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Football Federation Australia (FFA) Chairman Frank Lowy AC and CEO Ben Buckley. AAP Image/Tracey Nearm
It might be six years late, but the gust of Director of Football appointments sweeping across the A-League is exciting news. A few weeks ago, Melbourne Victory and Brisbane Roar got the ball rolling with the appointment of Francis Awaritefe and Paul Trimboli respectively.
Now come reports out of Italy that former Argentinian international Abel Balbo has received “an irrefutable offer” to fill a similar position in Australia.
While Sydney FC have publicly ruled themselves out of the market for Balbo, vice president Scott Barlow confirmed to the Sydney Morning Herald this week that filling the role has become a priority for the club.
This is a fantastic development as no club is in need of informed and experienced football direction as desperately as the two-time A-League champions.
Of course, all of this comes on the back of previous Director of Football appointments at Melbourne Heart, Newcastle Jets and Adelaide United.
It’s interesting to note the few A-League clubs without someone in this position are mostly known for operating on a shoestring budget. A fact that is particularly ironic as the very essence of a Director of Football’s importance at a club is to save money.
In theory, even a well-paid candidate should more than return their salary by the time their tenure is complete.
The concern now is that with a raft of clubs new to the concept, they will find themselves taking a myriad of different approaches and naturally some will be more effective then others.
This is why I believe FFA should have a best practice guide for all A-League clubs based on what has worked at some of Europe’s most successful football departments. Though I’ve heard whispers for some time that something along these lines is finally being considered and I hope this is followed through.
Of more immediate importance is that fans remain patient with their Directors of Football – their success in their role is not something you can gauge from just a handful of results or signings.
Judgement on whether the likes of Awaritefe’ and Trimbolis appointments are correct will, except in the most extraordinary cases, not be able to be made for quite some time.
Furthermore, while not all these appointments will be successful ones, it wont be because the concept of a Director of Football is wrong or that it “doesn’t work here” as is often exclaimed in England.
Yet, while I plead for caution in rating the success of the A-League’s new DoFs, let me be clear: I’m overwhelmingly enthusiastic about this new frontier for the game.
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