Time for some positive news

The weekend's 1-0 win over Roar came hot on the heels of news that the Reds were successful in snaring the services of Argentine midfielder Marcos Flores for two years, starting with the upcoming ACL campaign. Since Diego left the team has been in need of a creative attacking mid, and maybe Flores is the guy to fill the gap.

There's more positive news on the transfer front, as well - striker Michael Baird and defender Hayden Foxe are currently training with the Reds, and apparently Mark Rudan is set to sign a contract extension.

Baird moved to Romanian side FC Universitatea Craiova after a good season with the Roar in 2005-06 - he's a handy player and still in his mid 20s, exactly the sort of guy that A-League clubs should be trying to lure back to Australia.

Foxe has had a tough time at Perth Glory with injuries, but he's a class act and he's spent many seasons playing for some big clubs in England - West Ham, Portsmouth and Leeds Utd. Since Veart retired I've always thought Adelaide was in need of a new talismanic ranga, Foxe ticks all the boxes.

With any luck there will be some better days ahead for Adelaide United - the signs are good.

Hayden Foxe - new Red?

DJ LMO in tha house?

As the off-season progresses, Adelaide fans are naturally starting to get a bit antsy about new signings. We have a squad of 16 going through the motions of pre-season training at the moment, and, needless to say, we'll need to get some new blood in before the A-League kicks off in August.

With that in mind, Adelaide have been having a good look at ex-Ghana international and Cheltenham Town striker Lloyd Owusu, who has just completed a successful season on loan with Brighton-Hove Albion. And he's been having a look at us. He's been in town to check out the club and the facilities, and has been giving the impression that he's ready for a change from the sodden pitches of English League One football. Or, he could just be out here for a free holiday.

Either way, I hope he signs. His football ability notwithstanding (he averaged a goal every two games last season), he seems a great character. According to this AdelaideNow article, "Owusu was known as DJ LMO, a master of hip-hop scratch in the London dance club scene 10 years ago."

He's known for exuberant and ridiculous goal celebrations and is not exactly a picture of modesty. Speaking of his aerial ability, he says: "I don't want to sound big-headed but if I time my jumps right I don't think any centre half can deal with me. They don't call me 'Hang Time' for nothing."

DJ Hang Time LMO is not the only new player on Vidmar's radar, either. There are ongoing rumours about a mysterious Chilean (or is that Argentinean?) attacking midfielder, and an article in the Sydney Morning Herald today claims that "experienced Italian defender Andrea Merenda and Ivory Coast duo Vamarra Diarra and Ousmane Toure have all been scouted by Adelaide United coach Aurelio Vidmar." Obviously, we can't fit all these players into the squad considering that we already have several foreign players, but at least it sounds as though wheels are in motion.

The main thrust of that article, though, is the proposal for a second-tier national league to sit under the A-League. That really warrants a whole post of its own, and I'm too lazy at the moment, so for now I'll just say that I think it would be a fantastic way to bring the strong 'traditional' clubs - the Adelaide City, South Melbourne, Marconi Stallions et al - back into the fold. Get onto it Buckley & co.

Marquee or not marquee?

That, fellow Salmoners, is the question.

The Football Federation of Australia has given United the green light to sign a marquee player for the upcoming season. However, according to Val Migliaccio (never a good way to start a sentence, but there you go), Michael Valkanis has indicated that United won't be looking to spend a huge amount on any player signed outside the salary cap.

Mile Sterjovski, then, would appear to be out of the picture. As would the superbly-talented Uruguayan playmaker Alvaro Recoba, who has also expressed interest in playing in the A-League. Perth had a sniff at him but chose not to stump up the cash. Perhaps a wise move, given his injury struggles over the past few years.

If we do take the marquee route, it will more likely be the sort of player that can provide a spark on the pitch and entertain a crowd but is not necessarily a household name in Australia. Which may not be such a bad thing. Sometimes the lesser-known marquee and import players in the A-League - guys like Fred, Shengqing Qu, Carlos Hernandez - have performed at a level well and truly above big-money signings like John Aloisi and Paul Agostino.

Above all, the player has to be the right fit for the team and has to be able to make an impact. A 'big name' might attract attention for a little while, but if the performance doesn't match the paycheque and the reputation the novelty soon wears off.

Sterj for sale

According to the Daily Mirror, Nigel Clough is currently in the process of overhauling his Derby County squad. It seems that Mile Sterjovski is not part of the plan for the Rams' future, and has been placed in the shop window with a 'for sale' sign around his neck.

Sterj seems to be an ideal candidate for a move to the A-League (and was apparently considered by Gold Coast United) - he's a current Socceroo, played at the World Cup and in the English Premier League, still at the top of his game but at an age where he may be starting to think about returning to Australia with his young family. He's a good player at a Championship level in England, but could certainly make an impact in the A-League as a marquee player.

Given Adelaide's dearth of good attacking players, Sterj should be at the top of our shopping list. He could do the job as a wide striker, right winger, second striker or even attacking playmaker - the only problem would be fitting he & Travis Dodd into the same lineup. But that's a problem that any A-League club would love to have.

Newcastle Debts

In general, A-League clubs have been lauded for demonstrating a professionalism in their business operations that was sadly lacking in domestic football during the NSL years. Every generalisation has an exception, though, and at the moment that exception is the Newcastle Jets. A while back I wrote an article highlighting the contempt that Jets owner Con Constantine seems to have for fans, players, and sound business ethics.

Most recently, this has manifested itself in the Professional Footballers Association alleging that the club owes unpaid superannuation and bonuses to its entire playing staff. Keeper Ante Covic has left the club to sign for Elfsborg in Sweden, citing unpaid super as one of his many gripes with the club. Con's take on the matter is that Covic used the pay dispute as an excuse, running to the PFA "like a little boy to his mother." The PFA holds that this sort of disrespect regarding player payment and contracts is more or less par for the course at the Jets, with Constantine guilty throughout his history with football clubs of rather lax ethical standards in his dealings with players. How this turns out is anyone's guess, but it must be a source of endless frustration for Jets fans.

Sorry, I'm a lazy sod.

It's been a while since I've posted anything here. There's a few reasons for this: busy at work, post-season football hangover, general laziness. We've also had friends over from Melbourne for the Fringe & WOMADelaide. WOMAD was awesome. If you ever get the chance to see the Bedouin Jerrycan Band or Paprika Balkanicus, I suggest you take it.

Anyway, here's a short recap of some things that have happened in Australian football since my last post:

- Newcastle Jets are rubbish. Lost 2-0 away to Beijing in the ACL, with Joel and Ryan Griffiths inflicting some of the damage. Seriously, who loans their best player to a club that they're about to play?

- Central Coast are rubbish. Drew 0-0 at home to Pohang Steelers, in one of the most godawful matches I've ever had the misfortune to attempt to stream over the internet.

- The A-League based Socceroos are rubbish. Lost 0-1 to Kuwait in Canberra. I didn't watch the game but it sounds like the players and Pim Verbeek should all give each other dead legs as punishment for their sheer crapness. I don't get how they can be so bad: on an individual basis these players are all good enough to be playing at a reasonable level in Europe (maybe League 1 or Championship in England, Dutch 2nd Division, etc), and they are doing well for their clubs in the A-League. Put them all on the pitch together, though, and they have forgotten how to pass, control the ball, and carry out the basic functions expected of a professional footballer.

Very strange. Mind you, even the European-based Socceroos big boys generally play like crud against Asian opposition. If you don't believe me, merely cast your mind back to the 2007 Asian Cup....

- It looks like Scott Chipperfield is staying in Europe for another season, after all. Booo.

- Matt McKay has joined the exodus of A-League players going to China. We need to get some of that traffic coming the other way as well: more Shengqing Qus, Yuning Zhangs, Leilei Gaos in the A-League. Well, maybe not Yuning Zhang.

-Michael Petrillo has resigned as AUFC Director of Football, replaced by Michael Valkanis. I don't know whether this is a cost-saving mechanism, or piss ant politics, or what: if the former, maybe it's a good thing that the club is pulling funding from its administrative/management arms before cutting spending on players. Who knows, though. Hopefully United can get back to stability soon enough.

- The FFA has officially submitted its bid for Australia to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup.

- An extremely wealthy Dubai-based sheik is reportedly interested in providing financial backing for Tasmania's bid for an A-League club licence. The mystery man is apparently the Saudi Arabian/Ethiopian Sheik Mohammed Hussein Ali Al Amoudi, the 43rd-richest man in the world. This guy has a net worth of $13.7 billion, and apparently once wrote a blank cheque for the Ethiopian government to build a 30,000 seat football stadium. A sugar daddy of this magnitude - he makes Clive Palmer look like small fry - would, needless to say, be brilliant for our little league. Lets hope there's something substantial to the rumours.

Silly me..

.... I forgot to mention Sydney FC's replacement of John Kosmina with former Sparta Prague coach Vitezslav Lavicka. Let's hope they haven't signed a Czech their ass can't cash (you'd better start getting used to the corny headlines).

This SMH article talks about the details of the signing... and also refers to another possible new catch to put in the Adelaide United esky - Thai midfielder Datsakorn Thonglao, currently plying his trade in Vietnam with Hoang Anh Gia Lai. According to his Wikipedia profile he looks a pretty handy player, but then again, that could have been written by his mum. Could he be the answer to Diego's departure?

White lines.... runnin' through my mind

It's been another massive week of news for football in this wide brown land of ours...

Most significantly from a red-shirted point of view, Rostyn Griffiths has signed with Adelaide on a four-week deal. It seems we cunning Reds have exploited the A-League's injury-cover rules to obtain the 20-year-old Blackburn reservist as a replacement for North Queensland-bound Jason Spagnuolo, instead of calling up a National Youth League player. I disagree with this in principle, but in practice... high five, mofos. Especially if he does well and Adelaide take up the option to sign up the Welsh-Aussie midfielder on a two season contract.

The Newcastle Jets, having read and pondered on my previous post about how crap they are, have decided to finally do something about it and start rebuilding their decimated squad ahead of their Asian Champions League campaign. According to their official site, they've sealed the deal with AUFC folk hero and all-round legend Angelo Costanzo, gun-for-hire Sasho Petrovski (the whore with a shirt of gold - currently giving Damian Mori a run for his money for the title of 'A-League's most money-hungry mercenary bastard ever'), and Dutch striker with typically awesome name Donny de Groot. On top of this, they've added ex-Sydney FC and Sydney United coach (and Jason's dad) Branko Culina to their staff as football director. Oh, the oedipal conflicts that will arise when the Jets & Gold Coast collide...

The biggest surprise for Newcastle, though, is their signing of ex-Socceroo and current employee of Ricky Diaco's family's garden shop, Ljubo Milicevic. It's great to see that the Ljub-mobile has regained the hunger to keep playing at a high level - recent interviews paint a picture of Ljubo as an intelligent and articulate guy who doesn't quite fit the mould of a stereotypical football player.

He's fought battles with his own and other peoples' expectations of him and has had a long journey struggling to cope with depression, even when leading his team into battle in the European Champions League. If he can get back into a good place he's certainly got the talent to make a big impact in the A-League. If there is any justice in the world he will be back in the Socceroos squad for the 2010 World Cup, after the disappointments of 2006.

Undoubtedly, though, the biggest news of the week has been the North Queensland Fury snaring the signature of Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler. In his prime he was one of the most dangerous goal poachers in the world, and he's still only 33 years old. It'll be interesting to see whether North Queensland can provide the service to make the most of the ageing tap-in merchant's abilities - although Jason Spagnuolo was able to put a goal on a platter for Romario at Hindmarsh, so there's certainly hope.

Worryingly, God's manifestation in Townsville has been the catalyst for The Times Online writing an article entitled 'Sport's top ten biggest bellies'. Fowler was never known for his trim physique, however, and history is littered with plenty of examples of fat bastards playing excellent football (think Diego Maradona, or closer to home Charlie Miller). There's not much else I can add to the myriad of existing articles about this signing, other than to say that I hope it goes well, so for now I shall leave you with a picture of the great man that has captured an exquisite moment of athleticism, passion, and heroic dedication to the cause...

Around the Grounds

There's been a few big stories around the league this week.

For a start, it sounds as though the FFA are seriously considering implementing a proper knockout cup competition, akin to the English FA Cup, within the next couple of years. It's been on the backburner for a while but I never thought we'd see it happen this quickly. I'll write more about it some other time but, for now, I'll just say that I think it will be brilliant to have this mechanism for state league and lower level clubs to be able to play competitive matches against the A-League sides. Eventually, we may see the final rounds of the Cup take the place of the A-League finals series, which would be a big change - feasible once there are a few more clubs in the league.

Gold Coast United


The A-League's new boys are looking ominously good. In a press conference, the Toolies' (yes I'm trying to make this nickname stick) owner Clive Palmer officially announced that current Socceroo and PSV Eindhoven midfielder Jason Culina would be the club's inaugural marquee player. Well done.




Palmer, who is not renowned for his in-depth knowledge of the intricacies of the beautiful game, also stated that the Gold Coast is aiming to go undefeated through its first season. Oh dear. But they'll definitely be a force to reckon with: as well as Culina, their squad will include Shane Smeltz, Joel Porter, Tahj Minniecon, Adam Griffiths, Michael Thwaite, Jesse Vanstratten, several Brazilians that I've never heard of before and a Dutchman named Bas van der Brink. Sterjovski is probably staying at Derby, though.

Gold Coast United also used this press conference to unveil their colours (blue, yellow and white) and their badge:



The font used and general look of the badge are a graphic designer's worst nightmare - it's generic, garish and gaudy. Suits the Gold Coast to a T, I'd say. But at least it's relevant - the logo features a ribbon of blue (for the sea), a strip of yellow (for the sand), and.... wait a second... are those buildings FLIPPING THE BIRD????

Sydney FC

This week hasn't been a good one for the boys in baby blue. Reports have come out that, following the win over Wellington last weekend, two Sydney 'fans' assaulted Robbie Middleby in the stadium carpark. The reason? Seabiscuit, as he is affectionately known by supporters, is leaving the Blingers at the end of the season after signing with North Queensland. This is a guy who has been with Sydney FC since their inception, and has always put in a hundred percent for the club, who is moving on for the sake of his career. Those two morons should be given life bans from all forms of football, and castrated to boot.

As I write, Sydney have just lost 3-1 to Queensland, killing off their season for good. It was a great match, too - both teams played some nice football and Sergio van Dijk boosted fantasy league scores around the country with a hat-trick. Kosmina's career is looking a little shaky, one would think - but I think he deserves another season for the sake of stability.

Queensland Roar

The Oranje women have taken out the W-League title with a 2-0 win over Canberra United in the Grand Final, thanks to strikes from Lana Harch and Tameka Butt. The crowd at Ballymore was a very healthy 4,500 - women's football is definitely on the rise.

This may not be the only silverware to end up in Brisbane this season, either: the Roar are currently one game and a couple of fortuitous other results away from an A-League Premiership this season, and their form suggests that a Championship would be eminently achievable. Especially with the fat Scotsman Miller back on deck and SVD really starting to bang them in...

Perth Glory

One of the league's impressive youngsters, Nikita Rukavytsya, seems likely to leave Perth after securing trials with FC Twente in Holland. No matter: Perth have a likely replacement lined up in Zimbabwean striker Glen Salmon. Obviously I support this signing wholeheartedly, on the basis of his name alone.

Also, Eugene Dadi has signed on for another year, which is great news for the A-League: despite his aging body he's got plenty of class.

Melbourne Victory

The enigmatic Ljubo Milicevic has spoken out about his ill-fated time with Melbourne Victory, and the period of depression and soul-searching that he underwent after leaving the club:

'How Victory Turned Me Into An Angry Buddhist Porn Fiend'

I think he'd be the ideal replacement for Ognenovski in the centre of Adelaide's defence. Sounds like he wants to leave professional football behind though - a pity because of his talents, but you can't blame the guy for doing what's best for himself.

Adelaide United

Back on home turf, there's a couple of big stories out of Radelaide. Significantly, Dario Fontanarosa has stepped down as United chairman, to be replaced by Mel Patzwald (of Airport Travel Company - he did a great job organising my tickets to Osaka, so he gets my seal of approval). Hopefully Fontanarosa is taking a back seat in order to finalise his plans for the awesome new Estadio Dario:

I'm not holding my breath though.

Sadly, it also seems very likely now that Angelo Costanzo is out the door at Hindmarsh at the end of the current season. Obviously Vidmar and the AUFC management have not been reading this blog. I think he's still got a lot to offer the team, but he's unlikely to be a first team player at Adelaide and could therefore command a lot more money elsewhere. It's a pity because I always pictured him retiring in his home city. It's upsetting but I'm not about to hunt him down in the Hindmarsh carpark after a game because of it...

More wild transfer speculation

So, here's a bit of juice:

Gold Coast United is very close to signing PSV's Jason Culina as its marquee player for next season. Plan B? Mile Sterjovski from Derby County. It would be fantastic if either of those two - World Cup players and current Socceroos - came back to Australia. Or both. I can actually see Sydney making a play for the Sterj if Culina goes to the Coast - they have new owners that hopefully have a bit of ambition, and goddammit Sydney need some good players. As for Culina, he'd tear this league apart. We know what a good playmaker can do for a team: see Juninho or Corica at Sydney, Fred or Hernandez at Melbourne, Miller at Queensland, Amaral at Perth, Carle at Newcastle.... the list goes on... Sarkies at Adelaide (thanks, you've been a great crowd)....

Adelaide is reportedly interested in Carlos Hernandez as a replacement for Diego. That would require paying a hefty transfer fee to his Costa Rican side (he's on loan to Melbourne). But apparently there's also plenty of interest from South Korean and Qatari clubs, as well as Melbourne themselves. Me, I think Hernandez would be worthy of our marquee spot. One of the best players in the league, a current international, with a great football brain, in a spot we need to strengthen. Yes please.

Also, Sydney FC are making the sort of noises that would suggest that John Aloisi will be out the door very soon. And Adelaide are sniffing around. Hmmm. Could be OK if he regained his Central Coast form. Or it could be the worst decision ever made since Archduke Ferdinand decided it would be nice to see Sarajevo in June. Probably won't happen anyway, but it's fun to speculate.

More tidbits

- ex-Central Coast Mariners keeper Matthew Nash has been signed on a 4-week contract as injury cover for Mark Birighitti.

- Sasa Ognenovski has reportedly agreed to terms with a K-League side, but Adelaide United is holding out as they are unhappy with the transfer fee that has been offered. Oggy is also apparently on the radar as a potential Macedonian national team player - time for Pim Verbeek to lock in the big fella for an Asian Cup qualifier, I think.

- Angelo Costanzo is very close to signing with Newcastle Jets, and is unhappy with being dropped from AUFC's first team. He refused to play for the Youth League team last weekend, which is not really the right sort of message for a senior player to be giving. My advice - suck it up, Ange, start showing what you can do again because the team needs you.

- Travis Dodd, Diego and Eugene Galekovic are also being bandied about as potential targets for foreign (particularly Asian) clubs. Let's see what happens. Any of these would be disappointing losses but, hey, money talks.

Anyway, I'm off to get hideously drunk now, so see you in the new year!

Final whistle for Ago

Another day, another Reds retirement. Paul Agostino, Adelaide's marquee player over the past two seasons, has declared that he will hang up his boots at the end of this A-League campaign.

Based on his history of injuries and limited game time in a red shirt, a more cynical man than me might say "Agostin-who? Don't let the door hit your arse and fracture your lower spine on the way out". This is understandable, to an extent: Ago joins a long and ignoble list of high-profile signings that have flopped in the A-League, from Zdrilic to the Other Wrong Aloisi (in his Sydney days at least) to Jardel to Zura to Milicevic. This sort of characterisation is very unfair to the man known to the blue half of Munich as 'Fussballgott', though - when fit, he is an extremely good player and a great asset to Adelaide's forward line. He obviously has a great passion for playing and wears the AUFC shirt with pride.

Unfortunately, of course, and through no fault of his own, Ago hasn't been fit very often at all during his time with Adelaide. His body is telling him that it's time to go, and he has chosen to leave the game on his own terms, with the grace and professionalism that has marked his time on the pitch. We didn't see the best of him at Adelaide, but he has had an illustrious playing career including stints at West Adelaide in the NSL, Young Boys and Yverdon in Switzerland, Bristol City in England, and ten years in the German Bundesliga 1 and 2 with 1860 Munich, where he became a fan favourite, before coming home to South Australia. In his prime he was a regular Socceroo, with twenty appearances and nine goals for the national team.

Australian football will lose a true gentleman of the game when Agostino retires - we can only hope that he is able to get back on the park to bang in a few more for the Reds before the curtain falls on his career.

Valkanis to retire; rumours from Rossco

The end of this season will mark the end of the road for Adelaide United stalwart Michael Valkanis. It's been coming for a while - this season he's been behind Ognenovski, Cornthwaite and Costanzo in the centreback pecking order, and most of his gametime has been in the Youth League - but that doesn't make his impending retirement any less sad. He's an ex-captain of the club, and is the last player remaining from United's sole NSL season. So, here's to you Micky V, thanks for the memories of what was a great career. Like Carl Veart before him he'll still have a presence at United, though, carrying out duties in some sort of coaching role. I hope that he's able to take the field in another A-League match this season - it would be nice to be able to farewell him properly at Hindmarsh.

---

Last night, Ross Aloisi hinted, implied and clumsily alluded to a couple of interesting things during his commentary in the Perth-Adelaide game:
- Ognenovski will move to an Asian club, and not a Japanese one.
- Adelaide will sign a German defender to take his place.
Let's see whether the Wrong Aloisi (a misleading title these days) is on the money, or whether he's on a bizarre cocktail of booze, drugs and readily available household chemicals instead.

Here are some other non-Aloisi-inspired rumours for your titillation, as well:
-Ange Costanzo to Newcastle Jets.
-ex-Red Fred Agius to North Queensland.
This will be a very interesting off-season indeed.

Marquee Mark for Jets

Mark Milligan is not a bad player at all. As Olyroos captain he was integral to Australia's Olympics qualification, and he was outstanding in his first year at Sydney FC. He has great talent at an A-League level, no doubt. But is he a 'marquee' player? In his own mind, he might well be. His playing career seems to have stalled, though: after leaving Sydney FC he jetted off to Europe to try his luck, trialled with several clubs, and failed to win a contract. He also played (poorly) in the ill-fated Asian Cup and Olympics tournaments, finally returning to Australia with his tail between his legs to take a playing contract with Newcastle Jets.

Milligan's behaviour has not exactly been marquee-worthy, either, with the young defender at times missing training sessions for the Olyroos and Sydney, and eventually going AWOL from his club.

So, the news that Milligan has signed on as Newcastle's marquee player for the rest of the season, filling the position vacated by Ecuadorian striker Edmundo Zura, comes as a little bit of a surprise. Surely a young guy who has played a few games for the Socceroos, admittedly a decent player but apparently with somewhat of an attitude problem, is not quite what the FFA had in mind when they designed the 'marquee' concept. A marquee player is supposed to be well known, marketable, and charismatic. Like Dwight Yorke or Juninho, he's supposed to be the sort of player whose exceptional skill and presence put 'bums on seats', as they say in the classics.

Mark Milligan is not this person. Neither is Jade North, who signed a contract to be North Queensland's inaugural marquee but has since accepted another offer to play in Korea. You can't really blame the clubs for making these sorts of moves, though - it is an opportunity to exempt one good player from the salary cap and therefore keep them in the side. In Newcastle's case, it is a way to keep Milligan on this season after the expiry of his seven-game guest stint. In North Queensland's case, Jade North was seen as an important element to the club's attempt to engage Indigenous people in the region.

The problem is that there is a discrepancy between the FFA's archetypical conception of a marquee player, and the reality, which sees marquee status applied to fringe Socceroos, overweight has-beens (yes, Jardel, I'm talking about you), and South Americans signed from DVDs. And it is the FFA that make the final call.

There are a few ways that this could be fixed. The first option is for the FFA to get far more stringent about who is afforded marquee status. This would mean that only top-quality, highly marketable players would make the cut. The problem with this is that some of the more successful of the league's marquee players (like Archie Thompson or Shengqing Qu) would not qualify, and that there would still be failures along the lines of John Aloisi at Sydney.

Another way forward would be to change the concept to one of simply a 'cap-exempt player' - someone who, for whatever reason and at the discretion of the club, is paid outside the salary cap. This would give clubs the freedom to carve out their own approach, and decide whether their money is better spent on an expensive, flashy Juninho or a reliable, relatively cheap North or Milligan. I like this approach because it puts the onus on the clubs, rather than the federation, to get things right - I've written before about the need for the FFA to decentralise and divest some of their powers to individual clubs.

Other options could involve adding a second marquee spot, abandoning the marquee concept altogether and significantly increasing the salary cap, or scrapping the salary cap and allowing clubs free reign over their spending. There are definitely good arguments for each, but in a newly-formed league with public interest in each club fluctuating so much relative to results I think it's essential that some sort of mechanism remains to keep clubs on a reasonably even keel.

Regardless of how it's done, though, I do think that clubs need to be a bit more adventurous when recruiting marquees. We go to the football to see players that inspire, that have a bit of panache and flair, not slightly-above-average defenders with a good positional sense (of course these players can be just as important, but you know what I mean). Anyway, good luck to Milligan at Newcastle - even though the club is clearly taking the piss with regards to the idea of a 'marquee' player, the odds are good that he'll be the best one they've ever had.

Spagnuolo to North Queensland

Well, it seems The Flying Mullet will continue to fly in the A-League next year, with the new Townsville-based North Queensland Fury securing his signature. The poor lad will have to cope with, among other things:

-Playing in the sapping heat and humidity of the wet season in the tropics;

-Being coached by Ian Ferguson; and

-Living in a town known more for its box jellyfish than its culture.

Good luck to him, and if there's anywhere that he can really stake a claim for a spot in the starting 11, it's NQ.

Sick Reds & the Mysterious Mr Tahara

Adelaide United are now in Japan for the Club World Cup and, according to this article, getting sick. Apparently Ognenovski, Cassio and now Jamieson have caught a nasty virus (although I dispute the assertion that Oggy would just 'catch' a virus: he probably gave it a sporting headstart before chasing the bastard down).

The most interesting part of this article, though, is the fact that Adelaide are having a long hard look at Kyoto Sanga FC and former Japan U-21 striker Yutaka Tahara.

All that can be gleaned from this guy's profile on Wikipedia is that he is tall, hairy, scores a goal every four games or so, and plays for the world's second-most awesome team. They're my favourites in the J.League because some old guys in an izakaya in Kyoto gave me free whisky and beer and told me they were good; plus they wear a rather fetching purple strip. Needless to say, a striker would be a pretty handy addition to the team, so I hope he's decent and Adelaide can lure him with the sort of incentives that he couldn't get at a Japanese club, like pie floaters and a laissez-faire attitude to work.

According to MTT82 on the AdelaideReds forum,

His coach Hisashi Kato refused to play him in summer because he said that Tahara
was addicted to sugary drinks (like Powerade) and he could only get one half of
football out of him. No joke.

That leaves me feeling quite optimistic. Powerade has certainly been known to give people the Energy Edge TM . And a half of football is still a half of football more than we have really ever managed to get out of Ago this season.

Oh, and Adelaide's CWC matches will be shown live on SBS - how good is that? Waitakere on Thursday night should be awesome... Adelaide have a taste for Kiwi blood. Game on mofos.

Spagnuolo to Leave

The big news this week for Adelaide United is that the Flying Mullet, Jason Spagnuolo, is set to leave the club after this season in search of more game time elsewhere.

Good luck to the young fella, he was great to watch in full flight tearing opponents apart on the wing, but it's clear that form has eluded him of late and he needs to do whatever he can to get his career back on track.

His run to set up Romario's only goal in an Adelaide shirt will be etched into my memory for a long time. It will be sad to see him go.

OK that's it from me for now, I'm off to Melbourne (which is, incidentally, a rumoured destination for Spags), back on Monday.

Go, Diego, Go?

Diego's future with the Reds is looking a little shaky at the moment, according to this article from FourFourTwo. Despite interest in his services from other clubs in the A-League and Asia, AUFC management is yet to offer the midfielder a new contract for the 2009-10 season.

Diego brings a lot to the team: he's comfortable on the ball and has great awareness, vision and range of passing. When he has the ball you know he's not going to give it away cheaply. He's one of the A-League's true playmakers, and when he's playing well the team generally plays well. If there is a criticism that can be levelled at Diego, it's that he blows hot and cold - his excellent form throughout the Champions League campaign, for example, has been followed by a period of relative ineffectiveness.

Obviously, if the price is right, Diego will go elsewhere. And fair enough - he has to look after his career. The question is whether Adelaide can adequately replace him if this eventuates. Kristian Sarkies does not have the presence to command the midfield. Paul Reid is a real box-to-box player who can make things happen, but perhaps lacks Diego's composure and awareness. Fabian Barbiero is starting to show some real signs of quality, and may be able to step into the Brazilian's boots in controlling the midfield, but needs more time to show off his abilities. Unless Adelaide have lined up another classy and experienced playmaker to fill his position, I think it would be negligent to get rid of Diego. Make the man an offer, AUFC.

Fyfe a Red?

The Advertiser is reporting today that Sydney FC defender Iain Fyfe is on his way to Adelaide United , although no official announcement is likely until next week. Despite attracting criticism for the occasional game-changing defensive brain fart, Fyfe is generally regarded as a versatile and solid player at centre back or right fullback. In other words, he's the Cornflakes of the Harbour City.

This is bad news for Sydney's back line, which is also having to deal with the retirement of Tony Popovic and North Queensland's signing of Jacob Timpano for next year, but definitely a positive move for Adelaide. With Valkanis unlikely to play on, Costanzo looking slower and older by the minute and Ognenovski the subject of ongoing enquiries from cashed-up Japanese clubs, a new defender is required post-haste. And who fits the bill better than Fyfe:

• He's a local boy, and used to call Hindmarsh home (not literally of course, but he played home games there with Adelaide City)
• His rugged good looks make the laydeeeez crazy, and it's always good to get laydeeeez involved in the game
• He's skilful enough to hold down an A-League starting berth
• He's not skilful enough to demand huge wages

So, welcome home, Iain.
Also, please let in a few goals on Saturday night.