This is where the rubber meets the road because the Wellington Phoenix only had a handful of first team regulars contracted to return as of Greenacre’s appointment. Things can change very quickly and it’s possible they’ve already got a few announcements in the drafts waiting to go. But as the dust settled from that heavy defeat to Macarthur this is what the situation was...
Under Contract: Tim Payne, Bill Tuiloma, Corban Piper, Isaac Hughes, Lukas Kelly-Heald, Alby Kelly-Heald, Matt Sheridan, Xuan Loke, Nathan Walker, Anaru Cassidy, Gabe Sloane-Rodrigues, Jayden Smith, Luke Brooke-Smith
Off-Contract: Kazuki Nagasawa, Paolo Retre, Alex Rufer, Manjrekar James, Nikola Mileusnic, Sander Kartum, Dan Edwards, Sarpreet Singh, Ifeanyi Eze, Carlo Armiento, Ramy Najjarine, Josh Oluwayemi, Fin Roa Conchie, Luke Supyk
Take note that the way their contracts were structured means that Loke, Walker, Sloane-Rodrigues, Smith, and Brooke-Smith all move from scholarship contracts to full contracts next season (LBS may have already done so given how much he’s played, not sure). Always possible they restructure a few of those other deals to keep them as scholars for longer... but as it stands Anaru Cassidy is the only dude on a scholarship deal next term so they’ll have several spots to fill. Goalkeeper Eamonn McCarron will surely get one of those and then it may depend on who stays and who goes from the other group. Hard to predict much based on their current Reserves group because the best players in that team are those guys listed in the first sentence of this paragraph. They haven’t really added anyone this year, only pushed a few of the U18s up a grade. Mac Munro, Jack Perniskie, Dan Nelson, and Ben Trenberth seem like fellas who could be in contention. Let’s be honest though, that’s quite a way down the list of priorities. Those are the last decisions that need to be made.
The good news is that there’s a pretty good back four already on board: Tim Payne, Bill Tuiloma, Isaac Hughes, and Lukas Kelly-Heald. All kiwis, all proven ALM performers at this stage of their career, with a good mixture of ages. The bad news is that absolutely everything else is unsettled. Even Alex Rufer, the inspirational captain, is coming out of contract and has been rumoured to be moving to a rival. The Nix conceded 9 goals in the 297 minutes that Rufer didn’t play this season – that’s 2.72 GA/90, compared to 1.72 GA/90 when he was out there. He’s not irreplaceable but bloody hell he’d leave a pretty huge hole if he leaves.
The club have already implied that Josh Oluwayemi won’t be retained. Seems a waste to use an import spot on a position of Kiwi & Aussie footballing strength so they’re going to go after a local there. Alby Kelly-Heald could be that guy, with Eamonn McCarron backing him up, or they might look elsewhere. The NZ option who ranks best on the talent/availability axis would probably be Nik Tzanev.
No surprises that Ifeanyi Eze is expected to gather offers far beyond what the Nix can match so he’ll be goneskees. Can’t see Manjrekar James or Sander Kartum sticking around, James wasn’t even playing much under Greeny while Kartum got hooked at half-time against Macarthur in a rare start (and was only on loan anyway). Kazuki Nagasawa is the sole import you’d imagine might stick around... he’ll turn 35 during the next season but he started every single game of this one so fitness ain’t an issue. If Rufer leaves, the continuity of keeping Nagasawa would be even more useful... although Greeny was playing him on the left wing at the end there so you never know.
Paolo Retre and Ramy Najjarine did enough to warrant negotiations. Carlo Armiento probably won’t pick up that phone after what happened to his minutes – there’s no place for him in a 4-4-2. Nikola Mileusnic is already out the door. The thing about the Aussie fellas is that they don’t tend to hang about for second or third contracts. Sometimes they do but if there are multiple offers then they’re almost always going to prefer the ones from other A-League clubs. It’s not like the Nix are offering finals footy right now.
That leaves Sarpreet Singh whose situation is complicated by having another year on his contract at TSC in Serbia. He’s going to continue to train with the Nix during the offseason leading up to the World Cup... whatever he does beyond that is anyone’s guess right now. Another loan isn’t out of the question but don’t get your hopes up. That leaves Dan Edwards, Fin Roa Conchie, and Luke Supyk. Edwards looked worthy of another season and would surely be agreeable to the prospect. Roa Conchie is worthy but you wouldn’t blame him if he feels it’s time to spread his wings elsewhere after not really kicking on as hoped when he was bossing it at the U20 World Cup a few years back (his case may depend on what Rufer does). As for Supyk... that’s not happening. He played one minute all season. Expect him to hit the trial circuit in the UK sometime soon. And that’s all of them. We should get some updates on this stuff next week as the Chris Greenacre Era of Wellington Phoenix football properly begins.
