MULLIGAN SIGNED! CONFIRMED

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If it wasn't already blindingly obvious that we needed to sign another secialist fullback before Sunday it surely was when Lia got injured and we had to play Herfield at right back.

Agree here too. Daniel's got a decent goal-scoring record for us, but it's unfair to ask him to be the team catalyst going forward, and then be the finisher also. He'll chip in with a few goals, but probably not more than 3-4. Although I like both Bertos and Gao, they don't strike me as prolific scorers. Leo's scoring record in the A-league is, ahm, unimpressive, and wjile I don't know how Gao's goal-scoring was in Finland, from what I've seen of him in the pre-season, he seems fairly profligate. So I wouldn't expect a lot of goalsfrom those 3, which is why I'm keen to see Kwasnik and see what role he can play.

But still think we need another striker, otherwise Smeltz will be in for a hard season.

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.[/QUOTE]

i just want to see them play!!!!! its been too long talking about them and what needs doing ect ect il really just be satisfied at the prospect of looking forward to each weekend watchign the nix play and giving them my full support win draw and even if they lose!

All his games have been played at a higher level than Smeltz ever achieved though.

I think Daniel will contribute a few goals. Leo will make plenty but not score too many and Lei Lei I'm not sure about. We lost our 2nd and 3rd top scorers (excl penalties) when Ross and Filipe left and I can't see Leo and Lei Lei filling the goal void.

Also the fact that he's been in the uk for the last 8 years and at times has gotten very regular games indicates that he has been able to succeed at that level.

How can people be upset with this signing, Mully is a class act, sure there might be some doubts, but I'd far rather have him than some unknown from the Aus leagues which was the other alternative.

If you told me at the end of last season that we would sign Durante, McKain, Kwasnik, Gao, Bertos, Mulligan, Hearfield and Sigmund I'd have said you were joking. These signings are all excellent in different ways, and I applaud Ricki, Tony P, Terry and the club for doing such a terrific job. The fact that 3 of our 8 signings are all whites and that in all likely hood 5 or our first XI will be seasoned kiwi players is a wonderful achievement as well. I love the look of our squad, though I do hope we can pick up one last striker. I don't actually think a marquee CF would be a wise signing to make though. I want to see us employ the same 4231 formation from the CCM game and if we sign a Marquee forward he would have to be in the starting XI, meaning that either Smeltz gets dropped (not a good idea) or we have to switch to 442, meaning that one of the magic 3 misses out.

Therefore I hope we can sign another forward who would be able backup but wouldn't expect to start straight away. This might be difficult, and probably explains why we have had a hard time finding somebody for the job. I do think Kwasnik could prove a viable option anyway, but I think perhaps the best thing to do is try and find a big, strong Brazilian CF. We can afford to gamble a little bit with this last spot, and another Brazilian also has the added bonus of having somebody who can make Daniel feel a little more at home.

He is at home.

...kiwi through and through

Look at the players in your squad... Do you think you could afford another quality striker in the cap? Be realistic. You should be thankful you've got some players playing for nice low wages as they agreed last year, that have allowed you to splash the cash this season.

Balancing depth with the cap is the name of the game, and WPFC have it better than most.
Jaza2008-07-22 12:15:15

Its a great signing, we have gone from the weakest d in the comp to arguably the best.

The problem is we don't have players who can share the goal-scoring burden to the extent which would make us Championship contenders. At least that's what it looks like now.

Smeltz really is the be-all, end-all of strikers right now. Coveny's too old to lead the front-line on his own week in and week out, and Draper's unproven at this level, so it'be a big ask of him.

This system only works if you have natural goal-scoring midfielders, and we're a bit short on that front right now.el grapadura2008-07-22 12:37:32

Don't really think that anyone's upset, it's just that some people choose to reserve judgment before proclaiming that Mulligan's going to be the best right back in the league....

The reality is you never know which signing is good or bad until the player comes out on the field. Look at last season - Cleberson had played for, among other teams, Sao Paulo and PSV Eindhoven. Smeltz had played in the English conference. Based on the pedigree, Clebo should have been awesome, yet he was a complete disaster while Smeltzy was the revelation of the league.

The matter of fact right now is that very few (if any) of us have seen Mulligan play over the last 8 years with any regularity, we don't know what form and shape he's in (but it can't be good since he hasn't really played in a while), and we don't know how he'll fit into the team and the A-league. I hope he proves to be an excellent right back at this level, and helps us get to the playoffs. But I don't want to assume that he will be before I see him play. Guess I was just burnt once too often last season with signings that seemed exciting and enticing, but proved ultimately disappointing (El**ch anyone?).

We had him and let him slip through our fingers - George.

Daniel has his family here so he feels pretty at thome and he knows a few Brazilians here so no porblem from that point of view. I'm all for a Brazilan forward though. There are a few on the market. Fabio from Botafogo is going to be sold off, he isn't good enough for them but he would be good for us...Good in the air.

Quality signing.  We've now got a squad with real depth, strikers aside.  Obviously haven't seen much of him in recent years but thought he was one of the stand outs of the u17 WC team back in 99. 

didnt he play striker back then.  i think i remember him getting sent off in one game

Attacking midfielder, was superb. 

He got sent off in the opener against the US, early in the second half from memory.  Thanks to two car failures and rain killing Auckland traffic I missed the first half... can't remember if it was him or Allan Pearce who scored our goal in that.

Edit : He scored in the 16th minute and we were still leading when he got sent off in the 50th.  We then conceded two (one from Landon Donovan) to go down.  Cracker of a match.

Squads here:
http://www.fifa.com/tournaments/archive/tournament=102/edition=3611/matches/match=18471/report.html

Hard News2008-07-22 15:09:13

4-2-3-1

how did he get turned into a full-back?

No idea.

Craig Wylie was the same from memory.

must have been after he moved to barnsley.

(to a suitable PaulMcCartney tune)

Disturbingly Tigers, i quite like that.



I think they were at Barnsley already.  Him, Plodder, Pearce, Leo ?  Don't quote me on that.
Hard News2008-07-22 15:38:10

Aha, tottaly spot on, George was frikken HUGE

Yep completely a good call... the league would be much more interesting with a larger bench, and allow for greater talent on display and better tactical skill and switches from the managers...

Err . . . . so how well did Barnsley go during their 2000-2003 season?

We should have a second name called Barnsley's Phoenixs for those guys.
AllWhitebelievr2008-07-23 02:26:36

Is Pearce good enough to play in the A-League? He's been consistent for a few seasons of NZFC and now he's got an All Whites call up...

Lacks a couple of yards of pace, and doesn't have the physical presence IMO. He's a tidy player rather than a nippy, creative player, which you need to be if you are that size. He's not a bad finisher, though.

I'm sorry but what were people expecting? We wanted a right back, we've got an experienced pro who has played in this position for some time, has a good level of experience, and is a known quantity. This is not a gamble, we'll get what it says on the tin, a hard working, solid player who gives us plenty of mongrel defensively, can go forward and takes a quality free kick.

He will be a fixture in the side come finals time, mark my words. We will see a few cards between him and Lia though!

I sometimes think that people would prefer some Brazilian called Fabio, who no-one knows anything about, but there are a few shots of him playing in the Brazilian top division in 2003 doing some step overs for us to get excited about. Been there, done that, let's grow up a bit.

spot on JD