Transfer Talk, Rumours and Speculation

[silva10]

For those putting forward Benayoun and Kranjcar as possible Marquees, I would say no to both. Although Yossi has been a very good footballer, I wouldn't look to bring in someone at his age. Also for me Kranjcar would struggle with the pace of the A League IMO. He has some very good qualities, but I don't see him as a leader.

 

Edited January 23, 2016 by silva10

[silva10]

9 minutes ago, Murfy1 said:

Tommy Oar's stellar stint in the Eredivisie shouldn't be downplayed.

 

Over the 2012/13 season, at age 21, Oar:

- Played 31 games for his Eredivise side Utrecht (26 starts)

- Produced 6 assists

- Showed he could play as a no. 10

- "was a key player for an Utrecht side that finished fifth and secured a Europa League place"

- And "respected football magazine 'Voetbal' (Football) International voted him the 10th best player of the Dutch season, based on weekly game ratings"

(source: http://www.foxsports.com.au/football/socceroos/tommy-oars-journey-from-football-loving-todler-to-key-socceroos-member-in-push-for-world-cup/story-e6frf4l3-1226660796277)

 

Over the 13/14 season, Oar consolidated a starting position and produced consistency, despite his team dropping down to 10th. Oar:

- Played 31 games (30 starts)

- And produced 6 assists

 

2014/15 was Tommy Oar's best season, highlighting that he's still developing (and at 24 now undoubtedly Oar still has more room for development). Oar:

- "played 17 games in the league this term due to the trip to the Asian Cup and injuries"

- Produced 7 assists

- And over the season "No player in the league has a higher rate of chances created per 90 minutes than Oar"

- And despite only playing 17 games "no player in the league has made more successful crosses than Oar"

- And over the early part of the season Oar's crossing accuracy was top class: "One in every three of his crosses from open play this year have been successful" (33% is actually phenomenal crossing. For example over an EPL only 3 or so players might average 33% or better crossing accuracy, see here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2303835/Premier-League-crossers--best-worst-season.html)

(sources: http://www.goal.com/en/news/596/exclusive/2015/03/24/10159752/tommy-oar-australia-and-utrechts-creative-force-is-ready-for , http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11907/9533117/eredivisie-tommy-oar-has-been-the-star-for-fc-utrecht )

 

 

So just because you haven't watched the Dutch top flight between 2012 and 2015, you shouldn't underestimate Oar. He was consistently a solid winger in a so-so Dutch team. In fact it's pretty difficult to name an Australian footballer who's had a more successful European stint before the age of 25 in the past decade than Tommy Oar with his impressive multi-season stint at Utrecht 

 

I see Oar as a classic winger and more, as he described himself recently "I only developed the more defensive side of my game when I came here, I was really a left winger who hugs the touchline and gets crosses into the box. I think I have more to my game than that now" (link). Oar has also shown that he can play as a central midfielder/playmaker. But the main value I see oar adding to Melbourne City is as a classic winger; a classic winger like Oar would be the perfect complement to our very direct and quick-to-shoot winger Harry Novillo. 

Also Oar is a high quality free kick specialist. And as a left footer, Oar would guarantee that Melbourne City could swing in dangerous free kicks from every part of the pitch, with Mooy and Novillo taking the right foot favouring free kicks and Oar taking the left foot favouring free kicks.

 

 

As for glamour signings, the club can still sign a Visa guest player, such as Kranjcar or Vidic. And next season I see the club signing a big Visa marquee to compensate for Mooy leaving to pursue his European dream. Then, over the summer transfer window, I would say that Melbourne City would have a real chance of signing a player like Lampard, Pirlo or Michael Carrick or Tomas Rosicky (or whichever big star is available).

 

Also the fact should be highlighted that while Melbourne City has signed Fornaroli and Novillo, the club has also signed Hughes and Duff. So CFG's Visa recruitment isn't perfect; it's hit-and-miss (like all salary cap recruitment in general [but our hits, like Fornaroli and Novillo, are certainly much bigger hits]). And Melbourne City's history with marquees is poor: Koren, Kennedy, Villa (great player of course, but a very disappointing 4 game stint for us). So I certainly wouldn't scoff at the idea of signing a fit, young and proven Socceroo like Tommy Oar as a marquee this January transfer window.

 

 

I'd love to see CFG finally produce a real Visa marquee for Melbourne City. But it wouldn't surprise me if the precarious January market meant we had to wait until June-July to see such a signing. Regardless, if Melbourne City signs Tommy Oar or better then I'm sure the club is top 2 bound this season, and believe this club is a better than 50% chance of winning silverware this season.

Do you think it would be possible to sign him as a guest player? That may suit him as it wouldn't tie him down and if he impressed, it may give him another opportunity to go back to Europe of Asia if he wants to play at a higher level.

[Murfy1]

16 minutes ago, silva10 said:

Do you think it would be possible to sign him as a guest player? That may suit him as it wouldn't tie him down and if he impressed, it may give him another opportunity to go back to Europe of Asia if he wants to play at a higher level.

Unfortunately I don't think it's likely. The FFA has made it known that it is against Socceroos being signed as Guest players (there's only been one exception, the long time Socceroo and World Cup captain Lucas Neill).

One thing that just struck me about Tommy Oar's sudden announcement to leave Ipswich is the timing. Melbourne City announces that Koren is released, and less than 48 hours later Oar announces he's leaving Ipswich and says he "want to be closer to home again". Maybe a coincidence. Who knows.

 

Anyway there's always a massive amount of unknown factors in the global transfer market, so there's decent odds I guess that CFG could pluck 2 star players from anywhere in the world and sign them up as Melbourne City's guest player and international marquee. CFG has 7-8 days to make it happen, so I guess we'll all be keenly watching over the coming days to see what CFG can come up with.

Edited January 23, 2016 by Murfy1

[silva10]

Murfy I find it strange that the FFA is against Australian players being guest players. It doesn't exactly promote Australian football. 

 

[Murfy1]

The guest player spot is something of an enigma. No clubs are using it this season, and only Melbourne City (with David Villa) used it last season.

 

The guest player deal was originally created for purely commercial reasons: to bring international star players (and the revenue that follows them [ticket sales, TV ratings, merchandise sales, etc.]) to the A-League. It was also hoped that a star player (e.g. Romario, who Adelaide signed as a guest in 2006) would then sign a marquee deal with the A-League club if the guest player stint was successful for both player and club. 

 

So there was no direct way in which the guest player rule was supposed to promote Australian football. It's all about international marquees and money. And the FFA have put the bar so high that no guest players (bar Villa) have been signed in 2 years. So overall it's a pretty silly rule that's not very useful at the moment, and the FFA has to revamp it for A-League clubs to get any use out of it. 

Edited January 23, 2016 by Murfy1

[fiji19]

Will Brattan be with us next season?

Can him and Paartaluu play in the same squad

[silva10]

Well Murfy maybe like they do in the MLS, they should have 3 Marquee players outside of the cap. I also think 6 visa spots would be handy.

If the FFA want to promote the game, then the clubs need to be able to have competitive squads if they choose too. 

Where the FFA should be concentrating is bringing in better coaches at schoolboy and youth level. 

[Jovan]

6 minutes ago, silva10 said:

Well Murfy maybe like they do in the MLS, they should have 3 Marquee players outside of the cap. I also think 6 visa spots would be handy.

If the FFA want to promote the game, then the clubs need to be able to have competitive squads if they choose too. 

Where the FFA should be concentrating is bringing in better coaches at schoolboy and youth level. 

You must also remember we are also controlled by the AFC and they are pushing us to drop the visa numbers. So I doubt we'll ever go more in the near future.

[silva10]

1 minute ago, Jovan said:

You must also remember we are also controlled by the AFC and they are pushing us to drop the visa numbers. So I doubt we'll ever go more in the near future.

Personally I think that would be disastrous for the league if they reduced the Visa numbers. Until there is enough Australian talent coming through that can fill the league squads it would be very irresponsible of the authorities to do this. Instead of attracting fans and sponsors it would most likely reduce them.

 

[Jovan]

12 minutes ago, fiji19 said:

Will Brattan be with us next season?

Can him and Paartaluu play in the same squad

Good point. Not sure they did at Roar under Ange, from memory Brattan was backup for Paartalu and Brattan would have been pretty young 18 or 19. But we've played with 2 holding mids Melling/Paartalu and I don't see why it couldn't work. All really depends on the attacking mid and his quality.

[mulhollanddrive]

Who could afford Oar at this time of season, only can think of us.

Pay him $1m as marquee this year on a 3 month deal, and then fit him in the cap from then on (would require trust that his agent wouldn't shaft us, but he needs us more than we need them).

Only issue then is maybe whether Novillo is effective on the RW, without being able to cut in to shoot on his right foot.

Oar Fornaroli Novillo

Mooy

Melling Paartalu

Zullo Chapman Kisnorbo Franjic

Sorensen

That's a strong team, and we can play more compact and defensively (4 central defensive players) and still have the front 4 scoring us 2+ goals a game.

Edited January 23, 2016 by mulhollanddrive

[Tonyboozeadams]

13 hours ago, Pete Heartspur said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_Tournoi_de_France

Care to take another crack at it?

But I agree, it's one of my favourites.

 

Cheers

[jw1739]

Just a few comments on various points...

I would have thought that once an injured player is eligible to be replaced by an injury-replacement player that his income would be paid by the insurance that each club has to have. Only one set of payments counts towards the salary cap, otherwise all or almost all clubs would breach the salary cap every season - whether it is the payments to the injured player that count or those to the replacement doesn't really matter now that replacements have to be "like-for-like." In the past I don't know which was the case, but clubs were definitely not replacing injured players "like-for-like" and hence the FFA's ruling on such.

We don't know the full details of the signings of Malik, Caceres and Fitzgerald in terms of which parts of their contracts (if any) are attributed to injury replacements.

Of the signings of Bouzanis, Malik, Caceres and Fitzgerald only that of Malik extends beyond 31st May 2016 so the club is not overly-committed to the other players if they don't work out.

Other clubs would have a genuine grievance if Oar were allowed as a guest player - particularly Perth whose application to have Andy Keogh as same was knocked back. Oar could be considered as a replacement marquee for the remainder of this season however - "marquee" doesn't mean he has to be paid a lot - it's just a device to pay a player outside the cap. But I would be surprised if we didn't intend to replace Koren with an foreign player.

IMO Stefan Mauk would have left at the end of this season.

We will probably get Luke Brattan next season.

Finally, are the Mariners using Garcia as a guest or a marquee?

 

[Jozzy]

Really starting to warm to the idea of Oar. I'm not sure why he's perceived to be crap around here. He had a successful stint in the Netherlands and was starting to nail down some game time at Ipswich. 

He's only 24, we seen Nathan Burns and James Troisi both return to Australia after rather failed overseas moves and came back to the A League and made some real impacts. You could even put Milligan on the same boat. Hey, even our boy Mooy was on the fringes of the Socceroos and didn't have much luck overseas (he was much younger when he was in Europe.

We can target getting bums on seats and new supporters by either two ways 1. Signing big name marquee('s) who'll get us on the front page of some newspapers and raise the awareness of our club and generate interest OR we can target genuine success, win trophies and get new supporters onboard via our success. We have seen how much better out attendances have been over the last few home games since we've improved in comparison to our early season form/attendances.

Last season Victory won the league with arguably the best marquee duo in the league with Berisha and Milligan, neither have big European reputations but there damn good, reliable players who can play at this level and they didn't have to take any risks when they signed them as marquee's. We've seen it first hand with the best player in the league, Mooy.

I would be happy to sign Oar as a marquee and then use the guest spot to sign a big named midfielder.

[Shahanga]

11 hours ago, silva10 said:

Murfy I find it strange that the FFA is against Australian players being guest players. It doesn't exactly promote Australian football. 

 

The guest player rules are contradictory. Basically it has to be a household name (outside of the football crowd) who is willing to come for a short contract. Typically this means a former super star who is now over the hill. Romario being an excellent example.

This season they've lengthened it to 14 weeks which means it would be more attractive to non-retired players.

[Shahanga]

@jw1739 the press are reporting that Garcia is a marquee. 

Now whether that is his official status (instead of guest) I can't say for sure, but I assume it to be the case.

[possiblygeorge]

Can we just hurry up and sign Lacazette already 

[Murfy1]

This will probably make a few people happy:

 

Oar unlikely to join A-League club: agent

 

Emma Kemp

January 24 2016

 

Homesick Socceroos attacker Tommy Oar is unlikely to sign with an A-League club, his manager says.

Oar hinted at a return to Australia after parting ways with English Championship side Ipswich Town this weekend, only five months into his two-year deal.

The 24-year-old former Brisbane youngster said he'd found it difficult to settle into life in England and cited a yearning to move closer to home as reasons in his request for a release, having made nine appearances and scored one goal since August.

The Gold Coast product has spent the majority of his senior career based in Europe following his 2010 move to top-tier Dutch outfit FC Utrecht, where he enjoyed a successful five-year stint.

Oar's Netherlands-based agent Michael Jansen confirmed numerous A-League clubs had moved quickly to express their desire to snare the versatile forward, who has 28 Socceroos caps and was in Ange Postecoglou's Asian Cup-winning team.

Though he clarified a speculated return to the Roar or any other Australian side was improbable, revealing there was also interest from Asia and Europe.

"We are looking closer to home, but that does not mean that we rule out options in Europe or elsewhere in the world," Jansen told AAP.

"As for Australia, right after the news came out that he left Ipswich, there were a lot of clubs who made contact - and not only Australian clubs.

"Tommy just terminated his contract, so he does not want to rush anything.

"But at this point it's unlikely he will sign for an A-League team."

Oar's reluctance to rush the decision may be balanced by the need to get settled in time for Australia's upcoming home World Cup qualifiers in March.

When making selection decisions, Postecoglou prefers his players to be playing and training regularly with their clubs.

 

https://au.sports.yahoo.com/football/a/30644882/oar-unlikely-to-join-a-league-club-agent/

 

 

As said before, the likes of Troisi, Oar and probably Wilkinson were most probably only ever going to come back to the A-League as marquees. It is a coup to sign a not too old Socceroo inside the cap. Melbourne City was very lucky signing Franjic inside the cap for 3 years, even though he had injury problems (9 A-League clubs were reportedly interested in signing Franjic, regardless of injury concerns).

 

It's going to be very interesting to see what CFG can come up with. Especially with Caceres coming in, it isn't even 100% clear what position Koren's replacement will play in, defence, midfielder or attack. Time for those 36 agents to earn their pay..

[CityHeart]

Not sure where it belongs, but nice article by \Davutovic in todays hun here

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/football/a-league/what-aleague-can-learn-from-major-league-soccer/news-story/9e7d72b51f5dc2917763e6eb889a8625

 

The Lampaard rule was an utter joke and totally counter-intuitive to the growth of the game/league. I liked these quotes:

Quote

 

“We asked who was the biggest global star? It’s David Beckham and we said, ‘OK, so how do we get him to the MLS?’ We reached out to him and the rest is history.’’

In 2014 the A-League had stagnated and with Alessandro Del Piero leaving, Football Federation Australia was giftwrapped an ideal replacement by Melbourne City’s new owners.

City Football Group had lured Frank Lampard from Chelsea, having sold him an exciting “project” playing for both their New York and Melbourne clubs.

Looking to exploit the same loan rules that delivered Melbourne Victory James Troisi and Tom Rogic the year before, City put the wheels in motion, merely awaiting FFA approval.

With Spanish superstar David Villa also on his way, rival clubs whinged, FFA panicked and the loan rule was instead changed.

 

Since the introduction of the “Lampard Rule”, the headline “marquee” visa signings have been Marc Janko, Filip Holosko, Fedrico Piovacarri and Diego Castro as FFA struggles to compete with the Big Bash League’s stardust and free-to-air TV interest wanes. In 2014, channels 9, 7 and 10 were all preparing bids for the A-League.

 

and

Quote

This long-term vision meant MLS chiefs were comfortable fending off criticism about the Beckham circus as he twice moved to AC Milan on loan in the off-season to keep his England hopes alive.

and

Quote

And unlike in Australia, any expansion or decision-making backlash — such as from New York Red Bulls when New York City applied to join — is drowned out by the greater good under the MLS’s independent (single entity) structure.

Basically, the good of the greater game should always be the priority for a minority sport - and the thoughts of clubs ie Visitors or Sydney should be absolutely ignored, or in fact do the exact opposite of what they want They are in it for themselves and nothing more.

FFA should be creating rules to generate MORE marquee types, more stars and grow the game. Not limit them.

Take the Beckham to Milan example - if a player like Gerrard is happy to come, but has to go back by March for MLS...embrace it! Get him here. Dont create reasons not to grow, create opportunities to grow!

Take a small thing like us wanting to go to a light blue home kit - ALLOW IT. Let Sydney crack it, and it will CREATE a divide and a rivalry.

Playing cute all the time is getting us nowhere, where as the big bash is getting stars and frankly wiping us off the plant for the 4 weeks it operates.

[bt50]

31 minutes ago, CityHeart said:

Not sure where it belongs, but nice article by \Davutovic in todays hun here

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/football/a-league/what-aleague-can-learn-from-major-league-soccer/news-story/9e7d72b51f5dc2917763e6eb889a8625

 

The Lampaard rule was an utter joke and totally counter-intuitive to the growth of the game/league. I liked these quotes:

and

and

Basically, the good of the greater game should always be the priority for a minority sport - and the thoughts of clubs ie Visitors or Sydney should be absolutely ignored, or in fact do the exact opposite of what they want They are in it for themselves and nothing more.

FFA should be creating rules to generate MORE marquee types, more stars and grow the game. Not limit them.

Take the Beckham to Milan example - if a player like Gerrard is happy to come, but has to go back by March for MLS...embrace it! Get him here. Dont create reasons not to grow, create opportunities to grow!

Take a small thing like us wanting to go to a light blue home kit - ALLOW IT. Let Sydney crack it, and it will CREATE a divide and a rivalry.

Playing cute all the time is getting us nowhere, where as the big bash is getting stars and frankly wiping us off the plant for the 4 weeks it operates.

Was a good article. Davutovic spot on as usual.

[Shahanga]

Far too often in this country the default is to "cut down the tall poppies". All it does is entrench mediocrity.

The FFA should hang their heads in shame.

[jw1739]

9 minutes ago, Shahanga said:

Far too often in this country the default is to "cut down the tall poppies". All it does is entrench mediocrity.

The FFA should hang their heads in shame.

The other thing that struck me about reading the article in full was how much emphasis had been placed by the MLS on building stadiums, and this quote from Don Garber:
“So owners who had already lost (US)$250m now had to invest several billion in building soccer specific stadiums. But they needed to double and triple down on investing. If not for that there’s no MLS today — these are spiritual homes for our clubs and our fans believe that it’s the focal point of the local soccer experience."
I know it's a hobby-horse of mine, but if you don't invest you don't grow.
And the wrong people continue to run FFA...

[Luke]

7 minutes ago, jw1739 said:

The other thing that struck me about reading the article in full was how much emphasis had been placed by the MLS on building stadiums, and this quote from Don Garber:
“So owners who had already lost (US)$250m now had to invest several billion in building soccer specific stadiums. But they needed to double and triple down on investing. If not for that there’s no MLS today — these are spiritual homes for our clubs and our fans believe that it’s the focal point of the local soccer experience."
I know it's a hobby-horse of mine, but if you don't invest you don't grow.
And the wrong people continue to run FFA...

 

Yep there seems to be a lack of forward thinking and private investment from football here 

[Torn Asunder]

It was, and still is, an absolute ameteur disgrace by a Sydney / Tard pandering FFA

[haz]

https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/sport/a/30646052/city-content-with-new-a-league-signings/

Melbourne City are in no rush to bring in a new international A-League marquee, with coach John Van 't Schip content his quartet of transfer-window acquisitions have enough depth and versatility for the club's title push.

City have been busy in January, and their four new additions are likely to feature in some way in Monday night's clash with Wellington at AAMI Park.

The arrivals are Adelaide United defender Osama Malik, ex-Central Coast Mariners Anthony Caceres and Nick Fitzgerald, and Western Sydney's former back-up goalkeeper Dean Bouzanis.

Out are maligned marquee Robi Koren, prodigious youngster Stefan Mauk, forward David Williams and second-choice gloveman Tando Velaphi.

"You never know what's going to happen, but there will not be any more actions from our side at this moment," Van 't Schip said.

"We've got the players in that we wanted, and now we're focusing on the games.

"We are certainly sure we have reinforced the team, that we've got the players in that can give us that extra lift in certain positions, and that will also contribute in making other players play better because of that."

Fourth-placed City had been expected to replace former Slovenian skipper Koren - who was finally released on a severance deal last week - with another international.

But Van 't Schip does not see a new high-profile player as the be-all and end-all in strengthening his squad's title challenge.

"We want to make a good choice in that it has to be a player that fits in the club, fits in the culture, and also in the position that we need," he said.

"So we just have to have a good look at that.

"Of course, if something happens and a player gets offered, or we see a player that is free that we think could fit very good into the club, then there's that possibility.

"But at the moment we're not really focusing on that too much."

While players such as Koren and Williams were no longer in City's plans, Mauk certainly was, but the 20-year-old attacking midfielder was no guarantee of re-signing and with Adelaide offering him a new experience and the Reds putting forward the versatile Malik in return, for Van 't Schip the swap was a no-brainer.

City will have defender Ivan Franjic back against the seventh-placed Phoenix following his stint on the sidelines due to injury, but they will be missing suspended Jack Clisby.

 

[AntiScum]

3 minutes ago, haz said:

https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/sport/a/30646052/city-content-with-new-a-league-signings/

Melbourne City are in no rush to bring in a new international A-League marquee, with coach John Van 't Schip content his quartet of transfer-window acquisitions have enough depth and versatility for the club's title push.

City have been busy in January, and their four new additions are likely to feature in some way in Monday night's clash with Wellington at AAMI Park.

The arrivals are Adelaide United defender Osama Malik, ex-Central Coast Mariners Anthony Caceres and Nick Fitzgerald, and Western Sydney's former back-up goalkeeper Dean Bouzanis.

Out are maligned marquee Robi Koren, prodigious youngster Stefan Mauk, forward David Williams and second-choice gloveman Tando Velaphi.

"You never know what's going to happen, but there will not be any more actions from our side at this moment," Van 't Schip said.

"We've got the players in that we wanted, and now we're focusing on the games.

"We are certainly sure we have reinforced the team, that we've got the players in that can give us that extra lift in certain positions, and that will also contribute in making other players play better because of that."

Fourth-placed City had been expected to replace former Slovenian skipper Koren - who was finally released on a severance deal last week - with another international.

But Van 't Schip does not see a new high-profile player as the be-all and end-all in strengthening his squad's title challenge.

"We want to make a good choice in that it has to be a player that fits in the club, fits in the culture, and also in the position that we need," he said.

"So we just have to have a good look at that.

"Of course, if something happens and a player gets offered, or we see a player that is free that we think could fit very good into the club, then there's that possibility.

"But at the moment we're not really focusing on that too much."

While players such as Koren and Williams were no longer in City's plans, Mauk certainly was, but the 20-year-old attacking midfielder was no guarantee of re-signing and with Adelaide offering him a new experience and the Reds putting forward the versatile Malik in return, for Van 't Schip the swap was a no-brainer.

City will have defender Ivan Franjic back against the seventh-placed Phoenix following his stint on the sidelines due to injury, but they will be missing suspended Jack Clisby.

 

Its not like his going to come and say were chasing a high profile Marquee and a high profile guest player. Im confident talks have been under way for some time .....

[drewmelbcity]

3 minutes ago, AntiScum said:

Its not like his going to come and say were chasing a high profile Marquee and a high profile guest player. Im confident talks have been under way for some time .....

Hope so, because he is delusional if he thinks that squad right now can win the title. No midfield dominance and a woeful defense that ships the second most goals in the competition. With only one clean sheet and even that day we looked like conceding.

[HEARTinator]

 

4 hours ago, jw1739 said:

The other thing that struck me about reading the article in full was how much emphasis had been placed by the MLS on building stadiums, and this quote from Don Garber:
“So owners who had already lost (US)$250m now had to invest several billion in building soccer specific stadiums. But they needed to double and triple down on investing. If not for that there’s no MLS today — these are spiritual homes for our clubs and our fans believe that it’s the focal point of the local soccer experience."
I know it's a hobby-horse of mine, but if you don't invest you don't grow.
And the wrong people continue to run FFA...

http://www.theage.com.au/sport/soccer/western-sydney-wanderers/aleague-fans-should-no-longer-be-treated-like-poor-cousins-for-stadiums-20160115-gm6ikm.html

 

This article by Mike Cockerill on 15 Jan examines the stadium issue and how MLS clubs decided that owning their own stadiums was in their long term interest. Absolutely relevant for us here in Australia.

[belaguttman]

Yes, let's buy AAMI Park and kick out the visitors. Better still let them stay but double their fee so that they can help fund our team

[bt50]

10 minutes ago, drewmelbcity said:

Hope so, because he is delusional if he thinks that squad right now can win the title. No midfield dominance and a woeful defense that ships the second most goals in the competition. With only one clean sheet and even that day we looked like conceding.

I think we can win the title with the squad we have right now. We are scoring for fun and will go 2nd with a win tomorrow, all despite an awful run with injury in the front half of the season.

Plenty to improve on yes, but delusional to acknowledge that we are at least a chance of winning, absolutely not.

[NewConvert]

35 minutes ago, HEARTinator said:

 

http://www.theage.com.au/sport/soccer/western-sydney-wanderers/aleague-fans-should-no-longer-be-treated-like-poor-cousins-for-stadiums-20160115-gm6ikm.html

 

This article by Mike Cockerill on 15 Jan examines the stadium issue and how MLS clubs decided that owning their own stadiums was in their long term interest. Absolutely relevant for us here in Australia.

This is well and good but I suspect that planning laws are a bit different in the USA - actually it will be different state by state and city by city. I know that in Queensland you can't build a stadium anywhere you want it requires State government approval and they hold the monopoly on stadia up there. I don't think that a Victorian government would allow a new stadium for a couple of reasons: it has been long term planning to have the major sporting events based around the city so if the club were to build something it would detract from AAMI (which is government owned); Etihad has an exclusivity arrangement regarding the size of the stadium that would be a competitor to its financial interests. So even if clubs had the money and will they would be jumping a lot of regulatory and competitive hurdles.

[Tesla]

6 hours ago, CityHeart said:

Not sure where it belongs, but nice article by \Davutovic in todays hun here

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/football/a-league/what-aleague-can-learn-from-major-league-soccer/news-story/9e7d72b51f5dc2917763e6eb889a8625

 

The Lampaard rule was an utter joke and totally counter-intuitive to the growth of the game/league. I liked these quotes:

and

and

Basically, the good of the greater game should always be the priority for a minority sport - and the thoughts of clubs ie Visitors or Sydney should be absolutely ignored, or in fact do the exact opposite of what they want They are in it for themselves and nothing more.

FFA should be creating rules to generate MORE marquee types, more stars and grow the game. Not limit them.

Take the Beckham to Milan example - if a player like Gerrard is happy to come, but has to go back by March for MLS...embrace it! Get him here. Dont create reasons not to grow, create opportunities to grow!

Take a small thing like us wanting to go to a light blue home kit - ALLOW IT. Let Sydney crack it, and it will CREATE a divide and a rivalry.

Playing cute all the time is getting us nowhere, where as the big bash is getting stars and frankly wiping us off the plant for the 4 weeks it operates.

 

Soccer is the biggest sport in this country, but most fans are eurosnobs. All you need to do is get the Eurosnobs to watch the A-League, and next thing you know we have AFL crowds. Perhaps easier said than done, but still given how huge the upside is it's worth going for. Lampard is exactly the type of player this league needed to make a start on converting the Eurosnobs, and the FFA blocked it. They should all lose their jobs for that one decision TBH, the level of incompetence blows my mind.

FFA literally have one job to do for soccer to b low up in this country, convert the Eurosnobs, and when the opportunity presents itself ion a platter they turn it away.

Fold FFA.

[agoalie]

We have a great product on the pitch in this country, it's entertaining and for the most part all teams are competitive. Bringing world class players to our league is a must to get those eurosnobs watching. Most just dismiss our league because it doesn't have the worlds best players so why watch it. 

[Tesla]

44 minutes ago, HEARTinator said:

 

http://www.theage.com.au/sport/soccer/western-sydney-wanderers/aleague-fans-should-no-longer-be-treated-like-poor-cousins-for-stadiums-20160115-gm6ikm.html

 

This article by Mike Cockerill on 15 Jan examines the stadium issue and how MLS clubs decided that owning their own stadiums was in their long term interest. Absolutely relevant for us here in Australia.

I think there are many things we can look at the MLS for when growing our game. But we also have to keep in mind this is a different country and we can't do everything the same. The stadiums have been instrumental to the MLS' success, no doubt about it. But the cost, and red tape, is much higher in Australia

What we do have though, is governments willing to spend money on stadiums (probably incorrectly, but this is Straylia and we love our sport so we don't care), and that's probably the only way we can get around  the red tape and cost issue.

What will pressure the state governments in places where stadiums are a problem (Queensland obviously being the worst), will be growing the league. Governments around this country throw money at other sports without a second thought, because of their popularity, and soccer has benefited too, especially in West Sydney. So again, we need to focus on converting the eurosnobs, and growing the game.

In the mean time, if a certain state is not playing ball (eg Queensland), then don't create any new expansion teams there, and if the current team/s come into financial trouble then let it be, don't save them and just move their licence elsewhere. We need support from state governments and not crippling stadium deals. Of course it's a different story if it's NSW or Victoria, but things aren't too bad in either state.

[HEARTinator]

5 minutes ago, Tesla said:

I think there are many things we can look at the MLS for when growing our game. But we also have to keep in mind this is a different country and we can't do everything the same. The stadiums have been instrumental to the MLS' success, no doubt about it. But the cost, and red tape, is much higher in Australia

What we do have though, is governments willing to spend money on stadiums (probably incorrectly, but this is Straylia and we love our sport so we don't care), and that's probably the only way we can get around  the red tape and cost issue.

What will pressure the state governments in places where stadiums are a problem (Queensland obviously being the worst), will be growing the league. Governments around this country throw money at other sports without a second thought, because of their popularity, and soccer has benefited too, especially in West Sydney. So again, we need to focus on converting the eurosnobs, and growing the game.

In the mean time, if a certain state is not playing ball (eg Queensland), then don't create any new expansion teams there, and if the current team/s come into financial trouble then let it be, don't save them and just move their licence elsewhere. We need support from state governments and not crippling stadium deals. Of course it's a different story if it's NSW or Victoria, but things aren't too bad in either state.

Don't disagree. Rules are meant to be broken/changed and one way is to exert pressure as you say. With CFG and now apparently some Chinese checking out potential purchases of CCM and Jets, this gives the little shitty HAL increasing financial and political leverage to get better deals from stadium operators. Will the FFA step up to the plate?

 

http://www.theage.com.au/sport/soccer/central-coast-mariners-and-newcastle-jets-may-become-first-aleague-clubs-to-become-chinese-owned-20160124-gmcz4p.html

Edited January 24, 2016 by HEARTinator

[sharpy]

'The anything but Transfers Talk, Rumours and Speculation thread'

[Tesla]

8 minutes ago, agoalie said:

We have a great product on the pitch in this country, it's entertaining and for the most part all teams are competitive. Bringing world class players to our league is a must to get those eurosnobs watching. Most just dismiss our league because it doesn't have the worlds best players so why watch it. 

I completely agree, I find the A-League more entertaining and interesting than any other league.

It's actually frustrating, most these eurosnobs know fuck all about soccer to begin with, and they sit their saying the quality of the A-League is shit etc. when firstly they've probably never even watched more than 20 minutes of it, and secondly I very much question their ability to make such a judgement.

Anyway, it's nopt always about the quality. It's about the entertainment, and with the amount of goals, close games, etc. the A-League is very entertaining.

[Tesla]

4 minutes ago, HEARTinator said:

Don't disagree. Rules are meant to be broken/changed and one way is to exert pressure as you say. With CFG and now apparently some Chinese checking out potential purchases of CCM and Jets, this gives the little shitty HAL increasing financial and political leverage to get better deals from stadium operators. Will the FFA step up to the plate?

 

http://www.theage.com.au/sport/soccer/central-coast-mariners-and-newcastle-jets-may-become-first-aleague-clubs-to-become-chinese-owned-20160124-gmcz4p.html

Obviously this would be good, Chinese money seems like it's unlimited at times from what I've seen, and they'd probably be interested in developing facilities and maybe even stadiums. But I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty worried this will end in match fixing or similar. They love gambling way too much for me to trust this. Unless buying an A-League team is just a way of getting inside information rather than fixing matches, that's okay I suppose. Point is, if Chinese are buying A-League clubs, there is something going on in regard to gambling as well.

[Luke]

1 hour ago, Tesla said:

Obviously this would be good, Chinese money seems like it's unlimited at times from what I've seen, and they'd probably be interested in developing facilities and maybe even stadiums. But I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty worried this will end in match fixing or similar. They love gambling way too much for me to trust this. Unless buying an A-League team is just a way of getting inside information rather than fixing matches, that's okay I suppose. Point is, if Chinese are buying A-League clubs, there is something going on in regard to gambling as well.

Why couldn't it be purely business based ?

[raw10]

One of the reasons why FFA should not run the A-League. How is it not a conflict of interest when they own Jets etc and still running the competition? It is a joke. A-League should have been run by a corporation with equal share by all owners of the franchise. It has been 10 years and it is about time FFA let it go.

Edited January 24, 2016 by raw10