kenno82

Yep. I was there. Disgraceful. The blokes sit next to us week in and week out and show a bit of passion. Police and security forced the banner off them saying that they had to communicate the message "outside the stadium and through the proper channels". I would've thought being a fan at a game inside the stadium is the proper channel! Bloody ridiculous.

it wouldn't surprise me if victory are the ones going for him, or if we both are. Remember they are in search of a marquee striker and just missed out on miccoli as their marquee striker who also happened to be italian. Good point...

Rocchi would be terrific... makes sense hat we go for an Italian after ADP has forged the way. I'm guessing he would be our marquee then - not the DM?

Not sure if we could afford Sharp - but it'd be worth asking the question.

Refer previous post - two types of marquee - ones that win games and bring people along because of success, and others that bring people along through their reputation - these players are not the latter - but Sharp would be one of the best strikers in the competition. Players like Broich, Flores, and Fred did not bring people to their first game either... they were pretty much unknowns to most HAL fans.

Okay, I'll admit that I'm a Saints fan, but here are three players that Southampton are trying to get rid of that are all worthy of consideration by Heart. All are just short of EPL standard, but would be quality players in the HAL. Striker options: Tadanari Lee Billy Sharp Midfielder: Dean Hammond (could be used as a DM, but usually a central midfielder - not a marquee, but at an age where we could try to squeeze him under the salary cap). Hammond and Sharp have both delivered in the Championship, and only Championship teams would be offering contracts . I'd say Sharp is a genuine marquee - good age and great goal scoring record. What do people think?

Kewell was there signing autographs and talking to fans... I think his approach has been terrific since joining.

Is Rashid on trial? Only one non-visa spot left now.

Obviously didn't watch from the start of the telecast - he mentioned us twice in the first three minutes with very little context.

You're wasting Golgol as a striker... his main strength in the a-league is running at defenders - I'd shift him to the wing and let Kewell use his experience and nous up front. Kewell is good in the air as well.... something we have lacked since Aloisi retired.

...probably not worth it Yeah, not worth that amount, Don't lose sight of the fact he's being let go from a side in the Championship and the Socceroos won't touch him. Not dissimilar to where Garcia was at before he came (less injury plagued I guess). I'd say $800 to $900k about right, There's talk of Boro continuing to pay some of his salary when he leaves...

McDonald was on 1.5 million pounds at Boro - what would we need to bring him to Heart? $800,000 - $1m a season?

Good for football - yes - but good for Melbourne Heart? How many members will they attract through their investment in Shep?

I agree... surely there's more potential members in suburban Melbourne that will turn up at each home game than in regional areas? Ballarat and Bendigo might be better cities?

Milicic didn't go to Newcastle, he went to Western Sydney.

I would support the club regardless of the outcome, but there is little chance of the details here becoming a reality for this season - shirt and stadium deals are already done and printed. FFA would have to approve any takeover and there is no way the FFA could have kept this quiet. Not happening.

The same argument has been put forward before, but essentially the marquee signing should do one of two things (ideally both): 1) Allow you to dominate the league in such a way, that more fans come to watch; or 2) Attract world football fans who are familiar with a player's career/reputation to games. I would argue that the latter will mostly be in the 35+ age bracket. The former would usually be a number 10 or a number 9 with some flair and ability to create. Neither of these types grow on trees. The younger players should be pushing for big contracts in Europe, while the older well-known players will be highly sought after in asia and other developing leagues like the MLS. Due to the above, the player is also unlikely to sign for any more than one season.

Rocchi's stats and career would be enough to justify marquee status for a year - former captain of Italian Olympic team, straight from Inter Milan and a long successful record in the Serie A. Great goal scoring to game ratio as well. Not ever marquee will be a Del Piero - there's just not enough of them around to entertain interest in our league.

First post... just had to put two and two together. Heart clearly went to the FFA and asked for as many Friday night games (free to air) as possible to grow their membership base. In return, the FFA would've wanted to see a marquee on the table before they locked Heart in for prime time viewing across the country. Kewell was readily accessible, and I'm sure the FFA put some money on the table to see it done. From the ALeague's perspective, they get to showcase Kewell across the country (still the most marketable Aussie short of Cahill) and they can try to grow a club that is clearly struggling in one of its biggest markets. When I saw our fixture, I knew that we must already have a name locked in. The only reason we would back out of this now, would be if we could convince the FFA that we had a bigger name in the pipeline.