Different to the Luis Garcia signing

I haven't read all the posts but I get that most people think this is a joke. I'm not even all over his trials or training he did in Europe but would a club like Dortmund really risk it's reputation on a pr stunt? Yes he wasn't good enough and wasn't likely to be. 
But is it a joke because he may just be good enough to play at a-league level? Let's say he got through the trial and he was on par with a player like Isaka Cernak who was ultimately not good enough, but managed to get a gig at 5 or 6 clubs.

Yeah he'd get a marquee wage,  damn straight he would he's a global superstar. 
Hes not going to get a gig if he's not good enough. 
Worst case scenario they had usain bolt trial there like at Dortmund... best case the bloke can play and put bums on seats. 

Wrote a long post but it was deleted... 
In short , CCM can do this if that's what they want,  the ffa spending money on this is a pr gimmick,  totally opposed. 
I don't want us to become the Indian superannuation league, even if we get more money and interest that way 

People genuinely wanted him to given a 3 match deal at Dortmund and it was seen as so bloody cool.

He's expressed his interest in professional football and a trial at a lower level is the place to start. Good luck to him. 

Folau to AFL and Michael Jordan to baseball are just as nuts. 

 English Champions league ?  Never ever.
Remember there's been Australian's playing in the 4th tier of German football..Regionaliga and they themselves have found it hard to get a run.
Remember Kerem Balut he wasn't good enough for Liga 3.
Bolt would be lucky to get into 5th tier which would be an inner State competition like Bremen with Werder Bremen III,Bayern South with 1860 münchen II.
4th tier he would meet teams like Bayern's 2nd team so I doubt he would be good enough.

Folau to AFL was far worse as he was never into the sport and just did it for money.

Simply stupid even as a PR stunt. We aren't the MLB, AFL or Bundesliga ... not yet. 

It's just straight out stupid and what are they seeking to achieve ? The effect will be stupid and do nothing, farking stupid 

He played league, same shaped ball that he knew how to kick and fly to mark the ball as he would in both codes. Karmichael Hunt was actually not bad and even kicked a game winning goal.

This however takes the cake coming from a non ball sport, the guy will be utterly clueless even in comparison to the league converts. You have clowns like brenton speed trying to justify it saying he would be a dangerous sub that you could sit on the halfway line and play balls over the top to late in games...cmon lol

“Simply stupid even as a PR stunt” ... that’s absolutely not the case, as a PR stunt it’s been magnificent. The domestic and international coverage has been huge and coming right after the WC it’s brought the A League front and Center in a way that nothing else could. So as a PR stunt it’s an epic success.

Then of course you get in to the unintended consequences - the total lack of other (appropriate) marketing for the competition over the years, and what does it say about the A League if a super-fast/fit sportsman but non-footballer can step in? And what are Mariners fans making of this with a squad that’s had minimal investment and now this??

But as a PR stunt, it’s right up there with the best of the best - when was the last time the CEO of Mariners was interviews live on FTA? .... It happened this morning on Sunrise.

lol, don't know about success. The league has flaws. like putting a magnifying glass on a boil. not sure why you'd want that

Not just a PR stunt But possibly just purely as a money making exercise also.  I am not sure what position he plays, but if we assume it is right back, mostly off the bench, you may just see him establish himself as a first team 'regular' by about halfway through the season.With his speed, it is likely that he will stand out and at least make a few flashy runs down the wing.  You would think that this might allow him a pretty decent transfer to India or some other Asian nation.  If you assume that CC have their usual percentage of transfer contract, He may even get a guest stint with a European or MLS team.  CC could potentially reap the benefits of other countries who are interested in getting a similar pr publicity stunt.

i don't think we should worry about the a league having perceptions of being low quality. Everyone who doesn't watch already thinks that. In fact its more likely that a casual follower tunes in to watch bolt run and says "well not as bad as I thought"

A video on TeamTalk discussing Bolt going to the A league.
He thinks he can get to a Wayne Rooney level..Ahh don't think so.

https://www.teamtalk.com/

Scroll down the page

He has a good left foot, but that's what Mariners CEO was saying, they won't sign him if he's complete shit.

Wonder if they can make any money from selling him he he.

I mean if he turns out to be quite good. errrr and I hope that he doesn't just highlight how below average our own players are, that would suck also. 

+1

It is a trial and the guy is a legend. Good luck to him I hope he makes the grade..

The German reaction has questioned his stamina rather than bash the A League  

That's a good point, he's not an endurance athlete.

So if he is "utterly clueless" he will not get a contract and we'll have got six weeks of publicity in the lead up to the season starting.

So you are dead against two things that have not yet happened? And you are against him signing a contract regardless of whether he is good enough?  I get it now.

I have seen him play and he isn't up to the standard of the A-league. Its fairly obvious and its not hard to see. So if he signs a professional contract with the Mariners it will be a joke and it will make the A-league look like a joke. Worse still if the FFA kicks in Marquee funds to make it happen. That would be a double face palm. 

If this goes ahead, I will cancel my Fox Sports subscription and buy a J.League pass instead. 

What a joke of a league. 

Do people really believe Bolt would come down here for a 6 week "trial" without the guarantee of a contract?

Converse to that, we had an olympic triathlete play for us and he was absolutely knackered after 15 minutes. Couldn't handle the stop start nature

I am hearing more "give him a chance at trial" than that. Honestly, more positive reaction to the club doing this than re-signing Simon. I hope the trial is an honest appraisal though.
And is it really more of a horrible thing for the A-League to have a world class athlete running around in our league than it is to have a constant stream of European and South American journeymen making our local product look shite?

I'd believe the more sensible scenario where all details of his contract are agreed to pending a successful trial, in order to come down here for a 6 week "trial".

Bolt's possible signing is not intending to impress anyone on here. Diehard football fanatics will obviously always oppose the signing. 
From a commercial point of view just having talks has been a massive success for the Mariners and the A-League. Surely people realise that. Usually in the off season no-one, not even die hard Mariners fans talk about their season ahead or prospective signings etc. No one cares about them, but suddenly half the country and people all over the world are talking about them. Fantastic PR and much, much better than having no-one talk about the A-League at all until the first Sydney derby of the season. 
The commercial opportunities of having such a world famous athlete would be astronomic for the Mariners. Sponsorships etc The general public will love this story (as long as he's not utter, utter crap). If he's ok and is improving over the season it would be a fantastic result as the world keenly watches his progress

Don't talk sense.

It would be awesome if he knew how to play football.