Socceroo Tim Cahill (r) watches as Lucas Neill kicks the ball during a team training session ahead of tomorrow’s World Cup qualifying match against Bahrain in Sydney on Tuesday, June 9, 2009. Australia qualified for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa with a 0-0 draw against Qatar last Saturday. AAP Image/Paul Miller
It has not been a good week for Lucas Neill. In fact, it’s been a terrible few months for the Australia captain. But I’m sure having his name dragged into the Michael McGurk story tops it all off.
What possible relevance Neill has to the investigation into the Sydney businessman’s murder and why we should be privy to such information in the first place is something I hope a future episode of Media Watch examines.
Neill didn’t deserve having his face plastered across the front pages of the dailies just because he once met McGurk. Should the barista who made McGurk’s morning coffee or the owner of the laundromat who dry-cleaned his shirts also be outed in the press?
What Neill should be excoriated for, brutally, is his shirking of responsibility as captain of the Socceroos. I’ve done it a few times in recent weeks and I’m happy to do it again because he deserves to be hammered. Whether you regard it as tedious is not really a concern.
His personal motives have already seen him miss two important matches for the national side and there could be a third, if he does not have a club by October. At the rate he is going, that is firming as a distinct possibility.
Already this week Neill was going to Atletico Madrid then he was not.
Then there was Réal Zaragoza, but they turned around and said he had priced himself out of a deal. Now Sunderland, the mighty Sunderland, is back in the picture, offering him $76,000 a week. And yet he still hasn’t signed on the dotted line. He hasn’t played a competitive match since 17 June.
Nearly three months.
What on earth is he stalling for? But more importantly, should he be allowed to continue stalling?
In my opinion, no. And for that Pim Verbeek has to take some heat.
Comments such as “I will start to get worried when he is not playing his games in April and May” are really rather amazing.
This is our national captain, the most important man in our back four in the coach’s estimation, the leader of the team, the marshal of our defence, and yet Verbeek tolerates his withering because he’s “waiting for the right club to sign the right deal”.
Sunderland is the right club? Apart from money, what the hell can they offer? I had to laugh when I saw a headline at Goal.com: REPORT: FORMER WEST HAM DEFENDER LUCAS NEILL WANTS MORE MONEY.
Raging favourite for Bleedingly Obvious Statement of the Year?
Yet Neill’s agent, Paddy Dominguez, has suggested that his client is not financially motivated. It’s hard to see it any other way.
Neill’s search for the “right club” and the “the right deal” is compromising our World Cup hopes. There are only two matches other than the Netherlands friendly scheduled at the present time between now and the end of the year, two Asian Cup qualifiers against Oman, which Neill, even if he is playing for a club by then, will likely miss, as Verbeek is bound to select A-League players only.
That means if he hasn’t found a club by October and missed the Oranje game, he won’t play another international in 2009.
That, by any measure, is not what one should expect of the captain of a national football team. Especially so with a World Cup campaign just around the corner and especially so again when his side was so completely outplayed by Korea Republic and the defence is in conspicuously in need of major surgery.
Pim, get on the phone and order Neill to join a club. Wasting more time is not a luxury our nation can afford.
cab711
Guest
Me too, i thought this could be the start of something great. Perhaps more Spanish clubs would take notice of Australian players. Was too good to be true. Oh well, its Pims problem now. Wouldnt want to be in his shoes. Pim doesnt have much to bargain with.
cab711
Guest
My gosh your standards are high if you rate Neill as VERY average. Guy has been head hunted by some decent teams and was able to secure a VERY decent contract with West Ham. It is not often that a defender can secure a decent contract, typically a spot reserved for attacking midfielders and strikers.
cab711
Guest
If he had gone to Liverpool he wasnt assured a look in for 1st team. That is why he opted for West Ham. I reckon its a similar situation now, he wants the good contract to see out the rest of his career with the best chance of playing 1st team footy with a decent club. Thats some tough boxes to tick. I reckon he just doesnt want to relocate and is waiting for an english team to make the right offer.
Koala Bear
Guest
I was so excited for Lucas when Atletico Madrid was named as his new club... Then tottally shattered when nothing came of it ... Gawd what happen...? Yes Jesse it has become an ego or money debacle and his manager may be advising him to suit his own pocket and not the player's... Who really knows ?? I just wish it was resolved quickly... ~~~~~ KB
TIm
Guest
If he'd gone to Liverpool he would of garnished a lot more respect and clubs probably would of matched the wages he is demanding now. Silly move Lucas.
Matt
Guest
This isn't a wind up but I didn't even know he was the captain.
Observer
Guest
Yes, Liverpool did want him - and he turned them down so that he could earn more money at no-hoper West Ham. Tells you all you need to know about the bloke.
midfield general
Guest
Yeah on the surface he looks like a mercenary, but I have to say I have to admire his stubbornness and not caving into `greedy Luca$h' thing. He's only got a few years left in his career and he's entitled to look after himself. I don't know if I'd wake up in the morning to go to work if I was asked to take a 40% pay cut. He can do whatever he likes, if he chooses not to play and miss the WC, it's his business but definitely Australia's loss. Average right back? Maybe so, but he can't be too bad if clubs mentioned are after his services. If I'm not mistaken Liverpool wanted him a couple of years ago? I've seen him marking Cristiano Ronaldo and I thought he was doing ok.
Gibbo
Guest
So wait... because of the reason that through years of toil and sweat on the football pitch he has earned the right to wear our NT's captains arm band he then must forfeit any right to shop around for a deal which is right for him now, and in his future? Rather, you would have it, he should cop sweet a 43% pay cut handed to him by mid-table strugglers, West Ham?? It doesnt sound like a very brave decision, nor does it demonstraight much foresight. I think those two qualities are essential for leadership and his stand here perhaps just maybe reveals something of the reason he became captain in the first place.
FIsher Price
Guest
Erm, sorry, comparing Neill to an injured player smacks of a desperation to defend the former. Neill is supposed to be the captain of the national team - shouldn't he be setting an example by being there (and match fit) to lead as much as possible? So, yes, it is a big deal that he hasn't a club, isn't playing. More so, because it seems pretty likely that his situation stems from his desire to try and get as close as possible to the ridiculous wages West Ham were paying him.
FIsher Price
Guest
Are you sure? Neill's just a VERY average right back in England. He struck upon some good form when Hiddink played him in the centre at the last World Cup; who's to say that couldn't happen with another Australian defender?
Gibbo
Guest
just to play devils advocate.... so he's missed a couple friendlies for the NT, and he's missed the opening few weeks of a season... uh, so what? which games are more important for a player to be finding their touch in a WC year? at the start of a long, gruelling, european season, still 9 months away from the WC finals, or the business end of the season, in the last three months, with the WC no longer on the horizon, but visibly beckoning? He's 31, so perhaps a couple months extended break will give his body time to recover and find his full potential. Do defenders forget how to tackle? I doubt it. He can't forget how to pass (he'd have to have learnt in the first place). Brett Emerton isn't playing regularly and hasn't been for some time. He's injured. Players miss matches for all sorts of reasons. the difference here is an enforced lay off through injury verses a choice to take the time to do the homework and get the right deal. If they both get back playing with enough time to hit form, the outcome will be no different whatsoever. Whether you think Neil shopping around for the best offer is immoral or not is completely irrelevant and i find that much the criticism smacks of pious hypocrisy.
Jamie
Guest
Easy to jump to conclusions, but we don't actually know why the Atletico deal broke down. Maybe he wasn't going to be a first-choice defender. Obviously he wouldn't want to be on the bench at a good club. It seems to me that he has been looking for a club which will offer him a guaranteed spot in the first team and the opportunity to play in the Champions League. So far the only real option has been Atletico Madrid, and we don't even know for sure whether it was Neill or Atletico who pulled the plug.
Tom
Guest
The fans are clearly fast losing respect for this bloke. I'm one of them. Surely his national teammates must be as well. How many of them will ever get a chance to play for a club like Atletico. Paddy is a fool and 'Cash's motivation is so transparent Paddy looks like more of one for saying greed had nothing to do with it.
cab711
Guest
Are you serious, drop him? Even an unfit Neill is better than the current centerbacks. He will be match fit come Sth Africa with the pretraining. Pim is stuck between a rock and a hardplace and he would be a fool to back Neill into a corner by alienating him from the squad. Just let the greedy pig get his big money contract to keep him happy. Then after Sth Africa dump his pretty boy ass.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Guest
So has Lucas signed or not? If he has signed somewhere and is awaiting final clearances (he was carrying an injury so I do not know if that had any impact) then this isn't an issue. Part of the problem is uncertainty and until we hear something concrete from Lucas himself then speculation will continue and uncertainty remain. The question is as to whether this uncertainty is something that he is able to control. If he is under a gagging order as things are cleared then fine; if not then the rationale would need to be solid to avoid damaging goodwill.
FIsher Price
Guest
76K is scandalous.
TIm
Guest
Yes a sign or loyalty and sticking with West Ham in the first place would of been the way to go - especially given the amount of press in the general public the socceroos are going to receive next year.
St Nick
Guest
It appears that Neill's wage demands are too much for Sunderland: Sunderland boss Steve Bruce said: "We did speak to the player a while ago about the possibility of coming to Sunderland. "But as things stand, nothing's going to come of that and nothing will unless circumstances change." http://www.sunderlandecho.com/sport/Neill-wage-demands-too-much.5636266.jp I don't see this as something Pim needs to be involved in. If Neill wants to waste the season chasing money then its an opportunity for our other defenders to up the ante and give Pim a reason not to rush Neill back into the side when/if he finds a club. I wonder how long he can remain clubless before it would have been more financially beneficially for him to sign his initial contract extension with West Ham? On the captaincy issue, what makes Neill an automatic choice for captain? Personally I'd like to see Schwarzer given the arm-band before Neill.
Realfootball
Guest
Utterly disgraceful. Neill is not the man to captain Australia. Give the armband to Harry or Moore or Emmerton. Unbelievable that Neill still isn't playing and it's still about money. He's 31, middling abilty at best and lacks pace. He was overvalued by West Ham in the first place. Mind boggling perpective bypass, Lucas.