WPM 2023/24 Squad Speculation, Confirmation and Mutual Termination

Jazzy Jeff

Kyle Adams

Kyle Adams is following us on insta now. Kiwi CB and can play LB also. Not the visa CB we are after but would be a decent signing if we are looking at him for depth

Chiefytheman

Jazzy Jeff

Kyle Adams

Kyle Adams is following us on insta now. Kiwi CB and can play LB also. Not the visa CB we are after but would be a decent signing if we are looking at him for depth

Only played LB 11 times out of 134 games so not sure if we'd use him there much unless forced to. 
Not too sure about this signing because if we're still after an import CB we'd have Surman, Wootton, and the new import CB as our CBs with Payne covering, and even though it's not confirmed I feel De Vries is a no-brainer signing who can also cover CB. So if we got Adams and De Vries, we'd have 6 players covering CB so not sure he'd get much game time unless he really turned out to be quality and I'd hate for him to take game time off Surman which Boxall sort of did this season.

I think with Surman it had to do with the fact he was going to be away for the international duty so Boxall was brought in for that?  And we have not kept Boxall after all.

I think our idea of FBs this season seem to be defenders first? Perhaps defending narrowly? Payne once more a RB?
There was talk of Sutton moving further forward, which would leave room for another LB. 

If Adams & de Vries were both signed (both experienced players who have played for the AWs), I think you wouldn't need a visa CB. 
Wootton, Surman, Adams plus Payne & De Vries as utilities. Hughes as the next Weenix prospect. So freeing up a visa spot for another attacker. 

But who knows maybe de Vries wants to go back to Europe, and if he gets mins against Sweden or Qatar he gives himself a little shop window that he is recovered from his ACL injury.

Mainland FC

I think with Surman it had to do with the fact he was going to be away for the international duty so Boxall was brought in for that?  And we have not kept Boxall after all.

I did feel Uffie trusted Surman less this season than he did the season before for some weird reason, though.

coochiee

If Adams & de Vries were both signed (both experienced players who have played for the AWs), I think you wouldn't need a visa CB. 
Wootton, Surman, Adams plus Payne & De Vries as utilities. Hughes as the next Weenix prospect. So freeing up a visa spot for another attacker. 

But who knows maybe de Vries wants to go back to Europe, and if he gets mins against Sweden or Qatar he gives himself a little shop window that he is recovered from his ACL injury.

Yeah if we sign both of them then I don't think we should be signing a visa CB but the club seems pretty set on it but I guess their view may change if they were to get these signings. I think signing those 2 and then visa attacker may be the better move for squad balance with our attacking options not screaming out guaranteed goals bar Zawada

How good is Adams? Payne is a decent CB with overseas experience who hasn’t nailed down a ALM starting spot. Laws was fairly handy too, and we’ve released him.

Adam's has been in multiple All White camps now and barely played. Does not fill me with confidence... but perhaps
We are looking for more ball playing CBs and this represents a shift jn approach. 

I think Laws was developing into a pretty useful CB, so I think we must be looking for a nailed on starter to replace him and Payne 

Given Pyne's bang average performances against Sweden, CR and Peru as well as the last ALM season, I think it's time the Nix started to look at him as a bench warmer and nothing more. Same with Kosta.

Marto

Given Pyne's bang average performances against Sweden, CR and Peru as well as the last ALM season, I think it's time the Nix started to look at him as a bench warmer and nothing more. Same with Kosta.

Imo, I thought the same last season. I don’t rate him as a starter at all. Should be signing better.

Payne has dropped off in the last 18 months. I don't think anyone would question that, but we can't simply drop him to the bench - we have to get someone better first, which we don't have currently in our squad.

MetalLegNZ

Payne has dropped off in the last 18 months. I don't think anyone would question that, but we can't simply drop him to the bench - we have to get someone better first, which we don't have currently in our squad.

I mean of course, we lost Elliot so we're getting another RB. We're saying that this RB should be good enough to relegate Payne to the bench

Payne is currently the best NZ/AUS CB in our squad, despite any form dips.

Important to remember that despite a form dip, or more noticeable errors, he was against a much better team outside a CB who isn’t starting at his club and with Sail a bit iffy with his feet. 

For example for the third goal he was out of position, but I don’t think it was his fault as he’d got well forward, I think it was Bell who lost the ball and it was just too far for him to get back. 

I can’t say I’d be overjoyed at him as a starting RB, but if he’s not being asked to push forward as much and has two high quality CBs inside, plus Paulsen who has been sold as a sweeper keeper who’s strong with his feet, and a dedicated DM screening the back 4, in the A league, after a full pre-season perhaps we can look at it differently. 

Just to play devil’s advocate considering his form in the A league at CB hasn’t been terrible. 

The guys who shone against Sweden, Costa Rica and Peru are on much better contracts in better leagues and this is the tight-rope we’re walking I guess. 

To consider as well how we’d have felt about Roux or McGarry as our starters at the beginning of the season. A lot is down to the coach and the role. 

Wow it is quiet on here! Any news on Salas? 

Very disappointed about the ongoing silence from Lasogga. He does not call, doesn't write, does not follow us on instagram. 
And this after all we have done for him on this forum.

The highpoint of this forum was surely when we stopped a player being signed, i.e. Sery Elie de Campos

A shame we lost Laws.

I expect we'll see the full backs less aggressive under Chiefy and the width being provided by attacking players instead, which suits Payne as an RB much better than Uffie's system did. Definitely need competition for him in that role though.

Payne simply not up to pro football anymore. Give him his dues to this point he's battled away as one. We need a proper CB and a proper RB.  in this country we have developed at least one of each before looking overseas. 

This guy Chiefy know anything about local football? or is he aussie or nothing kinda guy. Havent heard much from him since appointment. Media out of Phoenix gone on strike?

Showtime Nixie

Payne simply not up to pro football anymore. Give him his dues to this point he's battled away as one. We need a proper CB and a proper RB.  in this country we have developed at least one of each before looking overseas. 

This guy Chiefy know anything about local football? or is he aussie or nothing kinda guy. Havent heard much from him since appointment. Media out of Phoenix gone on strike?

We've already signed 2 players very early in the offseason, when there's something to be reported it'll be reported. 

I expect we'll wait to announce any domestic signings until closer to the end of the domestic season and that really leaves the 1 import spot to fill, which I really hope we're taking our time with and identifying the best candidate for the spot, be it a CB or otherwise.

Showtime Nixie

Payne simply not up to pro football anymore. Give him his dues to this point he's battled away as one. We need a proper CB and a proper RB.  in this country we have developed at least one of each before looking overseas. 

This guy Chiefy know anything about local football? or is he aussie or nothing kinda guy. Havent heard much from him since appointment. Media out of Phoenix gone on strike?

"Haven't heard much from him" - Christ, pre-season literally hasn't even started yet.

Showtime Nixie

Payne simply not up to pro football anymore. Give him his dues to this point he's battled away as one. We need a proper CB and a proper RB.  in this country we have developed at least one of each before looking overseas. 

This guy Chiefy know anything about local football? or is he aussie or nothing kinda guy. Havent heard much from him since appointment. Media out of Phoenix gone on strike?

Chiefy is not a new arrival - he would have spent enough time here to know where to look for local talent.

Mainland FC

Showtime Nixie

Payne simply not up to pro football anymore. Give him his dues to this point he's battled away as one. We need a proper CB and a proper RB.  in this country we have developed at least one of each before looking overseas. 

This guy Chiefy know anything about local football? or is he aussie or nothing kinda guy. Havent heard much from him since appointment. Media out of Phoenix gone on strike?

Chiefy is not a new arrival - he would have spent enough time here to know where to look for local talent.

He said when he was appointed coach, that there were a few NZ Domestic players he would be looking at. Between him & Gill they will have a good grasp of the local scene. Noting that this is only the 2nd winter since the end of border restrictions, that local Kiwis can freely trial at the Nix.

Showtime Nixie

Payne simply not up to pro football anymore. Give him his dues to this point he's battled away as one. We need a proper CB and a proper RB.  in this country we have developed at least one of each before looking overseas. 

This guy Chiefy know anything about local football? or is he aussie or nothing kinda guy. Havent heard much from him since appointment. Media out of Phoenix gone on strike?

Doesn't take much to rark you up does it? Even silence for a number of weeks will do it apparently. Have you already written off the season?

Just expected to be a bit more chatter around the place especially with a new gaffer etc. Fans want to know his thoughts and his thinking surely? Sorry am i asking to much again? Can we not be fans all year round? I apologise.

Have written the season off? If i was to say yes I'm sure i wouldn't be the only one - a no name coach doesn't exactly excite me. The other clubs have far better club management and rosters. All good and well trying to be optimistic but lets pour some water over our heads and be realistic. Anyways what are we settling for again? 6th? is 6th our pass mark? i think we should all say what we will settle for this season so we dont have blurred lines and argue.

What will be a pass mark for you? 

Wellington Phoenix don't get their A-League licence yanked is my pass mark

I'm cautiously optimistic

Showtime Nixie

Just expected to be a bit more chatter around the place especially with a new gaffer etc. Fans want to know his thoughts and his thinking surely? Sorry am i asking to much again? Can we not be fans all year round? I apologise.

Have written the season off? If i was to say yes I'm sure i wouldn't be the only one - a no name coach doesn't exactly excite me. The other clubs have far better club management and rosters. All good and well trying to be optimistic but lets pour some water over our heads and be realistic. Anyways what are we settling for again? 6th? is 6th our pass mark? i think we should all say what we will settle for this season so we dont have blurred lines and argue.

What will be a pass mark for you? 

Screenshot_2023-06-20-17-07-22-71_40deb401b9ffe8e1df2f1cc5ba480b12.jpg 257.87 KB

Showtime Nixie

Just expected to be a bit more chatter around the place especially with a new gaffer etc. Fans want to know his thoughts and his thinking surely? Sorry am i asking to much again? Can we not be fans all year round? I apologise.

Have written the season off? If i was to say yes I'm sure i wouldn't be the only one - a no name coach doesn't exactly excite me. The other clubs have far better club management and rosters. All good and well trying to be optimistic but lets pour some water over our heads and be realistic. Anyways what are we settling for again? 6th? is 6th our pass mark? i think we should all say what we will settle for this season so we dont have blurred lines and argue.

What will be a pass mark for you? 

ALL the other ALM clubs already have better rosters than the Nix? You know that for a fact? Or just another loose interpretation of the truth.

Glory announced the release of 8 players only 6 days ago. Well after the Nix's similar announcement.

It's the world's longest off season. The A League doesn't kick off for another 3-4 months. Expect some news when pre season starts in July.

Fair enough may have jumped the gun but - i want players signed and no excuses this year. Sick of mediocre expectations by a lot of us. The coaching appointment aint exactly what was expected but it is what it is. Just want to hear more from this bloke to see what hes thinking or infact has any idea at all. My bad

Showtime Nixie

Fair enough may have jumped the gun but - i want players signed and no excuses this year. Sick of mediocre expectations by a lot of us. The coaching appointment aint exactly what was expected but it is what it is. Just want to hear more from this bloke to see what hes thinking or infact has any idea at all. My bad

"The coaching appointment ain't exactly what was expected" - Really? I think most people expected Chiefy, and I'd even go as far to say that most people are cautiously excited about him. Saying a coach is a "No name" at A League level means pretty much nothing. Almost every A League coach that has gone on to be even half decent has been in Chiefy's position at the start of their career, gotta get that first gig at some point. Do you think Mariners fans wished the club hired someone like John Aloisi instead of backing Montgomery?

Are we there yet?

Lasogga et al is popular because there’s never enough pre-season to keep us going and we have to make our own fun. 

Go wild and start some rumours…

There was an interview with Dome on the BFG podcast the other day where he said we've done the global search and brought in a big budget coach before and it was an unmitigated disaster and that the Nix is a relatively unique beast and therefore it makes sense to develop internally. 

If we look within the A-League at the big name coaches, who would we go for? Popovic was terrible with a lot more money than us, Corrica probably did just enough to keep his job while spending more money than us, the Rado ship has sailed, Veert just signed a multi year extension, Montgomery will only leave the Mariners to move overseas, and Rudan speaks for himself.

I wasn't ecstatic about Chief but I've grown to like the idea. I have high hopes for the season he's already making pragmatic changes and we shouldn't forget that at one point we were a win away from second and still made it into the finals despite a massive implosion. All we need is tweaks to improve and Chief is saying all the right things. Really it was between him, Greenacre, and a bit of a curve ball with the likes of Jose, Ramon, or Hay.

The other thing that Dome has said was Talay has always finished above our budget on the ladder except this year where he finished bang on it. So we can safely assume we're very much a mid table spending team and therefore get mid table results on average with blips on either side. Bearing in mind that this was also our most expensive squad ever and therefore we might sit somewhere lower than mid table on average.

Showtime Nixie

Just expected to be a bit more chatter around the place especially with a new gaffer etc. Fans want to know his thoughts and his thinking surely? Sorry am i asking to much again? Can we not be fans all year round? I apologise.

Have written the season off? If i was to say yes I'm sure i wouldn't be the only one - a no name coach doesn't exactly excite me. The other clubs have far better club management and rosters. All good and well trying to be optimistic but lets pour some water over our heads and be realistic. Anyways what are we settling for again? 6th? is 6th our pass mark? i think we should all say what we will settle for this season so we dont have blurred lines and argue.

What will be a pass mark for you? 

I am a very positive person but also a realist. I am well aware that the phoenix are a mid table team in terms of money used and also the owners have wasted millions keeping the team afloat. They are not a melbourne city who have the essentially all the money in the world, we can't expect success every year from them because of this reason. You can see the Nix are really trying to be a professional, successful club every year though and that for me is enough to support them. 

A pass mark? For me I simply want to watch good, exciting football so in many respects I did not enjoy last season. My favourite season in recent memory was that one year with Davila which was interrupted by covid. We tore teams apart some days and teams feared us, that was good to watch.

I don't see the point of being so negative like the way you are. Do you even enjoy watching? 

anaveragestem

Showtime Nixie

Just expected to be a bit more chatter around the place especially with a new gaffer etc. Fans want to know his thoughts and his thinking surely? Sorry am i asking to much again? Can we not be fans all year round? I apologise.

Have written the season off? If i was to say yes I'm sure i wouldn't be the only one - a no name coach doesn't exactly excite me. The other clubs have far better club management and rosters. All good and well trying to be optimistic but lets pour some water over our heads and be realistic. Anyways what are we settling for again? 6th? is 6th our pass mark? i think we should all say what we will settle for this season so we dont have blurred lines and argue.

What will be a pass mark for you? 

I am a very positive person but also a realist. I am well aware that the phoenix are a mid table team in terms of money used and also the owners have wasted millions keeping the team afloat. They are not a melbourne city who have the essentially all the money in the world, we can't expect success every year from them because of this reason. You can see the Nix are really trying to be a professional, successful club every year though and that for me is enough to support them. 

A pass mark? For me I simply want to watch good, exciting football so in many respects I did not enjoy last season. My favourite season in recent memory was that one year with Davila which was interrupted by covid. We tore teams apart some days and teams feared us, that was good to watch.

I don't see the point of being so negative like the way you are. Do you even enjoy watching? 

Didn't Zawada say something along the lines that they were the most professional club he's ever worked for and have plans and a strategy for everything and that other clubs can learn from them?


I actually think the fact that we haven't won a title is more down to circumstances and bad luck than anything fundamentally wrong with the club. At some point it's going to click, like the Mariners did, and we'll win the seat.

Just prefer my club to be more ambitious with appointments and fan engagement. Maybe they will find a way to get more of us to games too..i feel in recent years we've gone backwards on and off the pitch. Only heard excuses past few seasons. But hey time will tell. Yes i do enjoy watching and yes i will have an opinion...in fact most on here turn on the club after a loss....some of us aren't the saints we think we are..all been guilty my friend. anyways lets see what this off season brings us....maybe hope....maybe. 

I think the Phoenix have been fairly innovative as a club. They’ve tried a bunch of approaches. 

To be honest looking at the Coasties at the grand final and the decisive home advantage they provided, I think the fans can look at themselves for not providing a home fortress for the boys…

When you look at us we were very close this season. We Arsenaled it a bit. We had a positive head to head result against CC, but lost our momentum and grit in the ultimate run in. 

I think getting the community and fans right in behind the players as was the case in the past is important if we want to replicate the CC model. Montgomery was an ex-coastie right? And McBreen and Matty Simon are in the commentary and visible in the media. The new CC ownership spoke to the community about their pride and personal investment in the club being needed. There’s a sense of heritage and continuity with past success. Perhaps also some bridges to be rebuilt post-Covid? I can’t really speak to that. 

But it’s not a difficult mix for Chief. Win games or at least put in committed coherent performances against tougher opposition. Look like being a Phoenix player is something to be valued. Do that enough the fans should get behind you. While Zawada has been great, I don’t think he’s the player to inspire the fans quite the way Krishna, Burns, Uli or Ifill did. Though if he bangs in some more winners this season that’ll help!

Getting some flair in the play at some point will also help. As would a few players who the opposition dislike dribbling at for good reason. And a local hero or two. 

An economic uptick wouldn’t hurt either. 

That’s probably all as facile and helpful as the negative stuff already in the mix, but eh! 

Showtime Nixie

Just prefer my club to be more ambitious with appointments and fan engagement. Maybe they will find a way to get more of us to games too..i feel in recent years we've gone backwards on and off the pitch. Only heard excuses past few seasons. But hey time will tell. Yes i do enjoy watching and yes i will have an opinion...in fact most on here turn on the club after a loss....some of us aren't the saints we think we are..all been guilty my friend. anyways lets see what this off season brings us....maybe hope....maybe. 

We are middle range club, but even those will have their good years and their bad years.  We can always improve.

I agree that it is easy to misrepresent your passion for the club, and your ambition for the club to succeed, as negative whining.  It may come across like that even if it is not your motivation. You would not be the first person tarred with that brush and you have my sympathy.

But how would you feel if you were a supporter of one of the Melbourne clubs this season, with their big budgets, their big ambitions, their sense of history and perhaps even entitlement, and their collective oversize egos?  Victory, the sick man of 2022-2023 season.  City, down 1:6 in the GF, the big club that couldn't.  
I am talking about a sense of proportion and perspective.

People have said on here that the club have gone backwards.  Personally I think that is unfair.  We have one of the best training facilities in the A league from what players are saying now.  As opposed to one of the worst when we first started.  We have an excellent academy as well.  The infrastructure is all there.

We were dealt a dreadful hand during the Covid period and the circumstances of being based as we were.  A fair few clubs in this league would have disappeared under those conditions. We are now recovering from that.

I believe we are not moving backwards.  it is an optical illusion.  We are moving forwards, but other clubs are moving forwards faster.  I am convinced though we are gathering momentum.  I reckon to  Chiefy and his staff being a great management unit.  Our Central Coast style time will come, maybe even this year.