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A-League Men's Transfers & Rumours

erogenouszone said:
sydneyfc.com

Teenage Striking Sensation Signs For Sydney FC

Sydney FC has secured one of Australian football’s brightest young prospects, signing highly-rated 16-year-old striker Zach Harrison.
sydneyfc.com sydneyfc.com

Sydney FC get a Zach Harrision ( 16 years old ) from Brisbane Roar's academy. He must be good if they can't utilise their own academy products. He's also in the U17 National team side.
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Sydney are bad at playing their talented players. They could have the next mark viduka in their fold and still sign some shiny new toy in their position

Would be better off in drizzle, but fingers crossed he does well
 


My personal view is it is very hard to improve quality and develop youth in a closed shop because increasing the quality means reducing the financial pressure, and clubs don't play youth without financial pressure.

In a pyramid the financial pressure actually goes up as the quality improves
 
grazorblade said:


My personal view is it is very hard to improve quality and develop youth in a closed shop because increasing the quality means reducing the financial pressure, and clubs don't play youth without financial pressure.

In a pyramid the financial pressure actually goes up as the quality improves
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Exactly, 10 years ago the a-league was its highest in terms of quality but it also meant not many opportunities for young players.
It’s interesting because before covid the a-league had one of the oldest average ages in the whole AFC.

Now opportunities are aplenty for young players but it’s also mean the quality has gone down, so it’s kind of like a chicken or the egg situation to where we sit.

For me it’s simple, longer season, more teams, pro-rel, bin the salary cap we know the drill that way it leaves for clubs to do what they want to do either aim to win trophies as well as develop young players or even both.
At the moment the current financial realities don’t give much room for the clubs to do what they need to be sustainable and grow.

It’s also quite embarrassing we can’t get a DTS going, if you want to add value on our players instantly then it would be a good start to do that can’t expect higher fees if the players don’t have worth here lol.
 
grazorblade said:


My personal view is it is very hard to improve quality and develop youth in a closed shop because increasing the quality means reducing the financial pressure, and clubs don't play youth without financial pressure.

In a pyramid the financial pressure actually goes up as the quality improves
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I'll add another angle - the human infrastructure to develop players is improving. As an example, when the CFG bough Melbourne Hearts, the following season the renamed MC Youth team won their league but none of those players went on to have a career (at least that I know of) but over the last 4 seasons they have developed and sold youth to overseas leagues and who now have a career. What changed? The facilities are better but more importantly they found better scouts and coaches to develop the players. AU have always developed players because they seem to have the human capital to do so.
 
Barca4life said:
Now opportunities are aplenty for young players but it’s also mean the quality has gone down
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Yeah the quality has gone down since that peak a decade ago when we had grand marquees and ex golden gen Socceroos. We'll never see another Del Piero type again because of competition with Saudi and MLS etc. And we're at least another decade away from any current young gun Socceroos returning.

But I think the quality has definitely been on the up since we bottom out with COVID, and that's largely due to the quality of kids coming through. So I don't actually think "lack of quality" is accurate these days, the kids ARE quality. The league has possibly found it's level, not pissing away funds on atrocious marquees like Nani, and pumping out quality Aussies with the cream going overseas and the rest increasing the local pool depth.
As @WhatAmIWatching said, the club academies are really working.
 
HappyGuus said:
But I think the quality has definitely been on the up since we bottom out with COVID, and that's largely due to the quality of kids coming through. So I don't actually think "lack of quality" is accurate these days, the kids ARE quality.
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Quality is where it should be given the squad values. We probably punch above our weight a bit, but it's pretty much where it should be given the dollars spent.
However, I do get the feeling that the crop of coaches at the moment are a bit lacking. Not that they are necessarily bad, just that there are not really any standouts.
 
someguyjc said:
Quality is where it should be given the squad values. We probably punch above our weight a bit, but it's pretty much where it should be given the dollars spent.
However, I do get the feeling that the crop of coaches at the moment are a bit lacking. Not that they are necessarily bad, just that there are not really any standouts.
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Yes - that's more to the point.
 
HappyGuus said:
Yeah the quality has gone down since that peak a decade ago when we had grand marquees and ex golden gen Socceroos. We'll never see another Del Piero type again because of competition with Saudi and MLS etc. And we're at least another decade away from any current young gun Socceroos returning.

But I think the quality has definitely been on the up since we bottom out with COVID, and that's largely due to the quality of kids coming through. So I don't actually think "lack of quality" is accurate these days, the kids ARE quality. The league has possibly found it's level, not pissing away funds on atrocious marquees like Nani, and pumping out quality Aussies with the cream going overseas and the rest increasing the local pool depth.
As @WhatAmIWatching said, the club academies are really working.
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To be honest the aleague should not be judged on the quality as the motive is to be a selling league, if it wants to be greater in its parts then it requires investment but also an improvement in how the competition is run as well which we know what it is.
Otherwise there is nothing wrong with what it is doing withstanding the financial factors behind it.

Also @someguyjc as well on that point, the coaches like the players see our league as a stepping stone to go overseas as well, the most promising coaches seem to be young as well which proves this point.
 
Barca4life said:
To be honest the aleague should not be judged on the quality as the motive is to be a selling league, if it wants to be greater in its parts then it requires investment but also an improvement in how the competition is run as well which we know what it is.
Otherwise there is nothing wrong with what it is doing withstanding the financial factors behind it.

Also @someguyjc as well on that point, the coaches like the players see our league as a stepping stone to go overseas as well, the most promising coaches seem to be young as well which proves this point.
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There are very few leagues that you couldn't call a selling league. I suppose the difference between the players and the coaches is that young players are being picked up by the ALM teams but we largely don't see that with the coaches. Plenty of coaches though that are trying their hand OS - some with some success.
 
patjennings said:
There are very few leagues that you couldn't call a selling league. I suppose the difference between the players and the coaches is that young players are being picked up by the ALM teams but we largely don't see that with the coaches. Plenty of coaches though that are trying their hand OS - some with some success.
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I just wish more coaches from the NPL were been given a go, a still feel its a closed shop for them compared to the players.
 
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AU enquired about taking Kusini Yengi on loan for this upcoming season, however the player at this stage of his career felt it was better to be playing at a higher standard than the a league and politely declined.

some background for context in terms of his departure from AU that is not widely known and may make you think differently about the phrase "politely declined"

There was bad blood when yengi left AU (AU had offered a contract extension which he refused to sign as he had signed a precontract with sydney, but withdrew it and then signed on larger wages for the wanderers - there was the accusation that he downed tools in those last few months to protect himself from injury to complete the move which soured his relationship with veart)
 
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patjennings said:
There are very few leagues that you couldn't call a selling league. I suppose the difference between the players and the coaches is that young players are being picked up by the ALM teams but we largely don't see that with the coaches. Plenty of coaches though that are trying their hand OS - some with some success.
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I think the 2nd div is the major missing piece of the puzzle. Not only for the young players to develop into professional players, but also those aspiring coaches getting much needed experience at the professional level. A-League clubs seem to be more inclined to promote assistants. Nothing necessarily wrong with that, but I'm assuming that is because they have first hand experience in the professional environment. Having a dozen or so 2nd div professional coaches would open the pool up quite a bit.
 
someguyjc said:
I think the 2nd div is the major missing piece of the puzzle. Not only for the young players to develop into professional players, but also those aspiring coaches getting much needed experience at the professional level. A-League clubs seem to be more inclined to promote assistants. Nothing necessarily wrong with that, but I'm assuming that is because they have first hand experience in the professional environment. Having a dozen or so 2nd div professional coaches would open the pool up quite a bit.
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I agree - it seems to be pretty hard to break into the ALM from the NPL. e.g. John A.
 
Yeah very few leagues aren't a selling league

u usually have young players getting game time before they are ready with a long term plan to sell them. The cash from those players then gets used to bolster other positions on the pitch. So selling is not in tension with improving the quality

But it's hard to see how you play that game in a salary capped league.

Also I suspect if the financial pressure is off, we stop playing youth and the national team drops in quality again.

So I just don't see how the current system can possibly work
 
TheSecretScout said:
AU enquired about taking Kusini Yengi on loan for this upcoming season, however the player at this stage of his career felt it was better to be playing at a higher standard than the a league and politely declined.

some background for context in terms of his departure from AU that is not widely known and may make you think differently about the phrase "politely declined"

There was bad blood when yengi left AU (AU had offered a contract extension which he refused to sign as he had signed a precontract with sydney, but withdrew it and then signed on larger wages for the wanderers - there was the accusation that he downed tools in those last few months to protect himself from injury to complete the move which soured his relationship with veart)
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Aberdeen striker Kusini Yengi has joined Sanfrecce Hiroshima on loan, with the Japanese club holding an option to make the move permanent.

The Australia international joined the Dons from Portsmouth a year ago but has since scored just once in 10 games.

The 27-year-old forward spent part of last term on loan with Cerezo Osaka and will now return to Japan for this campaign.

"This is a good opportunity for Kusini," Aberdeen boss Stephen Robinson said.

"Competition for places in forward areas is strong, and together we felt that a loan move to Sanfrecce Hiroshima, where he can play regularly, is the right step.

"They also have an option to make the transfer permanent, which provides clarity for everyone moving forward."
 
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