Kosta Barbarouses Has Returned To The Wellington Phoenix (Again)
The back half of last season made it clear that the Welly Nix were going to need to do some clever business in the transfer market in order to get them over the whole ‘winning a finals game’ hump. Not because the dudes they had weren’t good enough but because they didn’t have enough dudes to begin with. Crippling injuries limited the squad and kept them from getting any sustained momentum. After a seven-game unbeaten streak overcame a sloppy start, the Nix never again went more than two matches without a loss.
That win, loss, win, loss pattern was enough to get them into the finals despite all the hurdles they were up against but when push came to shove they were left stumbling for an equaliser that never came against Western United in the elimination match. For the last twenty minutes their three attacking imports - David Ball, Gael Sandoval, and Gary Hooper – were watching from the bench having been subbed off. Injury, tactics, and fitness played separate parts in those decisions yet the bottom line was that the Nix lost 1-0 and the wait for another club finals win goes on.
Being based in a separate country all season was always gonna be a hurdle. Having to deal with multiple covid outbreaks didn’t help either, especially not when it got to the stage when they were having to play a heap of midweekers in order to finish their fixtures on time. This for a squad that was already limited by injuries... not ideal. The responsibility fell upon academy grads to fill things out. Some of them did fantastic too, but it was all a bit much to overcome in the end.
Point being that squad depth is a massive priority for this team. If possible, squad depth with A-League experience. The Nix already have a great group of young, homegrown players pushing through into that first team picture but to take things further into the finals they probably need a couple more leaders on and off the park to set standards and drive performance. Some of that will take care of itself as the team hits up preseason with a mostly clear bill of health (though the long-term absence of Alex Rufer will be an issue). Some of that needs to be accomplished with clever signings.
The Phoenix made a great start to that quest when they convinced Steven Ugarkovic to bring his 167 games of ALM experience to the club. Here’s a bloke who can have an immediate impact in that problem area of midfield whilst Rufer remains sidelined (and also beyond that point). A one year contract for the 27 year old Aussie, who’ll be hoping the next time he plays in New Zealand the pitch is a little drier than he got at Eden Park recently...
Remember how the Nix were rolling out a Nick Pennington & Gael Sandoval midfield duo last term? That combination was a struggle. Poor positionally, too reckless in their passing, unable to control the game. Well, a Clayton Lewis & Steven Ugarkovic duo could still have its faults, we don’t know yet, but their faults shouldn’t be those faults. That’s a legit combo, fingers cross with Alex Rufer waiting in the wings at some point later in the season too. Also Pennington’s still there living and learning. Not to mention the possibility of Josh Laws or Sam Sutton in the midfield either.
Ugarkovic is the kind of signing this club very rarely makes: a legit starting calibre Australian local. Normally those types have offers from all over the league and thus a jaunt across the Tasman Sea tends not to be high on the priorities. Instead the Nix have had success targeting younger Aussie players, often through Ufuk Talay’s past connections with youth international footy in that country. Ugarkovic bucks that trend... and he made no secret of the reason why.
Steven Ugarkovic: “The big pull is Uffy as a coach. He’s someone I feel like I can learn under a lot from, on and off the field. His brand of football played an important role in my decision. Playing against Wellington, it’s always hard to break them down. They’re very structured and everyone knows what their job is. That’s what I like and that’s what I think I need to go to the next level.”
You really can’t overstate the importance of that. The Wellington Phoenix have a coach who is widely respected across the league, whose achievements are obvious in where he’s managed to get this Welly Nix team on the ladder despite the unprecedented hurdles of the last couple years, plus he has a clear tactical style and vision which players want to be a part of. It’s hooked in Steven Ugarkovic... and it’s hooked in Kosta Barbarouses too.
Yep, old mate Kosta’s coming back. Last seen suffering through one of the worst eight-minute All Whites cameos you’ll ever see as he came off the bench in the Costa Rica playoff where lost the ball about four times, lunged into a poor tackle after his last heavy touch, and eventually saw his yellow card upgraded to a red. It was a reckless tackle brought upon by pressure and desperation. Hardly the most decisive moment in the match (the AWs still bossed it with ten men) but still one which will no doubt be very raw for Kosta for a very long time. Hardly what a 52-cap international servant deserves. Football is cruel like that sometimes.
That’s got nothing to do with what he offers to the Phoenix though. Kosta Barbarouses, who is only 32 years old by the way, has played 272 times in the ALM scoring 77 goals. He’s won four championships across his career. Consistently played for quality teams and been a reliable performer throughout. He knows what it takes to win in this competition (the only player to have won the ALM with three different clubs). He’s used to playing in big games. Used to playing with expectation. Plus, conveniently, he’s also a hometown boy who got his start at the Welly Nix once upon a time.
Of course, there was that other time he played for the Phoenix. Back in the 2016-17 season, returning on a two-year contract alongside fellow offseason signings Gui Finkler, Marco Rossi, Adam Parkhouse, and Jacob Tratt. It was the campaign that’d prove to be Ernie Merrick’s final one in charge as the Scotsman resigned eight games into the league, having lost six of those games. Des Buckingham and Chris Greenacre saw out the next month with Buckingham taking over as sole interim from January onwards. The Nix finished seventh. Barbarouses asked for, and was given, an early release from his contract after only one year.
Needless to say that didn’t go down great with fans. Particularly after he’d had a subpar season himself, although clearly those things were related. At the time his departure was said to have a lot to do with his partner not enjoying living in Wellington and no doubt that was a factor but it was interesting to hear him immediately mention the footballing reasons for his 2017 exit when prompted at his re-introductory press conference.
In effect, he said that Phoenix team had lacked stability and structure. There wasn’t a cohesive style of play and the team failed to live up to the potential in the squad. Given most of the term was spent with an interim manager it’s hard to argue with those reasons, particularly if there were off-field issues as well. While it would have been nice if he’d seen out his contract, it’s too easy to scapegoat a singular player in those situations when the deeper issue was a club first failing to get the best out of a key signing and then failing to provide that signing with enough compelling reasons to stay.
Let’s also not ignore the fact that the club agreed to the release. Kosta asked for it but the club agreed. He was on big cash and hadn’t played very well at a time that the team was trying to rebuild (they’d hire Darije Kalezic as the next manager, an ill-fated tenure other than the fact that he gave Liberato Cacace a Nix debut). This wasn’t a snakes in the grass situation. A split was better for both parties.
That’s not the Phoenix team that Kosta is returning to. Under Ufuk Talay, the Welly Nix have consistently batted above their average and with such a young group there’s heaps of scope for improvement on top of that. They’ve found bargain after bargain in the transfer window. They’ve cultivated a positive, competitive team spirit which has allowed them to overcome a myriad of troubles in the covid era. And, similar to what Ugarkovic had to say, they’ve got a tactical and stylistic base that players want to be a part of. Stability. Structure. Cohesion. Those things exist for the Phoenix now. That’s what Kosta Barbarouses is returning to. The timing may have been wonky last time but it’s a different story now.
Oh yeah and you know that 4-2-2-2 shape that Ufuk Talay loves so much? That’s a system he picked up from his time as an assistant with Sydney FC. Uffie and Kosta didn’t overlap at the Sky Blues but there’s a shared tactical familiarity there. Barbarouses can slip into either of the front two lines, as a nine or as a ten, with no dramas whatsoever. Should be a simple case of plug and play.
Then on top of that the personal circumstances are different this time. He’s got a couple of kids, the youngest of which he says is yet to even meet his Wellywood whanau in person. There will probably still be a few folks who harbour some resentment over how he gapped it back in 2017, there always is, but the healing hands of time tend to take care of such things. To be honest a dude leaving early for personal reasons combined with a poor footballing fit during a time of chaos for the club... that’s hardly something to panic about. Four separate Johnny Warren Medalists leaving immediately after winning those awards is a little more of a problem.
The overwhelming memory of Kosta Barbarouses leaving last time was that he hadn’t been playing very well, therefore that money was better spent elsewhere. The overwhelming feeling about him returning is that the club is so much better placed to get the best out of him over the next two years and that his addition makes perfect sense. Here’s a guy with the kind of clever vertical movement that Jaushua Sotirio brought to the club... only with much better finishing ability. Also a guy with the technical nous to play as a winger/ten which allows for more tactical flexibility in the line-up – meaning you can still start Ben Waine and an import striker if you wanted.
Speaking of Ben Waine...
Ben Waine for the Wellington Phoenix (ALM): 65 matches, 14 goals
Kosta Barbarouses for the Wellington Phoenix (ALM): 46 matches, 7 goals
For a lad who has already had two stints with the club, Kosta never actually got up to a whole lot in the black and yellow, did he? Gotta think he also feels there’s some unfinished business there with the club he got his start at.
As it stands that’s 17 players and a manager signed up going into the 2022-23 campaign. Two out of five import spots have been filled (whether they use all five or not, dunno – they haven’t for the last couple years). There’s a minimum of three more signings needed to fill out the squad, a squad which includes Finn Surman and Oskar Van Hattum who are graduating to senior contracts after being on scholarship deals last term. Fully expecting a striker import and playmaker import. Probably need another defensive player, ideally a centre-back which would free Tim Payne up to be a full-time right back in the wake of Louis Fenton’s retirement. All things in good time.
The one spanner in the works would be if Oli Sail departs for an overseas gig. That chat doesn’t seem to be subsiding and, to be honest, he’s probably at the right stage in his career to be pursuing something like that. Not gonna get a better highlight reel than what he produced last term and he’s just emerged as the national team’s number one.
Sail’s still got a year on his deal so if he did leave it’d net a transfer fee for the Nix. They lost out on the gamble of paying a fee for Reno Piscopo as he’s just signed with the Newcastle Jets on a free. Didn’t develop quickly enough for the Nix to cash in on him in time. But a Sail transfer fee would come relatively soon after getting chunky fees for both Sarpreet Singh and Libby Cacace. On that note, they’ll presumably be due a small dividend from Cacace’s reported €3 million permanent move from STVV to Empoli. That’s close to NZ$5m so even a few percent in solidarity fees is a very healthy bonus, especially for a club that’s had four home games in two years.
So, you know, if an English Championship club or whoever comes calling for Oli Sail then there’s nothing much to do but accept the offer. It’s the best thing for his career and the money coming back could be kinda crucial. However that would mean needing to find a goalkeeping replacement in a relative hurry.
Alex Paulsen will turn 20 in a couple of weeks. As good of a male goalkeeping prospect as Aotearoa has produced in ages but is he ready for that pressure? Two of his three starts last season were 4-0 defeats. That one’s still up in the air. Alternatively you have to be careful not to sign someone who’d block the development of Paulsen, and even if Uffie’s fully on board with Paulsen as a 20yo starter then they’d still need a second goalie on the books per the roster rules.
A heap of kiwi goalies have had contract situations come up recently but those have basically all been resolved now. Stefan Marinovic has a new club in Israel. Max Crocombe triggered his option with Grimsby Town. Nik Tzanev remains contracted to AFC Wimbledon despite their relegation. Jamie Searle has signed with Barnsley. Michael Woud moved to Kyoto Sanga back in January. Zac Jones re-signed with Haverfordwest County in Wales. Some very good GK talent in the NZ National League who’d be available though an Australian stopper does feel a bit more likely under that hypothetical scenario.
All goods. They’ll figure something out. That’s the beauty about actually having a team that players want to play for.
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