Sticca’s comments came in light of Sydney FC’s moves for a number of players from fellow A-League clubs including Jade North, Dean Heffernan, Adam D’Apuzzo, Paul Reid, Jamie Coyne, David Williams and Andrew Durante.
In the end, only the latter two signed on, but it all caused quite the stir as Sydney FC appeared to be trying to assemble All Stars FC.
Of course, we have seen short-term loan deals utilised by A-League clubs in the ACL in the past, with Sergio van Dijk moving from Brisbane to Adelaide last year and Nik Mrdja heading from Central Coast to Melbourne too.
But we’ve not seen anything quite to this scale considering the Sky Blues’ lengthy hitlist.
Sticca told The Australian: “I don’t see any value in clubs having a youth league if the young players are blocked by all these loan deals. I think it undermines the value of each club’s brand by having players swapping clubs willy-nilly on loan deals.”
There’s certainly some substance in Sticca’s comments, particularly the latter one.
There’s no doubt it will be an odd scenario for Sydney FC fans in the stands at the SFS cheering on Williams and Durante during the ACL. They may feel a sense that they aren’t really one of us.
And the reality is they aren’t, which is particularly obvious after comments made by Williams this week that he was hoping his Sydney FC stint could provide a platform for him to launch his career overseas again.
It’s fair enough for him to say that, he’s just being honest, but it is admittedly a strange situation.
Sure, they’ll all be in the same corner, trying to get Sydney FC across the line, but there won’t be that same emotional attachment. I believe, more than anything, that will put a fair bit of pressure on the new duo to prove their value fast.
As for Sticca’s former point on youth, you can see where he’s coming from, but perhaps it’s a bit over-simplistic.
Sydney FC are in the business of winning football matches and it’s in their best interests to get some proven players for the Champions League rather than throw some youngsters in at the deep end and hope they swim.
And with the transfer window closed and the ACL’s 3+1 rule in place it makes recruitment difficult, meaning these sides turn to rival A-League clubs for players who are effectively on off-season.
This point is all the more pertinent when you consider Sydney have simply replaced the retiring Hayden Foxe with Durante in the centre of defence, and Shimizu-bound Alex Brosque with Williams in attack.
They are simply looking after their squad and places should still be open to youngsters who are deemed good enough such as Dimi Petratos.
Okay the Sky Blues were linked with a long list of players, but in the end they only signed two players on short-term deals which still leaves doors open for youth. In moderation, these deals have their place, benefitting several parties.
Mark Bosnich entered this debate on Fox Sports FC on Tuesday and while he went off on a tangent about an A-League club one day winning the World Club Cup, he made a fair point that Australian clubs need to do well in Asia for the sake of the league’s standing and credibility.
So it’s in their interests to add proven A-League players to give them every chance of succeeding.
The fact Sydney FC (who finished ninth in the 2010-2011 season) will compete in the ACL, 12 months after being crowned champions adds further complexity to the issue.
In Australia, successful teams inevitably lose talent as has been seen throughout the participation of A-League clubs in the ACL. Nowadays the Sky Blues don’t have the talent which took them to their double success last season, so they do need to strengthen if they are to stand a chance in Asia.
Sticca added: “I personally would prefer to see clubs use their existing rosters and youth teams to draw players from.”
To be honest, so would I but unfortunately it’s unrealistic given the circumstances which A-League clubs face in the ACL.
Sydney have gone from champs to also-rans (like Newcastle did in 2009 and Adelaide in 2010), so they need to bolster their squad and given their foreign quota restrictions, doing so from rival A-League clubs is a necessary evil.
Then again, the question I’ve been asking myself is will those circumstances change next season?
Perhaps this will no longer be an issue if the A-League season changes its start and end times to begin in October and finish in April. No one will be swapping clubs then.
I guess we’ll wait and see.
Gif Richard
Guest
Just change the season so we're on the right schedule for our qualifying teams to compete the year after they've qualified. Who knows it might encourage their players to stick around with the same club instead of the transfer merry go round we have now. And yeah I know that means going up against all the other winter codes but what they hey, it's not as if the current format has taken right off. Have some faith in the game and play it when it in winter when millions around the country are actually playing the game each weekend. How many kids will see their favourite players do something great on a Friday night and want to emulate it the very next morning? How many of us will be doing the same on some suburban dust bowl on a chilly Sunday? It might be tough at first but in the long run I think it's the way to go if all those latent football fans are to become fully fledged A-League fans.
Mick of Newie
Guest
Ben, I did not know that. How does this work with the Roar still in the finals. I presumed this only worked with players who had finished club commitments (like Durante, Williams, Velaphi, Cernak). The only way I could argue thatit is different to these players is that Pohang are in season and presumably he will play K league as well but I accept it is not a strong argument. What is interesting is that neither SFC or MV have gone over the top with this (probably a timing issue if can only take players who are from NQ, MH, NJ, PG and WP). However, I would have thought Matt Thompson, Nikolai Topor-Stanley, Mile Sterjovski, Ryan Griffiths, Jade North or Chris Coyne might have been attractive to either club.
Ben Somerford
Roar Guru
I believe it's an ACL requirement to have the competitors for the ACL decided by the end of the year before, which is for the ACL draw. All clubs who'll compete in the 2011 ACL, initially qualified in 2010.
Ben Somerford
Roar Guru
Interesting to see Korean club Pohang Steelers have signed Aussie Erik Paartalu on a short-term deal for the ACL.
Mick of Newie
Guest
The issue is if one of the A league team wins the ACL with players borrowed solely for that competition then our friends in Asia will make a big deal out of it. We would not like to lose to a J league side supplemented by players from other clubs so we should not do it. (I know the J league is in season so it could not happen but we should not be playing dirty pool just because the ACL occurs out of the A league season). To work off Bosnich's point what exactly would we gain in terms of cudos if an A league club won the ACL with a best of the A league squad.
floppybottom
Guest
somerford, nice one old chap... tony pulombo states in an article on twg that williams and brosque are completely opposite types of players. i regard them both as attacking players who can play wide or come into a more central position on occasion. whats your take on the comparison between their playing styles? nice one daddyo!
RedOrDead
Roar Guru
Because The Champions and Premiers qualify for the cup. In the case where the same team is Champion and Premier, the losing grand finalist qualifies. Melbourne Victory (last year's grand finalist) play their first ACL match in Japan on the 1st of March and Sydney FC (Champions) play in Sydney on the 2nd of March and as you can see the A-League season has not concluded yet (Grand Final is on March 12th). So, if say, Brisbane Roar (this year's premiers) were to play in this year's ACL, they'd have to play A-League finals at the same time as flying around Asia playing the ACL, not to mention that we still do not know which the second team will be. Next year the 2011/2012 A-League Season will begin in October and finish even later than this year (May) which means a Premier nor Champion for that season will not have yet be determined. This means the current (2010/2011) title holders, Brisbane Roar will play in the ACL (along with one more A-League team (Champions or grand finalists)) whilst still competing in the 2011/2012 season. The Premiers and Champion or Grand Finalist of the 2011/2012 season will play in the in the 2013 ACL and so on...
pezz
Guest
btw Joel Chianese scored the winning goal in our warm up match. he came directly from the youth squad. so if they can perform, they will be given a chance.
Rhys
Guest
Maybe Sticca should actually look at the squad list before spouting crap. 6 players were promoted, and then there's the 5 ex-youth players already in the squad.
wallythefly
Guest
As an outside observer it seems all this stems from teams qualifying for the ACL too early and like Sydney FC by the time they play ACL they are not as good as they were and therefore need to get blokes in. I'm sure its been discussed at length before but can someone tell me why they can't get a system where the immediate champions (of 2011) can't play in the 2011 ACL?
Rellum
Roar Guru
My view is that any player wanting to play in the ACL should move clubs in the Jan transfer window. If that means giving up finals football, that is their choice to make. They then can't move back until the middle of the year at least. Right now the A-League doesn't seem to have a transfer window, people seem to come and go as they please. This does have a lot to do with no transfer fees between clubs and the small playing pool which means any released player gets more interest in Aus than they would else wear. Hopefully next year the season will run from Oct to May and there will be a definitive transfer window to stop this sort of rubbish that I think cheapens the league.
Titus
Guest
I would like to think Williams would consider a longer stay if the Fury aren't around next season, and with Keller our only experienced centre back, Durante was needed. Not sure why we would chase any of the others. I think depth in our left side should have come from the youth team and I can only assume Reid was being looked at as a longer term option, not disapointed we couldn't get him to be honest. So, I guess its like rebuilding some of your squad for next season but having to start early. Short term loans are necessary, but at the same time we should be putting more faith in youth and also having them at a level to be able to make the transition.
whiskeymac
Guest
interesting issue - is it better for the game and HAL to give the kids ago - certainly helped Langerak (hope he plays well against Bayern) - and promote their development; or is it better to have the clubs do well and raise the prestige of the HAL etc (and its not as if Williams D and Durante are foreigners - their experience will also benefit the HAL/ aussie football in this wide outlook of benefits). tough one. i think the balance is between the two, and as you mentioned - the drafted in players are filling existing gaps, not supplanting youth necessarily. hopefully the youth players will get a go. if not they cld always follow Jurman to warmer climes.