R1 vs Newcastle Jets | Sun 21st Oct | 5:00pm | Westpac Stadium

If the conjecture is true, I don't think you wait or you just have another Totori. How many months has he had, at least 2....

Totori was average at best. He was nothing but a dirt track sprinter, no first touch and an ok shot.

Song for the first game of the season : 

All around me are familiar traces
Worn out places, worn out faces
Bright and early for their seat places
Going nowhere, going nowhere
Their tears are filling up their glasses
No possession, no possession
Hide my head, I need to drown my sorrow
No tomorrow, no tomorrow
And I find it kinda funny, I find it kinda sad
The dreams in which I'm playing are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you, I find it hard to take
When players run in circles it's a very very
Nix World, Nix World

That we're short of players as it is without firing them before the season starts.

....aaaaaand his wife is a very good rugby player (one of the best in Poland, as I understand from the small elitist circle of rugby-lovers in Poland).  So if Michal knows what's good for him, he is not going to ruin his wife's rugby spell in Wellington.

Here is an old (2013) picture from a fun training session between Legia (football) players and Legia womens' rugby team.

The young bloke in green holding the oval ball is Michal Kopczynski.

I can't see the loan been cancelled without someone else lined up, that Rudan can be absoutely confident in... too much of a gamble to get it wrong twice.

Maybe he is one of those players who needs to play (seems to always find another gear when it gets competative?). 

I find it hard to believe that he could of lasted as long as he has as a professional in the environment he is in without offering something.

Going from playing against Real Madrid to being behind Rufer. Geez that's a slide. Shark i hope he turns it around. We need pretty much everything going our way this season to be competitive and this ain't great news/rumours

the A-league is littered with examples of players with decent pedigrees struggle to adapt to a new league/country. Or it could be simply that he has been injured the last couple of weeks and other players have taken their chance to jump ahead.  

I suspect he is also going to be prime candidate to be the whipping boy on here

I think Rufer is gonna be the whipping boy, even if kopa hasn't lit the world on fire thus far his pedigree says enough to me that I remain hopeful that he'll be a consistent player for us this season. If not I'd expect that Rudan is only holding on to him cos he need a certain number of players for the squad and he'll release him in January.

It will be interesting... Rudan has made a point about being a man who does his homework.

Won't sign kiwis without them trialling, but effectively did that here, based on doing his due diligence.

I personally believe Rufer can be a good player, if given the time; I thought he had more about him than Ridenton.

No. Ridenton always looked like the better of the two.

If Rufer is starting before Kopa, then we are doomed again.

maybe Kopa is a good player ill suited to the role hes being played in or hes in a slump with a huge change in culture and lifestyle. 

He did travel half way across the world and has only ever played in Poland, mostly at one club - so perhaps not that surprising. Injuries have hit him as well, which never help.

When does the window close for signings? And does the window need to be open to loan players from other clubs?.

Here is hoping Sky realise before Sunday that the game is actually at Westpac seeing as they will be the ones providing the cov

Have you seen him play live?

No?

Then you shouldn't have an opinion on how decent our players are. I'm optimistic for all our players until I see them Round 1.

If Steven Taylor got injured, would he be over taken.....? If Kurta got injured, would Sail pass him? If Krishna got injured, if Singh got injured.......

Injured players that are class, don't get over taken. Ifill on 1 leg was still better than most. Kopy got over taken by a footballer that should not be able to touch him, but he has because there are a lot of smoke signals indicating he is not very good. Rufer is a far better footballer than Ridenton but I don't believe that Rufer is a holding midfielder. I think he is better as a deep lying distributor but i would not be relying on him to shut down attacks, more to get the recycled ball and start the attack through to Singh

When you take into account that he is not a like for like match, that makes its a little more glaring.....

I FUCKING HATE THE JEST!!!

Yes. And he was terrible. I have cut him some slack because of the circumstances; but I'm really hoping he somehow comes good. It seems a waste that we let Paracki go, who looks the better player, and alongside someone like Mandi could've done better. Who knows now, though.

It does seem a little silly that we're all anti-Kopy after only seeing him play once ( 2 weeks or so after he arrived at the club ) , but hey, that's football; and if you're an import in the A-League no slack will be given to you.

Early fire up!!

Getting excited now - can't help myself

COYN

I hope it is a sunny day on Sunday and I am wishing for the team chosen to play to win and hopefully entertain. I guess the most important thing is to be able to see the players giving 110%. Nothing worse than watching a team not trying. I think Rudan will not put up with that. 

I want to believe, I hope to believe, but for the first season ever, i am nervous. not with excitement, but becausde I have no idea what to expect. I'm wishing all the best to the players. Even Rufer whom i have felt was living on the name. I'm hearing he is starting to make an effort and this is good news.

I'm fired up. Come on Phoenix!

Just seen that John Koutroumbis has been diagnosed with stage one thyroid cancer. What an awful thing to happen to such a young bloke

Probably would have been a certainty to start as well :(

That is absolutely terrible.

Would a banner or tifo be appropriate for Sunday to acknowledge Johns diagnosis?

"For John". Nice and simple and he'll know.

Kia Kaha John?

Maybe with a shot of his mug so he knows it's for him, John isn't the rarest name

Nice and simple.

With a discrete Nix logo or black-yellow stripe, so that SKY commentators will not say "travelling Newcastle fans show their commitment..."

 Motivational Music time!

In the press conference for Elliot and Way Rudan talked about competition for position and intimated that Rufer and Mandi have the starting midfield spots and Nichols and Kopa are fighting for them.