Miked-up Miron shows the way forward
Columnist By Vince Rugari, 17 Jan 2012 Vince Rugari is a Roar Expert
The microphone that was attached to Miron Bleiberg’s lapel on Sunday represented more than just a television experiment. The Gold Coast United boss should be commended for obliging when he was asked by Fox Sports to let viewers into his headspace for their match at home to Wellington.
It was a brave move to begin with, but as the charismatic former Israeli Navy captain explained to viewers his tactical approach throughout the game and his reasoning behind substitutions, its value became clear.
Was it a success? Judging by Bleiberg’s reaction – he joked in his post-match press conference that he thought he wasn’t used enough on-air – the answer is a clear yes.
In Bleiberg, the A-League has a major asset – a coach who is not only good at what he does, but who speaks in soundbites and quotable lines and is ready to help.
But far more than just a made-for-TV gimmick, the move showed the way forward for the A-League to become to be a competitive force in the broadcast deals market.
And given the next broadcast rights deal will have a massive impact on how football in Australia will fare over the next five years, it’s not a moment too soon.
The new Twenty20 Big Bash League, for all its glow-in-the-dark hubris and its shameless plastic franchise model, has been rating its pants off on cable TV.
That’s not just because Australians love their cricket, but also because the competition itself has dared to be different, with players wired up and often speaking live to commentators in medias res.
Shane Warne might now be a peroxide caricature of the cult hero he once was, but the experience of listening him explain his approach to bowling certain deliveries before he rolls the arm over is unrivalled in sport.
It’s the ultimate manifestation of sports heroism. The 12-year-old me would have killed to listen to Warnie explaining the art of leg spin before bowling someone around their legs. It completely changes the way sport is viewed.
There is a risk that such link-ups can be seen as being somewhat disrespectful to the professionalism of the sport, but it lends itself well to the Big Bash League, because it knows what it is – a two-month whirlwind of bright lights and big cricket.
It’s hard to imagine David Beckham guiding an audience through one of his trademark free-kicks, or Lionel Messi choreographing one of his mesmerising runs before it happens – and given the conservatism of FIFA those dream sequences will never occur.
That means the FFA is already behind the eight-ball when it comes to providing value in the dog-eat-dog world of broadcast rights.
But with football in Australia, where Twenty20 is the elephant in the FFA boardroom, the sport has to not only compete with its direct opponents if it wants to build on its progress, it needs to innovate.
Fans of the round-ball game can’t expect the average Australian to fall in love with the A-League when the fluorescent glow of pyjama cricket is just one channel away.
The Big Bash League is going the extra mile, and that’s why it was good to listen to football playing catch-up with Bleiberg’s role in Sunday’s broadcast.
Australian football has to do things differently. We already do. Our nation’s sporting culture means relegation and promotion will never happen the way it does in Europe.
Our fascination with grand finals means we will never value finishing in top spot as much as they do in the English Premier League.
The FFA has also bowed to pressure in allowing replays of contentious decisions to be shown on the big screen at stadiums, which is something they’ve never done before.
Lyall Gorman revealed their motivation: “In making this change, we are bringing football into line with the other mainstream professional sports in Australia that make extensive use of stadium video screen replays.”
“We’re not using what’s happening in other football markets as a benchmark. We are primarily concerned with what’s happening here in Australia.”
Forget any other assertions – that is the main thing for the A-League. Australia is a unique sporting market and the FFA has to play their hand by the lay of the land.
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The Crowd Says (7) | Page 1 of Comments
Have Your Say
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- A-League, Big Bash League, football, Gold Coast United, Miron Bleiberg, Shane Warne
January 17th 2012 @ 8:34am
Titus said | January 17th 2012 @ 8:34am | Report comment
Good article Vince–with whitch I both agree and disagree.
Firstly, I missed the game where Miron wore the Microphone, but I find Miron to be an extremely interesting character and would have found it very entertaining. I would also find it fascinating to hear the thinking behind the managers tactics, god knows I would love to know what Lavicka is thinking most of the time.
Having said that, I don’t think the FFA should get too caught up in making football a TV product along the lines of 20/20. Football will pick up viewers as the standard improves and Australians learn to appreciate the unique atmosphere, excitement, theatre and aesthetic qualities of football. Anyone who watched any of the games this weekend will have been impressed, even the 1-0 game in front of 2000 people was by all reports a highly entertaining game.
I think that the Australian culture will have an influence on football here, the games already are fast and physical with very little diving, but as the skills of the players pick up it is apparent that this is a highly entertaining way to play the game. So long as the skills are encouraged and a passing game of football is used then the viewer is the winner. In terms of TV coverage the Aussie culture may have some influence also, and the microphones on officials is at least worth experimenting with, the game needs to be innovative to survive. So long as we don’t compromise the players or officials with the technology then I don’t have a problem with it, I think the BBL gets away with having players commentating while they play because the game and the results aren’t so important and no one will take the game as more than a bit of entertainment whilst they do.
Lastly I think the a-league has an opportunnity to become one of the bigger leagues in Asia and to export its product throughout the region and the world. When Berisha and Adnan scored for Brisbane, social networks were flooded with comments from Albanian and Bahrainian nationals all expressing their pride in their players. The images that they saw were of a quality game of football in a modern stadium, with a good crowd and atmosphere. It is a bit European but with a unique Australian twist, it is a good spectacle and as you say the TV coverage can offer the game something new. If we can unearth stars from Indonesia, Thailand etc along with a steadily growing stream of respected imports like Broich, Ifill, Adnan, Berisha, Kisel, Miller then we can offer a unique take on football that is exciting and of interest to people all around the world. Australian football needs to think beyond Australia and to the world, it will take time but they are the reasons that it is worth perservering.
January 17th 2012 @ 11:01pm
Stevo said | January 17th 2012 @ 11:01pm | Report comment
100% agree re thinking beyond Australia and it shows the dare I say “genius” stroke in getting us into Asia. It’s not just the World Cup campaigns but the A-league being hopefully seen as a destination for players from Asia. As Ben of Phnom Penh said after the MV v AU game last week “A good advert for football that game. We had 7 of us watching the game at a bar on the flat screen in a bar in Phnom Penh. An enjoyable way to finish the working week.” Asia is watching our game and now investing in our teams like Roar. The future is bright. Certainly brighter than pre-HAL days.
January 17th 2012 @ 9:11am
Dean said | January 17th 2012 @ 9:11am | Report comment
I thought the Miron experiment provided a fascinating insight – particularly into what happens behind the scenes at 1/2-time. However, that should be the extent of it. What a lot of nonsense to have players miked up. Perhaps, this works in cricket because the game is so slow & there are huge gaps of nothing happening when the bowler is walking back. But, football is a game that never stops unless a player is injured and players should have 100% concentration on the game – not explaining actions.
Why do so many pundits assume we “expect the average Australian (whatever that means!??) to fall in love with the A-League”? All HAL fans want is football fans to fall in love with our league. It is ridiculous to expect a cricket fan to fall in love with the HAL, when there is a wide variety of cricket on offer.
Finally, our nation’s sporting culture does not affect relegation and promotion. Promotion & relegation is the norm and occurs in every football competition other than the HAL, making the HAL the exception not the rule. And, it’s not just football that has promotion and relegation, with Aussie Rules & cricket also having a system of promotion and relegation at the grassroots level.
January 17th 2012 @ 9:24am
The Cattery said | January 17th 2012 @ 9:24am | Report comment
I thought the Miron experiment was a bit hit and miss, and there is as good reason for why that is: every coach, no matter how great they are, no matter what degree of success they’ve had, will say things during team addresses that you, I, and the players, have heard many times before – it’s inevitable.
The BBL miking up is a novelty, and is currently working because different players are drilling down to what’s on their mind, what they intend to do – but after a while, even the shine on that will wear because we will soon tire of hearing the paceman walking back for his run up and saying: I might try a yorker now.
As for miking up footballers, interesting concept. I’m reminded of the the great Collingwood centre-half back, Billy Picken, who would have been a natural because he regularly commentated matches during play (according to his opponents). As he would run in for a trademark Billy Picken hanger, he could be heard saying: And here comes Billy!!!!
January 17th 2012 @ 9:43am
Futbanous said | January 17th 2012 @ 9:43am | Report comment
Whilst I agree that Australia in relation to any sport including football has to consider the unique sporting market of Australia,it is also bound by the rigid & mostly unchangeable rules of FIFA & to a lesser degree the AFC.
That makes changes which are easily achieved in other sports almost impossible in Football.
So agree with Titus’s comments above,improving the standard within the context of a style of football that appeals to Australians is the go.
Having said that though I see no harm in microphones to hear a coach if it enhances the overall football experience.
January 17th 2012 @ 12:56pm
apaway said | January 17th 2012 @ 12:56pm | Report comment
I’d say the miking up of most players would take any A-League broadcast into an R Rating!
January 17th 2012 @ 2:00pm
philipcoates said | January 17th 2012 @ 2:00pm | Report comment
Forget about miking the players – the FFA banned the use of players wearing GPS tracking devices which were used for training and performance measures. I am sure clubs would rather get GPS tracking approved before worrying about catching the players swearing at each other.
That said, the Miron experiment was worthwhile albeit I don’t think they crossed to Miron enough to get his thoughts and the commentator’s intro or questions were pretty bland and hardly incisive. I think it would be good to have one different coach per week miked up so we hear a different slant each time.