Guess who's back....

Sydney FC and Vitezslav Lavicka showed us in season five that you can successfully defend your way to a title. Seeing that Gold Coast have the league leading defence that seems a good possibility....

The only problem is Sydney didn't have a team like Brisbane Roar tearing their way through the league. Defence can win titles but probably not in the face of such an overwhelmingly attacking team. Then to add to our forward inability, our captain Jason Culina is off on Socceroos duty and we seem to have collapsed in on ourself in his absence.

What is a coach to do when faced with losing his grip at the top? Hopefully he uses the January transfer window to refresh the team and give them that missing mojo. What better antidote to a team that has trouble scoring then bringing back its golden boot. Smeltz is back....Back again.....

Will he have the desired impact? Will he be match fit? In all honesty with GCU heading towards finals, I would expect Smeltz to have more of an impact in those last games of the season and into the finals. Couple that with Miron's new German midfielder Peter Perchtold, who has been drafted with intention of filling the void left by Culina. He has made his desire clear of emulating his former team mate, Roar's Thomas Broich, in becoming a key figure in the A-league and securing himself a permanent switch to the sunny Gold Coast.

So can these changes make the difference or get us into the top two?

The loyal fans of the GCU are banking on it. Through thick and VERY thin times they have turned up in all types of horrible weather to support the team. I have seen many a golden chance or cross slip by and pondered if Smeltz would have got on the end of that. I suppose that is the problem when a team loses such an influential player, just like what the team is experiencing with Culina missing at the moment.

For a team that has already shown it will be a contender this season, despite rarely ever having a fully fit first team to choose from, this should be a warning sign for opposition - and a shot in the arm for GCU's attack.