Phoenix Transfer Speculation 2012/13

I'm sure Piney said on the radio yesterday morning there will be no new signings during the transfer window.

Dammit who put a question mark on the teleprompter, you know he'll read anything that goes on there!

Agreed, I got bloody sick of that routine preseason.

Hold the phone, Vince Lia could play LB whats stopping him? Clearly some players are suited better than others . Not just anyone could swap between the 2 but regardless Bojic for Lochhead. Would work just fine

Feb 14th apparently, not that we will sign anyone.

Right, much like Warner could play striker. Doesn't mean you'd do it. Sheesh...

This. Bojic is still a meat axe but one that Arnold seems to have focused on playing at this point in time.

I don't know about left back but I think he is very versatile having played regularly in midfield and centre defense before. Would be a great pick

See lia is in line for the all whites (something I suggested some time ago). A sure thing now to be signed up again nowAucklandPhoenix2012-01-28 18:52:20

I also suggested this but someone said he wasnt elligible for some reason? Im not sure what the deal is?

Someone just trolling, I'll check the history and see who the guilty parties were

If lia does indeed do the deed and dura also opts to become a kiwi then suddenly along with the usual suspects , siggy, paston, bertos, brown then our team is chocker with all whites!! Throw Daniel in as well if the signs another one year deal

Lia is ineligible for the All Whites, he's represented Australia at U23 level while not being eligible for NZ at the time.

NZF is going to have egg on their faces over this.

Evidence hereel grapadura2012-01-28 19:44:07

But were the games an official competition as opposed to a friendly?

Looks like the under 17 and 20 games were for lia

EG when I saw this I thought that we have had this topic before, and you had already mentioned that Lia could not play for the AW's.

Watching tv 3 news everyone looked so pleased with themselves as well (the CEO, Coach and player)AucklandPhoenix2012-01-28 20:06:15

Well my money is on EG.

Remember that they also didn't know that you couldn't 'lock' players with a country by playing them in friendlies.

Think the problem lies mainly in the fact that NZF is a fairly small organisation, and not necessarily run by people who have extensive experience of dealing with FIFA and its regulations. Let's not even mention the Glenn Moss suspension appeal debacle.

Are you politely saying that they are plonkers?

Maybe the Fever should run a seminar entitled "Navigating the minefield of FIFA Statutes and Regulations" for their benefit.

Well someone had better tell vinie before he pays for one of those sexy black passports and throws his ausi one on the fire

With all this hype, is he good enough to play for the AW's.?
For me, I don't think he is.

Ar rightback, he is

At central midfield his major competitor would have been his Wellington teammate. We are not that strong there eitherAucklandPhoenix2012-01-28 22:01:43

Rickie likes Lia, Rickie mentioned it to Lia...as long as Rickie is the coach Lia is hot favourite for the AW's. Providing the nongs at NZF can read a rule book.

Having read your link EG, I think it needs to be clarified that he is not eligible to be classified as a Kiwi via birthright, parents etc. Do we know this to be the case for sure? (I have not read anything so if it has been established, I apologise)

Not doubting your wisdom on this (I doubt anyone would) but you would have to think based on the Reid, Smith, McG, Fallon thing, that Ricki would have known of this clause. As National coach, he bloody should do. Same with Dura and Daniel that at least someone would need to be read up on this.

He would be an interesting addition to the All Whites if it transpires and would give us a bit more depth in the engine room. I think he has more chance of featuring than Daniel if it proves to be true.

I think Ricki would more likely have relied on info provided by NZF surely?who's responsible for researching player eligibility?

If he was able to play for NZ under those reasons, he wouldn't have to wait for residency.

Andrew Gourdie

Hey, why all the angst? This is all so easily fixed. Nothing a back dated New Zealand passport wouldn't fix.

If only Lianne Dalziel was still Immigration Minister...

How's Vinnie at tiling?

Call the NZRL and get them to find him a (great) Grandma?

^ Exactly.

They've stuffed up.

If we need Lia then we're more desperate than I thought..

The point of the rule is to prevent countries from cherry-picking top young talent from other countries which would effectively turn international football into a meat market.

For example, if the rule was not in place, wealthy nations looking to improve their football teams (Qatar, who have attempted things like this before, could be a good example here) could offer loads of cash to 17/18/19-year old youth Brazilian/Argentinian internationals, have them move, and be available to play for Qatar by the age of 22/23/24. And of course, if one country did this, other in a similar position would do the same and international football as we know it would be a thing of the past.

And as for JV's point about Lia's parentage - well, it's true, I don't know where his parents/grandparents were born, but if any of them had been born in NZ, then Lia would have been automatically eligible to represent NZ without ever setting a foot in this country, and the fact that this is something that's never been mentioned and they're only looking at the 5-year residence rule, suggests that no such parentage exists for Lia.