Listening to the Fox football season preview as well as the new ABC football podcast and it makes for some pretty depressing listening. Both saying that we look weaker than last season even if our visa players were in the country. Not to mention the savaging we get on other football forums, quite a few saying Jankovic could be close to the worst visa signing in A-League history.
I want to be optimistic about this season but am really struggling to be, the only way I can really see us not lifting a fourth successive spoon is if the Jets turn out to be diabolically bad. Our squad minus Bozanic is NPL level, our visa signings do not fill me with overwhelming hope even if they were in the country.
If we lose to the Jets in the first round I think we are destined for the spoon.
Look, before the visa announcements sure I would have agreed, but I think they’re going to be proven wrong. Those visa players could be amazing or total flops but no one at this point truly knows. Anyone who pretends to know is talking out their arse if you ask me.
Here’s my take:
Olly will contribute more than Duric over the course of a season, Miller, Rowles, Stensness and Nisbet are all on the improve not decline. Throw in Birra - easily our best defensive player that we’ve somehow managed to keep - and that’s over half our staring 11.
Kim was reasonable for us. But not spectacular. I value Nisbets contribution more.
In attack, for mine our incoming visa players very likely place us in a better position than having muzz, oar and Jair starting. And I like our new young fringe attackers
Our wing backs are the same... so the big question mark is really the lack of a truly first class CB.
Fox I liked but he barely played for us, and was not that first class CB. Gordon wasn’t a CB at all. And Miller was a better RB to boot. We obviously still have Rowles. Hatch can hopefully now provide true competition at LB. So again while it’s CB where we’re most vulnerable. I really don’t see how we were much stronger if at all in that position last year.
I’m really hoping Stefan and Hall will prove able, if they do, you’d honestly have to say, we will have actually improved somewhat there. But if they don’t, then yes. We’re weaker in that area.
The only fans I ever found that bothered to be fair to us were Adelaide fans, everyone else I encountered loved putting shit on us, and all I ever read on other forums through our best years was how terrible we were.
Now we’ve deserved that flack, but I trust very few opinions these days.
Personally my biggest concern is that our that our visa players are so late to the party. But now we’ve got what two games in a month. That will help get them inter grated
