It also suggests Fowler realises how little time he’s got. If things aren’t going well by December he knows the heat will be on. 

One the Roar's best CBs came from a nowhere league (via the Strikers and Fury) and did OK.  He even went on to represent Aus and captain the club..  I'm not saying this batch will match him, but it would be nice to think there's a Matt Smith like player in this group of signings (as opposed to a whole lot of Charlie Millers :) )

Why, we all dream of a team of charlie millers :)

I am hopeful enough to think that all of these players will move up a league (assuming we are up) and excel as all players want to do, but realistic enough to think at least one of them will be a flop.

Maybe RF can bring him back as a strength and conditioning coach

Let’s get this right.

There’s never been a successful team in Australian football’s history with all the players entirely coming from a British football culture. Never. Let alone with a gaffer at the helm.

We’re going to look like how the Nix played with a resulting ladder standing.

I hope I’m wrong by history has shown I’m not.

He’s looking to coach back in England at some point. So he’ll play the English way, it’s what he’s been taught and it’s not too far removed from what Liverpool play. 

I’m okay with that - I’ve seen the way the English play, it’s quick football, fast paced, ball at the feet, and have a go at goal as soon as possible ... watch England’s women tomorrow morning, they play the same way. 

Where we will finish is anyone’s guess. No point in being all down in the dumps about the possibilities - you’ve got a choice to think we will be up top or down the bottom, i’ll Choose the first one for now, depression can wait for the results, if you’re right the only difference between the two of us will be about 5 months of misery ..... if I’m right, I didn’t waste the off season worrying lol. 

Anyone else have a minor heart attack when the see McKay on the Gold Coast United team sheet, before realising it is a different McKay? No one? Just me then, ok cool

I'm also ok if RF follows an English type of game.

i watch the EPL and find it entertaining so if that's what he wants, that's fine. 

I remember watching Ange Ball and although we got results I found it friggin frustrating at times. I know people rave about tika-tak but honestly it can be frustrating. I don't want that. 

Yes let's play possession but let's have s go regularly at the goal, with some variation in the approach. 

The EPL is at its best because a mixture of foreigners with far more skillful football cultures dominate it. That’s the point!

C’mon, you’re just a misery guts today aren’t you? 

We’ll go alright this season. 

Allowing for the unknown quality of the visa players,I still think we are lacking depth in the forwards and quality in the midfield.
Who for example is going to move the ball forward from midfield.AON wasnt that person at CCM and i get the feeling Inman is more a wider player.
I havn't seen Mauk playing deeper amd controlling the ball from the backs.
That's where a Brattan type of player would be useful.
Up front if someone gets injured,there is very little cover.

Mells?

Agree on that, however that is the A League - with only 20 adult players allowed and a financial cap there is always a weakness somewhere in every side and it’s often down to bad luck whether it gets exposed or not. 

Brattan for me would make this side. I don’t see anyone who has his combination of defensive and distribution skills in the current squad. 

Up front, if it is 3-5-2, then there’s only three players for two positions: Holloway, ROD and DWH and after that just youth (and there’s no one in the youth team I’ve seen that’s ready for HAL).

if there’s injuries up front and no obvious replacement the fix in this set up is simply to change formation to 3-5-1-1 (Akbari would fit in perfectly as the “1” behind the lone striker) or move to a 4-5-1 where the extra defender allows the midfield to be more offensive and commit forward more. Both of these changes keep the essence of the original formation intact so is not overly disruptive - the majority of players do exactly the same thing. 

... and if there’s no recognised strikers available you can drop a midfielder in the front “1” position and get them to play as a False 9 which can create massive midfield overloads (a fit Holman would have been perfect for this but Mauk should be able to do this, O’Shea also),  as long as the players know the system it’s almost seamless. 

I agree we need 1 more quality midfielder in our squad, but I’m not sure Brattan is that player, we seem to be looking for more mobile players to go along with the on the ball ability. I would also add a squadie for the midfield as well (Akbari or Lofthouse) more for depth and development.

in terms of strikers, a squad player should do the trick and given there does not appear to be any DWH’s running around in the NPL I would go with Muratovic

What about Lofthouse, might be worth pulling in?? 

And Brillante as a DM, if he would stay on shore one more year?? 

I'll make up a rumour then.

Aaron Mooy.

Tired of the cold over there, and clearly linked to the a-league because his name starts with an A. Is no doubt in secret discussions with RF to come back to the top flight of australian football and play for us.

Need proof - AaROn fRank mooy.

Destiny...

People look back at Ange ball and think (rightly) that it was a revolution and the perfect way to play. But sitting in the stands the most common thing I heard was "shoooot. Stop bloody passing it and have a shot". I would generally answer them saying no keep possession

The general crowd clearly did not have the appreciation of Ange ball at the time. Or realise that the rain it was successful was that it was based around continual possession. The chances cane from wearing down the opposition. 

I hope RFs system is based around possession and slick passing

Correct, but of course things move on. 

The counter to Ange-ball was to compress the defence to nullify the possession and just wait for Roar to turn the ball over then hit them on the counter attack. Which is where Roar became vulnerable under Aloisi in his early years. 

The solution to that counter was to go three at the back and overload the midfield which is what Ange was trying to do with the Socceroos before he left. 

I’ve got him down as a midfielder, and yes he is the player I would bring in from the NPL. When I think of DWH I think of more than 1 goal per game in the NPL which I don’t think there is in the NPL currently.

Roar to sign All Whites Keeper Max Crocombe as back up to Young (holds an Aussie passport as well) 

This guy was a back up in the Conference last season. In comparison, Nizic was a back up in League Two and didn’t look remotely A-League standard. WSW youth keepers in Suman and Greenwood looked much better. Roar are better off promoting Freke tbh.

This is a joke, right?  We haven't really signed a guy who wasn't starting in the Conference as our number 2 have we?

Jamie Young came out of the 7th div before playing for the Roar, so theoretically an improvement on Jamie.

Jamie Young has plenty of Football League experience and only spent a year in the 6th tier before signing for Roar.

Young has also vastly improved from when he first joined Roar as well.

Random fact: Crocombe was once sent off for taking a piss on the pitch during a match.

There was a long story there too.  And he played for England at U21 level, if I recall correctly.

Surely Freke would be a better option?

So even though Crocombe has played for New Zealand a few years ago, and has an Aussie passport, he is essentially another (very) low league English player/squaddie (moved to UK from NZ when he was a boy). Surely there has to be an Aussie keeper of at least equal ability out there looking to test himself?

I was hoping that Roar would get someone who could put a bit of pressure on Jamie Young, as I think his game deteriorated last season (although the way the team was defending didn’t help him). Someone like Daniel Margush would have been good.

Or otherwise I would have liked to see a relatively young but upcoming NPL keeper get an opportunity.

Obviously not, or they would. 

Pourre saying there’ll be four kits. Do we have a rough release date?