By Jesse Fink
December 21st 2007 @ 4:35am
David Carney: German for “Says who?”
Superficially, at least, media “reports” of the past week linking former Sydney FC player David Carney to German giants Bayern Munich are tremendous signs that Australian football is still capable of producing players able to mix it in the big leagues of Europe.
Certainly when I first read the story about Carney I was excited for the bloke and also for the A-League.
Being a football writer I do tend to harbour paternalistic feelings for our growing sport. Yarns like Carney’s warm my barren blogger’s heart while feelgood Christmas movies do not.
But when I called Carney’s Australia-based business manager Michael Crismale about the Bayern talk he was as much in the dark as anyone. He said he’d sent an email to Carney, who’d yet to respond, and was refreshingly frank about what he knew (or at least was prepared to let on).
“I don’t know if it’s truth or fiction, mate,” he said.
Okaaaaay.
Where I live in Sydney, I frequent a café daily that is well patronised by footballing types. Ex footballers, ex internationals, agents, even FFA heavies.
Just sitting at a table with them – or next to them – drinking coffee and shooting the breeze you’re more likely to get a better insight into what is really going on in Australian football than reading half the unsourced rubbish that is published in the papers or on news websites.
Truth be told, 90 per cent of what passes for “news” today in the football press is just wild speculation. Most of it, I’m afraid to say, is on Fox. (I’m not sticking the boot in to my old employer here just to be nasty; there really is a frightful dropping of standards going on editorially at FOXSPORTS.com.au, but I’m not going to rehash that argument here. I’ve already done so for SBS.
When one reads that a player is “in talks” with a club that usually translates as code for “an email has been sent” to the club by the player’s agent or his business manager.
That, or the player himself has casually mentioned to one of his anointed media pals that he had a quick word with some German guy in the tunnel after the game, and f*ck me, if he is who he says he is I might be on my way to Munich, cobber.
Anointed media pal then dutifully mentions it in his Sunday column, which is published on the web, fan Googles player’s name, picks up on story, posts it on club messageboard, which is then cut-and-pasted by drunk hack at newspaper in Europe. Story then finds its way back to Australia and all of a sudden, because of said European paper’s imprimatur, it’s all on.
I’ve yet to see anything yet on the mooted Carney transfer that quotes anyone directly from the German club, so I have my doubts about the whole story.
That’s not to say it might not still happen, and I have been assured by some associates that the interest from Bayern is very real, but IMO it’s not worth getting excited just yet until there is some real confirmation.
(You only have to cast your mind back to the Nicky Carle will-he-won’t-he circus with half a dozen Turkish clubs earlier this year to remember how easy it is to get misled about a player’s real destination. If only it had been Fenerbahce instead of Genclerbirligi!)
I am being extra sceptical about the Carney story, too, because I have seen with my own eyes just how complicit some journos can be in talking up a player either to push him forward for national-team consideration or cannily jack up his market value.
(I have some personal experience in that regard. I took it upon myself to spruik Nicky Carle when I was blogging for FOXSPORTS.com.au, not because I knew him or his agent – I have met neither – but solely because I believed he was the best player in the A-League and deserved another shot at playing for the Socceroos. Pressure from me and others went a long way in getting Carle that opportunity.)
But back to “Super Dave”.
Before the Asian Cup Carney was just another half-alright-but-nothing-special player earning his keep at Sydney FC.
I went to one of the club’s training sessions at the Sydney Football Stadium and wasn’t exactly overawed by anything he was doing or by any of his games leading up to that session.
But the next day a story appeared in one of the major metropolitan newspapers spruiking Carney for Graham Arnold’s Asian Cup squad and, lo and behold, sure enough he was eventually picked by Australia’s interim coach.
Carney got his golden chance and he took it. But he could thank that journo for getting the push and you can only sympathise with those very good players out there whose dreams of playing abroad are scuppered solely because they have a poor agent or just don’t have the right connections to get themselves in the shopfront window.
There are countless tales going around the traps of players being bought by certain A-League clubs solely on the recommendation of certain agents and those same players going on to do nothing but warm the bench and pick up their fat pay cheques. Meanwhile genuinely gifted young players fester in the state leagues, dreaming of getting picked up by one of the eight A-League clubs but having sweet FA chance of that ever happening – unless they get the right agent or, less commonly, they attract the eye of a sympathetic journo who knows real football talent when he sees it… unlike a lot of A-League and even national-team coaches.
However, all that said, I sincerely hope the Carney-to-Germany story is true, just as I hope Sydney FC was smart enough to insist on a sell-on clause when it firesaled Carney to Sheffield United.
If it all comes together, it’s gonna be another watershed moment in the Australian game. The thought of Carney doing his stuff alongside Toni and Ribéry is enough to make even the grouchiest Australian football fan’s eyes water with pride.
But don’t forget Mark Schwarzer has had more stories linking him with Bayern than I have had hot dinners, and what’s come of that?
Bugger all. He’s still schlepping it at Boro, grumbling about leaving and never likely to.
The business of football is as much smoke and mirrors as it is about rewarding skill and talent.
Unfortunately, when it comes to player transfer talk, it’s usually all smoke and mirrors.
That’s about the only thing in this latest Carney caper I can guarantee you right now is true.
David Carney in action
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sledgeross said | December 21st 2007 @ 4:53am | Report comment
I thought it was all bullshit as well Jesse. A week or so a go I said we shouldnt overrate our players too much and was told by your “mate” that there would be big news about Carney. Im still incredulous. My mum can make a press statement linking Zindane to Marconi. Doesnt make it credible or helpful!
As far as Im concered, Carney will still be playing off the bench in South Yorkshire until there is solid proof!
http://blogs.foxsports.com.au/football/index.php/foxsports/comments/the_green_green_grass_of_home/
Mick of Newie said | December 21st 2007 @ 5:07am | Report comment
I find most of this stuff pretty harmless. Yeah it is crap and most people konw it is. Same goes for the current Carle to Spain. I hope it happens but I’ll believe it when I see it.
Where it is disappointing is when the combination of suckhole journos and greedy agents pump up the tyres on an up and coming player, get him a transfer where he proceeds to sit on his arse and his career goes backwards (Leijer, Vidosic, Ward, Heffernan come to mind and Elrich, Griffiths, Thompson know a bit about this).
Currently Burns, Djite, Musiliak, Milligan, Bridge, Holland, Zullo and Kruse are all getting this treatment. I am not convinced that any of these players are at the right level (ability, age and proflie) to get the right deal at the right club.
Myonly hope is that some of the senior guys at their clubs are providing advice as to the realities of life in Europe, because you can be sure the agents are talking it up.
Greg said | December 21st 2007 @ 9:36am | Report comment
Jesse, I’m sure you would have had quite the laugh (going by your blog on SBS) when you read that it was none-other than the Whistleblower who was the one who first said there was going to be big news about David Carney.
If this comes to nothing (as it probably will, knowing how unpredictable the transfer market is) it will teach all the lazy journos out there to actually source their copy and to not just pick up someone else’s lazy writing. Or not, as they say never let the truth get in the way of a good story and this story was too juicy for them to resist. Trouble is, half of their crap is just pasted from AAP/Reuters/AP wires without any further research – they most definitely go for quantity not quality over there.
Even at The Roar do you notice the amount of replies a “Roar Exclusive” gets compared to a syndicated post? It just proves that quality is what the readers want – something that will get them thinking.
Greg said | December 21st 2007 @ 9:37am | Report comment
Great photo by the way, that’s where syndication does come in handy!
Quinny said | December 21st 2007 @ 10:19am | Report comment
I’ve never seen a ‘highlights’ clip feature so many missed attempts at goal and an adequate player made to look good by slow mistiming tackling defenders.
Andrew Logan said | December 21st 2007 @ 10:20am | Report comment
So this is what we have to look forward to when all the good rugby players are offshore playing in Europe. I better start watching how football works – it is a window into rugby circa 2020!
Salvation said | December 21st 2007 @ 11:38am | Report comment
Thanks for the non smoke and mirrors journalism.
Cpaaa said | December 21st 2007 @ 2:02pm | Report comment
good journos and clever agents make a players career. if there is hype i want to know about it. foxsports is nothing more than reading a womens magazine while waiting to pay for your groceries….in saying that i like it. it keeps us surfing, blogging, interacting and discussing about it at smoko. The big Leagues thrive on rumors, Beckham deals with it. i read on 442 arnie vs butcher for the Dunfermline job.Beautiful..true or not, who cares, if arnie reads it, maybe it inspires him to investigate it. Rumors can start truth?
But real fans know where to look for the genuine article
MIdfielder said | December 21st 2007 @ 5:32pm | Report comment
Jes, big tip midfielder to Man U, to take that holding role thats never been filled since Keno went.
Offer coming soon, Liverpool & Real have also tabled offers, problem center around Midfielder wanting time off to play for socceroos. AC Malian have indicated they will be willing to let Midfielder play for Socceroos and are emerging as a late runner.
Jes, you need to push my case, I expect a call within two weeks from .
dan the sydney fc fan said | December 25th 2007 @ 9:04pm | Report comment
hey jesse,
i sincerely wish the bayern rumour is true and carney does go there, i think he will do good there. as we all know, he is a very versatile player so if he can handle the successful leap from a very good forward to an international standard left-fullback in quick time, never before having played left-fullback in his life, then he can do things at a top club like bayern. i wish him all the success in the world, not just cause he is an ex-sydney fc player, but more importantly, in that he is an australian footballer.
go australia and go the a-league!!!!!!!
tony in canberra said | January 7th 2008 @ 6:15pm | Report comment
a late comment, but what the hell.
that has to be the worst ‘highlights’ package I’ve ever seen! Surely Bayern will snap him up after they see that. Someone send the link through to their scouting department!