Trent Buhagiar among 12 players leaving Sydney FC.
WPM 2022/23 Squad Speculation, Confirmation and Mutual Termination
Sad news re Fenton. I would have kept him for another couple of years, terrific squad player.
I think aside from the many injuries that have plagued his careers, his progress has also been thwarted by this ability to play RB. He went from this spunky winger who ran into space and scored goals (check out his sprint before the lovely debut diving header - that's some attacking instinct there!) to someone who had to help patch up a volatile defense and who was never really that good at defending.
But he's had a decent career, played for the Nix and the national team so if he wants to stop at 29 and do something else, he's earned the right to do so.
You've got to applaude the courage. Look at Tim Brown. Retired early and is now the founder of a super successful company.
I think aside from the many injuries that have plagued his careers, his progress has also been thwarted by this ability to play RB. He went from this spunky winger who ran into space and scored goals (check out his sprint before the lovely debut diving header - that's some attacking instinct there!) to someone who had to help patch up a volatile defense and who was never really that good at defending.
But he's had a decent career, played for the Nix and the national team so if he wants to stop at 29 and do something else, he's earned the right to do so.
You've got to applaude the courage. Look at Tim Brown. Retired early and is now the founder of a super successful company.
Louie has been a true stalwart for the club. Great mental toughness to come back from those constant shoulder injuries. Hopefully the Nix do something for him, as an acknowledgement of his career, pre the first home game next season.
Though I suspect any comparisons with Tim Brown end on the football pitch, and won't really extend too far into the business room.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff-nation/128679007/bring-back-the-ring-of-fire-wellington-phoenix
Though I suspect any comparisons with Tim Brown end on the football pitch, and won't really extend too far into the business room.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff-nation/128679007/bring-back-the-ring-of-fire-wellington-phoenix
Hmmm, I wonder why the move?
He's been in the first team enviro at the NIX, been on the bench and could potentially be our #2 next year (albeit unlikely). Why move on.
He's been in the first team enviro at the NIX, been on the bench and could potentially be our #2 next year (albeit unlikely). Why move on.
Hmmm, I wonder why the move?
He's been in the first team enviro at the NIX, been on the bench and could potentially be our #2 next year (albeit unlikely). Why move on.
He's been in the first team enviro at the NIX, been on the bench and could potentially be our #2 next year (albeit unlikely). Why move on.
Uffie's son next cab off the rank?
Pretty sure he is/was a keeper in the Nix Academy.
But maybe Gray's been told that if Sail does leave, they will recruit someone older & experienced to backup or even push Paulsen for the no 1 spot.
But yeah whatever happens, what a great experience to go to Europe as a 17 yr and trial for a month or so. See a bit of the world, and the huge football culture away from little Aus/NZ.
Pretty sure he is/was a keeper in the Nix Academy.
But maybe Gray's been told that if Sail does leave, they will recruit someone older & experienced to backup or even push Paulsen for the no 1 spot.
But yeah whatever happens, what a great experience to go to Europe as a 17 yr and trial for a month or so. See a bit of the world, and the huge football culture away from little Aus/NZ.
Jets have released, among others, Valentino Yuel. Pretty good Sotirio replacement I reckon.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/a-league/128708140/wellington-phoenix-defender-louis-fenton-announces-retirement-at-29
Fenton retirement confirmed. For mine one of the legends of the club, may not have been the best technically, but always gave 110%. Was unlucky with the shoulders and toe, and pretty hampered by being plugged in out of position his whole career but always put the team first.
That diving header on debut
That post match interview
That lion tattoo
Thanks Louis
Fenton retirement confirmed. For mine one of the legends of the club, may not have been the best technically, but always gave 110%. Was unlucky with the shoulders and toe, and pretty hampered by being plugged in out of position his whole career but always put the team first.
That diving header on debut
That post match interview
That lion tattoo
Thanks Louis
Jets have released, among others, Valentino Yuel. Pretty good Sotirio replacement I reckon.
Yuel would be one of the guys in the "released" pool I'd be happy to see in a nix shirt.
Rumours were floating around just before our midfield got injured that they were being courted by a few Ozzy clubs looking a paying a good price for next season.
Jets have released, among others, Valentino Yuel. Pretty good Sotirio replacement I reckon.
Yuel would be one of the guys in the "released" pool I'd be happy to see in a nix shirt.
This was the first season he has stood out to me, his form then got derailed by covid breaks and international call ups. Gotta remember that he is 27, so there isn't much more development in him.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/a-league/128708140/wellington-phoenix-defender-louis-fenton-announces-retirement-at-29
Fenton retirement confirmed. For mine one of the legends of the club, may not have been the best technically, but always gave 110%. Was unlucky with the shoulders and toe, and pretty hampered by being plugged in out of position his whole career but always put the team first.
That diving header on debut
That post match interview
That lion tattoo
Thanks Louis
Fenton retirement confirmed. For mine one of the legends of the club, may not have been the best technically, but always gave 110%. Was unlucky with the shoulders and toe, and pretty hampered by being plugged in out of position his whole career but always put the team first.
That diving header on debut
That post match interview
That lion tattoo
Thanks Louis
Also great to read an announcement from the club about one of their stalwarts retiring. Shame they were beaten to it by someone on bloody social media.
Jets have released, among others, Valentino Yuel. Pretty good Sotirio replacement I reckon.
Yuel would be one of the guys in the "released" pool I'd be happy to see in a nix shirt.
This was the first season he has stood out to me, his form then got derailed by covid breaks and international call ups. Gotta remember that he is 27, so there isn't much more development in him.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/a-league/128708140/wellington-phoenix-defender-louis-fenton-announces-retirement-at-29
Fenton retirement confirmed. For mine one of the legends of the club, may not have been the best technically, but always gave 110%. Was unlucky with the shoulders and toe, and pretty hampered by being plugged in out of position his whole career but always put the team first.
That diving header on debut
That post match interview
That lion tattoo
Thanks Louis
Fenton retirement confirmed. For mine one of the legends of the club, may not have been the best technically, but always gave 110%. Was unlucky with the shoulders and toe, and pretty hampered by being plugged in out of position his whole career but always put the team first.
That diving header on debut
That post match interview
That lion tattoo
Thanks Louis
Also great to read an announcement from the club about one of their stalwarts retiring. Shame they were beaten to it by someone on bloody social media.
To be fair, he is one of only six players to have made more than 30 (basically one season’s worth) A League appearances without playing professionally overseas.
The other five are:
Ben Sigmund (181),
Alex Rufer (103),
Ben Waine (65),
Oli Sail (52),
Sam Sutton (38)
Also a very good chance 3 of those leave the exclusive group in the next season or two, and both Sigmund and Rufer had unsuccessful overseas trials. Of course, if you’re not playing for the Phoenix then it’s either go overseas or give up pro football, it’s unlike basically every other country where you can just join another team in the same country.
Yeah do realise some may have had time overseas. What I meant was its good that someone has been able to forge themselves a professional career played mostly in NZ. You could probably also include Payne on that list.
Hopefully Waine Sail and Sutton have still got overseas experiences still to come.
Hopefully Waine Sail and Sutton have still got overseas experiences still to come.
It's true that fully Professional alternatives don't exist but semi pro in Australia and NZ are far more lucrative than any semi pro in Europe.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/a-league/128708140/wellington-phoenix-defender-louis-fenton-announces-retirement-at-29
Fenton retirement confirmed. For mine one of the legends of the club, may not have been the best technically, but always gave 110%. Was unlucky with the shoulders and toe, and pretty hampered by being plugged in out of position his whole career but always put the team first.
That diving header on debut
That post match interview
That lion tattoo
Thanks Louis
Fenton retirement confirmed. For mine one of the legends of the club, may not have been the best technically, but always gave 110%. Was unlucky with the shoulders and toe, and pretty hampered by being plugged in out of position his whole career but always put the team first.
That diving header on debut
That post match interview
That lion tattoo
Thanks Louis
The video they’ve put out just had his goals. Needs a series of runs to the byline for goals, blocks, tackles, even crosses and the odd bit of malarkey. And a few moments with his injuries and lucky head bandages and so on. Actually wouldn’t mind getting the push in the back against Perth clip either. I hope there’s another video in the works.
As you say a legend of the Nix. Hope to see a few more coming through..!
Jets have released, among others, Valentino Yuel. Pretty good Sotirio replacement I reckon.
Yuel would be one of the guys in the "released" pool I'd be happy to see in a nix shirt.
This was the first season he has stood out to me, his form then got derailed by covid breaks and international call ups. Gotta remember that he is 27, so there isn't much more development in him.
Krishna's visa status was a bit part of why he had to wait so long.
Heard Noah Billingsley is visiting Welly, if we're looking for a RB to replace Fenton..
Heard Noah Billingsley is visiting Welly, if we're looking for a RB to replace Fenton..
Wonder if he is sticking around for a while? Uffie loves a fullback that can get up and down the side lines but would probably need to see him in some trials first.
Heard Noah Billingsley is visiting Welly, if we're looking for a RB to replace Fenton..
Wonder if he is sticking around for a while? Uffie loves a fullback that can get up and down the side lines but would probably need to see him in some trials first.
Well he's been released by Minnesota, and I think he's without a club at the moment. But I don't know how long he'll be without a club, so definitely worth a look from a Nix perspective I think.
I think I read that he was the fittest player at Minnesota, so could fulfil that attacking RB role. I haven't actually seen him play to be fair, but he's a young kiwi with some experience overseas and at international level, so could be a decent option.
This is mostly word-of-mouth btw, I don't know how long he's sticking around in Welly but was told by someone I know that he's here atm.
A forward converted into a full back who was reasonably good at international youth level? Sounds like the perfect Fenton replacement to me. (Let’s just hope he doesn’t have the same injury bug)
Ryan Thomas has been released by PSV. Doubt we are anywhere near the running for him, but a league with a reduced workload might be just want he needs for a year or two.
Ryan Thomas has been released by PSV. Doubt we are anywhere near the running for him, but a league with a reduced workload might be just want he needs for a year or two.
He's not going to go from around 40,000 euros per week (~3.5 mill NZD annually) to 200-500k NZD annually. Furthermore, the Nix are not going to offer a comparatively big salary to a player that has hardly played a professional match in the last 12 months and is still injured.
Ryan Thomas has been released by PSV. Doubt we are anywhere near the running for him, but a league with a reduced workload might be just want he needs for a year or two.
He's not going to go from around 40,000 euros per week (~3.5 mill NZD annually) to 200-500k NZD annually. Furthermore, the Nix are not going to offer a comparatively big salary to a player that has hardly played a professional match in the last 12 months and is still injured.
Ryan Thomas has been released by PSV. Doubt we are anywhere near the running for him, but a league with a reduced workload might be just want he needs for a year or two.
He's not going to go from around 40,000 euros per week (~3.5 mill NZD annually) to 200-500k NZD annually. Furthermore, the Nix are not going to offer a comparatively big salary to a player that has hardly played a professional match in the last 12 months and is still injured.
4,000 is significantly more absurd. Remember, he was signed off the back of a fantastic season for Zwolle where he was probably the best midfielder in the league outside the big three clubs. He was brought in to start and play a significant role
Sure, but it's the Eredivisie, not the Premier League. The very top players are earning 40,000 Euros a week. Thomas is probably on 5-10k
according to https://www.capology.com/club/psv/salaries/, Thomas was on 11,000 euro a week, yearly 580,000.
And I have no idea how accurate that website is.
And I have no idea how accurate that website is.
according to https://www.capology.com/club/psv/salaries/, Thomas was on 11,000 euro a week, yearly 580,000.
And I have no idea who accurate that website is.
And I have no idea who accurate that website is.
Doesn't matter, he's going to stay in Europe, he's got an English passport so if he can't find anything in the Netherlands, he should probably make his way to the UK.
40,000 might be on the high end, but PSV is a top European club. I would be extremely surprised if he's on less than 15,000 euros per week. Especially considering the minimum salary for non-EU players over 20 is 436,202 euros (or 8,300 per week).
Somewhere between 15-25 seems likely.
Somewhere between 15-25 seems likely.
Ryan Thomas... don't make me laugh.
Great player I'm sure but to pay large amounts of money for a 5th defensive midfielder (all other dm's are first team quality), absolute madness. Rufer, Pennington and Laws sat on the bench from Christmas onwards.
We have a very good basic squad. Pennington as a sole dm showed vulnerability against the top teams but as soon as he was paired with Lewis there wasn't any vulnerability. Even with Pennington as sole midfielder, we took 18 points from 11 games (equates to 42 points over the season).
There's a limited budget. We need to spend a very large part of that on 2 strikers to replace Hooper and Sotirio. We need to learn from Western United's season this year, the key is one outstanding striker and a good squad.
And, I forgot, we'll probably need to spend a sizeable amount of money on a goalkeeper as well.
Great player I'm sure but to pay large amounts of money for a 5th defensive midfielder (all other dm's are first team quality), absolute madness. Rufer, Pennington and Laws sat on the bench from Christmas onwards.
We have a very good basic squad. Pennington as a sole dm showed vulnerability against the top teams but as soon as he was paired with Lewis there wasn't any vulnerability. Even with Pennington as sole midfielder, we took 18 points from 11 games (equates to 42 points over the season).
There's a limited budget. We need to spend a very large part of that on 2 strikers to replace Hooper and Sotirio. We need to learn from Western United's season this year, the key is one outstanding striker and a good squad.
And, I forgot, we'll probably need to spend a sizeable amount of money on a goalkeeper as well.
?? Thomas isn’t a defensive midfielder.
My mistake. Just looked on transfermarkt. Seemed to indicate that he was a DM.
That's shown my ignorance of NZ football.
I ran a bar in Milan until just before Covid. I retired to NZ. I'm a little more informed about Italian football.
That's shown my ignorance of NZ football.
I ran a bar in Milan until just before Covid. I retired to NZ. I'm a little more informed about Italian football.
My mistake. Just looked on transfermarkt. Seemed to indicate that he was a DM.
That's shown my ignorance of NZ football.
I ran a bar in Milan until just before Covid. I retired to NZ. I'm a little more informed about Italian football.
That's shown my ignorance of NZ football.
I ran a bar in Milan until just before Covid. I retired to NZ. I'm a little more informed about Italian football.
My mistake. Just looked on transfermarkt. Seemed to indicate that he was a DM.
That's shown my ignorance of NZ football.
I ran a bar in Milan until just before Covid. I retired to NZ. I'm a little more informed about Italian football.
That's shown my ignorance of NZ football.
I ran a bar in Milan until just before Covid. I retired to NZ. I'm a little more informed about Italian football.
He’d be taking Sandoval’s spot so CM?
My mistake. Just looked on transfermarkt. Seemed to indicate that he was a DM.
That's shown my ignorance of NZ football.
I ran a bar in Milan until just before Covid. I retired to NZ. I'm a little more informed about Italian football.
That's shown my ignorance of NZ football.
I ran a bar in Milan until just before Covid. I retired to NZ. I'm a little more informed about Italian football.
He’d be taking Sandoval’s spot so CM?
My mistake. Just looked on transfermarkt. Seemed to indicate that he was a DM.
That's shown my ignorance of NZ football.
I ran a bar in Milan until just before Covid. I retired to NZ. I'm a little more informed about Italian football.
That's shown my ignorance of NZ football.
I ran a bar in Milan until just before Covid. I retired to NZ. I'm a little more informed about Italian football.
He’d be taking Sandoval’s spot so CM?
Oh wait, sorry. Try this:
So CM then? 😆
I think Champness and Billingsley would make good signings.
Billingsley impressed me as a RB, which was great because I thought he was a complete donkey as a striker.
To this day I have no idea how he got so many youth caps as one.
Still, has barely played lately. Lets give him a trial and go from there. Champness a no brainer for me.
To this day I have no idea how he got so many youth caps as one.
Still, has barely played lately. Lets give him a trial and go from there. Champness a no brainer for me.