- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
In November of 2012 I wrote a piece titled ‘A-League doesn’t need another Kewell letdown,’ describing my distaste toward another A-League cameo for Kewell, following his departure from Melbourne Victory.
Now it is mid-2013 and my sentiments have not changed, but as a Heart supporter shouldn’t I be welcoming the arrival of King Harry? We still adore him right?
Harry Kewell had been linked with a return to the A-League for months, and most recently a harmonious marriage between Harry and the Heart looked inevitable. This too was sorrowfully not without its dramas.
Confirmation of the Kewell deal was only secured after Harry had suddenly gone missing in Portugal. While there is no certainty that he was ‘shopping around’ for one final pay cheque in Europe, sadly none one of his fans would put it past him.
This is the Harry Kewell that most of us have come to know in the twilight of his career.
After his unfortunate departure from the Melbourne Victory, Harry was always ‘close’ to securing a contract at another club. In recent times Harry has provided us with a compilation of bizarre moments and events, and over a period of time it has became somewhat laughable.
The Stoke City drama of August 2012 is just something that we have come to expect from a man well and truly deluded about his standing in the game.
Harry, once a Premier League great, was a surprise visitor at The Potter’s Clayton Wood complex.
Tony Pulis having no knowledge that the Man from Down Under was arriving could only spare a 10 minute conversation with his unwelcome guest.
A club official was quoted saying “Tony wasn’t expecting to see Harry. Whether he had his wires crossed or not, we don’t know. But the manager was happy to chat to him although rumours that he is joining us are untrue.”
This was just one of many incidents that were to come from the Kewell camp while in an extended, football wilderness.
Come 2013, enter the Middle East.
The oil rich Qatari club Al Gharafa had decided to sign Kewell on a short-term basis. How short-term do you ask?
Well in total Harry put together a total of 169 minutes of football for the Qatari club in the League, scoring once.
He made one other non-league appearance in this stint for the Middle Eastern powerhouse.
His departure from Al Gharafa was not met with much opposition from fans or officials; it was an extremely low-key exit for this footballing prima donna.
With little left in the tank, where could Harry turn to? He thought that his brief stint in the Qatari desert warranted a Socceroos call-up, in fact he was sending off a series of postcards to Holger to notify the German of his availability for the World Cup Qualifiers.
An S.O.S call for the national team did not eventuate, but instead continued talks with John Aloisi and Scott Munn landed Harry a deal with the Melbourne Heart.
After again rejecting ‘numerous’ lucrative overtures from rival clubs including the Newcastle Jets, Harry has once again decided to call Melbourne home.
So what do we make of the latest episode in the Harry Kewell saga?
Well for one, the announcement of his signing didn’t send the Twitter-sphere into overdrive nor did it generate the multitude of headlines that his arrival generated first time round. Perhaps Harry is getting a little bit rusty?
Secondly we must look at the complexities of the deal, or rather the lack of them. Harry is said to be commanding a base wage, and is well within the salary cap, a noble gesture from someone who could still be ‘playing’ in Europe.
The monetary value of this deal shows that Harry cannot command a six figure salary, he secretly realises this.
Thirdly the public is simply over the Kewell brand, the man has gone from a fan favourite to a favourite punch line in pubs. Being unemployed for a period of time is now known as ‘pulling a Harry.’
The risks aren’t very high, and this could very well work out for the Melbourne Heart, but also the rewards are no longer that lucrative. Kewell will pull a big crowd Round 1, this drawn though from his disloyalty to the Melbourne Victory, as Australians love to hate a renegade.
As a Heart supporter, I was not convinced this was the right direction for the club.
Today the club released their memberships for next season, I renewed as I love the club, I didn’t renew because the Kewell circus was coming to town.
Harry I hope you change my harsh opinion of you in your later years, but as once an adoring fan there is little to convince me to invest a red and white number 10 jersey.
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.