Hardly a PR machine, it's his dad Mark just being in touch with the SBS's journos.

I don't think there are thousands of Australian kids in European youth teams, maybe a couple of dozen.

Mabil scoring in a friendly against Vitesse Arnhem.

Would be even better if Behich was still at PSV! 

😃

brad smith was a unused sub this morning 

Gavin De Niese changing to RD Agueda in the Portuguese 3rd tier.

Right you are, Inman is off to Brisbane.  A few weeks ago there was some talk in this forum about a striker, Mattia Montini, that is playing in Romania and eligible for Australia.  I got in touch with him, he isn't eligible, the information on transfermarkt was wrong.  One of the young strikers to keep our eyes on is Dylan Collard.  He moved this week from a Portuguese youth team (Tondela) to Lusitano FCV, which is third tier in Portugal. (same as De Niesse and Danny Choi). He recently turned 19, and is pushing 195cm from memory.  Will be great to see how he goes playing senior football.  Highly regarded as a youth, been in Portugal for about 5 years.

Interesting you mention the 'Iranian Messi' because if a report on eurasionreview.com comes to fruition they will not play together..  because the Celtic want Azmoun, and hence Rogic may move to Zenit as part of a swap. Will be keeping a watch on this.

Yeah I keep up with Dylan Collard and have spoken to him on twitter or Instagram.. How did you get in touch with Mattia Montini? Do you live in Portugal? 

Yokohama playing now.  Equal 2nd atm, although Kawasaki who are also 2nd have 2 games in hand

The pressing of Yokohama is impressive.  A step up from what Australia was producing under Ange.  They also seem to be less afraid of the more direct balls which was sacrilege for the Socceroos under him.  Perhaps a sign of faith within their own counter press in case possession is lost.

Yokohama win to go outright second although 3 and 4 have games in hand.  They are now 3 points off of 1st.  Yokohama play some very impressive and technical football.

Club football definitely suits him better, more time to solidify systems and choose the players, Japanese football is also much more technical and suited to Ange.
Last year was very hot and cold, so everything seems to be clicking better.

Australia just aren't good enough for that style of play yet, maybe with the next generation. He came at the wrong time IMO

ACL qualification is paramount this season (top 3). The last time that happened was 2014 and even then that only was because they won the Emperor's Cup. 
Ange has also managed to overhaul tge whole squad.

Ange is so 4th this year. Not bad, but I wanted something amazing. Sadly, he just can’t do defence even when he wants to. It’s really annoying. He should have worked out how not to be the easiest team to score against by now.

He's basically suited to having a team like Spanish one that won the World Cup. Or Barcelona. In that the defenders keep everything very tidy at the back (and are very athletic), while the midfield and attack play elegant, fast-flowing football. They're very proactive and have a lovely high press. With the right quality on the park, this means the risks are outweighed by the rewards.

Trouble is if you don't have the right quality, then you're not giving yourself the best chance of winning if you play that way. The cracks appear. And Ange is too ideologically committed to that aggressive style of football. Too much of a football idealist is our Ange.

Any news on Daniel Arzani? Hoping he's on the mend and that he has his pace.

Holland scored twice
Borrello started for the first team

Hrustic scored the first for Groningen in a 3-0 friendly win

No I am back living in Melbourne now.  I just reached out to Montini via FB messenger.

a few tom rogic stories

https://www.goal.com/en-au/news/celtic-boss-responds-to-rogic-transfer-speculation/1kdm1nglq09di1jz39l2zucanh
https://www.footballscotland.co.uk/transfer-news/9m-tom-rogic-celtic-zenit-16541890
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/tom-rogic-should-celtic-transfer-17382656
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-transfer-news/tom-rogic-celtic-transfer-stance-17280209

Timotheu has moved to Zulte waregem on a two year deal 

Adam Targart was on fire again today scoring 1 goal to help suwan bluewings winning  against Jeju United 2-0. He has now scored 8 goals in 17 games. 3rd leading goal scorers in K league. 4 days ago he also scored a goal in FA cup to get Suwan to semi final.

Great news. He can finish. He needs to be persisted with for Australia along with Giannou, who hasn't put a foot wrong lately. 

Sainsbury left out of 3:2 loss to Nice as a precaution. The fans are screaming for new defenders and Sainsbury isn't even suggested. 

Fulham announced Francois and a few other youth players signed contract extensions Friday. Francois also played 45 minutes in a pre season friendly. It was virtually a full change at half time with 9 subs being brought on. They lost 3-1 to Cambridge United, 3-0 while Francois was on.

https://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2019/july/05/academy-contract-extensions

Edit: 3-0 in Francois half

:(

"Francois capped off an excellent season at the base of the midfield by being nominated for April’s Player of the Month." Our striker woes continue.

Aussie wonderkid Daniel Arznai is nearing his return to playing after Celtic included him in their 24-man squad for the first leg of their Champions League qualifier against Sarajevo.

There is a lot of interesting info in this thread. 

Keep it coming! 

It seems as though Trent Sainsbury’s best days may be behind him. 

He may may have peaked at a relatively young age at the Asian Cup in 2015.