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Australia’s growth as a football nation is often assessed through the performance of the Socceroos, the improving standard of the A-League, and the increasing participation and attendance figures.
Yet this off-season will likely provide fans with another indicator of the sport’s standing.
The A-League is set for one of the biggest squad overhauls in its history, with as many as five clubs facing significant turnovers.
On top of that there are at least two clubs searching for new coaches, along with Brisbane Roar this week announcing the arrival of John Aloisi, which will also shape the imminent recruitment merry-go-round.
The Newcastle Jets and Western Sydney Wanderers have already confirmed the departures of at least 10 players from each club, Perth Glory are facing similar numbers in departures as they rearrange their salary cap, while Sydney FC and Central Coast Mariners are also facing upheaval.
Throw in the expected dollars Melbourne City will pump into recruitment, as well as a possible new direction for Brisbane Roar under new management, and there are seven clubs that will be aiming to reshape, reboot and reinvigorate their first-team squad.
The depth of Australia’s talent pool is therefore set to undergo a defining test with the availability of only five visa players per club.
Of the number of released players from each club, how many are good enough to provide the necessary talent to make their new teams competitive? Is there enough quality in the National Premier Leagues to fill squads with emerging stars or decent squad members?
The Jets will be the biggest movers in the transfer window after Phil Stubbins and Nathan Tinkler did their best to drive most of their players from the club. The list of departed players is truly astounding, whether vindicated or not.
Jonny Steele, Marcos Flores, Mark Birighitti, Sam Gallaway, Jeronimo Neumann and Andrew Hoole all jumped ship before season’s end, while Kew Jaliens, Joel Griffiths, David Carney, Adrian Madaschi and Billy Celeski were pushed out in a power struggle with Stubbins.
Together with the recent announcements that Taylor Regan (the captain after Jaliens’ dismissal), James Virgili, John Solari, Allan Welsh and Travis Cooper would not be retained, the Jets have seen a total of 16 players depart Newcastle in the past six months.
How they are going to replace such a vast amount of departures is yet to be seen. It will definitely be interesting to watch how Football Federation Australia handles both an ownership change and a complete rebuild of the squad and the club.
Western Sydney Wanderers are also set for an almost complete rebuild after Tony Popovic and the club announced they would say goodbye to no less than 10 first-team players.
Iacopo La Rocca, Ante Covic, Jason Trifiro, Tomi Juric, Antony Golec, Nikita Rukavytsya and Kerem Bulut are all looking for new clubs, perhaps one or two searching for a place overseas. Nick Ward, Nick Kalmar and Adrian Madaschi also face uncertainty after signing as injury replacements and being known as club-jumpers for a while now.
While some of the talent have the ability to perform in the A-League, it is uncertain whether they will decide to stay in Australia, and a few of the others are fillers at best.
Sydney FC have a bunch of players coming off contract, although given their relative success this season you would think they would be looking to keep intact a winning formula.
However, Marc Janko has already been shafted, Sasa Ognenovski looks set for retirement, Nicky Carle’s future is uncertain after an injury-plagued season, while Ivan Necevski and Bernie Ibini have been touted for fresh moves.
Milos Dimitrijevic and Matt Jurman will surely be re-signed, as well as Corey Gameiro, who was having a breakout season until a devastating knee injury. Pushing out the youngster in particular would be folly and extremely harsh.
There is a lot of work for Arnold in the off-season, although the incoming signing of Andrew Hoole and re-signings of Shane Smeltz and Jacques Faty is a solid start.
Perth, of course, are also facing a massive off-season, given the salary cap breach which curtailed their campaign. Tony Sage and Kenny Lowe have a big job on their hands.
Youssouf Hersi, Jack Duncan, Danny de Silva and Brandon O’Neill have already departed, while Danny Vukovic is set to depart due to personal reasons and Jamie Maclaren is also reportedly pushing for a release.
The club recently signed Golec, but they are still looking to replace some of their key players. Will the leftovers from other clubs be enough to keep them competitive?
There is little doubt the Central Coast Mariners are also in need of a change in personnel after an uninspiring campaign.
Tony Walmsley has already told Isaka Cernak, Hayden Morton, Dejan Pandurevic and Tom Slater they are no longer required, while Zac Anderson has joined them on the shelved list as well. Promising striker Mitch Duke left earlier in the year to Japan’s Shimizu S-Pulse and captain John Hutchinson has retired.
It will certainly be an intriguing off-season, perhaps one of the most action-packed since the inaugural compiling of A-League rosters. Newcastle, Central Coast and Western Sydney must put together more competitive squads, all three were a shambles on the field in 2014-15.
Sydney FC must build on their good work and should only need a few tweaks. But with a high number of players coming off contract Arnold has a few big decisions to make. His recruitment in the summer was impressive, perhaps he will try his luck once again with fresh talent.
Melbourne City’s recruitment drive could also be a potential game-changer now that they have had more time to assess the club’s stocks and determine a renewed game plan. And depending on how John Aloisi decides to tackle Brisbane’s rejuvenation in the winter there could be sweeping changes at the Roar too.
The A-League is used to big off-season movements, given our best players are determined to move overseas and the salary cap warrants constant revaluation. But this off-season could produce unprecedented movement.
Only three clubs – Adelaide United, Melbourne Victory and Wellington Phoenix – will be confident of avoiding big changes. Australia’s playing stocks will get a chance to prove they are strong enough to complete 10 competitive clubs.
The way the current A-League clubs recruit from the lower echelons of club football will also provide a scope of whether the competition is ready for expansion. Living outside of Australia it is difficult to determine whether the talent is there in the NPL but hopefully we do see more youngsters getting an opportunity to prove themselves in the A-League next season.
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