Football Season Guide

Did well in Talay's first season in charge, reaching the semi-finals only to be defeated by eventual Grand Final winners Central Coast Mariners. Arguably did better than any other A-League team in the transfer market pre-season, even managing to lure marquee signing Douglas Costa to the club. Keeping him fit will be tough but he's easily the best player in the division on his day so his presence alone should be enough to assure a title challenge. They needed to do something, though - they lost Mak pre-season, who was a big creative threat for them. Striker Gomes, CB Lacerda were both regulars too, and even Rodwell played when he could so they did lose regulars. Midfield controller Brattan was a big loss (yet one they embraced - they could have kept him), and Girdwood-Reich's departure was inevitable. They've made good signings though. Aside from Costa, playmaker Ouahim has joined - a great player for creating chances. After some toing and froing, they also managed to persuade Polish hitman Klimala to join, who will hopefully be a better fit than Gomes was. Popovic should slot in at CB - he knows the division well by now - and Sena should be another good option in the final third. Depth is likely to be their biggest enemy this season, particularly at CB and in CM. That said, Talay is big on bringing through youth players (hence Scarcella's loan to the Jets to get more game time) so Segecic and Lacey may see more games this season. Matthews is definitely ready for more game time, and is likely to start alongside Popovic - Gurd is good enough as understudy after his return from injury too. Still, it's not the end of the world, and they should do well this season, all things considered. Keep in mind that Amanatidis and Hollman are going to explode at some point, and that Burgess is ready for more game time too. This is a dangerous team, and they're managed by one of the best managers in the A-League too. Likely key players - Grant, Ouahim, Costa, Lolley.