R3 vs Melbourne City | Sat 21 Oct | 7:35pm | SS2

Adelaide was desperate to have a scapegoat of their own for this season.

Except his replacement has been our best player so far?

Not sure whether it's been said already but not sure Smith should get beaten from that position even though it was a sweet strike, think that has to go down in the mistake column

I am prepared to cut him some slack under the circumstances - he was always going to be vulnerable with the way the wall was set up for the free kick.

Who sets the wall up....

Yep.  From that distance and from that position he should have been able to cover that corner

We should have scored one or two. Sure, Smith wasn't happy, but it was a sweet strike and we should have capitalised on our pressure and chances

He (Smith) is getting better with every game which is a positive and am looking forward to Saturndays game. For the first time this season, he might finish the night with a clean sheet!

I agree, once he bulks up a bit he really does look like he's got the full compliment of skills

When Finkler comes back, there is no Ridenton and McGlinchey sits a little deeper than he has been. End of.

Not sure I would prefer Finkler to Ridenton on current form.

Yea Ridenton first up, then hit em with the Fink later on imo

Ok so we waste import money to have him sit on the bench? If thats the case, get rid of Finkler and get in an import that will start. Its wasted money sitting on the bench. Imports are a difference maker and should not be on the bench.

That only works if there is cap space after paying him out for a replacement import. 

IMO signing him in the first place was a waste of "import money" (not that that's really a thing). Especially on a two year deal.

It's been said over and over again imports are not any more important than other players. The team is what's important and if the best thing for the team is to have an import player who sits on the bench then that is what's best for the team.

Said over and over again by you...

Generally imports are the way that you can increase quality and solve problems in your squad that can't be filled by an Aussie/Kiwi given they are on better wages.  If they are sititing on the bench then you aren't achieving either of those aims, so why have them in your squad?  I'm not saying that every import has to start every game but they should be signed as starters.

It's been said over and over by several people on this site not just me.

You put together the best XI that you can, if the NZ and Ausies that you sign are better than whatever foreigner you can afford then that's fine.

The foreigners need to augment the squad. If the best position for a foreigner is to sit on the bench and add impact later on in the game and you don't have quality local players that can play that role then that's a fine use of the spot.

Also, Finkler was signed as a starter.

I actually think it's a good thing if local players are good enough that they're keeping foreign players the calibre of Finkler out of the starting XI.

Your argument would make more sense if it wasn't a salary capped league, but it is. You sign the best players you can within the cap be they Foreigners or not. Some seasons teams don't even use their full allocation of foreigners.

I'm with Ryan on this one - with the salary cap you might end up in a situation where you get expensive local players and have to save on imports, and end up with a better squad than if you did it the other way around. Local players are know quantities who won't have problems settling or adjusting either, and plenty of imports turn out to be duds. Or you could spend heaps on 3 or 4 quality imports and scrimp on the other 1 or 2. If you have a good starting 11 and solid backups for every position who cares whether you have imports on the bench? Would it be better to have 5 top quality imports but no depth or quality in other positions because you blew the budget on the imports?

We also have the kiwis as locals advantage which means that we have a bigger pool of local talent to draw on. WeeMac was an import for CCM when they were one of the top sides but we get him as a local for instance.

I wonder if any of the forthcoming Peruvian players want a chance to play for the Nix??