1 Barba, 2 Barba, 3 Barbarouses

Is there some sort of best young player award in the a-league? If he keeps his form up he may be in the running imo, even a nomination would be a great achievement

Stripes2010-11-07 12:18:24

I thought Payne would have played more than 10 games for Sydney?

Must say it really warmed the heart to see Kosta bang in those excellent goals last weekend. We all have a soft spot for the lad....seeing him come through the local grades into the Nix and then off to bigger things with the Roar.

Kosta likes the ball on the deck, ricki doesnt.

Bingo. Same deal with Clapham.

I agree, I said all this when he left us.

...and if Reinaldo hadn't been injured anf Solarzano (sp ?) delayed by international clearance then we could all be asking the same questions of his time in Brisbane.

He made a call to go, and it's worked out for him.  It was a brave call and personally I couldn't be happier for him.  You're very unlikely to ever catch me booing Kosta off a pitch.  Even if he went to Perth...or Norwich.

Another goal in the win over Heart

he is playing great and good on him, i think the brisbane play suits his game, great to see he is doing well

Kosta speaking about the reasons of brisbane's success:

Two goals against the Fury tonight. Another masterclass performance. Remind me again why he wasn't at the World Cup?

Because we had David Mulligan

Because he hadn't exposed form better than Fallon, Smeltz, Killen or Wood.

Sign him up Ricki!

Rubbish. Its a conspiracy as Ricki hates him because he, well, I don't know why, but its obvious because he didn't re-sign him for the Phoenix.aitkenmike2010-12-19 17:48:44

Quite disappointed that he decided to only bring out his A game over there...(where is the smiley for that??)

To be effective in the All Whites (if he is considered better than Smeltz, Fallon, Killen, Wood) then we would have to change our game plan to fit his running game. Will that happen

When Daniel put the ball through to Brown last night, and then on to Mac, it reminded me of a typical Roar goal

harsh on Kosta.  Or was it joking? Remember a few decent games last season.

Declined a contract Ricki offered him.

Can't blame him for not wanting to re-sign and spend another 2-3 seasons on the bench.

I'm utterly convinced that the reason we're seeing so much of Marco (and thank God for that) is that Ricki's determined not to make te same mistake with him the way he did with Kosta.

have to remember that Kosta has been given the chance to play a completely different game at the roar, their whole attack is based on a quick passing game and smooth movement....the Nix just haven't developed that type of game yet. Rojas may turn that around, as he seems to create so many more open chances for the other players to run onto the ball in space.

Ricki likes out and out wingers which Rojas fits more so than Kosta. Both Broich and Kosta are more central players that start wide and attack centrally.

You may have missed the sarcasm there. (Excusable though, as some people here actually seem to believe it.)

This. For Kosta's and New Zealand's sake i'm reasonably happy that he has gone.

^^ totally, Kosta playing alongside the likes of Broich can only be good for his development, which is great for NZ football.

While clearly playing alongside Ifill would have been horrible for him, the Phoenix, the All Whites, and world peace.

Chance would have been a fine thing...hope he gets an AW start soon and we move away from lumbering forwards.

not saying he wouldn't have enjoyed playing alongside Ifill, he would have been battling with greenie though and that would have meant more bench time, right now he's starting and scoring goals which is great for NZ footy plus it means we (nix) get greenie.

Kosta has currently scored the 2nd most goals and has the most equal combined goals and assists in the league. He is also making a major contribution in general play. it is not a good thing that he is no longer a phoenix player but it is a least a good thing that Brisbane has worked out for him.

i remember many knowitalls on this forum saying Kosta would struggle to make the bench at the roar, the saer guys who say he was pants for the nix.he offered more than pav,kwansnik and many others and now with regular game time is one of the leagues top scorers

Could those 'knowitalls' master caps ?

I don't think it's a conspiracy but remember, in 3 years Ricki barely picked Kosta for the Phoenix and he's never picked him for the national team. Now he's one of the best players in the league. Clearly Herbert couldn't get the best out of one of the most skilful youngsters we've produced which is very worrying, and clearly Ricki doesn't trust him.

Hiding behind a contract offer is rubbish, he never played him so ultimately the offer of a contract is meaningless.

Kosta should be an absolute star at his hometown club where he was signed when he was 17, personally I think it's a tragedy that he's playing his best football under a different coach at a different club, purely because he was managed so poorly here. I just can't see a lot the Herbert got right on this one. Kosta would have been a great player to have at the world cup in this form and I still think that Brockie was very lucky to get the nod ahead of him.

The future for the AWs is Smeltz, Wood, Rojas and Kosta. The sooner we get rid of the cloggers and start integrating these young guys the better

The thing to remember though is that if Reinaldo wasn't injured and they hadn't had a delayed clearance on Solorzano, Kosta could be in the exactly same spot there that he was in here.

Sure he's taken every chance (as we suspected he could) but luck is what has got him the chance to prove it.