Melbourne’s football community is abuzz with rumours. Who will replace Ernie Merrick? Melbourne Victory and their new chairman, Anthony Di Pietro, have embarked on a local and global search to find his successor.
In the meantime, a weary, cynical supporter base, ground down by the stale methods of old, patiently waits for a new managerial messiah.
The whole notion of the search is predicated on Victory not being able to tempt Ange Postecoglou away from the FFA controlled Brisbane Roar.
It’s an interesting situation.
The Roar will be more attractive to potential investors with Ange at the helm. According to football gossips, Victory are ready to offer Postecoglou a lucrative four-year deal worth two million dollars.
If Ange does choose to stay with Brisbane, then who will it be?
A big club like Victory is crying out for a stylish manager. Six years of watching Ernie in a tracksuit, the team ended up playing like he dressed – no style or imagination.
Enter Franz Straka, waving his beige, stripy jacket. The jacket captured the fashion zeitgeist in Townsville. Problem is, Franz, I doubt Melbourne Victory’s fashionista set will be as impressed. I suggest you head down to Calibre for a fit out before the interview.
When it does come to style, there can only be one candidate. Sartorially, standing head and shoulders above the rest of the field is the best dressed man in Australian football, Eddie Krncevic. The style icon is currently sashaying down the sideline in the VPL with South Melbourne. Victory will be faced with two major issues when it comes appointing him.
Firstly, Eddie flat out refusing to wear the name of a cleaning supplies company (and urinal manufacturer) on his Armani shirt collar. Secondly, the players being more interested in following Eddie’s fashion and grooming tips, rather than his coaching tips.
This leads us to the ‘find the obscure manager from Eastern Europe solution’. Bosko Gjurovski’s name has hit the rumour mill. Now, there’s a name that evokes Balkan football sophistication.
Gjurovski, the current assistant manager at Nagoya Grampus Eight, just has to turn up to win the championship while we spend the season working out how to pronounce his name. It worked with Vitezslav Lavicka.
However, the last time Bosko was manager, he only lasted TWO games into the 2007-08 season with Red Star Belgrade after a 2-1 away loss to minnows Levadia Tallinn of Estonia in UCL qualification.
The team did do enough to progress to the next round on the away goals rule, but it was not enough to save Bosko from walking the plank. Losing to a team worth 10 times less than yours can do that to you.
As you can see, the search for a manager is a treacherous business. Success is not guaranteed. This can call for a brave, radical, and innovative solution.
Step forward, Mick Malthouse.
The AFL coach has successfully applied modern football theory to Australian Rules football. Last July he claimed, “The manipulation of space and an increased emphasis on possession – hallmarks of top-flight soccer – were now crucial aspects of the AFL game.” He demonstrated this to spectacular effect in winning the AFL premiership last season.
The Collingwood method is very similar to Ange’s method at the Brisbane Roar. Coming out of defence, Collingwood spread the ball wide to the boundary lines as opposed to the old-fashioned AFL method to “bang it down the middle”.
When the ball is in their forward line they press the opposition to turn the ball over, much like the Brisbane Roar and Barcelona. Michael Di Fabrizio wrote on The Roar last week: “In 2010, the Pies generated 30.5 turnovers in their forward half per game (5.2 more than any other team). They also scored a whopping 43.8 points from these turnovers (11.8 more than any other team).”
In what is a very curious state of affairs, Malthouse is contractually obligated to handover the coaching job at Collingwood to Nathan Buckley at the end of the 2011 AFL season; regardless, if he wins successive premierships.
Collingwood President, Eddie McGuire, has allegedly threatened legal action if Malthouse does not take up a director of coaching role and opts to coach at another AFL club.
Mick, here is your legal loophole. Win another flag for Collingwood and then hop over to the A-League and join the Victory.
Getting those coaching badges will be a doddle. Having climbed the AFL summit of Mount Kosciuszko, let’s see how far you can climb up football’s Mt Everest.
Yes, at 57, time is against you.
But, then again, Sir Alex Ferguson is a sprightly 69. You once said that you learned more in 48 hours with Fergie than watching six months worth of AFL tapes. Just book another session with the great man. You’ll be alright.
Whoever does get the managerial gig at Melbourne Victory might be thankful that he won’t have to address a team led by the retired captain, Kevin Muscat. Otherwise, his first day on the job could have gone something like this.
Enjoy.
Art Sapphire is the pseudonym for Athas Zafiris and he can be found on twitter.
peter care
Guest
Why not Bart Cummings? He still "coaches" horses to win big events, and he is in his eighties. He is a great horse psychologist, getting the best out of them, so he would be able to get the best out of his two legged team as well.....
KickIt2Duck
Roar Rookie
Art - over time, there have been a variety of strategies used suited mainly to the strengths and weaknesses of the side at the time, and the ability to 'match up' against the opposition. Professional or not,...there's been money in Aust Football since the 1860s/1870s when the game drew some of if not the best 'football' attendances in the world. Because the game has evolved, and the rules have evolved - is evidence of the efforts over time to exploit loopholes in the rules. For example, in soccer, the header is a clear exploitation of a loophole, i.e. can't use hands but the rules didn't say anything about the head! Over the last 20 odd years, it's not been uncommon for AFL coaches to embark on 'study' tours to the US and Europe, looking at soccer, basketball, NFL, ice hockey etc. Reality at the end of the day is that most of these sports are about teamwork, possession, contests and 'space'. And for most coaches, the tactical blue print is only as good as the ability of the cattle on the paddock to execute, and execute under pressure. Obviously a league like the EPL has a clear advantage over many other soccer leagues because the money there makes it the 'best of the best' (or amongst the clear top 4 leagues).
Thanks for the comments Bondy. I agree, more than most in the AFL community, Malthouse does have a strong knowledge of football and he has used it to his advantage.
Bondy
Guest
Art. I read your column and thought uhm. Then i wondered if Malthouse had ever had the question posed to him, Would he ever have thought of Managing the National Football Team ,where the rules aren't changed to exclusively play only one country, and the A.F.L.feel as though there representing there nation ( do they really) . It would have been a quantum leap a truely genuine sporting tale, the reason i say this is that he appears to have a very strong knowledge of Football , most of the A.F.L. just simply don't comprehend the game the world plays, Why does he?. and why has he been so successful for so long.
con
Guest
franz straka probably did get his jacket at calibre, full credit for mentioning that fashion label. it makes average looking men look like sex gods. eitherway, malthouse is a peasant, go get krncevic, ive always loved his whacky hairstyles and funky outfits
Aljay
Guest
Most of the high-level tactical offenses in soccer are versions of a motion-offense very similar to basketball, just applied to a much bigger field.
Bludger
Guest
They need to get rid of the offside law in soccer, allow tackling the man, allow handling the ball, and make the goals bigger to improve the game. It is being held back by these backward rules.
Kickit2Duck - yes, the limiter was that Aussie Rules was an amateur/part time sport until very recently .On the other hand, football being being a professional global game for much, much longer had tactical innovation as there was more competition. This is why Aussie Rules has borrowed from other sports, but I would say mainly, football. Malthouse has said this and I would not disagree with him.
MyLeftFoot
Roar Guru
He left half way through the season, and they were a rabble for the remainder of the season, mostly due to the reasons you give.
Rob McLean
Guest
MLF, Mick Nunan, formerly of Norwood, Sturt and North, coached Fitzroy in their final year. He actually did a creditable job considering the cattle he had at the time, plus the inability to recruit due to the club's situation. You can't forget, either, that effect that knowing the club was dying would have had on the players. Hardly a fair comment on Nunan. Incidentally, he also played one game for Richmond during his Nasho days.
KickIt2Duck
Roar Rookie
The 'press' is probably more borrowed from basketball - but, even then, in years gone by there were limited versions of such strategies, limited by such limiters as: no interchange, just a 19th and 20th men available for single substitutions muddy cricket pitch blocks in the centre of the ground a definite camber to the field with the raised centre region, running up hill all day takes it's toll so, in the past, the 'press' was much more limited by pretty tangible items. And was most likely applied defensively when trying to defend whilst kicking into a strong wind. The strategic devices weren't absent - just the opportunities were limited.
You can stay at MVFC thank you very much... Sidwell will make Malthouse do it as a good cause. The club's still running at a loss and some of it is his money.
MyLeftFoot
Roar Guru
I've sent my CV in, and offered my services at half the price.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
And, you reckon Joe Mirabella and the rest of the Heart owners would fork out $750+k p.a. for Mick to do that? You obviously, haven't met Joe? ;-) Anyone with a modicum of football knowledge would be able to provide those insights from sitting in the stands ... heck, most of the East Stand were always willing to offer Ernie, Mossy & Petkovic our insights throughout the 90 mins ... and, we did this for free!
MyLeftFoot
Roar Guru
It's an interesting prospect. If van 't Schip was willing to have an additional set of eyes sitting high above the ground, would it matter that Mick isn't an expert on the game? What are you seeing up there Mick? Why is Rose getting the ball on his own every time CCM come out of attack? Why isn't someone cutting off McGlinchey's angle? Why is Simon being allowed to get a 5m run up at every set piece? The two central defenders rarely keep a straight line, get one of our blokes to camp in the middle of them, run from left to right, look to deliver from the inside right channel. It's easy enough for someone to observe these things - it's up to van 't Schip to interpret, work out how to exploit it, change structures, or what needs to be done to cut off their supply routes, etc.
The twist is that Melbourne Heart's chairman is Peter Sidwell. He is also Michael Malthouse's manager. This could mean there might be a role for him at Melbourne Heart in some capacity somewhere down the track ;)
Rob McLean
Guest
I'm just glad you weren't taking the Mickey, Art.
MyLeftFoot
Roar Guru
On the question of coaching, player management, selling the message, etc, I can recall that Stan Alves was once asked about how you get the players to not relax once they get a bit of a lead up. He jokingly responded that the problem with telling them "don't relax" is that they only hear the word "relax". By and large, players are like most blokes - they have very, very short attentions spans. The messages have to be ultra short, and the coach has to stick to a few key points. I had a quasi-successful coaching career at amateur level, and I have a lot of funny stories to tell - that first year was sheer hell and I made a stack of mistakes. I remember one game, I had timed my pre-game talk to perfection, reached the crescendo beautifully such that they were all in such a frenzy they would have torn the doors down if someone hadn't opened them. I was feeling pretty good, I had got the art down pat, but as they ran out ready to eat raw meat - I suddenly remembered I had forgotten to read out the positions, and had to quickly call them back to do it. The moment was lost, energy levels down, they walked back out onto the ground in a slumped manner, and had to endure a first quarter touch up before I could focus their attention again.
MyLeftFoot
Roar Guru
I agree with your final point, and would add that they often have the double failing of being incapable of imparting knowledge, selling the message, in short communicating and influencing people.
MyLeftFoot
Roar Guru
Generally speaking, the head coach can work out ok, even if not primarily from that sport, if he has the very best assistant coaches surrounding him. I recall that at one point renowned netball coach, Joyce Brown, expressed interest in coaching Fitzroy when they were on their last legs. In truth, she could have done no worse than whoever coached the final few years (certainly better than Bernie Quinlan), and she would have known a bit about the game, but at the end of the day, her contention was that it was her people management skills that would have allowed her to make a go of it. I honestly don't know whether she was right or not, but I do know this, on game day, the coach's box is about as high pressure as anything you are ever going to encounter, with over one decision being made per minute, keeping your eye on 44 players coming and going. Even if you have the very best of the best in there helping you (and each AFL coach has around 7 assistants), you need one person calling the shots, calling it unequivocally - in that sort of environment, there ain't room for ambiguity.