Cashed up United chase Larsson's signature

Larsson is by far one of my all time favourite Celtic players and to see him coming to Australia, let alone Queensland is making me very excited. While the A-league isn't the EPL or SPL it is starting to develop into a brilliant competition and I hope with stars like Larsson, Robbie Fouler and Jason Culina coming to our shores that they can amp up the competition to something that rivals Europe.

Living in Sweden I have seen him play 4 times in the last 2 years and I dont know how many games on the tv, both for sweden and helsingborg. He's lost his touch, especially this year.

Skoko and Viduka's families are holidaying together in croatia at the moment. Skoko was asked by a leading football reporter what he thought about marks future. he indicated that mark was actually contemplating immediate retirement. if he does play on it will most probably be to finish off at the WC. Dinamo Zagreb are tableing a massive offer for him at the moment. I dont think we will see viduka in the HAL ever. It would be a shame if he wasnt to return. but i wouldnt blame him.

IT would be great to see a player of his stature but someone like Vuduka would certainly do more for the team and for the sport in Australia it general. Even for more money, he would be worth it

If there was one player I'd sign for the A-league; it would be American star Landon Donovan. Though American - he is an honest and hard working individual and would be great for fans and the media alike.

I agree that Larson is "known" by those who regularly read the internet sites and football pages but is not really (perhaps undeservedly) a big name. or at least in that he is not a name people who "neutrals" would know or want to turn up for. not a galactico and not an ex EPL star like Dwight was, Fowler is and Viduka would be. Maybe Galatasaray cld loan Kewell out for a few games in August....

i would rather see Viduka earn 100k a game in the HAL than Larson. Perhaps he will enjoy his football more and no long term contract. i would also think that Viduka is a name more familiar with all Australians and would create more media attention. Larson Good...Viduka Better. For Gods sake will someone bring him home!!!

Larson aside the rest of the team sounds quite good though - Joel Porter, Smeltz, Minniecon, Culina and R & A Griffiths... not bad. with the added unkown Brazilians and a few solid HAL perfomers poached from other teams. The test will be whether they gel and operate as a team and whether Blieberg maintains the momentum when things dont always go his way. Actually, it seems the team is a bit heavy upfront, Which striker will make way for the Swede though for a third of the season... ? does anyone know

If Clive wants to spend the money then that's great for him and GCU. I still reckon that they are going to fall flat, however I am afraid this buys into some of the mud thrown at football. Critics say that football is a game where the title is for sale to the highest bidder, this sort of behaviour gives them ammunition. Of course I always find it amusing that those critics usually are big fans of the EPL, where the behaviour they view as a justified critism is the norm!

What do we as fans want to see at a game. Exceptional football something above the ordinary. Clives got the cash so bring it on. What have we the fan got to lose. If hes a dud Clive cops the bill,if he delivers we get to enjoy football from a player that is a cut above the A-League. I remember Kazuyoshi Miura for Sydney scoring a great goal from a through ball by Dwight Yorke I believe. All class for me the fan as he & Dwight were on the same wavelength although Miura was completely new to the team. Experience & playing at a high level therefore understanding between quality players should not be underestimated in performance on the park. GCU will have Jason Culina who should be on the same wavelength & deliver the passes for Larsson to score. This is where NQF may struggle with Robbie Fowler,but if they brought in a quality experienced guest Robbie could hit his straps. Thats the problem I see(apart from injury of course) with these older players from the top leagues,theyve been on a "reading the game platform"above the average A-League player & need another player from the same level to take full advantage of their aging but experienced talent. But as I say regardless, we the fan have nothing to lose.

GC and SFC are peas out of the same pod - they both deserve to be utterly humiliated.

It takes 150 years to develop a football culture and the culture-less Las Vegas of Queensland doesn’t deserve to win any football title in its first year – according to the Professor. Hence they need to try and buy culture with money. I will be watching developments with great interest and would welcome someone like Larsson – he would be a big positive for the Gold Coast and the A-League. But I look forward to their defeat at the hands of SFC at the Sydney Football Stadium. Sydney FC have four years of modern Australian football culture and it is their destiny to triumph!

In the context of a salary cap of about $2.2 mill - $900,000 for 9 games is a shitload of money!!

Pip I don't disagree on the value of the guest. It appears that within the rules GCU are trying to make a big splash in season one and I support that ambition. $900K is a lot of $$. I would also support a second marquee but that is not the rules at the moment. Art makes a good point about Larson still playing. You may get better value for your $900K on an elite player from a league that season does not align with the A league on a guest stint than a big name on a retirement package. Maybe the guest package should aim to pick up players from J or K league, China, Russia, Sweden on a short term basis during thier season break. Maybe someone will think about bringing Josh Kennedy on loan from Nagoya in the J league off season?

A legend of Celtic and a legend of Liverpool playing in the upcoming A-league season what more could u want?

wonder if that money could have lured Viduka. actually larson aside who else could they have got do you think?

Unlike other guest player who have (dis)graced the A-League, Larsson is still playing full time for Helsingborg in the Swedish league. He has played all 12 games this currnet season and scored 3 goals. Last season he scored 16 in 27 games. I would put him in the same category as Sheringham and Maldini. Players that can keep playing at a high level as an over 35. It a good move by Clive, if they succeed in getting him.

Pip, I like this idea "I’d much rather we created a 2nd (or 3rd) marqee slot, than stuff around with these guest stints." but at the same time am guilty of wanting to see players like Larson etc play here. I agree it seems to be a lot of money for a 37 yo. 9 games at 100K...cannot be recuperated from sales or shirt sales you'd think... but if they have the money to burn, so be it. The guest stint is a good idea if it's built upon ie it's used a trial to suss out a potential marquee as oppossed to being just a short term fix (and of all the short term fixes Miura's stands with Carbone in the success stakes surely)

And he certainly has stature to stimulate would-be United supporters which, judging from the mediocre turnout to the club’s derby friendly with North Queensland Fury, might be just what is needed I was at the trial match against Fury and the turn out was hardly mediocre. GU only released a maxium of 5000 tickets. There seemed to be at least 3000 which was great considering the area has been bombarded with bad weather and the big name players were not playing. Big fan of Larsson - hope he comes if very fit

Mick People may not realise it, but $100,000 per week is right up there with some of the very highest salaries in the world. So that an Australian club would choose to pay that over to a 37 year old player sounds pretty dubious. Apart from Beni Carbone, who was 34 years old and only played 3 games (and who was a bargain in comparison), I can't think of any examples of guest players who have contributed anything to their respective clubs for the short period they have been there (my recollection is that Carbone had a fantastic debut game resulting in a big win in a year when SFC were floundering under Butcher). Romario was a massive name, as big as they come, probably hard to find anyone bigger - he contributed nothing to Adelaide, on or off the field, and if you look back through the records, AU took a massive tumble down the table during his time here. I'd much rather we created a 2nd (or 3rd) marqee slot, than stuff around with these guest stints.