WPM 2023/24 Squad Speculation, Confirmation and Mutual Termination

Doloras

To be fair, I certainly have given up on the club ever putting together a competitive squad in this league. We don't have the resources and we never will because that's how the A-League runs and those are the terms for even having a sustainable club at all. The joy of being a Nix fan will be watching young Kiwis get developed, do some great stuff and then go off to a better future.

This nonsense about resources.... Glory, Adelaide, Mariners have all won the league on pretty similar budgets to ones we've had. It's the A-League, hardly a league where the same teams dominate every year and are impossible to topple. 

Saw a Facebook post at the weekend that Adelaide are relying on their academy rather than imports this season. Sound familiar?? And they have lost Craig Goodwin to a Saudi team.

I really do think that we are not in too bad a shape if the academy players step up.  I am heartened by the fact that the academy was not that strong in the Central League a couple of years ago, now they are one of the teams to beat there.  Clearly, Chris Greenacre is making huge strides as a coach as his playing squad is hardly static in terms of the personnel at his disposal.  Maybe he should be part of the first team coaching squad unless he sees the academy as his baby??

The Saudi league has squeezed the availability of decent European imports with their second tier being set up.  The A league is going to become more and more now about Australian and New Zealand eligible players.

My problem is not actually with the amount we're spending. We know we spent too much last season for little reward, we now have the ALW team to cover for as well and the owners lose money every year. 

My frustration is HOW we are spending and how we have planned as a club. Where to start - the long deals for Ball and Wootton at their age with their limited pedigree were ridiculous, and have hampered our ability to plan around new visa signings. Kraev is on high wages for his talent (pretty average for an AL visa player). Players who were good for a bit but have sunk in performance levels (Payne and Kosta come to mind) get to stick around and have scant contest for their place. Then the club insists on promoting and playing heaps of academy guys and full on refuses to look outside the Nix Academy within NZ (you can't tell me NZ domestic league players would be expensive gets). 

And the funniest part is that we are now like oh look at us and our academy players when we were TERRIBLE at giving them gametime last season. Paulsen, Surman, Conchie as well should have seen more minutes but didn't and others should have gotten some run-outs. Instead now the club is like oh yeah we'll fall back on you guys and throw you all in the deep end together, good luck!

lthomas20

My problem is not actually with the amount we're spending. We know we spent too much last season for little reward, we now have the ALW team to cover for as well and the owners lose money every year. 

My frustration is HOW we are spending and how we have planned as a club. Where to start - the long deals for Ball and Wootton at their age with their limited pedigree were ridiculous, and have hampered our ability to plan around new visa signings. Kraev is on high wages for his talent (pretty average for an AL visa player). Players who were good for a bit but have sunk in performance levels (Payne and Kosta come to mind) get to stick around and have scant contest for their place. Then the club insists on promoting and playing heaps of academy guys and full on refuses to look outside the Nix Academy within NZ (you can't tell me NZ domestic league players would be expensive gets). 

And the funniest part is that we are now like oh look at us and our academy players when we were TERRIBLE at giving them gametime last season. Paulsen, Surman, Conchie as well should have seen more minutes but didn't and others should have gotten some run-outs. Instead now the club is like oh yeah we'll fall back on you guys and throw you all in the deep end together, good luck!

did you listen to the recent podcast? Domey explains and answers a whole lot of your issue with "not looking" outside the acandemy. They actually do look at all players in the NZ scene, obviously they favour their own academy players cos they now their skill and talent and have trained and grown them into the players the club wants/needs. Sometimes the NZ player YOU want in the club either isnt seen as being a better option than one we have already or just doesnt want to be part of the Nix setup.