Football Season Guide

To show how far down the ladder Roar typically are nowadays, last season has to be considered as a success of sorts - because they avoided the "Wooden Spoon" award, which instead went to Perth Glory. Only a decent run of form at the end of the season allowed them to do so. Changes were required. As is customary at Roar, boss Zadkovich was axed (described as mutual termination) at the end of last season. It was harsh as they played well in 2025, and results improved toward the end of the season but they lacked composure in key moments at both ends. Michael Valkanis replaced him just a day or so later so it seemed like the writing was on the wall for Zadkovich either way. As always, they've made lots of pre-season changes but whilst spending the bare minimum. Some veterans and unconvincing youngsters have left. The only players that will be missed to some extent are winger Jelacic and attacker Berenguer-Bohrer - both match-winners. The latter was picking up too many injuries though, and they were never going to be able to keep Jelacic from a financial standpoint. They've brought in lots of unknowns from new boss Valkanis's time in Greece. They've also done some good business too though - centre-back Bility impressed on loan last season so now he's here permanently. Battling striker Ruhs, midfield engine Lauton, and experienced GK Bouzanis also arrived. Injury-prone McGarry could be a good signing if he can stay fit for a change. Cohesion will be a problem this season as they've had a lot of players come and go, irrespective of what they contributed. They've got a new style of play to master too. As always, there's potential for them to do fairly well but it probably won't be realised but they're without a goal-scorer. They did their level best to sign Asumah Abubakar for this season too (he did well last campaign) but it wasn't to be. Good news - talented CB Herrington will only leave for Colorado Rapids in January. The partnership between him and Bility will be important to them this season, especially in the early stages. Integrating newbies and scoring goals is still a problem though. As much as the Roar fans are excited, there's a real sense of deja vu at Suncorp right now - and not in a good way.