We Are The Reds

Isaac Richards to depart the club to pursue a career in MMA fighting. He made 2 senior appearances for the club.

Random indeed.
Who's next in line?

Isaac Richards to depart the club to pursue a career in MMA fighting. He made 2 senior appearances for the club.

Far out!

Madness.

Isaac Richards to depart the club to pursue a career in MMA fighting. He made 2 senior appearances for the club.

Far out!

Madness.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks so!

With the reduced salary cap I was wondering who's going to be with us for next season. Essential players like Izzo, McGree and Halloran should command salaries of $200-250k. Good team players like Strain, Elsey, Jackobsen, Mauk and Opseth should be on $100-150k. That leaves about $500k for everybody else. Luckily we have a lot of very talented younger players. Do we have any marquee players outside the cap or will be selling in the off-season?

We need a new left back. Kitto does a solid job but sometimes it shows that it's not his natural position. Scott Galloway seems to be 3rd choice at City now. Halloran did leave him for dead for our second goal the other night, so maybe he's gone backwards a bit since leaving AU.

Worth a look though I would have thought, he was excellent in his spell here.

We need a new left back. Kitto does a solid job but sometimes it shows that it's not his natural position. Scott Galloway seems to be 3rd choice at City now. Halloran did leave him for dead for our second goal the other night, so maybe he's gone backwards a bit since leaving AU.

Worth a look though I would have thought, he was excellent in his spell here.

At the very least we need cover for the position as Marrone can cover the right and centre. Where along the back-line does Noah Smith play?

We need a new left back. Kitto does a solid job but sometimes it shows that it's not his natural position. Scott Galloway seems to be 3rd choice at City now. Halloran did leave him for dead for our second goal the other night, so maybe he's gone backwards a bit since leaving AU.

Worth a look though I would have thought, he was excellent in his spell here.

At the very least we need cover for the position as Marrone can cover the right and centre. Where along the back-line does Noah Smith play?

I know he’s a left footer but I’m not sure if he’s a left footed CB, a LB or he can play both.

Well the cap is reportedly going to be slashed down to $2M.

Given the circumstances, I think we are in a good position for next season. We have most of our squad contracted while we also have a lot of talented and cheap youth players as well.

We only really need to bring in a left back and a backup CB and the departures of Boland and Maria would have freed up some funds.

As for players that will leave, I would keep all of our squad except for one of Blackwood or Opseth given we don’t need 4 strikers for next season. Opseth is probably on good coin so he’ll probably be the one that leaves while Blackwood will be a cheap and versatile bench option. I wouldn’t be surprised if we sell McGree but Mauk was probably bought in as his replacement.

I think our starting XI will look like this for next season:

Izzo
Strain Elsey Jakobsen New
D’Arrigo
McGree/Mauk Troisi
Halloran Toure Mileusnic

And our second XI will probably look like this.

Oschenham
Marrone Abatew* new Kitto
Gomulka
Konstand Mauk/New
Brook Yengi Blackwood

*Assuming Abetew gets a senior contract next season.

And then you have the scholarship/youth players in Cox, Smith, Nunn, King-Byrne, Niyongabire and Mo Toure

That is a fairly strong but also a fairly cheap squad imo.

Is Blackwood a better option than Niyongabire? One thing I love about Pacifique is that he provides Veart with variety, especially the way he willingly takes on multiple defenders.

Is Blackwood a better option than Niyongabire? One thing I love about Pacifique is that he provides Veart with variety, especially the way he willingly takes on multiple defenders.

Probably not but I wanted to put all the players on first team contracts into the second XI.

I assume squad sizes will be around the same next season and I have 22 players on senior contracts plus a Chinese random who will take is up to 23 players which is the maximum allowed.

I would offer Blackwood another year and keep Pacifique on a scholarship deal because Kusini seems to be made of glass.

Wot about that Chinese bloke who was good at running as a linesman. Is he gone?


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According to Adelaide United fan tv, Jakobsen and Blackwood will leave the club in the coming days.

If it’s true, I wonder who gets the captaincy. Halloran is probably the most likely but I wouldn’t be surprised if Izzo or Elsey gets it tbh.

According to Adelaide United fan tv, Jakobsen and Blackwood will leave the club in the coming days.

If it’s true, I wonder who gets the captaincy. Halloran is probably the most likely but I wouldn’t be surprised if Izzo or Elsey gets it tbh.

If true, I will not shed too many tears for the departure of Blackwood. He was given more than a fair opportunity to prove himself and for me never looked likely to do it. Not sure what people saw in him tbh.

The nuggety Dane however will be missed. He's been a rock for most of his time here. Having said that there have been signs this season, especially just before lockdown, that he's starting to move around the pitch a bit like a rock. So maybe the club have seen the writing on the wall and will be looking for a younger partner for Elsey.

On the captaincy, I wouldn't mind seeing Halloran get it. He seems a stand up guy and claims to be loving his time here. He might need to lift his intensity a bit though. Not sure if the "happy go lucky surfie" persona is what you want in a skipper.

Sad to see Jakobsen go as his experience and leadership qualities will be missed but there was physical decline and he is not getting faster / younger.
I always hoped for Blackwood and AU that we would find a way to bring the best out of him but we never did and inconsistency took care of the rest.

No one has yet mentioned James Troisi for Captain ...
I think the honor would lift him.

Having said that if Marrone was a fixed starter then he would be my first choice.

After the match is before the match!
How many months before the next season kicks off?