Welkom Roly! - Never to be an All White

Roly Bonevacia.

4 goal hero...

I wonder if the Godfather had a hand in this given Roly was on loan at Roda?

Sorry if I've missed something in the off season but does this signing (5th import) and the fact that Rodriguez was wearing number 8 the other night mean Ifill is officially gone?

Nothing official but I would lay long odds about seeing Ifill playing for the Nix again. Although I truly, TRULY hope he gets a backroom gig (coaching or promotion) or else becomes a TV commentator / writer.

I think he has Tee Dubs (or Nix Reserves) in the ASBP in his sights this Calendar year and will see what happens from there.

Ah ok.  Maybe they're covering themselves short term and if Ifill makes a miracle recovery and one of the imports bombs out then the could sack the import and bring in Ifill?  I guess we can take comfort in the fact that while he's injured no ones going to be particularly interested in him.

yeah either that or an injury replacement are his best bets. 

Pretty minimal chance of becoming a local, though read something about getting lawyers on it. 

As much as I think we will miss Ifill, I think this is a good sign for the club, anther young player, seems capable enough. I wish him all the best.

Quite impressed with the age of our imports...

Yeah man, it's pretty hard to get 20-22yr olds from clubs in top leagues to this part of the world. Doesn't happen often at all.

Hope he is a good signing. Was on trial at Kilmarnock and they weren't keen. 

Roda were relegated from the Eredivisie so he's got out of his contract there (release clause):

"Bonevacia allowed to leave at Roda JC, despite an ongoing contract to June 2015.This was due to a relegation clause that he had included in his contract when he came in the winter of 2013 to Roda JC."

Defensive mid in his senior career (or centre back in his youth career) and not a goal-scorer (one goal in 67 senior games!!!)

Phoenix could be the making of him though.

Still early in his senior career - only has three full seasons as a senior pro under is belt (67 appearances in Eredivisie and Cup games).

Senior Career stats to date:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roly_Bonevacia#Career...

                                                   Apps G

                   League Cup Other Total

Total:            58  1    5   0   4   0  67  1

He'll be f**kin brilliant. No question. Amazing signing IMO.

Great

Welcome, enjoy Wellington

Apparently turned down a couple of offers in Europe to sign for us.

looks a frikkin good signing to me, esp at 22 years old

He's coming with his wife and 1 year old daughter:

http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/wellingtonphoe...

... pics of wife?

I have an issue with Ernies comments this morning.

"You're not always guaranteed to win it but you've got the best chance of winning it if you control the midfield. I only like one defensive midfielder but when we need other players dropping in, Rodriguez is good at doing that. But he's also good at getting forward, box-to-box style"

If you are only playing 1 DM and that 1 DM happens to be arguably the best in the competition, then why use your import slot to sign a guy who is going to be a back up??? I know the guy is versatile but the imports are where you make a difference in this comp and we have arguably been very poor at wasting them hiustroically. We have one spot wasted on Krishna already.

To me, you change your formation and you play your best players or you sign players that fit your preferred formation. Your back 4, you then have Riera and Roly in front of them, Gorrin and WeeMac in front of them and Cunningham and Burns up top. Thats why I think the Krishna signing was a complete waste as you still have Boyd and Brockie (hmmm) sitting there. If you only play 1 DM and Gorrin can slot in, then sign an out and out fucking striker cause the Roly signing looks to be very strange.

I am tired of seeing imports signed to sit on the bench or be back ups. That being said, he is apparently the goods so I really hope that Ernie comes to his senses and picks his best players and not try to be tied to a formation.

welcome to Welly to Roly and family. Happy to have you son

You're not head coach. There is a reason for that. Trust Ernie.

Saying "trust the coach" on a football forum is a copout. Sure he's in charge and we are just spouting our ill-informed opinions, but isn't that a major part of engaging with the forum - sharing your opinion and debating decisions made by those in charge of the club? Or else the website just becomes a rumour, news, and dick joke aggregrator.

It isn't now?  We've failed our goals.

This is weird, given how angsty these forums got with Ricki picking players rather than a system. Yes the signing leaves the squad unbalanced, but it shouldn't lead us to sending out a team that doesn't suit how Ernie wants the team to play.

I find it hard to believe that Bonevacia won't be starting in some role? Maybe Ernie wants to play Bonevacia alongside Rodriquez? It would seem strange to sign him and then put him on the bench.

I thought he might be our LB but Doyle has been impressing so much there

4312 again?

I think 4-2-2-2 or 4-2-3-1. 

You can use Riera and Roly as the DM 2, Gorrin and WeeMac at your higher 2 and Cunningham and Burns up top. Or you drop Cunningham back slightly into a high 3 and Burns up top. Either way, I think you tell Gorrin, WeeMac, Burns and Cunningham to roam, float and flat out attack (much like Victory used to with Marco and Archie popping up anywhere) cause you have 2 behind you that will cover you well. That would probably allow those 4 to cheat a bit as well knowing there are 2 good DMs behind them. The counter would be promising.

I think if we have this calibre of player, then it should not be a case that he plays when others get injured or come off the bench. It looks like we actually have a decent import mix sans Krishna so throw all guns out there. 

I not sure you can play Reira, A-Rod, Roly and WeeMac all in the middle of the park, and I don't think WeeMac has the pace to play wide in Ernie's set up. Maybe we'll see them all on the field at once with Roly in the backline or possibly WeeMac as a false nine, which isn't a recipe for goals. 

If we do play all four in a diamond we could absolutely dominate possession. With width coming from the fullbacks and two very mobile forwards, it would be quite a similar system to what Liverpool used a lot last season. 

The more I think about it the more I like it, the only real concern is the lack of someone up front to hold the ball up and give the attack something to run off. With such a strong midfield protecting the centre backs the fullbacks should be free to really get forward. 

This excites me:

                   Moss

Muscat Dura Siggy Doyle

                  Reira

Bonevacia.      Rodriguez

             McGlinchey

Cunningham.    Burns

Basically what we played for most of last season. If Roly can play in defence we could also look at a 3412 if need be - could help us get more width.

                   Moss

Muscat Dura Siggy Doyle

           Reira  Bonevacia

     Rodriguez  McGlinchey

  Cunningham. Burns

This is what I am advocating. I think with two up top and two down low, that give more than enough room for Wee Mac and Gorrin to operate in that void between them. You then tell Doyle and Fenton to run their ass off (for your width) and one of the DMs can tuck in.

Nice team but I think you have Muscat operating as a wing back..

Fuck of course. Thank you.

I have made more than a few errors of late. A bit of old age catching up with me.

I like your team but would prefer us to go:

                Reira Bonevacia 

Cunningham    Rodriquez     McGlinchey

                       Burns

The result would probably be the same because, as you say, the front 4 would move around a bit. 

I think one of the biggest questions for this season is what will Fenton's role be? If Muscat was started at right back then we would have Boyd, Brockie, Fenton and Krishna all competing for bench spots. It's hard to imagine us seeing anything of Rufer, Ridenton or Hicks this season.