Start planning for 2016-17 now

[sheepdog]

Key word I used was SHOULD.

Would hate to see the talents of mooy and Koren wasted.

This is the season for murdocca to step up to the plate.

[Heart of Melbourne]

Genuine concerns over our back 4 and GK

It's was a concern last season and nothing was done about it. To late.

[JoyfulPenguin]

If CFG were willing to pay a transfer fee (albeit a very small one) Anthony Grant from Crewe would be a pretty good pick up he is ball winning midfielder and is a decently creative player as well for for League One standard.

Edited August 16, 2014 by JoyfulPenguin

[mus-28]

Isaiah Osbourne played 25 times for Blackpool in the Championship last season. Currently without a club, 26y.o and is a big bastardly midfielder. The sort of player we should be targeting, instead we'll probably get yet another underwhelming Dutchman.

Edited August 16, 2014 by mus-28

[theresonlyonebzamora]

Doesn't have to be a world beater, just someone similar to Montgomery at CCM with enough smarts to know when to break up play and do the dirty work to allow Mooy and Koren free reign in the middle of the park.

So you want Wayne Srhoj basically. 'Cause I'd say he's available...

[malloy]

Doesn't have to be a world beater, just someone similar to Montgomery at CCM with enough smarts to know when to break up play and do the dirty work to allow Mooy and Koren free reign in the middle of the park.

So you want Wayne Srhoj basically. 'Cause I'd say he's available...

He would be no good now, but he is pretty much the player we need.

[Dylan]

Its funny that there arnt any rumors around about this Visa signing. JVS sort of indicated a deal would be done by the end of August and yet there seems to be nothing around suggesting anyone

[theresonlyonebzamora]

 

 

Doesn't have to be a world beater, just someone similar to Montgomery at CCM with enough smarts to know when to break up play and do the dirty work to allow Mooy and Koren free reign in the middle of the park.

So you want Wayne Srhoj basically. 'Cause I'd say he's available...

He would be no good now, but he is pretty much the player we need.

 

 

Nailed it.

[Murfy1]

The club seems to be much tighter with information now, so there's less statements to the media about the club's transfer goals and activity, and less leaks. Which is why the signing of Robert Koren seems like it came out of no where, and then it was finalised pretty quickly, because it wasn't clear precisely what sort of player the club were after, and they were very tight-lipped about their pursuit of Koren.

 

So I reckon the signing of the final Visa player will be similar. It'll sort of seem like nothing is happening, and then it'll all happen pretty quickly.

 

 

There's some defensive midfielders who are free agents who played in the Netherlands last season that I think would do a very good job in the A-League. Players like:

 

- Ryan Koolwijk, 29, formerly of Eredivisie side NEC. Our club was reportedly interested in him, and he is now in talks now with some clubs "at home and abroad"

- Kwame Quansah, 31, a former Ghana international, formerly of Eredivisie side Heracles

- Toni Varela, 28, long time player in the Netherlands (with some Eredivisie experience), although he ended up in the Greek Superleague last season. Is a Cape Verde International

- Hans Mulder, 27, was last season at Eredivisie side NEC, and in the prior season he captained Eredivisie side Willem II

 

And then there's a possibility that's more a hope than anything else. Christian Poulsen is a free agent after deciding not to play on with Ajax (the club offered a 1 year contract extension). He seems to want to play on, and if he keeps playing it's been reported that he will play outside of Denmark. Also, it has been reported that a decision regarding Poulen's future will be made known in August..

 

 

So there's some very good options out there, and the club just has to put in the work. This is maybe a signing that the club should have some patience with (as it's a salary cap signing, and there is limited money to work with), but when a very good option becomes a possibility the club needs to jump on it. And this signing will be a good test as to what sort of recruitment our club staff and Man City can achieve, with so many resources at their disposal, a whole world of players out there, but however the key restriction of only having limited salary cap money to offer up.

Edited August 17, 2014 by Murfy1

[n i k o]

I wonder how much money the club have left under the cap?

[Dylan]

I think the club would do some creative accounting. They somehow got duff under the cap

I know this gets said all the time but this signing will probably determine the season

Edited August 17, 2014 by Dylan

[HEARTinator]

I think the club would do some creative accounting. They somehow got duff under the cap

I know this gets said all the time but this signing will probably determine the season

Bwahahahahahaha, gotta 'like' for the rotating Hoff Heads as well - hahahahahahaha

[AlexDaGroza]

Jon Mckain anyone? Was decent at CB and DM for adelaide

[cadete]

Jon Mckain anyone? Was decent at CB and DM for adelaide

Too old.

[AlexDaGroza]

Jon Mckain anyone? Was decent at CB and DM for adelaide

Too old. Not for this club

[cadete]

 

 

Jon Mckain anyone? Was decent at CB and DM for adelaide

Too old. Not for this club

 

He is almost 80...

[Tonyboozeadams]

Johnny warren?

[Nate]

I'd almost take McKain at this point even though he's a bonafide spastic.

[billyheart]

Confirmed. Retre on a senior contract. Marino NYL. So that's 3 or 4 spots left depending on Melling's contract.

Excited by Marino, second ever decent young striker we've ever had!

[K-aram92]

Confirmed. Retre on a senior contract. Marino NYL. So that's 3 or 4 spots left depending on Melling's contract.

Excited by Marino, second ever decent young striker we've ever had!

According to the article on Marino, he's signed on the NYL contract along with Melling. So that's the second time I guess we've been told that Melling is one of the three players outside of the 23-man playing squad 

[Dylan]

Yeah melling is 19 so the three outside are Archibald Melling and Marino

[heart_fan10]

Confirmed. Retre on a senior contract. Marino NYL. So that's 3 or 4 spots left depending on Melling's contract.

Excited by Marino, second ever decent young striker we've ever had!

 

haven't had one since Babalj

[cadete]

Confirmed. Retre on a senior contract. Marino NYL. So that's 3 or 4 spots left depending on Melling's contract.

Excited by Marino, second ever decent young striker we've ever had!

So I take it you have seen a fair bit of Marino in action then?

[AlexDaGroza]

 

Confirmed. Retre on a senior contract. Marino NYL. So that's 3 or 4 spots left depending on Melling's contract.

Excited by Marino, second ever decent young striker we've ever had!

So I take it you have seen a fair bit of Marino in action then?

 

isnt he more of a winger then a proper no. 9?

[AlexDaGroza]

 

 

 

Jon Mckain anyone? Was decent at CB and DM for adelaide

Too old. Not for this club

 

He is almost 80...

 

so 5 year contract?

[Murfy1]

Melbourne City announces the signings of youngsters Paulo Retre, Marc Marino ahead of new season

 

MATT WINDLEY

 

AUGUST 18, 2014

 

 

MELBOURNE City has edged closer to completing its squad for next season, announcing yesterday the signing of Paulo Retre and Marc Marino.

 

Retre, 21, has been elevated to the senior list after spending two seasons with the club’s National Youth League team.

 

The midfielder trained and played with the team on its pre-season tour of Manchester last month.

 

Marino, 18, is a striker from Adelaide who has previously played with the Australian Institute of Sport’s youth team.

 

The club is permitted to sign four more senior players.

 

Socceroos striker Josh Kennedy has been touted as City’s Australian marquee target, while the club is also said to be looking towards filling its remaining foreign player spot with a defender.

 

“Paulo has obviously been with us for some time and his signing builds on our tradition of developing and promoting players from youth to senior contracts - and rewarding those players who illustrate progress,” Melbourne City coach John van ‘t Schip said.

 

“We have been very impressed by Marc’s progress. Marc looks like a natural goalscorer and has a good instinct in the penalty box.

 

“He finds a way to get in behind players to finish and create goalscoring opportunities which is particularly exciting for us.”

 

A-League clubs are permitted to sign three youth-aged players which fall outside its 23-man senior squad.

 

Marino joins fellow South Australian Jacob Melling in occupying one of these spots.

 

So City has 19 senior players signed for next season - club’s are able to sign up to 23 - plus Melling and Marino as a contracted NYL player plus Spanish striker David Villa, who will be the club’s 10-game guest player.

 

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/football/melbourne-city-announces-the-signings-of-youngsters-paulo-retre-marc-marino-ahead-of-new-season/story-fnk6rlg0-1227028231069

[Dylan]

Melbourne City announces the signings of youngsters Paulo Retre, Marc Marino ahead of new season

 

MATT WINDLEY

 

AUGUST 18, 2014

 

 

MELBOURNE City has edged closer to completing its squad for next season, announcing yesterday the signing of Paulo Retre and Marc Marino.

 

Retre, 21, has been elevated to the senior list after spending two seasons with the club’s National Youth League team.

 

The midfielder trained and played with the team on its pre-season tour of Manchester last month.

 

Marino, 18, is a striker from Adelaide who has previously played with the Australian Institute of Sport’s youth team.

 

The club is permitted to sign four more senior players.

 

Socceroos striker Josh Kennedy has been touted as City’s Australian marquee target, while the club is also said to be looking towards filling its remaining foreign player spot with a defender.

 

“Paulo has obviously been with us for some time and his signing builds on our tradition of developing and promoting players from youth to senior contracts - and rewarding those players who illustrate progress,” Melbourne City coach John van ‘t Schip said.

 

“We have been very impressed by Marc’s progress. Marc looks like a natural goalscorer and has a good instinct in the penalty box.

 

“He finds a way to get in behind players to finish and create goalscoring opportunities which is particularly exciting for us.”

 

A-League clubs are permitted to sign three youth-aged players which fall outside its 23-man senior squad.

 

Marino joins fellow South Australian Jacob Melling in occupying one of these spots.

 

So City has 19 senior players signed for next season - club’s are able to sign up to 23 - plus Melling and Marino as a contracted NYL player plus Spanish striker David Villa, who will be the club’s 10-game guest player.

 

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/football/melbourne-city-announces-the-signings-of-youngsters-paulo-retre-marc-marino-ahead-of-new-season/story-fnk6rlg0-1227028231069

Old Windley getting his facts right again.

Edited August 18, 2014 by Dylan

[Murfy1]

As the club announcement said, Marino is on 1 of the 3 available 'youth-senior contracts'. And thankfully the club reiterated that Melling is on one of those contracts, so I'll take it as a fact now.

 

So this herald sun article above is correct in saying that we have 4 spots available still for next season, and 1 of those 4 signings could be a Visa player. I also think the club has 1 final 'youth-senior' contract left, and that Ross Archibald will seemingly remain on a NYL contract next season, even though it seems that he'll continue training with the senior team, and for all intents and purposes will be another senior team player (although he may well play regularly with the NYL team to get experience). He's only 19, and I'm pretty sure he could play in the NYL for the next 2 seasons (and remain on a NYL contract for that long). The pay is pretty much the same, so having Archibald stay on a NYL should be fine for both parties (for the short term). Although eventually Archibald will want a new contract, and the symbolism of getting a 'senior contract' (even one of the contracts that Melling and Marino got) is probably something a young player like Archibald would prefer to eventually get.

Edited August 18, 2014 by Murfy1

[Dylan]

Sorry, what was in bold is what I was referring to. JVS in the interview....last week I think. Said they are going after a DM who can also fill in as CB if needed.

[Murfy1]

 

 

Confirmed. Retre on a senior contract. Marino NYL. So that's 3 or 4 spots left depending on Melling's contract.

Excited by Marino, second ever decent young striker we've ever had!

So I take it you have seen a fair bit of Marino in action then?

 

isnt he more of a winger then a proper no. 9?

 

 

 

He seems to be a bit more of a striker, when he played or Campbelltown City, and or AIS and the Young Socceroos. He's a young player though, and he's played as both a striker and a winger, and he's only played so much in each position.

 

Marino is pretty highly rated by most coaches and observers that have come across him. He made the fairly exclusive AIS (where, importantly for us, he scored a respectable amount of goals), Paul Okon has regularly selected him for the Young Socceroos (where he's also found the back of the net), and he's done well in Adelaide at Campbelltown City, and is highly rated by the Adelaide football community and press. And lastly our coaches, JVS, Luciano Trani and Ivan Jolic had a good look at him as he trained with Melbourne City for 4 weeks before the team left for Manchester.

 

Although everyone has only seen so much of 18 year old Marino, of course, given his age. But he does seem to be a pretty well regarded young goal-threat, and hopefully the Melbourne City's staff judgement about him was right, and they can develop him into a good A-League goal-scorer.

[NewConvert]

Question - Would you leave the final visa spot spare until the January transfer window in the event that the team may need re-inforcing in some particular area or perhaps a player becomes available?

[Dylan]

I am sick of being a long suffering heart fan

[Tonyboozeadams]

I am sick of being a long suffering heart fan

I revel in it

[Murfy1]

Question - Would you leave the final visa spot spare until the January transfer window in the event that the team may need re-inforcing in some particular area or perhaps a player becomes available?

 

I think our team needs reinforcing now, so it would be better to sign a Visa player now before the season starts instead of waiting until January. Also, there's effectively always a bigger pool of players available around the world in the 'summer transfer window' (that is, in the current transfer window) than there is in the January transfer window, so it's more probable that the club could find a better player now rather than in January.

 

It looks rather certain that the club will not use the Australian marquee spot until Josh Kennedy becomes available around December/January, but I'd say it's a rarity for an A-League club to not use a key squad spot (such as a marquee spot or a Visa spot) so they can sign a player when that play become available mid-season. Who knows, the club might have a player it's targeting for the final Visa spot, but I'd say it's very unlikely.

 

 

I reckon before the season starts the club will probably make 3 more signings: the final visa player, a LB and our Australian marquee (almost certainly Kennedy). And even if Kennedy can't start playing for the club at the beginning of the A-League season, I reckon there will be some assurance/media about him being secured for next season (in the same way that Shinji Ono's WSW exit to Consadole Sapporo in Japan was reported months in advance, and it was reported that Berisha signed a pre-contract to play with victory in the 2014/15 season in the middle of last season).

So I reckon our last Australian salary cap spot might remain unused, along with our remaining youth-senior contract. But I expect all other spots and recruitment activity to be sorted out by season's start.   

[Dylan]

There was that tweet about tom king you found a while ago but there has been nothing since so who knows what's going on with that.... The only thing I could guess is that there is a delay with Tom king getting back to the country

[Torn Asunder]

I'd be happy for us to use our final visa spot on a quality keeper, in fact I think a new keeper is essential.

 

Our current keepers have shown they are not up standard and I fear both of them will continue to let in soft goals that will cost the team points.  To concede goals through poor goal keeping consistently is as soul sapping and destructive to a team as a striker that continually misses easy goals (Mifsud).

 

I know JVS has talked about a defender type as our final visa player, but I'd prefer a goalie.  Although a risk, Archibald will need to be our CB cover ... who knows, perhaps he may be another Curtis Good type. And with a good goalie behind our CBs they should play with more confidence.

 

I think that we may have to rely on Garuccio at LB over Ramsay, or even change formation and play 3 across the back.  Based on our current squad, and our abundance of wide players, this could be an option.

[bt50]

I'd be comfortable playing a 3-5-2 tbh

Velaphi

Hoffman Kisnorbo Wielaart

Mooy. Murdocca

Dugandzic Koren Duff

Williams Villa/Kennedy

With kalmar, garrucio, mauk, Chapman, Germano, Brown as bench options.

Plus whoever we sign as 5th visa to come.

[rass]

There was that tweet about tom king you found a while ago but there has been nothing since so who knows what's going on with that.... The only thing I could guess is that there is a delay with Tom king getting back to the country

I was watching the boys train the other day and pretty sure I saw him amongst them. Heard a few of them call out 'Tom' when he had it too...

[Dylan]

There was that tweet about tom king you found a while ago but there has been nothing since so who knows what's going on with that.... The only thing I could guess is that there is a delay with Tom king getting back to the country

I was watching the boys train the other day and pretty sure I saw him amongst them. Heard a few of them call out 'Tom' when he had it too...

Ahh well that sort of confirms it then

[R410]

Paddy Kenny realeased from leeds united.. surely we can get him for a couple meat pies. would be better than the tards currently standing between the posts.