Jump to content
Melbourne Football

Our Marquee Man...


heart_fan10

Recommended Posts

Melbourne Heart in market for marquee signing after Lucas Neill miss

MELBOURNE Heart, gazumped by Sydney FC on the Lucas Neill deal, has vowed to sign a marquee player for next season as it tries to lift crowds.

Heart's $2.6 million wage bill is one of the lowest in the league but coach John Aloisi will be given an increased war chest for next season.

Chairman Peter Sidwell said Heart was on track to break even in its third year in the A-League, aided by the recent sales of Aziz Behich (Bursaspor) and Michael Marrone (Shanghai Shenxin) which netted the club about $750,000.

"We anticipate picking up somebody appropriate for the club to move forward. We haven't identified anyone yet but the player will pick himself when we find the right one," Sidwell said.

"We'll look even more aggressively than before about trying to get a player or players that will make a demonstrative difference.

"We're going along really well. We've got a solid financial base now as a result of some hard work over the last three years.

"The perception that the club is struggling is absolutely wrong."

Sidwell defended the club's selling policy, which has been criticised by Heart fans. The club also sold Brendan Hamill (Seongnam), Curtis Good (Newcastle United) and Eli Babalj, although the latter has since returned from Red Star Belgrade.

He said Heart had tried to retain Behich until the end of the season, but Turkish club Bursaspor was keen to take him immediately and a clause in his contract made it impossible for Heart to stand in his way.

"Selling players hasn't been of intent," Sidwell said.

"We protested as hard as we could, as long as we could (on Behich). Unfortunately sometimes contractually you have to let players go because of what's called the 'break' clause and they're young boys who are wanting to realise their dreams.

"It's a difficult balance at times . . . we understand it's about winning silverware, not about the necessary bank balance.

"We've had some abnormal incomes this year because of player transfers and that's been bittersweet for us because the kids we've lost, we would've liked to keep."

Edited by heart_fan10
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Agree Karagounis and bresciano

Yes to Bresciano. Definitely no to Karagounis - the only thing he's good at is falling like a sack of shit convincingly enough to get a foul rewarded every time!

If you're gonna go Greek, Charisteas is a free agent and he's famous for scoring Greece's "THAT" goal in the Euro 2004 final ;) Can Aloisi handle another player on his team having scored a "THAT" type of goal too? lol

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Don't be cynical folks.

Take Sidwell at his word. He's a decent bloke and makes himself available to the fans, and the club is listening to and hearing its fans and is adjusting its thinking accordingly.

Keep the faith.

Edited by jw1739
Link to comment
Share on other sites

How are we going to get Bresciano when he is only one year into a 3 year contract. I'm assuming the transfer fee would be way more than we could afford!

I also think this article is just the club thinking, oh crap, everything has been going wrong lately, we better tell the fans something to keep them happy.

I thought he's into his second year of a two year contract :blink: That's why I've been gunning for him...plus, he's still awesome!!

And he scored THAT goal in 2005, Aloisi scored THAT penalty, it'd be a match made in heaven! ;-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know too much about Lampard as a character, and so I will make a comment.

He is still playing and scoring and has seems to have a great relationship with the supporters and other players demonstrating leadership and commitment to the club which appears to want to freeze him out.

The type of character I would like to see in our marquee man.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are their any realistic posibilities out there that Heart could fetch for next season? Think the board need to do something asap as they are starting to lose confidence from their supporters. Personally I think Lampard is very unrealistic as he is still scoring and playing well in the epl, maybe in 2 or 3 years but not at the moment. I thought Ronaldinho would of been absolutley brilliant, but that ship has sailed. But someone similar to him would him ideal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would like a quality player that will help to increase attendances. The bar for Marquees has been lifted by the signings of Alessandro del Piero and Shinji Ono. Bresciano is not even a guaranteed Socceroos starter now, so does not qualify as a Marquee signing for me. Brett Holman fits the bill. Someone who has plenty of football left in them. What about Frank Lampard? He's still playing well for Chelsea even though he appears to be on the outer there with Management.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would like a quality player that will help to increase attendances. The bar for Marquees has been lifted by the signings of Alessandro del Piero and Shinji Ono. Bresciano is not even a guaranteed Socceroos starter now, so does not qualify as a Marquee signing for me. Brett Holman fits the bill. Someone who has plenty of football left in them. What about Frank Lampard? He's still playing well for Chelsea even though he appears to be on the outer there with Management.

no way in the world frank would come yet. still plays top football and WILL be playing for a big club if he leaves chelsea.

Holman is no way a marquee. at all IMO.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would like a quality player that will help to increase attendances. The bar for Marquees has been lifted by the signings of Alessandro del Piero and Shinji Ono. Bresciano is not even a guaranteed Socceroos starter now, so does not qualify as a Marquee signing for me. Brett Holman fits the bill. Someone who has plenty of football left in them. What about Frank Lampard? He's still playing well for Chelsea even though he appears to be on the outer there with Management.

no way in the world frank would come yet. still plays top football and WILL be playing for a big club if he leaves chelsea.

Holman is no way a marquee. at all IMO.

Depends what Frank Lampard's asking price is. Overseas attitudes towards the A League have changed since Alessandro del Piero came here. Holman is a regular starter in the national team and a goal scorer. Just went to the wrong EPL club in a relegation battle.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...