MULLIGAN SIGNED! CONFIRMED

He should be the number 1 free kick taker

wonder when he gets into the country? might have to head along to training to see how they involve him from the start. If Lias injury is serious will they use hearfield/sigmund as right backs until Mulligan is up to required fitness standard or do you rush him in to get some combinations developing with the boys?

Every time i've seen this guy play he's been average. Good free kicks, not great defending, a bit lazy. I haven't exactly seen  him play over a course of a whole season so i'll reserve judgement.

Still, it's nice to have more depth.

Does he talk with a Fazackerly accent? Eh? Eh?

I've got a mate from barnsley who's lapping this up - we now have 3 ex Barnsley F.C players: Bertos, Christie and Mulligan. They actualy may have all played there simultaniously at one point? I'm not too sure.

Oh no!! What have we done!!!

haven't read the whole thread , just got in  - but despite the reservations of a few on this page , I'm pleased - it'll be good to have someone who appears to have turned out at right back at a decent level

My 2c

1/.  Last year our set pieces were interesting.  Corners were effective, and we scored plenty from them (anyone counted?).  But the free kicks were a mess.  Little imagination or variation, they either went into the wall or over the posts, or got lobbed to the keeper.  A decent dfk taker would be a real bonus.

2/.  We're going to end up with some decent players not starting regularly.  Lets say the first XI is yesterday's with Mulligan for Lia.  That leaves Kwasnik, Hearfield, Lia, Sigmund, Brown, Johnson, Coveny, Costa & Christie among the others.  Seems a lot of talent on the sidelines, and with quite a short season and without AW games intervening some of them won't play a lot.  Now a Coveny or a Costa might be OK with this, but with the league expanding I can see some departures.

We earned a lot of free kicks last year and I can't remember a single one on target, both Daniel and Felipe were pretty average.

I was very unimpressed with him against Vanuatu (except his free kick) but it was only one game, so it's unfair to judge him on that. What gives me confidence is that he's got a ton of experience and Ricki knows his game well, and will be able to get the best out of him.

Solid signing, remember guys its a long season and we will need all our players through it..

Was just thinking George, Felipe, Ross must have been a lot $$, considering who we have replaced them with.

we did ditch about 10 players - haha remember that comment ricki made a while back about how we shouldnt expect much in the off season. lol Man_utd_fan2008-07-21 21:04:17

I can tell you for a fact that George was on a LOT (6 figures +)

how and why????!!!!!

because he was the man in Fifa07? same as Mr Potatoe Top Pie legs.

Salary cap is a touch over 2 million (I think?), divide that by 21 players or so, thats a bit under 100,000 each. However some players will obviously be paid well over this- meaning that a number of players earn well under this. I dunno- median wage would be 65-75 maybe? bigtobz2008-07-21 21:21:31

There are a lot of things that come under the cap that are non-monetary, house, cars etc all have to be included.  All up George was on a very good package in comparison to many others in the side.  Realistically to get him, Ross and Clebo to NZ would have been expensive

id say to pop down here he would have to be on one of the bigger pay cheque's for our team. hockeycam2008-07-21 21:38:00

"DAVID MULLIGAN
Date of birth: March 24, 1982 in Fazakerley, England (26 years)"

Just in case we can't do maths?

Totally disagree. He's been out of contract for a few months, phoenix apparently in talks with him at the start of the season and his wage demands were too high. He obviously looked around and saw that there wasn't much going so decided to come back to NZ

money well spent. It has provided us a joke for years to come

Must admit with this guy and your other buys you have maybe the best back four in the league.

makes a change from easily the worst!

http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACup/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2005/12/Player_of_the_round_mulligan.htm

2 videos of his free kicks that one him player of the round, 2 quality ones in the game

I suppose this should be a poll, but I was wondering what urban definition of a Mulligan is the people's favourite.

hope number 6 doesn't need to be used

I'm not sure that the Mulligan signing was absolutely necessary.  It's possible that the RB position is a real vulnerability and Mulligan may prove to be the best option there - time will tell.  However, at this time, my overall impression is that we're adding depth where depth wasn't really needed.

Gonna have to totally disagree. The only RB's are two converted midfielders (Lia and Plodder) and centrebacks playing out of position (ie Sigmund, Dodd). Not to mention that since he can play LB as well, it gives us an option there should Lochhead be unavailable, without having to sacrifice Daniel - our only other LB but an integral part of our attack.

We might not need depth, but we did need an RB. What this moves means is not having to rely on depth for every game now that we have an experienced player in that position.

As for it only being a possibility that our RB was a weak spot - I think it's far more possible than not. No disrespect for Lia, but I wouldn't call him a first option RB just yet. He's still a converted MF, and hence, still a gamble.

Right back was THE problem area for the Nix last year. What are the other options, Lia (untried and non-specialist), Christie (tried out of position last year without much success) or Sigmund (untried at the position or at this level - although he played briefly for the Kingz without impact).

Masty2008-07-22 10:39:49

I think he'll be a great signing. with having about 8 years experience in the lower leagues in the uk, the oppurtunity to sign someone like this doesnt come by too often. He's still young too (compared to when the knights signed a bunch of old journeymen, with lower league experience.

Have to both disagree and agree.

Disagree on not needing to sign a RB - none of our options at RB before Mulligan looked particularly promising, so getting a specialist in was very necessary. It's up to Mulligan now to prove his ability there and secure a place in the starting line-up.

Agree on the need for another quality striker. I thought this even before the game on Sunday, and after it I became even more convinced we need another good player alongside Smeltz. I think he'll have a difficult time playing up front on his own, and I'm interested to see how Kwasnik fits in there. But I still think we need someone else, but that's obviously much easier said than done.