A-League: Victory’s off-season signings put them in box seat

Melbourne Victory look to be the team to beat as the start of a new A-League season draws near.

Melbourne Victory’s star recruit Keisuke Honda. Picture: AFP

Tuesday’s tumultuous day for Australian soccer will ensure this will be the last season of the A-League as we have come to know it in recent times.

Certainly, if those who have pushed for major reforms of the sport in this country live up to their promises and all the hype, the ­national competition should have a stunning new look this time next year.

And the fix won’t be before time given the A-League has, in the eyes of many, become boring and stagnant, resulting in dwindling television and crowd attendances.

While there has been scant details so far of what the transformation will look like, we know it will break away from the apron strings of Football Federation Australia to become an independent organisation, along the lines as the English Premier League.

The clubs will have more control over the finances and a bigger say in how the league will be run. Can they, with the help of an independent board, do a better job than FFA? Time will tell.

And then there will be the expansion of the competition from 10 to 12 teams, an FFA process that is almost complete and should be decided by the end of the month.

Fans can’t wait for some new blood to be brought in, even if there are those who believe strongly that the competition has to be more inclusive and needs to look beyond “plastic franchises” and consider the benefits of traditional clubs from the National Premier Leagues.

But back to the present and what is unlikely to change as we move towards the October 19 kick-off for the A-League’s 14th season is Melbourne Victory’s domination.

It was said the Victorians were fortunate to win the championship last season, when they became the first side to do so from outside the top two on the ladder. A controversial goal in the 1-0 win over the Newcastle Jets in the grand final in May gave Victory a record fourth national competition title.

Surprisingly, online bookmakers Sportsbet have the Victorians a $5 second-favourite behind Sydney FC ($4). Those are generous odds given Kevin Muscat has done extremely well with his off-season recruitment.

In striker Ola Toivonen, a Swedish international with 64 caps to his credit and Japanese superstar Keisuke Honda, capped 98 times for his country, he has ­arguably two of the biggest and most influential signings of the season.

Add Spaniard Raul Baena, German Georg Niedermeier and a couple of useful locals in Corey Brown and Storm Roux, and you have a quality squad that more than makes up for the loss of the likes of Leroy George, Rhys Williams and Besart Berisha.

Rest assured Muscat will have his squad fired up, given he is looking to create history by becoming the first man to win three A-League titles.

Mind you, Victory will have a very big pack chasing them, in what looks to be an even competition where as many as eight of the 10 clubs can be regarded as genuine title contenders.

Sydney FC, Melbourne City, Newcastle, Perth Glory, Brisbane Roar, Adelaide United and Western Sydney will all fancy their chances. The Central Coast have opened the purse strings to sign Scottish striker Ross McCormack and Socceroo Tommy Oar.

The Mariners won’t be the easybeats of the past couple of seasons, though it is a stretch to think they can win the title, even if Usain Bolt is handed a contract.

It will be interesting to see how Sydney FC, the first team to win back-to-back Premiers Plates last season, cope under the new management style of Steve Corica, who has replaced the wonderfully successful Graham Arnold.

The Sky Blues lost some striker power when Adrian Mierzejewski and Bobo left but they have come up with a couple of exceptional replacements in Adam le Fondre and Dutchman Siem De Jong.

Englishman le Fondre has shown every sign that he will be a sensation in the A-League, impressing with his pre-season and FFA Cup form. Quick and skilful, he has a wonderful resume, having played in the EPL and scoring goals at every club he has been at.

With former Wanderers boss Tony Popovic now at the helm, Perth Glory will carry some big expectations as they chase their first A-League title.

Popovic has been one of the busiest in the recruitment market and has had a special emphasis on shoring up Glory’s defence by signing Matthew Spiranovic, Ivan Franjic, Tomislav Mrcela and Jason Davidson.

He also swooped to sign Socceroos attacker Chris Ikonomidis, who was superb during a short loan stint with the Wanderers last season.

Western Sydney have a new coach in former German international Markus Babbel, but the concern is they won’t have enough depth in their squad.

Newcastle under the guidance of the shrewd Ernie Merrick will be up there again, but the concern is that they have not strengthened with any key signings. They have been the quietest of all the clubs in the off-season.