June has been a month of change for many Hyundai A-League clubs.
While some teams are trying to tweak their winning formulas, others are hitting the reset button and rebuilding from the ground up. One team is even starting from scratch!
Here we pick out one incoming player for each Hyundai A-League side and ask you to choose which one was the best deal during the month of June.
Sorry Adelaide United and Melbourne Victory fans, it’s time for your clubs to get busy!
Roy O’Donovan (Brisbane Roar)
Adam Taggart hit red-hot form during the 2018-19 season, scoring 11 goals in 18 games, but when his time at Suncorp Stadium ended, effectively, so did Brisbane Roar’s season.
New head coach Robbie Fowler has bolstered the ranks in defence and midfield but a strong spine is worth little if there isn’t somebody putting the ball in the back of the net.
O’Donovan has proved his pedigree at the Central Coast Mariners and Newcastle Jets. The Roar need a Fowler-like poacher if they are to be contenders next year. O’Donovan can be that man.
https://players.brightcove.net/5519514571001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5981303261001
Jai Ingham (Central Coast Mariners)
Following the shame of an 8-2 mauling at the hand of the Central Coast Mariners last season, coach Alen Stajcic came in and steadied a sinking ship with no new personnel at his disposal. Now, the former Westfield Matildas coach has added his own pieces and Ingham could be the pick of them.
The speedy Kiwi winger showed flashes of brilliance at Melbourne Victory, scoring three times in the Asian Champions League and netting against Italian giants Juventus in a pre-season encounter.
Despite racking up 52 Hyundai A-League appearances for Victory, Ingham could not hold down a regular place in Kevin Muscat’s side in 2018/19. No doubt the 25-year-old will be a big part of Stajcic’s plans in Gosford and he will be determined to show Victory what they are missing.
Craig Noone (Melbourne City)
New head coach Erick Mombaerts has promised a new-look Melbourne City and key to this fresh, distinctive identify could be English playmaker Craig Noone.
With Riley McGree returning to Club Brugge in Belgium following seven goals and four assists in 2018/19, the 31-year-old, former Premier League attacking midfielder has the attributes to fill McGree’s boots.
Cardiff City reportedly paid £1million for Noone in 2013. With more than 380 appearances in English football, Noone’s experience and ability to unlock opposition defences could be vital for Mombaerts to put his new City blueprint in action in 2019/20.
Nick Fitzgerald (Newcastle Jets)
Newcastle’s disappointing 2018/19 season ended with a silver lining as a plethora of Jets young guns shined in back-to-back wins, including a 6-1 triumph on the road against Brisbane Roar.
For those rising stars to reach their potential, they will need guidance and mentoring by more experienced heads and new arrival Nick Fitzgerald could be one to show them the way in the Hunter.
The 27-year-old has tallied up 174 Hyundai A-League appearances for four different clubs and, after a stop-start 2018/19 with Western Sydney Wanderers, Fitzgerald will look at add thrust to the Jets’ attack in 2019/20.
https://players.brightcove.net/5519514571001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5835633889001
Nicholas D’Agostino (Perth Glory)
With the arrival of Bruno Fornaroli confirmed and Diego Castro, Chris Ikonomidis and Andy Keogh already on site, Perth Glory head coach Tony Popovic is spoiled with an array of attacking riches in Western Australia.
Nicholas D’Agostino could add even more sparkle to a dazzling Perth Glory front line.
The 21-year-old Olyroo fired a double the 2-2 draw against Korea Republic which booked Australia’s place in the AFC Asian Under-23 Championship and stepped up his game in 2018/19, making 17 Hyundai A-League appearances for Brisbane Roar.
With Castro in the twilight of an iconic career, the 36-year-old may one day pass the torch to D’Agostino if the Sydney-born forward take his game to the next level.
Kosta Barbarouses (Sydney FC)
As if the 6-1 Hyundai A-League semi-final thumping wasn’t punishment enough for Melbourne Victory fans, Sydney FC rubbed salt in those still wide-open wounds by sealing the shock signing of Kosta Barbarouses.
Barbarouses formed a formidable partnership with Swedish marquee forward Ola Toivonen in 2018/19 with the Kiwi recording a career-best 15 goals, taking his all-time Hyundai A-League tally to 60.
The thought of the 29-year-old pairing up with 18-goal striker Adam Le Fondre, with service from marquee playmaker Milos Ninkovic, is a mouthwatering one for Sky Blues’ fans. As if being Champions isn’t good enough.
https://players.brightcove.net/5519514571001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6015416445001
Stefan Marinovic (Wellington Phoenix)
It’s never easy to sign an international goalkeeper in the peak of his career but Wellington Phoenix have pulled off just that by luring All Whites number one Stefan Marinovic to the Hyundai A-League.
Since leaving Waitakere United 10 years ago, the 27-year-old’s career has taken him from Germany to Canada, with a brief stop in the English Championship thrown in, but in 2019/20 Marinovic will play professionally in his home land for the first time.
After new Western United shot-stopper Filip Kurto set the bar in Wellington last year, Marinovic has the quality to keep those standards sky high. Plus, having a top-quality Kiwi in goal opens up an additional overseas player slot to strengthen the Nix’s outfield.
Pirmin Schwegler (Western Sydney Wanderers)
Western Sydney Wanderers head coach Markus Babbel has been in and around the Bundesliga for the best part of 30 years. If anyone knows the German top flight, it’s him.
And Pirmin Schwegler is no lower-division journeyman. The Switzerland international has played regular Bundesliga football in 12 of the past 13 years. During that one year away, Schwegler was leading Eintracht Frankfurt back to the big time as club captain following their relegation in 2011.
The 32-year-old will bring elite-level quality, steely determination and leadership to the Wanderers midfield in the Hyundai A-League 2019/20. After starting 25 games for Hannover 96 last season, Babbel has pulled off a coup to sign a player with more than 300 senior appearances under his belt and plenty left in the tank.
Scott McDonald (Western United)
Brand new buildings are built from the foundations and Western United have done just that by adding experience and depth among their goalkeepers, defence and midfield.
That will give them a platform but to make an impression in their maiden Hyundai A-League season, Mark Rudan’s side will need goals. Connor Pain and Apostolos Stamatelopoulos will bring energy, pace and power, but veteran frontman Scott McDonald is the man that United need to step up and lead from the front.
After a 20-year career in England and Scotland and more than 180 goals to his name, McDonald is set to run out in the Hyundai A-League for the first time. The 35-year-old will write his name in Western United history if he can deliver.
https://players.brightcove.net/5519514571001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6034026631001
