Isn’t he a Queenslander? Maybe foundation player of Club 13 or 14 - a 2nd Brisbane club.
Bit worried about this actually. They’ll need to replace Valeri…
…although we’ll need to replace Brillante
Yeah he’s from Bundaberg. My relatives up there assure me that Sydney FC are regularly in the local paper as a result.
Bit harsh. He was a great player for us, still is. I think he will do fine in Korea
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You mean I was being harsh? That wasn’t intended. I like him a lot and haven’t been one to bag him on here. It’s just I’m surprised that his particular strengths (and they are undoubted) would tempt a Korean club for a visa move (presumably meaning having to also pay us some transfer fee, etc). I don’t think K-League has the same visa player restrictions as here though, so maybe it’s all the same to them.
Sorry mate the comment wasn’t aimed at anyone in particular. It just seems the popular belief around the forums lately.is that Brillante has been a bit of a weak link.
Sure he has had a couple of dud matches but he has been an integral part of the best HAL team imho
That’s kind of why I’m glad I’d voted for him in the POTY for his last game for us 
(at least I think I did)
I was/am a fan.
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Weak link on the ball, yes, but also as invaluable as ever in breaking up the game the other way.
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He’s been fantastic for us, no doubt. Just feel he’s another one of those players who have found their level as one of the top HAL players in their position but just lacking that x-factor to breakthrough at the next level. I’d love for him to prove me wrong, however and wish him the best of luck.
Plenty of cash for a replacement (Hiariej?) or run with O’Neill, Retre, Zuvela & Devlin as the CM’s and use some of the cash + Jop’s wage for Bart.
Good for him if he has, he’s struggled this year for his ability (I blame the short hair) but he’s a decent destroyer and should earn pretty damn good money over there.
I think some of the criticism of Brillantes performances the last 12 months have been unjustified, but I do think playing with two DM’s is hampering our attack and he seems to cop the bulk of criticism for that. It was important under Arnies team as we had very free roaming, attacking players in front of them. Now under Coricas team we are limited to playing a very static 4 2 2 2.
He was part of the greatest ever A-League side and has been a huge part of that. I can only wish the guy well. I hope if works out for him, but the cynic in me expects him back in the A League in 18 months.
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think Josh will do fine if he gets his enthusiasm fully restored. He is a beast when the blood is up. Whether it was the haircut and beard trim that sucked away his energy or just having won everything here and dominated the league while overseas success seemed out of reach, he just looked like it was becoming more of a job rather than job plus passion. If what we hear about much tougher training regimes in Japan is also true of South Korea (probable), he could be a re-born player. Looking forward to seeing him and Brandon back together anchoring Arnie’s Socceroos midfield!
Anchoring Arnies Socceroos, to the bottom is about right.
I’ve mentioned it in the match thread but I’ll mention it here - we pretty much have confirmation of Brillante leaving because he wasn’t selected in this weekend’s squad either:
Brilliante leaving is shit, likely ruin any chance for success this season.
Who knows we may have beaten Kawasaki with him
Yes. We certainly may have been better prepared to counter if we gave them much more cheap possession. 
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Sky Blues coach Steve Corica chose not to field Brillante against Kawasaki Frontale on Wednesday night in the Asian Champions League and is set to keep the Australian international out of his squad for Sunday’s home A-League match against Melbourne City while his move to Pohang remains unresolved. Despite his representatives having negotiated with Pohang, club sources said they had received no communication from the Korean club or formal offer as of the close of business on Friday.
Brilliante has been a beast, no more so than during the glory years of Arnies reign when he was razor sharp and scoring the odd bomb as well. He and O’Neill laid arguably the most crucial platform for that team to dominate the way it did, and for that role alone he deserves appropriate accolades.
It does look like a change will do him good, and hopefully he will find the level he is aspiring to and capable of prospering in. Korea is a decent step but he is capable of more, here’s hoping he does step beyond that in time and fulfills his full talent.
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“Despite his representatives having negotiated with Pohang, club sources said they had received no communication from the Korean club or formal offer as of the close of business on Friday.”
Does that still constitute tapping up? Or is it OK because he’s in the final 6 months of his deal?
I think it’s right for the club, and fairly standard practice, not to play him until it’s resolved. Don’t want to risk injury and jeopardise a fee. And while timing is far from ideal if he goes now you also have to weigh up getting any fee with 2-3 months left on his deal vs letting him go for free after that.
I’ve probably been as critical as anyone on here, but like to think it’s always been balanced. Never questioned his effort or workrate as a destroyer, just the apparent drop off in his passing range. Some of that may also be system-related, in his first year we played a far more rigid 4-2-3-1, and while last year morphed into the 4-2-2-2 it also had a rampant Adrian dropping deep / wherever he wanted to receive. It’s maybe exposed that part of Brillante’s game more this season with either Retre or Caceres getting a lot of time at RM and being comparably higher and wider, putting more responsibility on him to distribute when the passing has been off.
I’ve also questioned why he got the odd NT call-up or OS interest when the guy next to him is just consistently better, but that’s not his fault. If he does go I wish him all the best.