It’s Polish Imports and Local Trialists Right Now For The Welly Nix
And another one. The Wellington Phoenix have doubled their tally of imports (excluding the established and hopefully imminently domesticated Roy Krishna) with the signing of Polish goalkeeper Filip Kurto. He joins Steven Taylor as the second new signing of the Mark Rudan era, with Sarpreet Singh also getting a deserved pay rise in between. Sweet as.
A little more on Filip Kurto: he’s 6’3 and 27 years old having most recently played for Roda JC in Holland. He was the backup keeper there last season so he basically just sat on the bench. He’s represented Poland at age levels up to the Under-21s and began his pro career in his home country with Wisła Kraków, winning a league title just as he was breaking into the senior squad in 2010-11.
He then left for more playing time in the Netherlands and appeared in more than 100 Eredivise games with Roda, Dordrecht and Excelsior – initially leaving Roda when they got relegated only to then get relegated with Dordrecht. He avoided that fate with Excelsior but lost his starting gig so he returned to Roda JC where, as already mentioned, he served as backup to Hidde Jurjus. But Roda got relegated too (his third relegation – good thing for him the A-League’s a franchise comp) so now here he is.
For Kurto this is an opportunity to start regular games, something he hasn’t really had for a few seasons. For the Phoenix it’s a pragmatic use of an import spot, prioritising a position which they struggled badly with last season. There was a Glen Moss-shaped hole in the squad after he left and none of the four keepers who each started at least four games last campaign did enough to prove they were up to it full time.
Ollie Sail and Keegan Smith are still with the club and their time may yet come, particularly the teenaged Smithy, but the Nix need to win now if they’re gonna save the franchise. You don’t win many games without a reliable keeper – it was no coincidence that all four of the semi-finalists at the World Cup had world class glovemen – so tightening up that position up with a dependable import who can teach Sail and Smith a thing or two makes good sense.
Like Steven Taylor, Filip Kurto also seems on first impression to be a competitive bugger who’ll go all in for the Nix, which is huge since '100% commitment' is not really something they got from all their imports last time. Kurto ain’t a guy with a fancy name, nor is he a guy with a fancy pedigree. But he’s a professional. He’s hopefully got the right attitude. Same as any signing you never know until you see them play, however goalies tend to deal with the slide between different standards of play more comfortably than outfielders, being such a specialist position and all. Think Stefan Marinovic going from lower leagues in Germany to a starting MLS player in a click.
The next rumour is that fellow Pole, Michał Kopczyński, will be following Kurto to Wellington. Nothing’s been confirmed yet but the rumours emerged in much the same way as the Kurto ones did… through foreign twitter chatter.
Kurto got a two-year contract, which seems ambitious by Nix standards, though Kopczyński will either be a single year or a season’s loan, not sure on these google translations tbh. But he’s an exciting one, a 26 year old defensive midfielder who’s been playing for the top team in Poland, the reigning champions Legia Warszawa. Other than a year on loan with a second tier club he’s spent his whole career with Warsaw.
Kopczyński appears to have been a fringe player for most of his career, only really getting an extended run in the 2017-18 season although that did happen to coincide with a Champions League group stage qualification meaning that this dude, not even joking, has played competitive games against both Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid. One of which being this absolute classic of a game… see if you can spot the blonde dude wearing number 15 in white.
He started last season as a first XI bloke but faded as the term went on, not featuring in a single game after the winter break and not even making the squad for the last eight league games. Safe to say he’s become surplus to requirements. Hard to guess what he brings to the squad at this stage but he’s a defensive midfielder so probably in the same vein as Goran Paracki. Dunno who it is with all these Polish connections but fair enough. Gotta get ‘em from somewhere and Mark Rudan has already stressed that he doesn’t want imports who aren’t significantly improving the standard of the squad so we may as well trust him.
The other thing he’s talked about is getting local blokes involved. It’s been frustrating that more Premiership players haven’t been offered an opportunity by the Nix in the past so at least we’re starting to see those players get more proactive in using the Prem as a launching pad. If the powers that be aren’t going to get it done then might as well go do it yourself. It’s strengthened the local national league having players come back from college in the States and use it as a stepping stone, having players go from there to playing professionally in the likes of Sweden, America, Holland, England and Germany.
That’s actually bit the Nix in the arse recently with Logan Rogerson leaving having barely heard a whisper about his future from the club he scored a couple goals for last season. Sorta seems like the implications from the headlines weren’t as drastic as the feeling from his actual quotes but you’d still think a previously contracted player and a youth grad would get a call or two about where his future lied. But all goods now, he’s about to sign for Carl Zeiss Jena. And James McGarry booked his next two years’ accommodation in the Netherlands with a move to Willem II. Max Mata’s trying to win a contract in Switzerland, Leon van den Hoven just signed one in Holland. All dudes who played heaps of Premiership last summer.
Plus there are the tales, as expunged upon last time, about one or two other Prem heroes who have declined the offer to trial in preference of chasing guaranteed deals. Same as the situation with Logan Rogerson, we’ve gotta accept that the Phoenix have not been the most stable organisation in recent times and that’s going to affect their ability to attract talent, especially the local dudes who are within hearing range of the NZ news cycle.
But here’s the thing: there are plenty more fish in the sea. Not a lot of kiwi players are going to be polished products, at least not the ones who are in signing range of the Phoenix, so if they trust their coaches and their ability to develop these lads then that increases the skill range that they’re looking within. Heaps of kiwi players fit that bill. Like, for example…
Also featuring in that game, a 1-0 win to the Nix, were trialists Te Atawhai Hudson-Wihongi, Joshua Wallen, Jack-Henry Sinclair, Joe Harris and Callan Elliot. Three of them Premiership players while Josh Wallen is an Aussie fella who’s captained the QPR 23s and Joe Harris a kiwi defender/midfielder who played in college in the States and was most recently seen in the lower leagues of Sweden.
Featuring in the previous friendly, a 2-1 win over Miramar Rangers, were Hudson-Wihongi, Sinclair, Wallen, Elliot, Justin Gulley and Andre De Jong. Then there’s the talk about Mitch Nichols hanging about. Much better than a couple weeks ago when there was nothing but silence when it came to filling out the skeleton of a squad that was left over from the end of the season.
As to who they sign and when they sign them, that’s a matter of being patient. Filip Kurto and Steven Taylor are locked in but until Michał Kopczyński pops up at a presser it’s best not to go counting chickens and all that. Stuff’s happening though. See how it goes.
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