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The Crowd Says (25) | Page 1 of Comments

• Brett McKay said | June 29th 2009 @ 8:34am | Report comment

  Adrian, I’m not sure Vidmar can blame anyone but himself – how many A-L players were thinking about Adelaide as a new home and then got scared off when the coach publically aired grievences about internal politics in “this piss-ant town”??

  Add to that the fact the AU’s main backer has had to offload the licence due to a tighter financial situation, and of course two new teams, and all of a sudden Adelaide has probably dropped down the list of players eyeing a move. I think it’s just called ‘market forces’..

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• Tom said | June 29th 2009 @ 8:46am | Report comment

  Fair enough that players like Larsson can bring fans to the A-league, but I doubt that paying one player several hundred thousand dollars for a guest stint (if the rumours were true) is the most cost-effective way of generating sustainable support for the A-league. So I think Vidmar has a point.

  But Brett also makes a good point.

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  GeneralAshnak said | June 29th 2009 @ 8:54am | Report comment

  Nice selective reporting of Viddie’s comments. I think you may find that Vidmar is 1. fustrated about missing out on a few players and 2. fustrated that the price of some players has been over inflated in the current HAL. I agree that we do not want to see HAL clubs spending more money than they can afford too and sending their backers broke. AUFC would have turned a handy profit last season, if not for the fact it lost 60% of it’s prize money. So even though it made it to the CWC and the final of the ACL they actually spent more money than they made. Now that is not the result of ‘behind the scenes bickering’ but the result of poor planing by the FFA.

  As for the “pissant’ comment, I think you will find very very few AUFC supporters who did not agree with Viddie. I take no offence at being a supporter of the pissants. Good luck to any opposing fans who think that it is going to rile us up.

  Bianco sold out of AUFC because of the way his primary business was performing, he also reduce his sponsorship of the Power – yet that seems to be a non event to everyone who thinks that bagging his contribution to the HAL and AUFC is a great idea.

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• Slippery Jim said | June 29th 2009 @ 9:21am | Report comment

  For any manager to whinge about other clubs spending too much on players in a domestic league with such a miniscule budget and tight salary cap is frankly ridiculous at best.

  If he wants to undervalue players by not offering adequate funds to attract them that’s his problem, not the rest of the A-League’s. Finances aside, I can just imagine how ineffective Vidmar is in trying to lure players to a club representing a city that he himself was so bursting with self-loathing that he called it a ‘Pissant Town’ live on television (an act he should probably have been sacked for). He doesn’t exactly embody local pride.

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• Towser said | June 29th 2009 @ 9:25am | Report comment

  I watch 2 sports in particular Football & to a lesser extent boxing,mainly because the coverage in this country is pathetic.
  Why because out of those 2 sports I’m looking for something I couldn’t do as well,something that seperates the top professionals from me,something I admire. Boxing provides the man vs man ,nowhere to hide confrontation,as well as skill to avoid & deliver punches,Football provides a ball control passing,crossing dribbling skills that I dreamed of as a lad. Never had that ability. So when I watch any professional football, I expect to see something out of the ordinary ,a peice of dribbling skill,a turn on a sixpence, a perfectly timed through pass,the accurate corner,bending free kick etc etc,the loping across field pass delivered to a players foot,several one two’s cutting up the defence resulting in a goal etc etc,we all have our favourites. So do I get this in the A-League & whom do I get it from. To answer the first question-occassionally. Whom do I get it from, a few of the Aussie youngsters,but mainly from overseas players. The bottom line is that the bulk of Aussie players fail to deliver “that bit extra”. Thats why theres a technical revolution going on in coaching. So in the main the overseas players have delivered this for me. As a Roar fan even a lard arsed Charlie MIller with a hernia provided more moments of creativity than the Roar had shown me before. Occassionally Robbie Kruse in the season before last did the same. In defence of course Craig Moores(Overseas by default player) impressed by the hardness,timing of his tackles & calm distribution thereafter. When Van Dijk hit his scoring straps Roar fans had faith in his ability to score. Cant remember that at The Roar before. Dwight Yorke & Miura at Sydney were a delight at times. A level of professional football understanding above & beyond the average A-league player.
  We constantly whinge here on the Roar about the Euro-Snobs,but they are the ones we first & foremost have to persuade to attend A-League matches. Because the reality is they have a point. But give them potentially a player who delivers “that bit extra” & they see it performed on the park consistently & you will get some at matches.
  Personally as a fan I dont care what Aurelio(great bloke as he is)says & I dont care who forks out the money. If Larsson is a guest player I’ll hop in the car down the motorway to have a look. Also maybe the French Tw*t who sat next to me at the Roar at one match (whinging about pub football ,)before their goal scoring 4 season drought was broken will be there.

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  Pippinu said | June 29th 2009 @ 9:32am | Report comment

  Towser
  that’s no way to talk about Millster!!

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• True Tah said | June 29th 2009 @ 9:46am | Report comment

  Towser

  what do you think about Robbie Fowler playing for the Fury?

  I just got back from the UK, and asked a few of the locals what they thought of him, as he used to play for Blackburn, and informed them he was playing in Australia. They said he was good in his prime, but that prime was quite some time ago, and that a few kilos have been added to the frame of the man who was once called God around Merseyside way.

  Im sure the Townsville heat will melt those kilos off Fowlers physique over time.

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  Pippinu said | June 29th 2009 @ 9:47am | Report comment

  Back to the substance of this article.

  We all know that sooner or later the current resctrictions of the salary cap will be loosened, might be a little, might be a lot, but it is going to happen.

  It’s already clear to me that with or without a salary cap, some clubs would be spending about the same as they do now – they simply can’t affort to spend any more – and won’t be able to for a very long time, if ever.

  At least two clubs, maybe three, certainly no more than four (out of ten clubs) could afford to spend up to 50% more than what they spend now.

  For a club like Melbourne, that’s the difference between having Arch, Carlos and Fred in the same starting XI, and not having them.

  In other words, even a 50% increase in your wages (from current levels), is going to give you only a marginal improvement across the board.

  So any thought that we can buy in quality is a bit misguided – we can’t – it’s as simple as that.

  But what we can do is seek out young talent – both clubs now under the control of the FFA have done it with success, the Jets played some terrific youngsters, even in a shocking year, as did SFC.

  All this brings me back to the blog I put up a few weeks ago about basing our restrictions around over age players rather than the salary cap. Let’s become a nursery. Let’s make it our primary goal. Let’s have the very best 16 to 21 years olds playing in the A-League before they try their luck overseas.

  It’s a legitimate objective, it’s doable and the economics of it stack up. Clubs will never go broke developing youth and selling them on – but they will go broke outbidding each other in bringing into the country mediocre players (the good ones are not affordable, it’s as simple as that).

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• Towser said | June 29th 2009 @ 10:10am | Report comment

  True Tah

  I’ll let you know when he actually gets on the park. So far missing in action.
  But lets presume he eventually straps on his boots. Unlike Lardarse Charlie Miller who can create & score goals Robbie is an out & out goal scorer. So he needs good delivery from his teammates to do so no matter how fit. Can Fury do that. So far the signs arent great having lost 4 preseason matches on the trot with unfavourable reports. Time will tell on this score.
  However that leaves a proviso to my previous post.
  The Marquee/Guest business is a 2 way street. He will perform(provided fully fit) if surrounded by players who can read & anticipate his ‘Higher professional football moves”. Ie his runs into space to receive the ball,a turn,a goal etc.
  I have every confidence that The Gold Coast with the calibre of players recruited will be able to work well with Larsson as Dwight Yorke & Miura worked together for SFC in the first season of the A-League.
  The jury is out on Fury for me in this regard with Fowler.

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  Ryan Steele said | June 29th 2009 @ 11:30am | Report comment

  Adelaide will no doubt be expected to come into the upcoming season as underdogs to three or four other clubs (being Gold Coast, Sydney FC, the Victory, and possibly Perth), merely due to the lack of “big name signings,” but their pre-season has shown a lot of promise, and with a still-incomplete squad, they could keep going from strength to strength. They still have a few remaining spaces (though they are only likely to fill one or two), and a few of the players being trialled at the moment look like they could bring a lot of quality to the park (namely In-Sup Shin and Aron Wilford).

  I don’t agree with the notion that a lack of name signings equates to lackluster (or non-significant) signings. It’s easier for a team to gel, when they’re equally-skilled, or more able to develop their talents further. Other players on the park are less likely to work as well with a higher-skilled player, if they can’t understand the movements. It’s more about finding the right mixture of players to compliment and build upon what’s already there.

  Gold Coast have moved in leaps and bounds, obviously, with signings and squad development, over the last year, and I applaud them for what they’ve achieved in that time. They will be a great focal point for both national and global attention (as will the Fury, for having Robbie Fowler), and it’s what the league needs. I’m yet to be able to take them seriously, though, and it will take some time for me to respect them as a club (not that it really matters to them, of course).
  A Gold Coast-based club, cashed-up, and using a home kit similar to that of Brazil, really does seem like nothing more than a novelty.

  I agree that what they’re doing is excessive, in terms of throwing money around like nobody’s business (more so than what we saw with Sydney in the first year), but at this stage, I believe it’s beneficial to the league, and will be a great learning experience/centrepiece of entertainment for everyone involved.

  I would really like to see Henrik Larsson playing in our league, and the best of luck to the club in their attempt at getting his signature.

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