Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Aussies Abroad Month in Review August 2014

Here is the Aussies Abroad Month in Review for August 2014 compiled by Damian Davies. Email Damian for any updates or new info damiandavies@ymail.com

The European season is back for 2014/15, the Asian leagues continue, the transfer window has just closed and the Socceroos are getting ready to play a few friendlies - football is back and plenty to review for the month of August!!

Transfers:-  the number of Aussies Abroad continues to swell with some more interesting destinations like Uzbekistan, Kenya and The Maldives now seeing Aussie expats plying their trade.  Some notable movements with several Aussies such as Davidson, Demetriou and Gallifuoco joining the English Premier League. Current Socceroos Ivan Franjic and James Troisi finding new homes, along with recent Socceroos in Luke Wilkshire and Jackson Irvine.  Of the more notable players seemingly still searching for a club are Lucas Neill and Kerem Bulut.

Additions/changes to player database:
Evan Alexandrow-Ridley (19 Jun 1994) - transferred to Ekranas, Lithuania
Mitchell Austin (3 Apr 1991) - loan from Cambridge Town to Brackley Town, England
Emre Balci (5 Apr 1987) - transferred from Inegolspor to Diyarbakir Buyuksehir Belediyespor, Turkey
Andrew Barisic (22 Mar 1986) - transferred from South China to Kerala Blasters, India
Brandon Chin (14 Feb 1995) - transferred to FC Hennof 05, Germany
Daniel Collins (15 Jun 1995) - transferred from Bala Town FC to Wrexham, Englanf
Jason Davidson (29 Jun 1991) - transferred from Heracles Almelo to West Bromwich Albion, England
James Demetriou (14 Aug 1995)  - transferred from Nottingham Forest to Swansea City, England
Kenny Dougall (7 May 1993) - transferred to Telstar 1963, Netherlands
Jonathan Faerber (15 Mar 1988) - transferred from FSV Erlangen-Bruck to TSV 1860 Rosenheim, Germany
Ivan Franjic (10 Sep 1987) - transferred from Brisbane Roar to FK Torpedo Moscow, Russia
Petar Franjic (7 Apr 1992) - transferred to Olmaliq, Uzbekistan
Rocci Gabey (TBC) - transferred to Kaya FC, Philippines
Giancarlo Gallifuoco (12 Jan 1994) - transferred from Tottenham to Swansea City, England
Sam Gibson (11 Nov 1988) - transferred from SV Bergisch Gladbach 09 to TSV Germania Windeck, Germany
Carter Glockner (16 Sep 1994) - transferred to 1. CFR Pforzheim, Germany
Tom Glover (24 Dec 1997) - transferred to Tottenham, England
Liam Graham (14 Aug 1992) - loan from Monza to Pro Partia, Italy
Alex Grant (23 Jan 1994) - loan from Stoke City to Macclesfield Town, England
Max Haubus (8 Mar 1993) - transferred from TuS Koblenz II to SV Rot WeiB Hadamar, Germany
Jackson Irvine (7 Mar 1993) - loan from Celtic to Ross County, Scotland
Luke Kairies (4 Mar 1995) - transferred to FC Eindhoven, Netherlands
Josip Konyit (29 Apr 1992) - transferred from Trento Calcio to Inter Zapresic, Croatia
Evan Kostopoulos (7 May 1990) - transferred from Sydney Olympic to South China, Hong Kong
Theo Markelis (24 Jun 1992) - transferred from Hercules Alicante to PAE Veria, Greece
Josh Macdonald (TBC) - transferred from Sydney FC to Nottingham Forest, England
Ian Niva (1994) - transferred to Gor Mahia, Kenya
Richard Porta (1 Aug 1983) - transferred from Nacional to Independiate del Valle, Ecuador
Alistair Quinn (1 Jun 1993) - transferred from NAC Breda to Telstar 1963, Netherlands
David Rowley (6 Feb 1990) - transferred to Club Sportif Grevenmacher, Luxembourg
Mario Simic (28 Dec 1989) - transferred to Lucko, Croatia
Brad Smith (9 Apr 1994) - loan from Liverpool to Swindon Town, England
Roko Strika (12 Feb 1994) - transferred from Velika Gorica to GNK Dinamo Zagreb, Croatia
Dean Tomeski (4 Feb 1991) - transferred to FY Makedonija GJP, Macedonia
James Troisi (3 Jul 1988) - loan from Juventus to SV Zulte Waragem, Belgium
Luke Wilkshire (2 Oct 1981) - transferred from Dinamo Moscow to Feyenoord, Netherlands

Removed from player database: 
Luis Abadia (Kaya FC) - uncontracted, whereabouts unknown
Dario Al Saad (B&I Svebolle) - uncontracted, whereabouts unknown
Matthew Bonasera (CF Badalona) - uncontracted, returned to Australia
Bryan Bran (FC Chabab) - uncontracted, whereabouts unknown
Kerem Bulut (Akhiser Belediyespor) - uncontracted, whereabouts unknown
Billy Celeski (Liaoning Whowin) - transferred to Newcastle Jets
Christian Esposito (Novara) - uncontracted, whereabouts unknown
Matthew Fletcher (Hull City) - uncontracted, whereabouts unknown
Charlie Fuller (Balzan Youths) - uncontracted, whereabouts unknown
Iain Fyfe (Mes Kerman) - transferred to Campbelltown City, SA
Ryan Go (Feyenoord) - uncontracted, whereabouts unknown
Calvin Lovric (Hercules Alicante B) - uncontracted, whereabouts unknown
Ben McNamara (Northampton Town) - uncontracted, whereabouts unknown
Jordan Nadalin (Balzan Youths) - uncontracted, whereabouts unknown
Lucas Neill (Watford FC) - uncontracted, whereabouts unknown
Conor O'Neill (Middlesbrough) - uncontracted, returned to Australia
Stepehen O'Neill (Middlesbrough) - uncontracted, returned to Australia
Robert Paratore (Leicester City) - transferred to Barwell, England (non-league)
Adam Parkhouse (Stalybridge Celtic) - uncontracted, whereabouts unknown
Steve Pepper (FCV Dender) - transferred to Croydon Kings, SA
Connor Thurston (Blackpool) - uncontracted, returned to Australia
Sebastian Usai (Cowdenbeath FC) - uncontracted, returned to Australia
Daniell Zeleny (Churchill Brothers) - uncontracted, returned to Australia

Club Level:-

England (Premier League) - Mile Jedinak has continued as captain at Crystal Palace, playing 90 minutes in each of the club's first three fixtures.  Jason Davidson has made his starting debut after a prolonged transfer from Holland.  The only other Aussie that has made a match day squad to date is Liverpool reserve keeper Brad Jones.

England (Championship) - making their senior debuts for Fulham were young defender Cameron Burgess and Ryan Williams.  To recap, Williams had a fantastic loan spell at Oxford United last year and has returned a better player.  Great to see Scott McDonald on the scoresheet early in Millwall's new campaign.  He seems to have moved to an attacking midfield role, and initial reports were positive on his involvement level.  Great to see Adam Federici back between the sticks at Reading after a disappointing last season.  Also featuring for Reading has been Ryan Edwards after returning from a loan in the A League.

England (League One) - of the Aussies in this league, Brad Inman has possibly started the strongest at Crewe, scoring twice in six league/cup appearances.  The boys at Swindon are also impressing with young defender Brad Smith joining on loan from Liverpool, complimenting our other young Aussie Mass Luongo who will be looking to build on his World Cup experience.  Another returning Socceroo is Bailey Wright, who will also be looking for a career defining club season.  Neil Kilkenny has had a good start to the new season at Preston North End.

England (League Two) - early days but Shane Cansdell-Sheriff's Burton Albion sit top of the table with Shane playing centre back in a miserly defence.

Italy (Serie A) - a rapid rise to fame with Josh Brillante debuting for Fiorentina in the first game of the season.  Some negative press after the game but tipping Josh to bounce back strongly after featuring in the Socceroos camp this week.

Germany (Bundesliga) - Mitch Langerak started the first game in goal but was promptly relegated to the bench for the second game.

Germany (2. Bundesliga) - an impressive start to Mat Leckie's Inglostadt career with goals and assists flowing.  A mixed start for Ben Halloran as he tries to nail down a starting berth at Fortuna Dusseldorf.

Netherlands (Eredivisie) - a few great stories with Tommy Oar showing great form after returning from injury at Utrecht.  Trent Sainsbury is moving towards a regular centre-back role at PEC Zwolle after several starts, and Luke Wilkshire may have a new lease of life after starting his career at Feyenood strongly.

Austria (Bundesliga) - James Holland has returned to the starting eleven but Austria Wien have had a terrible start to their season.

Belgium (Pro League) - Mat Ryan may not have started with a high number of clean sheets, but qualifying for the Europa League group stage would be arguably more satisfying.

Croatia (1. HNL) - great to see Tomislav Mrcela scoring on debut for his new club NK Lokomotiva Zagreb.  He was rewarded with a starting position.  Another to start the season in the senior squad is Steven Ugarkovic at NK Osijek.

Greece (Super League) - a bright start for Apostolis Giannou with two starts and two goals at Panionios Athens.  A debut as well for Robert Stambolziev at Niki Volos.

Iceland (2. Deild) - the amazing run continues at club level for Kile Kennedy.  KF Fjardabyggd have 13 points up their sleeve as they look for a second successive automatic promotion while Kile is in goal each week.

China (Super League) - plenty of minutes for veteran Jonas Salley at Guizhou Renhe.  Another who has seemingly worked his way back to a regular starting role is Harbin Yiteng midfielder Adam Hughes. 

Korea (K-League Classic) - the standout Aussie in this league for August would have to be defensive midfielder Aleksander Jovanovic.  He has now made 19 starts for Jeju United in a tough league.

Thailand (Premier League) - mixed results for our Aussies with Michael Beauchamp and Matt Thompson starting regularly for PTT Rayong.

Maldives (Dhivehi) - nearing the end of the season, journeyman Dane Milovanovic has featured prominately on the scoring charts for New Radiant as they push for the title.

Injuries:-   a fair number of Aussies in the medical rooms. Socceroos Curtis Good (hip), Adam Taggart (abdominal), Rhys Williams (achilles), Robbie Kruse (knee) and Tom Rogic (Abductor) all yet to appear this season.

Club Competitions:-
Europe                             
(UEFA Champions League) – no Aussies appeared during August, however Leverkusen (Kruse) did progress to the group stages.
(UEFA Europa League) – a bit of Aussie action with Mat Ryan appearing as Club Bruge progressed to the group stages.  Similar story for Luke Wilkshire as he started both legs that saw Feyenoord progress.  Trent Sainsbury also played both legs for PEC Zwolle who lost their playoffs and failed to enter the group stages.
North Amercia
(CONCACAFChampions League) – Tim Cahill started in the 2-0 win against FAS (El Salvador).
South America
(Copa Sudamericana) – Richard Porta was an unused sub for Independiate del Valle.
Asia
(Asian Champions League) - no Aussies Abroad remain.
(AFC Cup) - no Aussies Abroad remain.

Reserves and Youth:-
Youth leagues just recommencing, next report in September

International level:- preparations begin now for the Asian Cup in January.  Most notable inclusions for me were Josh Brillante who was close to the WC Squad, but has had a great pre-season in Italy.  Brad Smith has been recognised for a strong season at Liverpool and after appearing for the England youth team, would be great to lock him away.  Chris Herd hasn't been able to break into the Villa squad, so he is an interesting pick.  He has had injuries preventing him from appearing in the green and gold before now, hope to see how he is travelling now with a position at both club and national level seemingly on his agenda.  He certainly looked very promising a year or two ago so reason to be optimistic.  The last player I wanted to mention was Carl Valeri.  Certainly a player that has given his all to the Socceroos over the years.  With a transfer back to Melbourne Vicotry, I hope he has a fantastic six months at both club and national level. All in all, great to see Ange continue to look to build the depth of Australian football.

Socceroo (capped) of the month – on hold
Nov - Ryan, Dec - Jedinak, Jan - Jedinak, Feb - Ryan, Mar – Kennedy, Apr - Jedinak

Under the radar (uncapped)  - on hold.
Nov - Luongo, Dec - Mrcela, Jan - Giannou, Feb - Wright, Mar – Lowry, Apr - Halloran

Young player (U21) of the month – on hold.

Nov - Ryan Williams, Dec - Cooper, Jan - B.Smith, Feb - Grant, Mar – Tanner, Apr - Ugarkovic

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