Ozbey laments on Stallions season for 2008

Inconsistency from the Stallions has seen that chain of thought thrown to the curb weeks ago but you won?t find the 22-year-old hovering around the exit door at Fairfield just yet.
After making his debut with Sydney United in the defunct NSL as a teenager, the goal poacher has gone onto enjoy stints in the A-League with Sydney FC and Newcastle Jets as well as a host of leading state league clubs in the harbour city after first being discovered at Sydney Olympic.
“ In hindsight I could have done a few things differently but you can’t sit back and wonder what might have been,” he said when reflecting on his tumultuous A-League experiences.
“When I was with Sydney it was only a short term contract for the finals and I wasn’t sure of my future at the club under Pierre Littbarski.
“I thought things would be different up at Newcastle and I was excited to playing under Nick Theodorakopoulos but unfortunately we didn’t have the best start when he was in charge and he was shown the door.
“Gary Van Egmond came in and for whatever reason didn’t rate me.
“It was hard to take at first but I am not the type of player to get upset about things you can’t control.
“I had signed a two year deal but the club granted me a release after my first season and I was back home at the first opportunity.”
Upon his return, Ozbey linked up with Blacktown where he enjoyed instant success alongside the likes of Chi Chi Mendez and fallen Queensland Roar inaugural skipper Chad Gibson.
He was part of the mass exodus from Gabbie Stadium in the off-season after winning the double but revealed it came down to travel time, not the strength of the playing roster under Ken Schembri.
“That team last year was easily one of the best I have played in and to be honest would have wiped the floor of most teams in this year’s competition,” he said.
“I decided to link up with Marconi mainly due to logistics. It is a ten minute drive from my house and once I saw the squad they had signed I was confident we would give it a shake.
“We had a few blokes come onto the scene late and our pre-season was a disaster. I still thought we had the talent to turn it round in the season proper but we just haven’t been able to put it together.
“I can’t put my finger on why, it has been incredibly frustrating, mentally we just haven’t been good enough.”
In terms of his future, Ozbey has his eye on a third tilt in the A-League as well as abroad. 
“Originally my intention was to bang in a few goals with the Stallions which I was going to use as a springboard for higher honours,” he said.
“It hasn’t panned how I envisaged but that is how football goes sometimes.
“I would love another opportunity to show what I can do (in the A-League) and also to prove a few people wrong who have doubted me.
“I have time on my side and playing in Europe has always been a goal of mine.
“Strikers need to score goals and that is my immediate focus.
“You never know what the future holds but I would like to think I have proven myself over the past few years and coaches out there know what I can do.
“Hopefully I can finish off the year strongly with Marconi, have a big pre-season and come back raring to go in 2009.
“Where I will be playing is another question in itself but my determination to succeed is what drives me to be the best player I can be.”
-By Andrew Prentice