Phoenix Transfer Speculation 2013/14

You are  missing the important point... Performance (or lack of )  has nothing to do whatsoever with the finding of a scapegoat.

Edit: What Jeff said.

Some people just need a favourite/usual suspect to blame when we lose even if he was MOM.

Fair enough. Still not sure its required though. We should support every player that pulls on a Phoenix shirt unless he is downright rubbish and runs the ball over the touchline :)

WAIT !!!!!!!!!! TOTORI IS GONE ???????

Haha, thats always the case though isn't it. Same thing happened with Lochhead and Alex Smith.

Also I don't get this thing about "scapegoats" have I missed something?

New managers come in and look at their squads and move people on. 

I don't get what the f*ck people are on about.

Not that Jimmy Downey was blameless either

Lochhead and Paston have screwed up the season before it even started. Now we have to find replacements for them rather than training with a new manager......

Scott McDonald is out of contract at Middlesborough apparently - thoughts anyone? I don't know much about him myself but an Aussie striker with a record of a goal every 3 games or so in the SPL or championship sounds useful

http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/scott-mcdonald/leistungsdaten/spieler_13799_gesamt.html

Have to agree with you there TV, Mcdonald has been pretty good for Boro and you'd have to think he would command a good wage and be out of our reach.The smoggie at my work rates him anyways

I agree that it is unlikely that Scott Mcdonald would consider the Phoenix. Far more likely to go to Asia, and if he were to join the A-league, he would join an Australian team over the Phoenix. 

What about David Carney? I haven't heard too much about him, but he has 46 caps for Australia and is currently without a club.. worth a look in my opinion. 29 years old.

Papa Bouba Diop is also a free agent. A bit of a long shot, but he's 35, very much in the final stages of his career and there is a chance that he would be open to a move to the A-league. He is an absolute monster.  6 ft 5, defensive midfielder, played for some top clubs.

Other midfield/forward championship players that have been released in the later stages of their careers: Lee Bowyer (36), John Carew (33), Darius Vassel (33), Daniel Bogdanovic (33). Could potentially be worth a look at. 

Looking forward to the U-20 WC to see if any of the kiwi boys can prove themselves. Great opportunity for them.

ambrosini's been loosely linked

Link

agree

was just mentionng the fact that he is being linked

ambrosini is also being linked to the mls and west ham.the list is huge.

I think the reason for looking at players in the twilight of their careers is simply because they are more likely to want to come here. Any decent  Aussie (or other national) in his prime is either at another A League club or playing a decent level overseas, and the Nix would be far down any list of potential suitors. Decent kiwi players are even more of a rarity. We have to be realistic about the fact that we were the worst team last year in an obscure league, based in a small town miles away from anywhere, and we don't have a lot of money available. 

I'm all for investing in the academy and youth development but that'll take a few years to bear fruit and if we have a few more years like the last one then there might not be a club left for them. We need better players now, not in 2 or 3 years time, and the most likely way to get better players is to get guys who are coming to the end of their careers.

Fair call.

I like the idea of looking at more obscure non-Euro leagues for talent who might not have been picked up by a bigger club yet, but finding these players and getting them before a bigger clubs do is extremely difficult. Ageing European-based players are a bit more of a known quantity.

Personally I like the idea of getting youngsters in on loan, although I know there's obvious problems with that too. 

I guess the other thing is getting other A League off-casts or hidden gems from sub-HAL level (Manny/Siggy and the like) and gelling them into a team of winners. The fact that WSW managed to get to  the final last year with a squad that was cobbled together in a few months should give us hope that this can be done at least (ignoring the international players etc)

Tbh age isn't a big worry for me. As long as they are able to perform at a level that boosts the team. Good young players will only be around for 1-2 season before heading onto better things.

It cuts both ways - youngsters probably have cheaper wages but are more inexperienced. If they  are good they will move on, but the club should make some money off them in the process. Older pros cost more and don't have re-sale potential but have experience.

If we went for someone from say Polish leagues or more northern we could get someone as marquee when their season stops because of snow.  A Poland league 2 game  I saw seemed about A league level..mayeba  league one player?

I see Boro is hoping to grab a Hungarian league midfielder.

Couple of interesting points in this thread, my comments as follows:

- highly unlikely for Polish league one (the 'ekstraklasa') players to come this way; their good teams play approximately at the level of Brisbane Roar or Melbourne Victory so it is not necessarily that much better in quality, but they earn way better money in Europe. Their audience is managers in the Bundesliga or the EPL and they would not get the exposure here, nor money. Hungarian football currently at a low ebb, and their earnings not that great either, so I would not draw a comparison between them.

- David Carney would get better money in Middle East or South East Asia, but it would not be inconceivable that he might be tempted here. He is a genuine left footer, but was originally an attacking flanker before being moved to left back. However, his fortunes seem to have peaked by now - he probably was at his best at Sydney FC and scored some spectacular (and speculative) long-range goals, including some for the Socceroos. However, even if Matt McKay is only a makeshift left fullback, Carney has little chance of getting back into the team at present, so may settle for money far away, over the local exposure for less money at the 'Nix.

And Scott McDonald has no good reasons to come here - he is not ready to retire, and has a serious point to prove to the national selectors (he was dropped simply for not having ever scored for the NT despite scoring regularly for his EPL clubs). Actually a good player, and probably unfairly maligned - he is simply not a lone-striker type and that'd what the previous coach (Pim Verbeek) expected him to do. They even tried to pair him with Josh Kennedy, FFS, a comical and impractical combination of two attackers of a completely different style and temperament.

What? When? How? What did I miss? Is it true? Hellooo?.... anybody...???

Found it: http://www.3news.co.nz/Totori-pulls-plug-on-Phoenix-deal/tabid/415/articleID/301443/Default.aspx

and under Totori thread.

He was overpaid and underscored at Boro...

Hearts are in administration - clearing out their squad, which includes Oz U20/U23 Defender Dylan McGowan (who scored against the Nix for GCU)

Possible target?