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Hopefully Adelaide United chairman Greg Griffin paid close attention to Round 17 action, since two players he recently disparaged proved key for their respective teams.
Adelaide may sit dead last in the standings, but according to Griffin, there’s no chance they’ll be looking to sign a player from Asia any time soon.
A fortnight ago Griffin objected to the news that Football Federation Australia was looking to introduce the 4+1 rule to the A-League, thus bringing it into line with the rest of Asia’s big competitions – including the AFC Champions League.
For those who aren’t aware, the ‘plus one’ equates to an extra foreign player – in this case one from an Asian nation.
But despite the Reds struggling on and off the pitch, Griffin made it clear the answers, at least according to him, do not lie in Asia.
“There is strident objection from the clubs to any change to the existing visa rules,” Griffin told AAP.
“That objection will remain; we see absolutely no point in going 4+1 and compromising the product we provide in some attempt to curry favour with the AFC,” he added.
Yet the problem for Griffin and his insular world view is a patently obvious one.
When the Newcastle Jets beat Melbourne City 2-1 win in Coffs Harbour on Friday, the opening goal was set up by a defence-splitting pass from Chinese import Ma Leilei.
And when the Western Sydney Wanderers equalised against Brisbane Roar on Saturday night, it was Japanese winger Jumpei Kusukami who rifled home from a tight angle.
But according to Griffin, signing players capable of producing a major impact on games like Ma and Kusukami would somehow compromise the product.
Go figure.
It prompted a stinging rebuke from Adelaide resident and Asian football expert Paul Williams, who told me Griffin’s comments could harm Australia’s reputation in Asia.
“I thought it was grossly offensive, arrogant and inappropriate to suggest, as he did, that signing Asian players would have a detrimental effect on the quality of play,” Williams said.
“Australia is already seen as arrogant and ignorant across most of Asia, and comments such as this don’t do us any favours at all.”
Of course, Griffin’s comments should also be viewed in another context.
The ten A-League clubs are agitating for a much larger slice of television revenue, and as chair of the Australian Professional Football Clubs Association, Griffin may feel there’s bargaining power to be gained by aligning against the 4+1 rule.
It’s not like Adelaide United are oblivious to the commercial realities of Asia – their back-of-shirt sponsor is Chinese construction company Datong.
When the deal was first signed, the Reds even said they would look to sign a Chinese marquee. So what has changed?
Williams is right when he says that Australians are viewed as “arrogant and ignorant” within Asia’s corridors of power – and that’s a problem we need to fix.
But we can’t even take the first step, in my opinion, because we lack the language skills to communicate effectively.
Given that so few Australians working in football speak Mandarin or Cantonese or Japanese or Arabic or any other Asian language, we remain isolated from many of the continent’s key decision makers.
Add to that the traditional xenophobia that seems to accompany almost every interaction we have with Asian football – see the outcry from many Newcastle fans over Ma’s signing – and we’re no closer to forging a two-way relationship with the continent we’re currently champions of.
Ange Postecoglou highlighted in his autobiography the stupidity of prime minister Malcolm Turnbull using an AFL game to spruik trade in China – where football’s popularity is booming.
Yet Turnbull is representative of a much bigger malaise.
Our unwillingness to engage with Asia is hurting us where it counts, from broadcast deals to boardrooms across the continent and, just as importantly, on the pitch.