Transfer Talk, Rumours and Speculation

[Jake]

Eli had a shit attitude and we certainly don't need that.

[jw1739]

Eli had a shit attitude and we certainly don't need that.

Even if true, don't think that is restricted to Eli Babalj.

 

Not while we've got David "If we win, we win; if we lose, we lose" Williams, and Patrick "We thought we'd done enough" Kisnorbo.

[Tonyboozeadams]

yep, shit attitude but the blokes likes winning. So yeah, much prefer his stroppy attitude over a guy like Williams who clearly couldn't give a flying fuck

Edited January 8, 2015 by Tonyboozeadams

[perthheart]

I like Babalj's attitude. His position is the only one in football where it is advantageous to be a selfish prick. At least he isn't shying away from the ball and wants to score.

[HEARTinator]

Newy Jets in turmoil and some players unsure of their future. Could be a good time to have a look at getting a young defender like Andrew Hoole who gave us a bit of grief last time we played them. Hopefully our football department has their eye on developments back home while holidaying in UAE.

Edited January 8, 2015 by HEARTinator

[SF33]

 

Give me a defender over Eli, only if we got rid of Ramsay, mate and Williams I would take him back. Got too many problems at the back to be looking at another attacker.

Of course a defender would be top priority, but if we had the ability to fit another forward into the mix, Babalj would be just about the first name on my list.

 

 

I think that's the critical part for me. We were supposedly flying very close to the limit in the salary cap by the end of 2014. We've removed Kalmar and I believe that's it from our commitments (I can't see the departure of Miller giving us any additional funds, given he was only ever signed as a temporary stopgap). To me, that doesn't translate in being able to sign a quality left back and Babalj in the next couple of weeks. Even if we promised to welcome him back with the obligatory 'I'm Coming Home' montage on his AAMI return, I still think we'd be battling to convince Eli to sign for less than whatever Kalmar was on (which is genuinely a shame, because a 'Babalj's Coming Home' montage would just about be the funniest thing I've ever seen) . And if Eli signed for the same amount as Kalmar had remaining in his contract, aren't we back to square one, with no space left to sign another genuine starting XI player in any position?

Edited January 8, 2015 by SF33

[Dylan]

One annoying aspect about the take over is the leaks have dried up quite a bit. We know they are trialing players over the 12 days so you would think that given the short amount of time they are probably seriously considering signing the players already before the trial. I just hope the names get out over the comming days.

[jw1739]

One annoying aspect about the take over is the leaks have dried up quite a bit. We know they are trialing players over the 12 days so you would think that given the short amount of time they are probably seriously considering signing the players already before the trial. I just hope the names get out over the comming days.

Well, our Mancunian friends did warn us about this, didn't they? But I agree, I almost miss the regular offerings from Mr. Motormouth Munn, who used to be good for at least one rumour per week.

[japiedog]

I like Babalj's attitude. His position is the only one in football where it is advantageous to be a selfish prick. At least he isn't shying away from the ball and wants to score.

and he understands the "offside rule"

[Heart_Attack]

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/eli-babalj-why-i-love-melbourne-heart/story-fndb5nmd-1226540704139?nk=0749bb4fa7f5cfd23cf3500759fcbf81

 

Eli's always welcome back as far as I'm concerned.

[drewmelbcity]

Personally I would feel pretty disappointed if we were to sign Eli before anything else. An attacker is not what this team needs currently, we are generally pretty good at scoring with exception of the last game (it took some amazing stops though).

 

It is no mystery that our team bleeds a lot of goals, defenders should be the only thing we should see coming in during this transfer period. If we stop bleeding goals we may be able to push for a top four but if we don't address this issue now i'm afraid we will be battling it out with the lower teams for that sixth spot this year. 

[GreenSeater]

Nothing would be worse than seeing Eli playing for another A League club.

[Dylan]

Will go to wsw

[Murfy1]

 

 

Give me a defender over Eli, only if we got rid of Ramsay, mate and Williams I would take him back. Got too many problems at the back to be looking at another attacker.

Of course a defender would be top priority, but if we had the ability to fit another forward into the mix, Babalj would be just about the first name on my list.

 

 

I think that's the critical part for me. We were supposedly flying very close to the limit in the salary cap by the end of 2014. We've removed Kalmar and I believe that's it from our commitments (I can't see the departure of Miller giving us any additional funds, given he was only ever signed as a temporary stopgap). To me, that doesn't translate in being able to sign a quality left back and Babalj in the next couple of weeks. Even if we promised to welcome him back with the obligatory 'I'm Coming Home' montage on his AAMI return, I still think we'd be battling to convince Eli to sign for less than whatever Kalmar was on (which is genuinely a shame, because a 'Babalj's Coming Home' montage would just about be the funniest thing I've ever seen) . And if Eli signed for the same amount as Kalmar had remaining in his contract, aren't we back to square one, with no space left to sign another genuine starting XI player in any position?

 

 

It's not clear how much salary cap space Melbourne City had left at the start of the season. Whether the club had no salary cap space left or just a little bit of space left is not known. We do know with certainty that Melbourne City didn't have a lot of salary cap space left though.

 

Kalmar agreeing to have his contract mutually terminated frees up even more space as well. And BTW with his exit the club has only used up the minimum amount of squad spots, 20 (with Melling and Marino outside the cap), and the late signings of David Villa, Joshua Kennedy and Liam Miller didn't add a cent to City's salary cap due to them all being non-salary cap signings. And the club does have 1 Visa spot left as well.

 

The big difference between recruiting now and recruiting at the start of the season is that half the season is already played, so any players signed now effectively get twice the money per game that they would have got if they signed in October. So, for example, a player would get $50,000 for only 3 months football (14 games) instead of $50,000 for 6 months of football (27 games).

 

So IMO the club should certainly be able to make one good useful signing this month. I don't believe money is too tight at the club to prevent that.

 

However if the club was to sign two players, like a defender and Babalj, I reckon Babalj would probably have to get minimum wages for the remainder of the season. Perhaps Babalj would be open to such an arrangement if there was an understanding that Babalj would get a decent new contract at the end of the season for next season. Babalj would have to be pretty keen to leave AZ to play football elsewhere if he was going to overlook money (and the security of a long term contract) to such a degree and sign such a contract, so perhaps the more likely situation where Babalj signs is if Babalj stays contracted to AZ until the summer transfer period (he is contracted for 2 and a half more seasons; till mid-2017) and Melbourne City signs Babalj then (that is at the end of this season).

 

Agree it would be a pain to see Babalj play for another A-League club, so if he's keen to play in the A-League again I'd hope that Melbourne City would be the first club to sort a deal out. It would be real annoying to see Babalj scoring goals for another A-League club, and perhaps even scoring against Melbourne City.

 

 

One annoying aspect about the take over is the leaks have dried up quite a bit. We know they are trialing players over the 12 days so you would think that given the short amount of time they are probably seriously considering signing the players already before the trial. I just hope the names get out over the comming days.

 

Agree with this. Especially when the club still has things to fix and improve, it's nice to know that the club is at least trying to improve things, and that's what we were made aware of in the past, with Didulica and Munn telling the media what the club was trying to do, and the media learning about prospective signings and so on.

 

Now we learn precious little about the club. We don't even know the 2nd club that Melbourne City will play a friendly against, even though that friendly match will seemingly take place next week.

 

I'm a bit hopeful that we'll learn about trialists and prospective signings when the club releases the team sheets for the Al Jazira friendly late Sunday night. But again when there's so much improvement that needs to be made, such as with the team's defence, it is annoying to not know anything about what the club is doing. It gives the impression that the club might be doing nothing to solve Melbourne City's problems and issues, when in fact the reality might well be totally different.

 

 

I guess the nice thing about the new PR approach is that when the club does announce something to improve the club, like with the signing of Paartalu, then it is a very pleasant surprise. Hopefully the club has a few such pleasant surprises in store.

[strider]

Is there actually talk about Eli coming back or are you lads theorising?

Edited January 9, 2015 by strider

[jw1739]

Is there actually talk about Eli coming back or are you lads theorising?

It's hypothetical. It seems that AZ have come to the conclusion that Eli has not made the progress they expected of him, and that they're looking to loan him out. IMO a lot of us on here remember the old Heart days with a degree of affection and we wouldn't like to see him play against us so why not speculate about getting him back? He could score goals and it was a joy to see him running at defenders with the ball at his feet.

[Torn Asunder]

If he wants one last crack at Europe, coming back to Melbourne City is his best bet as CFG would be easily able to facilitate a future deal for him with a club overseas (if they determined he was good enough once he proved himself once again in the A-league).

Who knows, he could eventually play for Manchester City and pay off their investment over here.

Edited January 9, 2015 by Torn Asunder

[johnno cpfc]

I agree with the "we don't need another striker sentiments" but we DO need someone who can score goals the guys we have are failing to shoot when the opportunity arises  and i know Eli would be better than what we have. We certainly DO need a Left Back urgently and maybe we might get one after the Abu Dahbi session  but i would'nt hold my breath waiting.

[n i k o]

Slightly off topic but babalj and rogic are two players the NT need desperately. Players that can hold the ball at their feet and bring in others, Viduka like. But I'd hate to see him go to another aleague club.

[Dylan]

[Murfy1]

Was just about to mention that Safuwan is one of the trialists.

 

He's 23, has had 43 caps for country, is apparently predominantly a centre-back but can also play in other defensive positions.

 

Also reportedly a Japanese club came close to signing him.

 

 

Interesting to see how the trial goes.

Edited January 9, 2015 by Murfy1

[morphine]

Was just about to mention that Safuwan is one of the trialists.

He's 23, has had 43 caps for country, is apparently predominantly a centre-back but can also play in other defensive positions.

Also reportedly a Japanese club came close to signing him.

Interesting to see how the trial goes.

'One of' the trialists - do you know any of the others per chance?

[silva10]

 

 

 

Give me a defender over Eli, only if we got rid of Ramsay, mate and Williams I would take him back. Got too many problems at the back to be looking at another attacker.

Of course a defender would be top priority, but if we had the ability to fit another forward into the mix, Babalj would be just about the first name on my list.

 

 

I think that's the critical part for me. We were supposedly flying very close to the limit in the salary cap by the end of 2014. We've removed Kalmar and I believe that's it from our commitments (I can't see the departure of Miller giving us any additional funds, given he was only ever signed as a temporary stopgap). To me, that doesn't translate in being able to sign a quality left back and Babalj in the next couple of weeks. Even if we promised to welcome him back with the obligatory 'I'm Coming Home' montage on his AAMI return, I still think we'd be battling to convince Eli to sign for less than whatever Kalmar was on (which is genuinely a shame, because a 'Babalj's Coming Home' montage would just about be the funniest thing I've ever seen) . And if Eli signed for the same amount as Kalmar had remaining in his contract, aren't we back to square one, with no space left to sign another genuine starting XI player in any position?

 

 

It's not clear how much salary cap space Melbourne City had left at the start of the season. Whether the club had no salary cap space left or just a little bit of space left is not known. We do know with certainty that Melbourne City didn't have a lot of salary cap space left though.

 

Kalmar agreeing to have his contract mutually terminated frees up even more space as well. And BTW with his exit the club has only used up the minimum amount of squad spots, 20 (with Melling and Marino outside the cap), and the late signings of David Villa, Joshua Kennedy and Liam Miller didn't add a cent to City's salary cap due to them all being non-salary cap signings. And the club does have 1 Visa spot left as well.

 

The big difference between recruiting now and recruiting at the start of the season is that half the season is already played, so any players signed now effectively get twice the money per game that they would have got if they signed in October. So, for example, a player would get $50,000 for only 3 months football (14 games) instead of $50,000 for 6 months of football (27 games).

 

So IMO the club should certainly be able to make one good useful signing this month. I don't believe money is too tight at the club to prevent that.

 

However if the club was to sign two players, like a defender and Babalj, I reckon Babalj would probably have to get minimum wages for the remainder of the season. Perhaps Babalj would be open to such an arrangement if there was an understanding that Babalj would get a decent new contract at the end of the season for next season. Babalj would have to be pretty keen to leave AZ to play football elsewhere if he was going to overlook money (and the security of a long term contract) to such a degree and sign such a contract, so perhaps the more likely situation where Babalj signs is if Babalj stays contracted to AZ until the summer transfer period (he is contracted for 2 and a half more seasons; till mid-2017) and Melbourne City signs Babalj then (that is at the end of this season).

 

Agree it would be a pain to see Babalj play for another A-League club, so if he's keen to play in the A-League again I'd hope that Melbourne City would be the first club to sort a deal out. It would be real annoying to see Babalj scoring goals for another A-League club, and perhaps even scoring against Melbourne City.

 

 

One annoying aspect about the take over is the leaks have dried up quite a bit. We know they are trialing players over the 12 days so you would think that given the short amount of time they are probably seriously considering signing the players already before the trial. I just hope the names get out over the comming days.

 

Agree with this. Especially when the club still has things to fix and improve, it's nice to know that the club is at least trying to improve things, and that's what we were made aware of in the past, with Didulica and Munn telling the media what the club was trying to do, and the media learning about prospective signings and so on.

 

Now we learn precious little about the club. We don't even know the 2nd club that Melbourne City will play a friendly against, even though that friendly match will seemingly take place next week.

 

I'm a bit hopeful that we'll learn about trialists and prospective signings when the club releases the team sheets for the Al Jazira friendly late Sunday night. But again when there's so much improvement that needs to be made, such as with the team's defence, it is annoying to not know anything about what the club is doing. It gives the impression that the club might be doing nothing to solve Melbourne City's problems and issues, when in fact the reality might well be totally different.

 

 

I guess the nice thing about the new PR approach is that when the club does announce something to improve the club, like with the signing of Paartalu, then it is a very pleasant surprise. Hopefully the club has a few such pleasant surprises in store.

 

 

Murfy they will be working on things in the background.

 

The announcement of the new training facility is evidence of that.

 

It's just that they don't feel the need to tell all and sundry what they are doing.

[Tonyboozeadams]

Sign that Kuwaiti keeper

[n i k o]

First training session, does anyone recognise number 27?

[Dylan]

First training session, does anyone recognise number 27?

 

 

I don't, but they usually dont give people on trial a number even when training. 

[n i k o]

We don't have a 27 on our playing list as far as a could see so he must be a trialist

[neio]

27 is Nick Symeoy won the NPL rising star award from Moreland Zebras

[agoalie]

^correct, both Symeoy and Petreski from the youth team are on the trip as well

 

[jw1739]

"...Ron Smith with the club in a technical capacity..." - well, that's a bit out of date. He dates from season 2012/13! 

[AaronAV11]

^correct, both Symeoy and Petreski from the youth team are on the trip as well

 

Who's the bald guy behind kisnorbo?

[FIFA 2002]

 

Are you Gouramangi Singh in disguise?

[hakz7]

^correct, both Symeoy and Petreski from the youth team are on the trip as well

Who's the bald guy behind kisnorbo?Petreski.

[mus-28]

Would be wise to use our final visa spot on an Asian player long term if we have legitimate aspirations of playing in Asia with the 3+1 ruling. A lot of the guys from Oman, Iraq, etc have very good technique and domestic leagues that are hardly appealing.

[strider]

I second that.

 

The middle eastern talent is there for the taking.

[Defibrillator]

Well if we got Babalj back it would require a major shift in JVS's thinking. Babalj would want to come back for game time to get his mojo back (otherwise why bother?), and a fit Kennedy would mean a 4-4-2. Can a Dutchman do this? Would it be a tactical bridge too far to adopt to change? Personally a dilemma I'd like to see - would be a bit of fun to watch us load up front. We have defensively minded wingers/wide midfielders in Duff and Williams, but someone would need to drop out of midfield unless you play Koren wide. Interesting proposition but I get the feeling it won't happen.

Babalj wouldn't come back to be second fiddle.

[Ademchee61]

To points made above - the VPL was a way better standard than the current NPL system. Watching a few NPL/local games last season, State 1 was way better to watch! I say we should Just stick with Garuccio at LB. Let players contracts run out in the off season and plan for next season. No point in wasting salaries/wages for half a season. Highly doubt we will challenge perth/victory tbh, but in saying that should we scrap 7-9 pts in the first 3 rounds (after the break) then maybe we'll challenge.

[GreenSeater]

Well if we got Babalj back it would require a major shift in JVS's thinking. Babalj would want to come back for game time to get his mojo back (otherwise why bother?), and a fit Kennedy would mean a 4-4-2. Can a Dutchman do this? Would it be a tactical bridge too far to adopt to change? Personally a dilemma I'd like to see - would be a bit of fun to watch us load up front. We have defensively minded wingers/wide midfielders in Duff and Williams, but someone would need to drop out of midfield unless you play Koren wide. Interesting proposition but I get the feeling it won't happen.

Babalj wouldn't come back to be second fiddle.

Easy way to fix the problem is just to get a new manager!

[marn11]

Hope our "36 scouts" are scouring the Asian Cup for some talent.

I liked the look of Ehsan Hajsafi tonight for Iran. More than likely well out of our price range, but seems to have a great left boot, and can play left back.

Edited January 11, 2015 by marn11

[Murfy1]

News today on an Aussie keeper in Europe:

 

UNDER-APPRECIATED PATTERSON-SEWELL EYES A-LEAGUE

 

11 JAN 2015

 

By David Lewis

 

 

After nearly eight years overseas, the A-League could be beckoning for Portugal-based Australian goalkeeper Caleb Patterson-Sewell as he seeks a fresh start to kick-start his career.

 

Despite Gil Vicente suffering back-to-back five-goal hammerings and being tethered to the bottom of the Primeira Liga table, Patterson-Sewell – who was born in Tennessee, USA, but raised in Queensland – believes he will not see any game time under the regime of coach Jose Mota.

 

And while clubs in France, Germany, Poland and Portugal have expressed an interest, the gloveman is eying a potential January transfer window move back to his roots.

 

With his contract up at the end of the season, Patterson-Sewell has made just one first team appearance for the team that remains winless on six points from its 15 games this season.

 

There was strong interest in the the 27 year-old from Melbourne Victory in the middle of last year but the timing didn’t prove to be right.

 

Now, though, a new beginning is high on his agenda after previous stints in MLS with New York Red Bulls and having played for three clubs in Portugal.

 

"I am keeping my options open but the A-League would really interest me ... as everybody knows now football in Australia is on the map," Patterson-Sewell said.

 

"It's come a long way from my time playing in the Brisbane Premier League with Toowoomba Raiders nine years ago and it's a league, which is attracting a lot of quality players.

 

"I came here to Gil Vcente after being told I would get more game time than I have and that's been disappointing and of course frustrating.

 

"Jose Mota, who used to be in charge during my time at Atletico CP, which was my first club in Portugal, is here now and I was never his preferred option back then and I am not now.

 

"It's an unfortunate situation for me and really I just want to get first team football – and if that could be in the A-League that would be great.

 

"You only get anywhere my playing first team games – nobody remembers the fella on the bench.

 

"I could easily have stayed with the Red Bulls (back in 2009) and picked up money by sitting on the sideline but that has never been the way I like to approach things."

 

Known for his positional sense and sweeper-keeper abilities, Patterson-Sewell went to Cavendish Road State High school with fringe Socceroos attacker Dario Vidosic in Brisbane and he was coached by Rado Vidosic.

 

Patterson-Sewell attended the Queensland Academy of Sport and was a junior with Queensland Lions.

 

Though he has been largely off the radar as far as most Australians are concerned, Socceroos goalkeeping coach Tony Franken has been keeping tabs.

 

"He came to watch me play for my former club Vitoria Setubal in Portugal about 18 months back and gave me a lot of good feedback," Patterson-Sewell said.

 

"I remember we lost to Benfica with 10 men that day and I had plenty to do.

 

"The message was that I needed to play more games to have a shot with the national team and he keeps in touch with text messages from time to time.

 

"I would above to one day be involved with the Socceroos but that's obviously a long way off right now and there’s a lot of work to do."

 

http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/article/2015/01/10/gloveman-patterson-sewell-eyes-league-ready