Where Did It Go So Horribly Wrong

I was genuinely excited when the FFA announced that one of the new clubs to join the A-league this year was to be Gold Coast United. Here was a team to be based in the fastest growing area of Australia, was backed by one of Australia’s richest men and would have one of the more interesting (if slightly insane) characters of the game here in Australia guiding them in Miron Beilberg.

Follow that up with some great recruiting and excellent performances in preseason, every indication was that this was a club that was going to hit the ground running. And they did, well they did on the field anyway.

Fast forward to today and the question must be asked however where did it all go horribly wrong. Somehow Gold Coast have managed to destroy any goodwill towards themselves within 12 rounds and now even have their most loyal of supporters questioning their direction.

Jason Culina last week wrote in his blog that he did not understand why the club and team weren’t receiving more respect for what they had achieved. Its funny how demands for respect can come back to haunt you and Jason should look no further than the insipid display he and his team mates trotted on the weekend and then cast a critical eye over the measures the club have imposed over the last couple of days and he will have his answer.

Positioning themselves as the club that everyone loves to hate is one thing but this ridiculous 5000 crowd cap and forced movement of fans to one stand is a monumental mistake and in my opinion will result in the death of the club within two seasons. Fans will abandon the club in their hundreds and already I would expect a significant drop off at their next home game.

What fan would want to go along and a support a club that actually wants to reduce the atmosphere at the ground. What fan would really hand over their hard earned to support a side that has such little ambition that they give up growing membership and support within 12 rounds of their first season.

The club needs to act now and act quickly to turn some of this around. There has been some talk that the 5000 cap has been touted to enable Clive some leverage in renegotiating the stadium deal with the Queensland government. If true then he needs to wrap those talks up quickly or there will be nothing left of this club. The team needs to reconnect with their community. They need to flood the market with free tickets, get as many people along as possible to the games. Especially the kids aged 10-18, these are the fans that will turn to members in the longer term.

Finally both Clive and Miron need to pull their heads in. Its time for Gold Coast to eat humble pie and do it without the arrogance that has been so obvious to date. It’s time to turn this circus into a real club before it is too late.

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A New Start

One of the points in Frank Lowry’s speech I failed to touch on in my last blog was the idea of moving the start time of the A-League Season to the first week in October.

After a honeymoon that was the first three seasons it has become blindingly obvious in the last two that the A-League struggles to make any impact in the mass media in the August/September period. With the AFL and NRL ramping up to finals mode it seems every spare inch of newspaper space and every second of TV coverage is devoted to the two sports.

Crowds have been disappointing nearly across the board in this period and something has to be done to either raise the profile of the A-League start or to avoid the issue altogether and move the kickoff of the season. It seems the FFA has waved the white flag and chosen the latter.

But is this really going to solve all the issues or are we just moving problem to the other end of the season. If the FFA had of started the League on Thursday 08th of October rather than the 06th of August, we would have to add a total of 9 rounds to the end of the current season. This means that the regular season would have finished on the 24th of April and we would be looking forward to a final been played on 22nd May.

Up to now the FFA has taken the approach that it was better to schedule the backend of the season in the best time slot (ie no AFL and NRL) to promote the finals series as much as possible. This new approach however will see the last five rounds of the regular season and the finals going head to head with the two codes.

I agree with the FFA that this is worth trying for a few reasons.

There is a argument that the A-league will have a much better chance of securing media time/space in the business end of the season and that crowds will “stick” better during the run to and through the finals. It will also allow our players a competition that keeps them playing right up to world competitions that are generally held in June. It even works better in regards to current timing of the Asian Champions League where our teams would be fully match fit heading into the initial group stage matches. Though the early knockout rounds could see us very underdone.

The October start also fits nicely with the January transfer window, which currently falls at a crazy time (ie The lead into our finals) and causes so many problems in terms of players joining for practically just the finals. Finally by moving the start to October it may allow some room for a cup style competition to slot nicely into the August/September period. The FFA need a cup of some sort and I am in total agreement with Adrian Musolino that the cup competition should be the focus of the FFA rather than a second division.

There is a significant risk though in changing the timing of the season. Teams that are not playing well and have little to no chance of making finals may see their crowds suddenly evaporate come the start of the AFL/NRL seasons. If the FFA cannot convince media to come on board or afford to saturate the airways with the promotion it hands the competing codes an opportunity to smother the A-League at its most critical time.

The October start also limits the A-League to 26-27 game season. Anything longer than that and the FFA would be again forced to bring the start date forward defeating the purpose. Personally I don’t see this as a bad thing. A 14 team league, 26 game season is in my opinion the right size for Australia. There is also of course the question how to fit a Cup Style competition fits into this timing (midweek vs preseason).

The move to October to the right decision. Whether it will be a successful one however will remain to be seen.

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The Future According To Frank

I have a huge amount of respect for Frank Lowry. Five years ago Frank was the driving force behind the rebirth of football in this country. The creation of the A-league, the move to Asia and the recruitment of Guus Hiddink all contributed to a resurgence of the game here in Australia.

However I do wonder if Frank understands that all of this new found love for the game may evaporate if a few missteps are made. Poor performances during the qualification for the World Cup, crazy ticket prices and poor quality football are all contributing to a slow down in the growth of the game.

At the Victory In Business luncheon yesterday Frank was invited to speak and a very enlightening speech it was. He basically outlined his vision for the future of football in this country and to call that vision high risk may be a understatement.

Lets go through some of the points made in that vision.

Australia needs a second level division to allow for Promotion/Relegation
This is probably the most outlandish statement from the speech. Interesting Frank used the term in the medium-distinct future. I would have loved someone to question him on whether that meant within 10 years, 20 years or 30. Personally I cannot see a second division within 10 years for the A-League, 20 years is possible but the football culture here in Australia would need significant growth in that time to support a second tier.

Several of the clubs are struggling for sponsors and members now, do people really think clubs like Newcastle, North Queensland, Gold Coast could survive the impact of relegation to a second division with its loss of media exposure and sponsorship dollars. I highly doubt it.

I would like to see a successful 16 team single division before we even contemplate a move to a two division system.

A-League will grow to 14 teams in near future
Currently in the league format of 10 teams it is generally accepted only two are in the black (Melbourne and Central Coast). Several are close to, or are currently, being supported by the FFA. Yet Frank is confident that four new teams can be added without a serious impact.

I can understand why the FFA is keen to expand to 14 Teams as quickly as possible. It is a number that allows them to drop the 3 rounds per year format and switch to a 26 game Home/Away League. It allows for 7 games per week which gives the broadcasting rights a significant boost. And it gives us much more creditability when asking for Asian Champions League Spots.

But with Melbourne2 (they really need to sort out a name for themselves) joining next year and then Rovers the year after the League really should be given a period of consolidation. I know that Canberra is chaffing at the bit for a team and Wollongong and Tasmania are both waiting in the wings for that 14th place but expansion so quickly could do more harm than good.

Next TV rights deal needs to include an aspect of Free To Air
From memory this is the first time a FFA representative has spoken openly about the need to get both the Socceroos and the A-league on free to air broadcasting. Up to this point anytime broadcast rights were mentioned the party line was always what a great partner Foxtel are.

I think this is a no brainer. For the game to grow in this country mass media exposure needs to become more prevalent and that means TV Rights need to go to one of the big three broadcasters. It is however interesting that Frank has highlighted that it may be a mixed deal with Foxtel retaining some of the rights.

Money is still going to be a major factor when assigning rights. The fact is the League is struggling to maintain growth on the low salary cap it is lumbered with. We need this cap to be raised substantially to not only retain quality Australian players but also to attract quality foreign players. A good rights deal will go a long way to allow that to happen.

Whatever the final outcome I hope that written in the rights deal is a clause that FTA broadcasters must show game live or near live (ie Within 1 hour of the start time). The last thing we need is a repeat of the Channel 7 fiasco.

AFC Champions League Final
Interestingly Frank has come out declaring that the FFA is extremely interested in hosting the AFC Champions League Final. I am not sure we as a country are ready to support a final between two teams that the vast majority of fans would have little interest in.

Overnight the last Japanese team in this year’s comp has suffered a crushing defeat that has all but assured that there will be no Japanese team in the Champions league final to be hosted in Tokyo next month. With only 5 thousand ticket sold to date, AFC officials will be starting to get very concerned. I cannot imagine a game between Al Ittihad and Umm Salal generating much interest here in Australia, so it will be interesting to see how the crowd numbers pan out.

AFC Champions League Slots
Currently Australia has only been allocated 2 AFC CL spots. Although in the review we were rated highly enough to receive more, the size of our league was deemed too small to allow more spots. With the increase to 10 teams the FFA is pushing for a third spot.I think this is a good thing, the more teams the A-League has in the Champions League the more interest that will be generated here for the competition.

It makes sense to adopt a format that grants the two top teams in the major leagues a direct spot while allowing 1-2 others a place within the qualification rounds with the less professional leagues. The AFC is on the right path with the Champions League and it will be fascinating to see what changes are adopted with this latest round of review.


I think that about covers the points from Franks chat, some positive, some extremely optimistic but one thing is for sure it is never boring with Frank steering the ship.
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A Lot Can Happen In A Month

Its been just over a month since I last put fingers to keyboard and tapped out a paragraph or two for this blog and a lot has happened in that time. Crowds continue to be a major talking point and I was very pleased to see Gold Coast and Brisbane take steps to reduce their ticket prices and make them more affordable for the general fan.

On a more disappointing note, yesterday morning saw confirmation that Brisbane have sacked Frank Farina as a result of his second drink driving charge while in charge of the team. Unlike Clive Palmer I wouldn’t presume to give advice to Frank regarding his drinking habits but I do believe Brisbane have acted correctly.

But the biggest talking point by far has been the Socceroos and their matches against the Dutch on the weekend and the win against Oman last night. I watched the Dutch match on TV and have read a few of the reviews, the best being Tony Tannous's assessment.

The thing I find the most interesting is the change in the media’s expectations from 4 years ago. Back than a draw against a quality team like the Netherlands would have been acclaimed as a major achievement with only scant focus accorded to the way we played. However times have changed and it seems we now seeing a much greater emphasis on how we play not just the result.

Similarly with the match last Oman, which I attended (one of the few it seems) the media seem more interested in how we played than the result. Overall this can only be a good thing for the development of the game in this country. As the spotlight is continually focussed on poor performances and lack of technique by our top players is exposed we should see more and more coaches looking to develop players rather than grind out results.

In this regard the FFA must stay true to the path they have adopted. Not only continuing the focus on SSG games and the 4-3-3 tactical structure, that encourages technical player development, but also widening the program to include grassroots coaching (a area that I still feel hasn’t seen the overhaul that is desperately needed) and the elite programs (which still seem to tied to the state associations).

It is going to take at least a decade of reform to see results. Right now across the country 6-10 year olds are receiving a football education like none before them. I suspect looking at the ages of the current first team Socceroos we are heading for a period of lean times, so hopefully that period can be shorten by the changes that are occurring now.

Goodbye Danny Allsopp

With confirmation that Danny Allsopp has left for Qatar club Al-Rayyan Sports, Melbourne Victory has lost not only one of its two primary scoring targets but a long time servant of the club.

Of course the writing has been on the wall (or in this case within the forums) for a week now after Allsopp failed to not only take the field against Newcastle but wasn’t even present at the game. Rumours were flying almost instantaneously about a Qatar club that had come knocking. Of course Victory denied it (as is their policy) but everybody knew a transfer was on the cards.

Danny Allsopp leaves as the Leagues second highest goal scorer, second only to his strike partner Archie Thompson. He is also the holder of the most game appearances with the Victory and was one of only two remaining original Victory players who have been there continuously from the start (the other is Kevin Muscat). Although not exactly a crowd favourite (he was regularly jeered because of a perception that he wasted a lot of opportunities), he did have his fans however and nobody could question his work rate and stamina.

Farewell Danny you will be missed.

On the positive side Melbourne does have a decent amount of depth in the striker stakes. Ney Fabiano will now get his chance to show if he is good enough for a regular starting spot and Ernie does have young Nathan Elasi there to throw in if and when needed.

The biggest challenge that Melbourne will face however is the need to change the game plan. Fabiano and Allsopp are very different strikers. Danny preferred to attack defenders with his pace and hard work, never really comfortable with his back to goal or with the ball in the air, it was his ability to use his strength and pace to arrive late into the box and pounce on a cross. This suited Melbourne’s counter attacking game style. I am not sure though the same can be said about Fabiano.

Ney Fabiano doesn’t have Allsopp’s stamina but is very good with his back to goals and is excellent in the air. He is also deceptively quick over 2 –5 paces and uses his body well to hold up the ball. Victory need to adapt to this. If they can I think that Fabiano may surprise a few of his critics.

More emphasis needs top be placed on width though and good crossing. Carlos Hernandez and Tom Pondeljak now need to get closer to the strikers to ensure an outlet for Fabiano. But most of all Victory needs to get more desperate in the box.

With Muscat returning over the next couple of weeks, Ernie Merrick must be considering his options and a back three looks to be a possibility. This would release Kemp and Surat to push forward more and hopefully give Victory the width they will need. The loss of Celeski however will hurt and although the club deny it they don’t have the depth in this position as they would like.

The next few games will tell if Melbourne can adapt to Allsopp’s loss.
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Ticket Shocker

Last year Brisbane Roar played Central Coast Mariners in a Round 3 match that attracted 12,185 people along. This year their round 4 fixture against Central Coast could only manage 6,433. The low crowds in Brisbane have been focus of media attention over the last two weeks and much conjecture about the reasons behind this. For me the overwhelming reason has to be the ticket pricing.

Such a significant rise in the pricing of memberships and general admission was always going to see a lot of people stay away. Small increases over a period of time can usually be absorbed by the fans but a 40% increase is going to cause many fans to think twice at purchasing a season ticket let alone part with their hard earned as a walk up fan. As a comparison compare the pricing across the league. Prices below are full prices for a General Admission entry.

Wellington $34
Gold Coast $29
Brisbane $27
Melbourne $25
Adelaide $23
Perth $22
Sydney $20
Newcastle $19
Central Coast $17
Nth Queensland $14.50

No wonder Gold Coast and Brisbane crowds have been disappointing. I don’t think I would pay $27/29 to see a A-league match week in week out. When you use the membership prices it is even more telling

Perth $260 $20.00 per game
Brisbane $275 $19.64 per game
Wellington $245 $18.84 per game
Sydney $242 $17.29 per game
Gold Coast $230 $16.43 per game
Newcastle $209 $16.08 per game
Adelaide $209 $14.93 per game
Central Coast $190 $14.62 per game
Melbourne $195 $13.93 per game
Nth Queensland $131 $10.08 per game

What is going on in Perth where the difference between buying a membership and general admission is a paltry $2 saving per game?

The table also explains why just about everyone attending Melbourne matches is a member when the cost per game is nearly half that of a general admission ticket.

The FFA need to step in here and take the lead with clubs to ensure ticket prices remain at a reasonable level. As a guide a target of no more than $20 for General Admission and $15 per game average for season tickets should be set as a goal.

Of course though these prices are not driven by the clubs but rather some very poor stadium deals. I am not sure why clubs would agree to poor deals that force them to charge over $25 per game. Brisbane need to rethink their relationship with Suncorp because at these prices they will soon be out of business if something isn’t done.

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Th Free To Air Question

Interesting article on The Roar today regarding the viability of having the A-League on Free To Air (FTA) TV. It has generated a substantial amount of discussion amongst the readers and got me thinking about where I stand on the topic.

Although author Adrian Musolino makes some good points I cannot help but think he has missed a critical one. There is an old saying in the media, “There is no such thing as bad publicity”. With a FTA deal comes a much greater exposure to the general public and although this raises other concerns the good outweighs the bad.

Growing up my heroes were AFL stars. As kids running around the playground we pretended to Geoff Raines, Greg Williams, Leigh Matthews and a range of other stars of the egg ball game. We did this because we all knew who they were. They were in the paper, on the radio, on TV. They were in fact an indelible part of life within the country. This saturation is what the A-League is missing and only a FTA deal can begin the process of making it happen.

Although I loved watching Football I rarely got to see it, there wasn’t much of a league back then in my home town and the only time I got to see the best in world was when they were playing in the FA Cup final, most likely where my support for Tottenham came from.

Don’t get me wrong I am not against FOXTEL, they stood up and stumped up the cash when the sport needed it. The only ones willing to take a $120 Million punt on Frank Lowy’s dream. But the A-league needs more exposure to grow. Kids need to be able to walk into school on a Monday morning and be able to say, “Did you see that cracker of a free kick Carlos slotted home on the weekend” and have all of their mates nod along. At the moment the young boy would more likely get blank looks or maybe even a question of Carlos who?

Junior Football in this country is huge but who are these young kids heros? You are more likely to see a Manchester shirt than a Victory on the backs of young boys and girls throughout the training pitches of Melbourne. Some would argue there is nothing wrong with this as the EPL would arguably be considered the pinnacle of our sport but how many of these youngsters have seen a Manchester game on TV let along live.

We need all this kids to have the opportunity to watch their teams on TV not just the 25% who can afford the Foxtel subscriptions, it is only then that they start to build a connection to the game. Sure it can be achieved in other ways via the internet, newspapers and radio? Yes it can but the TV is still the driver of mass media.

The fact is it doesn’t matter if the quality isn’t world standard, as Melbourne and Brisbane showed two weeks ago the League does produce some cracking games and as a whole human nature means we tend to remember the positives rather than the negatives. We all have a tendency to create our own highlights package in our mind.

So in answer to Adrian’s question, “Is the A-League product good enough for free to air?” is yes it is and the sooner the better.
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It’s Gold For Danning

Great news overnight with FIFA confirming that Kofi Danning will be granted exemption from their recent rule change that tightens international eligibility for Under 18 players.

The rule in question states “for any player who refers to art. 15 par. 1 of the Regulations to assume a new nationality and who has not played international football in accordance with art. 15 par. 2 of the Regulations shall be eligible to play for the new representative team, inter alia, only if he has lived continuously for at least five years after reaching the age of 18 an the territory of the relevant Association”. The rule was approved in attempt to curtail some of the activities of certain middle east countries that were actively recruiting children as young as 12-13 in Africa and offering them citizenship in exchange for football. This was a cynical attempt to improve the quality of their national teams.

Unfortunately though the rule does impact countries like Australia quite considerably due to the numbers of genuine refugees and immigrants that we take in. Kofi Danning is not the only potential young socceroo to be impacted by this rule. In this current crop the FFA is still waiting for confirmation on midfielder Luke Bratten and goalkeeper Alex Cisak on whether they also will be granted exemption from the rule.

The FFA are arguing that legitimate immigrants and refugees should not be disadvantaged from the rule and so far FIFA does seem inclined to agree. However it appears that FIFA will maintain the view that all players captured under the rule will be ineligible unless a exemption is granted so it appears that this waiting game is set to repeat itself every year as there always appear to be a few who fall under it for Australia.

In the meantime Australia is now free to select Danning for the Under 20 World Cup, to be held in September this year. With Danning off to a flying start for Sydney this season there is little doubt that he will be included in the squad. Before the season started he was my tip to win the NAB Young Player of the Year award and nothing I have seen so far has altered that view.

Danning’s ability to hold the ball and dribble with pace combined with a natural instinct for goal is a dangerous combination and already at 18 he would be one of the first on the team sheet in a quality Sydney line-up. I will repeat my warning though, enjoy the spectacle of him now as I am sure an overseas club is going to snap him up much sooner than later. Holland would seem a logical destination for the youngster.

I look forward to seeing him streaming forward in a Gold shirt for many years to come.
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Wanted, One Central Defender

What a game on Saturday night! Probably the most exciting A-league match I have attended in terms of goals and attacking play. Of course both managers will need to ask some serious questions of their defences that allowed so much freedom and space to the opposition midfields.

Gary Cole will be madly scouring overseas leagues this week after Victory’s defence failed miserably on Saturday night. The experiment with Matthew Kemp as a central defender was exposed as the folly that many were suggesting and now Ernie has a nightmare of his own making.

After commenting in the press pre-season that there was no need to sign an additional central defender Ernie seems alreadyb back tracking to a degree. With Daniel Vasilevski being released by mutual consent yesterday and young Matthew Foschini signed to a two year contract today it would seem that Ernie's is preparing to give Foschini a chance at the problem centre back position.

Matthew Kemp was never a logical person to partner Vargas. It left the Melbourne defence ridiculous short at the back. Although very mobile and a good tackler Kemp is only 1.75m tall and doesn’t make much of a threat in the air. Melbourne looked so much better when Kemp was moved back to his preferred full back role.

Merrick does have Stephen Pace in the squad and may be another option this week against Fury. At 1.85m Pace does strengthen the defence by providing some height but there is a question surrounding his speed and ability to deal with quality strikers. What he does add is the ability to man mark the main striker and free up Vargas to play his normal free role.

For all its lack of defence though you could not fault Melbourne’s attacking play. When Billy Celeski was introduced to the game on Saturday night, it looked a different Victory side out there to the ones that sputtered along in the first half. Suddenly we had a player on the field who was able to build up the attack from the back and allowed Hernendez much more freedom to roam forward and create havoc in the Roar defence. The additional of Fabiano 10 minutes into the second half also gave Melbourne further options when going forward.

So influential is Fabiano that many Victory fans are calling for a 4-3-3 and Ernie Merrick may be tempted to give them what they desire. I think the only thing stopping it him switching to it right now is the fitness of Celeski. With Fabiano playing as a Centre forward both Allsopp and Thompson push up further and generally take the ball higher up the field. I actually prefer this as both Allsopp and Thompson are much more confirmable when running at defenders than when they have their back to goal.

With two long away trips in the next two weeks (Townsville then Perth) Melbourne need at least one win to stay in touch with Gold Coast who already are showing signs of how dangerous they can be.
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Superman Wears Tim Cahill PJs

How nice to sit through a Socceroos match with a smile the entire 90 minutes. Pim Verbeek couldn’t have asked for a more emphatic performance this morning and should satisfy even the most ardent of his knockers.

Right from the opening whistle Australia dominated this match and even though Ireland were unlucky not to score at least 1 goal the end result was well deserve. What was especially satisfying was the way we moved the ball from defence to attack, using short sharp passing to control the tempo.

The joke during the commentary was that when Superman goes to bed he wears Tim Cahill pyjamas and who can argue with another outstanding half of football from Super Tim. His ability to find the back of the net is uncanny and he has a knack of being at the right place at the right time.

But what would Pim have gotten from the match and who has elevated themselves in contention for South Africa (which was the point of the match for us). I am not going to go threw the whole squad but there were a couple of stand out performances for me.

Firstly Rhys Williams backed up he excellent debut with an even better performance this morning. Although he was beaten on several occasions by the tricky McGeady and in the second half by Hunt it didn’t deter him from pushing up and backing himself. His ability to get forward and cause headaches for defences and the pressure he applies in the midfield are a real asset and he would be close to stamping his passport to SA already but I look forward to seeing him a few more times, hope he gets a start again against Korea.

Carney also had a good game at left back that was capped off with a truly world class goal. Like Williams I loved the way he is always thinking attack and thought him pushing up high and pressuring the Irish midfield was a major reason we dominated possession. There is no doubt that Carney is the backup at left back but if he can find a starting spot at a decent club he should be pushing for number 1 spot ahead of Chipperfield.

To me the biggest surprise this morning was how well Wilkshire and Jedinak played in the Culina/Grella roles. Wilkshire has really grown over the past two years and his box-to-box running this morning was a major part in our success. With Culina back in Australia could Wilkshire steal the box-to-box role from him? It is possible but doubtful, I am sure Wilkshire will revert to the right back role when Culina is available. Jedinak played the screening role perfectly but I think Grella is always going to be first choice. Jedinak will be competing with Valeri for the backup role.

In terms of the substitutes; Nikita Rukavytsya’s pace really added an interesting element late in the game and he made some excellent runs but I think he is competing with Brett Holman for the spot in South Africa, who seems to be a Pim favourite (though for the life of me I cannot see why as once again he murdered a golden opportunity to score). I also thought Nicky Carle was excellent in the last 15 minutes, two really quality passes into the box and really worked hard. Pim really needs to start him in one of the upcoming friendlies (maybe against Korea?).

Overall there was a lot to like but the Irish gave us a lot of room in midfield and let us play to our strengths. They didn’t use the wings that well and allowed our full backs to push up high. They also failed to convert the chances they did create, we were the better team but the score line flattered us.

It will interesting to see what side Pim send onto the park next month against Korea. Would especially like to see Williams start again and give Carle a full game. Maybe give Bresciano a rest and start Carle with Kewell and Cahill either side of him.
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Australia vs The Leprechauns

Although it is only a friendly and the result itself will mean little, I am genuinely excited by the upcoming match against the Irish on Thursday morning (even if I am not looking forward to getting up at 4:30am to catch it live). Pim Verbeek has picked, whether by design or need, an extremely youthful side and hopefully some of these fringe players can get a starting run.

It is difficult to remember when an Australian squad had 50% of its players 25 years old or under. The question for Verbeek is how many of these players does he start.

In defence Matthew Spiranovic must be a real chance of starting alongside Lucas Neill. Spiranovic has been developing quite well with Nuremberg and is hoping to win a starting spot this year with the side in the Bundesliga. Ange Postecoglou has called in him to be given an extended run of games to prove his worth and I agree wholeheartly.

With no Grella or Valeri, Rhys Williams may also get a chance to start with a role at either Right Back (if Wilkshire is used in a more central holding role) or as a defensive midfielder. Williams has been in stellar preseason form for Middlesbrough with four goals in four preseason games and I am sure Verbeek wants to take another look at the 21 year old.

Carney is also likely to get the nod at Left Back. He still appears out of favour at Sheffield United and desperately needs a move. To be honest anywhere else that will give him some first team football would be better than the situation he currently has as Sheffield. I am not how much longer Verbeek can afford to carry him in the Australian Team if he is not part of a first team.

I doubt that Verbeek will start any of Holland, Bozanic and Vidosic but hopefully at least 1 of these outstanding young players gets a decent amount of time as a substitute. I think it likely that Verbeek will start Carle, Cahill and Kewell in the middle of the park.

Up front Scott Macdonald is an almost certain starter but if Verbeek did do something crazy like start with two strikers we might just get to also see Nikita Rukavytsya. Rukavytsya is getting game time with FC Twente in the Eredivisie, coming off the bench in their season opener, and provides some genuine pace.

All this youth is making me giddy and makes for an interesting match where the result is less important than the actual performances. We can only hope that Pim will be adventurous and allow some of these players the starting roles they need to showcase where they are at in terms of their development.

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It All Starts Now!

The wait is over, the first match played and a surprise result already. Season previews and bookie odds are in tatters after a team most tipped to finish in the bottom three up staged last years premiers (and bookies favourite) to take the points in the opening match.

To be honest Victory hardly looked interested in the first half. It certainly didn’t help with the line up Ernie Merrick sent out onto the field. With the lead up comments to the game it was certain that Broxham was going to start but to start both Brebner and Broxham is a recipe for disaster and again last night it was obvious that Victory loses a significant amount of drive in midfield when both are on the field at the same time.

At least one of them should have been replaced at half time with Celeski who provides a much more creative option from the back. Victory looked a different side in the second half once he was sent on. And with the addition of Ward they suddenly looked much more dangerous going forward. I can only hope that both Celeski and Ward will resume their starting roles next week against the Roar.

But the biggest issue for Melbourne last night was the injury to Kevin Muscat. It looks like the gamble to go into the season short of central defenders has failed within the first 90 minutes. With talk of Muscat being out for at least a month with his hamstring, the Victory are going to struggle to contain opposition attacks.

The rest of the round has some enticing matchups; here are some of my favourites.

1. Gold Coast vs Brisbane
I think every A-league fan will be looking forward to this match. Clive Palmer and Miron Beilberg have done an excellent job of embedding their team into the media and have already manufactured a derby that should contain plenty of heat. Certainly United are fast making their way onto everyone’s most hated list.

As a neutral I am hoping for open and flowing game but I am sure Frank is way too canny to allow that to happen. I am tipping the Roar to take a very cautious approach and plan on frustrating United with what I believe will be the best defence in the League.

Either way though it will be a fascinating game (and wouldn’t we all love for Gold Coast to come tumbling down to Earth in their very first match).


2. Fowler vs Sydney
I won’t even pretend that anybody will be tuning in the watch North Queensland. All eyes (and pressure) will be on the performance of Robbie Fowler. Can he lift and score for the occasion? I am sure all supporters bar Sydney fans will hope so (and I suspect a few Sydney fans would also love to see him knock one in).

Of course with all the media hype surrounding Sydney’s build up to the kickoff they also need to get off to a good start and if North Queensland and Fowler do get the best of them they are sure to come under immediate scrutiny.

Last season Sydney seem to shoot themselves in the foot more often than not and I am sure they will start favourites here. Will they be able to deliver? We shall see


3. Newcastle v Wellington
Just about every pundit has these two teams missing the finals. With that in mind a good start for one of these two teams may go a long way to erasing some of the doubts that may be bouncing around in the minds of the players.

Confidence is a funny thing and the winner here just might surprise a few teams if they can get that first win under their belt.

Of course it works in reverse as well. A loss here could just reinforce those nagging suspicions and make it difficult to come back from. We are a long way from last chance saloon but both of these teams have everything to play for and nobody will want to walk away from this match the loser.

Enjoy the first round
,

2009/10 A-League Season Preview _ Part 3

In this third and last part to my preview of the upcoming season. Below is an examination of the teams that I believe will fill the top 3 places.

3rd – Brisbane Roar
There is a lot to like about Frank Farina’s team, it is beautifully balanced with a strong defence, a midfield full of talent and an attack that oozes class. His biggest issue it seems is keeping everyone fit.

--------------------Reddy---------------------
-Packer-----Moore-----DeVere------Tiatto--
-------------------Malcolm-------------------
--------------Miller-----McKay---------------
--Henrique-----------------------------Oar--
-------------------van Dijk--------------------

Moore and DeVere are the best defensive pairing in the League. I have opted for Oar ahead of Zullo on the left wing, I am sure Zullo will start there (unless his shoulder injury doesn’t come up in time) but I think Oar is a special talent and I am tipping him to push Zullo aside this year.

Miller, if he can stay fit (which to be honest is unlikely), is a better choice than the talented Nicols. His ability to drift into the box is unmatched in the league and as we saw last season, even half fit he is a danger. McKay picks himself in that box to box role and newcomer Malcolm provides some quality in the shielding role.

Up front Van Dijk will play the lone striker and I would be expecting him to score a bucket load this year. As his second half demonstrated last season, if he gets into a rhythm he is just about unstoppable.

Watch out for : Clean sheets galore, Brisbane are going to be a tough team to score against let alone beat this year.


2nd – Melbourne Victory
Last years Premiers and Champions haven’t lost much over the break but nor have the recruited much either. It seems almost as if the re-signing of Carlos Hernandez was the priority and nothing else mattered.

---------------------Moss------------------
-Kemp----Muscat-----Vargas----Sukha-
-------------------Celeski------------------
---Ward----------------------Pondeljak--
------------------Hernandez--------------
-----------Thompson----Allsopp---------

Kemp will switch to right back with the loss of Ryall and new signing Sukha will slot into left. I would expect Moss to win the battle of the keepers as Langerak still appears to need a year or two. Celeski is still recovering from a hip operation but I expect him to be the starter of choice in the DM role once fully fit.

Beyond that though the team seems very settled. They have good coverage in nearly all positions except the defence. Muscat is in his twilight years now and an injury to himself or Vargas will expose a lack of coverage here. Likewise for right back, where an injury to Kemp would most likely force Ernie to use Broxham to fill the gap there.

Thompson and Allsopp have had a preseason free of injury, which is the first time in three years, that has both of them fully fit heading into the opening round. With their hard running, defences across the league are going to have problems containing them. Add Fabiano coming off the bench and Victory have one of the best attacks in the League.

But in the end Victory’s success this year will hinge on the performance of Hernandez. In full flight he is virtually unstoppable. If injured or down on form however Victory’s counter attacking game falls apart. He has looked good though in the preseason and I see no reason why Victory wouldn’t be right up there again.

Watch out for : Hernandez is the best player in tight spaces in the A-league. His ability to control the ball, beat opponents and provide that killer pass is exquisite. Melbourne will once again score the majority of their goals on the counter as teams again fail to learn that pushing up on them is a recipe for disaster.


1st – Gold Coast United
Clive Palmer is nothing if not large and his new A-league team is set to follow his lead. With Miron Beilberg spruiking the club, they have dominated headlines throughout the preseason and will look to take the form in the new season.

---------------------Vanstrattan-----------------------
-Griffiths----Thwaite----Van den Brink----Tarore--
-----------------------Robson--------------------------
------Minniecon------------------------Griffiths------
-----------------------Culina---------------------------
---------------Smeltz--------Porter--------------------

Its hard to put together a starting 11 for Gold Coast as there are so many unknowns at this stage. How good are Milson and Anderson, will Traore push Poirkowski out at left back. Is Caravella a better option than Griffths.

The one thing pre-season has shown for Gold Coast is that they have the depth. Their recruiting has been fantastic and they won’t overly rely on the imports for success. I am expecting Smeltz, Porter and Culina to get a bagful of goals and their defence is solid. They won’t go through the season undefeated but I still think they will win it.

How good their defence is will be the question though, Thwaite was less than convincing last year at Victory and they are relying a lot on him to stand up.

Watch out for : Everyone is tipping Smeltz to get a bagful but people seem to be forgetting about Porter. In my opinion Porter will outshine Smeltz, but either way they represent a very dangerous attacking pair.

So my ladder prediction

1. Gold Coast United
2. Melbourne Victory
3. Brisbane Roar
4. Sydney FC
5. Perth Glory
6. Adelaide United
7. Newcastle Jets
8. Wellington Phoenix
9. North Queensland Fury
10. Central Coast Mariners
    

2 Days to Season V

,

2009/10 A-League Season Preview _ Part 2

In this second part to my season preview I examine the teams that will fill positions 4th – 6th.

6th – Adelaide United
It is sometimes amazing how a team’s unofficial nickname can evolve from just a few misplaced comments. The pissants have had a low profile build up this preseason.

-------------------Galekovic-------------------
-Alemao---Cornthwaite---Fyfe---Jamieson-
---------------------Reid-----------------------
---Dodd------------------------------Cassio---
---------------------Shin-----------------------
-----------Cristiano-------Owusu-------------

The first thing that struck me when putting a team together for Adelaide is that Vidmar must play a 4-4-2. With Cristiano and Owusu on books surely Vidmar will finally move away from his favoured 4-2-3-1 and play two up front.

Adelaide look pretty set in terms of their attacking options, Cristiano and Owusu should provide a handful for all but the best defences and by all reports Shin looks like he may make quite an impact in the AM role.

However the loss of Ognenovski has really put a large dent in what last year was a very solid defence. Fyfe is nowhere near a like for like replacement and I am not convinced Cornthwaite can step up to fill the gap.

Watch out for : Adelaide will score more goals this year but they are also going to leak a lot more. Unfortunately I think they haven’t gain enough to recover from the loss of Ognenovski.


5th – Perth Glory
There is no team that has disappointed more in the first four seasons of the A-League than Perth, the once great club has really struggled with its recruiting. This year however they appear to recruited very well and should have a bit more success and see their first finals campaign.

-------------------Velaphi---------------------
---------J Coyne--C Coyne--Todd-----------
-Downing--------Burns---------Pellegrino--
-------Sterjovski-------------Sikora----------
---------------Dadi--------Jelic---------------

I know Mitchell has indicated that he would prefer Sterjovski as a striker but I think in the end he will want both Dadi and Jelic up forward and will opt for Sterjovski in the hole in front of them.

With the centre backs that he has at his disposal it makes a lot of sense for Mitchell to opt for a 3-5-2. Burns will run the midfield that would include pace in the form of Downing and Pellegrino and Class with Sterovski and Sikora.

The defence is still a worry, there has to be a question marks on how well Todd, Jamie Coyne and Chris Coyne will jell. There is also a question over whether Pellegrino and Downing could provide the defensive cover needed. The reason I have opted for the 3-5-2 is that I don’t think Glory has adequate full backs to play a back four.

Watch out for : With all of Perth’s signings this year Branko Jelic seems to have slipped under the radar a little. Watch all that change when he bangs in a few early goals.


4th – Sydney FC
My god they love a bit of media hype in Sydney. Every year they are wrapped up to be world beaters and more often than not the knives are out within a few weeks.

-------------------Necevski---------------------
-Grant---Colosimo----Jurman--Sung-Hwan
-------------------Musialik---------------------
---Kisel----------------------------Danning----
---------------------Corica---------------------
-------------Aloisi--------Brosque--------------

There is a lot of like about the Sydney lineup this year, the fact that I couldn’t fit Mark Bridge into their best 11, is a good indicator of their depth up forward.

Can John Aloisi have a poor a season as last year again, I doubt it and I would expect him to pick up at least 5-8 goals this season. This would take a huge amount of pressure off Brosque and allow him to play the second striker role.

The real danger for opposition teams however are the wide players. By all accounts Kisel has impressed in preseason and Danning is a star in waiting. If Musialik can put last years disaster behind him and provide the service these two demand, Sydney are going to score a lot of goals.

This is a very youthful side however and I am not sure they will be able to challenge the best teams in the league over a full year.

I have Corica in the best 11 but wouldn’t be surprised to see him play most of the year off the bench. Bridge is the logical second choice but Gan could play in the hole as well.

Watch out for : Kofi Danning is going to stamp his passport to Europe this year. This kid ticks all the boxes and with a year of senior development under his belt he is cherry ripe to break out and really show what a talent he is.


Next : The top 3

3 Days to Season V
,

2009/10 A-League Season Preview _ Part 1

Ok, here is my season preview for what it is worth.

In this first part of three, I take a look at what I tip will be the bottom four teams.

10th – Central Coast Mariners
It seems every year pundits across Australia write Central Coast off and most years they keep proving them wrong. This year though I see nothing to indicate they will be successful.

------------------Vukovic-----------------------
-Clark-------Doig------Bojic-----Heffernan-
---------------Huke----Wilkinson-------------
-----Travis-----Hutchinson-----Elrich-------
--------------------Simon----------------------

I found it hard to put a starting eleven together for the Mariners not because they don’t have some good players but because I know McKinna won’t play the formation I would like to see. To be honest I think McKinna has run his race at the Mariners and this will be his last season in charge.

So assuming McKinna will stick to what he knows best, I have gone with a 4-2-3-1. Once again the side relies on its ability to get the ball long to Simon and have Elrich and new boy Travis swooping in. Huke, Wilkinson & Hutchinson just won’t have the quality to dominate opposition midfields so expect a lot of long balls over the top again. The problem of course, is that the nine other teams in the league know this and are waiting to pounce.

It will be interesting to see if McGlinchey will push Hutchinson out of his starting role. In addition the Mariners are making noises of signing 1-2 additional strikers before the 31/08/2009 deadline. If that happens a lot of people may have to re-assess the team.

The one thing that the second half of last season demonstrated was how important Jedinak was the McKinna’s game plan. He is gambling a lot on Huke to fill the space left by his departure but I just don’t see it being enough. They will finish bottom.

Watch out for : Long ball after long ball up to Simon…yawn!


9th – Nth Queensland Fury
The first of the new sides but even with God on their side the Fury are in for a long season. They appear to lack the quality though the middle of the park to trouble some of the better teams in the League and I am not convinced about their defence.

-------------------- Henderson-------------------
-Middleby---Wilson---Tambouras---Tadrosse-
----------------------Griffith --------------------
-------Amaya-------Agius--------Spagnuolo---
--------------Williams----Fowler----------------

The Fury are very top heavy in Wingers/Strikers and it’s difficult to find a balanced formation for them. I think they are likely to play youngster Griffiths as a holding midfielder and use Agius in the central attacking role. Williams would prefer to play up forward with Fowler and a good performance against Roar in the preseason will most likely see him at least start there.

On paper they don’t look a bad attacking side, but their depth is shockingly bad in midfield and they are relying a lot on Fowler being fit up forward. If he is not, then they may see Ferguson forced to use a 4-3-3 with Spagnuolo and Willams being used as true wingers (In fact the side looks better balanced without Fowler there but the quality takes a hit).

There defence seems to lack quality on paper and I am expecting them to be the whipping boys early in the season. Key defender Wilson will start the season injured which will further hurt their ability to contain sides. And there is a question over whether Henderson will actually sign a contract.

Of the course the weather is the big unknown and teams travelling up north in summer to take on Fury may be in for a nasty shock when they get up there. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them difficult to beat at home as teams struggle to adapt to the stifling heat and humidity. Fury will have a distinct advantage at home from December onwards.

Watch out for : With fury having two very quick wingers in Williams and Spagnulo I am expecting lots of crosses into Fowler, if he remains fit he will pick up a stack of goals.


8th – Wellington Phoenix
Maybe because they are located in another country or perhaps because they deliberately take a low key approach but the Phoenix seem to have flown under the radar this preseason.

----------------------Paston----------------------
--Mulligan----McKain--Durante---Lochhead--
----------------------Brown----------------------
------Bertos-------------------------Daniel------
----------------------Diego-----------------------
---------------Ifill----------Greenacre-----------

The loss of Smeltz will have a huge impact and he will be difficult to replace but its good to see the Phoenix have recruited what appears to reasonable strikers. On paper the Phoenix team actually looks nearly as good as last year. Diego is a good pickup and if he can stay healthy will provide some excellent distribution to the new strikers.

If there is a question around Phoenix, its their ability to dominate other midfields. Daniel, Bertos, Ferrante, Lia do not exactly strike fear into the hearts of the opposition.

I think it is going to take time however for this team to gel and although I think they have the squad to make the finals if everything goes to plan. I am tipping them to fall short.

Watch Out For : With the midfield that he has to play with I am expecting Herbert having to switch and swap a lot early in the season.


7th – Newcastle Jets
Van Egmond out, Branko in. Its almost like for like. To be honest I like watching the Jets play. Over the last four years, out of all the A-League teams, they have maintained a program of keeping the ball on the deck have attempted to play attractive passing football.

---------------------Kennedy---------------------
--Elrich----Milicevic--T-Stanley---D’Apuzzo'--
----------Kantarovski---Thompson-------------
--------------------Vignaroli---------------------
---De Groot---------------------------Patafta---
--------------------Petrovski---------------------

Culina likes to play attacking football and it is likely we will at least see the Jets start the season playing a 4-3-3. Vignaroli is prefect for the creative role at AM and Patafta may finally be given a chance to fully prove himself in a starting role.

To be honest though Milicevic is the key to how well Newcastle do. He can have a huge influence as we saw throughout the ACL matches and if he can get his head right and contain that mouth of his he just might drag Newcastle higher up the ladder than expected.

But I feel there is too much riding on Ljubo and the defence without him just isn’t up to scratch. I am not a huge wrap for Topor-Stanley, who makes far too many mistakes for my liking and is often found wanting for speed.

Watch out for : Ljubo won’t be able to contain himself and at some point in the year will abuse the club, owner, manager. Entertaining it might be but it is a train wreck waiting to happen.


In the next article I will take a look at 4th to 6th

6 Days to Season V
,

Half Time Heros Fanzine

Eamon Flanagan (The Nearpost blog) and Con Stamocostas (A Football Story blog) are pulling together a monthly fanzine called “Half Time Heros”.

Some of Australia’s most committed Football writers have joined, including Tony Tannous (The Round Ball Analyst & The Roar), Mike Salter (The Football Tragic), Fiona Crawford (A Girl Called Fred) and Bill Skinner (A Spawning Salmon/A Pissant Town) plus many, many more (including myself looking a look at the Young Socceroos and other youth issues).

The fanzine will take a serious and sometimes not so serious look at Australian Football. The first issue will feature stories and interviews with the Socceroos. Covering every A-League club; including the two new teams the Gold Coast United and North Queensland Fury. The W-League and Youth League will also be featured.

The first bumper issue features over 20 pages. Sports Minister, the honourable Kate Ellis writes the opening piece. Terry Henry tackles the hardmen, we look at all the media stars in season 5, double FA we're watching you, and more opinions than you could ever hope for; a star team of writers and all for free. Football heaven!

So sign up for Half-Time Heroes here and watch out for you copy next Wednesday.

7 Days to Season V
,

Rising Stars Of The A-League

Its great to see the National Australia Bank getting involved in supporting the identification of the next generation of Socceroos. The fact that the FFA now have attracted corporate sponsorship for its A-League Youth award is yet another indication of the growth of the game within this country.

Of course the NAB have been long time supporters of young sporting talent in this country with their long standing sponsorship deal with the AFL for their Rising Start award. The $10,000 investment portfolio on offer isn’t huge but it is a start and for these players starting out on hopefully long and successful careers it is an excellent sweetener.

I am a little disappointed though that they have decided to leave the age at Under 21 for this award, I would prefer that it drop down to Under 20 to really reward those players who are climbing through the youth ranks into senior level.

So who are the early favourites to take the award this year? Here are my top 5 chances to take out the award.

5. Mitch Nicols – Brisbane Roar
Nichols is one of those players that looks a million dollars one week, ten cents the next. He came along in leaps and bounds last year however and should cement his position in the Mariners starting line up this year, though the presence of Charlie Miller will likely push him out of his preferred position.

He gets himself into scoring position on a regular basis and the Roar tactics allow his sometimes lack of precision passing to become less important. To win the award though he will need to play and score regularly.


4. Luke DeVere – Brisbane Roar
DeVere has been a revelation at Roar, his solidness in defence belies his years and it certainly hasn’t hurt him having Craig Moore as a mentor. He had fourteen appearances last season but I am expecting him to be the first choice starter this year.

This will be a big year for DeVere and if he can improve even more on last year he is sure to attract the attention of overseas clubs. With the Roar shaping up as a very tough defensive team DeVere will have the chance to shine.


3. Tahj Minniecon – Gold Coast
With Minniecon’s switch to the Gold Coast he has a new manager to impress and a team full of experience to beat out for a starting role but his pre-season has been impressive and his runs down the right hand side a standout for the Gold Coast. Miron is a big fan and a starting spot seems likely.

The improvement in his game under Farina was exceptional and this year may just be the year he finally puts it all together and becomes one of the most lethal young wingers we have. The potential is there, Miron just has to bring it out.


2. David Williams – Nth Queensland Fury
It is a huge coup for Nth Queensland to pick up Williams on loan from FC Brondby where he is currently out of favour. A quick striker who can be dazzling when playing well Williams will be hoping to secure a starting spot in the Fury line up.

He is super quick and has a excellent nose for goals. The big question mark will be whether the Fury midfield can provide him with the service he needs but if he gets going, watch out, he might just outshine Fowler.


1. Kofi Danning – Sydney FC
This kid is special and I am fully expecting this to be his last year in the A-League. A class midfielder who is comfortable with the ball at his feet and an eye for goal. He has the special ability to be in the right place at the right time and seems to be always on the scoresheet.

If he can win a first team starting spot, he is going to star this year. I suspect he will get the nod as the left midfielder for Sydney and there are going to be a few opposition right backs who end up with nightmares after chasing him around all day.

And there is the outstanding question of whether he will be allowed to play for Australia at the Youth World cup. If he isn’t that will be a few weeks more he will be on show in the A-League.

9 Days to Season V
,

Bubbledome Coming Along Nicely

Ask any Victory supporter what they are most looking forward to when Victory kick off their ACL campaign next March and the answer you are most likely to receive is, “sitting in the new home of football in victory, the Bubbledome”.

Construction of the new stadium has been ongoing now for several months and age newspaper today published a stunning photo (see below) of the progress.


Of course the stadium won’t be officially named the Bubbledome. I am sure the powers that be will sell the naming rights to some corporation but it is fast becoming the name used most by the fans to describe the stadium. And of course it can be easy to see why with its distinctive roof structure.

It goes without saying the anticipation of the new stadium is extremely high amongst Victory supporters, including myself. The Bubbledome will provide a true home to Victory and the atmosphere it will provide cannot be understated. Melbourne fans have always prided themselves on providing their team support unmatched in the A-league and with the smaller size (approx. capacity of 31,000), the Bubbledome is expected to literally buzz on match days.

With the Dome and Olympic park before it, Victory supporters have never had a prefect stadium where they are close to the action. The new stadium will change all that, with its purpose built rectangle surface and compact stands, all fans will be closer to the action and with Victory fast approaching 20,000 members this year, competition for the prime seats is also going to be fierce. It will be interesting to see just how many non-reserved seats are available to the public when the 2010/11 season rolls around.

One of the disappointing factors of the new stadium is that 31,000 will most likely be inadequate for the matches against Victory biggest rivals, Sydney FC and Adelaide United, and these games will have to be moved to Etihad Stadium. Of course this is not very popular amongst the most die hard of Victory members as these are exactly the type of games where a sell within the new stadium would enhance the experience.

The stadium is expected to also be used by the second Melbourne team when they enter the competition in the 2010/11 season so Melbourne football fans can expect to see football every week at this wonderful new venue.

At this time the Stadium is expected to be completed by Feb/March next year. So hopefully Victory can christen the turf with a home game to kick off the ACL campaign.

12 Days to Season V

,

Looking for Egmond's Accountability

You have to love the world we live in today. Everyone is to blame but ourselves! So it comes as no surprise that some media commentators are quick to lay the van Egmond fiasco at the FFA’s doorstep rather than the individual responsible.

In his latest blog, Jesse Fink points the finger at FFA and a lack of due diligence on their behalf as the root cause for the problems that Gary van Egmond now finds himself in. But where is the accountability for the individual that misled the FFA and his club throughout this process. Gary van Egmond should bear the majority of fault for this mess not the FFA.

The article itself touches on van Egmond’s role within the process without ever associating wrongdoing to him personally. Fink writes, “According to our information, the FFA then offered to contact Constantine to inform him of their planned offer to employ the coach. Van Egmond persuaded them to hold off, suggesting that he should tell Constantine himself”. So the FFA was under the impression that van Egmond would inform his employers that he had applied for a role at the AIS and FFA, was it reasonable of the FFA to then go behind Van Egmond’s back and inform the club, I wouldn’t have thought so.

The other concern in this process is the contract that Van Egmond had with Newcastle Jets. As Fink writes “Van Egmond allegedly assured the FFA during the interview process that he had been “unencumbered” contractually.” Jesse goes on to suggest that they should have requested a copy of the contract. Really? Is it really a reasonable request for a potential employer to request a copy of the current contract that a potential employee has with their existing employer? Again I would have thought not.

It seems to me that Gary Van Egmond here needs to bear the brunt of the blame. It was he who misled the FFA in regards to his ability to exit his contract. And it was he who failed to inform his existing employer that he was seeking employment elsewhere. His reputation is now in tatters and I wonder if a senior club in the A-league would even consider him for a youth role at the moment.

Fink’s colleague and fellow blogger Phil Micallef seems to be of the same mind as myself as his latest article places the blame squarely on Gary van Egmond’s shoulders. It’s interesting to note that Philip, who spoke to Egmond before this all blew up in his face, quotes Egmond as being “almost cocky” about leaving the Jets in the lurch.

It’s good to see that FFA did the correct thing and withdrew their offer of employment once it was confirmed that indeed van Egmond had misled them. There is no doubt that the FFA could have handled its communication with Con Constantine better after the offer of employment had been made and accepted but I cannot accept them as the “villain”, as Fink puts it, in this situation.

15 days to Season V
,

Club vs Country, A-League Style

Miron was never going to win the battle to hold onto Tahj Minniecon for Gold Coast's preseason. The FFA have made it clear in the past it will not tolerate clubs attempts to withhold players from international commitments and again they have ensured that Minniecon is in the squad for the South American camp in Argentina.

Overall I agree with the FFA stance that country commitments should hold sway over club duties but there is a serious concern here that the FFA is taking advantage of the agreements to release players they have inserted into the clubs licences.

Should a lead up preparation game really hold sway over club commitments for young players that are vying for first team positions. And if this is a serious camp, that will be critical to the preparation and selection of the Under 20 squad for the Youth World Camp, there seems to be a few names missing from the squad. No Dean Bouzanis, James Holland, Oliver Bozanic, Ryan Grant, Tommy Oar & Robert Stambolziev. Of these the biggest surprises are Ryan Grant and Tommy Oar, surely they are still in the mix for selection, especially considering some of the names that have made the list.

Then there are the big three, why have Bouzanis, Holland and Bozanic been left out of the squad. If their clubs have denied them permission to join the camp (as is their right as this does not occur over FIFA approved dates), you can hardly blame the A-league clubs for feeling hard done by. If they also want to keep a player/s who will be critical to their first team plans for the year they are left with little choice but to go cap in hand to the FFA but it appears no-one is listening there.

It would be ironic indeed if Minniecon, Danning, DeVere, Hoffman, Jurman & Nichols lose their A-league starting spots as their managers feel that they haven’t been involved enough in pre-season and opt for another player who has taken their place while away in camp. Minniecon and Danning are both in the middle of battles with more experienced players for starting berths at their respective teams.

On the weekend Danning once again showed why he is a name to watch this year but with him absent for the last few weeks in the lead up to the opening match, Lavicka may look elsewhere for that starting spot and use him off the bench. I don’t think warming the pine will help his or Minniecon's development much and the FFA should be asking themselves whether the players long term development wouldn’t be better served with their clubs.

18 Days to Season V
,

Can Hearts Succeed

So Melbourne will have a second team in the 2010-11 season. A local derby will have many Victory fans excited but can a second team survive in the long term? I think so but it will be a bumpy ride.

Since the Peter Sidwell backed bid was officially confirmed as the 11th A-league licence there has been a lot of discussion in football circles around where their members will come from. Obviously Sidwell and the other backers of the new team would have conducted significant market research in terms of how viable a second team in Melbourne will be before they committed there funds to the venture. However on the surface it is hard to imagine that there is a significant supporter base of non-aligned Victory fans to capture.

Melbourne is not like Sydney, there is no great divide between West and East, North and South. And as there is already a successful team that plays out of a centrally located stadium that can be easily reached by the majority of the population there is no signficant portion of the popultion that cannot easily make the trip each week. This is beside the point though as the new team have indicated they also will play out of the new stadium currently being built in Richmond. So like Victory, Hearts (for want of a official name) will not target a specific geographical area of Melbourne or Victoria and will instead attempt to engage the community across all of the state.

There is no doubt that there is still a significant number of football followers in Victoria that haven’t jumped on board the Melbourne Victory bandwagon over the last five years. But if they haven’t been moved to support Victory what will this new team bring to the table that will convince them to buy a membership now.

There will be an element of existing supporters that will see this new club as an opportunity to support something new and I have no doubt that they will initially receive some crossover support from Victory fans who just want to go see a match each weekend. However any way you look at it Hearts are shaping up as the poorer cousin to Victory and will have a hard time attracting the degree of support that Victory enjoys.

With 5 years head start though Victory have built a strong following right across Melbourne and Victoria and they are not going to give up their existing members without a fight. You can be certain that Victory will do everything within their power to maintain and grow there membership base. We have already seen signs of this with the introduction of loyalty initiatives this year and it is not coincidence that a large portion of Victory members will reach the first reward level within the next two years, just as the new team will be looking to lure them away.

With the 2010 World Cup taking place during the lead up to Hearts entry to the A-league they should get a significant amount of initial support. The challenge for hearts will be to keep these bandwagoners and turn them into long term members. And of course in the longer term with good management there is no reason that hearts cannot compete with Victory for the affections of the kids coming through. Some success on field and a couple of highly marketable players will also help attract kids. The question is how long can hearts survive as they wait for these young fans to become revenue producing members. I wish them the best of luck as I suspect they will need it.

23 Days to Season V
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Fulham Defeat Great For All

Gold Coast’s win over Fulham on Wednesday night has caused quite a stir. With news of the surprising win even making news in the UK. It certainly has given the Gold Coast a huge boast in confidence going into the start of the new A-League season but how important is it to the A-league in general.

Putting aside the fact that Fulham were extremely underdone for this match and Gold Coast meets them at the end of a extensive preseason, and yes the Fulham side was full of reserves and youngsters in the second half when GC scored their winning goals. But remember this is the club that finish 7th in the EPL last season meeting a side that has not played an official match as yet, they would not have been pleased to walk away with the loss.

The result can only have benefits for the A-League across world and especially within Europe. With Fulham, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Celtic all playing matches here this pre-season it will no doubt draw football fans who would not normally go along to watch a A-League game. Perth and Brisbane especially could get a large boost in membership from some solid performances against their English and Scottish opponents respectively. Who knows in a couple of years we may even see A-league clubs talking on the giants of European football. A Melbourne Victory vs Barcelona or a Sydney vs Chelsea, maybe even a Gold Coast vs Real Madrid.

I found Michael Cockerill’s article today to be a very interesting read. To be honest I think the FFA approach here is spot on. Allowing the A-League clubs to organise their own preseason matches has opened up the door to media and public exposure that the league was never going to achieve via their dinky preseason club.

I hope though the FFA never support EPL matches here in Australia. Such matches would not be conductive to the growth of the game here in Australia and would be a backward step. These preseason matchups are the way to grow the game and hopefully a couple more good results will encourage better teams out here for their pre-seasons.

I will be heading along to the Melbourne Victory and Fulham match on Saturday night and have two English friends coming who have never seen the Victory play live. I am not desperate for a win (though it would be nice), what I really want is a great spectacle. There is no doubt that Fulham will come out with a little more vigour after been stung on Wednesday, hopefully the Victory can match and also put on a display. Whatever the result though its great for the game here and I look forward to more and evn better clubs in the following years.

27 Days to Season V

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Youth Marquee Farce

When the FFA introduced the Youth Marquee allowance before the start of last season I thought it was a great initiative to help keep some of our youngest stars here in Australia for a year or two longer but now it has just turned into a farce and is effectively just a defacto $150,000 increase to the Salary cap.

The fact that the $150k allowance can be split across three players within the squad just means that clubs are going to use the allowance to pay for their three youngest squad members (which by the FFA regulations they must have) and effectively add the $150K saved to the rest of the cap.

This defeats the whole purpose of the Youth Marquee allowance. Originally when introduced, it was intended that the $150K could be used to encourage clubs to offer a bit more to those players who were on the verge of leaving overseas due to overseas league being willing to pay a lot more for their services than what a A-League club could afford under our cap. It was hoped that by providing an allowance outside the cap, it would allow clubs to offer higher than normal wages to a few select players that would normally have left. The idea was this could also be used to encourage younger players back from Europe when their careers may be stagnating a bit and the extra cash on offer might be enough to see them home. The classic example of this was Melbourne Victory enticing back Nick Ward. It is doubtful that Melbourne would have been able to afford him without the benefit of salary being excluded from the cap.

The fact that some clubs didn’t have players that were worthy of a $150K contract has seen a push from the clubs and PFA to spread this allowance across multiple players. This is stupid as now clubs have no motivation to chase the better youth players. So instead of clubs targeting the likes of Oliver Bozanic, Ryan McGowan, James Wesolowski & David Williams for a return to Australia they will just assign the money to their three under 21 players and free up the $150K to be spent on obtaining a slightly better foreign player. Don’t believe me, lets take Melbourne Victory for example again. With Nick Ward no longer eligible for the concession they sought and have been granted permission to assign their youth marquee allowance to Elasi, Theodore and Langerak, thus freeing up the $150K needed to sign Hernandez/Sukha. Now I am in no way complaining about these signings (as a Victory supporter I am rapt to have both) but it makes a joke out of the Youth Marquee salary exclusion.

Why didn’t the FFA dump the allowance and just bump the salary cap up by $150K, after all the result is exactly the same. I would much rather see an extra player slot allocated outside the salary cap than maintain this charade. This would allow the more adventurous clubs to add to the quality of talent coming into the league. It would also assist Australian clubs in the Champions League.

34 Days to Season V

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A Window To Asia

With just over a month until the start of the new season I thought it about time I resume this blog. I lot has happened in the last couple of months but there are few items I want to mention specifically.

Firstly, congratulations to the Socceroos on qualification to their second world cup in a row (only our third in total). I have been astounded by the criticism of the coach, Pim Verbeek, in the lead up to the last couple of matches. Although I also have been critical of the conservative approach he employs the proof is in the pudding and I would suggest it will be a long while before another Australian coach exceeds his qualification record of 14 games, 9 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses.

Secondly I think overall Newcastle and Central Coasts performance in the Asian Champions League was unfortunately about what was to be expected. Central Coast never looked like they deserved to be there and it was no surprise they failed to win a match. Although Newcastle exceeded my initial expectations of them by making the final 16 round, the way they capitulated to Pohang demonstrated that they probably didn’t deserve to get that far. I think Gary Van Egmond is a huge loss to Newcastle and I fear both they and Central Coast will struggle to make the final 6 this year.

The final item I wanted to talk about is the moment in A-League history that occurred today. What moment am I talking about? Today Melbourne Victory’s recent signing, Thailand international Surat Sukha, officially joined the reining champions. It is significant because I believe he is the first ASEAN player to be signed into the A-League. It is my personal belief that several of the ASEAN countries can and will provide a market for the A-League. Not just in terms of players but supporters, TV rights and sponsors as well.

The population of this area is staggering, Indonesia (220 Million), Philippines (92 Million), Vietnam (88 Million), Thailand (63 Million), Malaysia (28 Million). With this sort of marketing opportunity on our doorstep is seems daft that Australian teams haven’t attempted to tap into this market before. Take Thailand for example. Their capital, Bangkok, alone has a population of over 8 million people and is a football mad country (though admittedly the majority seem more interested in the EPL than their local league). With a time difference of only 3 hours behind Melbourne, it would seem a logical TV market to tap into.

Surat Sukha may just be the thin edge of the wedge into this exciting country and if successful you can bet your life on the fact that others will soon follow. Of course Melbourne have been influenced in their decision to sign Sukha due to the 3+1 rule in the Asian Champions League. For those unaware of the rule, all teams may have only three foreign players in their ACL squad though you are allowed to have a fourth if they are from an AFC Country.

This rule is similar to the one that the J-league introduced this year and as I have commented on before should be implemented here in Australia as well. To allow five foreign based players to be signed by each team in the A-league and not mandate that at least one of them is to be from an AFC country just seems crazy. Other countries in the AFC are following the J-league lead with Saudi Arabia and Qatar both planning to also implement the 3+1 rule next season and I will be very surprised if they are the last.

It seems though at least a few of the A-league teams are now looking to Asia. In addition to Sukha at Victory, Adelaide have picked up Shin In Sup (Korea) and Sydney have signed Byun Sung-Hwan (Korea). And Newcastle of course still have Song Jin-Hyung (Korea) on their books. So our out of the 10 teams, 4 have recruited in Asia. Not great but at least it is a start. The FFA need to implement a 4+1 rule for next season.

36 Days to Season V

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Sydney's Attempt To Profiteer On Youth

You have to hand it to Sydney FC, their audacity is astounding at times. Today’s attempt to pressure the FFA to compensate them for the loss of youth players to other A-league clubs is not only out of line, as it goes against what the FFA to trying do with not limiting youth player opportunities, but must leave the clubs that truly developed these players seething.

Why they think they would deserve any compensation is beyond me. The three players mentioned in the article (Zach Cairncross, Sam Munro and Steven Lustica ) have played one season in the youth team at the club. Now I know the coaching expertise of John Koshmina is second to none but does Stefan Kamasz really expect us to believe that Sydney FC has taken these young players and sharpen them into professional footballers in a single season?

What this outrageous demand by Sydney does do is highlight the issues that grassroots club are now facing by this system. The fact is these players have been signed to the Youth League with no compensation at all to their junior clubs that raised and nurtured them throughout their developmental years. This is the real tragedy of our current system. A system that fails to provide little reward to our grass roots clubs for their developmental programs.

Take Steven Lustica for instance, he played all of his junior days at Canberra FC. They just must love hearing Sydney ask for compensation at potentially losing him to another A-league club. Where is the call for compensation for all the work they have done to develop him into the footballer he is today.

The fact is until Sydney establish their own junior program and truly develop players from 8-12 years of age they have no claim on these players.

Of course the FFA will give this call by Sydney the short front it deserves. The whole point of the youth league system was to sign them to short amateur contracts that would allow unfettered moves to A-league clubs if and when those clubs were willing to sign them to professional contracts. Sydney like every other club has the opportunity to scout the entire youth system for talent and offer senior contacts to anyone within the system. This will ensure that no club can hoard potential stars and hold them in the youth system hoping for a pay day when an overseas club comes calling. Young players will go to the clubs that are willing to give them a chance and sign them to an A-league senior contract. This promotes youth and encourages clubs to roll on the dice on giving talented youngsters senior contacts.

The system has its problems, by allowing A-league clubs to profit when they on sell these junior players with little compensation to their junior clubs they are creating resentment within the grassroots clubs. Already we have seen Canberra FC and Melbourne Knights hint at establishing formal ties with a foreign club in an effort to avoid losing their junior stars for little or no money.

Rather than heeding Sydney’s call, the FFA should move now to ensure that these grassroots clubs receive a bigger slice of the transfer fees that A-league clubs receive when these junior players get their chance at the big time. This would not only help promote the clubs that do a good job of developing our youth but would also encourage all A-league clubs to focus more on developing their own youth pipeline.

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Are They Serious

There seems to be at least one country in the East Asian half of the Champions League that doesn’t consider the competition much chop. The South Korean club Ulsan Hyundai have made their thoughts apparent to all with the Team they sent out onto the park for their second round match up with Newcastle last night.

Not content to rest a few players after their 0-0 draw against Seongnam Ilhwa in the K-league on Sunday the club effectively gave all of their first team players a rest and brought their reserves to Australia. The Pohang Steelers also rested a few players in their first round match against the Central Coast but certainly not to this degree.

The AFC officials would not be impressed with the Korean side’s less than committed approach to the competition. With the increase in prize money and change in format the AFC is attempting to raise the prestige of the tournament but if the teams don’t place an emphasis on winning it can only damage the spectacle and reputation of the Champions League. It is obvious that Ulsan had decided that a draw here at Newcastle was acceptable and there is no need to push harder for a better result. Quite rightly though Newcastle dispatched them with little trouble.

Of course Gary Van Egmond must have been secretly relieved at Ulsan’s approach. After the disaster that was their first round effort against Beijing Guoan last week (and don’t let the spin deceive you, a disaster it was) he needed a win at home. Make no mistake the Jet’s campaign was hanging in the balance, as we have seen in previous tournaments an early loss at home can be hard to recover from. It was doubly important as Ulsan would be considered the weakest team (except for Newcastle themselves) in the group and a loss here would have seen them struggle to get off the bottom let alone out of the group.

I significant improvement by the Jets was needed last night if they were to take the three points away. Their defence last week was tortured by Beijing and was always going to be interesting to see how Topor-Stanley and Milicevic stood up on home soil, especially Topor-Stanley whose performance last week was so bad that even the Chinese crowd were jeering him when he went near the ball.

In the end though Ulsan made it easy for Newcastle and although there was still many question marks around Topor-Stanley performance in the end Newcastle were not really troubled by the Koreans. Sasho Petrovski was a handful for the Ulsan defence all night and fully deserved his two goals.

Newcastle need to ensure they don’t get too carried away with the result though as the real test comes over the next two weeks as they face up to group favourites, Nagoya Grampus (home and away), who were held to a surprising goalless draw at home to Beijing Goan overnight. With their defence still looking very brittle they have a mountain to climb if they are to even get close to the Japanese side.

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A Cup Of Our Own

With plans for the 2009/2010 season well under way, its time for the FFA to drop the preseason cup in favour of a knockout competition that incorporates teams beyond the A-League.

Next season will see the A-league move to a 10 team league and will almost certainly see the regular season stretch to 27 games. These significant changes allow the FFA to take a critical look at the league's current structure and do away with some aspects that are just not working.

The preseason cup competition in its current format is a lame duck and the FFA needs to replace it with an alternative that not only provides a much more marketable package but also can potentially incorporate a qualification spot for the Asian Champions League in the longer term. The answer of course is a knockout cup competition. There has been speculation in the press for a while now that the FFA will look to introduce a cup competition this year or next but the time appears ripe to go earlier than later. A limited Cup Competition would solve a number of issues while providing the FFA with another marketable competition alongside the A-League.

Of course in this current economic climate the FFA need to err on the side of safety. The first year a 16 team competition would provide a four round competition and would fit nicely into our sporting calendar. The 10 A-league clubs plus 6 teams from across the country would provide a small but interesting competition for the first year. This would mean excluding a couple of the state federations from the initial cup but similar to the A-league, a limited approach in the first year may be the wisest move.

So who would be the six clubs? Below is a sample list of the 6 teams who are the current champions of their state leagues.

VPL Champions ………………………………Altona City
Captial Football Champions……………....Canberra FC
QSL Champions……………………………….Sunshine Coast FC
NSWPL Champions …………………………Wollongong FC
NNSW Champions……………………………Broadmeadow Magic FC
SA SL Champions…………………………….Adelaide City
* Apologies to WA, TAS, NT and NZ

The first round could be contested in July (when the state leagues are fully match fit and the A-league is in preseason mode), with the quarter-finals in the first week of October after the state leagues finals have been completed. The semi-finals and final could then be scheduled for November/December dates.

One of the issues with the Preseason Cup is that it ties the A-league teams into practice matches with other A-league clubs and therefore leaves them little room to maximise revenue by participating in preseason competitions with other foreign clubs, something which the fans of all clubs would love to see. By only committing them to one match in late July the Cup Format would allow them to schedule their own preseason matches with whoever they like.

Of course though the biggest bonus of a Cup Competition is that that we could use it as a qualification spot for the Asian Champions League. With the A-league expanding to 10 this year and then most likely to 12 the year after we are by the AFC Rules for the Champions League eligible for 3 and 4 places respectively (Of course there are some other provisions beyond the size of the league that the AFC has laid down that we would have the meet). A Cup Competition lays the ground work which would allow the FFA some leverage to convince the AFC to grant Australia a third place for the 2010 or 2011 Asian Champions League (most likely a play off spot would be the best foreseeable outcome in the short term).

The last but certainly not the least compelling reason is from a publicity point of view a Knockout Cup Competition provides the FFA with another marketable product. By placing the TV rights for such a competition on FTA they would be able to increase the exposure of the A-league teams without hindering the commercial arrangement with Foxtel. With Channel’s Ten’s “ONE Sport” kicking off in the next couple of weeks, you can’t help but speculate that it would provide a prefect vehicle for the new competition.

Of course as the competition will need to be expanded in future years. A 32 team (5 Rounds) competition would be the logical goal and this could further be expanded by introducing a qualifying round.

But baby steps first, come on FFA make it happen.
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