The first few weeks of the offseason always go hard. You’re still coming to terms with the end of the previous term, especially if it ended in an abrupt playoff defeat, and all of a sudden it’s announcement after announcement of housekeeping squad chat. These guys are leaving, these guys have re-signed, these guys are stuck in limbo somewhere in between (until a couple days later when a fresh announcement confirms that they are, in fact, also leaving).

Fresh signings tend to come later so those contract extensions play an important role in maintaining fanbase optimism. Ensuring that it doesn’t just look like half the squad are bailing out at once, something sweet to balance out the bitter. So-and-so is re-upping for three more years, look at how loyal they are!

A lot of that work actually gets done during the season and it’s only later that rumours become confirmation. A couple of these Phoenix releases we’ve known were coming for weeks ahead of time. But it’s always super handy to get it all laid out on the table where we can stand back and assess where things are at. For the Wellington Phoenix heading into 2022-23, this is what that looks like...

Contracted for 2024-25: Sam Sutton, Tim Payne, Scott Wootton (I), Finn Surman, Oskar van Hattum, David Ball (I)

Contracted for 2023-24: Ben Waine, Ben Old, Alex Paulsen

Contracted for 2022-23: Alex Rufer, Oli Sail, Clayton Lewis, Joshua Laws, Callan Elliot, Nick Pennington

Fifteen players on the books, offering a solid covering of the pitch with their various positions. Got a couple of imports on lock there including David Ball who was already under contract for next season but just fulfilled the ‘balance things out after a heap of departures by re-signing a fan favourite’ quota by adding two more years to his deal. Good chunk of New Zealanders in the mix. They’ve got promising youngsters on board along with key established first teamers (with a couple dudes ticking both those boxes).

That’s a solid spine, a solid core in place to build outwards from... plus most importantly of all Ufuk Talay still has another year on his current deal. You know what that’s called? Continuity. Not something we’re all that familiar with as Wellington Phoenix fans yet here we are. Praise be to your preferred deity.

Let’s clean slate and assess the guys who’ve departed, because as jarring as it can be to see as many blokes as that gap it all at once it’s important to know that this is nothing to worry about. Nobody who’s left is irreplaceable, nobody who has left drastically alters the expectations of the team. Not so long as the recruitment side of things is taken care of and given the transfer track record of Ufuk Talay that’s something you can be cautiously optimistic about.

It’s an 11-man list of leavers, not including mid-season gapper Luka Prso who never actually played an A-League game. He got surpassed on the depth chart by guys like Ben Old and Oskar van Hattum and was let loose to play for Melbourne Victory instead... where he also played zero A-League matches. No harm no foul. The eleven departees: Louis Fenton, Gary Hooper, Jaushua Sotirio, James McGarry, Reno Piscopo, Gael Sandoval, Matthew Bozinovski, Kurtis Mogg, George Ott, and Luis Toomey.

Beginning with a retirement. Louis Fenton has hung up the boots at age 29, a little out of left-field but then at the same time every footballer is a unique case and this does feel like appropriate timing. Fenton has crammed a lot of footy in for a bloke who has had multiple shoulder reconstructions. Somehow he’s been able to cram in 158 ALM matches which places him fifth on the all-time Phoenix club list despite leaking more claret onto Australian soil than the Kelly Gang.

But let’s be honest here... Fents was coming off contract and was no guarantee to get another one. He fell out of favour when the team reverted to a back five with his attacking limitations not really translating to a right wing-back role. Meanwhile the experiment of Fenton on the left ended when he gave away two penalties in a 5-0 loss to CCM. He featured more off the bench than as a starter, with Callan Elliot and Tim Payne both preferred when they were available (or, in Payne’s case, not needed at CB). Towards the end of the season we even got RWB starts for Jaush Sotirio and Ben Waine with Fenton left on the bench.

None of that suggested he was about to get a fresh deal... although he still remained a dependable veteran who could do a job in a back four and would always put his body on the line. A solid backup. Combine that with being a great dude, fan favourite, and resilient role model and there were definitely reasons why the Nix might have still offered him a new deal. But it doesn’t matter because he didn’t want one. Best of luck to the man in his post-football life. We’ll always have the Archie Thompson interview.

Gary Hooper’s departure had already been announced a couple months ago. Unlike the rest of the free agents, he actually had another year on his deal but negotiated an early release for personal reasons. Fair enough. The thing with Hoops is that he’s clearly a great striker, probably more talented than anyone that the club can realistically find to replace him. But that’s not the point.

The point is that in two (non-consecutive) seasons with the club he only appeared in 35 matches and only 19 of those were starts. Incredible strike-rate as his 12 goals and 6 assists meant he produced a goal contribution every 98 minutes of action but when push came to shove he was injured for one finals elimination match and only lasted 54 mins in the other. There’s absolutely no doubt that the club will chase an import striker to replace this import striker. The Phoenix might not find a better centre forward than Super Hooper... but surely they can find a more reliably fit one. The best ability is availability.

Next up we’ve got Jaushua Sotirio and James McGarry who, if the rumours are true, are both planning on signing with the Newcastle Jets. Sotirio will be a loss. He’s coming off his best season in the A-League in which he finally commanded regular starts and responded with 6 goals and 3 assists. His pace in behind gave the team a direct threat that nobody else in the team could really offer and was crucial to a lot of their best performances. Imagine thinking that when he first signed with the club.

Sotirio’s problem is his consistent inconsistency. Superb at getting into dangerous areas and terrible at doing much once he gets there. This season he made huge strides in that department but he’s always going to be a guy who can frustrate as much as he thrills. Can’t say the Nix have sold high on him since he’s leaving on a free... but also it’s debatable whether he can produce more than he did this past term. Having said that, what he produced was pretty bloody handy and you can guarantee that Uffie will be targeting a speedy, direct forward to replace him. They absolutely need that vertical threat for their counter-attacking prowess. 14 goals in 65 WPX appearances for Sotirio. Very decent output, all things considered.

As for McGarry, he’s fallen behind Sam Sutton in the left-back stocks and presumably got offered a better chance of being a starter elsewhere so you can’t blame a bloke for leaving. He certainly had his moments returning to the Nix after a couple years in the Netherlands with Willem II, where he was on the fringes of Eredivisie football. At times it felt like he was so close to figuring it all out.

Defensively he’s had some teething issues but he’s clearly got the skills to be a powerful attacking left-back only he’s struggled to put ninety minutes of threatening stuff together. Sam Sutton had 1 goal and 3 assists in 1737 mins compared to McGarry with 0 goals and 1 assist in 854 mins. It’s clear that Sammy Sutts is the more effective player... yet maybe a change of scenery is exactly what McGarry needs to take his game to the next level. Signing with an Aussie club would mean being listed as an import so you know he’s not being recruited lightly. Very excited to see how that goes for him.

Then we’ve got Reno Piscopo. It was initially announced in vague terms that he was still considering his options... then a couple of days later it was confirmed that he would be signing with an as-yet-unnamed A-League rival instead. Which, look, are you surprised? The man was recruited here from Italy, he gave the Nix three seasons of his career, saw out the entirety of his contract, now wants to move back to Aussie. There’s no disloyalty there. There’s no scandal. He completed his contract and is moving on.

Piscopo is a strange player because, to be honest, it feels like his reputation outweighs his production by a considerable margin. Sure he’s got mad skills and the ability to get folks up off the couch but 8 goals and 6 assist from 58 appearances is hardly worth begging over. Plus he doesn’t really track back like others do. Piscopo’s elimination finals performance against Western United was one of his best ever for the club, playing with a level of intensity and urgency that kept him a constant menace but that did also sorta highlight that he didn’t always bring that urgency in other games. Bottom line is that he simply didn’t offer enough goals or assists compared to his obvious talent.

Gonna say the quiet part loud here: Jaushua Sotirio is a bigger loss for the team. The stats back that up too. It would have been lovely to have Piscopo back for a fourth season and perhaps that would have been the one in which it all clicked and he delivered the final product to suit his potential... but nothing about what he did in his last three years was irreplaceable. Like, just keeping it hundies here. Soritio > Piscopo.

Gael Sandoval’s on his way out too. He was only in town on loan and his parent club contract with Chivas runs through until the end of the calendar year though doubtful that would have been a hurdle if the Nix were willing to sign him up permanently. Surely an early release could have been negotiated. The bigger factor is that while Sandoval had a wonderful impact on the team initially, his influence faded as the season went along and despite being rested for the final regular season game Sandoval was still hooked after only 54 mins in the elimination final. The earliest he was ever replaced.

Fatigue was probably a factor for a guy who started all 20 of his appearances including having to play in midfield down the stretch. His 6 goals and 5 assists were huge but the thing about import players is that there’s a whole world of guys to choose from and in the end it seems the Phoenix decided that they can probably find someone better.

Nobody really cares about Matthew Bozinovski leaving. He was only there on loan from Melbourne Victory to fill out the numbers. Made it into the matchday squad on 16 occasions but only got 10 minutes of on-field action, usurped in the depth chart by Finn Surman. The Nix did initially want to sign Bozza on a permanent basis and if they’d managed to then he may have gotten to kick more footballs in anger but as it is he did his year’s service and is heading back to Melbourne now, so it goes.

Also better chuck those youngsters who filled out the squad on scholarship deals: Kurtis Mogg, George Ott, and Luis Toomey. All three have been let loose now that the season has come to an end. It was either that or sign them up on senior deals, of which there are only 23 spots to go around and there’s already a chunk of prospects filling out places.

Henry Gray, Riley Bidois, and Jackson Manuel aren’t subject to that same fate because they’re still under 20yo and can just slide back into the WeeNix system with nothing to worry about. The other three blokes weren’t so fortunate. Mogg and Ott were with the squad for the entire time. Mogg only played FFA Cup, Ott did get a couple spare subs apps in the A-League but nothing substantial and was overlapped by Riley Bidois towards the end. Toomey joined midway through the season, at the same time as Bidois, and only made one matchday squad. All three are good players with fascinating futures ahead but the Nix can’t keep everyone so they’ll just have to take these experiences and continue their footballing journeys elsewhere. Such is life.

Definitely a few hits there amongst all that. In an ideal world, guys like Hooper, Piscopo, and Sotirio would’ve re-upped and delivered their best footy next season for a much more stable Nix team that’ll actually get a fair allotment of home games. But it’s not like they won’t be replaced. And as already detailed there are certainly areas in which their replacements can improve upon them.

Also hey check this out. It’s a graph of the minutes leaders for the Nix last season with the yellow bars reflecting players still under contract and the black bars reflecting those who’ll be leaving. Note how the majority of the most used players last term are all returning...

All things considered that’s a pretty decent rate of retaining.

Then to add to this eerily sturdy position that the club finds itself in, not having to rebuild the roster from near-scratch or replace their most important couple players again, David Ball’s gone and signed that two-year extension. Hopefully that’s not the end of it either. Clayton Lewis should be barging down David Dome’s office door asking for a new deal next and Domey oughta give it to him on the spot. Alex Rufer may have to be more patient if he wants something more secure given his injury but he should at least be in similar consideration too. Not sure they’ll be able to convince Oli Sail to sign another one given his ambitions to play in Europe but even still it looks like as long as Ufuk Talay is around this team is going to have some surprisingly commendable continuity from year to year. Living the dream.

David Ball has a little bit of the Reno Piscopos about him in that his reputation arguably outweighs his production... but that depends on how you look at it. 14 goals in 73 games certainly ain’t what you hope for from an import forward, Ben Waine came through the academy and has as many goals in eight fewer games (and he’s played waaaaay more off the bench than Bally has). However that’s because David Ball is not a pure goal-scorer. He probably should have more bangers than he’s got however that’s not how he should be judged.

David Ball is an expert facilitator and when he’s at his very best is when he’s able to play second fiddle to someone like Gary Hooper, Ulises Davila, or Gael Sandoval. Give him someone to play off of like that and he’ll make excellent decisions and set up a heap of chances. Ask him to initiate those moves himself and you get a guy constantly being tackled, having shots blocked, and being pushed out wide. To use another musical metaphor, he’s the rhythm guitarist not the lead guitarist. Bob Weir not Jerry Garcia, right?

Plus of course in David Ball you’ve also got a leader both on and off the pitch, someone with an unstoppable workrate, someone who sets the tone of how to be a professional for all those academy grads, someone who literally played through the pain barrier last season. A guy who loves the team and is committed long term – this is his second contract extension. In fact in the press release he was quoted as wanting to hang around long enough to qualify for All Whites eligibility... not sure if that’ll ever happen but you have to rate the dedication.

As far as import players go there are more talented guys out there, let’s not kid ourselves. Plenty more goes into a successful football squad than just pure talent though and David Ball makes others better around him. With Bally and Scott Wootton in place for at least the next two seasons and local leaders like Tim Payne and hopefully Lewis/Rufer hanging around this club is in a pretty nice place moving forward even if they’re unable to retain Ufuk Talay beyond next season.

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