A-League need to fill the Archie Fraser vacuum

ok, Kalac claims that ex-players aren't being fast tracked (this is more then just Muscat) Let's look at the short history of players retired in the 90's/00's Frank Farina - Fast tracked to be a player-coach of Brisbane Strikers. Afterwards was given the job as coach of Socceroos. Graham Arnold - Got the job of Northern Spirit based on his playing career. Became assistant of the Socceroos due to his playing career and being friends with Frank Farina. Aurelio Vidmar - Became assistant manager under Kosmina immediately after retirement. Now coach of Adelaide United Paul Okon - Assistant of Gold Coast. Coach Under 18's national team Tony Popovic - already mention before. Found a coaching job in the A-league instantly. Tony Vidmar - Manager of adelaide youth team immediately after retirement. Kevin Muscat - groomed for the job in Melbourne Victory after being promoted as assistant manager. Ante Milicic - assistant coach of under 20's socceroos Ante Juric - Under 13's national head coach Former players are getting fast tracked and getting plum A-league and national team jobs without doing the hard yards at State level and the lower leagues. Kalac has nothing to complain about

We may have to start seriously consider people from overseas, similar to the Technical Director job, which is an important conduit to bringing football knowledge that isn't necassarily "possible" from a local, but of course we also have the issue of the A League chairman being able to vote for someone, so similar to the EPL having a Chairman and Chief Executive/CEO (distinct from the English FA positions, though EPL people are on the board of the FA now, which undermines FA and English football but that's another story) we could have similar here, http://www.premierleague.com/page/Contact but where one is more of an FFA appointment - an "outsider" looking in giving advice I guess a bit like how Han Berger will be able to oversee the and give directional advice to the State Federation Technical Directors and the other is something of a more local voice for the owners/chairmen if you like (perhaps their appointee? who I would imagine would be a local), but similar to the "League vs Association" battle that took place in England it can be a problem possibly, but still preferrable to having club owners on the FFA board resulting in a conflict of interest as before (their power is localised to the A league), like the EPL, let Chairmen table motions and vote for some changes (which can still be vetoed by the FFA in some cases if it is blatantly against the best interests of football overall), or the FFA then having too much power and owners divesting themselves out of frustration, it is better that some frustrations are alleviated through votes for changes rather than blowing up in the media, if the FFA vetoes, then that goes to the media, if the issue is blatantly against best interests of the football fraternity (size of slaray cap, we don't want too much of our sports revenue going to stupidly inflated players wages like in England when it can eb better spent elsewhere, just to retain a half decent player for a few more years) the club chairman would have to back down, similarly if an issue is in the best interests of the league (fixturing for example) and the league clubs get the backing of the fraternity they may have to back down, either way we get a good debate (in theory). Not perfect as we see in politics all the time. Sounds a bit like the Health debate Many issues to juggle, but there is a need to adjust

"Essentially it is about getting the right mix of team, good sound Business and Australian sporting landscape nous, combining well with good football nous and international Football landscape nous' Whilst I dont disagree with your sentiments,its whats needed,the question is, is it possible? I an doubtful that all areas can be covered in our small market. Can you(or anybody else) enlighten me on this?

Just quickly, will add more later, but obviously SBS are naive if they think it is merely an issue of "technical issues", other issues like image and marketing come into play (people ahve to know when the games are and it has to be something they are open to going to) Similarly, I recall when the crowds were declining, perhaps there is a differnce behind closed doors but in the paper all I heard from the FFA was that they were going to launch some new marketing campaign, and I would say there needs to be a realisation that it is more than just a merketing exercise, opening people up to the possibility is one thing, but having them come back consistently in a sustained way for a sustained period is another. It is not just scale of economy and population that has seen England, Spain, Italy and many other countries several tiers deep, some of the most passionate fans follow clubs where there are no marketable glamourous or technically gifted players and the football can be pretty rubbish? But what makes them so attached to their clubs? What makes them fight tooth and nail to keep them afloat when they are in toruble and what makes them establish supporters trusts to either buy them out, or to re-launch supporter run clubs based on the old club in the very bottom rung (AFC wimbledon for example) if they do go under? These are the issues we need to understand and incorporate into part of the A League model as well as good marketing and technical development in order to be successful Lastly, it is not just an issue of money, that is massive but I don't think we can all be so naive to think it is just a matter of throwing money at it, we can end up throwing a lot down the toilet if it is on expensive yet inefecive TV commercials, there's a need to know where to target advertising, but also how to strucutre clubs, the money needs to be used in a nuanced way (which is hopefully most cost effective so we can put money elsewhere on grassroots or youth, womens and of course Socceroos)

It's a good point about Con and Clive, it can obviously work both ways which is why you can't be simplistic. Before we had a problem regarding not enough central power and there being problems with "club bosses" with their own agendas, have we gone to the other side of the spectrum if we think about the FFA poaching an A League boss? Of course there are always egos involved and always something to clash over, with Businessmen with their egos and ruthlessness which is a large reason to do with hwo they developed their fortunes there is always going to be clashes, we see it in politics all the time. But I agree in the sense that rather than the FFA having extremely strong control as it does now as a Franchisor, to the point where it micro manages many issues, if it de-centralises slightly, while still providing the "nudging" guidance through what you call the framework for clubs to operate in (eg each club needs a football dept, a scouting network etc) and Towser calls regular meetings, but within that framework there needs to be some greater flexiblity, which is where contorl over kit manufacturers, and websites come in, so that they can gain their own distinct flavour. Especially now, wouldn't it makes sense for clubs like the Fury and perhaps CCM who are set to get owned a a series of small Businesses, if they can get a deal wihh say a local textiles manufacturer. This helps to strengthen the sense of community as they will better able to forge an identity with a local brand (have to be careful because sometimes it can come across as "cheap" compared to a big identifiable corporation) and of course this then means the local businesses have an interest in the viability, which in turn means word of mouth promotion, them encouraging their workers to go with their families perhaps? Obviously control over websites, at the moment they are all operating with the same template with only a difference in colour scheme, with us no longer having a one club per city how are we supposed to differentiate significantly between clubs from the same city? Another idea is radio broadcast rights, about 10 years ago through the NUFC.co.uk website I could listen to bias Geordie commentators commentate radio coverage of NUFC's EPL and Cup games, the opposing teams would have their own locals doing their own coverage, as you often say on local Gosford radio, given it is all part of a national network, you hear about sports news not relevant to locals, but with greater autonomy, CCM can better promote and do deals with local radio, similarly MVFC who have had problems with local stations such as SEN, the MVFC website SHOULD be able to provide an alternative so there is less of a vacuum one would hope. Similarly, the bigger and more higher profile A League teams would have better scope to prospecively have either a more diverse merchanise range and/or better business case to strike a deal with some web stores that sell soccer shirts, like the higher profile MLS or J League shirts On Towsers point, From what I have heard JON was very media savvy, which is great and flowed through to Matt Carroll by the sounds of it, but obviously Perth fans have a bit of bad blood, a football person would have been able to explain the precedents where perceived disrespect of a clubs history and their traditional colours becomes bery problematic, Austria Salzburg being a case in point, it may seem as if it is "far away Europe" but a lot of the principles of how those fans and many Perth fans attach to the club are similar, so while club bosses may have held him in high regard we have a different problem with another stakeholder Essentially it is about getting the right mix of team, good sound Business and Australian sporting landscape nous, combining well with good football nous and international Football landscape nous, I mean, how did we come to have a situation where the Mariners away kit not only looks hardly any different to their home strip, but is a clash with the Jets kit, and of course the Jets away kit clashes with the Mariners home kit as well? so we have a match where we could hardly tell the difference?

Just a bit more on Australia finding its own way in the Football culture world. This article gives more insight. http://au.fourfourtwo.com/blogs.aspx?CIaBEID=1762

Best quote from TWG comments goes to a bloke called Alexander One must remember that while many of the worlds best coaches are former top level players, many were mediocre players - i.e. Arsène Wenger. Thus, the credentials of Kalac should not be overlooked...

Kalac's comments show a disprespect for the HAL then. On that logic every other team in the comp was even worse than Sydney, as they got both the minor premiership and won the GF. I am always wary of players that go to Europe and then come back thinking their sh!t doesn't stink because they sat on the bench for some Euro team. OK, Kalac was a decent keeper, but anyone who was content to sit on the bench rather than front up week after week in an albeit lesser league casuses suspicion on my part. I respect those players in reserves or on the bench that go to "lesser" teams to get game time for the 1st squad. Kalac didn't do that in his last years.

I'm feeling the same, It seems Ange's best PR move was to go to Greece where he can't defend himself and then a bunch of people who i'm not big fans proceed to have a go at him Malcolm, Kalac and Fink. If they don't like him Ange must be doing something right :)

The more I hear people attack Ange the more I hope he succeeds. A win for the Roar against Lavicka a coach who brings out the best in pub players will do for starters.

I can't really take Kalac seriously anymore. Although he does seems like a funny guy, he makes a lot of self-serving comments This wasn't the first time either, i lost some respect to him when he tried to publicly undermine Schwarzer position in the team. trying to use the media to discredit Schwarzer was his nadir. This comment just seems like sour grapes that he didn't get a job.

Kalac's Classic Quotes LOL :) "What Sydney achieved in winning the title with a very average squad was excellent. I know how bad they are because I watched them train and play, and believe me they were bad. The players there are pretty brain dead, so the coaching staff kept it simple and got the best out of players."

Andy As you said with spider all self serving and also suits the SBS zealouts drive on technical issues solving all problems and will make us number one sport... But he is also silly beyond silly the part that goes and you repeated ... "That’s not the case with the other A-League coaches. They are all scared of bringing somebody in who might threaten their position one day."... the clubs are all owned by the Con's & Clives of this world they can only be brought out...

Well he certainly didn't hold back. I wasn't a Kalac fan before this article and wasn't a fan after. Very self serving as always from Spider. Maybe their is some value in this part though "What we need is more of the boys who have played overseas getting a look-in at clubs. At Sydney you have a good foreign coach in Vitezslav Lavicka, who gave 'Poppa' his chance because he's not paranoid about his job and is willing to listen to some advice. "That's not the case with the other A-League coaches. They are all scared of bringing somebody in who might threaten their position one day. I would like too see senior players who come back too the A league sponsered to get their coaching licenses while still running around and then perhaps move up to assistant roles. Like MV are doing with Muscatt and Heart doing with Aloisi. I think those experienced european pros would make good potential assistants but why would they be any better than Mitchell who had a decent European career and has some coaching experience. I don't see why Kalac would do any les of a ham fisted job on match day as Mitchell. Edit: Actually Merrick makes a mockery of his claims about the coaches being self serving. And Mitchell has appointed Ian Fergusson (again better Career than Kalac) as his assistant so hardly seems to be smelling the fear.

I've found the man to fill the void. http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/news/988917/Kalac-wants-coaching-overhaul Makes Pims comments look full of praise for the A-League.

Correct their Midfielder,its not an issue if decisions are made from input by football savvy people. Trouble is in Australia theres not enough of them because of the split of the professional sports market When Matt Carroll was in charge there used to be regular meetings with the media/communications people at each A-League club. The Roar bloke was a football person through & through. Feedback was that these meetings were very productive. Does that happen today? Did Archie Fraser hold such meetings? Was he held in the same high regard that Matt Carroll was? Wheres Frank Lowy in this?. Has the big picture taken over his mind as far as Football goes & the A-League family photo been turned over for now? My own thoughts are that hes taking a massive gamble. Hoping that a succesful World cup bid is the tidal wave needed to carry football to the promised land. If it comes off he could well be right. As long as theres something left of the A-League raft when it hits the shore. Hang on whats that the Fox money raft, Can it avoid smashing on the rocks & arrive early to save the A-League regardless of the outcome ofFranks gamble. .

NUFCMVFC I take you point about the culture of the old NSL & Business connections within new football.. The NSL failed on a number of levels not only because of its ethnic base... The NSL ran a failed business model within the Australian sporting landscape. Whatever we may think of JON & BB... they have brought a level of general acceptance to football never seen in Australia before... But the time has come the Walrus said to think of many things ... and now is a good time to think of a few moe things. The comments about football people not being in charge is only correct to a point .. if they engage good football people below them as MV have done it is not an issue... Con at Newcastle is very knowledge about football, very well connected to the NSL ways ... and is a dope ... not unlike Clive.... Each club needs a marketing plan that suits the market / area they play in.. these club plans should fit within a conceptual football plan that FFA could develop.. a simple example is for clubs, stadium security, stadium management, home end groups meet regularly to determine what is and what is not acceptable behaviour... It makes sense to me for FFA to develop a broad based conceptual framework for the clubs to work and plan within.. But at the end of the day if a club has a dud in charge then it is a dud you get.. Look at Con very passionate, very knowledge, but with a value system that has him wanting to be involved in every single decision...

Great article NUFCMVFC & some great comments from others. There is no doubt that, while some of us may have assume that football in this country would just soar & soar after the last WC & the advent of the A-League, we still have a long way to go. Other markets similiar to us Japan & US have all suffered problems along the way. I still think where we came from, we've come along way, it's still a very long term project. Most issues are covered, Money (lack of in football), FTV, other football codes, competing against O/S leagues, crowds, clubs franchises, history etc.

I wonder if anyone at the FFA will get read your very commendable piece NUFCMVFC. It thoroughly deserves their attention. Keep up the good work.

The Roar now have a Brazilian Thiago Cruz as their football manager. Seems to have been active in renewing new contracts etc. Luke De Vere as an example. Was over in the Netherlands when Roars trio went over there & sold. The weak link at the Roar appears to me to be the chairman Bombolas. He was put there because of his supposed "Brisbane connections". So far I've seen no evidence to back this up. John Ribot leaves him for dead as a chairman. Both are RL men ,but Ribot at least had a clue about sports administration & setting up & running a new club. I would have thought Bombolas with his "connections" & local profile as a newsreader & politician would have held some sway with Suncorp. Personally now the new owners have committed to the club long term,I hope they look at whether Bombolas offers anything worthwhile.