Right the match is still an hour away and I'm bored, time to speculate again. DK said he was looking for further signings in each line - defensive, midfield and attacking signings with "quality" and "leadership". Given that Ljujic takes up the last import spot, these three signings have to be Kiwi or Australian. So, they'll be Australian. With that in mind here are my picks for a defensive signing (some are reasonable and some are unhealthy optimism):
- Robbie Cornthwaite - Not a star, but is better than Mullen and probably Durante now. Whingey git, but he's an absolutely enormous bloke and is scary in the air. Rumour is WSW want to offload him, and given our current defence we could definitely do worse
- Aleksandar Jovanovic - Another massive lump of a centre back, but one that plies his trade in the Korean League. So, probably a decent lump. Has never played in the A-League before, but he's Serbian and we all know DK loves a Balkan.
- Tomislav Mrcela - Pretty much another Jovanovic, unsure which one is better, but I think Tomislav is held in higher regard. A giant Slavic Australian (this one Croatian) playing in the K-League Classic, however most of his career has been played in the Croatian league. He was at Split at the same time Paracki was too
- Jason Davidson - Probably the most unlikely to come to Wellington (doubt any will though to be honest), but is a great technical defender. Played for Aus in the 2014 WC, but I don't think he's played for them in a while. Is only 26 but has floated across Europe for the last 4 seasons moving clubs every 12 months, including to West Brom and Groningen. He joined Reijka in the Croatian League in August but it looks like he hasn't featured at all yet. Plays as a left back/centre back. Highly unlikely but there is the Croatian League connection
Of these I think the most likely signing is Cornthwaite, but I'd love Mrcela or Jovanovic