Compiled By Damian Davies
All systems go across Europe with club
competitions hotting up and the group stages reached for the Champions and
Europa Leagues. The leagues in the
Middle East are back in season as the football in Asia nears the end of their
seasons. Fairly quiet on the transfer front given the window is closed, but a
few more players that were released over the northern hemisphere summer were
able to find a new club during the month.
The Socceroos played Brazil in a forgettable game as the WC squad starts
to takes shape.
Transfers:- some players with European
experience moved to new clubs. Interesting to note the transfer of young
forward Matthew Fletcher to current EPL club Hull City. Will see how he
progresses in the Development Squad as he looks to get back into the national
picture. After playing his junior
international football with Australia, Ersan Gulum has now debuted for Turkey.
Additions/changes to player database:
Shane Cansdell-Sheriff (10 Nov 1982) –
loan from Preston North End to Burton Albion, England
Matthew Fletcher (12 May 1992) –
transferred to Hull City, England
Billy Konstantinidis (21 Apr 1986) –
transferred to Panserraikos, Greece
Removed from player database:
Ersan Gulum (17 May 1987) – represented
Turkey Sept 2013, congratulations.
Daniell Zeleny (19 Oct 1988) –
uncontracted, whereabouts unknown
Club Level:-
England
(Premiership) – Mile Jedinak (Crystal Palace) continues
to be the only Aussie starting in the Premier League at the moment. He has been playing every minute each
game. Mark Schwarzer (Chelsea) and Brad
Jones (Liverpool) continue on the bench waiting for their opportunities. Chris Herd is yet to play this season at
Aston Villa.
England
(Championship) – a fairly disappointing start to the
season for our Aussies with their clubs generally sitting in the mid to lower
places on the table. Adding to that is
the red cards recently received by Shane Lowry and Rhys Williams, resulting in
some missed games. Scott McDonald opened
his scoring account at Millwall, hopefully the first of many as he tries to
cement a starting position. Not much
else to report with Cisak (Burnley) and Federici (Reading) also on the bench.
England
(League One) – more positive for our Aussies in this
league with Bailey Wright continuing to get rave reviews for his performances
in defence at Preston North End. James
Meredith has continued his strong start to the new season at Bradford
City. Massimo Luongo (Swindon Town) had
a dream cup tie against Chelsea and continues to play 90 minutes each
game. Similar game time for Bradden
Inman at Crewe Alexandria. James
Wesolowski (Oldham Athletic) has been also seeing good minutes while Neil
Kilkenny is in and out of the Bristol City team.
England
(League Two) – Ryan Williams made his debut at Oxford
United during the month and marked the occasion with a goal.
Germany
(Bundesliga) – the big story in September was the
Robbie Kruse brace for Bayer Leverkusen.
His performance in his debut start was outstanding and will hopefully
translate to more game time in the coming weeks. Mitch Langerak continued on
the bench at Dortmund.
Germany
(2.Bundesliga) – Mathew Leckie’s good form at
FSV Frankfurt was rewarded with a Socceroos call up. After scoring his debut
goal at the same club, Rukavytsya was also rewarded with a call up.
Netherlands
(Eredivisie) – continuing on that theme, Jason Davidson’s
strong start to this campaign at Heracles Almelo saw him get the nod for the
national team. Tommy Oar has continued
to grow at FC Utrecht were he has cemented his starting position.
Austria
(Bundesliga) – James Holland is starting each game at
Austria Wien, who are finding the going a little tougher this season.
Belgium
(Pro League) – Mat Ryan remains as first choice keeper at Club Brugge. Keeping an impressive number of clean sheets
and being named in the team of the week on several occasions.
Scotland
(Premier) – two young players receiving good minutes in this league are Jackson
Irvine (Kilmarnock) and Dylan McGowan (Hearts). Both are playing in the midfield.
Switzerland
(Super League) – the conditions in Switzerland appear to
be favourable to Aussies with Oliver Bozanic (FC Luzern)
and Dario Vidosic (FC Sion) carrying on the success that Scott Chipperfield and Ljubo
Milicevic experienced in that league.
Greece (Super League) – young keeper
Dean Bouzanis made his debut for Aris during the month, hopefully the first of
many appearances this season.
Cyprus (1. Division) – Robert
Stambolziev is impressing early in his new club career at AEK Kouklion,
starting most games and scoring as well.
Iceland (3. Deild) – a mention to Victorian
keeper Kile Kennedy who took the chance of moving to Iceland. He played every minute in a season where his
club KF Fjardabyggd gained promotion.
Hopefully that form will see the former US college player transfer to a
higher level.
USA
(MLS) – the legend that is Tim Cahill continues to grow. His scoring feats at New York Red Bulls over
this season continue to be crucial in the run up to the finals. David Carney is getting
his match fitness back as he starts each game at the same club.
China
(Super League) – the Aussies in this league continue to
play full games and impress. Most
notably over September being Eddy Bosnar (Guangzhou R&F), Jonas Salley
(Guizhou Renhe), Michael Marrone (Shanghai Shenxin) and Erik Paartalu (Tianjin
Teda).
Japan
(J League) – importantly for the national team, Josh Kennedy remains
fit and playing each week at Nagoya Grampus.
Lucas Neill has made his way into the starting eleven at Omiya Ardija
which is also great news for the Socceroos.
India (I-League) – this league has just
commenced the new season, but plenty of Australian interest with ex A-League
players Sean Rooney, Simon Colosimo and James Meyer all joining Tolgey Ozbey on
opening day.
U.A.E (UFL) – also resuming a new
season, Brett Holman, Billy Celeski and Milan Susak, all debuted for their new
clubs.
Thailand
(Premier League) – journeyman Danny Invincibile has
returned to the pitch at Army United after injury delayed his start to the
season. Joining Kyle Nix (Chiangrai United)
and Goran Subara (Bangkok Glass) who are both starters and frequent scorers in
that league.
Injuries:- World Cup hopefuls Carl
Valeri (Sassuolo) and Adam Sarota (FC Utrecht) are both nearing returns after
long periods out. Kofi Danning (knee)
continues his rehabilitation under the watchful eye of the Brisbane Roar medical
staff. We are yet to see Eli Babalj make an impact at AZA Alkmaar with his
groin injury sidelining him for several weeks now.
Club Competitions:-
Europe
(UEFA
Champions League) – several Aussie players
featuring in this competition. James
Holland (Austria Wien) was the only starter, but Mitchell Langerak came off the
bench for the red-carded Weidenfeller. Tom Rogic (Celtic) and Mark Schwarzer
(Chelsea) sat on the bench for their respective teams.
(UEFA
Europa League) – no Aussies appeared.
Asia
(Asian
Champions League) – no Aussies remain.
(AFC
Cup) – no Aussies remain
Reserves and Youth:-
A fairly decent represention of Aussies
in the English U21 league again this season.
Starting with Aston Villa, and after appearing in the NextGen Series
last season, 17 year old midfielder Jordan Lyden now finds himself in the U21’s. Alex Grant has transferred to Stoke City and
has been playing 90 minutes each game for the U21’s. The recovery
of Dylan Tombides is gathering momentum as he now starts for West Ham U21’s. Players like Aaron Lennox (QPR) and Rob
Paratore (Leicester City) continue to progress.
International level:- A 6-0 drubbing from
Brazil was not the greatest result, but seems to have forced a bit of a shake
up to the squad. Several new faces to
the Socceroos squad for the upcoming friendlies against both France and Canada
with numerous players rewarded for demonstrating strong club form. The World Cup squad is certainly taking
shape, and these games will be a great opportunity to assess the abilities of
the likes of Davidson, Langerak and Leckie.
The U20’s have gathered in Malaysia for an upcoming tournament in
October.
Socceroo (capped) of the month – I talked him up but why not, Tim Cahill continues to amaze. He is an Everton legend, and will be forever be
prominent in their history. His recent
performances for New York Red Bulls continue to defy those critics that thought
he was aging and slowing down. He is creating
a legacy there, and his ability to recovery quickly from injury and return to
make a significant impact was demonstrated again in September. Not bad for a 33 year old, and will have a
huge role in Brazil.
August –
Under (uncapped) – seems to be a lot of former Central Coast
Mariners doing exceptionally well abroad.
This month I want to highlight former skipper Alex Wilkinson, now in
Korea at Jeonuk Hyundai. After a fairly
slow start, he has hit his straps recently and put in numerous quality
perfromances. May be too late for the WC
squad, but the next Asian Cup would have to be on the radar for the 29 year
old.
August -
Young player (U21) of the month – the talent that is Chris Ikonomid is is starting to get some deserved recognition. After progressing through the youth teams at Atalanta, Italian giants Lazio saw enough potential to sign im up. Now featuring in their Primavera team each week, he is touted to move through the ranks quickly. Fantastic that the FFA have also acknowledged this by bringing him into the national set-up. Like the rapid rise of Jackson Irvine, watch this space
