Doddingtown

I agree Royal but I'm not sure he was the best centre back. Like I said, effective but prone to concentration lapses at the wrong time.

Sigmund was the rock that sat behind behind John 'The Rock' McKain. How he didn't get a callup to the footballeroos is beyond me. In that last game against Melbourne you tell me 5 months ago if Sigmund would have kept Thompson bloody quiet (or any of the nix players for that matter) I think it shows his determination and growth into a quality defender.


I think that Durante and Muscat are two good players to have in that they are versatile. I would have liked to have seen Durante at RB because he played well there for the Planes and Muscat did play on the left for a couple of games. I think Dodd, Durante, Sigmund, Muscat and Lockhead (who has class but not form at the moment) are a great set to have and I would pretty much bet Hard News' left testy that all 5 of those players would walk onto any other A League squad that ranked above us and give the incumbents a bloody scare for a starting positon
Agent 472009-01-30 00:55:20

I never said he was the best. (Moss did though)

Dodd played well enough to keep Durante out of more than one game and may have kept McKain out of a centre back spot too if the latter hadn't found his feet in the mdifield and played so well. The McKain/Durante pairing in the first part of the season was average, despite both being very good players. The Dodd/Sigmund pairing when together was tremendous.

Agree that the 5 you mention must be kept and hopefully will be. I hope Dodd doesn't get any other offers or demand too much here as others have mentioned. My point is we need players like him - Dodd, Brown and Siggy showed some passion and grit that I love watching. It compliments players with flair (when we get one) and allows them to play.
Royal2009-01-30 11:30:49

IIRC, we have at least 3.

Not sure on the numbers, but I think it's 2 in Australia and 1 in the UK.

Maybe they should send one to eastern europe.

Don't see too many other clubs beating down the door to sign him.
The Roar got rid of him a couple of years ago.

No, he left them in the mid-season transfer window to transfer to Romania.  They didn't get rid of him, he negotiated a release.

james dean2009-01-30 23:23:23

Tony's got my Romanain player agent details who I met at Euro - so we have Romania covered

Your best defender

Nope, Sigmund.

Possibly. Still very raw.

I think you're on to a good thing with Dodd + Sigmund + McKain + Durante. Glad he's staying with you if we can't sign him (not that I think we are). Just need to fix up the midfield and the forward line.

Yeah I think with the signing of Dodd  (if), the one thing we don't need to fix is our defensive line save another keeper, but thats a different argument...

Sorry mate I wasn't accusing you of saying that but I can see how it reads that way..

If he is as good as you seem to think, how come he never made the Australian team squad ( A league only) that played Indonesia during the week.

Cos the Coach didn't pick him. Like lots of other players who didn't get picked. Jon McKain for example?

I don't think anyone suggested he was Footballeroos material.... Where is your point? McKain perhaps but not Dodd.

Our back 4 is better if he is signed by us, than letting him walk and having no one and having to find someone who will be as good as him from the first kick.

I suggest that it is you that should get your facts straight. He was dropped from the Roar and with mutual agreement came to a deal to go to FC Universitste Craiova in Romania. He lasted two months there and then joined Falkirk. Have a look to see how many time he played-lots of red cards?

Dodd at Falkirk  2006/2007: 23 games, no goals, doesn't know about red cards. Initially on a short-term contract, did enough to earn a contract extension for a year. At the expiration of that he joined us, since then 36 games, one goal, no red cards that I can recall, though I may stand to be corrected.

I think more importantly than historical stats though, has been a defensive rock for us, both in seson one when everyone around him in defense save Lochy was crumbing, and this season with Siggy (save a few gaes in midfield).

I realise that second paragraph is subjective, but using stats from his prior clubs can be made to prove anything.

Even if you accept that Dodd isn't the best defender in the A-League, where is his replacement going to come from ?

He's one of 4 options and does a job that makes him competitive in this league, we need to spend all the spare money we have on re-vamping the attack so where are we going to find someone else proven at this level, willing to be part of almost a rotation system and happily paid within our structure ?

There is already a shortage of A-League quality central defenders (witness the demand for Topor-Stanley and Fyfe and the fact that Cornthwaite starts nearly ever match.).

Surely you don't believe that that squad was the best players in the A-League ?

I'm not saying Karl Dodd was close to it, but if you are going to use that argument you need to believe that and I don't know anyone else in Australia who does.

Yeah it was an ordinary squad...

This to me is one of the easiest decisions TP and RH have to make, get him signed and concentrate on finding those strikers.

a)Dodd is a meataxe