Are Glory days headed for Perth again?

A lot will depend on the coach..

The Glory get very sympathetic coverage in WA Media, After all, they ARE a WA team playing ES teams! :) I think the low crowd numbers mainly reflect their performance. Another thing is that in the Summer months there are a lot of other things to do other than going to the Football! Those two things affect numbers,as not everybody is a "rusted on " Glory supporter.

@adam: We obviously have different views on players so I'll leave it at that...

haha,some of your so called " top quality players are ridicoulous. Williams, Mooy, Dugandzid,Brockie,Griffiths,Djite,Ferreira,Juric,Antonis, Barbarouses may all start but they are not standouts or match winners. if you remove those names then I might agree with your comment. for example Juric and Antonis have loads of potential. but they are not yet stars

Add to that, WSW & AU and it really does seem hard for PG to crack the Finals IMO - plus, the Jets have recruited well too despite losing Taggart & Brilliante and have arguably a better manager (even if he's untried at this level!).

Yeah that Young Socceroos squad was actually not too bad - despite only picking up 1 point, we should have beaten El Salvador (let them back in the game after taking the lead), only just lost to Turkey in our last game, and Colombia had a certain Juan Fernando Quintero (who just played in the WC in Brazil) in their team when we played our best game for the tournament against them (1-1) and he was voted as one of the best players in the comp behind another superstar, Paul Pogba!! De Silva played his best game against Colombia and MacLaren scored against Turkey. That squad looks like it may actually go on to bigger things now - Taggart has moved to Fulham, Brilliante is off to Fiorentina, de Silva is off to Roma after this HAL season, Curtis Good is already overseas in the SPL as is Jackson Irvine, and Antonis was set for a move to Parma last year so it's exciting times for our younger players!!

@ adam: I agree with your comment about needing top quality players & manager... Getting to your list, I might disagree on some of the names, but the really interesting point, IMO is how different that list could be set up based upon predictions for this season! For example: Roar: Broich, Brattan, Franjic, ??? WSW: Sprianovic, Topor-Stanley, Juric, ??? CCM: ???, ???, ???, ??? (all those players have left the club, so who will step in to replace them? Duke, Roux, Seung-Young perhaps?) MV: Berisha, Milligan, Finkler, Valeri, Barbarouses SFC: Petkovic, Ognenovksi, Ibini, Antonis AU: Carrusca, Galekovic, Isaias, Djite, Ferreira Jets: Jaliens, Flores, Griffiths, PG: Vukovic, Thwaite, Nichols, Hersi WP: Riera, Brockie, ???, ??? MC: Villa, Williams, Duff, Kisnorbo, Mooy, Dugandzic It's going to be a cracker of a season coming up! :-)

@ SageAdvice: We'll have to agree to disagree by the looks of things as we obviously don't see the same things in these players that have been mentioned... I agree with you that Hersi was injury-prone last season and at the wrong side of 30, that's not a good sign for him so I think WSW were right in letting him go. However, what I was trying to point out is that of the starting line-up that was put forward by the author, only 4 players (possibly 5 if you include Thwaite) had demonstrated though achievements that they can suceed in the HAL - Vukovic has played in 2 GFs, Nichols has won 2 GF's & 1 Premiership, & Hersi has been in 2 GFs too (I have now double-checked and seen that Griffiths won a Premeirship with CCM and as you mentioned was involved in a big transfer to China. Also, Zadkovich played 1 game in HAL season 1 when SFC won the title, but I don't think even he would believe he was integral to SFC winning that GF!), however none of the others have really achieved anything in the league. Thwaite is a FORMER Socceroo, so are Garcia & Zadkovich and none of them are likely to play for Australia again. Thwaite has 13 Caps (the last of which was in the EAFF last year as a HAL-based Aus lost all 3 games!), Garcia has 10 Caps (the last of which were in the qualifying rounds back in 2012 for last year's EAFF), & Zadkovich has 3 Caps (2 of which came in the same EAFF). None of these 3 players have won anything with the HAL teams they've been on despite the ok performances they have put in, and only Zadkovich is under 30 - being the best of a bad-lot doesn't mean you're a good enough player to play in a better team. I'd wager Keogh is going to be a flop - his cv might have some nice-named clubs on it like Wolves & Leeds, his career is a combination of loans (6 in total!!) and a poor games to goals ratio (1 every 5 games if I'm generous, which means he's looking at a 6 goal season in the HAL, hardly the stuff to shoot PG to the Top 6 let alone another GF appearance!) Jamieson had a good 1st season for PG before getting injured and has played well in patches for SFC & AU before that, so I'll agree with you on him being a Top 6 team player again. Risdon, don't know enough about him so I'll take your word on him, but I do see he was a part of the All-Stars team for last season so he must have some skill. So to round off, yes PG have some players that might look good on paper, but the thing is there is only a Top 6 of which most people would argue only really the Top 4 are actual candidates for the title. Therefore, I can't see PG doing better than Roar, MV, or AU, plus any one of SFC, WSW, or MC - so the question I finish with then is, how good really are PG compared with those teams?

Bit the same for me, Arto. I did see them both streamed on the internet when they were playing for the Young Socceroos and thought they looked pretty handy. Especially de Silva given his young age.

I'd like to know why De Silva wasn't given more game time last season,he started one game I think against Wellington and absolutely ran the show then was subbed at halftime because he was knackered apparently.Another game I recall him getting good minutes he was deployed on the right wing for some bizzare reason.I get the feeling he may have been doing some study and maybe not training full time its the only feasible reason it surely wasn't because he couldn't work his way in to our outstanding midfield!.All well and good if that's the case education is very important but its coming to a crucial time for him as a footballer he needs to be playing week in week out.

@ Ben of Phnom Penh: I hope so for PG's sake - Roma obviously think the kid is good enough, so surely de Silva will be a starter more often than not (I do think they should ease him in though as we don't want him burning out like some of the other past sensations we've had). By most accounts, MacLaren had a good pre-season last year, but seemed to fade after that (maybe due to the change of coach?). I'm not a PG fan & live overseas so I don't hear too much about them apart from what's in the national mainstream media...

Perth Glory had a disgraceful season and under Kenny Lowe, even as a big fan, I cant see it getting much better. You see with all the top managers in the a-league there have been, Ange Postecoglue- Former Brisbane Manager, implements fast possession football. Tony Popovic- West Sydney, Showed counter attacking football. Kenny Lowe however has so far shown not much influence on a squad that needs a style that I think that, with the players like Sidnei and Mitch Nichols playing behind Andy Keogh should be the type of squad to play front foot football with like Brendan Rodgers' Liverpool do using much pace which saw them score over 100 goals in the season with their counter attacking style. Players like Sidnei and Nichols could show this at Perth if only Kenny Lowe would have been sacked or preferred to another coach that implements a good style. With the new signings, I don't think Zadkovic was the right signing as we could have looked at a younger option. Maybe to say the same with Hersi, who was a stand out player for Western Sydney two seasons ago not last season.... Starting XI: 4-2-3-1: Vukovic (GK), Risdon (RB), Djublic (CB), Thwaite (CB), Jamieson (LB), Griffiths or Ferreria (CDM), Zadkovic or Ferreria (CDM), Sidnei (LM), Nichols (CAM), Hersi (RM), Keogh (ST)..... On Paper, Ok, On Field, Shrugged Shoulders.

every club in the a-league has plenty of " good players", but to make the top 6 you need 3 or 4 top quality players and a good coach. The teams last year: Brisbane: Berisha, Broich,Mckay,Smith,Brattan, Franjic Wanderers: Spiranovic, Ono, Hersi, Topor-Stanley, Mariners: Flores, Ibini, and for parts of the season Mcglinchey and Mcbreen Victory: Troisi, Milligan, Finkler, and for parts of the season Rogic Sydney: Del Piero, Petkovic and for parts of the season Ognenovski Adelaide: Galekovic, Carrusca, Isaias, Jets: Taggart, Jaliens,Brillante ( Heskey was out for most of the season and only played well towards the end) Perth: Thwaite, Smeltz Wellington: Hernandez, Riera, Heart: Engelaar, Kisnorbo

I don't rate this team but sorry, have to disagree with your assessment on players. Calling others on them being in the twilight of their career and yet rating the injury-prone lackluster, Hersi? Rofl Griffiths, if you can't remember, went to China from CCM on an A-League record transfer fee. How can he not be proven at this level? Thwaite is a Socceroo and Perth's best player last season. One of two players that did well for them over that season. He's one of the best CBs in the league for a reason. Like he was when he was at Gold Coast. Zadkovich and Keogh are not in the twilight of their careers either. Their effectiveness, sure my be questionable, but theoretically they're in their prime. Be interesting to see how Keogh performs stepping down. Have more hope for him for Glory than Zadko at least. Jamieson was one of the best left backs in the league the previous season and for the first 6 games this season, so given his EAFF caps, is definitely an above-average left back for the A-League. Risdon too, was bordering on call ups, including Olyroos, and been a starter at Glory for 3 seasons which isn't bad for a 21 year old. So yeah, there's plenty of "good" players, but as others have said it's the coach, getting them to play right, and win which is a problem. Glory have been putting good teams on paper together since Sage's reign started but if the right culture isn't there, nothing will eventuate...again

getting star players doesn't make you a great team,it happens every year

McLaren?,can't say I've seen what you've seen in him granted service wasn't great but times where he had very good chances he fluffed his lines...badly.A good footballing side that wins games and actually dominates opposition on our own patch will get me through the gates again more frequently,i cannot remember the last time where I left NIB thinking it was worth the time or money.

I think putting too much experience on the park each game won't be the way Kenny will roll. I'm hoping to see Maclaren and de Silva getting some starts to keep the side fresh and containing a bit of X-factor that comes with youth.

Would a big season from Jamie Maclaren bring you out more often, Bricks? The kid certainly has talent, just waiting to see if he'll burst forth into the next level.

For what it's worth, here's my two-cents worth: "A starting XI of Vukovic, Risdon, Thwaite, Djublic, Ferreira, Griffiths, Zadkovich, Nichols, Hersi, Keogh and Garcia is pretty handy." Sorry can't agree with that - Pretty much only Vukovic, Nichols & Hersi have shown they have what it takes to succedd in the HAL. Thwaite could possibly be included in that group at a stretch, but the others are either anti-John West or are well & truly in the twilight of their careers. And with Kenny Lowe as manager, I can't see Glory making the Top 6... My early predictions as pre-season has just started: 1. Roar 2. MV 3. AU 4. WSW 5. SFC 6. MC 7. CCM 8. Jets 9. WP 10. PG Of course this could change massively, as teams sign new players & pre-season matches show how much sides have developed, but I think the comp will be just as close as last year with the Top 3 going right down to the wire!

That's a very experienced squad they have but can it be utilised and can it score goals ?. Perth Glory have traditionally or football in Perth has traditionally leaned towards a British theme or model either players or staff, if they're to rely on a International theme they'd be best looking towards either a Spanish model Gombau to Adelaide or Litbarski to SFC typed scenarios Eastern European football is where you get the better education coach and player. Average crowds of just under 10.000 suggests the local media do a great job in containing the sport there too, I hope Ken Lowe can extract the best out of the squad for next season though I have doubts on his coaching ability cliché's and puns dont cut the mustard in Australia any more ..