This most excellent update is compiled by Damian Please contact damiandavies@ymail.com for any updates or changes.
Focus is certainly shifting to the World Cup. We have seen the manger issue resolved, the
team has played a friendly against Costa Rica, and now we watch intently what
our Aussies Abroad are doing. Lucas Neill has been released, Mat Ryan continues
to keep clean sheets and Carl Valeri is nearing a return to Serie A. What does this all mean for our Socceroos
squad? In club football, the Asian
Leagues are winding down and some European leagues are entering winter breaks,
still plenty of action in November. The
number of Aussies overseas is now close to 200. A steady flow of more Aussies
continue to move abroad, and we are in group stages of the European Champions
League.
Transfers:- Malaysia is in
pre-season now, and has become a go-to destination. When the season starts in January, we look
like having half a dozen Aussies playing in the Super League. A number of
players with A League experience have headed abroad as well.
Additions/changes to player
database:
Harry Ascroft (1 Jul 1995) - transferred to VVV Venlo,
Netherlands
Marc Belteky (28 Dec 1997) - transferred to Puskas Ferenc,
Hungary
Richie Cardozo (28 Mar 1986) - transferred from Rockdale City
Suns to Waitakere United, New Zealand
Jonathan Farber (15 Mar 1988) - transferred to FSV
Erlangen-Bruck II, Germany
Matt Foschini (19 Oct 1990) - transferred to Salgoacar, India
Brendan Gan (3 June 1988) - transferred from Rockdale City
Suns to Kelantan, Malaysia
Pasquale Gioffe (1 Jan 1995) - transferred to Reggina, Italy
(Primavera)
Mario Karlovic (29 May 1984) - transferred from Persebaya
Surabaya to Terengganu FA, Malaysia
Neil Kilkenny (19 Dec 1985) - loan to Preston North End,
England
Harley Orr (28 Mar 1995) - transferred from CFR Cluj II to
APS Zakynthos, Greece
Savas Ozdemir (11 Oct 1988) - transferred to 1930 Bafraspor,
Turkey
Steve Pantelidis (17 Aug 1983) - transferred from Perth Glory
to Selangor, Malaysia
Adriano Pellegrino (9 Jun 1984) - transferred to Kedah,
Malaysia
David Rowley (6 Feb 1990) - transferred from Chumpon FC to
Nara United, Thailand
Removed from player database:
German Cabrera ( Vasco SC) - uncontracted, whereabouts
unknown
Kofi Danning (CS Vise) - transferred to Brisbane Roar
Dino Djulbic (Al Wahda) - uncontracted, whereabouts unknown
Sasa Macura (MTK Budapest II) - uncontracted, whereabouts
unknown
Nicholas Tarasenko (Portsmouth) - uncontracted, whereabouts
unknown
Club Level:-
England (Premiership) – Mile Jedinak is clearly highly
regarded at Crystal Palace. Not only is
he club captain, but he has now signed a 3 ½ year extension at the London
club. Two recent wins, with Jedinak
still playing every minute of the season, has seen them move off the foot of
the table. Keepers Mark Schwarzer and Brad Jones remain on the bench at their
respective clubs. Chris Herd’s lack of
game time at Aston Villa is a concern, he may need to look to a loan deal if he
is to get a look in at national level.
England (Championship) – a little light on this month. Rhys Williams has just returned to the
starting eleven at Middlesbrough, hopefully now we will see an injury free run
of good performances. Our Aussies at Millwall had a mixed month in November.
Scott McDonald is now seeing more game time, while team mate Shane Lowry made
just one start during the month. Goalkeepers Adam Federici (Reading) and Alex
Cisak (Burnley) spent the month on the bench.
England (League One) – several very positive stories at this
level. Bailey Wright continues his great season, not missing a minute for
Preston North End as they remain in the hunt for automatic promotion. James
Meredith is a mirror image from a stats perspective, but his club have dropped
a few points of late. Could this two be
paired in the Socceroos defence in the future? Young midfielder Massimo Luongo
(Swindon Town) had an outstanding month, scoring another 3 goals in a campaign
that has seen him start every game. Fantastic to see James Wesolowski having a
good run of starts at Oldham Athletic, while Bradden Inman has been critised in
the media for his attitude of late and has dropped out of the squad at Crewe.
England (League Two) - veterans of English football, Shane
Cansdell-Sheriff (Burton Albion) and Aaron Downes (Torquay United) are starters
each week for their respective clubs.
Fulham loanee Ryan Williams is hitting his straps at table topping
Oxford United. Now featuring regularly
in the starting eleven and scoring twice during the month.
Germany (Bundesliga) – no doubt Robbie Kruse is benefitting
from his experiences at Bayer Leverkusen, but would be great to see him get
more game time as he seems to excel when he starts. Mitch Langerak continues on the bench at
Dortmund. Both clubs are chasing Bayern
Munich who have only dropped 2 points nearly halfway through the season.
Germany (2.Bundesliga) – not a huge month for Leckie and
Rukavytsya at FSV Frankfurt with a combination of international duty and minor
injuries. Promising though to see Ben
Halloren crack the starting line-up at Fortuna Dusseldorf.
Germany (3. Bundesliga) - worth noting the solid month from
Mustafa Amini in the reserves at Borussia Dortmund. A big ask to get into the seniors, but he is
making good progress.
Netherlands (Eredivisie) – pleasing also to see both Tommy
Oar (Utrecht) and Jason Davidson (Heracles) both firmly entrenched in their
respective starting elevens.
Austria (Bundesliga) – although James Holland had a
suspension to serve during the month, he still managed to see football in the
domestic league, Champions League and the Socceroos.
Belgium (Pro League) – arguable the bolter in terms of the
Socceroos this year, Mat Ryan has been a rock in goal with a huge number of
clean sheets. After getting a start
against Costa Rica, has he rocketed to our number one keeper?
Scotland (Premier) – both Dylan McGowan (Hearts) and Celtic
loanee Jackson Irvine (Kilmarnock) continue to start each week. Very limited
minutes for Tom Rogic at Celtic may see him look for a loan deal in the lead up
to the World Cup.
Switzerland (Super League) –after a blitzering start to his
career at Luzern, Oliver Bozanic has had to settle for 90 minutes each week but
no goals, not a bad result. A recent
injury will see him sidelined for a few months. Dario Vidosic (FC Sion) also
continues to progress well. Having taken
his goal tally to four this season.
Croatia (1.HNL) - Adelaide born centre back Tomislav Mrcela
is now starting each game at Hrvatski Dragovoljac. While 19 year old Sydney
born Steven Ugarkovic has made 7 appearances at Osijek, after appearing in the
Croatian U19 team earlier in the year.
Greece (Super League) - Apostolis Giannou has been
progressing well, scoring his first two goals at his new club Panionios
Athens. Dean Bouzanis waits patiently
for his chance in goal at Aris.
Greece (Gamma Ethniki) - mention to tall striker Billy
Konstantinidis who leads the Golden Boot in this league. He is now at Panserraikos.
Cyprus (1. Division) – unheralded young striker Robert
Stambolziev has now started 10 of his clubs 11 fixtures this season in a season
where his team are struggling.
Russia (Premier League) - Luke Wilkshire is back playing 90
minutes of club football each week at Dinamo Moscow. Will be interested to see if that is enough
to force his way back into the Socceroos.
USA (MLS) – all our Aussies made the playoffs, but
unfortunately were knocked out before reaching the final.
Japan (J League) – Josh Kennedy has quietly played over 2000
minutes and scored 12 goals this season at Nayoga Grampus.
Korea (K-League Classic) - with the season just ending, need
to acknowledge our Aussies. Rob Corthwaite (Chunnan Dragons) 22 appearances,
692 minutes, 1 goal; Luke DeVere (Gyeongham) 9 appearances, 543 minutes; Adrian
Madaschi (Jeju United) 9 appearances, 592 minutes; Alex Wilkinson (Jeonbuk
Hyundai) 25 appearances, 2165 minutes and 2 goals. Neither Brendan Hamill or
Nathan Burns played a minute. Fair to
say, expect a bit of turnover here.
Wilkinson was the standout.
India (I-League) – our Aussies in this league, Rooney (Bengaluru),
Colosimo (Dempo), Meyer (Pune), Foschini (Salgoacar) and Ozbey (Mohammedan) all
continue to play good minutes.
Phillipines (UFL) - several Aussies find themselves playing
in the Phillipines these days, Jesse Martindale has been a frequent scorer for
Green Archers United while Scott Baginski is starting for Kaya FC.
Qatar (Stars League) - the biggest news is the FIFA
suspension and subsequent appeal by Mark Bresciano. Fingers crossed this doesn't impact his WC
preparations. Sasa Ognenovski (Umm Salal) is back playing after serving a
suspension.
U.A.E (UFL) – the Aussie contigent of Brosque and Holman will
need to start having more of an influence if they are to get back into World
Cup calculations. While Billy Celeski
(Al Shaab) and Milan Susak (Al Wasl) have been experiencing injury interupted
campaigns.
New Zealand (Premiership) - having just commenced the new
season, Richie Cardozo (Waitakere United) is leading the Golden Boot with 3
goals in his first 4 games. While young
midfielder and former US college player Jamie de Abreu has started every game
at Team Wellington.
Injuries:- "getting
closer" has to be the key for the month with Carl Valeri and Adam Sarota
nearing their returns to senior football. Other notable injuries are Nikita
Rukavytsya with a minor knne injury, Oliver Bozanic suffering a serious ankle
injury and Eli Babalj continuing to struggle with a groin problem.
Club Competitions:-
Europe
(UEFA Champions League) – limited game time for Robbie
Kruse at Bayer Leverkusen and more time on the bench for Mark Schwarzer as
Chelsea moved top of their group. Similar for Mitch Langerak but their next tie
will decide if they progress to the knockout games. James Holland saw another 2
ninety minutes games out, which was great experience, but Austria Wien will not
progress. Tom Rogic saw a few minutes against AC Milan but also won't be
progressing.
(UEFA Europa League) – no Aussies appeared.
Reserves and Youth:-
This month worth acknowledging the progress of several up and
comers. At Aston Villa, Thomas Strain has found himself in the U21's as a
seventeen year old. Welsh junior Getin Jones is winning MOM awards at Everton
U21's. Brad Smith has been standing out at Liverpool U21's, with rumours he may
switch his allegiance from England to Australia. At Blackburn, Hyuga Tanner is
seeing game time in the U18's.
While Ryan Go continues to progress in his apprenticeship at
Feyenoord.
International level:- the
Socceroos face a massive 8 months as players jostle for spots on the
plane. We could only have 4-5 positions
up for grabs realistically, so will be enthralling to see who prevails. On the goalkeeper front, Schwarzer's
international retirement opens the door for not only another keeper, but spices
up the battle for number one.
Socceroo (capped) of the month
–another player to have transferred to Europe during the Eurpoean off-season, Mat Ryan won't be at Club Brugge for
too long if his current form continues.
Eight clean sheets in seventeen league starts is amazing for a guy that
was no certainty to be first choice keeper.
Sept – Cahill, Oct - Vidosic
Under (uncapped) - pleasingly for the Socceroos, several
players could be mentioned here, but the standout for the month would have to
be Massimo Luongo. Captain of the Tottenham Development Squad
last season, a brave move to transfer to a League One club. He has featured prominately this month, and
has banged in a few goals as well.
Sept - Wilkinson, Oct -
Konstantinidis
Young player (U21) of the month
– based purely on his impact at a senior level, Ryan Williams is making the most of his loan deal at Oxford
United. Recently turning 20, he is started
and scoring at the league leaders.
Sept - Ikonomidis , Oct -
Ugarkovic
