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.

,

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.

,

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.
,

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.