Player Contracts - 2018-19

[xXJawsaXx]

Do you lads believe that by allowing more foreign player slots the quality of the A league would be increased without having a detrimental effect on home grown players?

 

In the PL you have to have 8 home grown players (have to had been at an English Club for 3 years prior to being 21) over 21 of any nationality in the 25 man squad. Under 21 players are not counted in the squad and are additional to the 25 man squad.

It is funny you say that because the FFA is changing the rules, so that next year will be the last year clubs can have 5 foreign players. They are reducing it to four. It has been a long time coming really, and it is more to do with lining up with the AFC than anything else.

[silva10]

Yes I heard that was happening.

 

Do you think it will improve the league though?

 

Maybe by allowing more imports the quality of the league can be raised significantly.

 

Would this improve Aussie players as well?

[LR9]

Yes I heard that was happening.

 

Do you think it will improve the league though?

 

Maybe by allowing more imports the quality of the league can be raised significantly.

 

Would this improve Aussie players as well?

Not really, not with the budgets teams have to play with, the 4th and 5th VISA players are usually Euro or South American scraps, signed in hope more then anything else.

The league would probably benefit more if that money went in to developing a local player, and the new NPL system will hopefully provide more to choose from with better pathways for home grown talent.

[NewConvert]

Yes I heard that was happening.

 

Do you think it will improve the league though?

 

Maybe by allowing more imports the quality of the league can be raised significantly.

 

Would this improve Aussie players as well?

 

Work in progress I think. Perhaps a little bit of history may help you understand. Football in Oz has always been the poor cousin of sports and prior to the establishing of the A-League it was run by the NSL. The NSL had a multitude of problems and went nowhere fast but it did produce Kewell, Viduka, Neill, etc. Then there was a federal government inquiry which recommended the scrapping of the NSL, establishing the A-League, and forbidding existing NSL clubs from participating in the A-League (Brisbane Roar, Adelaide United and Perth Glory being the exception for geographical and economic reasons). The problem was that the NSL was decommissioned immediately but the A-League did not arrive until 18 months later. It was this gap that has contributed to the hollowing out the Socceroos. And the standard in the first season was quite low. It then improved a bit and plateaued until Ange Postacoglou became the coach of Brisbane Roar and Graham Arnold became the coach at Central Coast Mariners. These two coaches took dirt poor teams to a new level way above the richer clubs like Victory and Sydney FC. Then more money began to arrive to the clubs and so salaries could be raised where marginal players or young players could see a career in football.

So for me the issue right now is not the number of foreign players but better coaching staff. At the start of the season I felt that Ange, Arnold and Popovic had developed 3 competitive teams that were going to raise the standard again. Sadly, Ange left Victory for the Socceroos gig, Arnold left for Japan and that left Popovic on his own. Mulvey the newly appointed coach of Brisbane has matched Popovic so that has provided the top end competitive tension. Gombau as lifted Adelaide in his first season (they were as big as a basket case as Heart were this season). And now JVS will take Heart on to a new level next season. The local players will respond is just that they need good coaching.

[silva10]

 

Yes I heard that was happening.

 

Do you think it will improve the league though?

 

Maybe by allowing more imports the quality of the league can be raised significantly.

 

Would this improve Aussie players as well?

 

Work in progress I think. Perhaps a little bit of history may help you understand. Football in Oz has always been the poor cousin of sports and prior to the establishing of the A-League it was run by the NSL. The NSL had a multitude of problems and went nowhere fast but it did produce Kewell, Viduka, Neill, etc. Then there was a federal government inquiry which recommended the scrapping of the NSL, establishing the A-League, and forbidding existing NSL clubs from participating in the A-League (Brisbane Roar, Adelaide United and Perth Glory being the exception for geographical and economic reasons). The problem was that the NSL was decommissioned immediately but the A-League did not arrive until 18 months later. It was this gap that has contributed to the hollowing out the Socceroos. And the standard in the first season was quite low. It then improved a bit and plateaued until Ange Postacoglou became the coach of Brisbane Roar and Graham Arnold became the coach at Central Coast Mariners. These two coaches took dirt poor teams to a new level way above the richer clubs like Victory and Sydney FC. Then more money began to arrive to the clubs and so salaries could be raised where marginal players or young players could see a career in football.

So for me the issue right now is not the number of foreign players but better coaching staff. At the start of the season I felt that Ange, Arnold and Popovic had developed 3 competitive teams that were going to raise the standard again. Sadly, Ange left Victory for the Socceroos gig, Arnold left for Japan and that left Popovic on his own. Mulvey the newly appointed coach of Brisbane has matched Popovic so that has provided the top end competitive tension. Gombau as lifted Adelaide in his first season (they were as big as a basket case as Heart were this season). And now JVS will take Heart on to a new level next season. The local players will respond is just that they need good coaching.

 

Well thanks for the explanation on how the A League began.

 

I do wonder if they had tried to build on the NSL if the quality of footballers would be better than they are now.

 

When the Premier League was formed, they still had relegation to and from the Football League, even though it is run by a different organization.

 

I understand that your league is a franchise and that is very different from our league. However, it seems to me that if you had promotion and relegation it may be more competitive.

[NewConvert]

 

 

Yes I heard that was happening.

 

Do you think it will improve the league though?

 

Maybe by allowing more imports the quality of the league can be raised significantly.

 

Would this improve Aussie players as well?

 

Work in progress I think. Perhaps a little bit of history may help you understand. Football in Oz has always been the poor cousin of sports and prior to the establishing of the A-League it was run by the NSL. The NSL had a multitude of problems and went nowhere fast but it did produce Kewell, Viduka, Neill, etc. Then there was a federal government inquiry which recommended the scrapping of the NSL, establishing the A-League, and forbidding existing NSL clubs from participating in the A-League (Brisbane Roar, Adelaide United and Perth Glory being the exception for geographical and economic reasons). The problem was that the NSL was decommissioned immediately but the A-League did not arrive until 18 months later. It was this gap that has contributed to the hollowing out the Socceroos. And the standard in the first season was quite low. It then improved a bit and plateaued until Ange Postacoglou became the coach of Brisbane Roar and Graham Arnold became the coach at Central Coast Mariners. These two coaches took dirt poor teams to a new level way above the richer clubs like Victory and Sydney FC. Then more money began to arrive to the clubs and so salaries could be raised where marginal players or young players could see a career in football.

So for me the issue right now is not the number of foreign players but better coaching staff. At the start of the season I felt that Ange, Arnold and Popovic had developed 3 competitive teams that were going to raise the standard again. Sadly, Ange left Victory for the Socceroos gig, Arnold left for Japan and that left Popovic on his own. Mulvey the newly appointed coach of Brisbane has matched Popovic so that has provided the top end competitive tension. Gombau as lifted Adelaide in his first season (they were as big as a basket case as Heart were this season). And now JVS will take Heart on to a new level next season. The local players will respond is just that they need good coaching.

 

Well thanks for the explanation on how the A League began.

 

I do wonder if they had tried to build on the NSL if the quality of footballers would be better than they are now.

 

When the Premier League was formed, they still had relegation to and from the Football League, even though it is run by a different organization.

 

I understand that your league is a franchise and that is very different from our league. However, it seems to me that if you had promotion and relegation it may be more competitive.

 

 

The problems with the old NSL were varied and deep. Clubs came into and out of existence on a regular basis. Attendances were quite low (from recollection on average about 3,000). The NSL was mired in ethnic politics and would occasionally erupt into violence. Carlton came into existence as an expansion club of the Aussie rules Carlton Football Club. I attended a couple of their matches and was quite befuddled when two skinheads started shouting EDF slogans - I didn't even know who the EDF were (learnt that right then and there). So in all honesty I don't think that they could have built much on the old NSL - I certainly would not have become involved.

 

As for improving the quality of football that is like in all sports a long term goal. Money as always is the key factor and that is improving. The first TV deal for the A-League was $35M over 5 years (later extended by two), the latest one is for $160M over 4 years. Now players have guaranteed contracts by the FFA so they don't lose money if the club runs into financial difficulties. Players on a basic contract are now earning enough to sustain a family, and of course the better ones can build a decent career and nest egg out of the game.

Training facilities are improving as well. Heart having the worst facilities of all the clubs. Still for me, the next step for the game to progress in Oz is to improve the quality of coaches not only at the A-League level but at the NPL and junior levels. BTW most of the old NSL clubs are now part of the NPL and so are coming back into the tent. As an aside clubs with an NPL licence need to meet certain financial criteria.

 

Another factor is the available talent pool. Here in Melbourne AFL takes a lot of young players. Adam Goodes who plays AFL for Sydney (and is currently Australian of the Year) was originally a soccer player that switched codes when he went to secondary school. As an athlete he is simply awesome to watch and would have been a fantastic soccer player. However things are changing with more kids staying with football (cricket and tennis have been the big losers). so I would expect over the next ten years that the talent pool will increase and with better coaching the game will continue to improve.

 

As for relegation and promotion that is legally possible (part of being in the Asian Football Confederacy) but practically impossible. Part of me thinks that will never happen because it is not part of this country's sporting culture (at least at the elite level). The AFL which is the biggest sport in Oz has never had it nor have League nor Union nor cricket. On a more realistic note, the finances wouldn't allow it - more A-League clubs make a loss than break even (same for the AFL), Australia does not have the population density to maintain so many clubs at an elite level. Victoria the second smallest state is about the same size as England, Scotland and Wales but we only have about 5M people.

The real spur for local players to improve is that if they take the gamble and lose, they really lose. A loss of an A-League contract means that the player will need to look for an alternative career quickly. There are not going to be too many offers within sport after that.

[silva10]

Thanks for taking the time to explain the development of the A League NC

 

Hopefully with City's involvement in the Heart the game will continue to grow and get stronger.

[silva10]

So Williams has signed for 2 years

 

Who is next?

[CaNNaVo93]

Hoff and Tando extended contracts. Tando to start this week?

[theresonlyonebzamora]

not sure on the point of extending the contract of a player who hasn't played a single senior game

[Herman Cain]

Bizarre.

[Embee]

For me it pretty much means the keeper situation will remain status quo.

 

Tando is clearly happy to play back up to Redders for the foreseeable future. Don't expect a new keeper lads.

 

That being said, Tando should start this week

[japiedog]

For me it pretty much means the keeper situation will remain status quo.

 

Tando is clearly happy to play back up to Redders for the foreseeable future. Don't expect a new keeper lads.

 

That being said, Tando should start this week

bugger

we need a really good keeper

 

who in the A league would we rate as the best ???

[Melburnian]

Can't see improvement with Redmayne as our number one. Blokes a disaster.

[Peter]

Not happy with this. Redmayne needs an experienced keeper who is there to put pressure on him but mentor him at the same time. Not a peer who wants his spot.

Either that or just sign a new first choice keeper. Mind you, CCM's attempt to do this and Newcastle's to an extent do not seem overly encouraging.

[n i k o]

Not happy with this. Redmayne needs an experienced keeper who is there to put pressure on him but mentor him at the same time. Not a peer who wants his spot.

Either that or just sign a new first choice keeper. Mind you, CCM's attempt to do this and Newcastle's to an extent do not seem overly encouraging.

I don't see how you could have a more experienced and better keeper in the number two position. Edited March 25, 2014 by n i k o

[Rellum]

not sure on the point of extending the contract of a player who hasn't played a single senior game

Cheap squad fillers.

[theresonlyonebzamora]

not sure on the point of extending the contract of a player who hasn't played a single senior game

Cheap squad fillers.

Still not a justifiable point. Peter summed it up for me - it's either redmayne or velaphi, not both

[n i k o]

Well for all we know they may have offered Redmayne the number two spot and he declined.

[moops]

Well for all we know they may have offered Redmayne the number two spot and he declined.

Haha, good point.

Also neither one of us would know what he is like now, he may have improved. I don't know how long it's been since he has played? It must be a while, but JVS said he is training well??

[theresonlyonebzamora]

Redmayne is 25, Velaphi 26. There's not much 'improving' to be done at that age

[LR9]

There seems to be an assumption that only a handful of players have a contract beyond this season...

The following have a contract for 2014/15 and beyond:

Redmayne, Wielaert, Ramsay, Murdocca, Germano, Garuccio, Mauk, Kalmar, Dugandzic, Williams, Hoffman, Velaphi, Archibald.

And we have apparently acquired the services Aaron Mooy too.

[jw1739]

There seems to be an assumption that only a handful of players have a contract beyond this season...

The following have a contract for 2014/15 and beyond:

Redmayne, Wielaert, Ramsay, Murdocca, Germano, Garuccio, Mauk, Kalmar, Dugandzic, Williams, Hoffman, Velaphi, Archibald.

And we have apparently acquired the services Aaron Mooy too.

LR9, could we confirm some of the above?

 

I have published references to :

Redmayne (end 2014-15);

Velaphi (end 2014-15);

Ramsay (end 2014-15);

Murdocca (end 2014-15);

Williams (end 2015-16);

Hoffman (end 2015-16); and

Archibald (end 2014-15). (I understand he was signed to the same deal as Mauk and Garuccio, i.e. first year on a youth contract, and then the second on a full contract.)

 

Do you have published references to the others?

 

AFAIK Wielaert's contract term was never published in the media, but transfermarkt says he has only one year (http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/rob-wielaert/profil/spieler_4519.html)

 

The others were all contract extensions but I can't find any reference to the duration.

[NewConvert]

There seems to be an assumption that only a handful of players have a contract beyond this season...

The following have a contract for 2014/15 and beyond:

Redmayne, Wielaert, Ramsay, Murdocca, Germano, Garuccio, Mauk, Kalmar, Dugandzic, Williams, Hoffman, Velaphi, Archibald.

And we have apparently acquired the services Aaron Mooy too.

 

So that means that there are 9 spots left including 3 visa players. Although I am not sure about Wieleart who I thought his contract was over at the end of this season.

[RoyalHeart]

Based on what has happened at Sydney FC and the huge turnover of players they have had I think if we pay out a player now for next season then it does not count towards our salary cap for the next year. I struggle to see how the likes of Wielarrt, Kalmar and Germano (if they are contracted) will be playing with us next year.

[LR9]

Based on what has happened at Sydney FC and the huge turnover of players they have had I think if we pay out a player now for next season then it does not count towards our salary cap for the next year. I struggle to see how the likes of Wielarrt, Kalmar and Germano (if they are contracted) will be playing with us next year.

[mulhollanddrive]

Surely paying out a player to not go on salary cap defies the reason for having a salary cap.

 

Let's have Engelaar on 100k for 3 years in the cap while he plays for us, and 1.5m on his 4th year which he doesn't play for us anymore.

[Cinnamon]

I endorse that play

[ontheball]

Mitchinson Vranks and Jez Walker released after contracts end mid April.

[MUTD/MLBHRT/ESSNDON]

Good!

[jw1739]

Mitchinson Vranks and Jez Walker released after contracts end mid April.

 

Good!

IMO most of us saw it coming but I'm a bit sad about it. Always thought Mitchinson actually quite a good defensive full-back and was rather unfairly criticised on here. Vranks could play the ball out nicely, and Walker showed his potential in that match against ADP.

 

We've certainly now stripped our defensive stocks as well as our forwards.

[Cinnamon]

Mitchinson Vranks and Jez Walker released after contracts end mid April.

Woah hang on, can we get some initials please?

[Libero]

 

Mitchinson Vranks and Jez Walker released after contracts end mid April.

Woah hang on, can we get some initials please?

 

 

imo, it would be wrong of JVS to get rid of JW, however im not sure about SM and DV. 

 

JG must be re-signed however, and it looks as if ive been underestimating him for ages....

[Murfy1]

I thought Vrankovic, Mitchinson and Walker were likely to go.

 

They can all feel pretty short-changed IMO, as they all should have got a decent amount more game time at Heart (especially during the period where Aloisi was manager, and the squad was crying out to be shaken up).

 

I'm still of the opinion that Walker is the better RB, and he has more potential than Hoffman, but as Heart have already re-signed 1 'right-back' in Hoffman, I think it would be wasteful to re-sign Walker as well. Hopefully the club sign another RB, though, who's better than Hoffman and can play ahead of him.

 

I hope all 3 players remain in the A-League. 

 

 

So if those 3 go, and Behich goes back to Turkey, Heart would have 8 squad spots free (due to Macallister, Golgol, Mifsud, Kewell, Behich, Mitchinson, Vrankovic and Walker all finishing with the club). And Gerhardt seems pretty likely to go, as well.

 

I'm almost as interested in seeing the non-marquees that are signed as much as the marquees. It will be interesting to see what sort of 'high-calibre', non-marquee salary cap signings are made.

 

Also, you can start to see the squad take shape if these 3 go. And it becomes clear that Heart are most in need of strikers and defenders (assuming Mooy comes to Heart, the midfield looks fairly good. But if Heart get a quality 10, it would be fantastic).

[HEARTinator]

I thought Vrankovic, Mitchinson and Walker were likely to go.

They can all feel pretty short-changed IMO, as they all should have got a decent amount more game time at Heart (especially during the period where Aloisi was manager, and the squad was crying out to be shaken up).

I'm still of the opinion that Walker is the better RB, and he has more potential than Hoffman, but as Heart have already re-signed 1 'right-back' in Hoffman, I think it would be wasteful to re-sign Walker as well. Hopefully the club sign another RB, though, who's better than Hoffman and can play ahead of him.

I hope all 3 players remain in the A-League.

So if those 3 go, and Behich goes back to Turkey, Heart would have 8 squad spots free (due to Macallister, Golgol, Mifsud, Kewell, Behich, Mitchinson, Vrankovic and Walker all finishing with the club). And Gerhardt seems pretty likely to go, as well.

I'm almost as interested in seeing the non-marquees that are signed as much as the marquees. It will be interesting to see what sort of 'high-calibre', non-marquee salary cap signings are made.

Also, you can start to see the squad take shape if these 3 go. And it becomes clear that Heart are most in need of strikers and defenders (assuming Mooy comes to Heart, the midfield looks fairly good. But if Heart get a quality 10, it would be fantastic).

8 spots is virtually a whole new team. This is what I'm hoping for. Many of the current 11 become bench players and look to put pressure on the starting 11 for spots on the team sheet come game day. I reckon it'd be great if Mate wasn't an automatic starter but had to fight for his spot thereby adding some consistency to his game. Same for Willo and others. We'd end up with a hungry compettitive bunch of blokes who didn't feel like automatic starters. Edited April 1, 2014 by HEARTinator

[moops]

Based on what has happened at Sydney FC and the huge turnover of players they have had I think if we pay out a player now for next season then it does not count towards our salary cap for the next year. I struggle to see how the likes of Wielarrt, Kalmar and Germano (if they are contracted) will be playing with us next year.

No, it counts on the salary cap if you pay them out, the only way around it is mutual termination afaik.

Sydney has been followed for it's dubious salary cap.

[heart_fan10]

I read somewhere that the Man City group believe that we have a good core squad at the moment and that it is about getting quality players that will make a difference. I think that our squad at the moment is decent, and agree that it needs some real quality players to lift it and i think that is exactly what we'll see our next signings be. 

 

Our remaining signings will be something like: 

 

- 2 marquee's 

- 2 high quality visa players

- 2 solid australian players

- High quality guest players from new york/man city

 

We will definitely have a very good squad going into next season.

[M13]

This salary cap thing.. How does it work in regards to fringe benefits?

Let´s say that a player gets a modest wage but gets free airline tickets for him and his family courtesy of a major sponsor. Would it count as a "wage benefit" ?
What if a sponsor is a real estate developer and offer players to rent homes at way below market value?

[Falastur]

For that matter, I wonder whether it includes if the team offer to pay, say, $1,000 for every goal scored as a bonus at the end of the season.

[moops]

For that matter, I wonder whether it includes if the team offer to pay, say, $1,000 for every goal scored as a bonus at the end of the season.

Good question, I also think bonus's don't count.

On four four two, people were saying that it costs clubs so much more to play in the Asian Champions League. I asked how that was, since a contract is over a year, wether they play a regular season, or added champions league.

The reply I got was player bonus's, such as game time, goals, clean sheets. So I hazzard a guess, it doesn't count, but it's nothing official.