A coffee mate of mine, an Italian called Giovanni Mele, who from time to time gives me the goss on Serie A I’ll never glean due to my extremely poor to non-existent grasp of the Italian language, sent me this YouTube clip during the week.
It shows Inter coach Jose Mourinho mouthing off at one of his players, striker Julio Cruz. At about 2:30 on the tape you can clearly see the former Chelsea and Porto boss say “vaffanculo to Cruz, which according to Giovanni, means “f**k off.”
According to the English edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport, Italy’s famous sporting daily, “Rather than directly disobeying the coach, who wanted him to play just behind [Zlatan Ibrahamovic], the Argentine player (whose tactical awareness has been amply demonstrated in the past) played his own game.
It is well known that he is unhappy at how little he is playing; now the issue of his contract may arise. It expires in 2009 and the club has never offered a renewal, so from next January ‘El Jardinero’ will be able to agree a free transfer to another club.”
Mourinho wasn’t censured for his outburst, did not get slugged with a fine of any sort, from federation or club (Inter boss Massimo Moratti didn’t want to know about it), which prompted Giovanni to ask me: “Was that a good example for the few million people including kids who were watching the game on TV? In Italy everyone probably already forgot about that little incident but would they in Australia?”
Giovanni raises a good point, especially in light of the recent disciplinary penalties handed down to Queensland Roar coach Frank Farina and, before him, notably, John Kosmina and just about any A-League coach you care to name.
Football Federation Australia is so intrinsically conservative in its handling of incidents that are perceived as harmful to the image of the game that it has a habit of overstepping the mark.
In the case of Farina, of whom I have never been a huge fan but respect immensely for his straight shooting (albeit when he’s not talking to SBS), the FFA came down on him with what I regard as unnecessary force.
All he did, need readers be reminded, is lament that Mark Shield and the assistant referee had made a gaffe in not calling back Adelaide’s Cristiano for offside in a move that resulted in a goal to Robert Cornthwaite and won the Reds the match 2-1 over Farina’s side.
He did so albeit rather colourfully, going on record in the post-match conference as saying “two blind mice missed it” and “[Shield] must be blind Freddy”, but it was pretty tame stuff all the same, hardly warranting the $2000 fine that was imposed.
Farina then turned around and said he wouldn’t tell it how he saw it any more: “The biggest lesson to come out of [this fine] is make sure you don’t tell the truth.”
Which is ultimately a bigger loss for the game than the money filched from the Roar’s pockets.
I don’t condone Mourinho telling Cruz to “f**k off” any more than I condone Farina having a veiled swipe at Shield – both incidents could probably be handled differently – but I do think coaches should have the right to say what they think without being whacked with ridiculous sanctions from overly stitched-up bodies overseeing the game.
In Italy, clearly, it’s allowed to ride. In Australia, it’s not. And as a result we lose a little part of the soul, colour and character of the game.
The names and shirts of the eight A-League franchises are antiseptic enough. There are more by-laws, articles and codes of conduct in the game than are necessary. The football we’ve seen this year in the A-League has been comparatively dull to that seen in recent seasons.
So please, FFA, for the sake of the sport and the interests of fans, stop asphyxiating the life out of it.
Shield is a big boy and should be handle to some scrutiny of his decisions. Farina lost the game because of a contentious decision and should be able to express his mind, colourfully or otherwise.
The kids of Australia aren’t going to be permanently scarred. Hell, they might even come to like the A-League a bit more.
And that’s the whole point of promoting the game, isn’t it?
Adam Pearce
Guest
Its really simple Benny comes from a culture (the AFL) where criticism of the referee's isnt allowed full stop. The fact that the asphyxiation of character has come when ben buckley has rocked up as the big cheese is no coincidence.We had a league that was the antithesis of AFL and NRL and *especially* the super 14 when it came to character of players and freedom of speech we are now going down the road where press conferences will be boring and robotic shame really.
The Bear
Guest
Just thought i'd throw my hat in the ring, here, too. FFA: you can't win hearts and minds with a net. We need to be seduced. The average punter relates more to Farina, then Buckley...so be more accommodating to your audience. Graciously, The Bear
jimbo
Guest
Pip, yeah I thought AU were tired too and MV were better as the game went on. But AU lost 3-0 to SFA before they went to Japan and drew 1-1 away to Kashima. They haven't really put in a bad performance in the ACL yet and I hope they can win it over 2 legs.
Pippinu
Roar Guru
Dave Definitely a bit of a roller coaster ride the other night! But we went for the win, and in the end I thinik we earned it. AU were dead on their feet those last 10 minutes or so - could be a bad omen for them for this Wed (and I'm really cut up about that). Jimbo (and Dave) Following the Tiatto incident, I'm wondering how the FFA could actually do anything? The ref saw the incident and dealt with it (by paying the penalty). In any event, if Breeze had picked up the dive in the first place, what would have happened? It would have been a yellow - so I'm not sure if the FFA can do anything?
jimbo
Guest
Normally Dave, you'd expect 2 weeks, but the referees were specifically instructed to stop diving in the game, so Christiano will be made an example of and could get 5 to 8 weeks like Fabiano got to try and stamp out spitting. Fair or unfair, I think the heavy Fabiano penalty has worked and spitting has stopped, so yeah, he will be hung in the main square for all to throw rotten tomatoes. In normal speed and the camera angle it did look like he got tripped, but the match review committee will be watching the slow mo a hundred times, using all angles and measuring how far his shin was from Vargas' boot. Its part of a South American’s natural game – even Fred and Juninho did it. Washington and Bare did it a lot in the Urawa game.
Dave
Guest
Jimbo How many weeks should Christiano get?
jimbo
Guest
Pip and Dave, lucky the FFA needed AU to lose to even up the competition and give SFC a chance to top the table again - so you got 2 penalties from Breeze. Now to beat the one legged pirates and regain top spot. Well done the Merrick Men of Melbourne. AU looked a bit tired and I hope they can hold out ok against the Gamba Osuckers. Looking forward to Weds night's game.
Dave
Guest
Pip ...and yet tonight one of Victory's best performances of all time?? Twice behind including a blatant dive by Christiano (hope he gets a good flogging plus a week off) and score the winner with 5 minutes to go. Sort of restores some faith...until next week :)
Kazama
Roar Guru
Like Queensland Roar wore in the first two seasons?
etat
Roar Rookie
From memory it was orange and blue - but I could be wrong on that.
Pippinu
Roar Guru
etat Did Hollandia wear all Orange? Dave Embarassing performance in every respect - you picked the wrong game that's for sure!
Dave
Guest
Pip Frustrating is the word. l took 7 members of the extended family on Sat night and it is fair to say thet weren't impressed by MV. Will take some persuasion to get them back l fear. They enjoyed the atmosphere but not the performance.
etat
Roar Rookie
Pip yeah, I know the pics you mean. It did look good. Generally I'm all for orange too, even picked it for a 6-a-side team strip for a tournament a few years back. Can really recommend the colour if games are being played under dodgy suburban lights. My only reservations would be the association with the old hollandia for Brisbane - but I'm not too fussed. It'll be interesting to see what the marketing bods at Brisbane come up with.
Pippinu
Roar Guru
Dave you're right about our record at the Dome - even in season 2 we dropped quite a few games there - and from memory our away record was actually much better than our Dome record that season - balanced against that has been 6-0, 5-0 and 4-0 wins - it's quite mystifying! Did you see Fox FC the other night? They showed stats of MV winning 55% of all available points in rounds 1-7 in first three and a half seasons, and then 35% of all available points in rounds 8 to 21 - quite damning.
Pippinu
Roar Guru
etat I think you're right - by the way - I should say I don't mind the use of Orange - in fact, I'd be happy for them to have full Orange strips - did you see the shots of Kool after he scored recently with his Turkish club - Orange with a tiny bit of black trim - looked very classy. ( I referred to the Orange and Dutch connection above just as an example of how grey this area can be)
Kazama
Roar Guru
Cheers jimbo. Just wanted to see exactly what you meant there. Dave: "l see people of all ethnic persuasions, genders etc at MV games. The fact is there are people of ethnic background involved in running the A league clubs, players who have ethnic origins etc." Dave, I believe jimbo did make reference to that point - jimbo: "the FFA’s A-League “model” is a non ethnic all embracing football club..." IMO the move from these more multicultural clubs from the old ethnic clubs is driven more by a need for support than anything else. I think some of those old clubs suffered a bit from 'ethnic exclusivism' in that the clubs really only catered for a specific ethnicity and left everyone else out (despite the efforts of some those clubs to welcome people of different backgrounds). Here in Adelaide we only had Adelaide City from 1999 until they left the NSL, and being an Italian-formed club most of its supporters were of that background. Then we formed Adelaide United and suddenly we have people with Asian, African, South American and all European heritages coming to the games. So, to me, the A-League model is about getting as many fans to the games as possible and giving the game every chance to reach its potential here, whatever that may be. Pippinu: "A lot of these suburban clubs are community clubs, allowing people from similar backgrounds to get together each weekend, etc." Indeed. Ethnic soccer clubs are very important in that respect, IMO.
Dave
Guest
Jimbo Given our football history in Melb it is an absolute must that such flags are not permitted and there is no reason for them to be there...MV are not a Greek or Turkish or English club they represent Melb Victoria. Anyone of any ethnic background can come and watch in peace without fear of ethnic tensions. My son has been playing for a Greek club (we are not Greek) in the state leagues and the people are fantastic to him but...l dont want to see that club in the national league representing my city/state. Pip My thoughts have fluctuated over the years on Merrick. Apparently he is a very friendly likeable person (according to my son who has trained under him). In coaching terms though l have my doubts. The 1st year was very poor with a decent team IMO. Year 2 was the Fred factor but also credit to Merrick for many of the performances. Year 3 he seemed way to cautious and turned many new fans away with negative selections eg 4 at the back and 2 holding midfielders. This year performances have fluctuated wildly and no doubt suspensions have hurt but...again in recent games too many defensive minded players - 2 holding midfielders at home?? MVs record at TD is not that good. We really struggle to break down defences of visiting teams and the lack of width in our play is almost a crime against football. Unfortunately the only game l missed this year was vs New jets! He took an attacking gamble it seems that day and l would be happy for him to take that gamble more often at home. What is clear from recent games is that our back up players are very average eg Pondeljack, even Cilevski has disappointed, and so he needs to give more youth a chance.
etat
Roar Rookie
Pippinu I think "Queensland (except for Nth Qld & Gold Coast) Roar" are in the process of changing their links to Hollandia at the moment. As part of a move to Ballymore next season the club will be severing the last links to Qld Lions / Brisbane Lions / Hollandia. Perhaps they can say goodbye to that orange and maybe include some of the Brisbane colours of yellow, blue and white. Hopefully, the club will see sense and use the name of the city they represent in the club name. The "Roar" mascot naming seems to be the result of an early attempt to include some reference to the pre-existing club when it was all setup for season 1 of the A League. I don't know what they're going to do with that part of the name though. On topic, I reckon Frank copped it nicely. Nothing like it when a coach raises the battle flag and goes charging in whatever the post match odds. Great entertainment.
jimbo
Guest
Dave yes agree with all you say and I see many ethnics at SFA and Socceroos games and no trouble from them at all. Not taking sides, but what would the FFA do if the MV fans or Melb Heart fans brought blue and white Greek flags to the game? Would it offend you? Would the FFA allow it? By nationalistic, I meant a nation that is not Australia and likely to incite trouble. Supporting the Socceroos is supporting your country.
Pippinu
Roar Guru
A lot of these suburban clubs are community clubs, allowing people from similar backgrounds to get together each weekend, etc. I remember in my playing days coming across an Armenian club (who were very good and gave us a bit of a touch up) - I imagine the Armenian community would have been quite small, and this club would have been their focal point.