Australia's striker Luke Wilkshire, left, fights for the ball with Kuwait's player B. Almotawa. The match ended with a 2-2 draw. AP Photo/Gustavo Ferrari
It was revealed earlier this week Socceroo Luke Wilkshire had become one of Australian football’s top earners after signing a multi-million dollar deal with his Russian outfit Dinamo Moscow. He’s come a long way in a short space of time.
At 28 years of age, Wilkshire’s latest deal was the most important of his career. The bumper contract he has signed, has set him up for life.
And he owes a little bit of credit, at least, to former mentor Guus Hiddink as it was during his stint in charge of the Socceroos that his career famously began to really blossom.
There’s no doubt Wilkshire and Australia’s performances at the last World Cup alerted potential suitors, but the fact those suitors in Wilkshire’s case were Ajax Amsterdam, PSV Eindhoven and FC Twente, all Dutch clubs, suggested Hiddink had something to do with it all.
And as Wilkshire’s story goes, he sealed a wonder move from English third tier club Bristol City to Dutch up-and-comers Twente (where he claims he improved his technical game), before his switch to Moscow in 2008 (apparently instigated by a Russian former teammate of his in Enschede).
Now he’s got rolling in the rubles and a key figure in the Socceroos team, to the point where he’s no longer just the team’s utility player, but he’s pushing to displace regular starter Vince Grella in the important controlling midfield role.
A lot of credit must go to Wilkshire for making it happen, but Hiddink’s influence and intervention shouldn’t be ignored.
And as in many professions, who you know, can help you get to where you want to go.
Indeed, six months out from the 2010 World Cup, there’s a bundle of Aussie players who require a bit of help to pull a few strings to get themselves a spot on the plane to South Africa.
Nick Carle, Bruce Djite, Jacob Burns, Mile Sterjovski, Chris Coyne, Alex Brosque, Jason Culina and Eugene Galekovic are just a few who need to seal transfer deals to have any hope of making the World Cup squad.
And we’ve already seen a few proactive Aussies move during this transfer window, with Carl Valeri brought to Sassuolo by Stefano Pioli, his former boss at ex-club Grosseto.
Craig Moore was another using old contacts, with a link to Scottish club St Johnstone, who are managed by a former Rangers teammate of his, Derek McInnes.
In the end he joined Greece’s own mini-Australia at Kavala, where there’s currently five Aussies on the books, having signed another this week, namely Andreas Govas.
And also this week Socceroo Lucas Neill headed for Galatasaray to link up with former Socceroos assistant Johan Neeskens.
Indeed, there’s a lesson here for those Socceroos hopefuls about being proactive.
Curiously, Perth Glory chief executive officer Paul Kelly revealed this week about their club’s wannabe Roos: “Coyney has been the only one that has had any concrete offer or communication. The other two lads, Mile and Jacob, there is nothing concrete at this stage.”
You would hope they aren’t simply sitting around waiting for the offers to fly in.
I’m sure the players’ agents are putting the feelers out but it doesn’t sound terribly positive judging by Kelly’s comments.
Thus digging up old contacts might come in handy for several of the aforementioned players, with most having spent time playing in Europe in the past. I do recall Sterjovski (the king of not burning your bridges) claiming upon his departure from Derby County he’d be a lifelong Rams fan despite spending a less than glorious 18 months there mostly warming the pine.
But perhaps this is a problem which the FFA can intervene with, as after all, these loan deals and transfers are all about getting the best Australian team on the paddock in South Africa later this year.
And don’t forget four years ago, our old mate Hiddink landed Archie Thompson a six-month loan deal at PSV Eindhoven prior to the World Cup.
Sure, Hiddink was in charge of PSV at the time, but it reflects the power of association and contacts.
Indeed, you wonder if Australia boss Pim Verbeek could pull a few strings himself, with his strong links in his native Holland especially with former club Sparta Rotterdam, as well as in Korea and Japan where he’s coached in the past.
Yet in Thursday’s press conference in Brisbane, Verbeek separated himself from any transfer decisions made by players, claiming it was up to them.
But if all this player movement is about bettering Australia’s chances at this year’s World Cup, then maybe Verbeek or some of his Dutch colleagues at the FFA could pull a few strings and get in touch with a few contacts.
After all, as Wilkshire’s career shows, a bit of help from who you know can take you a long way, and that’s what we’re hoping the Socceroos can do in South Africa later this year.
We should try to give them every opportunity to do so.
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