I like the sound of Russia for him.

Hope he finds something good.

lol, and just how many of our Socceroos have THAT great a first touch, eh? Not many tbh, even the ones playing in some of the best leagues - The players we've exported, including Kennedy and Ruka' have done damn well to get where they have, considering the poor technical upbringing we've traditionally had in this country. We're obviously far from many of our Asian rivals, technical ability wise, let alone the South Americans etc...

We make do with what we have, but in saying that, Ruka' is a far better talent then some of you are describing and to be even be signed by 'EREDIVISIE CHAMPIONS' Twente, let alone be impressing in Belgium's top flight, shows he has more level of ability than some of you are giving credit.

And the latter is the reason why he's even in this World Cup squad - he's earnt it. This is far different from the more controversial selections of Arnie - Many of this Olyroos squads selections clearly contradicted Pim's NT selections of the time, especially re: Djite and Vidosic - Djite especially was regularly making the NT squads around then, but Arnie ignored him for the fresh faced babe (at the time) that was Ruka, who had hardly conquered the A-League even.

These selections are far different context and I agree/understand all of them (Except maybe Pim's selecting of only 3 out and out strikers, instead of 4).

Anyway, Ruka' will do even more too - He's only 23 and featuring regularly in Belgium's top flight, he was only with Twente six months and he was already featuring for from off the bench (last season). This is just the start and if he keeps this up, then he'll be a key Socceroo come the 2014 campaign.

Dunno. Kennedy spent 10 years in Germany and still has the first touch of a rapist. Maybe Twente thought if he can't get it after 2 years, he never will.

.... Sydney FC :cool:

Yeah and he left Glory/the A-League in pretty good shape/form aswell - Having conquered/mastered the A-league you might say, unlike soo many of our younger boys who up and leave for Europe after a handful of games, if that!

Edited by GloryPerth: 7/6/2010 01:59:32 PM

Hmmmmmmmm lots of negativity surrounding this kid. I just have to say it's highly unlikely he is the same player he was at Perth. He would have learnt a lot by now.

actually he played for dynamo zagrebs feeder team lokomotiv zargreb he didnt go to hadjuk !! andv chorus or what ever ur name is aziz got realesed for some unknown reason but he aint bitter about it he moved on and now is playing with hume city but i think he is still training with the boys !! and he will never play for the heart as he stated he is a victory boy

Let's hope for the Roos sake that Ruka does impress and get snapped up by a club that will help him develop his game. He may fit perfectly into the preferred formation of the next Roos coach.

what better shop window is there than the world cup, plenty of money & agents here, this could be his best opportunity to kick it wif a top club

The one footed argument is ridiculous. How many strikers can you name that are deadly with both feet and plays at his level? Strikers with two deadly boot is a rare rare commodity. Ruka's got the physical attribute to cut it, just need to smarten up his mental side as he's abit old to drastically change his technique.

if he comes back to australia i will be so pissed off ,not with him but with the ffa for letting him,is a good striker ,can be great if he stays in europe and finds a club willing to give him a go

ruka in russia = hand in glove

will be happy if he goes to ukraine only if it's one of the big 2.

RUKA is quick. Ruka is Quick. Ruka is quick. Thats all i can say as his touch and everything else he has is rubbish. This is why the dutch club released him as they tried to teach him but couldn't help. I hope he plays at the world cup and proves me wrong but it can't happen. There are many other strikers (AKA Scott Macca & Joel Grif) that would give us much more value... Its laughable really that he is even at the world cup!!! hahahahaha One of your best Pim.... Or should I say Arny.....

What happens in other leagues when their top striker gets injured? They have a youth system that they pull from or they put someone in from midfield to do a job. I just think it's lame that there's even the option to do that.

Aziz Behich got his turn in the grand final and fucked it up, costing us the title. He's been released anyway.

So that's the culture in Melbourne… give you a chance, but you only get one!
That's crap!

I think that the A-Leagues first purpose is to build a proper football culture in this country so the best young athletes choose football over AFL, League & Union. Melbourne are a quality side in comparison to most of the A-League but they got owned in ACL and that says a lot about the standard of the game here.

He WILL find another European club, surely, especially in the Belgium top tier - He did enough with his loan club to sufficiently impress there. And like the article says, atleast his relegated loan club may be interested, even though he would be playing Belgian second tier.

You know, as surprised as I was to hear this, I think this could actually be a blessing in disguise for him and you know what, it's a shame more young Aussie talent aren't released that little earlier from their clubs, because most of the time many of them will never see decent first team with those clubs, not any time soon anyway. And to be released, at the right time in their careers, it can give them far more opportunity, 'opportunities for first team football' as the former manager of the departed player, often says.

BTW I just think of James Troisi - released from Newcastle United and then signing with some decent clubs in Turkey's premier division - Not a bad switch at all, I must say and hey, maybe that's a league Ruka could try? But for him, staying in Belgium or the Netherlands could be his best bet, rather than having to adapt to a whole new environment in Turkey. But his options are only limited by the offers he has on the table, but atleast he's free to move/choose now, rather than being held back by one too many years in the contract with your present club, a club's massive asking price/transfer fee, stuck in limbo - No first team, no loan moves, or like Matty Spiranovic - No first team, got the loan move, but still no first team (In hindsight, wrong club to loan to!)!

That's one great thing about having the World Cup around the corner, it FORCED MANY who were not seeing first team, to ACTIVELY SEEK/REQUEST loan moves FOR FIRST TEAM! Or even permanent transfers! Soo many young guys especially, like the Vidosic's, Ruka's, Spiranovic's, Jedinak, Nathan Burns, Ryan McGowan at Heart, heck JUST ABOUT EVERY young Aussie talent in Europe achieved a half decent loan move, thanks to the pressure of pushing for the World Cup.

But these boys should be achieving loan moves like this every season, all the time!

And one more thing - I'm guessing some of you may've touched on this, but, Ruka's stock could SHOOT UP come this World Cup, especially with our lack of striking options, he will surely see some time in South Africa and depending how his stints go for us aswell as how well we go as a NT, he could suddenly become a far hotter commodity than he is now - heck so much so Twente might even rue their decision!

Edited by GloryPerth: 4/6/2010 02:44:21 PM

We'll take him, cheers.

The world cup shoud see him get some suitors. whether he plays or not. Please just move somewhere half decent. And game time. Real shame his Belgian club was relegated it would have been perfect.

we shouldn't talk down the league if it can sell players, if we didn't that'd be much worse.

The fees brought in can be reinvested to bring through another batch of talent, just as unknown to most as the players that they replace were a few seasons back. Not that enough of that cash is going to development unfortunately...

Most of these guys were unknowns not long ago. Which is why i'd question the 'he's too good to come back' argument.

Sorry Perthboy, but a fast, one dimensional player like Nikita would be eaten alive with the proficient defensive mindset in Italy. With their football culture, it would take them 3 minutes to work out that he's going to put the ball on his left foot every time, he'd never get a shot in unless he broke through because of his speed.

Even then the keeper would only need to watch his left leg.

Eastern Europe like Ukraine or Russia would be good for him... if not pretty much anywhere in Europe besides the UK, go back to Holland, stay in Belgium, Germany anywhere similar to that style of play really

Id love to see Ruka in Italy. Maybe one of the mid-low serie b teams at 1st. He will light up the pitches. Or move back to Ukraine some decent sides there

REALLY don't get the 'can't shoot' thing. In his last season here he scored once out of every 4 shots he took.

If you want an example of someone who can't shoot, look at Brosque who took 84 shots for a paltry 7 goals and 48 off target...

Mate dugandzic has a good record. Played for split and has some good connections in Europe

What Cool_Cat said (generally). He's a player with his limitations no doubt, but that doesn't mean that he still can't be an effective striker. His finishing isn't that bad. It's his first touch that is probably his biggest weakness.

And if he doesn't have a right foot at his age, he isn't ever going to have one. But there have been plenty of examples of players who only ever had one foot- especially left-sided players.

Aziz Behich got his turn in the grand final and fucked it up, costing us the title. He's been released anyway.

Merrick has an excellent record of blooding young players. It's the same crap that comes around every time from people that have a dumb agenda because Kristian Sarkies never turned ou to be the next Harry Kewell.

....some of our best players have played in Belgium including Okon and Skoko.

Twente new he had pace when they signed him then found out that was all he had

a bit strange the club has decided to release him prior to the world cup, but it's their decision. they obviously have an abundant of striking talent. lets get a little perspective, he couldn't win a spot in a championship winning club who will PLAY CHAMPIONS LEAGUE. he went on loan and scored for fun, including against Belgium's biggest team, Anderlect. Saying he's 2nd div level and so on is ridiculous. sometimes finding a new club is all about luck and having the right connections. Part of the reason why he decided to move to Twente was also because of Mclaren (he;'s now gone). he's only just starting out in Europe, he has to persevere, and he'll develop, improve and refine a few problem areas. some of you have no clue about anything. hopefully the biggest shop window of all will generate plenty of interest in acquiring his services.

didnt Santalab and even Zdrillc play in Belgium? Doesn't mean anything to me if he scored 5 goals in 11 games.

I think he just means that instead Merrick promoting one of his youth strikers and got a loan move for Mrdja. Give the youth player a few games, more experience for next season there was more chance that promoting a youth player would have better longer term benefits for Victory and Australia.