The death of the Euro snob: What Villa means to the A-League

@ Fussball ist unser leben: You're most likely right about Berisha & Valeri - although that's a great thing about sport in that a change of environment can go either way! ;-) And MV with Postecoglu at the helm definitely showed my team (SFC) how to go about creating a culture and a club - hopefully Arnold will be as good for SFC as Postecoglu was for MV... Again, I think you're most likely right about Postecoglu not signing either ADP or Heskey (maybe more inclined to take a risk with ADP as he could have played in the midfield in a role similar to Finkler perhaps) as he's very true to his ideals and as you say they don't really fit the template he put in place. Ono & Gallas on the other hand could have been a good fit for MV... As for Villa & Duff, I agree with you there too (although that they managed to sign him under the Salary Cap makes me think they may have got a bargain) - I'm glad SFC didn't sign Duff, as he's past his prime, but Villa is potentailly the difference between Top 2 for MC and just making the Finals series if he plays well - it's not unreasonable to see him scoring at least 10 goals during his stint and when you consider the Golden Boot winner has averaged just over 17 goals during the last 3 seasons, that would be a very handy contribution from a guest player!

@clayts City signing Villa for 10 matches is equivalent to SydFC signing ADP. Do you recall how that story unfolded on the pitch? Additionally, in relation to full squad members: City have lost Engelaar & Harry; and replaced them with Aaron Mooy and Damien Duff. I'll leave each ALeague fan to decide if this amounts to "fantastic".

It's not a question of potential litigation that should concern you. It simply reflects poorly on your credibility in relation to commentary about issues pertaining to the ALeague.

Yes, MVFC is a club in crisis. I'd be surprised if the club survives another 12 months. Most likely, it will be a 9 team ALeague competition in 2015/16 and I'll start following my local NPL club. PS: What is MVFC's alleged "Ordinary record against Heart"? With comments like that I have to assume, like most Brisbane fans, you don't watch much ALeague during the season? Only jump on the bandwagon for the Grand Final?

@Arto MVFC has just signed Berisha & Valeri. 2 players that will add substantive value to our team. Will they provide off-field value? Berisha, maybe; Valerie, maybe not. I hope MVFC never signs any player who doesn't add on-field value. These players were unknown to Aussies until they hit the ground running: Broich, Ifill, Hernandez, Berisha, Finkler, Fred, Zwaanswick, etc. Ange was looking to create a new philosophy of football at MVFC - not for 1 year, or 2 years, or 5 years; a new culture of football at the club. I'm 100% sure Ange would not have signed either ADP, or Heskey .. of course they're good players; but at the stage in their careers, they are just not players for Ange's system. Of course David Villa is a fantastic signing. But, he'll be gone before Christmas. Damien Duff is an odd signing. He was at his peak 8 years ago. But, in 2014/15, I think Melb City already have good quality - and much younger, fitter, quicker - attacking wide players.

And an Australian marquee spot too. I think City are doing a ridiculously fantastic job.

Well spotted, Fuss. I exaggerated. Sue me

Exactly. That is Victory's model. Be reactive, let other clubs discover and develop players, then poach, essentially. Poor victory. Ordinary record against Heart, not the most successful club and not the biggest either. That's what they used to all hang their hats on. Ah well

Victory don't fill stadia anyway

Thats only because of the fact that Victory had access the the fan market earlier. ' Other clubs bring(ing) high-profile players to boost the overall ALeague' - you seem to be forgetting about Berisha ;)

With both Duff and Villa if they make a smooth transition to Australian Football should have Mlb Cty top four easily.

@ Sneaky Pete: +1! Yeah, this does really spice up the rivalry a little now doesn't it!!!! :-) I must admit, when I heard that Shola Ameobi was/is being courted it kind of sounded like we've starting looking from quite a few shelves lower than top - this signing only strengthens that feeling. IMO, the problem with having marquees like Ameobi (& I'll apologise unreservedly if we do sign him AND he bangs in the goals!) is that they have just enough of a name to extact a high salary, but if they were really THAT good they'd probably be 2nd or 3rd choice in a top European team (ie: one that it's the top 6 of the big European leagues). Ameobi was released by Newcastle United at the end of last season so whilst he might be a good player, he seems too much of risk for a marquee spot.

@ Kyle Stewart: I guess only time will tell, but I'm thinking a crocked Carl Valeri for 3 seasons is still not worth the impact David Villa will have on the HAL. I can't help feeling MV have bought another lemon after their efforts with Contreras last season...

@ Fussball ist unser leben: Sounds like the clouds are maybe getting in the way of your view up their on your high horse, Fuss! ;-) IMO, from a purely off-field perspective (ie discount the positive effects a high-profile siging is designed to have on the pitch!) EVERY club at some point needs high-profile signings whether it be to attract new fans or sponsors, or even just steal some of the media limelight. You seem to be very knowledgable in the field of marketing (based upon reading some of your previous comments on this site, so I'm surprised you of all people would say MV don't need high-profile signings. They help rejuvenate the 'brand' at the very least and keep the perception of progress around the club - as the saying goes, if you're not moving forward you're going backwards... :-) Having said all that, I do agree with your part in the cooment about having a development model in place. But in fairness to both ADP & Heskey, both SFC & Jets needed a lot more than good marquee players to win them trophies - just imagine how much they could have added to MV for example (and before you reply with them not suiting MV's style of play, I'm still convinced they would have added a lot to the club and improved their results - if you really think hard about it, how sure are you that Postecoglu would have knocked back either of them or Ono or Gallas for that matter if they could have signed them?)

Wow looks like the cream of Europe must resign themselves to becoming feeder clubs for the a league!

Not every club has the luxury of filling stadiums and maintaining profits without star power. If a few of the other clubs had made this move it might have been questionable. But this is a brilliant move for City on every level.

Carl Valeri will still be playing at MVFC in May 2017... David Villa won't even be around at MelbCity to celebrate Christmas 2014!. A club like MVFC doesn't need a high-profile signing to attract fans, sponsors, or media attention. I'd rather the club has a development model. But, quite happy to have other clubs bring high-profile players to boost the overall ALeague. ADP & Heskey didn't help SFC or Newcastle win any trophies.

I'd take the valeri deal over the villa deal anyday

@ magila cutty: I agree with what you say, but MCFC now has the potential to do this multiple times or even 'stretch the length of' the guest stint - if it's registered as a loan, then the player can play for more than 10 games. And whilst the loan wages would come under the salary cap, due to MCFC's owners also owning NYFC (in addition to being very wealthy!!) they could subsidise the star players wages during the loan - eg: imagine NYFC sign Frank Lampard as well (as has been rumoured) and then he is 'loaned' out to MCFC with a wage that is say only A$100K (ie that's the sum MCFC agree to pay, with NYFC paying the rest of his wages). He could conceivably play from Rnd 1 up until the January break for the Asian Cup & if schedules allow some matches afterwards. Plus, this could happen the season after (& the one after that too, and so on!!). MCFC have a huge advantage now, so this could become both very exciting for us fans wanting the world's best players here in the HAL, and also a headache for FFA if the other clubs start to complain about MCFC's ability to sign players on subsidised wages... However, the one big handbrake on this getting out of control is that MCFC will be 'little brother' in this relationship in relation to at least Man City if not also NYFC and so they most likely won't be getting many of these star players for a whole season, which will then create the potential for them starting well and then fading by the time all their stars go back to their 'parent' club leaving only the 2nd XI players behind who are lacking match fitness. I can see 2-3 'marquee-type' players coming, but not more than that as the team's rhthym will be adversely affected too much...

Add me to that list too.