Squad Development 2018/19 Part 2

[Burztur]

29 minutes ago, SBW said:

Reading on Fox Sports that Bruno Fornaroli has signed with Perf for next season with Heart looking to sign Maclaren to replace him

Probably needed to shed a few kgs before we can play him anyway

[Davo]

If he's going to Perth he won't be Popa fit until after next Christmas.

[Xfactor]

19 hours ago, Taurus said:

Grozos, Tokich & Monge will be the basis of our local midfield players in coming years.

KB's future is less settled 

Can’t see it. If grozos tokich and co kick on to be top line players they’ll be off overseas in no time. That’s why you can’t grow a team from your youth. Not in the A-league anyway. Unfortunately in my opinion we need experienced recycled quality local players, ie, antonis, zullo for example. The good young kids will leave 100%, nothing will ever change that. Get our marquees, visa spots right, good quality experienced local talent with a sprinkling of local youth and we have out 1st championship. Easy huh? All in my opinion of course 

[Wanderboy]

That's exactly right Xfactor.

[Carns]

59 minutes ago, Xfactor said:

Can’t see it. If grozos tokich and co kick on to be top line players they’ll be off overseas in no time. That’s why you can’t grow a team from your youth. Not in the A-league anyway. Unfortunately in my opinion we need experienced recycled quality local players, ie, antonis, zullo for example. The good young kids will leave 100%, nothing will ever change that. Get our marquees, visa spots right, good quality experienced local talent with a sprinkling of local youth and we have out 1st championship. Easy huh? All in my opinion of course 

If we didn't have as many injuries and average players you would only see a few youth coming through. In an ideal world they only come in when they are week in, week out better than the experienced squadies, or they are getting time and experience off the bench. They compliment the rest of the squad.

I believe the A-league is a development league, and this isn't necessarily a bad thing (arguably all lower leagues will lose their best talent). But the best way for the kids to develop is to be playing with better quality, older players than them, for a significant number of games (not leaving after a handful of decent performances).

If we can tap into the wealth of talent in the region, we can continue to produce a production line whereby the best inevitably move on to better things, some stay in this league, and some fall by the wayside.

[GunnerWanderer]

Concur with above

There was good discussion on the FoxSports pod about youth players acknowledging the best will go overseas but I think it was Simon hill suggested 80% of them are back within 2 years because they go too early 

 I agree with this. If you look at some of our most consisting socceroos such as ryan, mooy, Leckie - they are we’re quite well established here before heading overseas (yes mooy came back but he was still young) 

Weve seen so many players leave early and not kick on the best example for us is the guy we just signed yeboah. There are many others in the league like De silva who fall in this boat. Whatever happened to that Pasqualli kid from victory the second coming of Messi?

The template should be dominate the league here where you know you can compete against grown men and then take the challenge on. Too many youngsters get bad advice Tom greedy agents. 

Most clubs do seem to give youth a chance here these days I reckon it’s only really east sydney who refuse but Corica played a few on weekend so maybe they are getting better too 

[sonar]

8 minutes ago, GunnerWanderer said:

Concur with above

There was good discussion on the FoxSports pod about youth players acknowledging the best will go overseas but I think it was Simon hill suggested 80% of them are back within 2 years because they go too early 

 I agree with this. If you look at some of our most consisting socceroos such as ryan, mooy, Leckie - they are we’re quite well established here before heading overseas (yes mooy came back but he was still young) 

Weve seen so many players leave early and not kick on the best example for us is the guy we just signed yeboah. There are many others in the league like De silva who fall in this boat. Whatever happened to that Pasqualli kid from victory the second coming of Messi?

The template should be dominate the league here where you know you can compete against grown men and then take the challenge on. Too many youngsters get bad advice Tom greedy agents. 

Most clubs do seem to give youth a chance here these days I reckon it’s only really east sydney who refuse but Corica played a few on weekend so maybe they are getting better too 

Yep. I also think Daniel Arzani went 2 years too early. Should of stayed here for another two seasons to get top league experience with a lot of game time. I look at someone like Tate Russell who has been impressive for us and hope the guy stays for 2 or more seasons then tries overseas.

Edited January 30, 2019 by sonar

[Carns]

52 minutes ago, GunnerWanderer said:

I reckon it’s only really east sydney who refuse but Corica played a few on weekend so maybe they are getting better too 

Arnie almost refused to play the kids at SFC. He said it wasn't a youth development competition.

Corica was the youth coach who won the league, and is very familiar with a lot of their younger players.

[Jefski]

1 hour ago, Carns said:

Arnie almost refused to play the kids at SFC. He said it wasn't a youth development competition.

Corica was the youth coach who won the league, and is very familiar with a lot of their younger players.

Well it just goes to show how much of a wank@r Arnie is. He's the national coach but wasn't interested in development. 

[Carns]

Quote

Sydney FC coach Graham Arnold dismissed player development as one of the main objectives of the A-League, brushing off complaints from rival clubs angered at losing young players to the Asian under-23 championships. Sydney FC won't lose any players during the January tournament as Arnold has tailored a squad to avoid disruptions caused by youth international fixtures.

...

Sydney FC have a number of youth international players on their books but almost none have experienced consistent first team football over the last two seasons. The impressive performance and form of one of the oldest squads in the competition has made it difficult for youngsters to break through into the A-League

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/sydney-fc-seeking-stability-for-aleague-clash-against-newcastle-jets-20180102-h0ccc7.html

[btron3000]

2 hours ago, GunnerWanderer said:

Concur with above

If you look at some of our most consisting socceroos such as ryan, mooy, Leckie - they are we’re quite well established here before heading overseas (yes mooy came back but he was still young) 

Weve seen so many players leave early and not kick on the best example for us is the guy we just signed yeboah. There are many others in the league like De silva who fall in this boat. Whatever happened to that Pasqualli kid from victory the second coming of Messi?

The template should be dominate the league here where you know you can compete against grown men and then take the challenge on. Too many youngsters get bad advice Tom greedy agents. 

The counter to this is that, with the exception of Chipperfield, I think the entire 2006 starting 11 were playing in Europe before they were 20.

I don’t argue the greedy agents part, but that affects the vets going to Middle East as much as the kids.

I don’t think there’s a template that guarantees good development, except maybe going somewhere you get good game time.

[Carns]

20 minutes ago, btron3000 said:

The counter to this is that, with the exception of Chipperfield, I think the entire 2006 starting 11 were playing in Europe before they were 20.

How many of them played in the NSL before making the move to Europe?

I've done the research (good way to procrastinate)

Schwarzer (Marconi - 58 games); Culina (Sydney United 32, Sydney Olympic 21); Popovic (Sydney United - 162); Emerton (Sydney Olympic - 94); Skoko (North Geelong - 32); Viduka (Melbourne Knights - 48); Covic (APIA 23, Marconi 46); Grella (Springvale City - 16, Canberra Cosmos - 14, Carlton - 23); Chipperfield (Wollongong Wolves - 131); Aloisi (Adelaide City - 20); Beauchamp (Marconi - 26, Parra Power - 57, Sydney Olympic - 3); Thompson (Bathurst - 16, Gippsland 43, Carlton 53, Marconi 13); Kalac (Sydney United - 92); Kennedy (Carlton - 4); Sterjovski (Wollongong Wolves + United - 5, Sydney United 37, Parra Power 31), Bresciano (Bulleen - 9, Carlton - 28).

Neill, Moore, Cahill, Kewell, Lazaridis, Wilkshire started their senior career overseas.

[Davo]

I think it's a case of if you're good enough you're old enough.

The NSL clubs and their academies were able to produce players who could go overseas and succeed. I think kids get over hyped in the A-League and go overseas too early. It also doesn't help when you can always come back to the A-League in two years after 10 appearances for the reserve team and walk straight into a decent contract here. There's almost no risk to going overseas early.

[spectacular291]

On 29/01/2019 at 9:38 PM, Paul01 said:

What about Tsatsimas?

Are his hands over the poor recruitment?

Why don't we keep one visa spot open till January,  in case we need one?

JT goes for the players that he is instructed to under the Manager. He doesn't recruit players without that guidance. 

[Posthoc]

There is a very clear way to succeed overseas.  Hard Work.

[DeeDee]

3 hours ago, GunnerWanderer said:

Concur with above

There was good discussion on the FoxSports pod about youth players acknowledging the best will go overseas but I think it was Simon hill suggested 80% of them are back within 2 years because they go too early 

 I agree with this. If you look at some of our most consisting socceroos such as ryan, mooy, Leckie - they are we’re quite well established here before heading overseas (yes mooy came back but he was still young) 

Weve seen so many players leave early and not kick on the best example for us is the guy we just signed yeboah. There are many others in the league like De silva who fall in this boat. Whatever happened to that Pasqualli kid from victory the second coming of Messi?

The template should be dominate the league here where you know you can compete against grown men and then take the challenge on. Too many youngsters get bad advice Tom greedy agents. 

Most clubs do seem to give youth a chance here these days I reckon it’s only really east sydney who refuse but Corica played a few on weekend so maybe they are getting better too 

I don't think its as black and white as players hitting landmarks in the league before they should move. Its different in every case.

You have to consider a) just how good the player is, and b) what club and league is he going to, mixed with how they intend to use the player.

Now im also a believer that the A-league is a developmental league AKA a selling league. But the young talent must be mixed with men, quality visas and remaining competitive for trophies first and foremost. No player learns enough in just clocking first grade steps. They need to experience pressure, gain confidence and play with the best available.

Alot of the talent returning have taken very high failure path ways in this day and age. Going from first grader in the A-league to youth teams (ie. Yeboah, Amini, Pasquali ect) and others simply leave for very similar development clubs such as lower placed eredivisie clubs which just becomes a linear move, and sometimes simply offers the benefit of a new lifestyle for the player. 

All i will say is if you are good enough you are ready. Arzani looked absolute class in every aspect, and made the step up to Celtic via City with good chances of playing. 

Alot of players get hyped up simply because they make the grade at a young age, settle relatively well, and we automatically believe due to being 16 or 19 they they will get better and better as they age. But this rarely happens. Allessi did this, Aspro could very well do this. So many players have not improved because they never really dominated, or showed true class. 

Tate Russel is another, alot of people are gifting him the right back spot for future seasons. But he has along way to go now. He's made the grade, but now he needs to push on. He needs to stop clocking off after the 80th minute. Offer more in attack ect. Otherwise we are faced with another 19 year old who is either showing promise, or showing all he has to offer...

 

[Taurus]

I've posted this article in this & the NYL GF thread.

For those who don't get along to the youth games regularly or aren't exposed to the developmental aspects at our franchise, it's worth a read. 

As Wanderers chase history, Y-League Head Coach Athur Diles eyes further growth

By  Joey Lynch -  January 31, 2019 

On Friday, the Y-League side of Western Sydney Wanderers will run out onto the surface of ANZ Stadium not only looking to affirm their status as the best academy in Australia – but also equal a little bit of history.

Champions of the Y-League in 2017/18, the youth of Sydney’s West not only has the chance to join Sydney FC, Melbourne City and Central Coast Mariners as multiple time champions of the competition but also become the first ever side since a youth football league was re-introduced by the A-League to go back-to-back.

Given the fluid nature of youth football, in which the number one goal is not the pursuit of results but instead the development of players and promotion to senior football, back-to-back national youth titles are exceedingly rare, having previously only occurred twice.

The Australian Institute of Sport was the first to accomplish the feat when they downed Adelaide City 4-1 and 8-1 in the deciders of the 1997/98 and 1998/99 seasons.

Their exploits were then matched by the Parramatta Power youth, who defeated Melbourne Knights 2-0 in the 2001/02 decider and Whittlesea Stallions 6-2 in the 2002/03 finale.

Joining the Wanderers academy in 2015 after a stint as the Technical Director of Sydney Olympic (who won a single national youth title in 1987), Arthur Diles has helped oversee a sustained period of success for the youth incubating at Wanderland.

The former Sydney Olympic, Sydney United, Parramatta Power, Crawley Town and KV Mechelen player was initially put in charge of the club’s U18s, before winning a U20 NSW NPL2 championship in 2017 and making the move to the Y-League Head Coaching role in the championship-winning season of 2017/18.

The Wanderers won their first national youth title in 2017/18

The Wanderers have never finished with less than 13 points since the Y-League made the shift to its current, eight-game format in 2015/16 – the same year that the academy expanded to include teams beyond seniors and U20s – and Diles says that this consistent success comes down to a clear sense of purpose.

“I think when this academy started almost four years ago it had a clear vision of where it wanted to be,” Diles told dailyfootballshow.com

“With our technical director Ian Crook and all the coaching staff from 13s all the way up there’s a lot of good coaches here and everyone’s working really hard to achieve that, and this year’s starting to show where the academy’s heading.

“It doesn’t mean that we’re there yet, I think we’re still scraping the surface at the moment.

“Once the new complex (The Wanderers will soon move into a $15m facility in Rooty Hill) is finished next month I think we’ll again improve in leaps and bounds.

“As of this year, the club has made an incredible decision to wipe any fees associated with any player that comes into the Wanderers. Just with that, making that statement really shows that these people are very interested and passionate about the academy.

“Once you can start doing things like this, you can start to call yourself a proper football club because anywhere around the world – you look at clubs in Europe or South America or in Asia – clubs that are professional, very few of them make their players play to be there.

“The fact that we can do that only after four years is a testament to the owner and the club that they can do that moving forward and will allow us to keep working in a professional way, take away the financial restraints that it has on some families and allow every player to be part of the Wanderers whether they can afford it or, you can be there if you’re good enough.”

In contrast with their 2017/19 season, in which a high powered Wanderers outfit coasted through the Y-League’s regular season to the Grand Final, the 2018/19 campaign has carried with it significantly more challenge for the Red and Black.

With the struggles of Markus Babbel’s senior side often meaning that youth were called up – the likes of Tass Mourdoukoutas, Tate Russel, Mathieu Cordier, Nicholas Suman and Abraham Majok have become regular parts of the Wanderers senior side in recent months – the Wanderers were forced to battle right down to the last game of the season in 18/19; defeating Sydney FC 2-1 to finally secure their place in the season finale.

Abraham Majok is one of a number of Wanderers’ academy graduates to receive regular A-League minutes in 2018/19

For Diles, however, having players develop to the point where they can be promoted to A-League level represents a far larger goal then the short term pursuit of Y-League results.

“A lot of these boys that have come through in the last year, especially in the last month or six weeks, those boys have been here from the day the academy started,” he said

“They were all here, they came to this club as 15 and 16-year-olds and that makes it a little bit more special because they’re not just players that came here in the NYL and went from the NYL to the first grade.

“Those boys all played in the same U18s team here when we first started the academy and for me, it’s been an absolute joy and pleasure to see them progress that way.

“At the same time, looking at where they’re at, we know how hard we have to work with the next crop coming through because we want to get them in a better place then these ones are.

“We continue to work harder, we have to keep doing more in order to keep growing our program.

“There’s a lot to be excited about but at the same time, we’ve got to realise that these things where you get five or six young players into your first team doesn’t happen very often around the world. You’re normally getting one or two in there every couple of years.

“We’ll continue to try and maintain that but the reality is that there might not come as thick and fast as this current crop has but there’s a lot of good players for the club that the fans can be excited about in the coming years.

“It’s actually been quite interesting from our (academy) end because when I first came in and Popa (Tony Popovic) was still the head coach we would all follow suit and we had a certain structure and philosophy which the whole club covered.

“With Josep (Gombau) that changed, the philosophy changed so we still followed suit and then this year (with the switch from Gombau to Babbel) there’s been a slight change again but also a change in the mentality.

“It’s not just about learning the one system to play.

“We have a style of football that we want to follow but the structure or the system can change within that and that’s probably been a great thing that we’ve been able to play – and that’s from the academy all the way through – some different systems, not just the same system.

“I think that’s important for the player’s development.”

[Hughesy]

3 hours ago, sonar said:

Yep. I also think Daniel Arzani went 2 years too early. Should of stayed here for another two seasons to get top league experience with a lot of game time. I look at someone like Tate Russell who has been impressive for us and hope the guy stays for 2 or more seasons then tries overseas.

Injury aside, I’m pretty sure that Arzani is still yet to play a full top flight, senior game. Absolute madness going OS. None of these guys learn. 

 

[Hughesy]

26 minutes ago, Taurus said:

I've posted this article in this & the NYL GF thread.

For those who don't get along to the youth games regularly or aren't exposed to the developmental aspects at our franchise, it's worth a read. 

As Wanderers chase history, Y-League Head Coach Athur Diles eyes further growth

By  Joey Lynch -  January 31, 2019 

On Friday, the Y-League side of Western Sydney Wanderers will run out onto the surface of ANZ Stadium not only looking to affirm their status as the best academy in Australia – but also equal a little bit of history.

Champions of the Y-League in 2017/18, the youth of Sydney’s West not only has the chance to join Sydney FC, Melbourne City and Central Coast Mariners as multiple time champions of the competition but also become the first ever side since a youth football league was re-introduced by the A-League to go back-to-back.

Given the fluid nature of youth football, in which the number one goal is not the pursuit of results but instead the development of players and promotion to senior football, back-to-back national youth titles are exceedingly rare, having previously only occurred twice.

The Australian Institute of Sport was the first to accomplish the feat when they downed Adelaide City 4-1 and 8-1 in the deciders of the 1997/98 and 1998/99 seasons.

Their exploits were then matched by the Parramatta Power youth, who defeated Melbourne Knights 2-0 in the 2001/02 decider and Whittlesea Stallions 6-2 in the 2002/03 finale.

Joining the Wanderers academy in 2015 after a stint as the Technical Director of Sydney Olympic (who won a single national youth title in 1987), Arthur Diles has helped oversee a sustained period of success for the youth incubating at Wanderland.

The former Sydney Olympic, Sydney United, Parramatta Power, Crawley Town and KV Mechelen player was initially put in charge of the club’s U18s, before winning a U20 NSW NPL2 championship in 2017 and making the move to the Y-League Head Coaching role in the championship-winning season of 2017/18.

The Wanderers won their first national youth title in 2017/18

The Wanderers have never finished with less than 13 points since the Y-League made the shift to its current, eight-game format in 2015/16 – the same year that the academy expanded to include teams beyond seniors and U20s – and Diles says that this consistent success comes down to a clear sense of purpose.

“I think when this academy started almost four years ago it had a clear vision of where it wanted to be,” Diles told dailyfootballshow.com

“With our technical director Ian Crook and all the coaching staff from 13s all the way up there’s a lot of good coaches here and everyone’s working really hard to achieve that, and this year’s starting to show where the academy’s heading.

“It doesn’t mean that we’re there yet, I think we’re still scraping the surface at the moment.

“Once the new complex (The Wanderers will soon move into a $15m facility in Rooty Hill) is finished next month I think we’ll again improve in leaps and bounds.

“As of this year, the club has made an incredible decision to wipe any fees associated with any player that comes into the Wanderers. Just with that, making that statement really shows that these people are very interested and passionate about the academy.

“Once you can start doing things like this, you can start to call yourself a proper football club because anywhere around the world – you look at clubs in Europe or South America or in Asia – clubs that are professional, very few of them make their players play to be there.

“The fact that we can do that only after four years is a testament to the owner and the club that they can do that moving forward and will allow us to keep working in a professional way, take away the financial restraints that it has on some families and allow every player to be part of the Wanderers whether they can afford it or, you can be there if you’re good enough.”

In contrast with their 2017/19 season, in which a high powered Wanderers outfit coasted through the Y-League’s regular season to the Grand Final, the 2018/19 campaign has carried with it significantly more challenge for the Red and Black.

With the struggles of Markus Babbel’s senior side often meaning that youth were called up – the likes of Tass Mourdoukoutas, Tate Russel, Mathieu Cordier, Nicholas Suman and Abraham Majok have become regular parts of the Wanderers senior side in recent months – the Wanderers were forced to battle right down to the last game of the season in 18/19; defeating Sydney FC 2-1 to finally secure their place in the season finale.

Abraham Majok is one of a number of Wanderers’ academy graduates to receive regular A-League minutes in 2018/19

For Diles, however, having players develop to the point where they can be promoted to A-League level represents a far larger goal then the short term pursuit of Y-League results.

“A lot of these boys that have come through in the last year, especially in the last month or six weeks, those boys have been here from the day the academy started,” he said

“They were all here, they came to this club as 15 and 16-year-olds and that makes it a little bit more special because they’re not just players that came here in the NYL and went from the NYL to the first grade.

“Those boys all played in the same U18s team here when we first started the academy and for me, it’s been an absolute joy and pleasure to see them progress that way.

“At the same time, looking at where they’re at, we know how hard we have to work with the next crop coming through because we want to get them in a better place then these ones are.

“We continue to work harder, we have to keep doing more in order to keep growing our program.

“There’s a lot to be excited about but at the same time, we’ve got to realise that these things where you get five or six young players into your first team doesn’t happen very often around the world. You’re normally getting one or two in there every couple of years.

“We’ll continue to try and maintain that but the reality is that there might not come as thick and fast as this current crop has but there’s a lot of good players for the club that the fans can be excited about in the coming years.

“It’s actually been quite interesting from our (academy) end because when I first came in and Popa (Tony Popovic) was still the head coach we would all follow suit and we had a certain structure and philosophy which the whole club covered.

“With Josep (Gombau) that changed, the philosophy changed so we still followed suit and then this year (with the switch from Gombau to Babbel) there’s been a slight change again but also a change in the mentality.

“It’s not just about learning the one system to play.

“We have a style of football that we want to follow but the structure or the system can change within that and that’s probably been a great thing that we’ve been able to play – and that’s from the academy all the way through – some different systems, not just the same system.

“I think that’s important for the player’s development.”

I bet none of the whingers on Facebook will read or have any idea about any of this...

[JUANDERER]

Just throwing this out there... (will probably get laughed at)

But I think we could do with somebody like Bruce Djite on the team. Just for locker room purposes. Somebody who can be an outspoken leader for the club, has the experience to potentially fight for a starting spot, bring in some steel, and has the knowledge of the league. 

Aus citizen and would be a cheap acquisition.

[stavup]

On 29/01/2019 at 4:22 PM, Taurus said:

He played with Mt Druitt Rangers in NPL2 last year, after having an ordinary season or two with WSW in our youth set up.

He is playing at his level, Lachlan will soon be joining him

 

He was highest goal scorer at Rangers as well, so not as ordinary as you say...Lests see how he goes this year at Blacktown..4 goals in game 1 isnt a bad start

[SBW]

1 hour ago, hughsey said:

Injury aside, I’m pretty sure that Arzani is still yet to play a full top flight, senior game. Absolute madness going OS. None of these guys learn. 

 

For Arzani, he thought he was bigger and better than the A-League after playing a good game against Denmark in the world cup and scoring against Hungary in the friendly, I thought he should have stayed here for more season cause he hasn't really played a good 90min of football, he could have done that here with Heart. Moving to Celtic was always going to be a big mistake for him and the standard and quality of the SPL is below of the A-League.

[mack]

He's played more times for Australia than he has full 90 minute games in a senior team/competition. Picking him for Australia was an attempt at a miracle. I said when his hype first started building that he was flashy but had zero end product with the players around him for Australia & City.

The ACL injury was unfortunate because of how poor the SPL is, he was likely going to break into the first team for semi-regular game time.

The gold standard for Australia -> Europe is Viduka with his ridiculous 40 goals in 40 games record with Melbourne Croatia. I don't think we're likely to ever see another type of performance from a young kid again, the A-League has moved on so much in terms of fitness and tactical awareness than the early 90's NSL, despite what the bitters say. The increasing ability to sign high tier foreign strikers also hurts that idea.

[DeeDee]

11 minutes ago, SBW said:

For Arzani, he thought he was bigger and better than the A-League after playing a good game against Denmark in the world cup and scoring against Hungary in the friendly, I thought he should have stayed here for more season cause he hasn't really played a good 90min of football, he could have done that here with Heart. Moving to Celtic was always going to be a big mistake for him and the standard and quality of the SPL is below of the A-League.

I don't get why there is a witch hunt against Arzani, I think its well premature to judge Arzani's move........ The moment he was about to crack through he did his acl. He was already becoming very usefull for the socceroos which is why we care about player development to begin with so whats the issue here? 

[sonar]

16 minutes ago, SBW said:

For Arzani, he thought he was bigger and better than the A-League after playing a good game against Denmark in the world cup and scoring against Hungary in the friendly, I thought he should have stayed here for more season cause he hasn't really played a good 90min of football, he could have done that here with Heart. Moving to Celtic was always going to be a big mistake for him and the standard and quality of the SPL is below of the A-League.

He got way more money than he would of gotten in the A league. Good on him for that. I think he should of stayed a year or two more but as a professional you normally take the best offer.

[GunnerWanderer]

Great research there above Carns thanks for sharing BTRON and others agree no guaranteed template but as you mentioned above the key was the golden generation were PLAYING not rotting on the bench or on loan in Denmark’s 3rd division 

I think my point was before I cut myself short if you prove yourself here you would be more confident and mentially strong having that behind you in the case of yeboah and de Silva there proved nothing before they left

[Taurus]

1 hour ago, stavup said:

He was highest goal scorer at Rangers as well, so not as ordinary as you say...Lests see how he goes this year at Blacktown..4 goals in game 1 isnt a bad start

You either didn't read my post, or only saw what you wanted too. 

I saw plenty of Manny at MTDR last year & I remarked to their TD, that he couldn't hit the side of a barn in his last season at WSW & yet he was regularly getting on the score sheet for them. 

If he's now under the tutelage of Critto at ToonieFC, that won't hinder his development. I'm sure I'll see plenty of him throughout the NPL season & or receive regular updates on his progress. 

Not many players leave WSW if we're keen to retain them, particularly those in the u20 age group, who go on to earn senior contracts at ours or another AL franchise. 

[wswnick]

Are we not looking at any injury replacement players? Bridge has been out for over half the season now and Ziegler doesn't appear to be returning anytime soon.

[Zakman]

9 hours ago, Carns said:

Arnie almost refused to play the kids at SFC. He said it wasn't a youth development competition.

Corica was the youth coach who won the league, and is very familiar with a lot of their younger players.

I've posted this before but I am in total agreement with Arnie on this issue. The A League is the highest level in Australia and I expect the team I support to field a team selected with the aim of winning this comp in mind, not to be the stepping stone for some developing young player who will go overseas the moment he shows some promise.

[Xfactor]

9 hours ago, spectacular291 said:

JT goes for the players that he is instructed to under the Manager. He doesn't recruit players without that guidance. 

Then how do you explain the Kamau, Fitzgerald, Tongyik signings?