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Transfer Talk, Rumours and Speculation


jw1739

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5 hours ago, Murfy1 said:

Trashy, click-bait headline from the herald sun (surprise surprise).

 

Good to hear that an announcement is "expected soon" with Cahill. Don't want a "will he or won't he" saga to drag on.

 

There's risk with every signing, and if anything Melbourne City has been too careless with old (30-something) players in general. But with the case of Tim Cahill, given that Cahill has scored 21 goals over his last 28 Socceroos games (from 2014 to now), I'd say there's next to no doubt that Cahill would star in the A-League next season if signed.

The one good thing about all the vision he talks about and using his name as a brand is that his rep is on the line. More so than any other Socceroo that's come to us. I can't see him failing if he comes here. I reckon he'd be thinking that this would affect his brand too much. He'll come here wanting to win because he seems to still have the hunger but to also protect his reputation. 

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3 hours ago, jw1739 said:

Really hope we get these rumoured signings finalised and announced soon. Cahill, Brandan and Kilkenny would be huge for us, and still leave two more visa places open... 

Hopefully those 2 will be defenders. Otherwise we are going to need to score a lot of goals every game

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40 minutes ago, Thrillhouse said:

kolo toure still a free agent, would be an awesome signing for the club, could die in the heat though

image.pngSeems pretty equipped to me if he could last more than a day without water while fasting for Ramadan on the streets of Bouake, Ivory Coast. 

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Apparently Kilkenny is signing a 2 year deal with the club:

 

Would give us a solid A-League midfield. And if the club signs a marquee midfielder to replace our former marquee Mooy, I'd say we'll have the best midfield in the league next season.

 

Would just need to tighten up the defence then IMO (I've seen this movie before). If this season's Visa defender is a hit though (unlike the miss last season with Hughes), then on paper we should be strong and faultless in every area on the pitch.

 

Keen to see what the City scouts can come up with for our defence.

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If we land Kilkenny and that Fernando dude then that's a pretty solid start. 

CB worries me also a genuine Marquee #10 and at some point a lb.

I think it's been exactly this scenario last 3 seasons but heck lets just wait and see who we get.

As long as Bruno is fit.

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43 minutes ago, haz said:

.........JVS

 

Hmm... is the dugout "on the pitch" or not?

 

Agree about the need for a class no 10. Even though it looks like we'll have Caceres, Brattan, Arzani, Brandan, Kilkenny, I just remember Sydney FC last season really missing Janko (their prolific top striker), even though they had multiple forwards last season in Holosko, Smeltz, Simon, Brosque, Blackwood. Class players need to be replaced by class players, and losing an 11 goals and +20 assist midfielder will inevitably be very very hard to replace.

 

Also agree that we need to strengthen the defence. It's the only third of the pitch that needs to be strengthened IMO (although other parts of the team could go from good to great with more recruitment). We lost 3 experienced 30+ centrebacks, 2 of which were Socceroos and one was an EPL veteran. Given that we only have young CBs in Chapman (21) and Ruon Tongyik (19), along with some young defensive utilities in Malik (25), Clisby (24) and really a fullback and emergency CB in Muscat, we need an experienced natural CB, perhaps like melbourne victory's recent signing Alan Baro, 31 (but better).

Maybe Malik will be seen as the solution for our defence next season, with him being played alongside Chapman as our 2 CBs. I'm not sure that's the best solution, because A) I really think we need a class defender with lots of high level experience (our own Delpierre pretty much), and B.) I was pretty pleased with Malik in our midfield last season--good engine, did the defensive dirty work and can pass--so I'd like to see him remain in midfield.

 

Those are the two challenges for our squad going into next season IMO, replacing Mooy and sorting out the defence. Keen to see what CFG and the club come up with.

Edited by Murfy1
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In my view the defence is shaping up as a worry. If you look at Central defence, experience has shown you need 3 centre backs good enough to start. Right now I reckon we have 1, being Chapman. We also have Malik (who was underwhelming in defence last year), an untested kid from Adelaide and the journeyman Muscat, none of whom strike me as likely to be starting players in a title winning team.  

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15 minutes ago, Shahanga said:

In my view the defence is shaping up as a worry. If you look at Central defence, experience has shown you need 3 centre backs good enough to start. Right now I reckon we have 1, being Chapman. We also have Malik (who was underwhelming in defence last year), an untested kid from Adelaide and the journeyman Muscat, none of whom strike me as likely to be starting players in a title winning team.  

You're forgetting the genius JVS will probably convert Melling into a full time CB this year... 

Edited by rayv36
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4 hours ago, Shahanga said:

In my view the defence is shaping up as a worry. If you look at Central defence, experience has shown you need 3 centre backs good enough to start. Right now I reckon we have 1, being Chapman. We also have Malik (who was underwhelming in defence last year), an untested kid from Adelaide and the journeyman Muscat, none of whom strike me as likely to be starting players in a title winning team.  

It's a valid concern. To your list IMO you should add Jack Clisby.

Overall our strategy so far this year seems to be one of signing a more "average" squad. That's not necessarily bad because such a squad may actually play better as a team. I'd also point out that we do still have two visa places available, even if the signing of Brandan finally eventuates.

A concern yes, but no need to panic just yet.

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This is neither here nor there however if we look at victree and sydney they've both made some key defensive signings. The scum have signed Baro, a central defender and the other scum have signed both Wilkinson, Zullo and Brillante, all defensive minded players. But also they're proven performers at better levels than what we've got in defense. 

Really hoping that us not signing a pivitol defensive player as of yet is simply a case of holding out until we find the best one we can and not just a side thought. 

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Really hoping one of our Visa spots goes on a quality CB and even better if its the Marquee. If we can somehow solidify our back then with Bruno and friends we could have a decent crack.

If we fail to land a proper experienced cb then we will struggle from round 1.

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1 hour ago, heart_fan10 said:

We need a CB, LB, CAM and Cahill as the icing on the cake

Add Kilkenny in there and the squad will be great if everyone is fit. Very important we get these signings right though 

Spot on.

Scary thing is that's 4 starting players. Not impossible but very risky especially considering 2 atleast will be Visa which mean the other 2 must be Australian. 

The more I think about Wilkinson the more it pains me he has gone.

Edited by Jovan
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 I really think our defence isn't  as bad as what people think. While it would be great to have a Wilko type included, Malik, Chapman, and Muscat playing a good system are quite capable.

Franjic and Clispy protecting the lines are very capable and Clispy much better defensively that Zullo who really struggled to protect the left last season.

And Brattan dropping back centrally will fortify the defensive line.

A good defensive system is the key and I am sure Michael and Joe will organise that for JVS, actually I am sure they were told to organise everything if CFG are smart. Can't see JVS doing much really as he will just be a token manager until he gets shown the door.

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Not sure why people expect more midfielders than what we already know about.

I see Bratten as Mooy's replacement (mooy was originally here as a deep lying playmaker and that was the best side to his game so seems to me like Bratten is the closest to a Mooy replacement we'll get), Fernando as our #10, and we apparently have Kilkenny as well. Plus the guys already under contract. Even if Fernado is a winger rather than a #10, still we seem to have plenty of midfielders.

Plus we have Cahill confirmed now, lets not forget that he is originally a midfielder and really only played up front for the Socceroos and maybe later in his club career which I haven't really followed.

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11 minutes ago, heart_fan10 said:

well we still don't know who the big name visa marquee is? you would think he is a midfielder

A winger seems more likely to me, but yeah it could be a midfielder. I think we will know from that signing what position Fernando plays.

Unless of course Fernando is the marquee which I do think is a chance given his quality. If he wasn't coming from a South American league I would be confident he was a marquee, but because salaries would be quite low in Argentina for a given level of ability he is most likely a highly paid player under the cap.

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Terry Antonis looks set for a shock return to the A-League with his Greek Super League club PAOK primed to send the fringe Socceroos midfielder out on a season-long loan.
 

Western Sydney Wanderers, Melbourne City and Adelaide United have all expressed a strong interest in landing Antonis – who joined PAOK on a two-year deal from Sydney FC but has made just six appearances in all competitions for the Greek high fliers.

It was touted as a dream move for Antonis when he headed to Greece for $500,000 last August, but a succession of injuries have stymied his progress under coach Vladimir Ivic who is looking to offload Antonis ahead of the qualifying rounds for the UEFA Champions League to make room for more high profile signings.

The club have already snapped up Spanish midfielder Jose Alberto Canas from Espanyol with the Champions League in mind, while Antonis, 22, has been left out of the pre-season tour of the Netherlands, where he had the opportunity last week to join an Eredivisie club on loan before the deal fell through.

Sources in Greece claim that PAOK were asking the unnamed club to pay half his wages, with an option to buy him at season’s end. It’s unknown if the same expectations would apply to A-League clubs.

Either way, an A-League return is beckoning for Antonis, who has three Socceroos caps, and needs regular first team football to further press his national team claims – especially after making a combined total just 25 competitive games in the past two seasons.

PAOK's likely asking price of at least $500,000 to sell Antonis would likely spook any A-League club, while a loan deal might work for all parties.

 

 

Thoughts on getting Antonis ?

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27 minutes ago, Davy21 said:
Terry Antonis looks set for a shock return to the A-League with his Greek Super League club PAOK primed to send the fringe Socceroos midfielder out on a season-long loan.
 

Western Sydney Wanderers, Melbourne City and Adelaide United have all expressed a strong interest in landing Antonis – who joined PAOK on a two-year deal from Sydney FC but has made just six appearances in all competitions for the Greek high fliers.

It was touted as a dream move for Antonis when he headed to Greece for $500,000 last August, but a succession of injuries have stymied his progress under coach Vladimir Ivic who is looking to offload Antonis ahead of the qualifying rounds for the UEFA Champions League to make room for more high profile signings.

The club have already snapped up Spanish midfielder Jose Alberto Canas from Espanyol with the Champions League in mind, while Antonis, 22, has been left out of the pre-season tour of the Netherlands, where he had the opportunity last week to join an Eredivisie club on loan before the deal fell through.

Sources in Greece claim that PAOK were asking the unnamed club to pay half his wages, with an option to buy him at season’s end. It’s unknown if the same expectations would apply to A-League clubs.

Either way, an A-League return is beckoning for Antonis, who has three Socceroos caps, and needs regular first team football to further press his national team claims – especially after making a combined total just 25 competitive games in the past two seasons.

PAOK's likely asking price of at least $500,000 to sell Antonis would likely spook any A-League club, while a loan deal might work for all parties.

 

 

Thoughts on getting Antonis ?

Confirmed

Edited by GreenSeater
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