Does pax include members?

Nah, so going by the pax its looking 20k lol Soon find out. Believe it when i see it.

PAX 10117 ONE-HALF HOUR AGO.

1. Mulvey coaches a team to the double last season, but after 3 games this season all of a sudden he has completely forgotten how to coach? Seriously??
2. Kurtishi has had no service to show whether or not he is any good
3. I'm confused as to why Hingert hasn't been given a go in the last 3 games, hoping to see him start today)
4. Corey Brown
5. Any of the other 9 a-league clubs would happily take Thomas Broich as their marquee, so why do you say we don't have a quality marquee player?

From setting the pace last year, to being completely off it, in the blink of an eye!

Is Sarota on a two year loan?

One i think. problem is that he injured.

For a team that has all these midfield players we certainly have no midfield when we play.

This sucks.

Can we spend that money now?

We have to get rid of some players first.

The thing i hate is how short the season is, by january it could be already over. Broich needs to be moved into the cap. Need to replace the backline and most importantly buy an actual striker.

Also if we are not going to use JCS at all, get rid him. we can't waste a visa on player we don't use.

From another thread about steff and you g....

If it was up to me, theyd both get the boot. Unfortunately Youngs already the backup keeper, Coey Brown is away with youtharoos next week (as is Borello, who along with Bratts was our player laat night), McKay is off (no Miller, Sarota, Lamba), Hingert joining the injury ward, Donachie away woth Olyroos... we are in some strife.

If were going to suck, id rather we go full rebuild mode and play the young guns. Clut, Borello, Brady, Donachie (at cb), Lamba (when back) all need some serious gametime. Potentially even start to usher McKay out and Broich following the next season.

I think we should tinker with the formation a bit and go with a 4231, should help a little with leaky defense.

Theo
New RB (Milller $)-Donachie-Smith (bring back LDV next year or go for Jovanovic/fringe 'Roo)-Browntown
Brattan-McKay (Lamba/Sarota/Litfin)
Dimi-Clut/Broich-Broich/Brady
Borello

Bring in a decent foreign striker (or Babalj), #10, and rb/lb with Broich as 4/5th, dangling the carrot of ACL

So next year we'd have...

Bench: Brady, Litfin/McKay, LB, #9, GK.

I thought Mulvey was looking at some NPL players preseason.With so little depth at the back,I struggle to know what Mulvey is thinking.There is no way Steff will see out a whole season ,including ACL.
Are we seriously going to see Bowles at RB next week?Who else is there?
Presumably the midfielders are going to have to cover the CB's.
Is the team fit?Last night they ran out of puff after scoring .MC ,the team that runs out of steam in the second half ,outlasted The Roar.Go figure?
The preseason must have been organised by Frank Farina or Rado.What a shocker!What's going on?The only significant differences to the previous preseason are Berisha,Franjic and Ron Smith.

My best guess at this point...

Young (maybe Acton?)
Bowles-Norrh-Smith-Stef
Petratos-Bratts-Lustica
Ricky-Kurshitty (JCS?)-Broich

For next week. Jets to belt us with Bowles making Carney look like Di Maria.

Big opportunity for Bowles this week... he'll have the RB role by default, probably the only realistic chance he'd have at it otherwise, so he better make the most of it

Bowels looked shit against Stirling Lions in the FFA Cup.

Bowles was a right winger and played well there for GCU.Scored some good goals,i remember.He got put back to RB as a stop gap and seems to have been stuck there ever since.

I said "big name" quality marquee. If Broich can play within the cap (extra cap money should be available with the higher wage savings from Berisha, Franjic and Miller) as he did previously then there is scope for the Barkries to dig deep and get us someone much better than Kurtisi.

Mulvey got us the win the final despite the lack of experience, tactical awareness and robotic substitutions. All it took was a small downward tweak in the team and he has collapsed.

The Mulvey, Stead and Ron Smith combination has not been impressive.

Edited by paulc: 11/11/2014 10:01:32 AM

I am not sure if you are totally serious with the Mulvey hate.He may not be the finished article as a coach.(only his third year in the seniors).
It is no easy feat to take a team from the bottom to fifth in your first season and then to win everything in your second season.
Making substitutions last year was pretty much automatic,because we were winning.Plus with Berisha and Franjic out a lot of the time,depth wasn't great.Remember Ferreira played a lot as a utility,we were that thin on for players.
Throwing on substitutions who are clearly inferior is pointless.Last year that was the position we were in.
With the salary cap we haven't been able to recruit well.Most of the Berisha money went to Kurtishi and presumably a little to Bowles,because Franjic was still on board.When he left Sarota came in.
Miller has now left ,so there is some money again.
Getting good foreigners is a bit of a lottery and unfortunately we didn't strike gold this time.
Theo got injured and that was the difference which tipped us under.
If Theo had played the last four games I believe we could could have won or drawn them all.Which is kind of ironic considering the criticism of him early last season.

And Theo was bench for a game, he improved and stopped getting beaten on the near post. Problem with young is two things that i am not sure how much he can improve: his speed, both physically and mentally and his power in his feet, he can barely reach half way with his goal kick. Thirdly what he can improve is his passing. These flaws in his game that has to be improved. He is a decent shot stopper, but now low in confidence that is failing to do that as well.

9 times out of a 10 a new coach will reinvigorate a team with better results as an outcome, so it's of no surprise. We see it all the time. Rado couldn't do it because he was part of the furniture for years.

Yes I remember Ferreira. Played a brilliant game in Melbourne at LB, a game touted as the best performance by an Australia team ever and yet the gaffer subsequently played him RB, mid and somewhere else which is not a crime but never played him LB again despite that performance and in spite of the struggling Stef.

Agree 100% about Ferreira.He would have been better value than Bowles.
Maybe he was offered more money at PG.

Looks like David Davutovic agrees that Broich should go central in front of Brattan and Lustica.Solorzano,Petrat and Henrique up front.Maybe he reads FFT?

Edited by crimsoncrusoe: 11/11/2014 04:17:09 PM

Not a bad idea.

No mention of Kurtisi either. Another good move.

A fit Hingert at RB is not ideal but is the best solution.

Donachie is a better player than Hingert, but not at RB. Donachie should be replacing either North or Smith depending which one doesn't perform to the expected standard.

Donachie IMO is ready to take over a central defensive position.

For mine what Brisbane really need at the moment is a right fullback, because I'm afraid Mulvey's plan of filling Franjic's absence with Donachie/Hingert/Bowles and even Sarota hasn't worked. I feel sorry for Hingert because I feel like he hasn't really had the opportunites he needed to develop over the years, but his start to the game against City will not help his cause.

If there is any possibility of Chris Herd coming to the A-League on a loan deal ahead of the Asian Cup I would seriously be looking into it. He can cover both right fullback, central defender or defensive midfield roles with that bit of quality and awareness we are missing at the moment.

I also feel that Matt Smith is badly out of form at the moment, and his lack of pace is being exploited with our high line in defence. If we find a solution to our RB issues then it allows Donachie to move into central defence with a bit more mobility.

I disagree with people saying we need to go and find another striker, there is no point in that when we already have Kurtishi/Solorzano/Borrello in the squad. I would be more receptive to bringing in a legitimate #10 to take a bit of pressure off Broich in the final third, but I question whether we have the funds to afford a player with known quality. I am also very keen to see Devante Clut get an extended run in the side, especially as he has a remarkable goal-scoring record for a midfielder.

I would like to see us try this formation (when fit and available) to try and counter the pressing of our rivals, creating a bit more space for our midfielders and hopefully getting Broich into the game a bit more.

------------------ Theo --------------------
Herd ---- North ---- Donachie ---- Steffanutto
----------- Brattan ----- McKay -------------------
-------------------- Clut ---------------------------
---- Danning ---- Broich --------- Henrique/Borrello

That gives us some legitimate speed on the flanks with two players who like to get in behind, something which Adelaide United are able to call upon when they are under pressure. It could be a real weapon for us with Brattan's passing range and it's something we need to exploit more.

Broich as a false nine (alternating with Henrique) is something we tried last season and it was hugely successful. Broich loves to come to the ball, which is also an aspect of Berisha's game that we're really missing at the moment. With Broich dropping into midfield, serious pace on the flanks exploited by Brattan's delivery and a young, enthusiastic No. 10 with a great eye for goal... it could be the kind of unorthodox formation that we need at the moment to break the shackles.

If we could have fit Broich in under the cap then we would have kept Berisha as marquee.

The reality is Broich is our marquee, end of

Talk about the present, will you. We have excess funds available now through less wage expenses due to the departure of Berisha, Franjic and Miller. Not so last season.

The reality is you can still have a top player under the cap.

We have an abundance of good enough midfielders with potential with Lamba and Sarota still to come in. Clut is another for the future. And with Brattan, Mackay and Lustica these guys aren't done yet.

What we don't have is a good striker.

You really don't think Broich would be on close to a mill a season?

LOL no I don't. He is no Del Piero.

I recall him saying he loves the Brisbane scene and money was not the main issue. I assume he wanted more than what he received under the cap however and the club thought he was worth it but just couldn't do it under the cap.

Wouldn't surprise me if Roar would have had a couple of more hundred K's available under the cap he would have stayed under the cap.

Sometimes I don't think people understand how salary caps and player wages work.

It's not as simple as two players leaving and than we have a wad of cash to throw at whoever we want.

Brattan and Petratos both signing contract extensions (no doubt on bigger dollars)

Instead of Paying Lustica and Solorzano for a couple of months we now have to pay them for a whole season now.

Meaning we probably only had enough cash to sign on Sarota & Kurtishi + plus squaddies

With Miller gone hopefully we will make a new signing but given it was a mutual release part of his salary was probably paid out as well.

If we were smart by next season, we should try and move on one of Smith or North (promote Don to starting CB look to bring in a 3rd choice CB on the cheap), add that to Miller, Sarota, Kurtishi and Stef's wages we should have some space to make some big changes to the squad.

Yep all of that.

Also I think when Sarota is fit he will be like a brand new signing given he hasn't had a chance to play for us yet! He might make a difference.

Can he play RB? :p