Contracted Players - Return of the Long Pins

After proof that we have become a complete rabble, I think I'd not bother resigning any whose contract s are up, and look to be negotiating our world famous "mutual terminations" for the others.  Singh, Velaphi, Fox, Khrishna. We have four, need another 16

10 players contracted for next season 2 of them goalkeepers who should we keep of contract?

I'm not sure how he do here. I really don't know

He did so well at Cambridge United then it all fell to pieces and he couldn't buy a win; this was with a major cash injection after playing Man U and the backing of one of the most supportive chairmen in the league. He made some good signings. Luke Berry turned into one of the best midfielders in the league and a former Cambridge United player. Money would have never agreed to letting him go to Luton of that I'm sure unlike the fudgewit Shaun Derry. He also signed a great striker in Barry Corr. 

He was expected to push on to the playoffs but instead we looked like we might drop back out the league.  His habit of sticking with players that were either not good enough or out of form really pissed off the supporters.

Still most supporters felt he earned enough kudos to turn it around and many would have him back now we've gotten rid of that fudgewit. 

He's a Cambridge United legend and a good manager if he can just take a a step back sometimes. Also it's years since he's worked over here and the league has moved on. 

Did anyone see Arnie on the tele talking about how much emphasis they put into finding the right imports?

He said 'if we're gonna bring them all this way, we have to make sure they're damn good or else it's not worth bothering'

It is clear to me that Sydney realise the cost and effort required to get good players and also which channels they need to tap in order to get them. Channels which incidentally are by no means as complicated as many would have you believe.

I get the impression we have always tried to fill the squad with imports rather than take the squad to stratospheric levels. Look at any emerging pro league in the world and the imports are significantly better than the locals. A good example is the Chinese Premier league where many of the local players are of Handy Premiership standard.

The A-League is hugely dependent on it's imports. Without them, it is just a nice shiny dressed up version of the NSL

You're a U's fan fortean? I've just moved to Cambridge and am becoming a regular at the Abbey. Berry and Luton visiting this weekend, although the snow might put that on hold.

Hows Liam Jordan going at ACFC - playing, any good?

Liam Graham (or Graeme)?

Can't get into the starting 11. 175 minutes for Auckland City this season. Is born in Australia, but can't see any A-League team, not even the Phoenix, going there. Such a shame really. That injury has stalled his career big time.

Was a free agnet for a while after leaving Chesterfield following there relegation to League 2 last year.

Velaphi out until next season. Planning on doing his rehab in Wellington. I thought he only signed on for 6 months?

Resign all the young Kiwi players off contract.

Phillip Rollo reckons tomorrow won't be Duras last at Westpac for the Nix....

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/a-league/10...

Brilliant, so the club are gonna sign another ageing player on a year deal, before we know who next year's manager is. Cos that approach worked so well last year , didn't it!

This is where I find it hard to decide whether singings are good in the A-league. It's all about salay cap management. If we are getting Dura for 100k as a back up CB, then that probably isn't a bad thing. If you say Fox will be one CB, and you're probably gonna go with a foreign CB as the other. You need one or two back ups. Doyle is one. But where do you look for the other. Hunt around state leagues for another Fox? Handy Prem isn't exactly stacked with high quality kiwi centre backs. 

But if you're still paying $250,000+ for him, then it's probably not great. Without knowing the figures it's tough to judge.

McGlinchey in the same boat. 

Also T-Payne for CB and Midfield cover?

I do have a soft spot for Payne.

Half of Duras salary wouldn’t count toward the cap either, he’d come under the loyalty players exemption. 

One game to go, Greenie's tried a few new combinations out, out of the present squad, who would you keep/ditch

If only we had our new head coach who could start making those decisions. Ah, well, as long as he's in place before the new season starts. Not like there's any urgency... <sarc>

Keep the young Kiwi players (under 23's) Fenton coming back release 2/3 of the other off contract players and Lowry.

Ditching Doyle is harsh, he is one of the best fullbacks in a league lacking in decent fullbacks. 

Yep, apart from Doyle and maybe Paracki (squad player, despite being a foreigner), that's spot on.

He really isn't. Doyle is a CB playing at FB, have always thought so - positioning is so, so poor, though compared to Galloway he's basically Ashley Cole.

Of far more interest would be a list of just where all the replacement players are going to come from.All well and good getting rid of half the squad but havnt seen many realistic posts about where the replacements will come from. General consensus seems to be that we need to dramatically improve our squad but for the life of me im fudgeed if i now where these players are going to come from. Then to top it off we have the coaching situation and unless they move on the players who could help our improvement, they will be snapped up by the other teams.

Agree it would be better if we give preference to young Kiwis but lets face  it unless they have some hard headed professionals to guide them thats not going to be the improvement we want.

Surely you're having a larf? He's regularly caught out of position, drops his marker, loses possession, hoofs it instead of playing out of the back (last night was a prime example) and tries to take players on instead of looking for team mates.

Honestly think Cacace is a better option even with his lack of experience.

A concern is that there are no worthy NZ boys to step up as such. Because they not only have to be better than anyone else that the club can afford, they also would then be on the radar for various other clubs or universities in the states. Last Sunday, I watched some young players step up and be counted. I was disappointed we did not start last night with the same line up for the hell of it. Give them experience.

The FFA dragging their arse in regards to international breaks makes it hard for the Nix and for Kiwi players. I cannot believe Fifa let them do this time and time again. Next season it would be nice to have a team that seriously competes, a coach that knows what he is doing and a lot of fairweather fans that actually make a return to supporting the team.

Doyle is one of the only players in the squad who consistently looks like he gives a damn, even when we are getting whipped. He's also got a great engine and is running as hard in the 93rd minute as he is in the 1st. There is stuff still to work on with his game but it would be madness to unload him.

You're actually trying to defend a defence (no pun intended) that has conceded the most goals in the league this season?

Its hard to blame the defence when we have lacked a midfield and a decent keeper for large parts of the season.

We should have a lot of money to play with next year with McG and Durante surely looking at a big pay drop, along with saving on Rossi's wages which I imagine would have been decent

McG is on almost 500k. I believe he has sold his house so not likely to stay next year. 

Decide the team for next season .

If WeeMac goes I won't tear my hair out to be honest, especially if he's on that much money. He's a talented player and has been a good servant but he's also been rather average the last couple of seasons.

McG is on too much for a bench player.

We need to buy to rock solid midfielders to help us control games and take some pressure off of our backs.

You could look at someone like Ivan Bella, Argentine player just off contract at Arsenal. Might be tempted and give us some flair.

Incidentally, does anyone remember Connor Tinnion (played for Hawkes Bay several years ago) - appears as without a contract now. Was he any good?

Waiting game for 14 players and Patterson on loan as doesn't appear anyone is getting signed until we get a new coach

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/a-league/10...

Going back to this and ignoring maybe where players are actually going to come to replace them, I'm pretty much same as the original post but would add keeping Doyle