Once upon a time, young Australian footballers would book the next available flight at the very mention of the word ‘Europe’. But not anymore. Not quite.
Together, the eleventh-hour backflip from Tom Rogic and Mathew Ryan’s suspicious ‘shoulder injury’ this past week feels like something of a touchstone moment for the A-League.
Rogic was on the brink of a transfer to Premier League relegation dogfighters Reading, while Ryan was en route to Glasgow for a trial with the reborn Rangers, who are in the fourth division and cannot sign any new players for months.
Strange ones, to say the least. The Central Coast Mariners pair might have dodged a bullet each, depending on who you ask.
Was the rough-and-tumble Championship – Rogic’s likely eventual home – the right place for the first proper No.10 Australia’s had in years?
And surely the A-League is better than the dungeon of Scottish football where the Rs currently reside?
Both Rogic and Ryan, newly-minted Socceroos, have designs on being in Brazil in June next year – and not for a holiday.
Moves overseas and a full, proper-length season in a competition at least one level up from the A-League remain in their best interests.
But one wrong call or a slice of ill fortune and either of them could be labelled ‘damaged goods’ in a split second and forced to fend for themselves in football’s unforgiving wilderness. Dramatic, but true.
The trouble is, waiting for the perfect transfer to come along is far easier said than done – particularly when a team in the Premier League or with Rangers-level prestige knocks on the door and offers four or five times your current wage and a life you once dreamed about.
That’s just internal pressure. What about outside of what the players want?
First, there is the agent.
One thing most young journalists learn when they begin to cover football is that few things, if any, are exactly as they seem in this game. Particularly in Australia.
Usually if something doesn’t make sense on face value, it’s because there is a string-puller in the background who knows a guy at one club, or has ties in another country, or there’s a clause in a contract somewhere.
It’s not as if there is a big computerised list of players looking for a move that is visible to every club in the world, Football Manager-style.
As idealistic as a shift to a ‘technical’ country like Germany or Holland might be, it’s people and connections that invariably determine where and when players go.
Why Rangers for Ryan, and why now? Because his contract allows him to trial overseas at any time, and Central Coast can’t stop him. Plus, in Lawrie McKinna there is the Scottish link.
Why Reading for Rogic? His agent, Andy Bernal, used to play for them.
Not only are the men behind the men offering their ticks of approval for clubs they might have a vested interest in seeing their clients play at, but invariably there is a gentle nudge towards the door from the selling club.
This is an imperfect A-League where transfer money is an important source of rolled gold revenue for clubs that, even given the recent boom, struggle to make ends meet.
Central Coast, with a long list of debts that need servicing, stands as a case in point.
Rogic and Ryan will go soon, obviously. They are too good not to. But the Mariners would feel foolish to see them do so without at least a six-figure parting gift.
Meanwhile, as the player grapples with a sense of loyalty to his club – and perhaps an inner desire to deliver that transfer fee before bidding farewell – his agent advises not to sign any long-term deals in Australia so that options are kept open.
These are the thoughts that swim inside a player’s head when a prospective move overseas presents itself.
A confusing and perhaps concerning cocktail of emotions and pressures for a young man to deal with, but one that it’s important we realise can now be quelled quite easily.
How? Because the A-League is no longer detrimental to one’s development – if it ever was, thank you very much Pim.
We know that the A-League is gathering pace on and off the park, but that can sometimes feel like fluff until we can sense actual footballing benefits as a result.
This is one of them – there is no longer a rush to go. At least, there shouldn’t be.
If this was two or three years ago, for instance, Rogic would already be wearing Reading’s blue and white hoops and Ryan would be tucking into the first in a long line of haggises for tea.
But now, our own competition can offer more. And it will continue to offer more, until the day that a young player is so dominant they can turn up to a match and know for certain that if they put in their best they will go home with the match ball.
That’s not yet for Rogic, who is yet to even complete a full season. Don’t forget, he started this one poorly and is learning a hard lesson at the moment via suspension.
As for Ryan, well, practice makes perfect for goalkeepers. A wunderkind like him can’t be rotting on a bench or in a fourth division. He can afford to wait.
There have never been more eyes fixed on Australia’s league – both inside the country and the kind of “curious eyes” from elsewhere that Alessandro Del Piero once spoke about.
That makes the A-League the perfect holding bay for both these players, and for many more in the future.
It is time for all parties – the players, their parents, their advisors and their clubs – to take a deep breath in among the madness of the silly season and appreciate this.
Planet Football
Guest
Let's face it, agents don't have the best interests of the player at heart - they are more interested in their cut and percentage. Surely players such as Rogic would be better off getting advice from the PFA? And besides the PFA, hasn't Craig Moore recently been employed by the FFA to give players such as Rogic advice about transfers and the like? The PFA do not have a financial interest in players and don't stand to benefit from transfers, unlike agents. If I was in Rogic and Ryan's boots, I would be taking advice from the union. And not from agents with links to, and mates at, European clubs, and who are mainly (only?) interested in the size of their wallets, and how much money they will make from the transfer of their clients..
Steve
Guest
Boring, but the truth.
midfielder
Guest
Vince and fuss .. if you go to the mariners fans forum ... Ccmfams.met .go to the central coast area then go to page 7 of the thr thread tittled player movements. Maybe ha to coach in the UK very soon...look for the post with a link to thr dailytepoter ..sorry posting from my phone and don't how to copy s link
j binnie
Guest
Adrian - Can't help you much on TV deals but if you think that 38,000 season tickets at GBP 700 ie GBP 26,600,000, plus the extra 9000 in their average crowd over the 9 games played paying aound GBP 35 per person, ie another GBP 2,835,000, is money to be sneezed at then, so be it. You cannot even try to compare it in Australia over recent games for Victory are averaging 22,000 to their home games and are by far the best supported team in the country but that home gate figure is less than half of what Rangers are getting in their horrible 4th division. Rangers,as I said ,,have been punished ON the field for gross mismanagement OFF the field and if that seems fair, then again, so be it. jb
Adrian
Guest
j binnie what I understand is, that all the big team out side of the big 4 euro leagues, make there money from UEFA Champion League TV distribution or from selling players on to the big 4 leagues Rangers got in 2010/11 19 million euros from lose in the group stage of champion league , Celtic being in the last 16 should get close to 30 million euros...Lose ing the group stage of Europa League , bring in only between 1.5 to 2 million euros. so a big differences between the 2 cups ... with Rangers out, Celtic has a good chance to play Champion league ever year (and bring in the big buck) also, the last SPL TV deal with SKY-ESPN was for less money then what the A-Legaue just sign with FOX-SBS what i don't know is, can-did Rangers-Celtic sign there own TV deals for there derby? (i wouldn't think they could), and when is the next SPL tv deal up next?, i'm sure any new TV deal for SPL any time soon, would build the case for letting Rangers back up faster I would think, if i was Celtic, and with all the big money coming from Champion league TV distribution, i wouldn't want Ranger back soon :)
Realfootbal
Guest
This word you keep using, Steve, "better". You need to do better than that, to borrow the same, overused word. "Better" is so vague as to be almost meaningless. Better how? In what way? In what areas? Stadiums, players, supporters, tactics, training methods, technique. Not helped by some very haphazard grammar, sentence structure, punctuation and capitalisation. Suggest you take more care with the written expression and please give the A League bashing rest. It's getting very boring.
Realfootbal
Guest
Sorry, don't see how your last sentence follows at all. "They" spend more money so the "SPL is better"? Who exactly are "they". You can't just make sweeping statements like that with no facts or figures to back you up and expect to be taken seriously. I have no idea as to the standard of the SPL. I don't watch it, nor do I have any interest in doing so. However, my impression is that all you want to do, really, is hammer away at the credibility of the A League.
j binnie
Guest
Could I throw something into the "pit" to further stir the pot in this discussion. Poor poor Rangers,they are playing in a shocking competition as a punishment for rank bad management. But there is another side to the story that is not mentioned in these columns,& that is how their fans have reacted to this "sentence". Rangers own a stadium ,Ibrox Park, which holds 50,000 seated fans,You may ask why would they need that and the answer is simple,to their home matches in this terrible division they are averaging attendances of 47,000, yes you have the figure right 47,000. They have sold 38,000 season tickets for this terrible season and at this point in time are only being beaten in attendance figures by the 4 top teams in England,even Celtic are drawing marginally less in their SPL games. Rangers also have one of the finest training facilities in Britain so there is little doubt they do not have much to offer any youngster wanting to better themselves. The rumour going around now is that the SPL are having a long hard look at the effect this "banning of Rangers" is having on the other teams in the league, a bit the same way as our Heart are very dependent on money generated from their "derbies" with Victory. It is also said that Rangers have lodged an appeal asking that their "sentence " be reduced at season's end and they be allowed to again participate in the top division ,Will this happen?,maybe some of the other clubs are starting to realise what a loss of income they have caused themselves and a change of mind could be in the offing.A bad deal ?????? Bozzas remarks may be true about the SPL 4th division but how do they stack against what may happen should Rangers be allowed re-entry.jb
j binnie
Guest
Fuss - Have read some of your comments re. this issue and don't know if you circulate in the player's circle but do you ever wonder how these European clubs do find out about the players you mention. Oar Zullo and Sarota,none of them recognised first team players at Roar end up in Holland. Is that so surprising when one considers Roar have among their most avid supporters many people who started their lives in Holland. Could there be contacts in their numbers.. Matt Mackay WENT to Rangers after Charlie Miller and his big mate had COME from Rangers. Does that suggest another un-named contact.? The list goes on and on. There is a huge army of official and unofficial "scouts" in Australia allied to many ex-players from these European clubs whose opinions could be easily sought out and requested,Willie Wallace & Booby Gould (Celtic), Ian Ferguson,Stuart Munro & Craig Moore (Rangers) all of whose opinions would be held in high regard..These ar just a few of the more notable connections,I'm sure there are many more.So the exodus will contine. jb
Vince Rugari
Expert
Re: The Rs...right you are. Nice brainfade on my part.
Vince Rugari
Expert
Because it's not really to fourth division Scotland, it's to a big club that sooner or later (whether it be by the book or if they get a handy TV rights-related promotion or two, free of charge) will be up in the SPL again. Facilities are amazing, the prestige... well, a kid like Ryan would have to pinch himself. Don't get me wrong, it's a horrible idea IMO, but I get the attraction on Ryan's part. Not sure if your suspicions of other motivations are fair or not... I'll leave that for another journo to debunk or prove right.
Adrian
Guest
wisey_9 , yes, you are right on the transfers , i should have said CCM need better agents :) joking I don't believe he is better off, going to play for a mid table Danish team, playing in a league that no body watches ...I live here for 10 years (Europe) i've been to many league games around Europe, and most of those league are dead, people don't go and watch these games, they all stay home and watch EPL on weekend We Australia football supports have got to stop thinking, that it good enough for a players to just get starting time at any euro team ..Maty Ryan , is better off, playing at the top team in the A-league and playing ACL football (lets face ACL really means playing the top 4 teams from Japan, Korea , and China) which is far better standed then what he get playing for mid table Danish We (Australians) got change are thinking about euro football, it not all high stranded ever week
Steve
Guest
HG(academy players0 players don’t count against their salary, which means they spend more Money. Also MLS get 18,000 plus a game, making them top 7 IN the world. Look ,the A-league is growing, However right now the MLS is better and likely would get even better. However so will the A-league, however till you guys play more games and start to have more clubs, I think it would be hard for you to became as great, as MLS might be in the future. That German like reserve system, will be slowly worked in in 2013 and fully in 2014, for MLS. The A-league could do the same thing. The Big advantage leagues like yours have and MLS, that my league, the EPL doesn’t,is you could tinker with the system. I love my league, the EPL is the best league in the world, however we are not developing enough English players. That’s why the Bundesliga might become the best league in the world. I love their system the MLS is copying, so should Australia. Also what I see happening in your league, is a lack of partnerships with European clubs, that would make you league improve faster as well. Partnerships can get you, young talent on loan.
Adrian
Guest
by the way..SPL teams paying more money, should mean a better class of players...but that would be the case only if UK and European football was a free and open market ...it is not, Australians and USA players have no right to play football in the UK , which is why you see very little USA players playing in the EPL, There 20 (or more) Scottish players playing for EPL team, but yet Scottish national team is sh!t and has been sh!t for 20 years Sorry my Scottish friends, i really don't mean to pick on Scotland
Adrian
Guest
Steve..i didn't say Fifa ranking, i said ELO ranking ..i believe ELO is better...but on Fifa ranking , yes they are wrong, just as a 7 day weather forecast is wrong , but it sure beats putting you head out the door and saying, "I think the weather in 7 days time will be ?" as for creating a structure similar to German,. then this should show up in team USA raising in the rankings , along with the other great young Central american players, going on to play international football for there countries , and with those countries also raising in the rankings as for "Australian Domestic players are continuing to fall behind the rest of the world" please give some fact to back this up? money can be a guild to a league strengths and weakness, but the fact show, and NY Red bull and LA payments are over $10 million ,but the fact are , that A-League team wagers are about the same as the other 17 MLS aat round $3 million USD..also A-league team only have 22 players , would mean the average player salary in the A-league would be higher then the average player salary in MLS yes, Argentina many very good players, and i'm sure all 5 Argentina players in the MLS would bring joy to many fans one thing, you forgot to point out about MLS, is the average crowds of 16,000 per game...that mean more people go and watch MLS matchers , then people go to watch , which would be on par with Eredivisie
Wanderer
Guest
Rogic going to Celtic is a great move for these reasons. 1) Celtic is world renowned not as a club but also for its youth products and the quality of the academy graduates. Aiden McGeady anyone? 2) He has the potential to win lots of silverware, which will be good for his confidence. 3) Opportunity to play in Europe, consistently. So if Celtic is supposed to be the feeder club, what better platform to showcase his talents than on an European stage. 4) He will be played in a position (pure no. 10) not many others in the club can perform well and thus can give Celtic a creative dimension that it lacks at times. If the move comes across, well done to the Celtic scouting department on its consistent successes in scouting some of the most obscure markets. Watch out for Victor Wanyama, he may possibly become the best Defensive Midfielder in the world, a Kenyan for Christ's sake. Or Emilio Izzaguirre, from the Honduras who has even caught Fergie's attention, and I'm a bloody Liverpool supporter!
Wanderer
Guest
Sorry mate but he's not going to Celtic anytime soon, not with Fraser Forster in the form of his life. Put it this way, Lindegaard managed to get noticed by Man United and has played more than a handful of games, IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE.
wisey_9
Roar Guru
Adrian, I'm not sure how you understand how transfers work? Maty Ryan won't see any of the $100k. This is the fee that Randers will pay CCM to release Ryan from his contract. This might seem low, but you need to remember that Ryan's contract will finish at the end of the season and then he will be able to leave CCM for free. (FIFA have standards which will mean that CCM will always receive kickbacks for developing Ryan's talent, but these will always be small compared to straight up transfer fee). And demanding that Ryan only move to a team that plays in the Europa League or higher is a bit rich IMO. If Randers can guarantee him first-team football in the Danish first division, I'd say thats an excellent move for a 20yo. As Nordster says - that move would put him right in the shop window of the big European clubs.
Wanderer
Guest
It's like this really, a dominant team not just good but absolutely ruthless a la Brisbane Roar of 2010 - 2012 would be equivalent of a championship team, and not one that would be ready of the Premier League, mid-table at best. A decent team in the A-League would struggle in the championship but would have no qualms in League 1 or the SPL. And everyone else who doesn't meet the aforementioned is mid-table League 1. Definitely not League 2 however.
pete4
Guest
Steve - I sit next to a massive Rangers fan here at work. He claims the SPL is a great league too. He also claims he's never watched a single A-League game in his life. I assume this type of personality that don't watch and make judgements is bogus.