We need to listen to Fozz on the A-League crisis

Columnist

By Adrian Musolino, 16 Apr 2010 Adrian Musolino is a Roar Expert

Tagged:: A-League, Ben Buckley, Craig Foster, FFA, football, John O’Neill, SBS, Zeljko Kalac

Related coverage

Sydney FC's Simon Colosimo tackles Gold Coast United's Jason Culina during round 23 of the A-League at the Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, Jan. 17, 2009. AAP Image/Dean Lewins

In a time of crisis, critical analysis and informed opinion are required to delve into the issues that are causing that crisis. At this time of crisis, the A-League, FFA and football supporters need to listen to the likes of football pundit Craig Foster.

Few sporting pundits are as divisive as Foster, the result of his impassioned pleas for Australia to adopt a more aggressive football strategy and his controversial views on other football codes.

Fuelled by the flawed perception amongst the football community, particularly with diehard A-League fans, that there is some sort of bias against the league from SBS having lost its “home of football” title to Fox Sports, Foster is a popular target, particularly considering his forthright views on the league’s standard and quality, let alone the emotion in which they are presented.

These critics of Foster are, however, missing a key point and showing an overbearing protectionism of the A-League that is doing it no good whatsoever.

Rather, Foster is exactly what the A-League needs.

At this time of expansion and stagnation there needs to be serious analysis of the direction in which football is going, particularly at such a critical juncture with the A-League’s clubs’ financial sustainability in question and the World Cup bid reaching its culminating stages.

Informed opinion, no matter how forthright, is desperately needed in an environment which has so visibly stagnated, particularly in a country where football remains a niche sport, continues to suffer obvious growing pains and, most importantly, lacks a wide reaching mainstream football media educated enough to critic and question accurately, separate to the melodrama and bias of the Rebecca Wilsons of the world.

The game needs for voices such as Foster’s to speak up for the alternative is allowing the rulers of the game to take the sport in a wrong direction with no independent voice calling them out on the errors of their way.

(While we are at it, a nod to former Socceroo Zeljko Kalac and his forthright opinion on A-League coaches)

Foster’s latest offering on The World Game’s Shootout feature is a case in point.

He outlines the following points on the A-League’s development:

- Capital driven rather than market driven approach not working.

- No direction on clubs’ football development from the FFA. John O’Neill’s lack of football knowledge meant the A-League’s birth lacked football development, despite commercial success.

- Community support is a fundamental pillar of a football club and it’s lacking in the A-League due to lack of support.

- The FFA should have considered expanded into Melbourne and Sydney sooner, perhaps from inception, as it’s sustainable due to the market size.

- Stadium deals and sizes debilitate finances and atmosphere.

- Leadership vacuum at the FFA – Ben Buckley’s leadership isn’t strong enough in the current climate, lacking a strategy in expansion areas, weak response to rival codes and is making the same mistakes.

These aren’t fallacious points.

These are the realities of the situation faced by the game. These are the informed opinions of a highly respected former player, commentator and an executive for five years with the Australian Professional Footballers’ Association (APFA).

They should be highly sought after and valued, not derided based on a false perception.

Meanwhile, Foster’s position as football’s premier pundit is likely to be cemented when he releases his highly anticipated book.

Fozz on Football is set to be released in May, and will be heavily promoted during SBS’s World Cup coverage from June.

According to the publisher: “Foster will explain the game and how Australia can develop to become a serious threat to footballing nations.

“He will explore the national styles of various influential countries and how that translates into a game that people love.

“He will also look at how the game in Australia is played, the goalkeepers and strikers, the past and the present, and importantly how Australia can maximize its opportunities.”

It will undoubtedly be as controversial and divisive as his work on SBS, but with valuable opinions and lessons nevertheless.

And that is the key point that is lost by the critics of the Fozz.

Enjoy sports? Enjoy a bargain? All Sports Online has your favourite sporting brands at up to 70% off. Online only, premium quality sporting goods and merchandise at discounted prices. Get a deal now.

The Crowd Says (89) | Page 1 of Comments

dasilva said | April 16th 2010 @ 7:59am | Report comment

Let just say that Fozz as coined by Mike Salters is Mr. 10% right.

Behind layers of hyperbole, exaggerations, stereotyping etc he makes a good point. However any good point he makes is obscured by all that baggage and that’s why he has his critics. You can be a critic and confrontational without inspiring hate. It’s a skill to express your opinion with a degree of diplomacy which Foster doesn’t really have,.

Johnny Warren has similar views to Craig Foster, he also was a major critic of the way the game is coached, he also doesn’t really liked the EPL as well. However Johnny Warren is loved whilst Foster is hated. Now why is that? Warren knows how to be diplomatic in his criticism whilst Foster doesn’t.

Zeljko Kalac – Give me a break. That was an absolute disgraceful comments with zero credibility

Let’s look at the claim that ex-euroroos aren’t being given a break and aren’t being fast tracked into the coaching community

Let’s look at the short history of players retired in the 90’s/00’s

Frank Farina – Fast tracked to be a player-coach of Brisbane Strikers. Afterwards was given the job as coach of Socceroos.

Graham Arnold – Got the job of Northern Spirit based on his playing career. Became assistant of the Socceroos due to his playing career and being friends with Frank Farina.

Aurelio Vidmar – Became assistant manager under Kosmina immediately after retirement. Now coach of Adelaide United

Paul Okon – Assistant of Gold Coast. Coach Under 18’s national team

Tony Popovic – already mention before. Found a coaching job in the A-league instantly.

Tony Vidmar – Manager of adelaide youth team immediately after retirement.

Kevin Muscat – groomed for the job in Melbourne Victory after being promoted as assistant manager.

Ante Milicic – assistant coach of under 20’s socceroos

Ante Juric – Under 13’s national head coach

Former players are getting fast tracked and getting plum A-league and national team jobs without doing the hard yards at State level and the lower leagues.

Kalac has nothing to complain about

Who knows maybe if the ex-socceroos have the humility to star coaching at lower leagues level and work there way up (like Gary Van Egmond) maybe that would improve their coaching instead of being place straight into A-league and national team environment with little coaching experience (Frank Farina and Graham Arnold comes to mind)

Reply
- Rob Gremio said | April 16th 2010 @ 9:16am | Report comment
  
  Dasilva,
  
  I think you’ve missed the point entirely in regards to Kalac. He has heaps to complain about – he isn’t coaching an A-League team right now.
  
  Kalac is an arrogant fool who, in my opinion, was never good enough. Lord knows what AC Milan saw in him. He’s gangly, pretty uncoordinated (see Aus vs Croatia, 2006 WC), and is atrocious in one-on-one situations (goes to ground far too easily and quickly, and as a keeper, I know that as soon as you go to ground, you’re dead in a one-on-one). It’s frustrating that a guy like him can get as much air time as he does, when pretty much everything he says is self-serving arrogant drivel.
  
  As for the article, I like a lot of what Fozzie has to say. He sees right to the heart of the issue and tells it as he sees it. Yes, perhaps too bluntly and without the diplomacy of a Les Murray or the late Johnny Warren, but that shouldn’t obscure the fact that what he has to say is well-informed, carefully thought-through, and, on the whole, correct.
  
  His love affair with Barcelona is understandable, given the way they are playing at the moment. I was watching them play on ESPN last night, and NOT ONCE did I see their keeper roost the ball long, he always rolled it out for a defender to play out. 90% at least of their passing was on the ground, into feet, and they played keep ball for the entire match, and not just for the sake of keeping possession like a greedy kid with a bag of lollies; they were intent on using possession to create scoring opportunities, and it was beautiful. Seriously, there can’t be any fans of the beautiful game who don’t appreciate Barcelona, even if they are not fans of the club, or a jealous of that team’s success. That’s why Fozzie talks about Barcelona so much. They are beautiful to watch.
  
  Reply
- AGO74 said | April 16th 2010 @ 9:23am | Report comment
  
  Kalac has been in the country a month or so and is deciding who should or shouldn’t be coaching. I don’t necessarily disagree that there are 1 or 2 coaches who probably shouldn’t be there, but according to Spider not only should those coaches be sacked, but a Moore/Kalac partnership at one of the clubs should be established as players would kill to play under him?! (in Zeljko’s humble opinion). Spider’s never short of a word and self-promotion. Who can forget the last World Cup. Who was the only Socceroo in the entire squad talking publically that he should play instead of XYZ etc. Everyone else kept their own counsel but not Zeljko. Somehow Spider convinced Hiddink to replace Schwarzer and we all know how that ended!
  
  Reply
- RickG said | April 16th 2010 @ 10:20am | Report comment
  
  Um, dasilva, you do realise Mr Warren departed us a few years ago?
  
  Reply
  - dasilva said | April 16th 2010 @ 2:09pm | Report comment
    
    yeah I do realise that and at no point did I mention that he was still alive.
    
    The point with Warren was that he has virtually identical opinions on how the game should be played with Craig Foster and he never was afraid of expressing it.
    
    However Warren was loved by the community and Foster is hated or at least divides the footballing community.
    
    There’s a reason behind that.
    
    Reply
- Phil E Buster said | April 16th 2010 @ 10:38am | Report comment
  
  Good comments das
  
  Reply
AndyRoo said | April 16th 2010 @ 8:36am | Report comment

Enjoyed the article

Should we have a pool as to how many times the word “Barcelona” appears in Fosters Book

My guess is 323

Reply
- DiCanio said | April 17th 2010 @ 10:40pm | Report comment
  
  my guess would be 343
  
  Reply
SW said | April 16th 2010 @ 8:40am | Report comment

I admire Foster for his preparedness to call things as he sees them. I fear however that he has slowly been losing his perspective, and this has muddied his objectivity and logic. Its easy to point out problems. Its even easier when the vaididity of your argument is not tested. This is the biggest problem with Foster’s views presently. Most of the points that he makes may sound impressive, but once examined, they most often ring hollow.

Reply
agga78 said | April 16th 2010 @ 8:45am | Report comment

Craig Foster is a numpty of the highest order, I doubt very much he has watched many A league games at all, probably has not gone to a game, He goes on about Barcelona like that style is the only way to play football, he is bitter against British football, maybe because he could not cut it there. Anyone Manager in the A league who is British is slagged off by Fozz, Ferguson, Merrick, Mitchell cop it while Laviska gets lauded for being able to kick Melbourne up and down the park in the two vital matches of the season.
Kalac should not even be listen to at all, a terrible keeper, who nearly knock us out of the 2006 world cup, who has not wanted anything to do with Australian football for 15 years who has come home and slagged off all the managers in the league probably again without watching a game.
I have watched SBS for 30 years and I can tell you they are as bitter as hell over not being the home of the A league, even though Johnny Warren helped the A league come about, Les is particularly bitter his critic of the A league was stupid and bias, having watched the NSL it was no bettter, the only thing the NSL has over the A league was the old NSL clubs brought through better young players, the standard of play was no better.
No one is kidding themselves over the A league, clubs have issues on and off the park, you get that with very young clubs on the park I watch every match and can tell you the beautiful is no where to be seen in the majority of the matches, in saying that Gold Coast and Melbourne Victory played attractive football last season while Sydney were better structured and played to a strict game plan, all different and enjoyable to watch at times. Melbourne Heart have a foreign Manager and he is putting together a good squad, lets see what type of football he plays.

Reply
- Davstar said | April 16th 2010 @ 8:50am | Report comment
  
  In fairness Mitchell and Ferguson are pretty bad coaches.
  
  Laviska is clearly a much high standard of coach then anyone in the A-league is, to come in 1st season with a team he didnt build and win the league that shows quality.
  
  I hate Sudney FC as much as the next guy but coaches like Laviska should be the future of the league.
  
  Reply
Davstar said | April 16th 2010 @ 8:45am | Report comment

I saw those comments made by fozz and i have to say i completely agree. Especially when he said that the A-league was marketed better then the NSL but the football being played was worse and personally i think it’s still worst then the part time league of the old NSL.
I also agree Fozz isn’t diplomatic especially in his criticism of the EPL even though he made his name playing in England (Portsmouth) and has never played in Spain yet talks about how every team should play like Barcelona.

Fozz recently said “La liga is the best league” because “every team goes out to play football” they play football “how football should be played” he has no idea!

Football style and the way a club plays is up to the club whether it be defensive (inter), balanced (Man U) or offensive (Barcelona), he seems to lack that understanding. Football style is a cultural thing although I agree our coaching is shocking and we need to learn from other cultures there will always be an Australian influence and who ever style we copy whether it be Dutch, French etc.

Don’t get my wrong Fozz is right on his comments about the A-league, Pim Verbeek and the socceroos. But his one way view on football is in my opinion killing his credibility, Liverpool destroyed RM last season CL like 6-0 but Fozz continues to go on about how La liga is the best they have 1 team worth mentioning and that because all the money goes to Barcelona and RM in Spain if anything it’s one of the most unbalanced leagues in the world.
It’s his disrespect for every other style of football weather that be Italian, English, German etc that people don’t like. I agree Spanish football is good but not but they have never won a World cup the lost the confederations cup to USA and they won’t win this world cup I assure you.
I believe we should start listening to Fozz he generally gets it right. However he under minds himself a lot when he talks about the way football “should be played” I don’t believe there is a way. If there isn’t I wouldn’t say its Spanish I’d say Brazil or Italy they have both won a number of World cups unlike the former.

Reply
- Davstar said | April 16th 2010 @ 8:56am | Report comment
  
  If there is* typo
  
  Reply
- AndyRoo said | April 16th 2010 @ 9:07am | Report comment
  
  I wish SBS would show old NSL games. Now they have 5 digital channels why not the odd rerun, though probably cutting it up and telling a stroy NFL flims style would be better entertainment.
  
  Their were some good teams (the talent would be quite concentrated at the top) but their was a lot of dross and the game was played at a slower pace (which gives the impression it’s more skillful) and in the later years the standard of imports was quite low.
  I think it would clear up some preconceptions about the NSL standard. I think the 9th and 10 th place team in the A league are a lot bette than say 5th or 6th from the NSL but some of the vision from the better teams (the Power, mid 90′s Sydney united, late 90′s Sth Melb, Adelaide city when they had a near all Socceroo defence and Wolves when they had plenty of pace) would show people us Aussies played football before 05/06
  
  Edit: Good comments about La Liga, I can’t remember the figures but the difference in income between the top 2 and 3rd place Valencia is huge, by the time you are comparing Barcelona to the bottom teams of la liga the difference is huuuge.
  
  Reply
  - punter said | April 16th 2010 @ 11:42am | Report comment
    
    There is a huge difference between the top 2 teams in income as comparing with the bottom teams of the La liga, but i can assure you that the bottom teams in La Liga are better than the bottom teams in the EPL as far as playing football.
    I saw Liverpool play Benifica (i Know Portuguse team) , but 1 team won 3-1, the other team played football.
    This is what Foster is on about, playing the game as the beautiful game, but yes as shown by Liverpool’s win, there are many ways to skin a cat.
    Arsenal of all English teams plays like Barcelona & played that way recently & got a spanking from the men from the Basque country. Chelsea under Hiddink played an ultra defensive game against Barcelona & nearly & a better referee should have gotten away with a win, but Barcelona played the better football.
    
    As far as Foster goes, I think what he says is correct, it’s just his blunt style & his attack on Bristish football that gets him many critics. Let’s be frank neither Spain or England have done much in recent times at the WC, but as a neutral I know which team I prefer to watch. Considering all the great English players, they have been crap in recent times, so it comes down to their style of play. I know I would prefer to play England than Spain in the WC & this has nothing to do with the Ashes rivalry.
    
    With Australia’s strong will to win, physical presence, we just need to add that extra bit of class (technically) to our team to make us one of the top 10 countries in the world
    
    Reply
    - Rob Gremio said | April 16th 2010 @ 12:09pm | Report comment
      
      Punter, which men from the Basque country did Arsenal lose to? I was under the impression they played against Barcelona, a team from Catalonia (or Cataluña, if you prefer)
      
      Reply
      - punter said | April 16th 2010 @ 12:12pm | Report comment
        
        Thanks Rob, i got my Spanish Geography all wrong.
        
        Reply
        
        Rob Gremio said | April 16th 2010 @ 12:22pm | Report comment
        
        Me at my nit-picking best.
    - Davstar said | April 16th 2010 @ 1:10pm | Report comment
      
      I like spain i think they’re a great side and ill reiterate i think Fozz comments on Australian football are right.
      
      However people need to realise their is no one way to play football! no true football style its all about perception. People yes attacking football IS THE BEST TO WATCH but it’s not the only way the game is played.
      
      Look at the italians in they play the best defensive football the world and they have won 4 WC and currently are World champions!
      
      And again La liga has one good team and you can spite facts about Barcelona all day but RM got knocked out by Lyon this season. Totenham, Everton and Aston villa, Man City and even Fulham are just as good or better then any mid table laliga team and they play entertaining football aswell.
      
      Reply
- Tadpohle said | April 17th 2010 @ 11:01am | Report comment
  
  Might I commend you on your comments, but, if Foster, you say , has no idea, when he says how football should be played. How does that differ from you saying that it isn’t, and recommend Brazil or Italy ????.
  
  I would love to have commentators with enough insite into football to be able to describe to me what I am watching at the level that you , and Foster, obviously enjoy it at.
  
  Reply
Tadpohle said | April 16th 2010 @ 8:47am | Report comment

Foz is/does come across as an arrogant “”know it all”", as does his “”stuck up” colleague Les Murray, but I still read and respect their opinions. Their ideas shouldn’t be brushed aside due to character assination by critics whose aspirations in the game are unknown. I wasn’t aware of their being ostresised by Fox, but that would explain their odd three way “Tete a tetes” in that ridiculous coffee lounge scenario which makes me feel like I am eaves dropping.

Both talk about football at a much higher level than I can understand, only picking up bits and pieces that make sense. I don’t buy books anymore, but I will invest in the one mentioned in the article, I only hope it is written in a language I can understand.

Of the opinions stated in various media that I have read, I would like them to listen to Foster.

I hope Kalac finds his spot on the media bench very quickly and not in the spotlight, what an idiot. There is an old saying, “sometimes it is better to shut up and stay a fool, than speak up and prove it.”

Reply
Macs.football said | April 16th 2010 @ 8:56am | Report comment

Good article, finally someone gives Fozz the kudos he deserves.

Reply
AndrewM said | April 16th 2010 @ 9:26am | Report comment

Foz is right.. He talks about playing real football.. Football played the beautiful way and not being played for results.

The young socceroos under the new system played real football at the world cup. Yes they lost every game, but the way the played in parts was encouraging to see.

The way Pim plays the seniors is very worrying, no excitement, just paranoid defensive football with 2 defensive holding midfielders and a single striker… I mean honestly, this is nonsense.. If you go to the WC playing one striker you deserve to loose every game. Australia should attack, with no fear!!

The HAL would be better served with more experienced coaches from abroad, and have deputy australia coaches.. Let’s be honest, Merrick has been shown up big time in the ACL, melbourne has been embarrased, yet adelaide is doing pretty well.

Reply
Eamonn Flanagan said | April 16th 2010 @ 9:31am | Report comment

Fozz is right, maybe with hindsight.

Every town and city in Australia should be able to have a leading football club. At some level, right? So it’s just a questions of finding the level of finances/support that a team from Geelong, Canberra, Townsville or Sydney can sustain.

If the bar was set lower, in terms of finances, we would have less Fowlers, less Hernandez and less returning Socceroos but we’d have a league that was sustainable and clubs that were sustainable. And surely with this model we could have grown the size of the clubs in the league rather than decreasing them as has occurred under the FFA model.

Perhaps the bar was set too high too start with, and sustaining that level, indeed increasing it in some cases has been the problem. Too late to change it seems but at least clubs are slowly moving toward a more community focus but let’s hope it;s not too late.

As for Fozz’s book: 721 mentions of Barcelona and none of Celtic or Canberra, is my prediction. Can’t wait to read it.
Kalac? Was he drunk?

Reply
- apaway said | April 19th 2010 @ 12:16pm | Report comment
  
  Drunk, delusional or both. “Players respect me,” he is quoted as saying. In his dreams.
  
  Reply
Dogz R Barkn said | April 16th 2010 @ 9:40am | Report comment

It’s hilarious that anyone would give Fozz the time of day.

As special comments guest during the call of big soccer games, he’s quite good, but on everything else, he lives in a dream land.

Nothing he says makes any sense in the Australian context (especially since he is of the funadmental view that soccer will become bigger than the NRL and AFL, because, well, just because it should, so there).

Let’s take the points Adrian mentions one by one:

1. “Capital driven vs market driven” – Fozz says it should have been the latter – good thinking – except there’s no market in Australia for a C-grade competition!! And to get to just a C+ grade comp, you need people willing to lose millions of dollars per annum in perpetuity!!

2. “No direction on clubs’ football development from the FFA” – why on Earth should the governing body interfere in the coaching choices an individual club wishes to make? Why should the FFA force, say, the Victory to hire, say, Neeskens instead of the Merrick? That’s dreamland stuff.

3. “Community support is a fundamental pillar of a football club and it’s lacking in the A-League due to lack of support” – yes, community support is lacking due to lack of support – a bit like saying ratings are low because nobody’s watching.

4. “The FFA should have considered expanding into Melbourne and Sydney sooner, perhaps from inception, as it’s sustainable due to the market size” – maybe, on the other hand, would we have ended up with a club as strong and healthy as the Victory if that had happened? Would people have put millions into clubs if they had not had that guarantee of 5 years grace from competition?

5. “Stadium deals and sizes debilitate finances and atmosphere” – maybe – there are stacks of small grounds around the joint if A-League clubs want to play out of them – but the question has to be asked: why did the clubs plonk for some of the bigger stadiums? Where was the market research that told them they needed it? Where was the due diligence? Where was the financial planning? How did they get it so wrong in over-estimating the interest that was out there? Did they look at ABS stats and see this massive participation rates, and added 2 plus 2 and got 8? Perhaps they were encouraged by Fozz talking up soccer so much, guaranteeing them that soccer was about to overtake the NRL and AFL (remember, he described them as “inconsequential” not once, but twice, in the same paragraph!!)

6. “Leadership vacuum at the FFA – Ben Buckley’s leadership isn’t strong enough” – Buckley is a proven top shelf sports administrator, and you only need to hear him speak to know he is more than capable. This talk of needing football people at the top is exaggerated – I believe Lowy is actually part of the problem, and he’s soccer through and through.

Reply
- AndyRoo said | April 16th 2010 @ 11:21am | Report comment
  
  In regards to Stadiums I think this was clearly about image.
  
  They were starting a new comp and they felt it was important to show that “hey this comp is not third rate”, which was the unfair image around the NSL and Play at the best stadiums.
  
  Playing at some of the surburban ovals from day 1 would have saved money but might have taken a lot of the edge of the excitement.
  
  Reply
- Art Sapphire said | April 16th 2010 @ 12:19pm | Report comment
  
  Dogz – Considering your low opinion of Mr Foster. You don’t happen to be related to the author of this piece do you?
  
  http://www.theroar.com.au/2009/08/24/fos-concludes-that-the-afl-is-weak/
  
  Reply
  - Dogz R Barkn said | April 16th 2010 @ 12:27pm | Report comment
    
    I had noticed the link to that blog below, and gave it a quick scan, but needless to say, I haven’t read any of the comments.
    
    My experience is that as many keen soccer fans are antagonistic towards Fozz as there are who back him.
    
    That makes him an interesting figure in my book, and I do enjoy his expert comments during the occasional soccer game that I watch, or on TWG – but when he enters la la land, I have very little time for him.
    
    Reply
    - punter said | April 16th 2010 @ 3:17pm | Report comment
      
      Yes there are some antagonistic feelings towards Fozzie, not unlike the super coaches Phil Gould (NRL) & Kevin SheedY (AFL), no, not the ex Everton player, but the ex Essendon coach, I think he was also known as a player of some fame.
      All 3 have their strong opinions & not afraid to let people know their opinions & have people have opinions of them.
      But I wouldn’t know who Kevin Sheedy is if I pump into him so my opinion of him is minimal, is the same as your opinion on Fozzie, it means very little to us football fans.
      
      Reply
  - Australian Football said | April 16th 2010 @ 2:19pm | Report comment
    
    Art,
    got it in one…
    
    ——–
    AF
    
    Reply