Stu Musialik - next Nix signing?

As I was looking through the news last week I saw one piece of information that intrigued me. It said that Stuart Musialik, former Newcastle and Sydney player, two time A-League champion, was off-contract and struggling to find a club, either in the A-League or overseas (link).

Musialik was not retained by Sydney last year – he, nor the team, didn’t have a great season. At the end of the season, he was offered a contract extension with the club, (link) but it was withdrawn after he demanded more money. He played 22 games last year, and even captained the team on occasions (link). Since being released he has been training alone in Newcastle, hoping to find a contract somewhere.

"A-League clubs are either fully loaded or only have a minimum-wage spot left for an under-20 player," Musialik told the Newcastle Herald yesterday. "I have a couple of people putting feelers out for me overseas, but there is nothing concrete in the pipeline.” Well Stuart, I know one A-League club that hasn’t filled its roster too much – in fact at last count we only had 14! Do you fancy a year or two over here in Wellington?

I can only presume Ricki has looked into this possibility – but for me it’s a no brainer. The guy has played Olympic level footy for Australia, and played (and won) two grand finals. He captained Sydney at times last year. Surely he’s worth bringing over. The only thing I presume holding Ricki back is the fact he’s a central midfielder, possibly the only position on the field where we have a bit of depth (Muscat, Brown, Lia). But if all three are playing week-in week-out, like last year, another central midfielder will need to be signed up.

Ricki has said he wants to sign a goalkeeper, striker, and attacking midfielder, as well as the mandatory three under-23 players (fullback, central defender, and midfielder) to fill out the twenty player squad (link). Ok, so Musialik doesn’t fit into these categories. But last year, when guys like Danny Vukovic and Nick Ward were made available, we snapped them up, even if we had those positions (relatively) covered. Maybe this is one of those instances. In any cases, bringing in another quality and experienced A-League player can hardly hurt.

A decent signing like this would also help bring more stability around the perception of the club. The media seems to have gone a bit quiet on the demise of Terry Serepisos recently, and my personal policy on this is a mixture of positive thinking and no smoke (for a while at least) equals no fire. I honestly don’t know how much impact this uncertainty has had on the club’s recruitment, but with another ten weeks of the preseason remaining, it is my personal view that there is still absolutely no rush to finalise the squad, even if other teams have.

Well I'm Keane!

The big rumour from the A-League over the past couple of days is the potential new manager of the Melbourne Victory could be Roy Keane. Without putting too fine a point on it, personally I think this could be fantastic for the competition.

This morning, while basking in the delight of Manchester United’s win over Chelsea in the Champions League, I read a post on the excellent Manchester United blog, redflagflyinghigh.com, which called into question what Keane could possibly achieve by managing in the A-League. I did respond in the comments section; however I thought I would flesh it out a little here.

I certainly don’t mean to have a go at the post or anything – like I said I read the blog often and it is always a good read. I guess I’m trying to add a unique perspective on things – as a fan of both United and a team in the A-League.

First of all, Keane can gain a lot out of managing down here. I think the general style that managers seem to adapt over here a will suit him. His record as Ipswich manager wasn’t great; this could be a great chance for a totally fresh break start. The A-League is improving massively, and at Melbourne he would have some real talent to work with; players like Carlos Hernandez, (Costa Rican international), Marco Rojas (everyone’s favourite turncoat) and Archie Thompson (all time leading league goal scorer) are well-known for being very tidy players.

The vast improvement in the A-League was highlighted by the way the champion Brisbane Roar played this season. They were fantastic to watch with their passing game. Captain Matt McKay became a real star for the Australian national team. Other teams struggled to compete with them all season. However, as always, the top teams go all out after them next season – searching for ways to level the playing field. You don’t get a bigger club in Australia than Melbourne Victory. Keane could be a real ace for the Victory. His experience and drive to win football matches is almost second to none.

I don’t think this is a nail in the coffin of Keane’s future prospects in top-flight Europe; at least no more so than what he achieved at Ipswich Town. Both Terry Butcher and Pierre Littbarski have managed Sydney F.C. in the past, and are currently coaching top flight football in Europe (Inverness in the SPL for Butcher and Vfl Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga for Littbarski). The point is Keane can use his time in Australia to develop further, away from the pressure that comes from constant media attention, and focus on winning football matches. A return to Europe can come after guiding one of the A-League’s most successful sides back to success.

There almost a paradox here: Keane will become the biggest star of the competition, especially if Robbie Fowler isn’t playing next season, but the media scrutiny will miniscule compared to what a comparable figure in Europe would. The A-League is still growing its identity and struggling to compete for media space with other sports like the AFL and NRL. While the attention he gets will no doubt increase the spotlight on the A-League, it will still be so much less scrutiny than what has followed him around during his career. As well as this, his famous press conferences promise to be quite the entertainment!

And if nothing else, can’t I just have Keano sitting on the sidelines, not far from me, when I go along to watch Wellington play Melbourne? The great man was one of my idols growing up. Can’t we have him over here for a couple of years?

Follow Chief on twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/Chieftain86

Marco - My Thoughts Mark II

So on Friday I had a wee rant about the news that Marco Rojas is about to up and leave the Phoenix for the Melbourne Victory. I was a bit frustrated, angry at the initial reports (without really waiting for proper details to emerge), and also severely unimpressed with the efforts of the New Zealand cricket team, who were playing while I was smashing the keyboard in disgust.

So now I’ve calmed down a bit, read a lot of the reports that have come out in recent days, and formed some (slightly) more thought out and sensible opinions about it all. This blogs talks not about Marco, but also touches on the wider phenomenon that seems to be developing: of New Zealand players developing at the Phoenix before leaving the club. To do this I’m going to wear two completely different hats.

The first hat I am going to wear is going to be my Phoenix hat. I’m a member of the Yellow Fever who gave Marco his crack. It is downright annoying (though maybe not the ‘treachery’ I called it on Friday) that he would leave us for another A-League team. It is hard to know what he thinks he can gain over there that he can’t gain here – especially as he is already a star of the first team. It’s not like the Barbarouses situation in this case. His father has said Marco wants to play as a central midfielder, well with Nick Ward potentially leaving there could well be a hole in the middle of the park. If Marco was that desperate to change positions, surely impressing the national coach would be a good place to start. To sum, in my opinion, with what is (or isn’t) emerging through the media, with Ricki, Terry, and Marco all remaining silent, something doesn’t quite make sense. I think there must be something else that is driving the Yellow Fever’s poster child out of Wellington.

The second hat I am putting on his my one as a supporter of New Zealand football. In this instance, Rojas leaving could well be a positive thing, for two reasons. The first is simple – it is another young Kiwi footballer out there in the big wide world of international football. The more we get out there, the better it is. Simple. The second reason is that it shows that the idea that led to the Phoenix is working. Kiwi footballers are coming into the team, developing, becoming better players and moving on. Shane Smeltz, Glen Moss, Kosta Barbarouses, (plus Tony Lochhead who went on trial at Middlesbrough) have already come through, developed, and moved on to be key members of their respective clubs and the national side. While at this stage we are seeing guys just go to A-League clubs, they are all stars for their respective teams. In what I might term the New Zealand football production line, a truly valuable cog in the system would be the Phoenix.

So switching hats again I guess the question is where to next for the Phoenix, especially post-Marco. Well I would postulate that we will be back to where we were after Smeltz and Moss left, and again after Kosta left. We have ‘produced’ (I use the term ‘produced’ loosely, as I realise Smeltz and Moss were internationals when they were picked up by the Phoenix, however their careers were certainly in the footballing backwater) four top quality Kiwis in four years. That is quite a strike rate and certainly flies in the face of those who worry the Phoenix are not doing their bit to help New Zealand football. More young players will come along, perhaps one already has. Sean Lovemore is a young Kiwi who has already made his debut in the A-League. When he trialled in the last preseason, skipper Andrew Durante said "Sean up front, he's very quick across the ground and he had a couple of good chances to score." While he is still young and yet to be signed for the Phoenix for the next season, I think it goes to show that the production line will continue. The Phoenix will have new heroes rise, and if the past four years is anything to go by, New Zealand footballers will continue to come through and develop in a professional environment, before moving onto bigger and better things.

Marco - what are you doing?

So rumour has it that Marco Rojas is looking likely to sign for another A-League team, probably the Melbourne Victory. If this was to go ahead, this would for me be nothing short of treachery.

First of all, I realise that the Wellington Phoenix are not the top of the pops. Players will get better opportunities to earn more money, and play in better leagues. I also realise if you are not getting the chances to play in the first team here, it is more than fair to seek fresh pastures (both Kosta Barbarouses and Glen Moss are examples of this).

But none of these apply to Rojas. The club showed faith in him when a serious injury struck him down, and got his chance at the backend of the last season. Since then, he hasn’t looked back, and was our best player for the last two months. But the guy’s only played 10 games. Sure, he was the best player on the pitch for six or seven of them, but that’s not even a third of a season. At the end of the day, sure he is talented and has a great future, but at no point do I think he has ‘made it’.

I would not begrudge him if a European team was to take a punt and sign him up. That’s an opportunity no one can turn down. If it was another A-League team though, I would take great exception. I simply can’t grasp what he could achieve in Australia that he can’t here. He won’t want to be playing in the youth league – he makes our first team squad every time he’s fit. Money – well Ricki has said they are basically willing to throw the chequebook at him. Length of deal – well if he’s as good as everyone thinks he might be, Europe will be calling sooner rather than later.

To turn down a deal from the club that he won a fan’s vote awarding him a trial, getting signed, waiting on him for almost two years before giving him his big break, will be a massive kick in the guts to the Wellington Phoenix and Yellow Fever. I for one will be all too happy to dish it out to him big time.

I just hope he sees the light and commits his A-League career here in Wellington.

It's On Like Dylan-Kong

So the general consensus seems to be that Dylan Macallister is a donkey. I would tend to agree. However there seems to be some thought out there that he shouldn’t be re-signed by the Phoenix, that we could do better, and that there are thousands of strikers out there that we could get for similar money, who would do a much better job.

However I have just got back from watching him score the only goal of the game against Newcastle, a win which has really put the Phoenix back into playoff contention. What is becoming very clear is that this season, Macallister has very quickly become our main man in front of goal.



For that reason we need him to stay. He has scored consistently for two months now (6 in 10), and with Rojas and Ward on the flanks, the formation fits him well. He is not pretty to watch, and he does manage to miss some absolute donkey-like sitters (both tonight and last week against Perth). But, and while this is a tenuous comparison, Ruud van Nistelrooy, the great Dutch striker, is hardly beautiful to watch on the ball. Now Dylan doesn’t belong in the same galaxy as Ruud, but the point remains that you don’t have to look like Lionel Messi, or dare I say, Marco Rojas, on the ball to be an effective weapon.



Next season we will have Ifill back from injury, Greenacre, Pavlovic, plus anyone else we manage to pick up. Smeltz has been linked but he’ll stay on the Gold Coast if they can afford him. Killen could be a possibility. Any other options would probably be someone from the English lower divisions or maybe a South or Central American. Even with the success of some (see Ifill, Solorzano etc.) there have been some real duds come to the A-League (Deane, Jardel and others). So there is no guarantee of a glut of goals. If the Phoenix end up banking on an aging Greenacre and a raw Pavlovic to support Ifill we are going nowhere. But a Macallister, from the start of the season going like he has been going, could be really useful.



I can imagine we sign one striker in the off season, as well as re-signing Macallister. We would have a lot of different options for that front three, with Ifill, Macallister, this new striker, Greenacre, Pavlovic, Bertos, Daniel, Ward and Rojas (provided they also re-sign with the club). There is a lot of variation there, and with guys mostly having played this season together, maybe they can gel and become a potent attacking team.

Shiny happy people laughing

Shiny happy people holding hands...

OK- maybe not the holding hands part, but definitely the laughing part. And almost definitely a bit of hugging and a few high-fives. I don't think that I have celebrated a Phoenix goal that hard for a long long time. When that first goal went in I pretty much screamed myself hoarse, and it was that way all around in the Fever Zone. It meant that much to the fans, and for once this season, you could see how important it was for the players.

It got me thinking back to something that we'd talked about in the flat a couple of months ago. The Nix' start to this season wasn't too bad. They had scored something like 14 goals in the first 10 games, so not too bad. What we noticed was the real lack of celebration after a goal was scored. If I'm remembering correctly, when a goal was scored in past seasons, the whole team went mental, with everyone bar calm Pasty generally joining in on a good old football orgy.

It was almost as if the players thought that we should be scoring goals- or that possibly it was our 'rite' to score goals. Possibly a sign of arrogance- or it's also conceivable that there wasn't the same pride or passion in the team that there had been in previous years.

Last night however, there was one hell of a celebration when the goal was scored- fans and players alike. The image of Iffy below is priceless, you can just see the relief and ecstasy on his face, showing a real passion for the game.


I believe that body language and the actions of the players around the game give away so much of how the game is going to play out. Last night the Nix were absolutely killing it in the warm-up, while the Heart were messing around with pot-shots at goal. The haka is another prime example of this- an impassioned haka often resulting in a victory, and a bollocks haka- well, ending in a loss to the Wallabies in Hong Kong. Alas, this is a topic for another blog.

Should this focus and passion continue, I'm willing to bet that this really will be a turning point for the Phoenix season.