Transfer Talk, Rumours and Speculation

[citymad]

29 minutes ago, Shahanga said:

Replacement more likely.

isnt Brillante off to India?

there was some rumourof that earlier but i reckon he will definitely want at least the same money which i heard was 700K. i dont think at his age he would stay for less. i also reckon he doesnt see a socceroo cap in there either so he will chase the money for sure. 

[jw1739]

2 hours ago, MHFC-FAN said:

Sounds a little promising then. Looks like we are loading up on young talent at the moment. Guessing it might be the new model if a fair chunk of the squad may be facing a hefty pay-cut... 

Yes, a reduced salary cap could actually benefit us. The CFG connection is an attraction for young players who really think they can make it in Europe at a later stage, so we would always be a front runner in cherry-picking youth from other clubs.

[Mr MO]

10 minutes ago, jw1739 said:

Yes, a reduced salary cap could actually benefit us. The CFG connection is an attraction for young players who really think they can make it in Europe at a later stage, so we would always be a front runner in cherry-picking youth from other clubs.

This 

[MHFC-FAN]

4 hours ago, jw1739 said:

Yes, a reduced salary cap could actually benefit us. The CFG connection is an attraction for young players who really think they can make it in Europe at a later stage, so we would always be a front runner in cherry-picking youth from other clubs.

Agree with you there. Not only do we offer the more promising connections to playing overseas, we also arguably produce the best youth talent through our academy... 

[mattyh001]

16 hours ago, CityBoyz said:

He played for Adelaide since the restart and won their youth player of the year

 

16 hours ago, Mr MO said:

He played seniors right for them, was very decent. Crazy that they won’t offer him a seniors deal.

 

13 hours ago, haz said:

Smells a lot like Wales...

We're not talking about signing a player from the Mariners remember, so some reason to be excited (Kamau anyone). Haz's right though, take each #yoof prospect with a dose of cautious optimism

For which, Wales has been a funny case study.  IMO fans are way more fickle on young players that come from a different club for the simple reason (at least from what I can tell) that people seem to think the new player must be a significantly more polished product than what we have (otherwise we would have promoted from within).

Signing #yoof is about unrealised potential - something that doesn't always pull off simply because you are shooting for the moon (so to speak).

When I look at Wales in comparison to many young players that have come though City in recent years, they a similar because they either have some technical and/or work rate flaw in their game that just never truly gets worked out of their game.  IMO Wales can't read the game for shit.  People constantly talk about him getting into good position - load of bs for me.  The guy has extreme pace, which means he somewhat make up for his lack of game awareness by just running quick to make up for it. 

Just think about all the times he was caught inbetween two actions (to shoot or cross, to finish with a header or volley, etc).  Are you seriously telling me that he and coaches wouldn't have worked in training on his technique???? 

[Tommykins]

13 hours ago, haz said:

Smells a lot like Wales...

Lachlan Wales had never had a shot on target and had completed 3 crosses in the A-League when we signed him. He has always been good, but he was never super crash hot for Central Coast.

[rass]

Aiden O'Neill confirmed. Start the thread @kingofhearts!

 

[Dylan]

I wonder if these signings are a hint of what is to come for the leauge

[neio]

https://www.melbournecityfc.com.au/news/lachlan-wales-departs-melbourne-city-fc

Wales is gone, off to WU I'd assume

[kingofhearts]

30 minutes ago, rass said:

Aiden O'Neill confirmed. Start the thread @kingofhearts!

 

I'm all over it dw

[CityBoyz]

24 minutes ago, neio said:

https://www.melbournecityfc.com.au/news/lachlan-wales-departs-melbourne-city-fc

Wales is gone, off to WU I'd assume

so we’ve announced wales is leaving but not Atkinson 👀

[Harrison]

1 minute ago, CityBoyz said:

so we’ve announced wales is leaving but not Atkinson 👀

Exactly my thoughts. Still think there’s more to play out here. 

[Mr MO]

39 minutes ago, Harrison said:

Exactly my thoughts. Still think there’s more to play out here. 

Very odd indeed, he’s announced by another club already.

 

[mus-28]

I think Atkinson will know his value after the re-start increased massively and I can't see him taking the proposed 30% pay cut from the deal Perth agreed or he'll walk, leaving us in a good place to take him back if his contract is voided.

[jw1739]

5 hours ago, Tommykins said:

Lachlan Wales had never had a shot on target and had completed 3 crosses in the A-League when we signed him. He has always been good, but he was never super crash hot for Central Coast.

Whatever people say on here about Lachie Wales, Mombaerts (to whom many on here have given almost God-like reverence) kept starting him.

I always thought that he would have been better used as an impact substitute. But what would I know? I wish him all the best in the future and hope he does well with whoever he plays for.

 

[Missing_Moy]

58 minutes ago, jw1739 said:

Whatever people say on here about Lachie Wales, Mombaerts (to whom many on here have given almost God-like reverence) kept starting him.

I always thought that he would have been better used as an impact substitute. But what would I know? I wish him all the best in the future and hope he does well with whoever he plays for.

 

We didn’t have many options after susa left 

[Missing_Moy]

58 minutes ago, jw1739 said:

Whatever people say on here about Lachie Wales, Mombaerts (to whom many on here have given almost God-like reverence) kept starting him.

I always thought that he would have been better used as an impact substitute. But what would I know? I wish him all the best in the future and hope he does well with whoever he plays for.

 

We didn’t have many options after susa left 

[MHFC-FAN]

16 minutes ago, Missing_Moy said:

We didn’t have many options after susa left 

Heard you the first time...

[moops]

12 hours ago, mattyh001 said:

 

 

We're not talking about signing a player from the Mariners remember, so some reason to be excited (Kamau anyone). Haz's right though, take each #yoof prospect with a dose of cautious optimism

For which, Wales has been a funny case study.  IMO fans are way more fickle on young players that come from a different club for the simple reason (at least from what I can tell) that people seem to think the new player must be a significantly more polished product than what we have (otherwise we would have promoted from within).

Signing #yoof is about unrealised potential - something that doesn't always pull off simply because you are shooting for the moon (so to speak).

When I look at Wales in comparison to many young players that have come though City in recent years, they a similar because they either have some technical and/or work rate flaw in their game that just never truly gets worked out of their game.  IMO Wales can't read the game for shit.  People constantly talk about him getting into good position - load of bs for me.  The guy has extreme pace, which means he somewhat make up for his lack of game awareness by just running quick to make up for it. 

Just think about all the times he was caught inbetween two actions (to shoot or cross, to finish with a header or volley, etc).  Are you seriously telling me that he and coaches wouldn't have worked in training on his technique???? 

Spot on

[Mr MO]

Excited for what news we will get today!

[jw1739]

1 hour ago, Mr MO said:

Excited for what news we will get today!

An "exclusive partnership with Laybuy..."?

[Mr MO]

stand off continuous.

https://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/a-league-ultimatum-players-told-to-accept-pay-cuts-or-be-stood-down?cid=football:socialshare:twitter

[Dylan]

1 hour ago, Mr MO said:

stand off continuous.

https://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/a-league-ultimatum-players-told-to-accept-pay-cuts-or-be-stood-down?cid=football:socialshare:twitter

Why doesnt any article just say it out aloud.  Its Tony Sage vs the players

[CityBoyz]

1 hour ago, Mr MO said:

stand off continuous.

https://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/a-league-ultimatum-players-told-to-accept-pay-cuts-or-be-stood-down?cid=football:socialshare:twitter

3 team comp next year 

[malloy]

I do like the fact that we are one of the clubs that has pledged to keep paying our players (and I think that reflects well on CFG).

I also thought the below paragraph is a little harsh, especially the bolded part, as it makes it seem like owners are trying to maintain profits. When in reality A-league clubs are a blackhole for money and they are actually trying to protect the existence of the clubs and by extension the A league as a whole.

"Despite being insulated from shelling out top dollar during the COVID-19 epidemic thanks to JobKeeper and players agreeing to radically reduced remuneration up until September 1, clubs are looking to future proof projected losses and protect their bottom lines for next season."

 

[bt50]

23 minutes ago, malloy said:

I do like the fact that we are one of the clubs that has pledged to keep paying our players (and I think that reflects well on CFG).

I also thought the below paragraph is a little harsh, especially the bolded part, as it makes it seem like owners are trying to maintain profits. When in reality A-league clubs are a blackhole for money and they are actually trying to protect the existence of the clubs and by extension the A league as a whole.

"Despite being insulated from shelling out top dollar during the COVID-19 epidemic thanks to JobKeeper and players agreeing to radically reduced remuneration up until September 1, clubs are looking to future proof projected losses and protect their bottom lines for next season."

 

Absolutely. Look i've got no problems with the clubs looking to cut the wage bills in order to keep afloat, none whatsoever.
What does bother me though is they are trying to bring the salary cap down with it. It's utterly selfish, wanting their cake and eating it to, and is clearly detrimental to the game in this country. Scrap the cap, let the clubs do what they need with respect to players and contracts and let those that can afford to continue to bring in high calibre players do so. 

[neio]

Delbridge has interest from overseas..... Anyone know anything about the strength of Bangladeshi football? 

[Mr MO]

57 minutes ago, bt50 said:

Absolutely. Look i've got no problems with the clubs looking to cut the wage bills in order to keep afloat, none whatsoever.
What does bother me though is they are trying to bring the salary cap down with it. It's utterly selfish, wanting their cake and eating it to, and is clearly detrimental to the game in this country. Scrap the cap, let the clubs do what they need with respect to players and contracts and let those that can afford to continue to bring in high calibre players do so. 

I think there is a lot of resistance in getting rid of the cap by the smaller teams and that we don’t have the majority but we might be in favour of it.

Edited September 10, 2020 by Mr MO

[Tangerine]

FWIW - I'm not sure scrapping the cap would help us. City Group have shown that they will operate like a commercial business not a money tree, so i don't think there's evidence that Melbourne City would increase their spend if the cap was scrapped. They can already spend over this via marquees and choose not to. I think it would probably only favour the more financial clubs (Sydney, WSW, Victory) who can justify higher spend because their revenue is higher.  

One of the problems cited by this forum is keeping promising younger players in the league. If we are to get more money into the league perhaps it could be targeted at subsidising promising younger players so they don't head to Europe at the first chance. This would probably need to be done centrally (FFA) as it wouldn't work otherwise. Additional scholarship payments for young socceroos? Rising star (1, 2 & 3) financial awards? Just trying out ideas.......

Edited September 10, 2020 by Tangerine

[mattyh001]

57 minutes ago, bt50 said:

Absolutely. Look i've got no problems with the clubs looking to cut the wage bills in order to keep afloat, none whatsoever.
What does bother me though is they are trying to bring the salary cap down with it. It's utterly selfish, wanting their cake and eating it to, and is clearly detrimental to the game in this country. Scrap the cap, let the clubs do what they need with respect to players and contracts and let those that can afford to continue to bring in high calibre players do so. 

 

26 minutes ago, Mr MO said:

I think there is a lot of resistance in getting rid of the cap by the smaller teams and that we don’t have the majority but are in favour of it.

the A League is hardly the only domestic comp that (a) has a salary cap and (b) has been massively impacted  the corona virus financially.  a reduction is inevitable.

it's also easy to "spend money" when it's not your money in the first place and you're not liable to pay bills when / should things turn to shit (particularly when a drop off in money not remotely your doing - and yes i get that the financial issues here is no ones fault within the a league - not the players, the administrators, etc.).

the main thing that pisses me off here from a governance point of view is that the a league is still limping from issue to issue - sadly there's always some bullshit that is going on.  

Edited September 10, 2020 by mattyh001

[Mr MO]

15 minutes ago, Tangerine said:

FWIW - I'm not sure scrapping the cap would help us. City Group have shown that they will operate like a commercial business not a money tree, so i don't think there's evidence that Melbourne City would increase their spend if the cap was scrapped. They can already spend over this via marquees and choose not to. I think it would probably only favour the more financial clubs (Sydney, WSW, Victory) who can justify higher spend because their revenue is higher.  

One of the problems cited by this forum is keeping promising younger players in the league. If we are to get more money into the league perhaps it could be targeted at subsidising promising younger players so they don't head to Europe at the first chance. This would probably need to be done centrally (FFA) as it wouldn't work otherwise. Additional scholarship payments for young socceroos? Rising star (1, 2 & 3) financial awards? Just trying out ideas.......

So true, we don’t spend over our means anyway.

[Shahanga]

2 hours ago, bt50 said:

Absolutely. Look i've got no problems with the clubs looking to cut the wage bills in order to keep afloat, none whatsoever.
What does bother me though is they are trying to bring the salary cap down with it. It's utterly selfish, wanting their cake and eating it to, and is clearly detrimental to the game in this country. Scrap the cap, let the clubs do what they need with respect to players and contracts and let those that can afford to continue to bring in high calibre players do so. 

The squad salary cap, meh.

What desperately needs to go are:

1) the imbecilic ban on transfer fees; and

2) the squad salary FLOOR.

Both these things have no basis in logic.

Keep the minimum wage by all means but encourage the financially weak clubs to develop and play young players they can sell. 

Sorry journeymen.

[Missing_Moy]

1 hour ago, Mr MO said:

So true, we don’t spend over our means anyway.

But we might get loaned more players as CFG are already paying them so they actually save money sending us a visa player on the books elsewhere 

[Mr MO]

6 minutes ago, Missing_Moy said:

But we might get loaned more players as CFG are already paying them so they actually save money sending us a visa player on the books elsewhere 

That’s something we have been looking out for, for many years now. It never happened, how would this season be any different especially with this small cap size?

[jw1739]

24 minutes ago, Missing_Moy said:

But we might get loaned more players as CFG are already paying them so they actually save money sending us a visa player on the books elsewhere 

I'm afraid loaned players have to be on the books of the A-League club. The so-called "Lampard Rule" IIRC. Brought in after the CFG takeover. It was the loophole that Victory had used with Hernandez.

[Mr MO]

19 minutes ago, jw1739 said:

I'm afraid loaned players have to be on the books of the A-League club. The so-called "Lampard Rule" IIRC. Brought in after the CFG takeover. It was the loophole that Victory had used with Hernandez.

And got Rogic pretty much free on loan from Celtic. The hypocrites....a year later Victory and Sydney begged the FFA to stop this type of loan construction.

Edited September 10, 2020 by Mr MO

[NewConvert]

1 hour ago, Shahanga said:

The squad salary cap, meh.

What desperately needs to go are:

1) the imbecilic ban on transfer fees; and

2) the squad salary FLOOR.

Both these things have no basis in logic.

Keep the minimum wage by all means but encourage the financially weak clubs to develop and play young players they can sell. 

Sorry journeymen.

I am not sure that scrapping the salary floor would do much. For starters if you are a promising young talent and you look at what would be your minimum salary then that would be a big financial risk to take. The salary floor is irrelevant in countries that have mass poverty and the option of getting a weekly pay check no matter how low is better than scrounging for jobs. This means that clubs will need to pay a floor. whether the floor is too high I cannot say as I am not privy to the accounts.

[Shahanga]

I see what you’re saying @NewConvert but the clubs would have to be in a financial crisis. Given football is a world game you have a liquid market for services, so if you want a player of a certain quality you’ll have to pay or they will pursue other options. 

The PFA might argue a salary floor guarantees quality. Hardly. The best guarantee of quality is the need for Ws.

I don’t know what the minimum wage is and whether it’s sensible, worth noting though that youth contract players can play in the A League.

I do know the league is in a pickle. To navigate it they’ll need to be innovative and flexible and are better guided by concepts and principles rather than hard and fast rules.

Ideas like structuring training to fit work better and having “near to retire” players on low football salaries but also with career bridging jobs organised by the club. Salary floor wouldn’t allow that, but at the moment probably be best for everyone.

[jw1739]

The A-League's Salary Cap for 2019/20 was $3.2m, except for Western United who were allowed $3.6m. The Salary Floor was $2.88m (90% of the cap). It is the latter when combined with the minimum number of senior players that each club must have (20) that produces the problem.

[mattyh001]

17 hours ago, Shahanga said:

The squad salary cap, meh.

What desperately needs to go are:

1) the imbecilic ban on transfer fees; and

2) the squad salary FLOOR.

Both these things have no basis in logic.

Keep the minimum wage by all means but encourage the financially weak clubs to develop and play young players they can sell. 

Sorry journeymen.

we need substantial expansion and promotion / relegation first IMO

for any market to work you need both supply and demand.

i just don't see how there are enough teams currently in the A League to create the required demand for significant transfer fees.

outside of the big two teams in Melbourne and the big two in Sydney, i just dont see how the other clubs are going to spend much (particularly on a regular basis).

plus there's no real reserve comp for clubs (largely due to cost), so i think clubs are in a pickle - I cant see clubs wanting 30+ players on their books if only 12-15 get regular game time (or for that fact I cant see players wanting to stay at a club long term if they are not playing).

once we get to a two tiered comp with 24 + teams, you will have the demand since teams will be pushing for success (even if that means not getting relegated) while there will be enough teams for a reserves comp where you could still keep costs down through making it regionally based / use hubs / etc.