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Australian transfers 26-27 Summer

onedaywinners... said:
football360.com.au

Portsmouth ready to listen to offers for 'unlucky' Aussie: 'We're open to both'

EFL Championship side Portsmouth have provided an update on the future of forgotten Australian Jacob Farrell.
football360.com.au football360.com.au

Looks like Jacob Farell on the outer at Pompey. As the coach says he has been very unlucky with injury. Still plenty of time to get solid minutes and an injury free season under his belt. We certainly need more depth at LWB!
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In our system Farrell is better suited to LCB than LWB.
 
Song said:
How?

It is clear nepotism. He is a decent player, and good luck to him, but for the season he has had (solid / decent, but not standout) there is no justification for (a) his selection in the squad over other better performing players and (b) the amount of minutes he got in the World Cup, again ahead of players who have far more of a justification for being selected. He did well in the World Cup, and credit to him for that, but he was given the opportunity to do so above others who deserved the opportunity ahead of him. That fact that he was given that opportunity ahead of others more deserving, and his father is on the coaching staff, is nepotism.

The situation should never have arisen. If Popovic was considering Okon-Engstler, Okon (Snr) should have stood down from the coaching staff, or more importantly, FA should have forced that to occur.
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I guess this is a hill some people are willing to die on.
 
I like to look at it in reverse too. Would Devlin have had 0 minutes throughout the World Cup if he was Okon Snr's son? Highly doubtful I'd say. Not saying that Okon-Engstler and Devlin are entirely comparable players because they're not, but I'd suggest that Devlin made a much more compelling case to be playing in the World Cup after his season than what Okon-Engstler did.
 
vanlassen said:
1. He has played and proved he can play at the top level (early days I know)
2. Everyone on this forum is demending we cap every eligible Socceroo the minute they hit the youth squad in Europe. Okon was born in Belgium: we capped him.
3. Alot of people were saying he only got picked because of his dad. Well, he just got picked up by a Bundesliga club.

Assuming he isn't going to get loaned out the minute he arrives, we just had an A-League player get transferred to a top 5 league. This is great news.
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If my post was unclear I pretty much agree with you.

I don't even think it was about Okon senior being on staff. People just dislike Popa and wanted to slam him for whatever they could.

Song said:
How?

It is clear nepotism. He is a decent player, and good luck to him, but for the season he has had (solid / decent, but not standout) there is no justification for (a) his selection in the squad over other better performing players and (b) the amount of minutes he got in the World Cup, again ahead of players who have far more of a justification for being selected. He did well in the World Cup, and credit to him for that, but he was given the opportunity to do so above others who deserved the opportunity ahead of him. That fact that he was given that opportunity ahead of others more deserving, and his father is on the coaching staff, is nepotism.

The situation should never have arisen. If Popovic was considering Okon-Engstler, Okon (Snr) should have stood down from the coaching staff, or more importantly, FA should have forced that to occur.
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He deserved it because he is better (at least according to the manager). All the things you mentioned are important, but the point of them is to demonstrate what you can do. Okon did this via the under 20s and then impressing in camp. I prefer getting performing well in a strong league. But both ways are fine and varies from player to player.

If we are calling for caps to Arena, Nicoll-Jazuli, G Okon etc along the Harry Kewell pathway for a really talented kid, you can't be unhappy when Popa has actually done it with P Okon. More than that, it actually worked out.
 
Toebash said:
14th in the Bundesliga looks exactly the right level to head to. Does €1M seem a bit on the cheap side though? I can’t imagine a 21 year old World Cup starter from Crvena Zvezda or Dinamo would go that cheap…
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€1M for a professional men’s footballer in the year 2026? Definitely too cheap. But again, players from outside Europe are undervalued.
 
HonestSpursFan said:
€1M for a professional men’s footballer in the year 2026? Definitely too cheap. But again, players from outside Europe are undervalued.
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€1 million for Paul Okon-Engstler sounds about right though given that his current market value is more or less around that figure anyway and it would be his first overseas contract at senior level.
 
Putting Okon's assistant role aside for a moment, the fact is if his son was shit and being picked, you'd have an argument.

However, statistically Okon-Engstler was one of our best players at the World Cup. Period.

He got tracked by European clubs because of his age, his performances against high quality opposition and the sort of player he is. Most teams in Europe are wanting to deploy a mix of ball winning DM's, progressive passing and ball carrying 8's. He fits the bill and comes at a bargain price.

If he gets serious minutes in the Bundesliga, I expect him to become one of our most important midfielders for the next decade.
 
vincenzogold said:
Before the World Cup this was me. But I’ve loved eating humble pie. After the first game i thought he is a special player. By the end of the World Cup I’m convinced he is the best passer of the ball I’ve ever seen in a Socceroos jersey
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I reckon Mooys the best passer I've seen for the roos, but it's great to have another progressive midfielder as I don't think anyone's filled that gap since
 
Song said:
How?

It is clear nepotism. He is a decent player, and good luck to him, but for the season he has had (solid / decent, but not standout) there is no justification for (a) his selection in the squad over other better performing players and (b) the amount of minutes he got in the World Cup, again ahead of players who have far more of a justification for being selected. He did well in the World Cup, and credit to him for that, but he was given the opportunity to do so above others who deserved the opportunity ahead of him. That fact that he was given that opportunity ahead of others more deserving, and his father is on the coaching staff, is nepotism.

The situation should never have arisen. If Popovic was considering Okon-Engstler, Okon (Snr) should have stood down from the coaching staff, or more importantly, FA should have forced that to occur.
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This.

He had a fantastic World Cup but I would argue that there are other A-League players who outperformed him last season who haven’t gotten a look in
 
Regarding the nepotism allegations, they were completely justified. When Okon got his first call up he had not played a minute of senior football and was picked above other players who were performing at senior level. I am very happy he has proven his selection justified and think he is a great player, however you cannot deny the optics of him getting a callup in such circumstances are suspicious.
Realistically, given his sons were both potential players, Okon sr should not have taken a position on the coaching staff. The conflict of interest is unfair on his sons as their selection will always be treated with suspicion.

On a more positive note, well done on getting the move and I hope to see him kick on in the Bundesliga.
 
jimshady said:
Two things can be true at once to be fair. Happy to say, I thought nepo baby, has proven himself to be a very good player, happy to be wrong. But until we cap others in the same manner (which is a good thing) then there’ll still be nepo discussions. Happy to be wrong twice, will be stoked actually
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Popa called up James Overy, who was much younger and much less experienced than Okon-Engstler was when he was first called up. Overy had played U18s football all season, whereas Okon had played a full season of U23s and then played in the Portuguese second tier while also starring at the U20 Asian Cup. No one complained about Overy.
 
scout_aussie said:
Popa called up James Overy, who was much younger and much less experienced than Okon-Engstler was when he was first called up. Overy had played U18s football all season, whereas Okon had played a full season of U23s and then played in the Portuguese second tier while also starring at the U20 Asian Cup. No one complained about Overy.
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Great. How many minutes did he play?
 
scout_aussie said:
Popa called up James Overy, who was much younger and much less experienced than Okon-Engstler was when he was first called up. Overy had played U18s football all season, whereas Okon had played a full season of U23s and then played in the Portuguese second tier while also starring at the U20 Asian Cup. No one complained about Overy.
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I think you’ll find that people also thought that was a bizarre callup.

Overy was also was only called up for friendlies whereas Okon was called up for a WCQ.
 
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