By Jesse Fink
May 16th 2008 @ 5:54am
Djite was right to go, but Adelaide was right to play hardball
Calamity for the A-League with the departure of arguably its best player, Bruce Djite.
I’ve been a huge fan of the young American-Australian ever since John Kosmina barely used at him at Adelaide. If Kossie is benching a guy, you know he’s quality.
With Djite, it was always a case of when he was leaving our shores, not if, and frankly I’m surprised it’s taken him so long. There was the trial at Werder Bremen, interest from Holland and now it appears he could be on his way to Turkish club Genclerbirligi, alma mater of Nicky Carle and Mile Sterjovski.
If true, the travel plans are temporary. Genclerbirligi is a staging post for footballers, a discounter’s warehouse that stays in the black by moving cheap product (second-tier footballers) to western Europe in high volumes. If he performs, Djite could be in England within six months, and, like Carle before him, in with a shot at the Premiership.
Which is a fitting reward for Djite. I’ve banged on about it many times: he’s the new Mark Viduka, but the only thing that’s going to convince the public of that is European football.
To my mind, long term he’s a more exciting prospect than even Scott McDonald or Josh Kennedy in that, like Viduka, he’s a strapping lad at just 21 who can only bulk up more and has a sweet touch in tight space that creates all sorts of opportunities for players working off him. What would Nathan Burns be without Djite?
All that said, it’s unfortunate that Djite chose to spray Adelaide, complaining about their holding out for the best possible price, said to be in the vicinity of $1.6 million.
Clubs are entitled to make a return on their investment. The Reds would have been mindful of the relative pittance that Newcastle got for Carle (and the heftily bumped-up on-sale price Genclerbirligi negotiated with Bristol) and been determined not to get burned.
The fact they ultimately relented in the face of Djite’s desperation to leave, let him go with 14 months left to run on his contract and agreed to a knockdown price knowing they had a future Socceroos striker in their midst is a tribute to their fairness and decency. As AUFC chief executive Sam Ciccarello said: “The club had to look after what it believed was its best interest… [but] we do not want to hold back any talented player who is capable of making it overseas.”
The rapidness by which Djite exited Adelaide, though, somewhat makes a mockery of the efficacy of the FFA’s recent “under-23 marquee” provisions and, by extension, the salary cap.
I’m all for financial restraint but the A-League can’t afford to keep losing every single talented young Australian player the moment a foreign club writes a cheque. Especially the more charismatic ones like Djite and Ruben Zadkovich.
It’s happening too easily.
More than ever before the onus is on Football Federation Australia to counter these predations by throwing some caution to the wind. Increases of $500,000 to $1 million a year in the cap strike me as far more sensible than $100,000. Risky, yes, but the A-League is booming. New commercial deals will be negotiated in 2012. The costs can be absorbed.
It’s time to get serious about tying down next season’s stars before they too fly the coop. The game has taken off but it can just as easily be grounded.
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We were talking about the important things in life, mainly sport.
Salvation said | May 16th 2008 @ 7:45am | Report comment
At least Nick Ward is keen to extend his Australian foray for another year. Youth Marquee aint all ineffective.
AS for if Djite’s decision was a wise one? Time will tell. I am not overly convinced…another year at AU probably better for his career, espesh with Olyroos commitments.
Midfielder said | May 16th 2008 @ 8:23am | Report comment
Jes
Agree,
sledgeross said | May 16th 2008 @ 11:03am | Report comment
I think Zadko going was good. He was never going to develop here, because he though he was better than he was. he will get shown up over there as somewhat of an imposter, and that will make him a better player in the long run, because he does have talent. Im not so sure with Bruce, I hope he does well but Im not so sure he will fit in there. Good luck to him though.
What about Leeds! Marching on together! Maybe Brucey should have gone there!!!
Ben of Phnom Penh said | May 16th 2008 @ 11:25am | Report comment
I’ve been waxing lyrical about Bruce for a couple of years now and it is interesting to note that Pim appears to regard him as the next striker in line after Viduka, McDonald & Kennedy which is not bad for a young kid who plays a type of game that requires maturity in both body and mind. I think that the relationship between Bruce and Adelaide remains excellent which is best shown by his enthusiasm in playing the crucial ACL game in China on Wednesday.
However all said and done the u23 marquee is more suited to those like Nick Ward, who have the talent however have not had a ripping success overseas due to various factors, than those like Bruce who are looking for the next step which is more about opportunity than cash. You could pay Bruce a lot more however this is not bringing him much closer to his dreams of playing in Europe. Turkey does.
Ben said | May 16th 2008 @ 4:55pm | Report comment
Interesting you highlight the transfer fee the Jets got for Carle as a pittance when it was 4 times what Sydney received for Carney, and included an sell one clause as well! Us poor old Jets, so called “journos” love to put the boot into us.
As for calling Bruce the best player in the A-League it’s a good thing you put arguably there. One of the best ‘potentials’ in the league no doubt, but to be called the best he’d need a bit of consistency and playing 12 games last year kinda puts a hole in that argument.
Kazama said | May 16th 2008 @ 5:10pm | Report comment
As an Adelaide boy I’m sad to see Bruce go, but it was always going to happen. I think our club did the right thing - I said to someone yesterday that we’d be stupid to let him go for less than $500k. I wish Bruce had kept his mouth shut and not soured his exit like he has, but that’s life. Hopefully he scores the goal that gets us into the ACL quarters next week and he’ll leave Adelaide a hero, as he deserves to.
I wish Bruce the best of luck on his European adventure, hopefully it is everything it promises to be. As for United, hopefully the club puts that money to good use. It will be used to buy a Brazilian stiker from Willem II if the local rag is to be believed, though his goals per game record doesn’t look that great. A pity we only seem to be looking at Brazilians when we have so much talent running around in the leagues of our near-neighbours.
The money here is never going to be enough to stop our kids from going to Europe, unless of course we can find a Roman Abramovich for each of our clubs. Until that happens (or Europe is wiped out by an asteroid), we’ll never be more than a glorified feeder league.
Millster said | May 16th 2008 @ 5:19pm | Report comment
I’m with Ben - the truly disgraceful deal of the A-League is the one SFC made over Carney. Ouch!
I also am very glad to see you get stuck into the inadequacy of the increases in the salary cap. By the time you take away 4% for inflation, you’re talking a cap movement of around 5% a year when the league should be growing in both quantity and quality at around 20% or more per year. So hurrah to your call for much more ambitious steps in the cap. I’d go so far as to say that there is no point in investing in 2-4 new teams but restricting them to spending caps that ensure mediocrity. 8 better funded clubs that can ensure a sprinkling of developing stars, and a higher overall quality of play, is a better proposition to me at least.
On the other hand I’m not totally with your bagging of the youth marquee concept. While - like you - I think the $150000 amount is too modest (I’d allow for half a million to be split between at least 2 U23 players) I do think that the philosophy is spot on and should be encouraged in principle. Far better to properly fund Aussie players on the way up than foreign players on their way down.