We Are The Reds

I've always been a fan of looking overseas for hidden gems, but lately that method has failed to produce results or goals. Too many lazy plebs phoning it in and too many talented but permacrock physio table warmers. Tell me, what's so wrong with going after guys who have already proven themselves at the cost of a bit more coin? Sure, it's not as noble or astute as uncovering hidden gems, but our failure to replace Sergio van Dijk since his departure has cost us so many goals and possibly silverware.

I've always been a fan of looking overseas for hidden gems, but lately that method has failed to produce results or goals. Too many lazy plebs phoning it in and too many talented but permacrock physio table warmers. Tell me, what's so wrong with going after guys who have already proven themselves at the cost of a bit more coin? Sure, it's not as noble or astute as uncovering hidden gems, but our failure to replace Sergio van Dijk since his departure has cost us so many goals and possibly silverware.

I've always been a fan of looking overseas for hidden gems, but lately that method has failed to produce results or goals. Too many lazy plebs phoning it in and too many talented but permacrock physio table warmers. Tell me, what's so wrong with going after guys who have already proven themselves at the cost of a bit more coin? Sure, it's not as noble or astute as uncovering hidden gems, but our failure to replace Sergio van Dijk since his departure has cost us so many goals and possibly silverware.

Because there is never an assurance that the "proven" players will succeed with a new club. AU did that signing Baba who has a proven record scoring at La Liga level.
AU didn't win any silverware when Serg was here so I'm not sure how you can say they missed out on it once he left...
Where as some of the hidden gems AU signed like: Isaias, Cirio, Pablo, Carrusca, and Adlung all came here and succeeded, None were signed as marquees.
Don't just look at AU. Look at all the hidden gems other HAL clubs have signed over the years: Berisha, Finkler, Carlos Hernandez, Broich, Marinkovic. None of those guys came as marquees, no one had heard of these guys before they came. We all know who they are now.

Compare that to the visa players Melb City have brought in over the last few seasons. Huge wages with impressive CVs how many over their visa signings have lit up the league? Fornaroli, Schenkeveld, Sorensen, and half a season from McCormack. Who knows how much money they spent bringing over the likes of Colazo and Budzinski?

I've always been a fan of looking overseas for hidden gems, but lately that method has failed to produce results or goals. Too many lazy plebs phoning it in and too many talented but permacrock physio table warmers. Tell me, what's so wrong with going after guys who have already proven themselves at the cost of a bit more coin? Sure, it's not as noble or astute as uncovering hidden gems, but our failure to replace Sergio van Dijk since his departure has cost us so many goals and possibly silverware.

Because there is never an assurance that the "proven" players will succeed with a new club. AU did that signing Baba who has a proven record scoring at La Liga level.
AU didn't win any silverware when Serg was here so I'm not sure how you can say they missed out on it once he left...
Where as some of the hidden gems AU signed like: Isaias, Cirio, Pablo, Carrusca, and Adlung all came here and succeeded, None were signed as marquees.
Don't just look at AU. Look at all the hidden gems other HAL clubs have signed over the years: Berisha, Finkler, Carlos Hernandez, Broich, Marinkovic. None of those guys came as marquees, no one had heard of these guys before they came. We all know who they are now.

Compare that to the visa players Melb City have brought in over the last few seasons. Huge wages with impressive CVs how many over their visa signings have lit up the league? Fornaroli, Schenkeveld, Sorensen, and half a season from McCormack. Who knows how much money they spent bringing over the likes of Colazo and Budzinski?

Stuckey remember daniel mcbreen? Now that was one bargain deal!

Just to stoke the flames a little, Berisha is now an Australian citizen.

Its a very interesting situation. TBH I have a lot of respect for people like Muscat and Berisha. I've certainly called them names over the years. But a large part of why we as AU fans have such a dislike for them is because they beat us so often. There are plenty of hard nosed players in every league who would do almost anything to win. IMO Isaias is like that. Vince Lia comes across as another. The main difference between someone like Muscat and Lia is largely down to the amount of times we've had to witness Muscat celebrating goals and lifting trophies in our face. Lia has rarely celebrated goals and has never lifted a trophy against us so we don't have that same disdain for him.
The main reason we as fans hate players like that is largely because they are winners. If they were doing it for our club, we'd call them heroes.
Obviously there are never any assurances that someone who is successful at one club will definitely be successful at another. But I'd gladly swallow my pride in welcoming someone like Berisha or Muscat to AU if that resulted in AU winning the championship again.

It would also add some more spice to the AU - MV rivalry which is IMO getting a bit stale lately.

Isaias has a contract until the end of the 2019/20 season. He signed a 3 year extension in 2017.
He also is now an Aussie as of today

Isaias has a contract until the end of the 2019/20 season. He signed a 3 year extension in 2017.
He also is now an Aussie as of today

I have it on good authority (and don’t ask who) that Bruce is returning on an injury replacement contract to see out the season.

Stay tuned. An announcement will be made Friday.