Contracted Players - Return of the Long Pins

They will keep Luke Adams because of young Kiwi developing and he is cheap. The same with Boxall especially in light of the age of Durante and Sigmund.Ifill will be signed on at reduced cost

Bertos will go with Shermy, Italiano, Lia and Riera. I suspect Stein will be the same.

Muscat they may lose,

If that does not give Ernie flexibility, I don't know what will.

Riera to go? I think he's been pretty decent so far this season, plus if he can get his citizenship next year then I'd say he'd be a definite keeper as a non-import.

He has not been in the country 4 years. Also 30 years old. I also understand he has had some overseas holidays to Thailand etc that would stretch it. Not good enough to warrant the wait and we should be able to find a better import.

http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/wellingtonphoenix/news-display/MATCH%20PREVIEW%20%20Muscat%20Boost%20for%20Wellington%20Phoenix/81724

Updated:

EXPIRES END OF 2013/14:

Luke ADAMS (u21, +1)

Leo BERTOS (+1)

Michael BOXALL

Josh BRINDELL-SOUTH (u21)

Stein HUYSEGEMS (f)

Paul IFILL (f)

Lewis ITALIANO

Vince LIA

Albert RIERA (f)

EXPIRES END OF 2014/15:

Tyler BOYD (u21)

Jeremy BROCKIE

Reece CAIRA

Kenny CUNNINGHAM (f)

Andrew DURANTE

Louis FENTON (u21)

Carlos HERNANDEZ (f)

Jason HICKS

Glen MOSS

Ben SIGMUND

EXPIRES END OF 2015/16:

Manny MUSCAT

Matthew RIDENTON (u21)

Alex RUFER (u21)

Great stuff. Happy with that.

He's clearly our best fullback so I'm glad he's staying on and is happy to play there. Also interesting that he said Ernie was a "breath of fresh air" and his taking over was one of the reasons he wanted to stay.

great to see that muscat has signed to stay on, awesome news

Pleased about this. Of the off contracted players this year he was the one who would have been in demand elsewhere and the one we needed to keep covering all our problem positions of defensive midfield, left and right full back. Finding a player to replace him coupled with all the other new players we will need to sign would have been somewhat daunting.

Does hicks's contract really expire the end of next season? I thought he was only on a one yr deal for some reason

Very pleased. He's helping us build for the future.

Hehe cos of the family business and he's a builder and... oh forget it.

Jason Hicks was today coming to terms with the fact that he was no longer a plumber and would be plying his trade as a professional footballer for the next two years at least.

The 23-year-old midfielder, who was born in the English county of Kent and came through the ranks in New Zealand with East Coast Bays, Waikato and Auckland City, has landed a two-year contract with the Wellington Phoenix.

 http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/wellingtonphoenix/news-display/PLAYER-SIGNING--Plumber-Hicks-Lands-his-Dream-Job/77489

Really happy Manny has re-signed, had thought he may head back to Melbourne for family & business reasons.

Yes it is a real boost especially as he is saying that he is happy at the back.Bad luck Caira

Good on ya Manny

And there was much rejoicing in the Muscat household:

Updated:

Milos LUJIC (2 week contract)

EXPIRES END OF 2013/14:

Luke ADAMS (u21, +1)

Leo BERTOS (+1)

Michael BOXALL

Josh BRINDELL-SOUTH (u21)

Stein HUYSEGEMS (f)

Paul IFILL (f)

Lewis ITALIANO

Roy KRISHNA (f)*

Vince LIA

Albert RIERA (f)

EXPIRES END OF 2014/15:

Tyler BOYD (u21)

Jeremy BROCKIE

Reece CAIRA

Kenny CUNNINGHAM (f)

Andrew DURANTE

Louis FENTON (u21)

Carlos HERNANDEZ (f)

Jason HICKS

Glen MOSS

Ben SIGMUND

EXPIRES END OF 2015/16:

Manny MUSCAT

Matthew RIDENTON (u21)

Alex RUFER (u21)

* Injury cover for Paul Ifill

Given both Totori and Hernandez were on appearance based contracts, think it is safe to assume that Bertos is (wasn't he resigned when we had no manager), and perhaps even Adams. Probably not a great sign for either.

May be worth assessing if he appears against Waitakere midweek.

He played.

I am not hearing "he set the ground on fire with his performance".

Hope we can tie up Riera on a new deal soon. If Krishna performs, it will really put pressure on whether we keep Waffles. We really need an import slot to use in the midfield, so can't keep both.

Definitely agree on Riera. But I don't think we'll sign Krishna past the end of the season as an import, hence why the club is looking into his citizenship. If that doesn't happen he'll have to set the world on fire to get a new contract IMO.

Wow I don't think anyone thought of that.

 

Realistically, coming in behind Boxall, Sigmund and Durante, was Adams likely to hit the target? Leo might have but then it may explain why he is not being played (if I was a conspiracy theorist)

Guess it depends if they see Boxall and Adams as the CB pairing to replace Dura and Siggy. Boxall I rate. Not convinced by Adams.

Agreed. I've only seen Adams as a LB at Waitak and as a LB, he looked the goods. I would never have picked him as a CB but I guess that's were he plays now.

 

This is where if Adam Thomas had been smart, he could have been in there. Would make a natural CB.

Not sure we have room for 4 CB's on the books. Would think Adams and Shermy won't get new deals, Leo is 50/50, Lia 80/20. Can't judge Italiano.

Boxall's a right back though!

Sigmund will be 34, Durante will be 33 when there contract finishes. Can't see sigmund getting an extention past that. So you could see Ernie blooding Boxall or Adams in throughout the 2014/15 season with a view that they will take over.

I thought Adams was good in pre-season and highly rated by Merrick as well as others round here? What is the basis for the above posts saying he's not up to it?

I have no idea myself, just wondering what he's done in training or whatever it is that you guys have seen that suggests he's not good enough?

As for not having 4 CBs on the books, isn't that what we have right now? Why does that need to be reduced? 

With the age of Dura and Siggy I would've thought having a decent back-up (Boxall), a promising youngster (Adams) and an experienced campaigner who can fill a hole in an emergency (Manny) would be the perfect scenario no?

This is the first season we have ever carried 4 CB's on our books afaik.

To me having 4 CB's is like having a 3rd keeper. They might get kitted up a couple times during the season but the bulk of the time they won't be close to the squad. When you have limited roster space, it seems like a luxury especially given the likelihood we would have injury replacement contracts available.

Boxall may replace Siggy next season but Dura still has a few more seasons in him. Adams could be hanging around the squad for the next 2-3 years only kicking a ball in anger in a handful of games. It could end up being similar to Cam Lindsay.

We have 11 roster spots open for next season, 3 of them  can be imports & 1 has to be a keeper. Ernie has some hard decisions ahead of him if he wants to improve the squad.

He warms up well

With Spoonley floating around Wellington, you would hope he is better than him at least.

Well it'd be safe to assume they think he is better/will be better than Jacob Spoonley. They could have easily let him go at the end of the season in favour of Jacob Spoonley.

Updated:

Milos LUJIC (2 week contract)

EXPIRES END OF 2013/14:

Luke ADAMS (u21, +1)

Leo BERTOS (+1)

Michael BOXALL

Josh BRINDELL-SOUTH (u21)

Stein HUYSEGEMS (f)

Paul IFILL (f)

Roy KRISHNA (f)*

Vince LIA

Albert RIERA (f)

EXPIRES END OF 2014/15:

Tyler BOYD (u21)

Jeremy BROCKIE

Reece CAIRA

Kenny CUNNINGHAM (f)

Andrew DURANTE

Louis FENTON (u21)

Carlos HERNANDEZ (f)

Jason HICKS

Lewis ITALIANO

Glen MOSS

Ben SIGMUND

EXPIRES END OF 2015/16:

Manny MUSCAT

Matthew RIDENTON (u21)

Alex RUFER (u21)

* Injury cover for Paul Ifill

14/23 roster spots used, 3 imports spots left and we have filled out u21 quota.

Riera has to be the next signed up, he probably deserves a decent pay rise as well.

I do have to question Merricks decision on two contracts and their length. Hicks and Caira being granted two years. Neither player would have had clubs beating down their door (particularly Hicks)and realistically neither was ever going to set the A league on fire this season and have clubs beating down their door next season (especially Hicks being an import for Ausi teams). Caira appears to have been put out to pasture already. I don't quite get it as after Downey I thought the club would have wised up to these type of players and contract length.