Adelaide United are currently in sixth place, five points ahead of the Newcastle Jets and face a huge final month of the season to ensure a finals berth.
In the background to their dealings on the pitch, controversy has been surrounding the club in recent weeks over the decision not to renew Marco Kurz’s contract beyond next season and rumblings about the club’s ownership.
Speaking on Evenings On FNR, the Adelaide Advertiser’s Val Migliaccio admitted “we’re still in the dark” on the goings on of Adelaide’s ownership and said that FFA boss David Gallop has told him that the topic would be re-visited.
One thing that the ownership of the Reds is looking to put in place is a contingent of Chinese players to grow their club both on and off the pitch.
The Chairman of Adelaide United Pete van der Pol has said that the actual people behind it prefer to remain anonymous at this stage
“He’s (Adelaide United Chairman Piet van der Pol) always said since day one that he wants to bring Chinese players out here because obviously the market would be good for them,” Migliaccio said.
“It’s also part of a plan for their club to get them in here and start using the transfer market which is probably underutilised in the A-League.”
The current average wage of a player in the Chinese Super League is $1.4million, meaning that Adelaide are “going to have to spend some money” in order to lure their targets from China, Migliaccio said.
On the future of Kurz, Migliaccio said the German “hasn’t been short on offers” as he looks towards his future post-Adelaide United, with the Reds now linked with Dutchman Alex Pastoor.
“I do know that they’ve conducted a bit of research on him (Pastoor), and Craig Goodwin played under him at Sparta Rotterdam,” Migliaccio said.
Adelaide face a big final five games in order to clinch a spot in the top six, starting with a visit to a “rejuvenated” Central Coast Mariners outfit this weekend after their appointment of former Matilda’s manager Alen Stajcic.
The Reds have managed just two points from their last five games, netting only two goals in the process, and Migliaccio conceded “they’ve got a lot of injury problems” with Jordy Thomasen and George Blackwood both under fitness clouds for this weekend’s game.
“They are depleted but I think Marco Kurz will galvanise the team and I think they’ll get the three points,” Migliaccio said.
The game kicks off at Central Coast Stadium at 5pm AEST with the Reds looking to end a 300 minute goalscoring drought en route to an important victory.
