Murfy1

. What 68 goals from 154 appearances with most in the English top flight for Norwich not good enough as a marquee? You can't be serious? As HeartinHobart points out, Holt is a proven scorer. In the same way that Ono is an A-League marquee because he demonstrates his quality as a midfielder, so too would Holt be a marquee because he'd demonstrate his quality as a forward. Also, if we want name recognition, Kewell could do that. So at the moment, our signings are ticking all the boxes.

It looks like we'd have Holt as our marquee. As I've said before on this forum, I hoped that we'd go after Karagounis, because A) he was available, as his contract is ending this year with Fulham B ) he'd provide leadership and C) because he'd provide a lot of quality in general (especially through his passing). But IMO Kewell, Holt and Jarosik, would provide all those qualities if we signed them. Especially if we signed Garcia as well, we'd have all the leadership (mainly from Garcia and Norwich's captain, Holt) and quality that we would need to succeed in the A-League. Surprising signings, as I expected the club would mainly go after players who are coming out of their contracts, but overall very good prospective signings.

Both Scott Munn and John Didulica have spoken to the media about Kewell. I doubt that they both would have spoken to the media, in such a short interval as well (Munn on monday night, Didulica on tueday night), if they thought it was unlikely that Kewell would sign for Heart. Remember they also had a press conference planned for Tuesday. We also know that Kewell has been talking to Aloisi, and probably numerous times (I recall him and Aloisi also spoke last year). Some media reports have stated that negotiations are in the advanced/final stage, and to my judgement it just looks like they are sorting out the final few details. I doubt that Kewell could land a contract with a respectable European club, because if European clubs were interested in Kewell then he probably would have signed for one of them around a year ago. Also, Kewell would be aware that under Holger Osieck Kewell could just as easily make the Socceroos World Cup squad from the A-League than from a European club (just ask Rhys Williams). Indeed, Kewell might even have better chances of making the Socceroos squad if he is based in Australia compared with Europe. No one at Heart has come out and explicitly said 'we've signed Kewell!!!', but I believe that Melbourne Heart's words and actions very much suggest he is on the way. I could be wrong, nothing is ever absolutely certain, but as best as I can reason Kewell is on the way. I haven't heard a compelling argument why Kewell isn't coming to Heart either (for instance, like Kewell got an offer from a championship club and thinks he'll make the World Cup squad that way). So a claim without a source is not going to change my judgement.

This. Heart's making some serious and very good moves for next season. The club's now far beyond signing unknown Brazilian strikers (Maycon) and other not good enough VISA players (e.g. Steven Gray). P.S. It also shows that when nothing is being reported, the club is keeping itself busy. Over the past three to five weeks, when nothing really happened except the signing of Murdocca, the club was clearly laying the groundwork for these signings.

With the Jets being out of the race, it looks like a matter of time to me before Kewell signs with Heart. A possible further hint that we'll secure Kewell is the Jets media release. It was a very short piece of writing, only three sentences long, and they felt the need to say in their third and final sentence that: "“We [the Jets] hope to see him playing in the A-League, because having players of his calibre competing in our league benefits all Clubs.” That suggests to me that the Jets believe that Kewell is coming to the A-League, and there simply aren't reports of any other clubs pursuing Kewell. The best piece of recent evidence that Kewell will join Heart is Archie Thompson saying several hours ago that: "I actually text him [Kewell] last night to see how he was and he text me back saying that I'll be back and we'll play golf soon," Thompson said. (http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/breaking-news/harry-kewell-poised-to-sign-with-melbourne-heart/story-e6frfkp9-1226652733297#ixzz2Ue0WYrJA) For whatever reason, SBS's The World Game seems to report poorly about Heart. All that's really contained in their recent article is the fact that Heart haven't signed Kewell in the 36 hours since Monday midnight, and that Heart CEO Scott Munn apparently ' did not answer calls on Tuesday'. The last time The World Game wrote a report on Heart they said the same thing, that Heart were 'unavailable' for comment. And right after that article Scott Munn retweeted a tweet from Fox Sports' executive producer of football, Murray Shaw, saying 'I've never known Melbourne Heart to be unavailable for comment', which is Munn pretty much saying the World Game article is bullshit. This most recent article looks like BS again. All it reports is that nothing has happened since Monday night. So, I'll believe the pile of contrary evidence that shows that Kewell is coming.

If nothing else, going after Kewell is the cheapest media campaign Heart has ever undertaken. I didn't think Kewell would receive this much attention. The media coverage just keeps rolling on... http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/football/strike-at-the-heart-harry/story-fni2wcjl-1226652640695

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/a-league/kewell-must-be-fit-for-heart-start-20130528-2n9h8.html#ixzz2UbBGCaTJ

Hyundai perhaps? With Hyundai sponsoring the league, it would add to the impression that the club has been working closely with the FFA to make this happen. In fact, I don't think the FFA would allow clubs or high profile players like Kewell to enter into sponsorships with competing car companies so as not to devalue Hyundai's sponsorship. Not 100% sure though. Hyundai would make sense, as I think there's an exclusivity clause in their sponsorship deal with the A-League. I'm not sure exactly sure on the details either, but I can't remember any other car company besides Hyundai being associated with the A-League or its players over the league's several years of existence. It could be that the FFA has sought an exception for the sake of Heart and Kewell, which would be rather fair as the FFA has accommodated a number of Socceroos and marquees at other clubs. Or perhaps Hyundai simply is the car company. It looks like we'll find out pretty soon.

Ray Gatt, the Australian's leading football writer, tweeted a few hours ago, in response to a tweet about Kewell's Heart deal including sponsorship arrangements, that he's "already heard there are sponsorship deals, including one with a car company". So Heart will pay him $48k and third parties will pay him whatever they please. The result is Heart gets Kewell for $48,000 for one season, and Kewell has a significant financial incentive to join Heart (due to the sponsorship arrangements), coupled with Kewell's drive to make next year's World Cup squad.

Michael Zappone said on SEN: http://www.sen.com.au/display-article/Kewell-poised-to-sign-for-Heart/59573 Ray Gatt tweeted 3 hours ago that Kewell "hasn't actually signed yet", and David Davutovic said on SEN an hour or so ago that Kewell and Heart are "very close" to a deal (http://www.sen.com.au/audioplayer/Audio/Dave-Davutovic-on-Harry-Kewell/8052). It looks like the deal is certain to be complete by the end of the week. I reckon Kewell, his people and Heart probably wanted some media buzz about this signing, and I'd say they've received it in spades. I'd just like to see some other announcements shortly after Kewell, to ensure that Heart gets a good run of media coverage, ensuring that we'll have some buzz around the club leading into next season.

The highlight of this article for me is how much Munn stresses the importance of our football department for next season http://sportsbusinessinsider.com.au/news/category/financial-and-governance/staying-on-track-melbourne-hearts-mission/

If true, this better be because we've freed up money for a real marquee like Karagounis. Otherwise, it beggars belief.

Garcia is nearing the end of his career, so I'd be surprised if a big spending club was prepared to pay a lot to buy him from us. Also, I wouldn't mind the idea of Garcia retiring at this club, especially if he provided more seasons like last season. I reckon a deal with Kewell DOES suggest that we might re-sign Garcia, because A) we'll have a good amount of money left over after making shrewd and cheap signings, like with Kewell B ) our Australian marquee spot is still free, meaning that we're fully able to secure Garcia on a deal that he would find fair (which, objectively viewed, might be seen as a slightly generous deal, as well).

Agree with this. If Kewell is signed, then we only need to 1) re-sign Garcia, 2) sign Kisnorbo Or a quality international CB 3) Sign a marquee (like Karagounis), and then we'd easily have one of the best squads in the league. Such a squad would easily make the top 3 IMO.

Karagounis? LOL!!! Do we really want a 36 yr old who scored only 1 goal for Fulham playing for us? Did you see his Fulham goal?

This post fully summarises my opinion of this signing, and it tries to elaborate on a number of points/issues already raised in this thread. The club appears to be taking a Machiavellian whatever-is-necessary-to-get-results approach towards next season, which is perfectly fine with me after last season. Over the short term Heart just needs to play great winning football, so with that in mind I support the signing of Kewell. The conditions of the deal are critical. If we sign Kewell on minimum wage, as is being widely reported, then its hard to fault Heart. Victory probably got ripped off paying several hundred thousand dollars for Kewell (or whatever is was), which was only agreed after ugly and protracted negotiations. Heart’s deal on the other hand is a steal, and negotiations seem to be moving easily and swiftly, which suggests that Kewell just really wants to play football. I think many are right in saying that he’s accepting such conditions with Heart mainly because he wants to make the World Cup, but it could also be the case that Kewell is trying to rebuild his image after what happened at Victory, where he obtained the image of being greedy and selfish. Another point is the simple fact that if Kewell never played for Victory and had played for Sydney FC instead, then Heart supporters would happily welcome Kewell. Objectively, he is a very good attacking midfielder, who won’t take up a VISA spot, will play for minimum wage and has one of the best known faces in Australia. If you don’t look one-eyed at this possible signing, then you have to admit that it’s an excellent deal, as many here (including myself) have realised now that the emotions have subsided a bit. I think that Kewell’s ‘brand’ alone will give a somewhat significant bump to Heart’s crowd attendances, membership sales and merchandise sales. But more importantly, I think Kewell could play a key role in Heart obtaining great on-field success next season. And if we win a lot and challenge for top spot next season, which I believe we would with Kewell and another 3 to 5 crucial signings, then I believe we’d see a substantial increase in crowd attendances, membership sales and merchandise sales. That would be Kewell’s best contribution: simply being an effective team player who assists the club in achieving on the pitch success. Lastly, if anyone can get the best out of Harry Kewell, I think it’s Aloisi. He’ll have a lot of words with Kewell, and will communicate that he’ll have to work as hard as possible to play and stay fit. It is unlikely to be just a coincidence that our best player last season, Richard Garcia, was a former teammate of John Aloisi. Also, Aloisi got Grella to come to the A-League after saying he wouldn’t play here, accept minimum wage, pay for his own personal fitness regime and work as hard as possible to regain his fitness (which, unfortunately, wasn’t enough). I think Kewell will be a real positive signing, but we need to see more.

To be fair gerhardt, tadic and garcia are the only three who can attempt to claim showing Moments of quality last season. Tadics return for the crap supply he got was pretty decent. Put him in one of the top teams in the league and he probably would have been near on top scorer in the league IMO. I agree with your points. Gerhardt, Tadic, and Garcia were just about our only quality players last season. And I agree with your assessment of Tadic. What I was trying to get at with my post was that the club kept repeating the mantra of "winning mentality" with each and every signing, while our squad didn't have enough quality. The lack of quality was mainly due to the declining/lack of quality with players we'd previously signed, such as Colosimo, Thompson, Fred (because of injury), Hoffman, Gray etc etc. I've said it elsewhere and I think its true, that Heart is getting smarter and better with signings each season, but the fact remains that last season we didn't bring in enough quality to make up for the not especially talented squad that we had to begin with last season. I think we didn't bring it enough very good players last season mainly because of financial austerity, and I expect our signings to go up another notch leading into the next season because the club appears to be loosening the pursue strings. This deal with Kewell should give the club maximum chances to secure at least one big signing.

Another point. Last season we signed Tadic, because (as Heart said) "having won three titles on the bounce during his time at Dinamo Zagreb alongside Luka Modric, Josip will bring a winning mentality" and Gerhardt because (once again, in the club's words) "He played in Bosnia last year and won the double, the league and the cup, so he brings a winning mentality." Heart also signed Steven Gray last season, and almost certainly forced him to cough up this statement: “Getting straight to the point, wherever I’ve gone, I’ve won. I like to think I bring that hunger to the team. Being a success on the pitch is very, very important to me. I don’t want to just come here and make up the numbers, I want to win.” Where did we finish? Second last. Then we released Gray and Tadic. A 'winning mentality' is important, you can't achieve success if you don't really work for it, but it can't replace QUALITY.

The only word I can use to describe my emotions about this potential move is 'conflicted'. I think Kewell, voted by many as Australia's best footballer of all time, could offer a lot to any A-League club, whether that club is the Wanderers, Victory, Sydney, Newcastle or Heart. He is the type of player who'll have quality until he retires, and Kewell could probably play on till he's at least 37 IMO (assuming he avoids major injuries). Also, I do think that Heart's current squad would be improved if we had Kewell as our AM. On the other hand, no to Kewell, and simply because he played for Victory. I don't especially care about 'sticking it to them'. He played for them and I really don't want us to sign another Victory player. Finally, if the club thinks that Kewell is the only 'big' signing that Heart has to make for next season, then I'll be criticising the club wholeheartedly. If we have one or two real 'big signings' than I wouldn't really care about Kewell. If they just sign Kewell and players like Hoffman, then I think we'll really struggle next season and each and every criticism that Heart receives will be more than deserved. Maybe the club is only talking to Kewell to bargin/negotiate with another player. I hope the club knows what its doing.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/football/harry-kewell-poised-to-sign-with-melbourne-heart/story-fnddgn65-1226651732908

Garcia makes it a bit clearer in this recent article that a main priority of his is to make the 2014 World Cup (probably the last World Cup he could partake in), and that money isn't his only/main calculation. It's positive to hear that from Garcia, as before money seemed to be the only sticking point. Hopefully things come good with Garcia, but if he really wants to make the World Cup then I couldn't hold anything against him if he went overseas to pursue that opportunity (annoyingly, he could even go to the Middle East to get a reasonable chance of making the World Cup, given Osieck's squad selections). P.S. I think he could even make the World Cup squad if he played for Heart, but he seems to think that a move overseas with more football would improve his chances.

http://www.thisishullandeastriding.co.uk/Richard-Garcia-delighted-Hull-City-big-time/story-19088168-detail/story.html#axzz2UI1cXVpH

Craig Foster said on Thursday, in a video on SBS's The World Game website, that next season fans are "going to have--hopefully, lets see--perhaps one or two more marquee players" (at the end of the latest 'Shootout' video). I sincerely think that a marquee would turbo-charge things at Heart. I nonetheless think that Heart could make strong progress without a marquee next season, but why jog when you can run? Hopefully Foz had Heart in mind when he made the above statement

What's the story with Bas van den Brink again? He left Perth to go play in India, and the deal fell through at the last moment? He would be a pretty sturdy European CB that we could sign on a free transfer. I'm a bit hopeful though that we can get a slightly better CB from Europe.

Another bit of info about the players we are looking for, with an article today mentioning that: (source) That we are pursuing a Europe based CB is new, and very welcome, IMO. So, from all we know, Aloisi and Foxe have gone around Europe looking for a striker, a DM, a CB and possibly an AM. Aloisi and Foxe have been in discussions with at least 7 players, and Aloisi and Foxe spent some time in England. Hopefully we hear something concrete soon.