WPM 2025/26 Squad Speculation, Confirmation and Mutual Termination

JasperNix

I was disappointed to hear we wont try and sign Chico but the logic was sound. 

Personally was concerned to hear Gill on the Fever podcast talk about/ agree with players like Sheridan and Hughes being A league standard next year. Unless they have killer offseasons they dont appear like that to me. 

I think the Nix need to be a little more pragmatic and ruthless with the kiwis coming out of the academy.  Sometimes you have to walk away from a long term investment  

It basically their first full season. Very rarely do young players slot in straight at the level in their season. 

In Old's first season he had 1 assist in 1000 minutes. then had 1 goal and 1 assist in about 550 minutes the next season, before having 5 goals and 4 assists last season. 

I definitely feel Sheridan and Hughes can be relied upon for the season. The problem is everyone else. You need experience and proven players to make up the 11...
LBS and GSR will feature more you feel, but I really hope they'll still be mostly subs as they're both exciting but way too inexperienced 

yeah we cant be relying on our kids to do all the work, need excperience in all areas, defence, mifield and attack.

theprof

yeah we cant be relying on our kids to do all the work, need excperience in all areas, defence, mifield and attack.

Rufer, Retre, Nagasawa and Isighe is plenty of experience in the middle... we need quality.

MetalLegNZ

theprof

yeah we cant be relying on our kids to do all the work, need excperience in all areas, defence, mifield and attack.

Rufer, Retre, Nagasawa and Isighe is plenty of experience in the middle... we need quality.

Of those 4 Rufer was out for a massive chunk of the season, Nagasawa and Retre were bench players at best and Ishige was played higher.
Our central midfield when Rufer was out was Sheridan a LKH, with Piper in the mix too,

MetalLegNZ

theprof

yeah we cant be relying on our kids to do all the work, need excperience in all areas, defence, mifield and attack.

Rufer, Retre, Nagasawa and Isighe is plenty of experience in the middle... we need quality.

I have a feeling we’ll try to mutual Nagasawa, as he simply hasn’t been played by Chief. Older players need to get minutes into their legs too! And yeh would like to see Nagasawa further forward. He seems more composed in front of goal than Ishige and more comfortable scoring tap ins.

Retre I hope we mutual, but have a horrible feeling we’ll keep him. I would like him replaced with someone better. Look at Gallegos and Verstraete. Starting the season with Rufer plus import and Ishige, with Nagasawa and Conchie as cover suits me.

Ishige in the middle of the park. Yes please! Our bright moments post Chico came from Ishige playing from deep imo. On the pod the said he’s a winger, but I’m not sure he’s best there. He’s a second striker, but I think he’d go great with deep lying playmaking responsibilities. 

Then we get Waine or Patterson or Dyer or …? Not an import. 

And I don’t know if it has been mentioned but our goal came after a great dribble from GSR moved their defense around. Feels like almost the first one I’ve seen since Old. Gooood to see. 

2ndBest

JasperNix

I was disappointed to hear we wont try and sign Chico but the logic was sound. 

Personally was concerned to hear Gill on the Fever podcast talk about/ agree with players like Sheridan and Hughes being A league standard next year. Unless they have killer offseasons they dont appear like that to me. 

I think the Nix need to be a little more pragmatic and ruthless with the kiwis coming out of the academy.  Sometimes you have to walk away from a long term investment  

It basically their first full season. Very rarely do young players slot in straight at the level in their season. 

In Old's first season he had 1 assist in 1000 minutes. then had 1 goal and 1 assist in about 550 minutes the next season, before having 5 goals and 4 assists last season. 

Old is a very good example of a player who needed more than one season. And I think this is precisely the point. Apart from the walking away bit.

While players like Sheridan / Hughes will be better next season, there is no certainty that they will be A-League quality. Furthermore, they need to be from week one, not half way through the season. 

Things in their favour are:

1. a possible ongoing reduction in league standard due to TV revenue (cap rules or budgets)

2. a more youthful squad with more playing minutes available than what Old had. This however could go either way because Old got to train with and learn from better players.

Can someone explain what "mutual" means???

immortalbird

Can someone explain what "mutual" means???

mutual termination of the contract - ie club says to player we dont want you, what will it take for you to leave and player agrees. Or the reverse, player says I want to leave and the clb agrees - usally this is followed by some "personal reasons" comment

martinb

MetalLegNZ

theprof

yeah we cant be relying on our kids to do all the work, need excperience in all areas, defence, mifield and attack.

Rufer, Retre, Nagasawa and Isighe is plenty of experience in the middle... we need quality.

I have a feeling we’ll try to mutual Nagasawa, as he simply hasn’t been played by Chief. Older players need to get minutes into their legs too! And yeh would like to see Nagasawa further forward. He seems more composed in front of goal than Ishige and more comfortable scoring tap ins.

Retre I hope we mutual, but have a horrible feeling we’ll keep him. I would like him replaced with someone better. Look at Gallegos and Verstraete. Starting the season with Rufer plus import and Ishige, with Nagasawa and Conchie as cover suits me.

Ishige in the middle of the park. Yes please! Our bright moments post Chico came from Ishige playing from deep imo. On the pod the said he’s a winger, but I’m not sure he’s best there. He’s a second striker, but I think he’d go great with deep lying playmaking responsibilities. 

Then we get Waine or Patterson or Dyer or …? Not an import. 

And I don’t know if it has been mentioned but our goal came after a great dribble from GSR moved their defense around. Feels like almost the first one I’ve seen since Old. Gooood to see. 

The whole 19 players we have signed up whilst factually correct, makes me nervous. Wholesale changes are required to make sure we're even competitive next season. They'll need to be cut throat or we'll end up in the same position next year. hopefully it's more of a case trying to calm the fanbase down that it's not like other years, where we don't have those numbers, but they shouldn't be pretending we're anywhere near a real squad yet. There's a helluva lot more work than what Gill indicated.

martinb

MetalLegNZ

theprof

yeah we cant be relying on our kids to do all the work, need excperience in all areas, defence, mifield and attack.

Rufer, Retre, Nagasawa and Isighe is plenty of experience in the middle... we need quality.

I have a feeling we’ll try to mutual Nagasawa, as he simply hasn’t been played by Chief. Older players need to get minutes into their legs too! And yeh would like to see Nagasawa further forward. He seems more composed in front of goal than Ishige and more comfortable scoring tap ins.

Retre I hope we mutual, but have a horrible feeling we’ll keep him. I would like him replaced with someone better. Look at Gallegos and Verstraete. Starting the season with Rufer plus import and Ishige, with Nagasawa and Conchie as cover suits me.

Ishige in the middle of the park. Yes please! Our bright moments post Chico came from Ishige playing from deep imo. On the pod the said he’s a winger, but I’m not sure he’s best there. He’s a second striker, but I think he’d go great with deep lying playmaking responsibilities. 

Then we get Waine or Patterson or Dyer or …? Not an import. 

And I don’t know if it has been mentioned but our goal came after a great dribble from GSR moved their defense around. Feels like almost the first one I’ve seen since Old. Gooood to see. 

I need to listen to Gill on the pod, but it sounds like his comments on Retre weren't glowing. I watched solely him for about 5 mins last night, and he spent alot of it just walking. For sure it was hot, and maybe the motivation for the game was low - but yeah he's shadow of what Gallegos & Verstraete bring to Auckland.

Hopefully there are discussions that he leaves on a mutual. Though he did start before Nagasawa last night.

But I'd go a hard nosed high energy DM (aka the Auckland duo) & an AM as the current 2 available visa signings. Try and replace Sutton & Wootton with experienced Kiwi/Aussie locals.

Then cross fingers Barba is staying, as obviously if he leaves the whole visa player mix could change.

I thought Oluwayemi was really good last night. His shot stopping is high quality. Has the ability to win games on his own. Bin the playing out at all costs, and get him working hard on coming for crosses plus not kicking direct into touch - and there could be a qualty keeper there. No harm for young AKH have 1-2 seasons riding the pine.

Retre has to go!
Nagasawa I'd like to see given more minutes and achance to develop with whoever the new 10 is.
Another strong DM to partner Rufer woud be amazing.
If the tactics change then JO will be fine in goal.

Gill alluded to it in the pod, that the tactics for the reserves were based on who they had in the squad, not what the Alewague team were playing. Maybe Chief needs to adopt this approch with his team for next season - cos it looked like he was trying to fit players into his tactics rather than the other way around. las season

martinb

MetalLegNZ

theprof

yeah we cant be relying on our kids to do all the work, need excperience in all areas, defence, mifield and attack.

Rufer, Retre, Nagasawa and Isighe is plenty of experience in the middle... we need quality.

I have a feeling we’ll try to mutual Nagasawa, as he simply hasn’t been played by Chief. Older players need to get minutes into their legs too! And yeh would like to see Nagasawa further forward. He seems more composed in front of goal than Ishige and more comfortable scoring tap ins.

Retre I hope we mutual, but have a horrible feeling we’ll keep him. I would like him replaced with someone better. Look at Gallegos and Verstraete. Starting the season with Rufer plus import and Ishige, with Nagasawa and Conchie as cover suits me.

Ishige in the middle of the park. Yes please! Our bright moments post Chico came from Ishige playing from deep imo. On the pod the said he’s a winger, but I’m not sure he’s best there. He’s a second striker, but I think he’d go great with deep lying playmaking responsibilities. 

Then we get Waine or Patterson or Dyer or …? Not an import. 

And I don’t know if it has been mentioned but our goal came after a great dribble from GSR moved their defense around. Feels like almost the first one I’ve seen since Old. Gooood to see. 

Myer bevin kicking around auckland after leaving/being released from Cavalry (?) In canada where he did quite well. 

theprof

Retre has to go!
Nagasawa I'd like to see given more minutes and achance to develop with whoever the new 10 is.
Another strong DM to partner Rufer woud be amazing.
If the tactics change then JO will be fine in goal.

Gill alluded to it in the pod, that the tactics for the reserves were based on who they had in the squad, not what the Alewague team were playing. Maybe Chief needs to adopt this approch with his team for next season - cos it looked like he was trying to fit players into his tactics rather than the other way around. las season

Seen some comment about trying to pick up Gillion from afc. I did wonder if howieson would add to the nix. Playing pro football and getting some game time im auckland but not a guaranteed starter and likes of brimmer, gellegos ahead of him on paper. Whether he would move one matter, would he be wanted?

Gillian showed he was a very limited 1 trick pony with no end product.

howieson does not want to live outside auckland, that is the primary reason why him coming to the nix was never a possibility in the past. Maybe that has changed but i doubt it 

dick le roc returns

theprof

Retre has to go!
Nagasawa I'd like to see given more minutes and achance to develop with whoever the new 10 is.
Another strong DM to partner Rufer woud be amazing.
If the tactics change then JO will be fine in goal.

Gill alluded to it in the pod, that the tactics for the reserves were based on who they had in the squad, not what the Alewague team were playing. Maybe Chief needs to adopt this approch with his team for next season - cos it looked like he was trying to fit players into his tactics rather than the other way around. las season

Seen some comment about trying to pick up Gillion from afc. I did wonder if howieson would add to the nix. Playing pro football and getting some game time im auckland but not a guaranteed starter and likes of brimmer, gellegos ahead of him on paper. Whether he would move one matter, would he be wanted?

Plus, I understand from the podcasts etc that Corica actually rates Howieson as an impact player.  And A-FC do not seem like a team that cuts loose useful players, just because they may not be guaranteed starters.

LG

Gillian showed he was a very limited 1 trick pony with no end product.

That is true, but in an abstract situation where this could be a thing to consider, I do not think we have currently a player like that in that age group. He is old enough to have sufficient physical strength, has good speed, but is young enough to have a potential to get better if coached correctly.   
But as I said, not sure that A-FC would cut people just because they are not the first eleven.  He is a decent backup (for A-FC), and if Sutton is replaced by LKH, Gillion may play further up.
Not clamouring for Gillion, just saying that with our squad gaps and our budget,  one club's "also-rans" are another club's first team. 

Howieson apparently has a child who requires treatment he can only get in Auckland. He's turned down not only interest from the Nix in the past but overseas.

Myer Bevan obviously about to head off with Auckland City to the CWC. No harm in him having a trial at the Nix. But imagine they would be more keen on Waine if they can get him.

Doubt Liam Gillion will head to the Nix, but do firmly believe with a full pre season, and his issues being clearly identifiable to Corica and co, he's far from a write off. Not easy suddenly having to run more with your head up, after years of not. But like any muscle memory stuff, with hours & hours of training you can improve. 

Gillion's similar to Walker IMO. Young, fast, energetic, but still lacking awareness and judgement, ie whether to dribble, pass or shoot. Walker's a shade better.

Mainland FC

LG

Gillian showed he was a very limited 1 trick pony with no end product.

That is true, but in an abstract situation where this could be a thing to consider, I do not think we have currently a player like that in that age group. He is old enough to have sufficient physical strength, has good speed, but is young enough to have a potential to get better if coached correctly.   
But as I said, not sure that A-FC would cut people just because they are not the first eleven.  He is a decent backup (for A-FC), and if Sutton is replaced by LKH, Gillion may play further up.
Not clamouring for Gillion, just saying that with our squad gaps and our budget,  one club's "also-rans" are another club's first team. 

I think at the moment we desperately need some players with Gillion’s trick though! Wouldn’t have to be first choice hopefully, but competing for it.  

We saw it Darwin. Sloane-Rodrigues went on one mazy dribble (though he did pass it at the end) and the momentum that generated resulted in our goal. We still need players who can dribble or carry the ball to replace the ones we let go. 

It’s a bit frustrating with the 3 young wide players in that they aren’t ready, but also occupy a similar position/role on the field. 

nixin

Gillion's similar to Walker IMO. Young, fast, energetic, but still lacking awareness and judgement, ie whether to dribble, pass or shoot. Walker's a shade better.

Mainland FC

LG

Gillian showed he was a very limited 1 trick pony with no end product.

That is true, but in an abstract situation where this could be a thing to consider, I do not think we have currently a player like that in that age group. He is old enough to have sufficient physical strength, has good speed, but is young enough to have a potential to get better if coached correctly.   
But as I said, not sure that A-FC would cut people just because they are not the first eleven.  He is a decent backup (for A-FC), and if Sutton is replaced by LKH, Gillion may play further up.
Not clamouring for Gillion, just saying that with our squad gaps and our budget,  one club's "also-rans" are another club's first team. 

Where do I get a pair of those yellow-tinted glasses?

WanderingSheep

Oi Oi Edgecumbe

I think Gill is right, both Sheridan and Hughes have done really well for young defenders and should be able to be depended on next season.

 
Yes and no. They still have much to learn and we need to make sure they’ve got the right players around him, which is my main concern.

I was expecting Sheridan to have a huge season this year. Much like Finn last.. 

I think he's still got a lot of growth and this years average squad didn't help the young fella! I still rate him.


I haven't read much of this thread as it's fairly depressing but my ideas are - 

Sign Dyer and De Jong and that's your forward line sorted with Kosta. 
Get McGarry back ... 

Get rid of as much dead weight from this year as possible...  bring in an import CB at the level of Sakai. And then hunt through the aussie 2nd division for some bargains! 

What about a loan for Adam Watson? Playing in the low leagues in England. Struggling to make the U21s. 

Sheridan had a better 2nd season than Surman. Finn barely played in Talay's last season (2022/23) as coach, Surman's 2nd in the ALM

Next season will be the 3rd campaign for Hughes, Sheridan & LVH. Though yes Matt S only played a few games 2023/24. But odds on one them could have a real breakout period, and garner some overseas interest. They will need that experienced CB, aka a Wootton, to be the old head amongst them.

The big question mark is what is the best position for the latter two.

Hutcho137

What about a loan for Adam Watson? Playing in the low leagues in England. Struggling to make the U21s. 

Maybe see how he goes at the U20 WC. If Greenacre picks him. If he ain't good enough for U21s football at Stoke he may not be good enough for the U20s. Niche Cache says 19 yr old Watson spent the bulk of this season on loan with Witton Albion in non-league stuff. 8th tier in the English senior football pyramid

Luke Supyk (also 19) is the natural next young up & coming striker. We will see how he goes in Chile in Sept/Oct. Then I understand is some other promising attackers like 18 yr old Luke Flowerdew coming through Weenix.

Uffie played a pretty rigid formation. That didn't work out for McGarry. Chiefy is more fluid. That may suit a Jimmy M return to the Nix. LVH slipping across as cover, when McGarry bangs forward? 3rd time's a charm has worked for Kosta.

Elemenop

WanderingSheep

Oi Oi Edgecumbe

I think Gill is right, both Sheridan and Hughes have done really well for young defenders and should be able to be depended on next season.

 
Yes and no. They still have much to learn and we need to make sure they’ve got the right players around him, which is my main concern.

I was expecting Sheridan to have a huge season this year. Much like Finn last.. 

I think he's still got a lot of growth and this years average squad didn't help the young fella! I still rate him.


I haven't read much of this thread as it's fairly depressing but my ideas are - 

Sign Dyer and De Jong and that's your forward line sorted with Kosta. 
Get McGarry back ... 

Get rid of as much dead weight from this year as possible...  bring in an import CB at the level of Sakai. And then hunt through the aussie 2nd division for some bargains! 

Yes! 

We need something from the Gillion/Dyer/De Jong/Waine/ Patterson/ Myer Bevan… (who have I missed?) …even Sarpreet or Matt Garbett… if we get one or two of those players we’ll have filled gaps and start to look good. Sarpreet or Matty G then we have freed up an import spot. Billy T? Yeh I know. Musa??

McGarry…I’m not so sure about. Loke and Sheridan cover there? Or an import?

If we can find a defender to replace Wootton from Aussie or NZ then we have a lot more flexibility in the imports. Perhaps a LB who could cover CB in a pinch? And another tenacious CM to pair Rufer? 

A defensive CM may seem contradictory, but if we can press and win the ball and release it quickly into our attack we’ll score more. 

Ah! Forgot about Supyk. I feel when he arrives it might be with a bang. Don’t think it’s far away.

There is no way Walker is better than Gillion.

Walker would struggle to beat his own meat at this stage.

MetalLegNZ

There is no way Walker is better than Gillion.

Walker would struggle to beat his own meat at this stage.

I'd rather develop Walker than waste money on a sprinter pretending t be a footballer.

Maybe Paulsen and Singh were good enough when they first got into the squad but all the others were pretty bang average their first 1 - 2 seasons in the A League. Ben Old took 3 before he looked good. Give them a chance to develop next season and some might just surprise us - while some are a bit crap, i certainly think we could get some good ones out of this crop. probably smarter to phase in around some experienced talent. Hopefully now Auckland have done well there may be some expectations for the club to step up, rather than being happy with the mediocre and not having to worry about losing fans to other teams.

imanixsupporter

LBS, Walker, Piper are highly overrated by the people on this forum. It is no surprise to me that we finished as low as we did on the table given how much they all played for us. Our standards have slipped so very far from last season. None of these guys are even nearly as good as any of Singh, Cacace, Waine, Old, Surman or Paulsen were for us (or Marco & Kosta before they first left many moons ago). I genuinely hope that none of them are considered part of our best XI when next season starts. I won't pass judgement on GSR because I have barely seen him.

I'm not saying that any of these guys won't develop into solid professionals capable of playing regularly in the A-League either. Some players need a few extra years to really kick on, like Rufer (and LBS is extremely young). I am just saying that they aren't ready to be A-League regulars now and it is totally fine if they aren't being given starts all the time and have to prove they are better than other players to get them. 

Will be really interesting to see how AFC manage without Paulsen, whilst they've got a good squad losing him is a massive change.

Also imports were crap this past season, hopefully we are a tad more ambitious this year. Cant afford to have wasted spots on players barely good enough for a starting 11 of a team in the bottom half of the table.

The fact we are debating so much about a 'bench warmer' at AFC, means there's something there with Gillion, even if most here cannot see it.

No other bench player at A-league teams attracts this much attention.

Stand by my comments that Gillion would be a very good signing, add a new dimension to our attack and offer us a point of difference beyond the usual one-dimensional approach.

He likely won't want to come here, and even if he does, I doubt Auckland will let him out of his contract to come here. But he'd definitely be useful for us and I find it preposterous that people think Walker is better than him and that they worry that Walker and LBS will miss out on minutes if he came here and what an awful thing that would be. We need Walker & LBS to get less minutes if we hope to finish outside the bottom 3 next season. 

imanixsupporter

He likely won't want to come here, and even if he does, I doubt Auckland will let him out of his contract to come here. But he'd definitely be useful for us and I find it preposterous that people think Walker is better than him and that they worry that Walker and LBS will miss out on minutes if he came here and what an awful thing that would be. We need Walker & LBS to get less minutes if we hope to finish outside the bottom 3 next season. 

Agreed.

What i find "preposterous" is how some people seem to think LBS getting less minutes is going to help us avoid the bottom 3. While at the same time calling for us to sign someone who has shown little evidence of being able to either pass or deliver a good cross and has been benched for large parts of the season. 
To be honest i trust the judgement of some of our senior players and David Ball who all rate LBS very highly before some of the things said about him and some of our other young talent on this forum.
Would be very surprised if they all dont show they have learnt some valuable lessons this season.
People need to hold off till we have least signed some more players before deciding next season is already a write off. 

What has made AFC strong is that no one apart from the captain and possibly May is a guaranteed starter. And possibly Paulsen. 

No one deserves minutes. 

We’ve seen Rogerson force his way in in pre-season, Mata in the mid-season and Gillion lose his place to Randall. After plenty of opportunities to improve. 

Competition for places made us strong before, made AFC strong this season and is what we want. We want our young pros to get limited minutes here and there while they are kept at bay by good performances from more senior teammates. (Guess this is really the key bit Ballane!)

First team minutes are not necessarily useful for development if they are not earned. 

Let’s stop this Gillion rumour and the heated debate it has somewhat caused.

There has been no indication that this is even a remote possibility, he is under contract and you can guarantee that AFC are not going to let him go next season unless they are going to get a transfer fee from sn overseas club.

Especially, especially to the Nix.

martinb

What has made AFC strong is that no one apart from the captain and possibly May is a guaranteed starter. 

No one deserves minutes. 

We’ve seen Rogerson force his way in in pre-season, Mata in the mid-season and Gillion lose his place to Randall. After plenty of opportunities to improve. 

Competition for places made us strong before, made AFC strong this season and is what we want. We want our young pros to get limited minutes here and there while they are kept at bay by good performances from more senior teammates. 

First team minutes are not necessarily useful for development if they are not earned. 

again, we didn't start the season not wanting competition for places - hypothetically we could have had fully fit Marco, Cola, and Chico seeing out the end of the season. Imagine AFC's season if May, Moreno, and Rogerson only had combined 768 min of action (Marco, Cola, Chico and Ball) rather than the 5,098 minutes combined they have had on the pitch.

Bullion

martinb

What has made AFC strong is that no one apart from the captain and possibly May is a guaranteed starter. 

No one deserves minutes. 

We’ve seen Rogerson force his way in in pre-season, Mata in the mid-season and Gillion lose his place to Randall. After plenty of opportunities to improve. 

Competition for places made us strong before, made AFC strong this season and is what we want. We want our young pros to get limited minutes here and there while they are kept at bay by good performances from more senior teammates. 

First team minutes are not necessarily useful for development if they are not earned. 

again, we didn't start the season not wanting competition for places - hypothetically we could have had fully fit Marco, Cola, and Chico seeing out the end of the season. Imagine AFC's season if May, Moreno, and Rogerson only had combined 768 min of action (Marco, Cola, Chico and Ball) rather than the 5,098 minutes combined they have had on the pitch.

As I replied in the other thread- we quite clearly didn’t arrive with a team competing for places. The squad was a mess.

We had more minutes lost to injury in our title challenge season than this season.

We had CM players, but out of Retre, Nagasawa and Roa Conchie none were trusted to deputise Rufer. We ended up with Sheridan and LKH in midfield. This is not an injury problem. 

Moreno played about 1000 minutes out of almost 2,000. 

Chico played 5 games for 400 minutes. Then he got injured. Spot the difference?

There were very few players near their prime physically and in a football sense. 

However we were lucky to have our top scorer in Kosta, our top assister in Ishige or another top goal contributor in Tim Payne mostly injury free for the majority of the season. That’s the equivalent of May, Moreno and Rogerson right?

Because AFC’s team wasn’t so reliant on one player to create and one player to organise the defense that they’d fall to pieces if they were injured. 

Despite whatever intentions there were it was clear after several weeks that we were lacking players near their prime and that Chief didn’t trust large swathes of our squad.