Football Season Guide

Perth Glory

In


Luke Ivanovic (att), transfer from Brisbane Roar, Jonny Koutroumbis (def), transfer from Western Sydney Wanderers, Stefan Colakovski (att), transfer from Melbourne City, Matthew Hatch (mid), transfer from Central Coast Mariners, Salim Khelifi (mid), transfer from FC Zurich, Mustafa Amini (mid), transfer from Sydney FC, David Williams (att), transfer from ATK Mohun Bagan, Ryan Williams (mid), transfer from Oxford United, Mark Beevers (def), transfer from Peterborough United, Ben Azubel (att), transfer from Hapoel Ra'anana, Aaron McEneff (mid), transfer from Hearts, Keegan Jelacic (mid), transfer from Olympic FC, Zach Duncan (mid), transfer from AGF.

Out


Brandon O'Neill (mid) (k), transfer to Newcastle Jets, Carlo Armiento (att) (sp), transfer to Brisbane Roar, Daniel Stynes (mid) (sp), transfer to Newcastle Jets, Callum Timmins (mid) (sp), transfer to Newcastle Jets, Jonathan Aspropotamitis (def) (r), transfer to Macarthur FC, Osama Malik (mid) (sp), transfer to Odisha FC, Joshua Rawlins (def) (r), transfer to FC Utrecht, Darko Stanojevic (mid) (sp), transfer to FK Loznica, Andy Keogh (att) (r), retired, Kosuke Ota (def) (sp), released, Daniel Sturridge (att) (k), released, Nicholas Fitzgerald (att) (sp), released.

Club is a bit of a disaster zone at the moment. Made huge financial losses due to Covid-19 over the past two seasons; barely managed to play any of their home matches in Perth. Revamped upstairs behind the scenes. Now hit with a new problem; can't play at HBF Park in Perth whilst it's being revamped, at least not until March at the earliest, meaning 10 out of 13 home matches will be played at Macedonia Park, Stirling (which is still in Perth) - and the state of the pitch there is unclear at present, hence starting the season with 5 consecutive away games. It will be a gruelling start for the new-look team, and one they're not likely to embrace, traditionally struggling away from home as it is due to the distance. Ins - Some really impressive captures, especially Ryan Williams in midfield. Koutroumbis is a solid replacement for Rawlins. Ivanovic - if they can keep him fit - will be an excellent pressing forward. Hatch and Khelifi bring lots of speed, and the latter is a good dribbler. Amini is a fantastic signing; keeps the ball moving fast, not afraid to get stuck in, and is technically gifted; could become a legend in Perth. Colakovski is a knife-edge signing; not good enough for City, but could be what Glory need. Some real wildcard signings like Azubel, Duncan and McEneff. David Williams is a curious signing; made his living off his speed as a striker, but is now 34 - never been the best of finishers, either. Outs - Everybody knew about Rawlins leaving a long time ago; not a big problem. Malik - good riddance to an overrated player. Stanojevic was never given a chance by Zadkovich. Fitzgerald was always a temporary move. Ota lost his place. Sturridge never got fit. Keogh lost his nerve in front of goal and had bad injuries. O'Neill, Armiento, and Stynes could prove to be big losses but it's hard to say because of Armiento's injury problems and the way in which Glory have now reinforced their midfield. A real 'crazy gang' feel to this team. Due to an unbelievable amount of injuries last season, the late introduction of Zadkovich as manager, and barely managing to play any matches in Perth, there's an awful lot of unknowns about this time. Because of starting the season off with so many away games after making so many pre-season changes, a bad start would be logical. However, they're also going to spring a lot of surprises, and by no means is this a bad team. The jury is still out for them as to where they're going to finish. On paper, it looks a really solid, hard-working team with good organisation, lots of fighters in the middle, great overlapping wide threats, and several match-winners in attack. Arguably the best GK selection in the country too. Likely key players - Ryan Williams, Amini, Lachman, Fornaroli.

Target


After last season, 3-7 would be perfect for them. 5-8 more likely, given the circumstances.