PLAYER transfers in football are a funny thing, and I guess as a fan, the whole experience as it relates to the A-league at the moment, is a bit unsettling to say the least.
You really would like to believe that transfer ‘windows' are in fact opportunities for your club to improve through the addition of talent, and the ejection of dead wood, as it were.
There is no doubt that some player transfers do end up represent value for money. However I really am beginning to think the whole exercise is about as much fun as buying a used car.
By the time you trade in on that shiny, sporty model with the spoiler and 17inch mags, you are actually out of pocket several thousand dollars, you're driving a car with more kilometres on the clock than the trade in, and to add insult to injury the aircon needs re-gassing, and CD player is on the fritz.
Tottenham Hotspur would make a fascinating case study in how to spend $200M, make a large proportion of that back through various player sales, then spend it again to buy back half the players you just sold in the previous 12 months. In the end, they have somehow found themselves with essentially the same team that finished mid table last season.
Locally, the Mariners new signings this season were generally good ones, in that they demonstrably improved the team. The injury to Elrich was a blow, and hopefully his full return to fitness will add a much missed dimension to the Mariners game (another player who can run at players and provide width).
The signing of Shane Huke, a player who is of the right age, and it would seem stage of development, is an interesting one. Hopefully the move will benefit both him and the club through the Asian campaign, and over the more medium term.
The departure of Petrovski to the Jets is some rare good news for the Newcastle club. Sasho is a proven striker, and I believe he offers a lot to any team in which he plays. As I have said before, he is a stager, he is clever, and despite his lack of pace, will get into scoring positions, and generally hit the target.
Fortunately, the Mariners have sufficient cover in the front line, particularly if Mrdja stays healthy.
The key concern at the moment for followers of the A-league is the extent of the one way traffic out of the competition.
This latest Smeltz controversy really demonstrates the need for Football Federation Australia to become active in the monitoring and enforcement of contractual arrangements between clubs and players, by exception of course, but particularly where the integrity of the system is at risk.
The overarching health of the A-League is the important thing here, and intervention from the governing body to protect and enforce contracts is vital to the survival of this young competition.
Players are not ignorant of contractual terms, as they employ professional agents to handle these things on their behalf.
As in commercial life, we all make these decisions about where we work, for how long and for how much. We are often bound by these decisions, and sometimes they turn out to be right decisions, and sometimes not. Football players are not special cases.
For Mariners fans its time to stop thinking about all this transfer wheeling and dealing, as it's elimination semi final time.
The odds are stacked against us both in terms of recent form and statistically.
I think the Mariners experience in finals football will come to the fore this Friday night. They will perform, and they will apply a lot of pressure to the Roar backline. The keys to the game for me are Craig Moore and Charlie Miller. They are Roar's big game players, and if Farina doesn't start Miller he is making a big mistake.
The Mariners to win the home leg 2-1 (and to draw away), on the back of a performance not dissimilar to their home semi win against Newcastle last season. A high intensity affair, where he who chokes first loses.
