Junior Development Needs To Be Accountable

I was doing some back reading on the FFV website and came across the section on the V>Elite program.

For those of you who aren’t aware of the program, the FFV initiated a elite junior program late last year for 11-14 year olds. The idea behind the program was to take the top junior talent across the state and provide them with specialist training over the summer months (December to April). For this inaugural year 75 players were accepted into the program (Boys and Girls).

The program overall is a fantastic initiative by the FFV. But what caught my interest however was a little stat buried in the selection criteria for the program. One of the initial key entry criteria was to be able to be to successfully complete 50 juggles left, 50 juggles right, 50 juggles head. The FFV had determined this measure to be world’s best practice after reviewing programs across Europe. However as only 0.3% of trailists were able to successfully complete the measure the FFV had to downgrade the selection criteria to 50 successful juggles in at least one area.

To put that figure in perspective that means only 3 in every 1,000 trailists were successfully able to complete the original ‘World Best Practice’ measure. Not exactly a flattering statistic.

What I would really like to know is how many of the 75 V>Elite participants can now successfully complete this measure. What I am referring to of course is where are the measures to judge how successful the program has been. I would like to believe that the FFV have monitored the improvement of the V>Elite players throughout the program and it would be useful to see published a set of metrics around the program to judge how successful it has been.

Also hidden among the Future Trails information is this

“…In a bid to lift the standard of footballers across the state, helpful hints and guidelines will be available soon to aid coaches and players to further develop potential and prepare for the next year’s trials…“

My understanding was that originally the FFV intended to roll out an online skills database and tracking program that would allow young players the ability to track their improvement online. With such a poor performance in the juggling measure it is a pity that such a initiative hasn’t come to fruition.

Over the last year I have seen countless articles that talk about improving the technical skills of our juniors. Small Sided Games was a huge step in this direction and coach education seems to be getting a lot of attention at the moment. However until we hold the junior clubs accountable for the skills of the players they are delivering change will be slow or non-existent.

The FFV (and FFA) need to put in place measures that will ensure that coaches and clubs are focussed on the right things. All Juniors should be assessed at the beginning of the season with a national skills test and re-assessed again at the end. These assessments should go into a national database and club ratings publish (just as school ratings are). Maybe then clubs will be accountable for the skills that they are teaching our kids.

,

FFA Should Stick With Summer

I am generally a fan of Scott McIntrye’s blog but his latest posting is way off the mark. Sometimes you really do have to wonder if the folks at SBS are locked in the past.

Scott seems to be suggesting that the FFA needs to re-look at the timing of the A-league with a view to move the League back to a winter competition. I couldn’t think of anything more absurd. One of the major reasons for the success of the league to date has been the alignment of the League to the Europe Calendar and the resulting Summer timing here in Australia.

And what does Scott use as the major reason for the decision? The introduction of Townsville may result in a need for them to play the majority of their games at an 8:00pm or later timeslot to avoid the heat and humidity that will be present during summer up there. I don’t think Townsville are going to complain too much if all their home matches from November onwards are scheduled for a Friday/Saturday Night at 8:30pm.

Of course the AFC Champions League entry issue is one that causes concern. The fact that the AFC closes entry to the league in December is a problem that impacts us but the solution is not to change our league timings. Rather we should be working with the AFC to change their entry rules to allow for a later draw. If Japan do change their league timings this will only help to convince the AFC to take a look at this and I am sure we will find other leagues following the Japanese lead.

To me the positives in a summer league far outweigh the negatives.

To date the FFA has been able to position the timing of the league to perfectly to coincide with a finish before the AFL/NFL season kicks off and thus are able to maintain a reasonable level of exposure at the pointy end of the season. But I fear a move back to winter would once again place our sport on the periphery and result in us becoming invisible. There is also the question of stadiums. At the moment with the timing of the league nearly all teams enjoy exclusive use of their stadium during summer, a move back to winter would be a backward step in playing conditions as pitch conditions are impacted due to the sharing.

Now there is no doubt that a 10 team league will present some challenges for the FFA as this will likely result in the need to conclude the competition after the AFL/NRL seasons have kicked off. I feel though that we would still be better off targeting the culmination of our season for a March finish rather than going head to head with them.

Scott touches on the other major benefit of an August to March timing though he doesn’t give it enough importance. The ability to align our season with Europe transfer windows allows us to position ourselves as a launch pad to Europe and ensures that the clubs get a clear run at obtaining and keeping players for the season. As our league grows and develops we should see more and more quality players willing to come here if they believe it is a pathway to Europe.

A summer league positions us well in a crowded market place. If as expected the TV rights increase significantly when they become available again in 2013 this will be due in main to the summer timing. We also get a clearer run at sponsors in summer when we are not competing against AFL and NRL clubs for the corporate dollar.

Finally a summer league encourages bigger attendances. Like it or not the warmer weather and the lack of AFL/NRL to compete against means that the crowds are bigger. Families are more likely to take their children along to a match on a 24oc 5:00pm start than a 11oc night here in Melbourne. Sure the weather is not true to the history of the game but I couldn’t care less if it continues to result in crowds of 30,000 at Telstra Dome (and soon the new Swan Street Stadium).


For me there is no discussion to be had here and hopefully the FFA concur.

,

Nice To See You Again

Like an old friend you haven’t seen for a few months it is invigorating to see that football is back (even if it is only the preseason). It would be nice though if we, the supporters, could actually get some coverage of the matches.

Once again No TV, No Radio and now Melbourne Victory seems to have dispensed with their text Updates. In this Information Age it is unacceptable that a football club like Melbourne Victory (or any A-league Club for that matter) could not organise for somebody to post live text updates onto their website. The FFA are missing an opportunity here, they should be embracing the internet as a form of media and using this preseason comp to build interest in the season proper.

As we have seen throughout the first three seasons of the A-League the first two months of the season can be a challenge in getting the traditional media outlets interested. With the AFL, NRL and ARU all building towards finals the build up to the new season gets lost in the clutter and we are lucky to get a small article here and there.

But rather than use this to explore other avenues the FFA seems determined to sit back and wait for the ‘winter’codes to finish. They seem to accept that the media is not interested and are willing to allow this quiet build up.

Surely the internet presents an opportunity to self promote the game. With a few small initiatives we can build our own buzz. Why not :

1. Allow all clubs more creative access to their Websites.
With the need to brand the new leaque, the heavily controlled websites were a nessescity. It ensured a common approach and look across the league. But it is now time to hand back some of the control to the clubs. Still mandating a template and style is a good idea but clubs need to be able to add media and club content.

2. Media Content
If the media are not interested with what is going on within a club the fans sure are. All clubs need to have a media plan for their internet sites. Lets get some player interviews up there. What about a manager’s weekly chat or maybe even a fan’s corner where some supporter created content could be published.

3. Match Reports
In this information savvy world surely the FFA and clubs can do better than a plain old text match report. Let’s get some reasonable cameras along to the games and get some footage of the preseason. Just because Foxtel chooses not to cover the game surely that shouldn’t stop the league at least getting some highlights up to the sites.


There are probably several other ways that the FFA could explore to increase exposure . They just need to get off their butts and go to it.

In the meantime I look forward to Sunday morning when I will get to read about Melbourne Victory’s latest preseason match against Perth. With a bit of luck their might even be a small article in the Age Newspaper. We can only hope.

,

84th Minute

If you haven't stumbled across it already I highly recommend taking a look at the 84th minute. This new e-zine, put together by Neil Zimmerman of Victory in Melbourne, looks good and Neil has roped in quote a few other bloggers to help him with content.

---

Victory have finally released details of probably the worst kept secret in A-League history (I know it is only a short history) when it confirmed the signing of Costa Rican international José Luis López Ramírez (Pupy Lopez). Joe Keenan has been released and is expected to take up a role with Scottish Premier League team Hibernian FC.

To give you an idea of how long this has taken to be officially announced I went back and took a look when the Melbourne Victory forum first caught wind of the signing. The first post was on 14 April 2008. That is three months ago ! Of course the need to find a home for Keenan was the major factor in why it took so long to be official but still three months is still a long time.

Lopez is a holding midfielder who by all reports should bring a touch of class with his passing and ability to create out of defense. With Melbourne struggling to maintain possession and play the ball out of defence so often last year his signing should hopefully be a huge step forward for Victory

,

The Sound Of Knives

Greame Arnold has the appearance of a man under siege. Seemingly frustrated at the continuing criticism of his squad selection for the upcoming Olympics he was again in the press yesterday defending his selections.

It seems he has backtracked from earlier comments where he appeared to dismiss the idea that Rob Baan and Pim Verbeek had input to the squad and has made it clear that the directive from the FFA executive is to bring home a medal (a clear indication that development of players for the Socceroos is not the priority).

Jesse Fink’s latest article outlines the impact that Arnold’s self interest is having on selections but I think that he is being a little unfair. There is no doubt that Arnold’s desire to hold onto his role within the national team establishment is clearly influencing his choices though I doubt that Arnold is making those choices in total isolation from the FFA executive.

There is little doubt that Baan and Verbeek saw this squad before it was released. Whether they were allowed to have direct input to its selection though is another question. You have to wonder where Frank Lowry, Ben Buckley and Pim Verbeek are hiding themselves at the moment. If what Arnold says is true why has Frank not released a statement supporting his Olyroos Coach and choices? Where is the Verbeek statement concurring with the choices that were made.

The fact is their silence is deafening!

Facing Argentina, Serbia and Ivory Coast will be far from easy and at this stage we would be favourites to finish bottom of the group. There is no doubt that the FFA want the Olyroos to put up a respectable performance at the Olympics. To lose all three games would be seen as a disaster by the brand focussed FFA and so Arnold will be under clear guidelines that at least escaping the group stage would be the minimum that he should be aiming for.

I cannot agree with Craig Foster who seems determined to believe that the FFA should see this tournament as a purely development opportunity. I am sure Pim Verbeek and Arnold himself would love to have been given the scope to select a developmental squad with no emphasis on results but this is just not going to happen. It is important for Australian football to continue to do well at international events and the fact that these games will be shown on FTA and further highlights the need to do well.

The fact is Arnold overage attacking options were severely limited for a variety of reasons when selecting the squad and so he has selected a squad based around defence rather than attack. He has failed to explain the Archie, Rukavytsya and Bridge choice over Djite and Burns to any satisfaction. The ridiculous explanation of heat and age has left him open to wide ranging criticism.

This is Arnold’s biggest issue. His communication on selection overall has been poor. His antagonism towards the media and his inability to clearly articulate the reasons behind the selection choices are hurting his credibility and it is no surprise that nobody else is willing to jump into the mire that he is creating for himself.


The sound of knives can be heard running across whetstones at FFA headquarters and I suspect Greame Arnold may find several in his back come the 13th August.

,

A Betrayal Of Active Support

One of the highlights for me of the A-league has been the support and crowds that have been attracted to the league. Three years ago just about nobody would have foreseen that Melbourne Victory would be averaging 26,000 to home games and have a membership of 21,000.

It is with deep sadness then that I read my membership renewal form for this year. For those that are not aware the league has decided to implement a reserve seat system for active support areas (Home End Memberships or HEMs), after advice from a external consultancy who were engaged to assess how to better improve the match day experience and reduce the risk of violence.

This system is an outright disaster for the active support and Melbourne Victory officals must be fuming at the possible impact to membership this could have.

For the first three years I have held a GA membership and spent most of my attendance in the south end bays. I abhor the idea that I will have an allocated seat (I mean what if I don’t like the person sitting next to me? Do I have to put up with them for the whole season?).

The system will be implemented with very little flexibility by the FFA and allows only a small degree of scope for the clubs to work with supporter groups. Effectively the two areas behind the goals at Telstra Dome will be fully ticketed with members (& general public) being allocated dedicated seats. This will most likely have a severe impact on the numbers of people within these areas and also the quality of the active support.

The Melbourne Victory north end support groups appear to be leaning towards a total rejection of the HEM model and at this stage are encouraging all active supporters to not buy memberships into these areas. Anybody who attended matches last year will know that the atmosphere suffered heavily when the North End boycotted the area behind the goals and moved into the upper levels. It would appear this again will be repeated this year.

The South End supporters groups are in the process of coordinating with the club set bays to be put aside for them and are trying to organise a system whereby non member friends can join them in their reserved bay on match day. This is a compromise and it remains to be seen if this can be made to work successfully.

The main concern of both groups of supporters is that HEM destroys the ability of new supporters to join in with active supporter groups. HEM has only a small impact on the regular active supporter as these people will be well organised and will ensure they have allocated seats within the supporters areas. No the real impact is on the supporters who want to try active support or friends of the regulars who want to see what all the fuss is about. Imagine inviting two mates to the ground but having to wave goodbye to them once you enter as their allocated seats are two bays across.

It would have been so much better if whole bays could be designated Home End bays and memberships sold for those bays. The memberships could have allowed you to sit anywhere within the bay. Any remaining tickets to the bay could have been coordinated by Victory staff to ensure tickets were available to friends of members attending a particular match day. This would still have achieved the goal of restricting numbers to the active bays to stop overcrowding while still allowing the independence that has seen these supporter groups bring a match day experience that cannot be found in any other sport within this country.

As is stands though I don’t think I will be standing in the South End this year. Maybe if enough members boycott the HEM system we can force a rethink next year (we can only hope). In the meantime I trying to decide between a GA membership or just buy tickets as I attend.

,

Olyroos Lack Teeth

The Olympic team was announced today and I must say I am disappointed. Greame Arnold has left out Djite, Burns, Williams, Vidosic. He has bizarrely used age as a reason for the decision not to take Djite or Burns. These are the same players that have played against the likes of Kevin Muscat and Craig Moore week in week out. In Djite’s case the same player who was being selected for senior Socceroo games and Arnold believes they are too young for a Under 23 competition. As I said bizarre !

You might be forgiven for thinking that his explanation was a smoke screen to cover for the fact that their clubs had applied pressure to not select them but this article from Nathan Burns seems to indicate otherwise.

The full squad is
Mark Bridge – Striker (Sydney FC)
Nikita Rukavytsya – Striker (Perth Glory)
Archie Thompson – striker (Melbourne Victory) – overage player

Billy Celeski – Midfielder (Melbourne Victory)
Neil Kilkenny – Midfielder (Leeds United, England)
Stuart Musialik – Midfielder (Sydney FC)
Kristian Sarkies – Midfielder (Adelaide United)
James Troisi – Midfielder (uncontracted)
David Carney – Midfielder (Sheffield United, England) – overage player

Adrian Leijer – Defender (Fulham Athletic, England)
Trent McClenahan – Defender (Hereford United, England)
Mark Milligan – Defender (uncontracted)
Matthew Spiranovic – Defender (FC Nurnberg, Germany)
Nikolai Topor-Stanley – Defender (Perth Glory)
Ruben Zadkovich – Defender (Derby County, England)
Jade North – Defender (Newcastle Jets) – overage player

Tando Velaphi – Goalkeeper (Perth Glory)
Adam Federici – Goalkeeper (Reading, England)

With seven defenders named and only three strikers it seems we are shaping to play on the counter for the entire tournament. With the inclusion of North, a back three is almost certain and potentially we will again see a lone striker. On first sight a likely lineup may be :

----------------------Federici-----------------
---------North--------Leijer----------Spira----
--------------Musialik------Milligan-----------
Mclenahan--------------------------------Carney
----------------Sarkies------Troisi------------
---------------------Thompson------------------

The lack of goal scoring options is a real concern and with Archie Thompson still recovering from his recent knee problem its hard to see where the goals are going to come from.

,

Australian Youth Off To Jakata

It is good to see that the FFA are investing in the future. A Joey’s team will use the Asean Football Federation Youth Championship in Jakarta as a warm up for the AFC Under 16 Championships later in the year.

It is a growing sign of the money that the sport is finally seeing that the FFA can fund a trip like this. Five years ago the Joey’s might have enjoyed a extended training camp but a international tournament would have been unlikely.

It is an excellent opportunity for our youngest national players to get some solid international experience where the focus isn’t on the need to win every game. These players will be worth keeping an eye out for as we are likely to see many of them in the National Youth League next year (I believe they are too young for the league this year as all of them would have been under 16 at the beginning of the year).

Of course being able to watch these games is practically impossible and we are a long way from seeing SBS or Foxtel picking up the finals in October let alone these matches. The FFA though could and should start providing live text updates for these types of matches. We can only dream.....

Below is the list of players and the games they will be playing:
Kerem Bulut Striker NSW
Christopher Bush Midfielder ACT
Million Butshiire Striker WA
Joseph Costa Midfielder SA
Nathan Farrell Defender SA
Petar Franjic Defender VIC
Brendan Hamill Defender NSW
Benjamin Harrington Midfielder ACT
Kamal Ibrahim Midfielder VIC
Benjamin Kantarovski Midfielder NSW
Robert Kolak Goalkeeper NSW
Jared Lum Midfielder NSW
Chahine Noujaim Fullback SA
Trent Sainsbury Defender WA
Nikola Stanojevic Striker NSW
Lawrence Thomas Goalkeeper NSW
Marc Warren Left Back NSW
Tedros Yabio Midfielder VIC

The matches
July 9 Australia v Bahrain
July 11 Indonesia v Australia
July 13 Australia v Malaysia
July 15 Singapore v Australia
July 17 Australia BYE
July 19 3 v 4 1 v 2

,