ballanebrbrookemDolorasLG+6LT01, nixin, Simon B, Southernix, WanderingSheep, WhoStoleMySock
24 days ago
AucklandPhoenix wrote: Corica said last year that they were looking at three strikers.
He said his top pick was a South American who had played in the MLS. So by saying that he obviously was fairly confident. The guy used to play under him at Sydney and ended up signing for the top league in Mexico instead.
So they ended up with an out of contract Cosgrove who was playing in unwanted player games in the UK.
So even AFC doesn’t get what they always want.
"Ending up with a Cosgrove instead" did not seem to be a bad move as Cosgrove topped the goals chart with 12.
AucklandPhoenix wrote: Corica said last year that they were looking at three strikers.
He said his top pick was a South American who had played in the MLS. So by saying that he obviously was fairly confident. The guy used to play under him at Sydney and ended up signing for the top league in Mexico instead.
So they ended up with an out of contract Cosgrove who was playing in unwanted player games in the UK.
So even AFC doesn’t get what they always want.
"Ending up with a Cosgrove instead" did not seem to be a bad move as Cosgrove topped the goals chart with 12.
AucklandPhoenix wrote: Corica said last year that they were looking at three strikers.
He said his top pick was a South American who had played in the MLS. So by saying that he obviously was fairly confident. The guy used to play under him at Sydney and ended up signing for the top league in Mexico instead.
So they ended up with an out of contract Cosgrove who was playing in unwanted player games in the UK.
So even AFC doesn’t get what they always want.
"Ending up with a Cosgrove instead" did not seem to be a bad move as Cosgrove topped the goals chart with 12.
Silent wrote: Ah, Cosgrove... how we love to hate him. Objectively, as a striker he is ... limited (to say the least) and yet ... he claimed the golden boot!
It really beggars belief, I guess a sign of where the A League is at.
This will be an interesting season for him though - let's see his output with a general decline in the quality around him.
I'm certainly in the minority here amongst Auckland fans - but I'm entirely in agreement. Think he's a plod, and any other striker with similarly competent hold-up play and an improved technical skillset would:
a) be available for a similar price, if not cheaper than an Englishman with a storied career including multi-million pound moves, and
b) bag a whole lot more than Cosgrove did, considering the wealth of opportunities provided to him by swift counterattacks.
Aerial prowess was significantly oversold, as well as his physical imposure (struggled turning and asserting himself against the Suburbs defenders last night, including 18y/o Zavier Brown). Composure near the goal isn't good enough, finishing ability is very average for an A-League forward, and though he can sneak the occasional one-touch pass through defenders to continue a typical incisive Auckland passing move, it's really not enough to move the needle. Really didn't help him that May's ability fell off a cliff following his slow offseason injury recovery
For mine, a typical case study arguing against the adage that if a striker scores goals, he's doing his job and must be good
Just asked my friend from work, a Hartlepool season ticket holder, about him. Only ever decent 1 in 5 games.
No thanks. If he's crap in non league football, even Napier might be too good a gig for him.
I watched Cooke in both Olympic v Napier games this season (one live and the other on Danz) and he was the stand out in both. Yesterday Napier missed him v Miramar ( he is suspended) as Miramar over ran Napier in the mid field.
Probably need someone to confirm but also think he was the same guy who played against the reserves a few weeks back at Fraser Park. If it is he was a total prick the way he carried on to the young guys in the team at full time showing unwarranted aggression. Apologies in advance if it wasnt him the aggression shown by some from Napier that day wasnt needed.
ballane wrote: Probably need someone to confirm but also think he was the same guy who played against the reserves a few weeks back at Fraser Park. If it is he was a total prick the way he carried on to the young guys in the team at full time showing unwarranted aggression. Apologies in advance if it wasnt him the aggression shown by some from Napier that day wasnt needed.
ballane wrote: Probably need someone to confirm but also think he was the same guy who played against the reserves a few weeks back at Fraser Park. If it is he was a total prick the way he carried on to the young guys in the team at full time showing unwarranted aggression. Apologies in advance if it wasnt him the aggression shown by some from Napier that day wasnt needed.
It was definitely not him....was the NCR no 9
Okay thanks thats why i asked its just the behaviour by some that day wasnt good as they obviously tried to intimidate the young guys.
Awfully quiet re signings a month and a half out from seasons start... 3 visa spots still to fill. I feel for Greenie as I know moves have fallen through but we are leaving it very late for signings to get here and bed in. Anyone have any insider hints to cling onto?
MannyMuscatsBrother wrote: Awfully quiet re signings a month and a half out from seasons start... 3 visa spots still to fill. I feel for Greenie as I know moves have fallen through but we are leaving it very late for signings to get here and bed in. Anyone have any insider hints to cling onto?
Looks like Callum Cooke is still trialing, so can see him being signed if there's not too many other rumours and then a visa 10.
I have a feeling we're not going to sign the full 5 slots and look to sign 1 in Jan if needed but I hope I'm wrong.
MannyMuscatsBrother wrote: Awfully quiet re signings a month and a half out from seasons start... 3 visa spots still to fill. I feel for Greenie as I know moves have fallen through but we are leaving it very late for signings to get here and bed in. Anyone have any insider hints to cling onto?
Looks like Callum Cooke is still trialing, so can see him being signed if there's not too many other rumours and then a visa 10.
I have a feeling we're not going to sign the full 5 slots and look to sign 1 in Jan if needed but I hope I'm wrong.
What position/s can Cooke play.. We seem a bit light on play makers
MannyMuscatsBrother wrote: Awfully quiet re signings a month and a half out from seasons start... 3 visa spots still to fill. I feel for Greenie as I know moves have fallen through but we are leaving it very late for signings to get here and bed in. Anyone have any insider hints to cling onto?
Looks like Callum Cooke is still trialing, so can see him being signed if there's not too many other rumours and then a visa 10.
I have a feeling we're not going to sign the full 5 slots and look to sign 1 in Jan if needed but I hope I'm wrong.
What position/s can Cooke play.. We seem a bit light on play makers
Mainly plays as an 8/10. His main strengths are his creativity, technical ability and eye for a pass. Slightly more limited in terms of mobility so more likely to end up in one of the 10 positions than in the 6/8 next to Rufs
MannyMuscatsBrother wrote: Awfully quiet re signings a month and a half out from seasons start... 3 visa spots still to fill. I feel for Greenie as I know moves have fallen through but we are leaving it very late for signings to get here and bed in. Anyone have any insider hints to cling onto?
Looks like Callum Cooke is still trialing, so can see him being signed if there's not too many other rumours and then a visa 10.
I have a feeling we're not going to sign the full 5 slots and look to sign 1 in Jan if needed but I hope I'm wrong.
What position/s can Cooke play.. We seem a bit light on play makers
Mainly plays as an 8/10. His main strengths are his creativity, technical ability and eye for a pass. Slightly more limited in terms of mobility so more likely to end up in one of the 10 positions than in the 6/8 next to Rufs
Yes. Behind there, either now or January they could sign Ben Trenberth. Sydney FC signed a 16 year old striker from Brisbane Roar today, so 1 that young isn't too much. Then keep budget for another foreign player, attacking midfield.
MannyMuscatsBrother wrote: Awfully quiet re signings a month and a half out from seasons start... 3 visa spots still to fill. I feel for Greenie as I know moves have fallen through but we are leaving it very late for signings to get here and bed in. Anyone have any insider hints to cling onto?
Looks like Callum Cooke is still trialing, so can see him being signed if there's not too many other rumours and then a visa 10.
I have a feeling we're not going to sign the full 5 slots and look to sign 1 in Jan if needed but I hope I'm wrong.
What position/s can Cooke play.. We seem a bit light on play makers
Mainly plays as an 8/10. His main strengths are his creativity, technical ability and eye for a pass. Slightly more limited in terms of mobility so more likely to end up in one of the 10 positions than in the 6/8 next to Rufs
Yes. Behind there, either now or January they could sign Ben Trenberth. Sydney FC signed a 16 year old striker from Brisbane Roar today, so 1 that young isn't too much. Then keep budget for another foreign player, attacking midfield.
Too early to sign Trenberth. He could go on to develop to be a good player and only watched a bit of him this year for the reserves. On the positive he side he tries to do a lot...on the negative he tries too much and loses the ball a lot.
Don't think he would be at a stage to be contributing a lot in the A league so he would spend a year or two as part of the squad and not playing much. That's not a process that has worked out well for a few. Better to give him another season in what will be the National league next year and he'll be better equipped to contribute in the A league next year.
For now we need to sign someone who can contribute rather than be a project player.
Screenshot 2026-08-30 at 1.59.12 PM.png218.47 KBNot loving having the least amount of players signed so far, but still early to be that upset. I'm sure we'll be announcing a few players in next couple weeks.
Wanted to see how many imports others have signed so far as it seemed as a whole the league hasn't signed many but turns out most of the teams have more than I thought excluding MacAthur and CCM, they have a lot to do in the next 6 weeks.
Probably will be some movement once the European Transfer Windows close. Teams will have players they say are free to look elsewhere for opportunities and far fewer options for the players to choose from.
MannyMuscatsBrother wrote: Awfully quiet re signings a month and a half out from seasons start... 3 visa spots still to fill. I feel for Greenie as I know moves have fallen through but we are leaving it very late for signings to get here and bed in. Anyone have any insider hints to cling onto?
Looks like Callum Cooke is still trialing, so can see him being signed if there's not too many other rumours and then a visa 10.
I have a feeling we're not going to sign the full 5 slots and look to sign 1 in Jan if needed but I hope I'm wrong.
What position/s can Cooke play.. We seem a bit light on play makers
Mainly plays as an 8/10. His main strengths are his creativity, technical ability and eye for a pass. Slightly more limited in terms of mobility so more likely to end up in one of the 10 positions than in the 6/8 next to Rufs
Yes. Behind there, either now or January they could sign Ben Trenberth. Sydney FC signed a 16 year old striker from Brisbane Roar today, so 1 that young isn't too much. Then keep budget for another foreign player, attacking midfield.
Too early to sign Trenberth. He could go on to develop to be a good player and only watched a bit of him this year for the reserves. On the positive he side he tries to do a lot...on the negative he tries too much and loses the ball a lot.
Don't think he would be at a stage to be contributing a lot in the A league so he would spend a year or two as part of the squad and not playing much. That's not a process that has worked out well for a few. Better to give him another season in what will be the National league next year and he'll be better equipped to contribute in the A league next year.
For now we need to sign someone who can contribute rather than be a project player.
Well there is only 1 teenage player in the outfield now. With only 17 players in the squad of course they must get more experienced players. I don't know if they can get 7 experienced players in this late in pre season though. So they will be forced by circumstance to get at least 1 more teenager. Otherwise they won't even have enough substitutes to cover injuries. It might be a more attacking player though, maybe Willem Des Tombe.
I guess Greenie must be pulling his hair out. At the very least he would have wanted his import players bedded in before the the trip to Australia. Because that trip is the dress rehersal for the season proper. They have had bad luck with a few refusals but thats always the case when recruiting. We absolutely can not be anything other than 100% ready for the start of the AL. Huge game first up then derby 4th round.
MetalLegNZ wrote: Loan is interesting - he's hardly coming from a top league, so why are they keen to keep him?
Looking back at the announcements of him signing for Monterey Bay they said he had signed 'For the 2026 season' - so from that wording it doesn't sound like he will be a Monterey Bay player by the end of his loan here with us, unless Monterey Bay have an option for another season?
As a follower of the USL Championship I was really enjoying his contributions over there earlier in the year with Monterey, even though they were a struggling side.
He's still second equal in their goalscoring charts across all competitions this season and he hasn't played since June! He was running hot with five goals in his last four appearances to boot before what can only be assumed was an injury layoff since that point.
What was notable though was when Monterey changed coach after a poor run. Previously they were playing with two up top and the play was long and direct, so you'd think as a big lad that would suit him, but it was when they went to a more possession based approach under the new gaffer that he found good returns. He was more of a central figure up top as they switched between a 4-4-2 and 4-2-3-1, but with the change in approach he brought others in to play around him with flick on and passes which freed up space for his wider players while he took up free space in and around the box to find his goals.
Good pickup if he can bring his scoring boots back to New Zealand.
MetalLegNZ wrote: Loan is interesting - he's hardly coming from a top league, so why are they keen to keep him?
Looking back at the announcements of him signing for Monterey Bay they said he had signed 'For the 2026 season' - so from that wording it doesn't sound like he will be a Monterey Bay player by the end of his loan here with us, unless Monterey Bay have an option for another season?
Signed on a multi year deal, but would guess the 2nd (or even 3rd) years would be club options.
HattyCW wrote: Happy with this (returning of course). Provides striker depth, and he and Piper can compete for that spot up front with Duran.
Unless we use all our import slots as I think the last one should be ST. DM and AM are first priorities.
But having Piper and Bidois will at least be enough depth with Walker covering too if we don’t sign a Visa ST
Obviously they will focus on new attacking midfield by next week. With only Kazuki Nagasawa in attacking midfield they urgently require a 2nd experienced player there and a substitute. It would be silly to sign a 4th striker now after Riley.
HattyCW wrote: Happy with this (returning of course). Provides striker depth, and he and Piper can compete for that spot up front with Duran.
Unless we use all our import slots as I think the last one should be ST. DM and AM are first priorities.
But having Piper and Bidois will at least be enough depth with Walker covering too if we don’t sign a Visa ST
Obviously they will focus on new attacking midfield by next week. With only Kazuki Nagasawa in attacking midfield they urgently require a 2nd experienced player there and a substitute. It would be silly to sign a 4th striker now after Riley.
Yeah definitely hope the visa 10 comes in soon. But if the Well-nix has planned to use all visa spots with that being ST, CAM, DM as the remaining ones, they could still announce a striker before a 10 if that deals is signed off earlier for whatever reason.
HattyCW wrote: Happy with this (returning of course). Provides striker depth, and he and Piper can compete for that spot up front with Duran.
Unless we use all our import slots as I think the last one should be ST. DM and AM are first priorities.
But having Piper and Bidois will at least be enough depth with Walker covering too if we don’t sign a Visa ST
Obviously they will focus on new attacking midfield by next week. With only Kazuki Nagasawa in attacking midfield they urgently require a 2nd experienced player there and a substitute. It would be silly to sign a 4th striker now after Riley.
Think we might have found our visa DM 👀Screenshot_20260901_215804_X.jpg264.57 KBApparently scored the 600,000th goal since the inception of the English Football League as well, so a nice bit of history to tag in to the CV.
I know nothing else about him though, so will use this nightshift to watch a bit of video and see what he's about!
YoungHeartHM wrote: Think we might have found our visa DM 👀Screenshot_20260901_215804_X.jpg264.57 KBApparently scored the 600,000th goal since the inception of the English Football League back in 2025 as well, so a nice bit of history to tag in to the CV as well.
I know nothing else about him though, so will use this nightshift to watch a bit of video and see what he's about!
He played u21 for Scotland and won young player of the season 2 years in a row at Dundee. He can score goals too. Could be a good signing.
Also from an article about his release from Crawley Town : Max Anderson
Despite his struggles with injuries this season which saw him make just 20 appearances and only ten of those being starts, it was a decision that amazed me.
The Scotsman has the best pass completion rate from open play out of all of Crawley's midfielders this season, successfully completing 84.8% of his passes in open play. He serves as an alternative choice bringing a different dynamic to the middle of the park operating as more of a box-to-box midfielder as I mentioned in one of my previous articles
Quite a few Scots in the league now doing the reverse of A-League players heading there. CV wise nothing too impressive but good age, will be a physical player with his height and I like the sound of him being a good passer hopefully will compliment Rufer trying to do the lower % passes.
+6
