The problem with most clichés, as much as they are anathema to any writer, is that they are true. That point was brought home to me late last week when I met Afshin Ghotbi, the Iranian-American former coach of Persepolis FC who was in Sydney on holiday with his Dutch-Korean girlfriend, Yorum.
It is indeed a small world. And nowhere more than in football.
I’d first spoken to Afshin back in 2006 when he was assistant to Pim Verbeek in South Korea, the same time I’d first met the Dutchman. They lived in Seoul, I lived in Sydney and we might well as have been on separate planets. Their mission at the time, post Dick Advocaat at Germany 2006, was to win the Asian Cup.
Fast-forward three years and Pim is now coach of Australia and Afshin, as I reported on The World Game on Monday, wants to work in the A-League.
For now, Afshin is back at home in Dubai, cooling his heels and waiting for the right job offer. He’s already been approached to work in a cashed-up Middle Eastern league but has made it plain his preference is to work where there are opportunities for real change; where he can make a difference.
It is the same mentality that has guided the career paths of his mentors, Guus Hiddink, Verbeek and Advocaat and it is incumbent upon Australian football administrators to attract to our fledgling league this calibre of football adventurer that exists in and around the Asian/Middle Eastern football axis. Men like Ghotbi, like Jorvan Vieira.
Some would call them “mercenaries”, but that is unfair; mercenary suggests someone who is just there to do a job, get paid, then leave at the first opportunity.
Ghotbi, for one, stayed in Korea for the best part of a decade, as did Verbeek.
(Hiddink might be accused of being one for the speed by which he took and left the Australia job but those were the unique conditions of his assignment. Since then he appears to have bunkered down with some permanence in Russia.)
As I first wrote back in December, for a very young league still learning the ropes of professionalism and the Asian football scene the A-League has a dearth of good foreign coaches and we are losing ground to the Japanese by the day in persisting with local over quality.
There is no reason why foreign coaches can’t come here. They are more affordable than you might think and Australia offers lifestyle and educational opportunities not always available elsewhere in Asia and the Middle East that makes this country a very attractive option for them and their families.
But the overriding objective of our administrators seems to be fast-tracking the coaching careers of ex-players who still have a great deal to learn and an even greater deal of territory to cover before they should rightfully get the chance to call themselves a “coach”. Men like Paul Okon, like Alex Tobin, even Aurelio Vidmar.
In some ways the “success” of Vidmar’s Adelaide United in Asia has been one of the worst things that could happen to the development of the Australian game because it covers up a lot of what is wrong with the domestic league. There is still an all-pervasive kick-and-rush mentality and cult of physicality while slick, smart combination football and tactical smarts are placed at a low premium.
Ghotbi told me after the Sydney-Wellington game at the Sydney Football Stadium that what he’d seen was “absolutely horrible” and that there was scarcely a passage of play where more than five passes had been strung together.
The A-League can be better. We just need to open up our small minds to that small world.
All RED
Guest
There's an article that's good for a laugh, we beat Kashima, beat Al-Ahly & we're still no good. It's good to see that poor journalism is alive & well
Midfielder
Guest
Jes & Das After another day of reflection ... while I am on your side I still have heard no way of getting the people you speak of for A-league wages ... who can also handle the media and understand the Australian sporting landscape to enable being able to handle the media is all part of the package. KB made some valid points ... remember we need to build again....as I see it we don't have like after WWII a flood of Europeans with football knowledge... who took control in 1955 had the skills to teach the country ... of all the assets lost by the old NSL adm IMO the greatest lost was the skills held by people in the 50's & 60's maybe 70's who could have laid a great foundation for football's future
Midfielder
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Tow In your last post you said the A-League coaches should go overseas for some coaching ... all but Kossie did last year and most went to top clubs.
Towser
Guest
Millster said "Common structural thread which unfortunately is a massive distortion to the whole system and makes it impossible to really measure success? Salary cap. I’ll stop there as you’ve heard me before on this issue countless times." I think you & I have a friend in Clive Palmer our own A-League friendly Whirlybird man. I for one dont tire of this broken record & accolades to Clive for at least trying to raise the bar given the constraints of a salary cap. I hope he keeps raising it & acheives, to show the FFA the road to Damascus.
Millster
Guest
Some will say I am truly a broken record beyond redemption with this post. However... Reading back over the thread I see a couple of interesting themes. The first is the one of the A-League being a "feeder" league for players and to some extent for coaches too, and questions over both results obtainable by coaches and their longevity. The second is Sam's comments on the definition of success, and then how that feeds into the perceptions of both coaching imports and home-growns. Common structural thread which unfortunately is a massive distortion to the whole system and makes it impossible to really measure success? Salary cap. I'll stop there as you've heard me before on this issue countless times.
Dave
Guest
MoN Also interesting how many ex Socceroos, including some that played o/s, are now getting involved in coaching. Many of these would have had no opportunity previously to work in a national comp eg Mehmet Durakovic NYL coach at MV. The problem now is the cost...with the additional coaching staff employed by HAL teams their ability to pay for even a 2nd tier foreign coach may be compromised? However you are right that to have an elite successful foreign coach at a club would allow others in the set up to develop and perhaps one day we could have a home grown coach taking the Socceroos to a WC.
Mick of Newie
Guest
Dave I agree with that concept. I would also suggest there has never bene a better time to be an up and coming football coach given we have 9 first team jobs, 9 (to 18) assistant jobs and 9 youth team jobs. All professional coaching jobs. If 3 or 4 of the senior jobs were occupied by experienced foreign coaches I would see a clear benefit for the other 20 or 30 Australian coaches.
Dave
Guest
BoPP Absolutely agree as long as we keep the opportunities for local coaches to get a foothold in the game and subsequent experience. Would like to think at all times in HAL the number of local coaches would always be greater than the number of foreign coaches.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Guest
What Ghotbi can bring to the A-League is some coaching pedigree which can act as a catalyst for improvement of coaching standards in general as he sets a benchmark. There is nothing wrong with having someone of this calibre in the A-League if it creates expectation as to the standard local coaches need to reach. Local coaches with potential, like Vidmar, will only benefit by having such coaching class in their midst.
Slippery Jim
Guest
dasilva, you know, I had EXACTLY the same thought about Les' apparently long held belief that the coach should not have control over buying players, in view of the disastrous consequences as Chelsea (and other clubs). For fear of being labelled a Contrarian, I decided not to mention it until you brought it up ;)
Koala Bear
Guest
Jesse, a marvelous discussion with Les Murray .. and some very interesting points in respect to the Asean Football Confederation ; keep up the good work .. However, I am not one to choose foreign managers over the likes of Okon, Tobin and Zelic who are just staring out as Australian born managers .. Sure foreign managers have a place but only the very Best of the Best if they choose to come .. But a great discussion all in all, some very interesting views put forward by you and Les .... ;) ~~~~~~~~ KB
Kazama
Roar Guru
Jesse - having watched the aforementioned Shootout, I have a question. You said Ghotbi thinks the A-League can become the best league in Asia over time - well, how much time? I understand that top Asian players will get more exposure playing here than in their own leagues, but it has been discussed before about the reluctance of A-League teams to sign these players. We have seen from the Asian Cup that there is plenty of talent out there, yet right now we've only got the two Koreans, Seo and Song, playing here. So my question is how long do you think will it be before A-League clubs start to take Asian players seriously and start signing them up if Ghotbi's idea is to become a reality? Will it start to happen next season, with the alleged increase of foreigners from four to five, or am I going to have to be more patient and endure the Jardels, Deanes and Romarios before the clubs start to expand their horizons?
Mick of Newie
Guest
Sam and SJ the other thing GVE has to learn is how to manage people. He has a history of freezing players out to a point of stubborness. Reflected by him putting 2 youth players out last week before Patafta. You never know what is behind the scene but he appears to fall out with a lot of players and then appears reluctant to use them even when the situation appears dire. Players like Tunbridge, Kovacic, Hakinson, Hearfield may have some interesting coments on his man management skillls.
Midfielder
Guest
Das Les and the board having a say ... LM like many in the media have to test there statements old LM is a mixed bag sometimes good sometimes brilliant, somtimes bad, sometimes foolish don't take him too seriously anymore.
dasilva
Guest
Jesse Fink Interesting shootout Was it the first time you were in front of camera? If it was it sort of shows. You seem bit nervous and uncomfortable. I guess being interviewed is a bit different then interviewing other people. I kind of expected a larger then life character judging from your more relax and light hearted writing style. Bit surprise to see someone bit more serious. I think you need a bit more experience and few more shoot outs with Les and co before you make your debut on the world game. The content however was good and I agreed with most of the points. However I think in terms of recruitment I think the clubs don't have enough money and influence to have a widespread scouting network with scouts in each continent and they are putting a lot of money in one basket - the south american basket. It's also disappointing about lack of effort in Asia and that it looks like FFA is not going to introduce the one asian foreign player rule. I think it's a great point you bring out that we are members of the asian confederation but we are avoiding them. It would not look good politically if we are the major Asian nations with the least Asian imports. J-leagues and the K-leagues are certainly open to poaching A-league players. So they are embracing our talents. It doesn't seem like we are reciprocating. One curious point is Les going on about how board members should have more control over players recruitment as coaches have short term vision and doesn't take in consider the broader picture in player recruitments. A word of caution is the Jardel situation where Con basically forced GVE to play an unfit player that he never wanted anyway. Another example is Abramovich interference with the shevchenko saga at Chelsea. If power of coach must be reduce it should only really go to the technical director of the club who have football experience (preferably an ex socceroos) who will act as a bridge between the board and the coach.
Midfielder
Guest
Das Not sure if that will work ..
dasilva
Guest
Mid Who to choose them? The best option right now is have former socceroos to become technical director of the clubs and they will be the one that chooses the coach. Gary Cole works for Melbourne Victory in that capacity.
Midfielder
Guest
Jes & Tow I agree with the overall theme of the article and your comments..... here is my question how do we get coaches of the order and experience you mention ... who has the ability to choose them ???? It's a serious question .. just as a matter of class the J-League teams outside the top teams from what I have seen are not in the same class as many here give credit.. however I wander ... can we aford them, have we the skill to pick them, do the clubs need to be re structured.
Sam
Guest
Slippery Jim Van Egmond can become a good coach. He just needs to control his temper. I have more doubts over the Kossie's and Merrick's. I even rate David Mitchell as someone who can get a team playing good football out of nowhere.
Slippery Jim
Guest
Sam, interesting concept. Like looking at Van Egmonds trials this season as not so much failing at everything he has tried, but learning 99 ways not to coach a football club. Unfortunately perseverance and difficult patches are not tolerated with great patience in modern football, but perhaps more patience with managers could lead to them finally creating something special?