05 Oct Football Nation Season Preview: Wellington Phoenix

Overview:

It was a season to forget for the Wellington Phoenix, with impressive signings over the off-season period and on paper looked to have a pretty good team with plenty of depth. Headlining the Phoenix was the duo from Victory Kosta Barbarouses and Gui Finkler.
Wellington struggled to get a win in the first month of football letting in 10 goals and only scoring 1 from those games. The team simply didn’t gel, and after 9 weeks into the season Ernie Merrick quit as coach, with Chris Greenacre and Des Buckingham taking over an already out of form team.

Phoenix failed to get anywhere near the six last season, and finished a disappointing 7^th after a solid final 2 months of football which saw them win 3 games, draw 2 and lose 2 but competitive nonetheless.

The only shining light for the Phoenix in a dismal season was Roy Krishna doing great work up forward, netting 12 goals for the season.

Wellington will welcome new coach Darije Kalezic to the Nix for season 2017/18, as he has the task to turn this outfit into a competitive team.

Ins and Outs:

INS: Scott Galloway, Ali Abbas, Goran Paracki, Dario Vidosic, Daniel Mullen and Andrija Kaludjerovic

OUTS: Roly Bonevacia, Shane Smeltz, Jacob Tratt, Glen Moss, Vince Lia, Kosta Barbarouses and Alex Rodriguez

Wellington lose so much experience including former striker Shane Smeltz who has headed over to play for Borneo FC in Liga 1, Smeltz had a disappointing season returning to the Nix scoring only 3 times from 12 games.

Longtime keeper Glen Moss heads to Australia after five seasons with Wellington to play for Newcastle this season.

Kosta Barbarouses stint at the Phoenix was very brief, as he has headed back to reclaim his number 9 spot at Melbourne Victory after a lacklustre season, and youngster Jacob Tratt will be playing for the Phoenix reserves.

Positive signings for the Phoenix including former Victory and Mariners Full Back Scott Galloway and Iraqi winger Ali Abbas who returns to the A-League after a stint with the Pohang Steelers, as an injury replacement for Louis Fenton.

Dario Vidosic will be a welcome inclusion, with the attacking midfielder heading to the Phoenix to play under Kalezic and his father Rado Vidosic who is the assistant coach. Vidosic will bring his A-League experience after stints at Brisbane Roar, Adelaide United and Western Sydney Wanderers to this outfit, and will return after a few stints in Asia over the last 12 months.

Prediction:

 Can Darije Kalezic bring respect back to New Zealand football? It has been a disappointing few years for the Phoenix under Ernie Merrick, so it is time to hopefully rebuild this team.

Wellington lose plenty of experience, but get plenty of A-League experience, their defenders and midfield is going to look pretty good as the season progresses, the problem still lacks in the engine room of the front third.

Roy Krishna will want to score more than 12 goals this season, but will find it tough without a second flanker to assist him when he needs it, and goals will be hard to come by for the Phoenix. I can see them scoring the least amount of goals out of all the clubs this season, and will bottom out this time around.

2017/18 Prediction: 10^th