Compiled by Damian Davies e-mail him for any info @ damiandavies@ymail.com .
Seems as though the composition of the Socceroos squad is
fast becoming a week by week exercise in assessment and analysis. We are closely watching who is playing, who
is injured and who is in good form.
Plenty of football being played around the global, and a large number of
Aussies are making a case for inclusion in the World Cup squad. A lot of international club football in
progress, with a healthy number of Aussies featuring in these competitions.
Transfers:- numerous players
released at the end of the last season across Asia have been unable to find new
clubs or have moved back to Australia. Two moves relevant to the Socceroos with
Lucas Neill going out on loan to get first team football and the injured Curtis
Good ending his stint in Scotland early.
Additions/changes to player
database:
Luis Abadia (14 Apr 1995) - transferred to Kaya FC,
Philippines
Mitchell Austin (3 Apr 1991) - loan to Brackley Town, England
Matt Bonasera (8 Jul 1995) - transferred to CF Badalona,
Spain
Sam Gibson (11 Nov 1988) - transferred to SV Bergisch
Gladbach 09, Germany
Curtis Good (23 Mar 1993) - loan return to Newcastle, England
Ryan Griffiths (21 Aug 1981) - transferred to Sarawak,
Malaysia
Jordan Nadalin (28 Jan 1996) - transferred to Balzan, Malta
Lucas Neill (9 Mar 1978) - loan to Doncaster Rovers, England
Removed from player database:
Oscar Brooks (Vyzas FC) - uncontracted, whereabouts unknown
Richie Cardozo (Waitakere United) - transferred to Hume City,
VIC
Michael Cvetkovski (Yangon United) - uncontracted, whereabouts
unknown
Jamie de Abreu (Team Wellington) - transferred to Bentleigh
Greens, VIC
Brendan Gan (Kelantan) - changed citizenship to Malaysia
Liam Graham (Ascoli) - uncontracted, whereabouts unknown
Steve Hayes (Hong Kong Rangers) - transfer cancelled,
returned to South Coast Wolves
Danny Invincibile (Army United) - uncontracted, whereabouts
unknown
Adrian Madaschi (Jeju United) - uncontracted, whereabouts
unknown
Dylan Mernagh (Waterford FC) - uncontracted, whereabouts
unknown
Daniel Mitwali (SV Wehen Wiesbaden II) - uncontracted,
whereabouts unknown
Kyle Nix (Chiangrai United) - uncontracted, whereabouts
unknown
Harley Orr (APS Zakynthos) - transferred to Perth SC, WA
David Rowley (Nara United) - uncontracted, whereabouts
unknown
George Slefendorfas (WaiBOP) - transferred to Bendigo, VIC
Goran Subara (Bangkok Glass) - uncontracted, whereabouts
unknown
Club Level:-
England (Premiership) – a recent win against Chelsea sees
Mile Jedinak's Crystal Palace sneak a little closer to safety. With only seven
games to go, he is still yet to miss a minute of this campaign and is leading
the way in tackles, incepts and clearances in the Premier league. Outstanding
season for him personally.
England (Championship) – in terms of minutes played, Shane
Lowry at Millwall had the most productive March. Team mate Scott McDonald was not too far
behind him. Alex Cisak's Burnley are
looking good for automatic promotion although he has played only a supporting
role watching from the bench.
England (League One) – another month of standout Aussie
performances. Hard to split the
contributions of Inman (Crewe), Wesolowski (Oldham), Kilkenny and Wright
(Preston North End) and Luongo (Swindon Town).
All seeing good minutes and having an impact on their respective club's
perfromances. We may well see one or two
of these guys playing themselves into the Brazil squad.
Germany (2. Bundesliga) - promising signs for the Socceroos
with Mat Leckie taking his goal tally to eight at FSV. We have also seen the return to the starting
line up of Ben Halloran at Fortuna Dusseldorf
Netherlands (Eredivisie) – Jason Davidson scored again late
March, and has probably almost cemented his spot in the Socceroos over the past
4 months. Tommy Oar continues to show
his value, providing assists and scoring at Utrecht. Team mate Adam Sarota has been in and out of
the starting eleven of late.
Austria (Bundesliga) - James Holland continues to start every
game for Austria Wien.
Belgium (Pro League) - Mat Ryan is arguable the most
successful of players to move abroad this season. Keeping plenty of clean sheets at Club Brugge
while moving closer to cementing the first choice keeper role at national level
after an assured 45 minutes against Ecuador.
Switzerland (Super League) - both Aussies Dario Vidosic (FC
Sion) and Oliver Bozanic (FC Luzern) didn't have the same high flying months in
Switzerland that they have experienced since transferring but still featuring
regularly.
Greece (Super League) - a new role for Apostolis Giannou at
Panionios Athens as he plays a more creative role as opposed to finishing.
Nearing 2000 minutes in his 26 appearances, his off-season move is certainly
getting him the playing time he needed.
Croatia (1. HNL) - the emergence of Tomislav Mrcela at NK
Hrvatski Dragovoljac is very impressive.
With now 18 starts in a fairly tough league, he is certainly on the
national radar. Reportedly several
bigger name clubs monitoring him closely.
Scotland (Premier) – with 30 starts at Hearts, Dylan McGowan
is gaining more recognition of his talents.
A club that has had it's fair share of financial hardship along with
impending relegation, will be interesing to see if Dylan has played his way
into a move to a bigger club. Jackson
Irvine has now returned to the starting eleven at Kilmarnock.
Scotland (Championship) - journeyman keeper Seb Usai now
finds himself as starting keeper at Cowdenbeath.
Cyprus (1. Division) - winger Robert Stambolziev has made 26
appearances at AEK Kouklion but now is playing in the relegation group.
China (Super League) - with the new season just commencing,
Jonas Salley (Guizhou Renhe), Adam Hughes (Harbin Yiteng), Billy Celeski
(Liaoning Whowin) and Daniel McBreen (Shanghai SIPG) have all started strongly.
Japan (J. League) - Josh Kennedy has started the season well
at Nayoga Grampus. Having played 90
minutes in the first five fixtures and scoring twice. Both Mitch Nichols (Cerezo Osaka) and Danny
Vukovic (Vegalta Sendai) have made their club debuts.
Philippines (UFL) - numerous Aussies at Kaya FC are making an
impact, one of which is former A League player Richard Greer. While Jesse
Martindale is starting each week at Green Archers United.
India (I League) - special mention to Tolgey Ozbey who scored
all four goals in a recent Dempo victory.
Several Aussies such as Sean Rooney (Bengaluru), Daniell Zeleny
(Churchill Borthers), Simon Colosimo (Dempo), Mirjan Pavlovic (Pune) and Matt
Foschini (salgoacar) all turning out each week for their clubs.
Hong Kong (HKFA 1st Division) - former Melbourne Knights
striker Andrew Barisic continues his scoring spree at South China. While Dylan
Macallister is the man at Eastern AA.
Malaysia (Super League) -Ryan Griffiths has made his debut
for Sarawak, while Mario Karlovic (Terengganu) and Steve Pantelidis (Selangor)
continue to perform well in that league.
Thailand (Premier League) - former A League players Erik
Paartalu (Muang Thong United) and Trent McClenahan (PTT Rayong) are seeing
plenty of game time.
Qatar (Stars League) - Mark Bresciano has made a successful
return to first team football at Al Gharafa.
Injuries:- a long
term knee injury to Robbie Kruse and an achilles problem for Rhys Williams look
like being WC ending for both players. James Meredith is still on the sidelines
with his broken foot, while Carl Valeri has been out for a month with a thigh
problem. Curtis Good continues his
recovery from a hip injury suffered on national duty while Tim Cahill has sent
a scare through the ranks after coming off with a hamstring injury. Trent
Sainsbury is back in full training for PEC Zwolle after his freakish knee
injury.
Club Competitions:-
Europe
(UEFA Champions League) – both Langerak (Dortmund) and
Schwarzer (Chelsea) sat on the bench as their teams progressed to the quarter
finals..
(UEFA Europa League) – no Australians appeared in March
although Eli Babalj's AZ remain in the competition.
South America
(Copa Libertadores) - Richard Porta was an unused substitute
during the month for his club.
Asia
(Asian Champions League) - in the group stages, Alex
Wilkinson (Jeonbuk Motors) and Jonas Salley (Guizhou Renhe) saw 90 minutes in
both their games. Mitch Nichols came off
the bench at Cerezo Osaka while Ryan McGowan remained on the bench at Shandong
Luneng.
(AFC Cup) - a number of Aussies playing n the group stages
with Andrew Barisic (South China), Steve Panteldis (Selangor), Sam Gallagher
(Hanoi T&T) and Mirjan Pavlovic (Pune) all getting starts. New recruit Daniell Zeleny remained on the
bench for Churchill Brothers.
Reserves and Youth:-
Some promising news in Spain with both Theo Markelis and
Calvin Lovric appearing in the second string at Hercules Alicante. Giancarlo Gallifuoco is progressing well at
Tottenham, while 16 yo Hyuga Tanner has been playing for the Blackburn
U21's. Another young talent to note is
Panos Armenakas. At the age of 15, he is
now starting in the U18's at Watford and has played for a Greek national youth
team.
International level:-
the friendly against Ecuador taught use many lessons. Mat Ryan seems to have put a bit of distance
between himself and Langerak, but that really shows how important game time is
at club level. Our younger players need
experience at international level ASAP. We are a little lost when playing one
down. The creativeness of Robbie Kruse
will be missed. We have space for the likes of Kennedy and Bresciano to come
into this squad. Tim Cahill is an Aussie legend. All good pieces of imformation as we build
for Brazil.
Socceroo (capped) of the month – a
fairly even month for about 3-4 Socceroos, but the recognition goes to Josh Kennedy. Starting the season in Japan with full games
and a few goals is the perfect scenario for both club and country. Reaching an
age where perhaps he needs to be "managed" because of his history of
back injuries, a very positive start.
Sept – Cahill, Oct - Vidosic,
Nov - Ryan, Dec - Jedinak, Jan - Jedinak, Feb - Ryan
Under the radar (uncapped) - also a line ball decision this month, but
the efforts of Shane Lowry deserve
recognition. A very challenging season
after both falling out of favour with the manager and receiving two red cards,
he has bounced back strongly. Facing a
huge relegation battle at Millwall, so will be an interesting 2 months both at
club level and national level as he strives to impressive the national
selectors.
Sept - Wilkinson, Oct -
Konstantinidis, Nov - Luongo, Dec - Mrcela, Jan - Giannou, Feb - Wright
Young player (U21) of the month
– sixteen year old Hyuga Tanner has been in the youth ranks at Blackburns
for several seasons, he is also involved in the junior national teams. Now finding himself starting in the U21's at
Blackburn is a feather in his cap. He
reportedly has several of the bigger clubs closely monitoring his
progress. One to watch.
Sept - Ikonomidis , Oct -
Ugarkovic, Nov - Ryan Williams, Dec - Cooper, Jan - B.Smith, Feb - Grant
