Who is in the gaffer's bad books?
We've heard a lot of opinions about the limitations of the 20-player roster forced on A-League clubs. However, not much has been said about the putative dead weight lurking on quite a few of the squad lists. Following is a brief rundown of the non-injured, outfield players over the age of 20 who are yet to kick a ball in the A-League, starting with the most conspicuous:
- Alejandro Salazar (Sydney): even in extreme striker-less circumstances, Littbarski has shown no confidence in the former US college baller
- Steve Laurie (Sydney): no love from Litti for Laurie either; apparently he is bound for Scotland, where he must be pretty well connected
- Stuart Young (Perth): nobody's talking, but clearly Young has been the instigator/victim of some very bad blood with coach McMahon
- Daniel Vasilevski (Perth): made it to the bench, but seems surplus to McMahon's requirements
- Paul O'Grady (Central Coast): with semmingly no way past the Beauchamp and Clark blockade, the experienced defender may only get to see a smidgeon of action
- Frank van Eijs (New Zealand): the least media-exposed foreigner in the league has ... gone fishing?
While plenty of youth players, reserve goalkeepers and injured unfortunates have also failed to get on the park so far, in all likelihood their time will come. But for one reason or another, this rather 'exclusive' group of non-performers seem to have no such hope.
1 comment:
I noticed after writing this that Paul O'Grady similar to Mark Milligan and Harry Kewell has a hernia injury. And in their most recent match against Perth, the New Zealand Knights promoted Frank Van Eijs, who has also been injured, to the bench!
So is there a chance for Stuart Young yet? After Glory signed Mori, very doubtfully...
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