Who's signed for next season

[BenAD]

On the plus side, despite the fact we have spent much of the preseason, cup and first two rounds, with the majority (or all 3) of our strikers injured/unfit, we have found goals still.

Just unfortunate we lost both baba and blackwood to injury, and AP to the U19s at the same time.

[Stuckey]

We need to call Bruce. If we can get him on the right salary why not.

Even as a mentor to some of the younger guys.

I guess it depends on why AU would be signing him. If its as an injury replacement to be used immediately then I can't see him being massively useful as he wouldn't be match fit.
If its to sit on the bench for the season and be a bit-part player then he's probably going to take game time away from either Baba, Blackwood (when he returns) and AP. I'd rather see the younger players given that game time so they can develop, and Baba is probably one of the highest paid AU players so I think signing someone to replace him isn't the smartest piece of business for the club.
If he's coming in to barely play and maybe make the bench if Baba is out and the younger players start then I'd be fine seeing that. But I'm not sure how happy Bruce would be to play that role of being 4th choice. I love the idea of Bruce being a player/coach and I'm certain he's got a massive amount of experience to pass on to both Blackwood and AP, but it's very rare to see that sort of position occur.

Bruce seems to have a lot of strings to his bow and it really wouldn't surprise me to never see him involved in football again once he hangs up the boots, he appears to be very politically minded I can see him running for Parliament. But it also wouldn't surprise him to see him pop up as a CEO of a club, join the PFA management or start up his own player management business like Vince Grella did. I think the only thing Bruce can do that would surprise me would be whatever he chooses to do as a career post football not being a success.

[shinAUFC]

We need to call Bruce. If we can get him on the right salary why not.

Even as a mentor to some of the younger guys.

You literally just said in another thread Kurz needs to give more locals a go. Surely you would prefer a striker from the NPL?

It would take bruce a couple of months just to get fit given he has had no club.

We have the squad depth, its in Ilso and APs hands now

[Stuckey]

We need to call Bruce. If we can get him on the right salary why not.

Even as a mentor to some of the younger guys.

You literally just said in another thread Kurz needs to give more locals a go. Surely you would prefer a striker from the NPL?

It would take bruce a couple of months just to get fit given he has had no club.

We have the squad depth, its in Ilso and APs hands now

AP should be back soon. The U19s just bombed out of the AFC Cup. Gifting the Saudis a 3-1 win.

[Rojos]

We need to call Bruce. If we can get him on the right salary why not.

Even as a mentor to some of the younger guys.

You literally just said in another thread Kurz needs to give more locals a go. Surely you would prefer a striker from the NPL?

It would take bruce a couple of months just to get fit given he has had no club.

We have the squad depth, its in Ilso and APs hands now

Bruce is a local (practically).

[Old Gregg]

I agree. And if a senior / experienced player (e.g. Baba) goes down injured, it is a lot to ask for a local kid to shoulder all that responsibility.

IF Baba can't play out the season, Bruce would be a good replacement as the strong, physical #9.. and if Blackwood / Stamatelopoulos are good enough to keep him on the bench, then even better.

[Stuckey]

Looks like Bruce has got his hands full fighting the good fight for football and flying the flag abroad.

I hope something can come from these meetings I'd love to see Australian football play a bigger part in the Asean region. Especially club football it would be great to see HAL sides play clubs from Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore on a regular basis. I'm sure we could squeeze some sort of tournament into the mammoth off-season we love to have here.

Sorry for getting off topic!

[salmonfc]

We desperately need a striker who actually deserves to be paid marquee wages. Preferably someone who is tall/a good header so we can actually score from a free kick or a corner more than once a season.

Using Sofifa, I've found some potential candidates who I reckon we can afford (if our owners are willing to invest that sort of cash). A lot of these players are almost certainly well out of our reach and the main reason I'm making this list is out of boredom, but what's the harm in mentioning them?

Firstly, some players who will be free agents at the end of 2018:

Markus Rosenberg. 36 yo, 6'0. Obviously FIFA stats aren't accurate, but he's supposedly very good in the air (something we've lacked for just about all of our club's existence). Obvious question marks are his age, the fact that he's coming off of a March-November season of football and whether or not he'd even be interested, but worth a look.

Andrew Nabbout. 25 yo, 5'9. Apparently his contract only runs to the end of 2018, which is surprising. If he becomes a free agent, we'd be foolish to not at least consider him.

Eduardo da Silva. 35 yo, 5'10. Still playing despite his injury troubles, albeit on a short term contract for Legia Warsaw. Obviously, age and fitness are the main concerns as well as his current goal drought, but still a name worth throwing into the ring.

Next, some players who will be free agents at the end of the season:

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. 35 yo, 6'2. He's most likely going to want to retire at Ajax and won't be up for a venture Down Under, but depending on just how loads our new owners are, he'd be a dream marquee signing.

Bruno Fornaroli. 31 yo, 5'9. Yeah, I know. Not gonna happen. Still, a man can dream.

Milan Škoda. 32 yo, 6'3. If Melbourne Victory have got a Honda, let's go out and get a Škoda. Tall, prolific, supposedly good at heading, cheap (if FIFA wage stats are a reliable measure) and off contract come the end of the season. Not too old.

Leonardo Ulloa. 32 yo, 6'2. Speaking of Keisuke Honda, this guy just joined the club that Honda just left. Most of us would know him as Vardy's backup for Leicester City's historic title win. 2 goals in his first 7 games for Pachuca. Not too old either.

Jeremy Menes. 31 yo, 5'11. Another player currently in Mexico, after becoming something of a journeyman in recent years. Main reason I'm listing him is because I liked using him on FIFA in his Milan days.

Peter Crouch. 37 yo, absolute unit. Do it for the memes.

Also worth mentioning that Scott McDonald is a free agent. Not keen on him, but the option is there.

[sub007]

Holy shit, I did the exact same thing. I was gonna suggest Ulloa as well.

Here are some other suggestions, all of whom come off contract at the end of 2018. Many of these aren't realistic but there's no harm in dreaming.

Jonathan Soriano. 33 years old and has scored 9 in 12 for Beijing Gouan. Has 5 caps for Catalonia. A very unrealistic signing.

Henok Goitom. 34 year old who has scored 12 in 26 for AIK. Has been capped for Eritrea.

Chinedu Obasi. 32 year old who has scored 3 in 8 for Elfsborg. Has 23 caps for Nigeria and has scored for goals.

Marvin Emnes. Signed for Vancouver Whitecaps in September. His last club was in Turkey and didn't score in any of his seven appearances.

Per Frick. Has scored 3 in 18 for Elfsborg. He was capped twice for Sweden last year and scored against Slovakia.

Masato Kudo. Scored once in 12 appearances for Sanfrecce Hiroshima. Has previously played in the MLS.

I also had a look at transfermarkt and there are a few good free agents.

Karim Ansarifard. 28 year old Iranian who scored 17 goals in 25 games for Olympiacos last season. Has scored 18 goals in 68 internationals for Iran. Very unrealistic.

Prejuce Nakoulma, 31 year old Burkinabé who scored 3 goals in 18 games last season for Nantes. Has scored 13 goals in 51 for Burkina Faso.

Lacina "The big tree" Traore. Played for Amiens last season on loan from Monaco. Has 13 international caps for the Ivory Coast and has scored four goals.

Jerry Mbakogu. 26 year old Nigerian striker who scored 6 in 26 for Carpi last season. Was linked to Leeds but a transfer fee couldn't be agreed and was released.

Marko Futacs. 28 year old Hungarian who scored 3 in 15 for Hajduk Split. Has 3 international caps.

Emmanuel Emenike. 28 year old Nigerian who made five appearances for Olympiacos before being shipped out on loan to Las Palmas where he got a knee injury before he could make an appearance. Has 37 international caps and has scored 9 goals.

Imo we have to go after Ansarifard even if it's highly unlikely that he'll sign for us. He's prolific and is an Asian player which will be invaluable if we qualify for the ACL but we could also attract some Iranian fans.

EDIT: Just found out that Nottingham Forest are trying to sign Ansarifard and are waiting on a work permit.

[shinAUFC]

We can list off all the names in the world but baba is our marquee striker, he would need to be released from his contract by MUTUAL consent first which is not going to happen.

Im more than happy to put our hopes with blackwood once he returns. He has shown so much each time he has played this season.

[Stuckey]

Some interesting names there. Really goes to show how much footballing talent is out there.
One type of player I'd love to see AU aim for is the players with Australian roots. Papadopoulos or Georgievski players who have spent lots of time playing in decent European leagues and can come here and not take up a visa spot. Or even better look at talent youth prospects floating around like what AU did bringing Tomi Juric back. If the stars aligned better with Tomi he could have been an AU player for far longer than he was.
My other hope is that the owners other club Qingdao Red Lions can grow quickly as they are currently in the 4th tier of the Chinese football system and we can start to see some loan players come either way building a relationship.
They made the round of 16 but I think clubs need to make the semi finals to qualify for promotion into the Chinese League 2. So I think any hope of bringing over any player from them of HAL standard is still 3 or 4 years away.
I wonder though Chinese League Two runs from March till October. I wonder if it would be of value for AU to loan out young players to Qingdao should they make the CL2 during the off-season if the FFSA isn't keen to allow AU NPL side to play players like Blackwood or Nathan Konstand? Would be a good string of games for them to play if they struggle to gain regular game time throughout the HAL season.

[Reds United]

With our owners being predominantly Dutch, what about going for a Dutch marquee player that would really put bums on seats and create huge interest. Robin Van Persie has announced that he is going to retire at the end of the season. Although thirty five years of age, he has always looked after his body and would easily fit in. Why not give that a go and see whether we could get him even before the end of the European season.

[salmonfc]

As an Arsenal fan, I'd rather sign an actual snake than that snake.

[Stuckey]

As an Arsenal fan, I'd rather sign an actual snake than that snake.

Haha its not his fault he needed to leave the club to finally lift a trophy.

[terry tibbs]

As an Arsenal fan, I'd rather sign an actual snake than that snake.

Haha its not his fault he needed to leave the club to finally lift a trophy.

I hear ya, but as a fellow Arsenal fan I have to admit - with hindsight - he was right. The Wenger/Gazidis model wasn't going to bring success, he saw a chance as a professional to win and took it.

Back to us, and I don't know how the Baba situation can keep going. The owners haven't come in to watch a team underachieve while a marquee investment can't even string 2 games together. Something's gotta give.