Difficult to see how Archie qualifies for a visa for the UK. He has no Eu passport and has played less football for Australia than Sterjovski and we all know the problems he had. If it is about money, Archie would do well to move to Sydney as their marquee player.


What do you think about the FourFourTwo article Victory Hunts New Marquee Player [RUMOUR]?

Have your say.

How the F_ck is Archie listed as "Marquee". He is really over rated, sure he taps in Goals that are put on a plate but he can't do anything himself. On the other had look at Alosi, he holds the ball up when required, creates opportunities, plays into space and from a poor cross with a marker goal side he gets a foot to the ball and scores, big difference.

Archie's more of a 'marketing' marquee. His name sells the club's name which is why I don't think Melbourne would let him go so easily, only unless Gary Cole manages to get his hands on Dukes, then MV would use him as the poster boy... regardless of whether Archie stays or goes.

re. the Kluivert, Rivaldo, Recoba signings, I hope this isn't true. This 'americanised' tactic has proven to be very unsuccesful here in Aus. You can argue 'they'll get bums on seats', that is true, but only to a very slight extent. Juninho and Jardel drew a few extra thousand, but that was only for the first couple of weeks. In fact, if you bring over any overseas player who's got a half-decent wrap on him, (i.e. overseas capped player ala Hernandez)they too will have the same effect. But if they don't perform, or are always injured due to their ageing bodies, the crowds will soon return back to the way they originally were and the club will still have to fork out the same massive salary for the player.

i think kluivert would be a good one. still he is old and could be a flop. rivaldo is to old. he will be the next jardel. recoba is the best bet. but he would cost alot. he is playing at torino. i think. mark viduka ownt be coming back while he is still on contract wiht newcastle. and wiltord. i would like to see wiltord in australia.he might not work but would be a good buy

I don't know what on Mark V's mind but I cannot see any reason for him to leave England apart from home sickness.
Marquee signings have not yet proved to put bums on seats. Winners put bums on seats, CCM(even before Alosi) and the Jets don't have any troble drawing crowds. The big clubs should take a leaf from their books.
The Galaxy will be next, being formed in association with Gold Coast soccer every club on the Gold Coast will benefit and will be feeders to the Galaxy in a few years. The local community will automatically become involved.

Kluivert has to be a chance, he seems to be parked on the bench at Lille

recoba is far from the best bet, i think he has a disliking to australia, good player though

Viduka? in about 3 years maybe.

contradictory much?


Here's two:
1. He isn't getting games
2. He hasn't scored for ages. I think the last time he scored was when Newcastle drew with Derby. Maybe England's getting too tough for him. :-k


Viduka's contract ends at the end of next season. Unless he produces one of his 'sudden bursts of form' nearing the end of his contract, (like he did with boro) he probably won't attract interest from any other EPL club, he'll be 34 then. Unless he is released from his contract at the end of this season, he'll be back in 2009.


And they probably never will. Hopefully next year clubs don't go down that path again because IMO it makes the league look like that joke called the MLS.

Joke called the MLS? they have a much better league than the a-league over there, they do everything 10 times better than us,we get paid 100k for carney, they get multi-million tranfsers for Freddy adu, they get Juan Pablo angel and Beckham, we get Juninho and Jardel, they have good imports like Luciano emilio(20 goal season), we have Leandro love, they play better exciting technical football, we dont, they even produce better youngsters like Altidore and Adu, who are already part of the National team.

Trust me we dont compare to the MLS.

How much would Recoba be on now? How could an Australian club afford him? Also after his statement about Uruguay having a divine right he wasn't real popular out here.

Hence why Sydney FC thrashed LA Galaxy :roll:

The A-League is only 3 years old whereas the MLS is 12 years old. The MLS was nowhere near as sucessful, or progressed as the A-League was when it was in it's third year. And also given that our average crowds are down on theirs by only by 962 people, I think we do compare with the MLS.

you dont remember, archie loves to talk prior to national selection time. anyone remeber his meltdown re loan deal to psv?
he's not going, he's tried and didnt make it and come back. twice.

besides, who's face was on the hyundai stand at the motor shows? why wouldn't you stay a big fish in the ozzzie football pond!

Having said that, it'd still be great if he did get downgraded from marquee (no money though...), and we get a third ripper striker.

. And also given that our average crowds are down on theirs by only by 962 people, I think we do compare with the MLS.[/quote]
Thats a pretty decent effort i thaught they got really good crowds, but then the only MLS games ive watched are the ones that Beckham played in. Also the MLS have huge advantages over the A-league
1. Way more people which means way more potential crowds, teams and players
2.money every where you look american billionaires are buying clubs, dont see to many Australia Billionaires.

Whoever said they can produce better players than us is way off we produced the likes of Burns, Spiranovic, and Zullo.

Big shock, an offseason team travels thousands of miles to play in unfamiliar conditions and they lose to a in season acclimatised team, and it wasnt a real game, with all the subs and what not.

As it has been said before in these forums, bigger crowds do not mean better quality football, and Tjwhalen, MLS is probably worse off than A-league in terms of competing with other codes, they have NBA,NFL,NHL,MLB to compete with and probably a few more that have slipped my mind Football in america takes second place even to college sports over there yet they still rank fairly highly in FIFA Rankings and the MLS produces various National team prospects and keep them in the league.

First of Spira didnt play in the A-league, and Burns, while still a good prospect and player is hardly as good as freddy adu, adu is a year younger than him and playing and scoring for Benfica and is an established National team member, Altidore is 2 years younger and has already had offers from abroad(reportedly being scouted by top la liga teams) and consistantly scores in the MLS.

Hopefully the a-league does develop into a better league and the FFA gets and puts more money our youth development and our teams can get rich owners and bring in big players like Beckham and Angel, but at the moment the MLS setup is by far better and that is what i am comparing the a-league to.

Back on topic.

Kluivert is still a half decent striker. I think the lifestyle in Australia would suit him and as I said, he's still got a bit of fuel left in the tank. He's only 31 so wages might be a problem, but he showed glimpses of his former self playing for PSV last season. He'd be a good signing for any A-League club. I think he'd fit in at Queensland seeing as how we need a strong centre-forward, but I doubt we'd sign him anyway.
He'd still be a good player in any case.

i dont really see archie as a marquee player...

they need a really big player - davids or kluivert would be awesome, or maybe look at Andy Cole or teddy SHeringham

Archie should come over to Sydney.

Patrick Kluivert - Currently in the first team at Lille. On quite a bit of money. Why would he come to Australia?

Sylvain Wiltord - Just signed a 2 year contract with Rennes in August last year. He is not coming unless the Victory have a million and a bit to buy him. Plus he has a coaching option with the club when he retires... you think he wants to leave?

Rivaldo - Just signed a 2 year 1.1 million base salary with appearance and goal bonus fees with AEK Athens. Also you think his ego would fit on a plane to the A-League?

Alvaro Recoba - Any Serie A club would love to have him on there books for a couple more years. Roma are interested as are Torinio. Not coming to Australia.

Mark Viduka - Is at SJP till at least 2009. KK thinks highly of him as well. So have Melbourne got 3 mil spare to buy him?

All in all whoever made up this rumour needs to do some fucking research.



Dare you to say that in the Cove.

Where do people come up with these bullshit stories

I can't understand why people are saying Archie isn't a marquee player. FFS he's the competition's all time leading scorer, a constant threat and the face of the code in Melbourne. He scored 5 in a grand final.

He had a decent career with Lierse in Belgium before coming back to Australia. Obviously he's never going to be first choice at a big European club, but in our league he is a star.

no one would want him as a marque player. even though he is the best player in the league

Yeah nobody wants a proven goal scorer. They're everywhere :roll:

I'm not sure where Arch and the Victory are contractually, but the time is rapidly coming when he might have to remain on the Victory's books, but not as a marquee. If he has one year left as marquee, that would definitely be the last year.

I'm not saying that because I don't rate Arch, I do, although he could easily have been up near Joel in the goalscorers the season gone with the amount of one-on-ones Carlos gave him.

I say that because the Victory is basically the only club actually generating profits from its football operations. If not next year, certainly the year after, it is going to be in a position to unleash with a bulging war chest on a major signing.

Those of you questioning names like Recoba and Dukes should think about what might be possible in 12 months time.

My private wish had been that the Vics might have been able to get Dukes on loan for the ACL - that would have been huge both in Asia and in Melbourne.

I would also think that Skoko is just about due to return home, and that Melbourne should be looking at him as well.

i have nothing against archie. i dont think australian clubs will buy him as a marque

back on what someone said on page 2 i also would love archie come to sydney.....just to see how pissed off/upset melb fans would be to see there best playing with a light blue shirt on,

yer it would be good to see archie at sydney