ALM Squad Speculation Thread 2024/25

In a non salary capped league you would keep Redders because he is still a very good Keeper, but when you can pay a younger keeper far less and get performances at a similar level it definitely makes more sense to use that coin amongst the outfield positions.

Heā€™s not on that kind of money.

And definitely not next season.

Loving everyone calling for the full clear out, but maybe consider youā€™ll need to find better local players to replace themā€¦??

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Yeah.

Theyā€™d sit on the bench, theyā€™d play 15 minutes.

They donā€™t want to train no more. Or their bodies just donā€™t work no more.
Thereā€™s a whole bunch of reasons to retire that outweigh the finances at time.

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I suppose if you have huge sums of money already, doing something you donā€™t want to do for another year may be a waste of time.

Le Fondre would not be in that boatā€¦

Totally.

Makes every foreign spot crucial.

Weā€™ll have to promote youth, retain very strategically, and build over a few years, no doubt.

Itā€™s one of the things I wonder whether Corica will be suited toā€¦ I donā€™t think heā€™s ever done anything like it.

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Which is why Iā€™d loan him to an Indian club again if need be.

I donā€™t know the man personally, but heā€™s obviously frustrated. If Corica tells him heā€™s going to be a 15 minute player off the bench every 2nd game, does he want to do all the training for that at his age?

Corica will, of course, start him so itā€™s kinda moot.

Fair point, depends what we might be able to organise in the off season. However by all accounts Le Fondre loves Sydney and gets along well with the team and even still hangs out with ABJ now and then. I think he may well prefer to stay in Sydney even if he doesnā€™t get much game time. It might depend on how much he like India and whether heā€™d go somewhere like China/India for a year and probably be away from his family.

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I can see Alfie going home for one last session at Stockport or Rochdale.

Are goods family back out with him this session?

This.

You hear so many sportspeople getting to a point in their career and waking up one morning and just not having the heart and passion for it any more. Whether it be theyā€™ve just hit that wall in their career, or itā€™s the culmination of declining form.

You even have plenty of non-sports people who do it. My mother in law for example, sheā€™s a chartered accountant, earns well into the 6 figures comfortably. Sheā€™d been hating her job for ages, but kept doing it for the money. Just before COVID became a thing she pretty much had a nervous breakdown.

She could have done the same role at another company, but instead she has chosen to completely quit her career. Now she does Part time delivery driving for Amazon and is a lot happier (granted, sheā€™s almost 60 and has 2 grandkids on the wayā€¦)

Sometimes itā€™s not about the money. Even though it sounds nice, a lot of people donā€™t want to earn money by standing/sitting around doing nothing. Sure, Alfie could do that, but if you stop enjoying what you do for a living, the money doesnā€™t matter in the end.

Something tells me it was his loan in India where his decline set in. Probably had something to do with the fact when he wasnā€™t playing or training, he was cooped up in a hotel room for probably something like 18 hours a day, without friends or family.

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IIRC, Emmo both retired from SFC while still on contract because they realised they could no longer deliver. Emmo took about 2 seasons too long to realise that and Poppa did immediately when he felt humiliated by being skinned by some kid one game (and then joined our coaching staff under Vitje).

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If Ninko is retiring I hope thereā€™s an announcement before the Victory game. He deserves a big send off.

Lucas Neil is a classic example of a player who hung on for too long before retiring.

You could probably argue Tim Cahill is another one.

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I almost hope there isnā€™t. That way we can send him off in the season opener at Moore Park in front of a big crowd instead of in front of 3k people at Kogarah.

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Ninko should keep going if he is still enjoying himself. He is still looks fantastic with the ball and works harder without the ball than a few of the SFC players about half his age.

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For sure, but we donā€™t want the scenario where he retires without an announcement being made and nobody knows the significance of the game when it is played.

The issue is that contracts etc probably all get negotiated in the off season, he may not even know himself. I would just assume his game against Victory is the last time youā€™ll see him in a Sydney shirt. If he retires in the off season the club will surely set something up for game 1 at Moore Park.

I donā€™t know if its possible but if Ninko is to retire, could we offer him a one day contract so that he can participate in the first game at the SFS. Ditto Wilko. Also, went for a bike ride out that way today.



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We donā€™t need to find 11 players though. Youā€™re looking at needing 4 or 5 senior players if Corica (or whoever the new coach is) is prepared to give the young guys the chance to make the positions their own.

GK: More than happy to go into next season with THB & Pavlesic as our 2 GKā€™s. Max Vartuli & Gus Hoefsloot (looked good last week in NPL) can fight it out as the #3 GK.

RB: Sorted with Grant & Talbot.

CB: We need to sign a starting CB to replace Wilko. If Donachie leaves we need to replace him with a starting quality player as well. Warland and Gurd are the other 2 CBā€™s.

LB: Need to sign a starting LB. Talbot has done well but I donā€™t think heā€™s the long term answer and Oā€™Toole isnā€™t good enough to start each week. I havenā€™t seen anyone in NPL who is ready to step up.

CM: Regardless of Brattenā€™s recovery, we need to sign a CM (Ollie Bozanic?). I havenā€™t seen anything in Amini to warrant giving him a long term deal. He wouldnā€™t come cheap either so Iā€™d rather keep Retre on. Yazbek, Segecic and Hof (recovery pending) along with Caceres provide depth.

AM: If Ninko retires we should try and replace him (Penha?) but I think we should convince him to go around for 1 more season as a bench player. Weā€™ve got Burgess, Caceres, Kucharski & Hollman but thatā€™s a little shallow in terms of depth without Ninko or a replacement.

FWD: Alfie, Wood, Buhagiar. Yeah we need to find someone.

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