If you look at the last three "big name" Marquees Kewell, ADP and Heskey ( I would not classify Ono as a big name Marquee), none of those three signings have assisted in their clubs reaching the finals and despite an initial spike in Crowd numbers they seem to have fallen away as the novelty factor has worn off. New Castle did sell a heap of Season passes but IIRC they were at stupidly low prices.
Definitely agree with you RE: the jury being out on marquee signings necessarily improving their team - I'd argue Del Piero got Sydney wins but that doesn't necessarily improve the team (if that makes sense).
The reason I'd advocate a marquee for the Phoenix is primarily a bum on seats proposition - if absolutely nothing else, it'd finally see an end to the dismissive reasoning for low crowds that was trotted out this season - "It's too cold/the city's away on holiday" etc. Feel free to correct my stats, but the only time I recall the crowd topping the 10K mark (again, concede that I might be off here) was Round 1, when everyone wanted the chance to see Del Piero play. Hell, there was an air of curiosity when Simon Elliot signed on for a bit.
Disagreeing on the Carle contention, but that's solely and only because I couldn't stand him - for some reason just the sight of him put the wind up me!
