Wellington Phoenix Men

Contracted Players - Return of the Long Pins

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almost 12 years ago
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I'm very wary of signing a player who has never played senior football - I've seen the U21 league and I don't really rate the standard

Actually the more I think about it the worse it gets.  Paul Ifill was a Sunderland senior player, we're now looking at Sunderland U21s.  #welnix

[/quote]

Ifill never played for Sunderland. 
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almost 12 years ago

Having read the articles on Alex today I'm a lot more excited about this signing. Ernie did say on Radiosport the other day that he wants to find younger players that can grow. 


Also.. I'd be pretty gutted if Kenny Cunningham goes, don't know what made you suggest this Smithy. I think he will be the one who scores our goals next year.

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almost 12 years ago
Luis Garcia wrote:

Also.. I'd be pretty gutted if Kenny Cunningham goes, don't know what made you suggest this Smithy. I think he will be the one who scores our goals next year.

I think it will be great next year to be able to put Kenny back in a more attacking role where he belongs once we have Riera, Gorrin and Lia covering the midfield. He definitely wasn't as comfortable at the end of the season having to hang back.
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almost 12 years ago

Shift out Hernandez, keep Cunningham

Love Hernandez' ability but his attitude is pants, we don't need that sh*t. 

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almost 12 years ago · edited almost 12 years ago · History
hlmphil wrote:
Luis Garcia wrote:

Also.. I'd be pretty gutted if Kenny Cunningham goes, don't know what made you suggest this Smithy. I think he will be the one who scores our goals next year.

I think it will be great next year to be able to put Kenny back in a more attacking role where he belongs once we have Riera, Gorrin and Lia covering the midfield. He definitely wasn't as comfortable at the end of the season having to hang back.

Kenny is all class, cant wait to see him back again next season with a fully fit squad. If we lost Kenny to injury like we did a lot of others this season we wouldve easily been the worst side in the league. That assist he provided to Stein in that win on the Central Coast sums Kenny up for me, i dont think anyone plays harder than he does.

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almost 12 years ago

Kenny has a tenacity that I really like, he's like an anti Carlos in attitude.

Plus crazy eyes only help.

Exciting and mobile front end for next season.

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almost 12 years ago
Ryan wrote:

Kenny has a tenacity that I really like, he's like an anti Carlos in attitude.

Plus crazy eyes only help.

Exciting and mobile front end for next season.


All true what you have said about Kenny, but imo, he needs to curb the Crazy Man within somewhat. He received 7 yellow cards this season, walked a thin line on at least two of those occasions coping a second yellow in those games and to be honest most of his yellows were just dumb!
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almost 12 years ago
paulm wrote:

Shift out Hernandez, keep Cunningham

Love Hernandez' ability but his attitude is pants, we don't need that sh*t. 

 

They're pretty tight. I'd be surprised if one stayed and the other didn't.

Incredible stamina. No shame. Yellow Fever.

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almost 12 years ago · edited almost 12 years ago · History
james dean wrote:
hlmphil wrote:

I'm not as angsty about this as others on here. In fact I'm a bit excited to see what he can do. From the reports coming out this morning they have had a good look at his coaching videos and talked to people in the know over there, so there is a bit of homework about it. And he fills one of our biggest holes that we've traditionally struggled to sign (box to box midfielder).

In terms of it taking the last import slot, I think that says a lot more about the punt we've taken on Krishna. If I was going to pick Krishna or Gorrin for my last import slot, I'd definitely be taking Gorrin.


All foreign signings are a punt - but we're punting that this guy is actually going to make it as a professional footballer, he's never played a professional match against men.  I don't understand how that doesn't worry people!!


Just the difference between being an optimist and a pessimist I guess (not being judgemental about that either - there's plenty of good reason to feel a bit pessimistic about the Nix from time to time!).

There will never be a Phoenix signing that doesn't have pros and cons or an element of risk, that's just the way it is for us.

But there is definitely some upside here:

- The kid is young and the reason he's never played at senior level is because he's been through the academy of a premier league club, which is better than coming up through the ASBP (or similar) imo, although of course it does leave a few questions unanswered.

- He also comes to us via coaching contacts rather than an agent which is as close to proper scouting as we are ever going to get.

- If he's any good we might even get to sell him on later.

- Most importantly, this has been done super early in the off-season. One less distraction and one more player who Ernie gets to do a full off-season with.

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almost 12 years ago

Would people moan if we signed Payne. Same level.

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almost 12 years ago

Im more excited by the signing of a player I havent seen than the resigning of many of the existing squad.

"Who ate all the pies"

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almost 12 years ago
2ndBest wrote:

Would people moan if we signed Payne. Same level.


Some would find a reason to moan if we signed Messi
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almost 12 years ago · edited almost 12 years ago · History

JD i don't get your point. Did you have the same fears when Marco, Kosta, Ridenton, Boyd  etc etc were all signed for the Phoenix?


Probably not. He's been well scouted out by contacts the club has (thankfully) and comes from a reasonable pedigree of club. 

ive got a song that wont take long, Adelaide are rubbish.. the second verse is same as the first.. ADELAIDE ARE RUBBISH

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almost 12 years ago · edited almost 12 years ago · History
2ndBest wrote:

Would people moan if we signed Payne. Same level.

We've seen Payne play so he's a known quantity though, whereas all we've got to go on with this guy are media reports and highlight reels.

 

People like Coldplay and voted for the Nazis. You can't trust people.

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almost 12 years ago

In ernie we trust....well sometimes

" If you only have a hammer you tend to see every problem as a nail" - maslow

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almost 12 years ago
Bobobalde wrote:

JD i don't get your point. Did you have the same fears when Marco, Kosta, Ridenton, Boyd  etc etc were all signed for the Phoenix?


Probably not. He's been well scouted out by contacts the club has (thankfully) and comes from a reasonable pedigree of club. 



I'm not against us signing Gorrin per say but there is a big difference. Gorrin is our last import player and our last way to significantly improve our squad. He will be expected from day 1 to slot into our line up. That wasn't the same with Boyd, Rojas or Kosta. I don't think Gorrin will be not HAL quality just because he hasn't played for Sunderland. However, I hoped for more from our final import spot. I think the mistake in the squad is definitely Krishna. He is a waste of an import spot right now but would be a great signing if he was a domestic player.
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almost 12 years ago
2ndBest wrote:

Would people moan if we signed Payne. Same level.

If Payne was an import, I think the same concerns would come out. You live and die by the quality of your imports.

One advantage of signing him from the Premier League u21's would be the sheer amount of video footage that would be available. It makes me much more confident in this signing than if we picked up a dodgy South American from grainy youtube footage.
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almost 12 years ago
james dean wrote:
austin10 wrote:

This is very much a "we will have to wait and see" sort of signing. 



My struggle with this is I cannot understand how this can be the best player that we can get to come to the club.  Steyn was a Belgian international, Carlos and Cunningham are internationals for a world cup team, Ifill was fringe premier league, Greenie solid career pro.  These are mid career professionals with a track record.  All have done a pretty decent job.  That's the standard we need from our imports to my mind.


It's absolutely not impossible to attract players to Wellington although the circumstances obviously have to be right.    Even Krishna has proven himself to a certain extent.  This guy is just a kid, I don't understand how anyone can truly have a view on whether he is good enough when he hasn't played a game of senior football.


There is an economic crisis in Spanish lower league football and our player of the year was a Spanish semi pro, I seriously cannot understand why we are not at least looking there initially.

This is kinda where I am at. When you consider the bench mark of our imports (and lets be real, we have had some stinkers as well) this guy on the surface does not measure up. I have not seen todays articles, only last nights fluff. Yes Payne is at the same level but Payne has been sighted and seen. I think Payne would do a job as an HAL footballer but not by any means a home run (and I base that on nothing more than my own gut feeling) so when the argument gets around to a guy in the same league, I'm not necessarily sold.

I agree that if the mood is to shuffle Carlos on, you can bet Kenny will not be far behind. After the WC, they can do what they like and thumb their noses. That does have its benefits in freeing up two import slots but that's all speculation anyway.

 

The clip I did see, he looked like he was Ridentons build but stronger, bulkier which will be a good thing. I hope he is the home run we need.

Grumpy old bastard alert

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almost 12 years ago
2ndBest wrote:

Would people moan if we signed Payne. Same level.

We've seen Payne play so he's a known quantity though, whereas all we've got to go on with this guy are media reports and highlight reels.

 


You mean the same as Ifill, Greenie, Kenny, etc
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almost 12 years ago

Move Ifill to Marquee or non playing and free up another spot?

A small town in Europe........looking to bounce straight back up....well that aint going to happen

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almost 12 years ago
2ndBest wrote:

Would people moan if we signed Payne. Same level.

If Payne was an import, I think the same concerns would come out. You live and die by the quality of your imports.

One advantage of signing him from the Premier League u21's would be the sheer amount of video footage that would be available. It makes me much more confident in this signing than if we picked up a dodgy South American from grainy youtube footage.

I'd be stoked if we got Payne.. and I hope we still do. But that would mean he wasn't good enough for Toronto
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almost 12 years ago
sthn.jeff wrote:
2ndBest wrote:

Would people moan if we signed Payne. Same level.

We've seen Payne play so he's a known quantity though, whereas all we've got to go on with this guy are media reports and highlight reels.

 


You mean the same as Ifill, Greenie, Kenny, etc

For Kenny, yes. The other two both had extensive pro careers in leagues that kiwi fans have a pretty good idea about, so there's pedigree there. Anyone who's started regularly in a league that's a known quantity is a bit different from someone who comes from a random obscure league, or youth football.

The more I hear about this signing the more optimistic I become. But it is also think it's a bit of a gamble, and I reserve full judgement until I've seen him play a few games for us.

People like Coldplay and voted for the Nazis. You can't trust people.

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almost 12 years ago
sthn.jeff wrote:
2ndBest wrote:

Would people moan if we signed Payne. Same level.

We've seen Payne play so he's a known quantity though, whereas all we've got to go on with this guy are media reports and highlight reels.

 


You mean the same as Ifill, Greenie, Kenny, etc

For Kenny, yes. The other two both had extensive pro careers in leagues that kiwi fans have a pretty good idea about, so there's pedigree there. Anyone who's started regularly in a league that's a known quantity is a bit different from someone who comes from a random obscure league, or youth football.

The more I hear about this signing the more optimistic I become. But it is also think it's a bit of a gamble, and I reserve full judgement until I've seen him play a few games for us.


But really that is about all we have for any foreign signing ie the odd snip it on you tube. When Iffs and Greenie were signed there was plenty of angst on signing aging players with esp in Pauls case History of injuries. Similarly with Waffles too. Even Carlos who we all knew was subject of angst. Being at a PL acadamy also gives indication of pedigree.
Luckily, (at least I hope) the club make signings based on a little more than Highlight reels. 
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almost 12 years ago


There's been angst about pretty much every import, but then a lot of the imports we have signed have not been great additions, so just picking examples where they have turned out alright is kind of skewing the argument a bit. No doubt YF is an angsty bunch as a whole, but on quite a few occasions it has been justified.

I hope it isn't this time.

 

People like Coldplay and voted for the Nazis. You can't trust people.

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almost 12 years ago
ForteanTimes wrote:
Doloras wrote:

Great, then we can sign a team full of ASBP stalwarts and the occasional superannuated European. That'll get us the toilet seat for sure.



You've been a bit spikey the last couple of days what's up?


As you might has seen on the Regional Football forum, my team lost 2-1 to our arch-rivals due to a last minute scrambled header; I threw a tantrum in the changing rooms and I still haven't recovered. :)

Ramming liberal dribble down your throat since 2009
This forum needs less angst and more Kate Bush threads



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almost 12 years ago · edited almost 12 years ago · History
2ndBest wrote:

Would people moan if we signed Payne. Same level.



But I think the issue isn't about signing Gorrin per se, it's about signing an import of Gorrin's calibre. If he was a Kiwi or Aussie it'd be different.

But I really want to back up what someone said upthread about the self-defeating "anyone who would actually want to play for the Nix must be shit" attitude.

Ramming liberal dribble down your throat since 2009
This forum needs less angst and more Kate Bush threads



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almost 12 years ago

I'm positive about this signing. Although it does sort of strike me as a Marvin Angulo scenario. 


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almost 12 years ago

I seem to remember a number of people being sceptical about Kenny through the preseason and start of this season saying he wasn't good enough, until he scored a few goals and everyone stopped angsting so much.

Kenny provided something different to the squad, and I expect the new signing will too.

Will reserve judgement on the angsting until middle of next season.

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almost 12 years ago
Doloras wrote:
ForteanTimes wrote:
Doloras wrote:

Great, then we can sign a team full of ASBP stalwarts and the occasional superannuated European. That'll get us the toilet seat for sure.



You've been a bit spikey the last couple of days what's up?


As you might has seen on the Regional Football forum, my team lost 2-1 to our arch-rivals due to a last minute scrambled header; I threw a tantrum in the changing rooms and I still haven't recovered. :)


Fair enough I've thissed you to cheer you up.

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almost 12 years ago
PlayWithFire wrote:

I'm positive about this signing. Although it does sort of strike me as a Marvin Angulo scenario. 



Why?



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almost 12 years ago

It is all supposition at the moment. Doubt we would not have done our homework, but time will tell.

If you are old and wise you were probably young and stupid

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almost 12 years ago

I think this could be a great signing. The training he has received at an EPL club and the associated work ethics could be a huge benefit to the Nix as a whole and also to the younger players as a person to learn from attitude wise. And if he should turn out to be a younger Reira, what a good score. Very positive about this signing.

Proud to have attended the first 175 Consecutive "Home" Wellington Phoenix "A League" Games !!

The Ruf, The Ruf, The Ruf is on Fire!!

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almost 12 years ago

one thing is for sure; this guy has a much better grounding in football than half of our current squad

the issue for me is whether our coaching team of 2 have the capacity (not capability, but capacity) to bring out the best in him

it amazes me how sparce our coaching team is, even compared to other a-league sides

360footballnews.com

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almost 12 years ago

do we know the contract details? know the legnth, but whats he on? any idea?

Calling all fans in Japan, come down and support the mighty nix in Osaka

http://www.facebook.com/WellingtonPhoenixClubMembersSupportersGroupOsaka

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almost 12 years ago · edited almost 12 years ago · History

.

ive got a song that wont take long, Adelaide are rubbish.. the second verse is same as the first.. ADELAIDE ARE RUBBISH

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almost 12 years ago

I do love it how a video game is the best place to find out information about unknown football players.


Yellow Fever - Misery loves company

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almost 12 years ago

Very positive also.  Now lets sign Eager beaver, and our midfield has improved xxxx 6

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