Phoenix Transfer Speculation 2012/13

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/sport/phoenix/7018646/Herbert-content-to-work-within-budget

Herbert content to work within buget?

There's not a single quote from Herbert in that story.

It is a bit disapointing. I get the feeling the players performed above themselves last season and the squad does need at least a small injection of quality to step up another level. They say we will not be getting a player like Carlos Hernandez, and it is implied it is because of wages, but he was only on about 300k. He was never Melbournes marquee player or (obviously) their local marquee player, they have always had at least 2 players on more. It sounds like they are aiming for just 20 players as well which is cutting it fine, more often players will have to play out of position. It will end up needing a youth player to turn out to be a gem. I am extremely curious how much money is left in the cap.

I can understand that money is still tight, and we can't throw money at high profile players. But we have 2 starting places in the team that we need to fill, and there just isn't the talent available in Aus/NZ to fill them. So saying that we are unlikely to use all the import slots is depressing. The annoying bit, is we created one of the gaps ourselves by committing to playing Manny in the midfield.

There's those young kiwi strikers floating around (Galbraith, Fenton, Bevin) who all seem to be doing alright at the moment. Would any of them be an option for the striker role? I mean, if you were going to put youth anywhere on the field then attacking roles seem to make more sense - defense requires more concentration, experience and positional awareness whereas striking can rely on instinct and raw talent, and strikers generally break into teams at younger ages than defenders. Plus they would be playing alongside Ifill and would have Greenie coaching them so there's a lot of experience to guide them. And presumably they wouldn't have the ego problems that come with some of those older strikers.

They would be dirt cheap and that money could free up funds for an experienced imported defender. I guess Pav has not made young strikers look good for the Nix though... but think about Kosta - what would his impact have been if Ricki had played him more when he was here?

We need to win, and if Ricki thinks he can do it on this budget, then I am happy to see what happens.

But to not spend all of the cap is just stupid.

I think it is smart to only sign 20 players as in my eyes I thought it meant splitting the cap over less players so we can pay them more.

Brockie must be on good dollar I'm thinking, signing for 3 years after rejecting jets offer. Manny must have been put up substantially as well.

Also - would Brockie have an exit clause in case another China situation occurs? Seems like something relevant to him

I don't have an issue with signing only 20 but we were lead to believe we'd see an upgrade to our striking stocks, a good A-League right back a probable midfield re-inforcement and Centre-Back cover that isn't out of it's depth.

Now we're talking about not using all our imports and we already have Ifill, Sanchez and by the sound of it Smith re-signed. That leaves us with 1 imported player spot left (based on us not using all 5).

So Manny offers midfield re-inforcement and Sanchez back in the middle isn't heart-breaking to me.  A Centre-Back I can see us doing out of Aus (as stated I don't believe there is a domestic NZ option up to the job).  That leaves two spots, a striker and a right back.  The only Right Back available out of Aus is Elrich and that seems to have been written off, there is no one in New Zealand, so that is an import spot.

That leaves an upgrade in our striking stocks who will not be an import, can not be an NZ player as apart from the likes of Killen there is no NZ elligible upgrade, and to be an upgrade can't be someone chucked from another A-League side for not making the grade.  I suspect we're expected to buy Broockie as this player but much as I love him, he is clearly not.

Currently we've swapped Brown and Daniel (of our first 15) for Brockie.  That's not a change that takes us from 4th on the table to 1st, even assuming that the other sides are similar in strength to last season and not stronger.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/7018880/Herbert-content-to-work-within-Phoenix-budget/

On that I think people need to realise this is why Musa never made it. It was too hard to accomodate a young CB at the time, with no youth set up, who is never likely to play. Lindsay is possibly in a similar boat, he's not going to be thrown in until they are sure he is ready to play well and make the correct decisions for 90 minutes.

Oh bring on the youth program. 

I think the right back falling through, and the signings of Sanchez and Smith, indicate that we are likely to see Manny's move to midfield rapidly disapearing.  Brockie is seen as our goal scoring striker, and I am terribly dissapointed.  

As News says, this isn't a squad change that will see us move up the table from 4 to 1. 

currently our best team as it stands is:

                    Moss
Muscat Sigmund Durante Lochhead
           Smith            Lia
                    Sanchez
Bertos              Ifill            Brockie

1 new player since last year. Except Manny will be playing midfield so our right side will more than likely be weaker this year and we will see Smith sitting on the bench again. Unless we persevere with Lia at RB? And in that case its just swapping him with Manny, which I would rather not do.

Teams win games.....squads win competitions.

From looking at whats unfolding at the Nix recruitment wise its easy to see that our first 11 will be a strong experianced side but that includes some big ifs. That is....... if injuries don't take out Ifill, if Pantellis miraculously recovers from his second major knee reconstruction, if Leo can get another year out of his aging legs, if we can find a decent RB, if we can find a good experianced backup central defender. But the truth is that over a season sides that can dip into their reserves and replace quality with quality tend to win trophys.

 Everything points to a youth philosophy at the club. The fact that we are repeatedly hearing about living within budgets, not splashing the cash, no big name signings, not using up import slots etc tends to suggest cheaper local players. If I was one of those 8 Nix Academy players I would be getting very excited because some of you will see some action next season. I guess time will tell if they are good enough. As supporters we just have to accept that this is the new reality. I personally find the youth emphasis exciting.

Just as an aside I have recently been in touch with a few of my old work collegues in Rotterdam....they are all football fanatics and it was interesting to hear there views on possible Nix players. According to them this offseason in Europe is absolute carnage. 100's of players are fleeing Greece and the lower grades in Spain, Portugal and Italy....mainly because of nonwage payments and club bankrupcy. Even in northern Europe lots of players are being laid of as more and more clubs get into financial trouble.

I asked if the Nix would have any chance of recruiting a half decent RB and Striker....they said absolutely! There are quality players facing the prospect of not playing again who would jump at the chance of playing A-League football.

I guess Ricki should consider spreading the net a little wider. All very well visiting Spurs but lets get real here!

I would think there are a hundred options for each position of reasonable quality, reasonable wages and willingness to come but I have seen nothing that makes me believe we'll see them unless they fly here for a single game from Aus.

A friend of mine is an Alemannia Aachen fan and they have just been relegated from the 2nd Bundesliga with lots of players having release clauses and are available for free. Similar situation to how Brisbane picked up Besart Berisha from Armina Bielefeld, again Dario/Rado Vidosic connection.

Theoretically speaking, Rory Fallon could be a candidate. 

And not every signing will be immediate, Ricki has till october to finalise the squad.

Rory Fallon has already come out and say he wants to stay in Europe... see phoenix on the radio links for his interview about 6 weeks ago.

[quote = joshyboy007]

Theoretically speaking, Rory Fallon could be a candidate. 

And not every signing will be immediate, Ricki has till october to finalise the squad.

[/quote]

This is true but the messages coming from the organisation seem to be setting our expectations so low that people are giving up any hope for the signings we actually need.

Not sure it is yet low enough to include Rory.

He'll be due a wonder goal in about five years, sign him then. 

Too true! Hahaha

 

The players have all made a big deal in the past, about how stability has been part of the success of the club. Our core players, across the board are all solid performers that most teams would gladly have, far from the flashiest and best in the league, but not to far. 

I feel that right now we have a team that could beat anyone from last season on two out of three times and with one or two good signings we will be right up there.

Just remember for every Thomas Broich or Paul Ifill there is a Lei Lei Gao or a Toto

Ricki visited Spurs while he was in the UK. The Nix management have said we might not use up all our import slots. Nelsen probably won't have his contract renewed. Muscat wants to play midfield. There are no decent RBs around. Brockie can play as a wingback.

Join the dots people!

Nelsen to sign for the Nix! Ricki to play 3 at the back next season! Its all making sense now.

So we're re-assembling the same squad as last year?  That was decent but found wanting?  Ricki made a big play out of getting the best out of that squad, as if it was a great achievement.  Now we're getting the same players back...not very impressive.  I think recruitment is really a black spot for him

Considering he's signed a side that has made the play-offs three years running, and signed the whole squad that has done that I think that is harsh. 

My issue isn't with recruitment it's with the expectations that Ricki and the owners have built up about this off-season that are consistently being down-graded and re-assessed.  We've been told the club want to make the next step up but right now we're stepping sideways, not forward.

Ricki hasnt had a good offseason recruitment since we signed Ifill & Greeny in the offseason. He also made some astute mid season pickups with Dadi, Reddy & Caceres. The year before we got Siggy, Dura, Mckain, Muscat & Leo which dramtically changed our squad. 

I think we have come to expect a lot, and he hasn't continued to deliver in the way he did those years. Wonder if the fact Tony Pignata went with him to Europe helped keep him focussed on the recruitment drive. Or the fact Terry probably told him to not be concerned too much about costs.

Everyone is going to be dissapointed if we can't improve our squad. And I feel like the club are claiming Brockie is our new Striker we've been needing where realistically he's not what everyone was expecting

Have we been misled by the owners?

Don't think so.  They have been stating they won't sign a marquee and want to make a profit, although I still think an image has been painted where we could reasonably expect an upgrade in the side.

The British based players don`t come off contract until the end of June

With the transfer window open through July and August I would expect a lot posturing going on as players look for the deal that best suits them.

If we are getting one or two British based players I wouldn`t expect getting them across the line until early August at the best  

Mark Bridge released by Sydney and before anyone asks NO THANKS

To be honest wouldn't mind him if he could find form from their title winning season

Fairly sure Ryan has already agreed for a player/coach role at DC United

Ryan doesnt turn up for the All Whites, why do you think he would play for Ricki in Wellington?

I thought last off season was tough, this is worse.

Same team, not one player coming in who could improve the mid tier team. Non existent youth to watch progressing.

The promise of a much better off season has also made this one terrible. Last year we were going to be happy if the club survived and didnt expect many signings. The new owners came in and said it was too late for them to leave a mark but it would be evident in the following offseason

What happened to Cory Chettleburgh? I was sure he was gonna sign last year

Too much angst at this stage, maybe this level of angst in couple of months (assume season will begin again in October which is 4 months away). At present our squad looks pretty good, we have re-signed our best performing players and apart from Downey, why did we give him a 2 year contract, and Pantellis, concerns on his knee, everyone in the squad is of good HAL quality. Starting XI's put forward with players currently signed look good and promises shekshier football than previous seasons.

Most Phoenix fans are only happy when they're miserable.