Ins: Amaral (Grêmio Barueri, Brazil - 1 year), Eugene Dadi (Hapoel Acre, Israel - 1 year), Hayden Doyle (Niki Volou FC, Greece – 1 year), Frank Juric (Hannover 96, Germany - 2 years), Mark Lee (ECU Joondalup, WA - 1 year), Josip Magdic (Floreat Athena, WA - 1 year), Adriano Pellegrino (Metro Stars, Adelaide - 1 year), Adrian Trinidad (KL PLUS FC, Malaysia - 1 year)
Outs: Leo Bertos (Wellington Phoenix), Billy Celeski (Melbourne Victory), Simon Colosimo (Sydney FC), Stan Lazaridis (released), Mitchell Prentice (Sydney FC)
Re-signed: Jamie Coyne (2 years), Jimmy Downey (2 years), Jamie Harnwell (2 years), Jason Petkovic (1 year), James Robinson (1 year), Naum Sekulovski (1 year), David Tarka (1 year).
Analysis:
David Mitchell has searched far and wide in his first off-season as Glory coach, recruiting players from leagues in Brazil, Israel, Germany, England and Malaysia. His search has netted Ivorian and Argentine strikers, Eugene Dadi and Adrian Trinidad, a Brazilian midfielder, Amaral, and a couple of Aussies returning home, goalkeeper Frank Juric and defender Hayden Doyle. They have lost Simon Colosimo to Sydney, while the departures of Leo Bertos, Mitchell Prentice and Billy Celeski are further blows to their depth.
Pre-Season: Perth netted a couple of draws against Newcastle and Adelaide, but lost to eventual winner Melbourne. They scored just the one goal, in the opening match against the Jets and struggled to found rhythm among their new strikers.
Improvements: Mitchell will be all the better for having a whole pre-season with his new look squad. The decision to recruit Trinidad and Dadi could prove inspired, but could also back fire. The Glory need to find more goals this year, and the international pair could prove the key as could Nikita Rukavystya.
Concerns: Perth needs to make substantial improvement across the field from last year if it is to be competitive. While Mitchell has tried to add depth to his squad, the question remains whether he has the players to get results. With the exception of Rukavystya, they lack a player who can take control of the game.
Key player: Nikita Rukavystya. The big Ukrainian-born striker is the man who could lead the Glory up the ladder this season. He was excellent towards the second half of 2007/08, and while he is currently strutting his stuff in Beijing, he will be a big boost when he gets back.
Up or down?
About the same for the Glory. While Mitchell has improved the squad, the standard of the rest of the competition has improved as well. The goal drought during the pre-season is a sign that there will be a heavy reliance on Rukavystya to score. The young star is capable but he can't carry the load himself. The loss of their general, Colosimo, is a big one, and the bottom two spots looked the Glory's level for this season.
Adelaide United | Central Coast Mariners | Melbourne Victory | Newcastle Jets
Perth Glory | Queensland Roar | Sydney FC | Wellington Phoenix