Best case senario is that Sail see's out his contract here. Otherwise we are going to need another good keeper. Who better than Marinovic.

Paulsen is good enough for and deserves that number 1 spot if Oli goes. I definitely wouldn’t have a teenager (unless they’re pretty experienced) on the bench for him though. There’s a good handful of quality keepers that could back him up - Aidan Munford is NPL QLD keeper of the year, spent a chunk of time with the Roar and training with the Nix in pro environments. Zac Jones was really highly rated and only left the Nix because he couldn’t make the bench over Paulsen. He’s not playing in Wales atm so could be coaxed back. Hell, even Michael Woud is well down the pecking order in Japan, could be a loan to fight Paulsen for the number 1. Max Crocombe is probably happy playing for Grimsby but it is 5th tier footy. Jamie Searle isn’t getting much game time at the Swansea 23’s. A good handful of NZ National League keepers that are highly rated. Plenty of Aussies at the right level that I don’t know too. 

the biggest issue I can see is finding a "senior keeper" that want to be riding the pine while a 19/20 year old is starting. For any keeper aged 25+ that's gonna sting and not be desirable for your career.

theprof

the biggest issue I can see is finding a "senior keeper" that want to be riding the pine while a 19/20 year old is starting. For any keeper aged 25+ that's gonna sting and not be desirable for your career.

 Maybe we can get someone like what we did with Ante Covic a while back. Someone a bit younger than he was but someone towards the end of their career and would want a more of a mentor role?

wilbaker

theprof

the biggest issue I can see is finding a "senior keeper" that want to be riding the pine while a 19/20 year old is starting. For any keeper aged 25+ that's gonna sting and not be desirable for your career.

 Maybe we can get someone like what we did with Ante Covic a while back. Someone a bit younger than he was but someone towards the end of their career and would want a more of a mentor role?

Bring back Glen Moss ......... Or Liam Reddy
We need a new GK coach as well.

Ranix

wilbaker

theprof

the biggest issue I can see is finding a "senior keeper" that want to be riding the pine while a 19/20 year old is starting. For any keeper aged 25+ that's gonna sting and not be desirable for your career.

 Maybe we can get someone like what we did with Ante Covic a while back. Someone a bit younger than he was but someone towards the end of their career and would want a more of a mentor role?

Bring back Glen Moss ......... Or Liam Reddy
We need a new GK coach as well.

 What's happening with Gothard?

Moving on. Northern Rovers as head coach I think ??

wilbaker

theprof

the biggest issue I can see is finding a "senior keeper" that want to be riding the pine while a 19/20 year old is starting. For any keeper aged 25+ that's gonna sting and not be desirable for your career.

 Maybe we can get someone like what we did with Ante Covic a while back. Someone a bit younger than he was but someone towards the end of their career and would want a more of a mentor role?

Redmayne, Lawrence Thomas, Dean Bouzanis and Janjetovic are all off contract. I don't rate Redmayne and I wouldn't touch Vedran with a ten foot pole. Thomas is apparently going to the Wanderers so Bouzanis is the only one of those left. I'd take him in an instant but he starts every game in League Two for Sutton United so doubt he'd be keen to fight for a spot.

Friar Tuck

wilbaker

theprof

the biggest issue I can see is finding a "senior keeper" that want to be riding the pine while a 19/20 year old is starting. For any keeper aged 25+ that's gonna sting and not be desirable for your career.

 Maybe we can get someone like what we did with Ante Covic a while back. Someone a bit younger than he was but someone towards the end of their career and would want a more of a mentor role?

Redmayne, Lawrence Thomas, Dean Bouzanis and Janjetovic are all off contract. I don't rate Redmayne and I wouldn't touch Vedran with a ten foot pole. Thomas is apparently going to the Wanderers so Bouzanis is the only one of those left. I'd take him in an instant but he starts every game in League Two for Sutton United so doubt he'd be keen to fight for a spot.

Bouzanis' girlfriend plays for Arsenal, that is why he moved back to the UK. As amazing a pick up Steph Catley would be for the Ladies team, I don't see that happening.

Brisbane Roar won't be offering Steinmann a contract extension. His contract is set to expire at the end of this season.

https://www.ftbl.com.au/news/roar-coach-laments-visa-player-missteps-579524

Ranix

wilbaker

theprof

the biggest issue I can see is finding a "senior keeper" that want to be riding the pine while a 19/20 year old is starting. For any keeper aged 25+ that's gonna sting and not be desirable for your career.

 Maybe we can get someone like what we did with Ante Covic a while back. Someone a bit younger than he was but someone towards the end of their career and would want a more of a mentor role?

Bring back Glen Moss ......... Or Liam Reddy
We need a new GK coach as well.

Please no Moss for GK coach. Kurto's decision making has been terrible at times this season. You could put that down to the way he is being coached.

There’s been a lot of talk about Steinmann recently, but would he be ahead of Rufer, Lewis or Pennington? Uffie generally prefers imports that are nailed on starters. I mean I remember him to be a quality player and we have been short in that area this season, but…

Steinmen & Lewis.

martinb

There’s been a lot of talk about Steinmann recently, but would he be ahead of Rufer, Lewis or Pennington? Uffie generally prefers imports that are nailed on starters. I mean I remember him to be a quality player and we have been short in that area this season, but…

Ahead of Pennington and Rufer, but Alex would definitely challenge hard for that spot

Not saying that judgement is wrong, but counterpoint:
Uffie is fairly invested in Rufer as captain and developing him as a player, to the point where he stuck with him through some tough points until he started to dribble and drive the ball forward from time to time…

Obviously a long way to go on rehabilitation and all, but that was when our unbeaten run this season occurred too. 

Friar Tuck

martinb

There’s been a lot of talk about Steinmann recently, but would he be ahead of Rufer, Lewis or Pennington? Uffie generally prefers imports that are nailed on starters. I mean I remember him to be a quality player and we have been short in that area this season, but…

Ahead of Pennington and Rufer, but Alex would definitely challenge hard for that spot

Don't think is much between a fit Rufer & Steinmann. Alex was playing very well before his injury.

But sounds like Rufer could miss first half of next season. Is an ACL, the worse football injury you can get. Can take a long time to recovery & get back up to full match fitness again. Some players never get back to where they were.

Steinmann would be a good pickup. Though interesting he was only a fringe player this season in an average Roar side.

LG

Steinmen & Lewis.

LG, Rufer could be player of the season, and you'd still scapegoat him.

coochiee

LG

Steinmen & Lewis.

LG, Rufer could be player of the season, and you'd still scapegoat him.

to be fair to Coochies he's not been wrong by having Rufer as his scapegoat. I've not been Alex's biggest fan and I'll admit this season saw a dramatic improvement in his play. BUT, even with him playing well he still made some catastrophic errors during games including the overly zealous tackle that lead to his injury. 
Steinman under Uffie could be brilliant, so I'd definitely be giving making contact and offering him a gig.

Depends on what's gone wrong for Steinman this season. Roar didn't even include him in the squad for their last game and Moon was pretty scathing about him in the press.

I’m a big fan of matti, but he’s a player who seems to excel in a partnership. He plays the deeper player maker role while partner does the ball winning. That’s why him and devlin worked so well. Their styles were totally different and complemented each other. While matti and rufer never worked due to them being too similar. 
I would happily have Matt back, but for him to be useful to us, he either needs to up defensive work or that we sign another mid to do the tidy up work. I can’t see either happening really. 

Where does Laws sit in all this next year? For much of the year he was a bolted on starter. 

He comes in for Surman? Or is he in the midfield conversation?

think Surman deserves to be continued with TBH, he's stepped up when needed and as he continues to develop as a player (he's only 18) he stands to be a solid option at CB for years to come.

I think Laws is the 3rd CB option we have needed rather than shuffling Payne around. On early season form it's him and Wootton starting for me, let's not forget Surman is still only 18.

Also that Uffie likes to have a natural right footer and a left footer. 

Tough on Surman, but he’s had a ton of chances this season, so being on the bench with some  impressive minutes behind him isn’t necessarily the worst situation. He’d be first choice in a tactical switch to 3 at the back or in case of injury. And be pushing if there was a form dip or anything similar. 

Friar Tuck

martinb

There’s been a lot of talk about Steinmann recently, but would he be ahead of Rufer, Lewis or Pennington? Uffie generally prefers imports that are nailed on starters. I mean I remember him to be a quality player and we have been short in that area this season, but…

Ahead of Pennington and Rufer, but Alex would definitely challenge hard for that spot

Steinmann is significantly more talented than all three. The question is tactical fit. Like it's been mentioned, he needs the right partner - the Steinmann/Devlin duo might have been my favourite Nix midfield of all time, if not the best outright

I think any conversation about Steinmann needs to bear in mind Devlin has actually left us

theprof

coochiee

LG

Steinmen & Lewis.

LG, Rufer could be player of the season, and you'd still scapegoat him.

to be fair to Coochies he's not been wrong by having Rufer as his scapegoat. I've not been Alex's biggest fan and I'll admit this season saw a dramatic improvement in his play. BUT, even with him playing well he still made some catastrophic errors during games including the overly zealous tackle that lead to his injury. 
Steinman under Uffie could be brilliant, so I'd definitely be giving making contact and offering him a gig.

I agree with most of this but if my memory serves me right Uffie did not seem that keen on extending Steinmann's contract and he seems to have gone backwards in his play, much like Fenton.

I think we should sign this young Aussie guy playing in Scotland:  Cameron Devlin.  I'm sure with the help of Uffie he would become a great footballer for us and wouldn't use a visa spot! ;-)

Marto

theprof

coochiee

LG

Steinmen & Lewis.

LG, Rufer could be player of the season, and you'd still scapegoat him.

to be fair to Coochies he's not been wrong by having Rufer as his scapegoat. I've not been Alex's biggest fan and I'll admit this season saw a dramatic improvement in his play. BUT, even with him playing well he still made some catastrophic errors during games including the overly zealous tackle that lead to his injury. 
Steinman under Uffie could be brilliant, so I'd definitely be giving making contact and offering him a gig.

I agree with most of this but if my memory serves me right Uffie did not seem that keen on extending Steinmann's contract and he seems to have gone backwards in his play, much like Fenton.

Steinman wanted to stay but things were up in the air with the club with covid and what not. Taylor, Hooper, and Steinman all left and no one could say when the next season would start, how much money the nix would have (they needed and emergency cash injection from the government if you remember), where they'd be playing, or even if the A-League itself would survive (this was before the new TV deal and the equity sale of  the league).

If things were normal perhaps Steinman would have been re-signed.