One of the more exciting prospects of the new A-League season is to see the new look New Zealand Knights, who i think will give the competition a shake. As an avid Melbourne fan i hope they are now able to knock of the likes of sydney and Adelaide, to give us a bit of a buffer. Lots of signings, and now the news of the signing of ex-Portuguese U/21, 26 yr old Dani Rodrigues
I dont know if I would go so far as to call them a dark horse, but they certainly look in much better shape than last season and should be competitive, really like the rodrigues signing.
I hope they do well. i felt a bit sorry for them last season. well overclassed. i think they will do a bit better this season and hopefully get a few wins this time. I think this season is gonna be very interesting. Go MVFC!!
I'd just be happy to see NZ pull a decent crowd. I think their average was like 3,000 or something miniscule like that. I feel sorry for them, because if they dont clean up their act and excel on and off the field i can see them eventually getting kicked out of the A-league.
I rated them last season but alot went wrong for them (Hay injury etc.) Fingers crossed they can get there act to get and knock over the Scum & Poofs every now and then. As long as they don't make the finals.
Everything went wrong for the nights last season. It was a farce - and unless there is a radical turnround in performance it will set NZ soccer back in the dark ages! Last season's squad was 3rd division, with a bunch of weak players with poor motivation. Th coaching was pretty average, and by the end of the year it was in full self-destruct mode (Danny Hay!!!!). Soccer is a bit of a joke (for a lot of people) here at the best of times, and last years Knights were a disgrace. No one wants to watch something that poor - would you pay good money to watch a load of rubbish? If the team starts to win, there is a chance of decent crowds (maybe 5000-8000). Having seen the preseason games so far, they seem 10 times better than last year. But that's not really saying much!! I think there is a chance of a decent finish this year - possibly even getting around the playoffs. Here's hoping!!!!!!!!!!
You'd want to get your act together. Neill & Lowy want 2 of: - Wollongong - Townsville - Canberra in the club in the next few years. If the Sheepshaggers don't lift their game you might get the ass with all those 3 of the sides brought in.
Guess it was a typo MVFC, not ignorance. FWIW, I'd take all 3 teams plus a 4th team (non-Melbourne Victorian), no matter what happens with the kiwis.
To be honest, I think our A-league survival is with the sponsors. If they want the advertising presence over here, I think that an NZ team will survive. There are 4 million Kiwis, (over 1 million in Auckland), and that compares well with a lot of Australian cities. That is why we are in the league in the 1st place. I'm sure there was no emotional trans-Tasman brotherhood thing!