WPM 2026/27 Squad Speculation, Confirmation and Mutual Termination

nixin wrote:

 Bullion wrote:

 nixin wrote:

 Big Pete 65 w 
There certainly have always been some good players in the Aussie state leagues capable of stepping up to the A-League or higher whose ability was never spotted by A-League clubs.
One of the most prominent examples is current Scotland international striker Lyndon Dykes who appeared in the World Cup, who is basically an Aussie.
Born on the Gold Coast to Scottish immigrant parents but he never played above Queensland state league level though Brisbane Roar had ample opportunity to scout him, he left for Scotland aged 20 and was instantly snapped up by Queen of the South, soon moving on to Premier League Livingstone, then QPR, Birmingham City and Charlton in the Championship.
The Nix have signed some good players from the Aussie state leagues in the past who were neglected by their local A-League sides, principally club legend Manny Muscat.
Another was striker Mirjan Pavlovic signed from Sydney United.
Dylan Fox, Josh Brindell-South, Adam Parkhouse, Blake Powell, Lewis Italiano are other players picked up by the Nix from state league clubs whose talent wasn't appreciated by their local A-League sides.

Burgess would be the best Nix state leagues recruit no?

No

Yes.
Kept Singh on the bench at times.  Longish A league career. Outstanding for Newcastle last year. At or near the top of this list for me. Your mileage obviously varies.

https://x.com/i/status/2075920426815848577

Kowhai31 wrote:
That's a little disappointing if true. Definitely seems destined for bigger things and you can't blame him for taking the move to the Championship, but I would have liked to see him shine as a starter before he moved overseas. Hopefully we can add a sell-on clause, in case his career takes off in England.

signofthechimes wrote:
Thanks @RR and @Nixin - appreciate the responses - wasn't expecting anything so quickly given the time difference!  He sounds interesting - we signed Segecic from Sydney last summer who exceeded expectations in his first Championship season - though saw Brooke-Smith's age and figured we were looking at much more of a development project (despite spending much of the preceding season coming off the bench for Sydney, Segecic had a full season on loan in the Netherlands in 'mens' football). Really enjoy these sort of signings - hopefully he's a success and Phoenix have negotiated a healthy sell-on!

YellowAndBlack wrote:
Take this one on the chin, a loss for the Nix but a win for nz football having another kiwi playing In the championship , and a payday for the nix.
Although it does make me wonder why GSR was released if this was going 
DOUBLE POST

YellowAndBlack wrote:
Take this one on the chin, a loss for the Nix but a win for nz football having another kiwi playing In the championship , and a payday for the nix.
Although it does make me wonder why GSR was released if this was going on.

anaveragestem wrote:
Honestly quite disappointed with this news. Why did we not put another couple of years on his contract when we signed him? Similar to Lucas Kelly Heald??

If we are only ever going to be a development club you really have to put in long contracts for these young prospects. That means also paying them more to keep them round longer! Otherwise, you're going to end up selling them for less and never seeing them playing in the starting 11. 

This season is really starting to look like another average or even shit season. We won't be competitive without the players and then we'll end up firing Greenacre for not getting results despite not having the players for it. He is no miracle worker and will need investment behind him.

Disappointing for us but fantastic for LBS. Go well kid, knuckle down and make your debut hopefully this season!

anaveragestem wrote:
Honestly quite disappointed with this news. Why did we not put another couple of years on his contract when we signed him? Similar to Lucas Kelly Heald??

If we are only ever going to be a development club you really have to put in long contracts for these young prospects. That means also paying them more to keep them round longer! Otherwise, you're going to end up selling them for less and never seeing them playing in the starting 11. 

This season is really starting to look like another average or even shit season. We won't be competitive without the players and then we'll end up firing Greenacre for not getting results despite not having the players for it. He is no miracle worker and will need investment behind him.

Disappointing for us but fantastic for LBS. Go well kid, knuckle down and make your debut hopefully this season!

PKB wrote:

 anaveragestem wrote:
Honestly quite disappointed with this news. Why did we not put another couple of years on his contract when we signed him? Similar to Lucas Kelly Heald??

If we are only ever going to be a development club you really have to put in long contracts for these young prospects. That means also paying them more to keep them round longer! Otherwise, you're going to end up selling them for less and never seeing them playing in the starting 11. 

This season is really starting to look like another average or even shit season. We won't be competitive without the players and then we'll end up firing Greenacre for not getting results despite not having the players for it. He is no miracle worker and will need investment behind him.

Disappointing for us but fantastic for LBS. Go well kid, knuckle down and make your debut hopefully this season!

You have given up on the squad months before all new players could be signed. Wrong. Still 4 new foreign players to sign and a number from here/Australia. Yes it will be challenging to get the right players on attack and midfield but they have until September to do that. Lets give them another 7 weeks then judge. 

coochiee wrote:
Should mean greater opportunities for Walker if he can stay fit. 

anaveragestem wrote:

 PKB wrote:

 anaveragestem wrote:
Honestly quite disappointed with this news. Why did we not put another couple of years on his contract when we signed him? Similar to Lucas Kelly Heald??

If we are only ever going to be a development club you really have to put in long contracts for these young prospects. That means also paying them more to keep them round longer! Otherwise, you're going to end up selling them for less and never seeing them playing in the starting 11. 

This season is really starting to look like another average or even shit season. We won't be competitive without the players and then we'll end up firing Greenacre for not getting results despite not having the players for it. He is no miracle worker and will need investment behind him.

Disappointing for us but fantastic for LBS. Go well kid, knuckle down and make your debut hopefully this season!

You have given up on the squad months before all new players could be signed. Wrong. Still 4 new foreign players to sign and a number from here/Australia. Yes it will be challenging to get the right players on attack and midfield but they have until September to do that. Lets give them another 7 weeks then judge. 

I wouldn't say given up, but considering the lack of investment over the last couple seasons I'm not holding out hope I guess. The investment over the last half of last season I found a bit strange in hindsight, why not do that at the start of the season. Hopefully they open their pockets over the next few months. We'll see.

PKB wrote:

 anaveragestem wrote:

 PKB wrote:

 anaveragestem wrote:
Honestly quite disappointed with this news. Why did we not put another couple of years on his contract when we signed him? Similar to Lucas Kelly Heald??

If we are only ever going to be a development club you really have to put in long contracts for these young prospects. That means also paying them more to keep them round longer! Otherwise, you're going to end up selling them for less and never seeing them playing in the starting 11. 

This season is really starting to look like another average or even shit season. We won't be competitive without the players and then we'll end up firing Greenacre for not getting results despite not having the players for it. He is no miracle worker and will need investment behind him.

Disappointing for us but fantastic for LBS. Go well kid, knuckle down and make your debut hopefully this season!

You have given up on the squad months before all new players could be signed. Wrong. Still 4 new foreign players to sign and a number from here/Australia. Yes it will be challenging to get the right players on attack and midfield but they have until September to do that. Lets give them another 7 weeks then judge. 

I wouldn't say given up, but considering the lack of investment over the last couple seasons I'm not holding out hope I guess. The investment over the last half of last season I found a bit strange in hindsight, why not do that at the start of the season. Hopefully they open their pockets over the next few months. We'll see.

Some of what happened then was experienced/proven attacking midfielders/wingers got hurt too much. Marco Rojas, Stefan Colakovski, Chico, Nikola Mileusnic, Sarpreet Singh.
What they must do now is prioritize bringing in new players that won't be wavering on fitness or only recovered from injury 1 week ago. Must be fit and ready, no excuses. 

coochiee wrote:
Should mean greater opportunities for Walker if he can stay fit. 

observerfromuh wrote:
First of hearing about LBS, happy for him and from his POV a no brainer, you had two coaches that didn't use him much (especially Greenie, who had a free go with the team).

Moves, gets to train with better players while giving your club a decent fee (comparatively) and if he needs more game time he could go to league one on loan.

Hope we can announce some new signings in the next couple of weeks.

PKB wrote:

 observerfromuh wrote:
First of hearing about LBS, happy for him and from his POV a no brainer, you had two coaches that didn't use him much (especially Greenie, who had a free go with the team).

Moves, gets to train with better players while giving your club a decent fee (comparatively) and if he needs more game time he could go to league one on loan.

Hope we can announce some new signings in the next couple of weeks.

I'm sure they will soon. With 4 foreign places to fill I think they will want to make progress on 1 of those sooner, then the other 3 next. With the Luke Brooke Smith and Tim Payne money to help I think they will try to get 4 real foreign leaders in the outfield, attack & midfield.  

Bullion wrote:
 I'm not confident, nor do I think its possibly the best for the club long term, that they will take transfer earnings this off season and spend it all on the current squad. One of the main sources, the main?, has been cut to a quarter the past couple of seasons. These transfers only cover 1 season of funding cuts from the APL. 

Bullion wrote:

 PKB wrote:

 observerfromuh wrote:
First of hearing about LBS, happy for him and from his POV a no brainer, you had two coaches that didn't use him much (especially Greenie, who had a free go with the team).

Moves, gets to train with better players while giving your club a decent fee (comparatively) and if he needs more game time he could go to league one on loan.

Hope we can announce some new signings in the next couple of weeks.

I'm sure they will soon. With 4 foreign places to fill I think they will want to make progress on 1 of those sooner, then the other 3 next. With the Luke Brooke Smith and Tim Payne money to help I think they will try to get 4 real foreign leaders in the outfield, attack & midfield.  

I'm not confident, nor do I think its possibly the best for the club long term, that they will take transfer earnings this off season and spend it all on the current squad. One of the main sources, the main?, has been cut to a quarter the past couple of seasons. These transfers only cover 1 season of funding cuts from the APL.