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Australian soccer club team Adelaide United FC coach Aurelio Vidmar, left, and midfielder Travis Dodd smile after a press conference AP Photo/Koji Sasahara
As was demonstrated so vividly last season, Adelaide United coach Aurelio Vidmar isn’t afraid to voice an opinion. His latest target is the big spending ways of some A-League clubs, a stark contrast to what he has at his disposal.
“Most A-League clubs are trying to find their feet still after four years and some of the money being thrown out there to players is ludicrous in my opinion,” Vidmar was quoted as saying on the ABC.
Obviously made in response to the big spending ways of Gold Coast United and their reported $100,000 a match offer to Henrik Larsson, Vidmar’s comments are clearly the result of his frustration with his lot.
“We’ve tried to make some big plays for some big players, Aussie boys who are playing overseas and Aussies who are playing in the A-League currently, and it is just not enough money for them.
“We think it is fair value for the players that we’ve offered those contracts to and they have decided to go elsewhere,” he continued.
Adelaide remains in the hands of the FFA, cash strapped, on the look out for new investors and hardly making an impact in the off-season with few significant signings.
But the A-League needs the likes of Clive Palmer and other big spenders in order to bring in the star names that will benefit the league, on and off the field.
The proof is in the pudding and the quality of the marquee players for the forthcoming A-League season is mouth-watering.
Returning Socceroos Jason Culina and Mile Sterjovski will play a crucial role in lifting their franchises to the top of the league while Robbie Fowler, should his body stay intact in the humidity of Townsville, will help increase crowds across the country.
This is what the A-League needs, star names with an X-factor.
It’s what the league has lacked since Dwight Yorke left us and other high profile marquee players arrived and failed to deliver.
Should Pim Verbeek have a change of heart regarding Socceroos playing in the A-League, and the likes of Culina and Sterjovski play a starring role in South Africa, just imagine the knock on effect of having them playing in the A-League.
For the general public, there will be a visible link between the Socceroos and the A-League and this is what the domestic game desperately needs, to ride the coattails of our national team.
Attracting such players wouldn’t be possible without the freedom of the marquee rule and guest stint dispensation as peanuts won’t tempt Socceroos playing in Europe to come back home.
It’s only right too that clubs should be given the chance to profit from their hard work, for securing the backing, having the solid foundations and making traction as solid business models.
Adelaide’s problems are self inflicted, the result of the behind the scenes bickering.
The pressure is on A-League franchises to ensure they have their house in order, so they aren’t in a position where they are falling behind their rivals by not being able to compete in the marketplace.