AUSSIES ABROAD MONTHLY REVIEW FEBRUARY 2014

Aussies Abroad is Compiled by Damian Davies Aussies Abroad is Compiled by Damian Davies ;

Welcome to another month of "Aussies Abroad".  The countdown to Brazil is now under 100 days and the squad announcement  for the Ecuador friendly clearly signals the intention to create a new generation of Socceroos.  As the manager says, all about playing regular minutes, and thankfully we have a good number of players doing just that.  A little bit of transfer movement predominately across the Asian leagues.  Club football is getting interesting across Europe as we enter the last few months of the season.

Transfers:-  with the transfer window being closed, a limited amount of movement with uncontracted players being the movers.  From a national team perspective, centre-backs Lucas Neill and Sasa Ognenovski both found new clubs as they make late runs for the WC squad.  Several former Hyundai A League players making the move to Thailand.

Additions/changes to player database:

Mitchell Austin (3 Apr 1991) - loan return to Cambridge United, England

Billy Celeski (14 Jul 1985) - transferred to Liaoning Whomin, China

Christian Esposito (23 Jul 1990) - loan return to Novara, Italy

Ndumba Makeche (4 Mar 1992) - transferred to Felda United, Malaysia

Trent McClenahan (4 Feb 1985) - transferred to PTT Rayong, Thailand

Lucas Neill (9 Mar 1978) - transferred to Watford FC, England

Erik Paartalu (3 May 1986) - transferred to Muang Thong, Thailand

Mirjan Pavlovic (21 Apr 1989) - transferred to Pune FC, India

Danny Vukovic (27 Mar 1985) - loan to Vegalta Sendai, Japan

Daniell Zeleny (19 Oct 1988) - transferred to Churchill Brothers, India

Removed from player database: 

Scott Baginski (Kaya FC) - transferred to Lions, QSL

Mitchell Davidson (Kaya FC) - transferred to Fraser Park, NSWPL

Antony Golec (Liaoning Whomin) - transferred to Western Sydney Wanderers

Sasa Ognenovski (Umm Salal) - transferred to Sydney FC

Rocco Visconte (Suphaburi FC) - transferred to Croydon Kings, SAFL

Club Level:-

England (Premiership) – Crystal Palace captain Mile Jedinak continues to inspire his team as they fight against relegation.  Still yet to miss a minute of this campaign, February saw ties against Manchester United and Arsenal!! As a nominee for PFA Player of the Year, he will go very close. Brad Jones (Liverpool) and Mark Schwarzer (Chelsea) remain on the bench for their respective clubs.

England (Championship) – very little game time for our Aussies at this level.  Scott  McDonald and Shane Lowry were both in and out of the Millwall line up.  Goalkeepers Alex Cisak (Burnley) and Adam Federici (Reading) continued to warm the pine.

England (League One) – interestingly one of the leagues where we have several Aussies performing very strongly.  Most appropriate to start with Massimo Luongo at Swindon given he has been called up to the national team.  He has scored 6 times from midfielder in a break out season of nearly 3000 minutes.  The Preston North End connection of Neil Kilkenny and Bailey Wright have helped their team charge up the table and must both be on the radar for Brazil.  James Wesolowski continues to have possibly his most productive season while Brad Inman got himself back on the scorers sheet after a bit of a drought by the standards he has set this season.

Germany (Bundesliga) – not much to report with Mitch Langerak continuing on the bench at Bayer Dortmund.

Germany (2. Bundesliga) - attacking midfielder Mat Leckie has added a bit more scoring to his minutes this season and looks like becoming an important part of the national team.  Ben Halloran was certainly hitting his straps until a training injury has put him on the sidelines.

Netherlands (Eredivisie) – the Utrecht boys (Oar and Sarota) both got national call ups after solid performances in Holland. Tommy Oar scoring his first goal for the season. The development of Jason Davidson has been impressive.  From junior football in Japan, senior football in Portugal and now a few seasons in Holland, the 22 year old has an impressive CV.

Italy (Serie B) - Carl Valeri has made his starting debut at Ternana but needs to cement that position to advance his case for inclusion in the Socceroos squad. 

Switzerland (Super League) - Dario Vidosic (FC Sion) took his season tally to 5 as both he and Oliver Bozanic (FC Luzern) continue to impress.

Scotland (Premier) – Dylan McGowan continues to start each week for Hearts.  Pleasingly Curtis Good has made the most of his new opportunity at Dundee United.  Starting each week and having netted his debut goal for the club.

Cyprus (1. Division) - winger Robert Stambolziev has now scored 5 times in his 21 appearances.

U.A.E (UFL) – Brett Holman (Al Nasr) has certainly justified his recall to the Socceroos with several goals of late including a brace in their last game.

India (I League) - our Aussie boys continue to find themselves on that leagues scoring charts with Sean Rooney two goals behind in the race for the Golden Boot at table topping Bengaluru.  Tolgey Ozbey scored in only his second appearance for Dempo.

Hong Kong (HKFA 1st Division) - the most notable Aussie performance this month was probably the brace scored by former Melbourne Heart striker Dylan Macallister. 

Malaysia (Super League) - Mario Karlovic (Terengganu FA) returned from injury to help his team to top of the league.

New Zealand (Premiership) - Richie Cardozo continues to perform strongly in his second stint at Waitakere United, three behind in the Golden Boot but quickly running out of games.

Injuries:-   unfortunately the injury list is quite extensive.  Long term injuries to Robbie Kruse and Rhys Williams have now seen Robbie declare himself a non-starter for the World Cup.  While Rhys has yet to give up hope of a late charge to the national squad.  Brad Inman suffered a groin injury recently but will hopefully not be out too long. Both Ben Halloren (hip) and Trent Sainsbury (knee) have minor injuries but enough to keep them out of the Ecuador game.

Club Competitions:-

Europe                             

(UEFA Champions League) – both Langerak (Dortmund) and Schwarzer (Chelsea) sat on the bench as their teams recorded good away results.

(UEFA Europa League) – no Australians appeared in February

South America

(Copa Libertadores) - Richard Porta started Nacional's tie that saw them proceed to the second round

(Asian Champions League) - both Sam Gallager (Hanoi T&T) and Andrew Barisic (South China) were knocked out at the qualifying stage. Several Aussies are now playing in the group stage - McGowan, Nicholls, Wilkinson and Salley.

Reserves and Youth:-

The Aston Villa Strain brothers, Tom and Jordan continue to excel. Cameron Burgess has progressed to the U21's at Fulham.Alex Grant plays 90 minutes each game for Stoke City and scores his share of goals. Young striker Peter Skapetis seems to be cementing himself in the QPR U21 squad.  Also in England, 15 yo Panos Armenakas has made his debut for the Watford U18's. In Italy, the form of Chris Ikonomidis has seen him called up to the senior squad.

International level:-  a fantastic squad has been selected for the Ecuador game.  The opportunity to have several younger players to audition for a place at Brazil in exciting to watch.  Add in the comments from Ange about an "open door", the next three months will be riveting with about 40 players being a genuine chance to get named in the provisional squad of 30 in mid May.

Socceroo (capped) of the month – a previous "winner" of this award, Mat Ryan has remained in goal the entire season for Club Brugge.  They have moved to second on the table with his consistent performances.  He is arguably the number one keeper for the Socceroos despite only appearing 4 times at national level.

Sept – Cahill, Oct - Vidosic, Nov - Ryan, Dec - Jedinak, Jan - Jedinak

Under the radar (uncapped)  - the performances of Bailey Wright have been super impressive this year at Preston North End. The quality of his performances, his consistency, and a little scoring, make him highly regarded.  A Socceroos call up can't be far away for this young talent.

Sept - Wilkinson, Oct - Konstantinidis, Nov - Luongo, Dec - Mrcela, Jan - Giannou

Young player (U21) of the month – having played at several clubs over the past few seasons, seems that 20 yo Alex Grant has settled in well at Stoke City.  Very dependable in defence, he would have to be an outside chance of making the senior squad in the run home.

Sept - Ikonomidis , Oct - Ugarkovic, Nov - Ryan Williams, Dec - Cooper, Jan - B.Smith

Aussies Abroad Month In Review January 2014

Compiled by Damian Davies

Welcome to this month's edition of Aussies Abroad.  With the transfer window open in January, an amazing number of transfers.  Several are certainly relevant to our World Cup squad, while others are positioning some players perfectly for the 2015 Asian Cup. Much of that movement has been across the Asian leagues that are just starting to kick off the 2014 season. Not as much football in Europe due to the winter recess, but our Aussies continue in the English leagues. Club competitions were in recess in Europe, but Aussies featured in South America and Asia.

Transfers:-  Intriguing set of transfers in January. Hong Kong and Malaysia have both seen a big influx of Aussies. Many Aussies in China have returned to the Hyundai A League.  Players like Good, Nicholls, Valeri and Sainsbury will be hoping for first team football at their new clubs that will ultimately earn them a ticket to Brazil.

Additions/changes to player database:

Dario Al Saad (22 Mar 1991) - transferred to B&I Svebolle, Denmark

Mitch Austin (3 Apr 1991) - loan to Lincoln City, England

Michael Baird (1 Aug 1983) - transferred from Universitatea Craiova to PSM Makassar, Indonesia

Emre Balci (5 Apr 1987) -transferred to Inegolspor, Turkey

Andrew Barisic (22 Mar 1986) - transferred to South China, Hong Kong

Dean Bouzanis (2 Oct 1991) - transferred from Aris to Carlisle United, England

Oscar Brooks (6 Sep 1990) - transferred to Vyzas FC, Greece

Kerem Bulut (2 Mar 1992) - loan return to Akhisar Belediyespor, Turkey

Daniel Collins (15 Jun 1995) - transferred to Bala Town FC, Wales

Albert Edward (19 Nov 1991) - transferred from Des Moines Menance to Colorado Rapids, USA

Sam Gallagher (5 May 1991) - transferred from IF Birkebeineren to Hanoi T&T, Vietnam

Antony Golec (29 May 1990) - transferred to Liaoning Whomin, China

Zack Gomez (3 Oct 1998) - transferred to Malaga CF, Spain

Curtis Good (23 Mar 1993) - loan from Newcastle to Dundee United, Scotland

Richard Greer (16 Apr 1990) - transferred to Kaya FC, Philippines

Mark Griffin (16 Jun 1991) - transferred from Derry City to Dundalk, Ireland

Adam Griffiths (21 Aug 1979) - transferred from Selangor to Kedah, Malaysia

Brendan Hamill (18 Sep 1992) - loan return to Seongham Ilhwa, Korea

Steve Hayes (1 Feb 1985) - transferred from South Coast Wolves to Hong Kong Rangers, Hong Kong

Marko Jesic (7 Aug 1989) - transferred to Sun Pegasus, Hong Kong

Aleksander Jovanovic (4 Aug 1989) - transferred from Suwon City to Jeju United, Korea

Michael Lloyd-Green (24 Mar 1986) - transferred to CD Atletico Rafal, Spain

Dylan Macallister (17 May 1982) - transferred to Eastern AA, Hong Kong

Theo Markelis (24 Jun 1992) - transferred to Hercules CF, Spain

Daniel McBreen (23 Apr 1977) - transferred from CC Mariners to Shanghai SIPG, China

Mitch Nicholls (1 May 1989) - transferred to Cerezo Osaka, Japan

Tolgey Ozbey (12 Apr 1986) - transferred from Mohammedan to Dempo SC, India

Tom Rogic (16 Dec 1992) - loan to Melbourne Victory

Michael Rutherford (1 Mar 1990) - transferred to Amicale, Vanuatu

Trent Sainsbury (5 Jan 1992) - transferred from CC Mariners to PEC Zwolle, Netherlands

Giannis Simosis (13 Mar 1991) - transferred from Wacker Burghausen to Anagennisi Karditsa, Greece

George Slefendorfas (7 Jan 1983) - transferred to WaiBOP, New Zealand

Roko Strika (12 Feb 1994) - transferred from NK Maksimir to Velika Gorica, Croatia

Tommy Taylor (13 Feb 1991) - transferred to Kaya FC, Philippines

Nikolas Tsattalios (1 Mar 1990) - transferred to Kampaniakos Chalastra, Greece

Sebastian Usai (28 Feb 1990) - transferred from AFC United to Cowdenbeath, Scotland

Carl Valeri (14 Aug 1984) - transferred from Sassuolo to Ternana, Italy

Removed from player database: 

Eddy Bosnar (Guangzhou R&F) - transferred to Central Coast Mariners

David Carney (New York Red Bulls) - transferred to Newcastle Jets

Jordan Elsey (Kitchee) - loan return to Adelaide United

Chris Gomes (Persepam) - released, whereabouts unknown

Joel Griffiths (Qingdao Jonoon) - transferred to Newcastle Jets

Rostyn Griffiths (Guangzhou R&F) - transferred to Perth Glory

Ryan Griffiths (Beijing Baxy) - transferred to Adelaide United

Steven Lustica (Hajduk Split) - transferred to Brisbane Roar

Michael Marrone (Shanghai Shenxin) - transferred to Adelaide United

Daniel Mullen (Dalian Aerbin) - transferred to Western Sydney Wanderers

Eoghan Murphy (Sheffield Wednesday) - transferred to Olympic FC, NSW

Lenox Tweneboa (Yadanarbon FC) - transferred to St.George FC, NSW

Club Level:-

England (Premiership) – the Aussie standout is a one horse race with Mile Jedinak leading the way at Crystal Palace.  As expected, his team are involved in a relegation scrap and Mile is certainly up for the challenge. He has yet to miss a minute of club football in the 24 games this season. No other league appearances during the month but Brad Smith is knocking at the door at Liverpool, while keepers Brad Jones and Mark Schwarzer played Cup games and sat on the bench during league games.

England (Championship) – not the greatest month for our Aussies at this level.  Scott McDonald is out of favour at Millwall after seeking a move back to Scotland.  Shane Lowry was starting to make something of a fairly unproductive season but received another red card which will test the managers patience.  Rhys Williams was also starting to play well until his World Cup dreams again appear ro have been dashed, this time by an achilles injury.  A little surprised goalkeeper Adam Federici (Reading) hasn't moved to find first team football.

England (League One) – hopefully Ange has checked into our League One players.  Bailey Wright (Preston North End) and Massimo Luongo (Swindon Town) were already on the watchlist, but Neil Kilkenny (Preston North End) and Bradden Inman (Crewe) have both put heir cases forward with strong months.

Germany (Bundesliga) – with Robbie Kruse suffering a season ending ACL injury, our only other Aussie in a match day squad is Mitch Langerak.  His opportunities at Bayer Leverkusen have been few and far between, but he is clearly happy to bide his time.

Netherlands (Eredivisie) – both Tommy Oar and Adam Sarota are starting each week for Utrecht.  Promising news for our national team.  Jason Davidson is having his best season as a pro.  As strange as this may seem, we suddenly have several left backs that we can call on for the World Cup, with no clear winners yet.

Italy (Serie B) - Carl Valeri has started his club career at Ternana with two appearances as a substitute, he will be looking to force his way into the starting eleven quickly.

Scotland (Premier) – with over 2000 minutes in his 24 starts for Hearts, Dylan McGowan is coming out of his Socceroo brother's shadow.  Jackson Irvine has extended his loan deal at Kilmarnock, just reward for a solid few months.

Greece (Super League) - Apostolis Giannou (Panionios Athens) has now played more minutes this season than any other year while playing in Greece.

Greece (Gamma Ethniki) - Billy Konstantinidis (Panserraikos) continues on his scoring spree, while Nik Tsattalios is well established at Kampaniakos Chalastra.

Cyprus (1. Division) - winger Robert Stambolziev continues his solid season, now having played over a 1000 minutes.

U.A.E (UFL) – both Brett Holman (Al Nasr) and Alex Brosque (Al Ain) have had good month's in the league.  Scoring goals and playing good minutes.  Perfect timing with Ange due to check in on them shortly.

Hong Kong (HKFA 1st Division) - the new season has just commenced with Andrew Barisic (South China), Dylan Macallister (Eastern AA) and Marko Jesic (Sun Pegasus) all making their debuts.

Malaysia (Super League) - similar story here former A League players Spase Dilevski (ATM FA), Mario Karlovic (Terengganu FA) and Steve Pantelidis (Selangor FA) all debuting.

Philippines (UFL) - a bit of a changing of the guard at Kaya FC with Mitchell Davidson and Scott Baginski both released, two be replaced by another two Aussies in Richard Greer and Tommy Taylor.  Both debuted in January.  Jesse Martindale remains at Green Archers United.

Injuries:-   shattering is the only way of describing the long term injuries suffered by Robbie Kruse (knee) and then Rhys Williams (achilles). Both would have been pencilled into the starting 11 in Brazil.  Misfortune creates opportunity though as we watch others put their hands up.  Chris Herd was been out for over a month with his hamstring problems, James Meredith (Bradford City) suffered a broken foot on New Year's Day and Mustafa Amini (Dortmund) is also in the medical room.  Cheekbone injuries to Shane Cansdell-Sheriff and James Wesolowski during the month, but they are both back on the park now.

Club Competitions:-

Europe                             

(UEFA Champions League) – no fixtures in January

(UEFA Europa League) – no fixtures in January

South America

(Copa Libertadores) - Richard Porta started Nacional's away tie that they lost 1-0

Asia

(Asian Champions League) - several Aussies played in the first qualifying games with James Meyer playing for Pune and Sam Gallagher starting and scoring for Hanoi T&T.  Andrew Barisic also started and scored a double for South China (HK)  as they advanced in extra time.

Reserves and Youth:-

A bit interupted this month with numerous games postponed due to bad weather along with the U22 AFC Championships where several of our younger players represented Australia.  Chris Ikonomidis scored twice in his most recent appearance for Lazio Primavera, as is training with the senior squad. A mention to Connor Thurston who got to the Cup squad for Blackpool after strong appearances at youth level.  Hyuga Tanner is starting to appear more regularly for Blackburn U18's. While Ryan Go is a regular starter for the A2 Feyenoord youth team.

International level:-  with the next Socceroos fixture in early March, many players are making a strong case.  What we do now know is that Kruse and Rhys Williams are almost certainly out of contention. While Lucas Neill is fast running out of time to find a club and get match fit. A replacement for Kruse may be Vidosic, Kewell or Leckie depending on the role to be played.  The list of auditioning centre-backs includes Spiranovic, McGowan, Sainsbury, Wilkinson and Wright.

Socceroo (capped) of the month – in looking at playing performances for full Socceroos during January, the pickings were thin.  The one exception being Mile Jedinak who continues his fine form in arguably the best league in the world.

Sept – Cahill, Oct - Vidosic, Nov - Ryan, Dec - Jedinak

Under the radar (uncapped)  - a player that seems to have been around forever after he represented both Australia and more recently Greece at junior level.  This season he has moved clubs again, but Apostolis (Paul) Giannou finally seems to be settled and is seeing good minutes in a decent league.

Sept - Wilkinson, Oct - Konstantinidis, Nov - Luongo, Dec - Mrcela

Young player (U21) of the month – by making a debut for none other than Liverpool, Brad Smith now finds himself caught up in a country row (England or Australia).  He is floating between the U21's, where he continues to excel and the fringe of the first team.  Brazil may not be realistic, but one to watch for the Asian Cup.

Sept - Ikonomidis , Oct - Ugarkovic, Nov - Ryan Williams, Dec - Cooper

For a full listing of our Aussies Abroad, please see the attachment.    Please e-mail  Damian Davies ;

Aussies Abroad December 2013 Review

Compiled By Damian Davies any changes or updated please contact damiandavies@ymail.com

Greetings All 

The stakes are definately increasing as we build towards the World Cup.  As such, I will focus more on the players that have a shot at getting to Brazil.  Club football has been quiet across Asia as most leagues have been completed for the season.  Also winter break for some of the European leagues but matches continue in the big leagues of England and Germany.  We continue to see more and more Aussies heading abroad, with another half a dozen players heading overseas this month. The group stages have been completed in the big European competitions as we move into the knockout phase with several Aussies still appearing.

Transfers:-  No huge transfers in December but worth noting the move of a few younger players to strong European clubs, which bodes well for future years.  With the transfer window opening in January, expect a little bit of scrambling to get first team football.  Players like Rogic, Federici, Neill , Herd, Holman and Brosque all have some thinking to do.

Additions/changes to player database:

Patrick Antelmi (15 Mar 1994) – transferred to Wigan, England

Bryan Bran (2 Mar 1991) - transferred to FC Chabab, Netherlands

Spase Dilevski (13 May 1985) - transferred to ATM FA, Malaysia

Jordan Elsey (2 Mar 1994) - loan from Adelaide United to Kitchee, HK

Gian Mendez (TBC) - transferred to Valencia, Spain

Dimitar Mitkov (9 May 1996) - transferred to FK Vardar, Macedonia

Yahaya Musa (20 Dec 1986) - re-signed with Wilmington Hammerheads, USA

Alistair Quinn (1 Jun 1993) – transferred to NAC Breda, Netherlands

Josh Riis (10 Oct 1995) - transferred to Kidderminster Harriers, England

Kwane Yeboah (2 June 1994) - transferred from Brisbane Roar to Borussia Monchengladbach, Germany

Removed from player database: 

Nil

Club Level:-

England (Premiership) – Half way through the season, Mile Jedinak has still not missed a minute for Crystal Palace.  He has certainly started becoming more comfortable at this level, not sure many people would have picked Mile to be our most prominent Premier League player in 2013/14 but full credit to him. Huge news with Brad Smith making his debut for Liverpool during the glut of games over the festive season.  We know he appeared for England at junior level, but the Penrith born left-back will be heavily scouted in the lead up to the World Cup.  Chris Herd did manage a few starts for Aston Villa, but continues to have minor injury setbacks and is another who has a critical six months ahead of him. His versatility is surely something that would be attractive to the Socceroos. Keepers Mark Schwarzer and Brad Jones remain on the bench at their respective clubs. 

England (Championship) – coming to the end of December, both Shane Lowry and Scott McDonald were starting for Millwall.  Neither is having a huge influence at the moment, but given the recent change in manager, they will be out to impress at club level. Rhys Williams has been in and out of the Middlesbrough starting eleven. A player that was probably considered a certainty for national honours, the Socceroo selection for the back four is extremely open. Goalkeepers Adam Federici (Reading) and Alex Cisak (Burnley) spent another month watching from the bench. 

England (League One) – Bailey Wright (Preston North End), James Meredith (Bradford City) and Massimo Luongo (Swindon Town) all continue to perform exceptionally well.  The question remains as to whether they are playing at a high enough level to force themselves into the Socceroos.  That question will be answered over the next few months, but they can only control their personal form.  Bradden Inman has returned to the starting eleven at Crewe Alexandria after a bit of a fall out with the boss.  Neil Kilkenny has got back into the starting team at Preston North End while a face injury to James Wesolowski has seen him briefly sidelined.

Germany (Bundesliga) – Robbie Kruse has recently managed some starts at Bayer Leverkusen, and would now arguably be our most prominent club footballer globally. He is gaining some great experience leading into the World Cup. Mitch Langerak made his second start of the year during December.  While he would be a certainty for the World Cup, he will be looking to secure the number one keeper role with the retirement of Mark Schwarzer.

Germany (2.Bundesliga) – former Brisbane Roar midfielder Ben Halloran finds himself regularly starting for Fortuna Dusseldorf and has had an encouraging month.  Mathew Leckie is back on the scoring charts at FSV Frankfurt, while Nikita Rukavytsya has returned from injury.

Netherlands (Eredivisie) – while Tommy Oar has certainly shown his quality (is he ready for a big transfer?), the Utrecht story in December was surely the return to the starting line-up of midfielder Adam Sarota.  Perfect timing with several months to make his case for a return to the Socceroos. Jason Davidson continues in the Heracles defence, now up to 15 starts this campaign.

Netherlands (Eerste Divisie) - making cameos from the bench seems to be a regular occurence for young Queensland striker Travis Cooper.  He has now appeared 13 times for VVV Venlo.  In the same league, Andrew Marveggio has made nine appearances for relegation threatened SC Telstar.

Austria (Bundesliga) – now 19 starts for James Holland at Austria Wien.  Having had a good season or two, he is another player that will be looking to force himself from a squad player to a starter for the Socceroos.

Belgium (Pro League) – Mat Ryan added another two clean sheets to his season tally at Club Brugge.  His outstanding form at club level has been recognised with the offer of a contract extension. Early days in his European career, but with the possible number one keeper at the World Cup on his resume, he is certainly on the radar of bigger clubs.

Scotland (Premier) – the development of young players Dylan McGowan (Hearts) and Jackson Irvine (Kilmarnock) continues with starts very week. Tom Rogic has returned to the Celtic squad after a calf injury.  He to is one player that needs to carefully consider his amount of game time.

Switzerland (Super League) – perhaps a little under the radar, but Dario Vidosic (FC Sion) has done his World Cup chances no harm with a very solid few months since transferring to Switzerland.

Croatia (1.HNL) - Tomislav Mrcela has come from nowhere to now be a prominent defender for Hrvatski Dragovoljac. He has over 1000 minutes in game time this season. Osijek midfielder Steven Ugarkovic is currently in the starting line-up.

Greece (Super League) - while Apostolis Giannou has been seeing good game time at Panionios Athens, he needs to start banging some goals in to get the attention of the FFA selectors.

Portugal (Primeira Division) - Caleb Patterson-Sewell (Gil Vicente) has been patiently sitting on the bench waiting for his opportunity.

Romania (Liga 1) - keep your eyes on young striker Anthony Carter.  After prolonged issues with his playing papers, he is now in the squad for CFR Cluj.

Japan (J League) – the season has now ended with Josh Kennedy (Nagoya Grampus) ending up with 2297 minutes and 12 goals in 25 starts.  For me, he clearly has his injuries under control and a conversion rate that is better than average at both club and international level, he is an important player for the Socceroos.   

India (I-League) – former Victory defender Mattew Foschini has been solid at Salgaocar however his team are struggling to get ponts. Sean Rooney has scored seven goals at table topping Bengaluru FC. Another former Brisbne Roar player, James Meyer has also been strong at Pune FC.  After a few niggles, journeyman Simon Colosimo is back on the pitch for Dempo.

Qatar (Stars League) - Sasa Ognenovski (Umm Salal) is a dilemma for the Socceroos coach.  He has the experience at both club and national level, he is playing regularly but pace is not his best attribute as he ages.  

U.A.E (UFL) – our Aussies of Brosque, Holman, Celeski and Susak are all playing each week. Without starring, are they doing enough to get to Brazil?

Uruguay (Primera) - Richard porta continues to be very consistent.  Twelve starts for four goals in his fourth stint at Nacional.

New Zealand (Premiership) - a quick break courtesy of a red card, Richie Cardozo (Waitakere United) managed to add to his goal tally during december.

Injuries:-   take Carl Valeri and Adam Sarota off this list now!! Fortunately, not too much to report from a Socceroos perspective with the exception of Bozanic's ankle.  Eli Babalj continues to struggle with his groin injury (OP I believe)

Club Competitions:-

Europe                             

(UEFA Champions League) – as the group games were completed, a fairly significant month for our Aussies Abroad.  Mark Schwarzer started the Chelseas tie against Steaua Bucuresti and kept a clean sheet. James Holland started the Austria Wien tie, although they were eliminated.  Both Kruse and Langerak have progressed into the knockout phase.

(UEFA Europa League) – no Aussies appeared.

Reserves and Youth:-

Several young Aussies have been captaining their U21 teams - Gethin Jones (Everton) and Alex Grant (Stoke City). The Strain brothers at Aston Villa both recently appeared in the U21's while Paratore and Elder are reguarly appearing at U21 level.  Curtis Good has been impressive at Newcastle U21's. Tom Beadling has been consistent at Sunderland U18's. A few Aussies appeared in Italy with Ikonomidis and Katsetis both seeing game time in the Primavera.

International level:-  at the risk of offending, here is my current Socceroos squad for the World Cup. Ryan, Langerak, Galekovic, Franjic, Williams, McGowan, Wilkinson, Herd, Davidson, Wright, Bresciano, Jedinak, Valeri, Rogic, Oar, Milligan, Troisi, Vidosic, Cahill, Kruse, Leckie, Duke and Kennedy. Perhaps six of those positions are very debatable.  I have leaned towards youth, leaving several seasoned Socceroos behind.  Let's see what the next 3-4 months brings. 

Socceroo (capped) of the month – certainly a stalwart when talking about the Socceroos.  Mile Jedinak has had an amazing journey from Central Coast to Turkey to London.  He finds himself as first named each week, captaining a team at Crystal Palace that will feel as though each game is critical if they are to avoid relegation. He has certainly stepped up and has no problem manning up to some of the biggest names in football.

Sept – Cahill, Oct - Vidosic, Nov - Ryan

Under (uncapped)  - unknown to most football fans that follow the Aussies, Tomislav Mrcela is an interesting guy.  Born in Australia, and after several years in the lower Croatian leagues, Mrcela has stepped up to the top league.  Although his team are struggling, he has been a constant in a somtimes vulnerable defence.

Sept - Wilkinson, Oct - Konstantinidis, Nov - Luongo

Young player (U21) of the month – an U20 Socceroo, Travis Cooper's move to Holland caught many by surprise.  At VVV Venlo, he mixes between the senior team and Jong.  An impressive series of runs, hopefully that translates to more senior appearances for him in 2014.

Sept - Ikonomidis , Oct - Ugarkovic, Nov - Ryan Williams

For a full listing of our Aussies Abroad, please see the attachment.    

Aussies Abroad - November 2013

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