Transfer Talk, Rumours and Speculation

[rass]

Whatever Sorensen is like he'll be a step up from Redmayne, even on a bad day. He won't clap either.

...and that's it.

In the end, we have replaced Redmayne with Sorensen. Should be a huge difference.

[Jimmy]

...and that's it.

In the end, we have replaced Redmayne with Sorensen. Should be a huge difference.

This isn't a fair comparison. Sure Redmayne has been replaced by Sorenson but we've also lost a VISA place and some cap space in the process. Worth the upgrade? I don't think so. 

[Red or Dead]

Would've preferred Bolton coming out of retirement to be honest (who turns 40 tomorrow)...that man could save a penalty, or six!

[rass]

This isn't a fair comparison. Sure Redmayne has been replaced by Sorenson but we've also lost a VISA place and some cap space in the process. Worth the upgrade? I don't think so. 

I disagree mate.

We had two keepers last season and we have two keepers this season. It's a direct replacement Redmayne for Sorensen.

I don't understand what you mean by we have lost a VISA place. If he didn't get it, someone else would have. There's 11 players that start a game - not everyone is an outfielder.

BTW, I'm not saying it's the greatest signing ever, but I thin I understand why it was done.

[NewConvert]

No professional footballer ever has a guarantee of a starting place in the side, and I'd be very surprised if Tando was that naive. My guess is that his own re-signing was delayed while the Sorensen signing was finalised and possibly even the relationship between the two GKs discussed with him.

By the way, I think those saying that Sorensen had retired are mistaken. He told Stoke that he was leaving when his contract expired, and arranged his ride across the U.S. I recall seeing him asked (on Twitter I think) whether he might return to the Danish League, and his reply was along the lines that "anything is possible."

Koren appears to be...

[n i k o]

I disagree mate.

We had two keepers last season and we have two keepers this season. It's a direct replacement Redmayne for Sorensen.

I don't understand what you mean by we have lost a VISA place. If he didn't get it, someone else would have. There's 11 players that start a game - not everyone is an outfielder.

BTW, I'm not saying it's the greatest signing ever, but I thin I understand why it was done.

Not exactly. If Sorenson ends up second keeper then he will never play a game unless Velaphi gets injured or gets red carded. At least with an outfield player they can come on off the bench and still be utilised. 

[Ruckoo]

Love how everyone on the forum just writes everyone off before they have even played one game for us.

[japiedog]

Love how everyone on the forum just writes everyone off before they have even played one game for us.

Let's just say that, there have been a few duds, so why wait till later to write them off

 

[belaguttman]

This isn't a fair comparison. Sure Redmayne has been replaced by Sorenson but we've also lost a VISA place and some cap space in the process. Worth the upgrade? I don't think so. 

Only if there was a genuine better visa option that we passed up for Sorensen, and also only if there were another decent Australian keeper that we could have signed as a number 1 or 2 keeper under the cap. As we didn't do this my assumption is that this was the best of the available options. we'll see though. I've got more concerns about the suitability of Aaron Hughes than I do about Sorensen

[Red or Dead]

Love how everyone on the forum just writes everyone off before they have even played one game for us.

We're still stuck in the "Heart Expectations" mode...but since the CFG takeover it's been rebranded to the "Koren Expectation".

[Jake]

 

Yeah, but. He's been training at a premier league Club all that time. And he's had a bit of a cycle so he will clearly be fit. He's only got to jump around a bit,  tell the defence what to do, and catch a ball.  This is going to be good. 

[Luke]

We need another striker as an insurance policy 

[heart_fan10]

disagree, I think Fornaroli and Gameiro are good to compete with each other for CF 

IMO we need another first class winger

[Murfy1]

I'm happy with the club signing Sorensen. He's pretty certain to be an upgrade on Velaphi, so that in itself makes it a pretty good signing: that we've upgraded an important starting XI spot.

One thing that makes the signing of 39 year old Sorensen less of a gamble than a Visa signing in the past is the CFG connection. They'll know exactly what condition he's in, and importantly he trained (and maybe trialled?) at a CFG facility in Abu Dhabi, I recall, so there should be no doubts over his condition. Also, that he's cycling over 6000km across America suggests he's in pretty good nick..

Another thing Sorensen could well provide is help and organisation for our defence. Our defenders should be pretty at ease knowing there's a respected Premier League goalkeeper behind them, who I recall was apart of a very formidable and effective Stoke defence. And while Velaphi was a significant upgrade on Redmayne in this area, Sorensen should be a significant upgrade on Velaphi.

 

My main doubt over Sorensen was his longevity--his ability to be fit for a long time, and his willingness to continue playing football. But if Sorensen is fit and is keen to play at Melbourne City for at least 2 seasons, then fears of him being a short-term signing are unfounded, and Sorensen should provide some real value to the team, next season and beyond.

[jw1739]

He was coaching some of the under-age Manchester City youngsters in Abu Dhabi.

That's the CFG connection. I've got little doubt CFG have him in mind for a role in their organization.

[Dylan]

Was back in the uk two days ago

[charlibub]

Sorensen will be better than Tando & Redders combined. 

Seriously. How bad was Redmayne last season? Anyone is an improvement on him.

Tando did well when he came in however a significant improvement in goals conceded was required including goalkeeper & defenders. We have done well in strengthening at the back.

Good luck Thomas.

[SF33]

Love how everyone on the forum just writes everyone off before they have even played one game for us.

Every non-marquee visa player will have a question mark, or a flaw, whether it's age, durability, lack of experience, whatever. Otherwise they wouldn't be playing in the bloody A-League. I wonder how long it will take for people to get this through their heads.

[Andrew Edmonds]

Not sure if its City related, but Bozanic in Australia with a deal expected early this week.. could this be the second signing JVS was talking about??

[bt50]

Not sure if its City related, but Bozanic in Australia with a deal expected early this week.. could this be the second signing JVS was talking about??

pretty sure he's victory's second marquee 

[Andrew Edmonds]

pretty sure he's victory's second marquee 

Hope not! Would love if we signed him! 

[Tesla]

Everyone keeps mentioning how important a goalkeeper is in relation to the Sorenson signing.

It really is the least important player in the starting 11.

The fact that goalkeepers have the lowest transfer fees on average is proof of this.

Overall I'm happy to see how the signing goes, but can't help think the visa spot could have gone to better use.

[Nate]

Everyone keeps mentioning how important a goalkeeper is in relation to the Sorenson signing.

It really is the least important player in the starting 11.

The fact that goalkeepers have the lowest transfer fees on average is proof of this.

Overall I'm happy to see how the signing goes, but can't help think the visa spot could have gone to better use.

I'll say it again and again, Victory won the championship with Coe and then the premiership with Thomas. 

Couldn't agree more tbh

[Tesla]

I'll say it again and again, Victory won the championship with Coe and then the premiership with Thomas. 

Couldn't agree more tbh

Yeah people like to point out that top teams have good keepers, but top teams usually have good keepers in every position. When they do have a weak position it's because it's hard to sign someone for that position, eg it costs too much (for an attacker) or there is a lack of quality (this applies for fullbacks if you ask me). Goalkeepers are pretty easy signings to make usually. 

[HeartFc]

Depends on the league imo.

Players aren't as good from range and most can't even hit the target from 5 yards. e.g. (williams, fred, mifsud etc.)

 

[Shahanga]

Now I'm not the biggest fan of CFG, but since they've taken over we have signed these former EPL players:

Duff
Koren
Hughes
Sorenson (looks likely)

When we were Heart, which player have we signed that's come directly from one of the top 4 leagues?

Grella who had played 2 games with Blackburn and a whole 22mins with us? Anyone else?

Garcia.

edit: well actually no. Hull had been relegated a couple of years earlier, so whilst he played EPL for Hull and came from Hull, he didn't come direct from the EPL.

Edited August 23, 2015 by Shahanga

[jw1739]

Everyone keeps mentioning how important a goalkeeper is in relation to the Sorenson signing.

It really is the least important player in the starting 11.

The fact that goalkeepers have the lowest transfer fees on average is proof of this.

Overall I'm happy to see how the signing goes, but can't help think the visa spot could have gone to better use.

Irrespective of whether you are correct in saying that the GK least important player in the team, it doesn't mean that you shouldn't sign the best one you can find.

The only valid argument that you and others have on Sorensen is that "...the visa spot could have gone to better use." But none of those saying this have suggested an alternative player who could be (or could have been) signed under the cap.

That said, I would support anyone who, even without giving names, thinks we should have gone for another competent central striker to boost the squad. I have little confidence in Marino, Dekker, Williams or Brown filling that role. We might yet make that signing of course, with Mooy's salary now outside the cap, but as I feel every season, we seem to leave our signings too late. 

On "...wasting a visa spot" IMO Hughes is dangerously close to falling into that category as well, but he's not getting the same attention from the Forum as Sorenson is.

[Deluka]

Sorenson will earn us points, he'll turn losses into draws and draws into wins.

I'm a defender so it's nice to see that we're aiming to be that team that is really tough to score against.

[n i k o]

Irrespective of whether you are correct in saying that the GK least important player in the team, it doesn't mean that you shouldn't sign the best one you can find.

The only valid argument that you and others have on Sorensen is that "...the visa spot could have gone to better use." But none of those saying this have suggested an alternative player who could be (or could have been) signed under the cap.

That said, I would support anyone who, even without giving names, thinks we should have gone for another competent central striker to boost the squad. I have little confidence in Marino, Dekker, Williams or Brown filling that role. We might yet make that signing of course, with Mooy's salary now outside the cap, but as I feel every season, we seem to leave our signings too late. 

On "...wasting a visa spot" IMO Hughes is dangerously close to falling into that category as well, but he's not getting the same attention from the Forum as Sorenson is.

Ive already made mention to the Hughes signing. What we needed to do was sign a visa centre back that is in his late 20s that is of better quality than any domestic players. We are going into the season with two ageing and slowing, centre backs trying to play a high pressing game? It's mind boggling. 

We should have kept Tando in goals and made our final signing, as you said jw, on another forward that is also able to play on the right wing. Signing Sorenson leaves us thin up front and signing Hughes leaves us slow at the back. 

[Tesla]

Irrespective of whether you are correct in saying that the GK least important player in the team, it doesn't mean that you shouldn't sign the best one you can find.

The only valid argument that you and others have on Sorensen is that "...the visa spot could have gone to better use." But none of those saying this have suggested an alternative player who could be (or could have been) signed under the cap.

That said, I would support anyone who, even without giving names, thinks we should have gone for another competent central striker to boost the squad. I have little confidence in Marino, Dekker, Williams or Brown filling that role. We might yet make that signing of course, with Mooy's salary now outside the cap, but as I feel every season, we seem to leave our signings too late. 

On "...wasting a visa spot" IMO Hughes is dangerously close to falling into that category as well, but he's not getting the same attention from the Forum as Sorenson is.

It's not our job to name players, isn't that what the club has a network of 35892635789234234 scouts for?

It's not like we are Man City where there is only a limited number of players in the world that could improve the first 11 (and even then, this limited number I mention is actually quite large).

But for us there are probably 1,000 players out there who would be available under the cap and could improve our first 11.

Anyway, I'll have faith that those responsible for the signing know what they're doing and there is a reason they preferred to use the visa spot on a goalkeeper rather than another position.  But if it's half way through the season and we're clearly lacking a player in another position and there are no Australian players around to fill it, I'll be pretty annoyed TBH.

 

Sorenson will earn us points, he'll turn losses into draws and draws into wins.

The standard line for when a team signs a new keeper. Doubt it actually works out like that in reality.

Honestly if the opposition is getting that many shots on target that the keeper is making a huge difference then there is a problem else where, which if fixed would be more influential than the goalkeeper is.

[Jovan]

IMO the goalkeeper is the most important position on the field. Followed by the striker.if Sorensen is signed and is the best keeper in the League then I'm pumped. 

[Red or Dead]

Sorenson will earn us points, he'll turn losses into draws and draws into wins.

I'm a defender so it's nice to see that we're aiming to be that team that is really tough to score against.

As we saw from the Tards last season, if you have the firepower up front and score more goals than you concede you will win a LOT more games! "Derrrr" you say, but it seems JvS hasn't figured that out yet.

We might be hard to score against, but if we have another season where our strikers don't put away the goals they should be putting away, we'll be finishing with more losses than wins...again!

[belaguttman]

Balance is important in a successful team. Whilst teams will generally play an attacking or a defensive style, attacking teams always come up against a team that can defend better and limit their scoring opportunities. over the course of a season an attacking team is at least more likely to draw many of those games and still accumulate points. The Visitors, always favouring an attacking style have always come up short in the ACL against teams that can competently defend and also competently attack. If we want to do well in the ACL as well as the HAL then we need to build a more balanced team with a more flexible philosophy

[perthheart]

Not sure how signing two of the most attacking full backs alongside two ageing centre backs makes people think we are going to be a defensive team trying to make it hard to be scored against. We'll concede plenty don't worry. We should in theory score more though.  

[Jovan]

Not sure how signing two of the most attacking full backs alongside two ageing centre backs makes people think we are going to be a defensive team trying to make it hard to be scored against. We'll concede plenty don't worry. We should in theory score more though.  

Very true. That's more reason to have a very reliable experienced keeper. I would be very wary using last years champions as model for success. I reackon it's more of an exception than the rule about not wasting money on a keeper. Just look at few seasons back with Brisbane Mariners and Wanderers. The visitors just got lucky last season that they didn't get caught too many times due to a weak keeper. They have fixed their keeping problem and if anything they look like being stronger this year because of it.

I definitely think we need another proper striker but not getting Sorensen because we need another striker doesn't make sense. We should do both, but we have probably left it too late again.......    

[Nate]

how far away is Gameiro? 

still hasn't featured in pre-season and with Fornaroli seemingly not ready to go yet, I'm thinking we definitely need another striker pronto

[jw1739]

Interesting. Sorensen's transfer to us is now listed on www.transfermarkt.co.uk.

[RedAndWhitePride]

It's probably worth noting that despite winning the Premiership last season with Coe and Thomas, Victory still felt the need to improve that position by signing Vukovic for this season.

Edited August 24, 2015 by RedAndWhitePride

[Shahanga]

Anyone see Perth play last year? high Position in the league based on a lethal striker and easily the best keeper in the league, with 9 muppets making up the numbers. 

The visas are not ideal on paper but we need to see them on the field to see what we actually have. As someone pointed out, the perfect player doesn't come to the A League under the cap.

[mattyh001]

Anyone see Perth play last year? high Position in the league based on a lethal striker and easily the best keeper in the league, with 9 muppets making up the numbers. 

The visas are not ideal on paper but we need to see them on the field to see what we actually have. As someone pointed out, the perfect player doesn't come to the A League under the cap.

gotta disagree with you a touch there.  most of their players were pretty decent, just they played a shite counter attacking long ball style - something that made their lead striker look a mile better than the rest of the playing squad.

Thwaite, Djubic, Zadokovich, Maclaren and Garcia all can play a bit (even if a few of them are a pack of dogs) and would make it into most teams starting 11 (or very close to doing so)..