Phoenix Transfer Speculation 2013/14

Guys, random thought on our DM,

how about Chris James?  (sorry if this has been discussed before).

1 He can play DM

2 He can pass and distribute (better than Manny & Lia for sure)

3 He's a Kiwi, doesn't take the import spot (i.e. if it doesn't work out we still have the option, salary cap permitting)

4 He's at right age and potentially a long term solution

5 He's keen to impress RH for a WC All White spot, WPX is a good place to be in.

He performed well in the last couple of AW games...

Not sure about his current contract status though

N-Bomb really rates the guy Irvine who signed for ACFC. If he impresses on the weekend, could he maybe an outside chance as injury cover for Fenton?

Irvine has good pedigree having gone through the Everton academy system.

Not sure he's that far off the radar.

If he has a blinder against us on Saturday for Auckland Erni might get a little more interested.

Especially not leading into Morocco. I read on Stuff or Herald that they are very anti releasing Tamati to help out.

Is that not a 1 year deal?

I also imagine there season does not have too much longer to go as it gets colder and closer to winter.

If James is an option, I'd vote him over Clapham. And I'd give him a shot over Lia. 

Yes he's signed until the end of their season: http://www.kups.fi/news.php?id=1152

The Finnish league finishes on 27th October. If he's ready to come back to NZ I think he's definitely someone Ernie should be looking at. James and Muscat pairing in CM would work bloody well I'd think.

The Clapham rebirth ahs finished so we'll go further back to Chris James...

Didn't realise James had a Clapham-esque history on here.

In any case he seems to have matured as a player since he fell off the AWs radar.

Least James actually knows how a pro contract works.

So with Lyndsay gone our only central midfielders are Carlos, Rufer, Lia and Muskrat. Thats 4 guys for three positions. I guess Boyd could cover AM but the reality is we are woefully light in this area. We have loads of CB,s and have real depth in wide attackers and plenty of good striking options.

I'm sure Ernie is onto it but we really need some cover in CM. IMO we are short of two experianced players. Its all very well filling up the roster with up and coming kids but if we start losing our core of experianced players with injury then we will be in trouble. There is real talent in the youth players and I'm sure some of them will become regular starters but most of them need to be eased into the match 11. The week in week out grind of A-League football is really tough for kids.

Unfortunately Ernie said he is looking less overseas now. So maybe the gun DM is not on the radar anymore. If that is the case then I kind of wish we had signed Thompson. If Carlos went down Thompson would not let you down. And he could put in a shift further back if Lia or muscat were out. Despite his huge talent I would be worried about a 17 yo Rufer starting an A-League game as AM replacement for Carlos.

Interesting that Ernie also mentioned Leo as a RB option until Fenton gets back.....hugely sensible option IMO

Both James and Clapham are now surely different propositions to when they were last suggested, particularly both showed an ability to pass the ball for the AWs, admittedly against a poor Saudi team, but still the midfield functioned much better with them on. Also we don't seem to have had any alternatives suggested. And neither would be a visa spot. We wouldn't be a worse team for having them in the squad at least and they are slightly more experienced players than under-17 options.

AM could also be covered by either Stein or Ifill surely? though is Ifill still injured? and Fenton when returns...

I would fancy Ifill in an AM role if needed but he is more of a roamer with the ball rather than creating for others.

If we sign Gulley and Bertsch then we're at 6 players for 3 spots.

IMO Chris James > daylight > those two

not sure about him having two first names though

Rick James >>>>>>Chris James

Jessie James>>>>>Rick James>>>>>Chris James

She's a very special girl.  The kind you don't take home to momma...

so with all the changes at the club, what position are we aiming for? top 6 is a must, but I cant see us getting much higher than 6th or 5th, because I get the feeling we seem to be a club in a permanent rebuilding phase. 

Ernie says we should make the finals and then anything goes.

Also still nervous about our midfield - DM and backup etc as posted. But have great faith in Ernie, and am hoping there is good news to come, as it feels like there's one of two things we don't know about - even though it's getting late in the piece. 

Under Ricki in the last 3 seasons we went:

Goals for 39, 34, 31 (games played 30, 27, 27).  Pretty clear to me why heads rolled in defence.

Goals against 41, 32, 49

I think to make the top 4 we'd have to concede less than 35 goals and probably score more than 35.  4th place tends to end up with a goal difference around +1-5.

We'll need a significant improvement in our defence, or to score a lot more goals.  I'm still not 100% sure where a major defensive improvement is going to come from, considering our lack of experience at full back.  I can see us scoring more goals.  Personally I don't see us as a top half team but we could squeak in at 6th.

I think we'll see bigger changes next year once more of our older players start rolling off contract

Who's in worse shape than us do we think?

Jets, Heart, Perth maybe? Sydney are just the ADP show. Maybe we can get 6th? I hope.