Will Dean Heffernan return??

[northernspirit]

well those two options dont provide mobility up front, they provide finishing/predatory ability - i imagine itll come from the flanks - i just hope we dont pin our hopes solely on this because opposing teams will just flood the penalty box leaving sasho and nik too much defence to cope with

[alicia]

marinermick said:

i cannot believe that no one has learnt a lesson and we are still pinning our hopes on mrdja when he has been three years out of the game

i was thinking the same thing

[DJ]

Mrdja is a player who earns over $100k - to use him as an impact player off the bench is a) a waste of money and b) a waste of talent not in the starting XI.

Having creativity and mobility in players like Kwas, Tommy and Owens will provide us with back up (plus hopefully a strong left sided player)

IMO Mrdja and Sasho are our best 2 strikers who earn good money and have experience, they should learn to play with eachother. Nik's fitness and lack of football shouldn't be a factor as that's what our pre-season games are for.

Edit - don't get me wrong I would love another striker, but due to the salary cap I believe we need to be strong on the left before we even think about another attacker. It's all very well having a high earner sitting on the bench but if the other positions are not filled it's a waste. Once that left side is stronger (I'm hoping anyway), then we can see what $$$$$ is left over. Sadly I think the answer will be not much, meaning players like Holland, Boogs and Berger may be our only options?

[brett]

In the time Mori was here we were the second best team in the comp. I think Sasho will be at least that good. Our hopes are hardly pinned on Mrdja. Add more contribution from Nik as a bonus and we're on the up.

Our mobility will come from Tommy P, Kwas, Owens and Hutch, getting into the position to provide service to two big, powerful f***-off finishers.

[northernspirit]

thats all well and good, still i am a bit concerned opposition will flood the defence to deny the strikers, hopefully th emidfield can draw them out to prevent this

[serious14]

As great as it would be to have Heff back, if he has little to no desire being here then don't give him the satisfaction of a position in the squad - last thing we want is a defender who's going to be ambling around every game thinking "wonder whether FC Whoever from Romania has called my agent yet". I'd much rather someone who _wants_ to be there get the position. And who knows, we might just uncover another Heff style attacking wing-back.

As for our mobility upfront?? Two words......

Tommy.
P.

;D

(failing that, get Kwasnik to run around madly distracting defenders, a la Archie Thompson in the 2005 Uruguay game in Montevideo - a space would open up sooner or later. No reason Owens won't do good either)

[jigsaw]

Just looking at the squad listing thread. Assuming that we sign Hef, Boogs and Redmayne, that still leaves a max of 3 to finalise squad. How many are required to meet the u/20 rule? IMO Porter is a midfielder and Owens is a midfielder. I agree that we need another stiker if Sasho & Mrdja are the only genuine strikers we have. Whilst Mrdja is a target man, Sasho is more of a poacher IMO. Are Holland or Berger considered strikers? Will Lawrie fill all 23 spots?

[DJ]

serious14 said:

I'd much rather someone who _wants_ to be there get the position. And who knows, we might just uncover another Heff style attacking wing-back.

for quite possibly the first time ever I tend to agree with you ;D

If Heff returns I hope he has the same fire in his belly that he had in season 1.

[DJ]

jigsaw said:

Just looking at the squad listing thread. Assuming that we sign Hef, Boogs and Redmayne, that still leaves a max of 3 to finalise squad. How many are required to meet the u/20 rule? IMO Porter is a midfielder and Owens is a midfielder. I agree that we need another stiker if Sasho & Mrdja are the only genuine strikers we have. Whilst Mrdja is a target man, Sasho is more of a poacher IMO. Are Holland or Berger considered strikers? Will Lawrie fill all 23 spots?

I can see us filling 22, we need 3 U20's Porter is 1, and Redmayne plus Holland I can guess will be the others. Berger is also U20.

Boogs has been playing very well for Lighning from what I've heard (only been once sadly this year) so I hope he gets a 1 year deal as I think we could do with another CB.

[marinermick]

djgrounsell said:

Mrdja is a player who earns over $100k - to use him as an impact player off the bench is a) a waste of money and b) a waste of talent not in the starting XI.

Just because a player earns good money doesn't give him a right to start. If the reason he starts is because it is a "waste of money" if he doesn't then to me that just sounds like a bizarre reason.

If a player is not up to standard then you cannot just play him as a token gesture. Not saying that Nik isn't up to standard but there are massive question marks over him being out for so long - his muscle mass is significantly less and his body will need a long time to adjust back to professional football.

And here we are pinning all our hopes on him again.

Salary shouldn't be a decision when selecting players or squads.

Sydney had no problem benching Zdrillic for most of Version One despite him being the highest paid non-marquee player. They had no qualms and maybe if they played him they might not have come second or won the grand final.

[alicia]

djgrounsell said:

serious14 said:

I'd much rather someone who _wants_ to be there get the position. And who knows, we might just uncover another Heff style attacking wing-back.

for quite possibly the first time ever I tend to agree with you ;D

If Heff returns I hope he has the same fire in his belly that he had in season 1.

I understand what your saying, but on the same token, if Heff doesn't come back, wouldn't he play his heart out inorder to secure a contract or interest from overseas clubs. If he comes back its because he couldn't get signed, so he has to prove himself again doesn't he?

He wouldn't be doing himself any good by playing distracted.

[DJ]

marinermick said:

djgrounsell said:

Mrdja is a player who earns over $100k - to use him as an impact player off the bench is a) a waste of money and b) a waste of talent not in the starting XI.

Just because a player earns good money doesn't give him a right to start. If the reason he starts is because it is a "waste of money" if he doesn't then to me that just sounds like a bizarre reason.

If a player is not up to standard then you cannot just play him as a token gesture. Not saying that Nik isn't up to standard but there are massive question marks over him being out for so long - his muscle mass is significantly less and his body will need a long time to adjust back to professional football.

And here we are pinning all our hopes on him again.

Salary shouldn't be a decision when selecting players or squads.

Sydney had no problem benching Zdrillic for most of Version One despite him being the highest paid non-marquee player. They had no qualms and maybe if they played him they might not have come second or won the grand final.

I understand everything you have said Mick......but the main reason I think he should be in the starting 11 is because I believe he has the talent (I'm not sure if he has the desire but that's a different matter). Some of the things I have seen and heard him do in training are things that not too many in the squad are probably capable of.........hopefully the signing of Sasho will push him as to be fair he's never been pushed in the past.

Personally I'm not pinning our hopes on him, I think Sasho will be our number 1 striker next year. Nik needs time I agree, and with a good pre-season and a lot of hard work I see no reason why he can't be 100% for round 1.

I didn't say that Nik should be in the starting XI because of his wage, I did say he should be due to his talent. But I'm sure everyone would agree that if your spending a large chunk of your salary on 1 player to sit on the bench and be an impact player then it's best you don't keep him and use the money better somewhere else.

alicia said:

djgrounsell said:

for quite possibly the first time ever I tend to agree with you ;D

If Heff returns I hope he has the same fire in his belly that he had in season 1.

I understand what your saying, but on the same token, if Heff doesn't come back, wouldn't he play his heart out inorder to secure a contract or interest from overseas clubs. If he comes back its because he couldn't get signed, so he has to prove himself again doesn't he?

He wouldn't be doing himself any good by playing distracted.

Yep I agree - he has the opportunity to become the best full back in the league. It would be nice for Heff to make that decision sooner rather than later thou IMO.

[Ursus]

I raised the issue of our two strikers being very similar at the presentation night with Lawrie. He disagreed strongly and stated that Nick would be a worker rather than a poacher.

He expects a lot from Nick this year.

I trust Lawrie's judgement and am looking forward to a season of lots of goals.

[Jesus]

I think people are selling nik a bit short. Certainly he has not played alot of football. But damn if when he did play next season he wasnt up to the task. I certainly enjoyed his performances. I also think he is more mobile than people are giving him credit for. We have 2 top notch strikers, a 3rd high quality is not necessary. Back up strikers, eg holland yes. Hell even kwassie, whenhe has a stronger player with him up front could cause some real problems.

And with tommy, gumps, owens etc coming thru the midfield, will leave plenty of options for sash and nik.

I do think we need heff, or another natural left back and probably natural right back too. Maybe even right winger, depending on how lawrie intends to use kwassie and owens.

IMO

[omni]

Well Nik has to do alot this year, surely his contract is on the line this season.

[marinerbhoy]

nick will will eb fantastic this year. just got a feeling he will be the fans favourite

[bakery5]

why dont someone send Heff an email asking him if he is coming back hahaha

[Perm]

i found his email bakery5.

[e-mail]

[bakery5]

afrosean said:

i found his email bakery5.

[e-mail]

It didnt work.

[marinermick]

ursus said:

I raised the issue of our two strikers being very similar at the presentation night with Lawrie. He disagreed strongly and stated that Nick would be a worker rather than a poacher.

He expects a lot from Nick this year.

I trust Lawrie's judgement and am looking forward to a season of lots of goals.

the perth fans do not agree with this summation and the games i have seen has not altered that opinion for me

but as you said - in lawrie we trust