Holger Osieck's performance review: a pass, at best

Hope you're right Rabbs

Mahler, There is some truth to your madness but the TEAM does not pick itself or position it's players or implement structures or tactics, or interchanges... I think you can see where i'm going with this.

You have got to be kidding,get a short term coach?We have been there before with no real outcome,a lot of money and younger players not given a go because everybody wants results.Stick with what we have if he is prepared to stay,i believe he does have what it takes long term.Go the socceroos.

I am absolutely disgusted with Amini and must congratulate Paul Okon for his tough stance. Amini missed some of the training camp to go to the CL final at Wembley. He then partied for 2 days straight (no sleep) and returned to the camp expecting to walk in to our squad. His attitude smacks of immaturity and arrogance, comments from him such as: "I put off my holidays to be a part of this and I am really disappointed and surprised not to have been picked." Put off your holidays???? It’s a world cup mate. Again, well done to Okon, Amini is arguably our best player, but we need a team. Good luck Joeys. http://www.goal.com/en-sg/news/3952/asia/2013/06/13/4045272/amini-hits-out-at-under-20-world-cup-omission

In fact, within Asia and considering all these difficulties, perhaps there is a correlation emerging between preparation time available and the performance of the team/squad

For goodness sake, let's stop trying to blame Holger for everything. We may even start blaming him for Tony Abbott shortly. It's the TEAM that failed on so many occasions. The TEAM.

Socceroos captain Lucas Neill has said up to 65,000 tickets have been sold for Australia vs Iraq. Most important match since 2005 Uruguay! Come on Socceroos!

The fact is under Holdger, the squad has been as old. The ranking has been going down. The highest ranking team in Asia then, socceroos, should have won. And I still cannot find one reasonable explanation why Neill was still playing upon the upcoming suspension. Sack him and find one better for the 2015 Asian Cup. Should win it as Australia has always been as competitive as the top teams in Asia like Japan and Korea.

I like it.

yup

Very good, Mark Gojszyk!

not Holger related. but coach related Young Socceroos coach Paul Okon has omitted Mustafa Amini from their World Cup squad. Citing "fitness reasons" but Amini says it came down to a blood test and a pinch test he didn't fare too well in. I'm shocked but it might just be a tactic.

To add to see wouldn't mind Bulut and Inman locked in at east Asia cup to secure our future we has done well to secure Antonis Becich Babij

His got the balance right in midfield due to injury it must be said. I am pleased with our position at the moment but have to agree with above that cornflakes position in the 26 player squad is baffling . For me Twaite is also hopeless we have Williams and Lowry plus herd at villa and sainsbury on the rise. So perhaps top 11 is finally right but he has to get the fringe players right. Serious Twaite or cornflakes would never make it at milwal or boro simple fact championship is very under rated comp. in attack Leckie for brusque as impact player and we are pretty much where we need to be..... Soap box moment over

"I think the only things we can knock Holger for are – playing Neil in a friendly, not starting with Oar and Bresch against Oman, giving Cornthwaite any game time" I was tearing my hair out when he played Lucas Neill in the friendlies against South Korea and Romania. Holger knew by then that Neill would be suspended for the Oman match, so there was absolutely no reason to play him. By all means he could have called on Neill to be part of the squads for those friendlies, to provide leadership and direction at training for his CB incumbents, but to actually play him for the majority of those matches was one of the most ridiculous selections I've seen, completely lacking any semblance of common-sense. Why he chose Cornthwaite is something I'll never fathom given that Ognenovski was available (I think). I've also been completely underwhelmed by Holger's use of two uncreative defensive midfielders against the likes of Oman and Jordan when the last 5 or 6 years clearly shows how poorly we play when Jedinak and Valeri are together for example. Nothing against those guys, but when there's no creative outlet like a Bresciano playing alongside them, those DM's (including Holland against Oman) look clueless going forward. Not their fault, that's not their strength. Pleasingly though, Holger has finally got the balance right for the last two games, and here's hoping we can do the job against Iraq. If we fail, we can blame it on that rancid performance against Oman at home. We simply should have qualified already IMO...

"My money is on him being replaced by a more high profile coach on a lucrative short term contract, ending after the WC." I think you are right on the money, I'd also expect it to be incentive-based, which Hiddink's contract was in 2005-2006.

Sure Holger has made mistakes and probably his biggest flaw is not owning up to them but we have to be realistic and understand what an awful job it is to do. Firstly you have very few quality players getting game time anywhere. Secondly they play in leagues in different time zones and at differing times of the year. Then there those with a choice of which national side to embrace. We also have players wary of choosing the national side over their ambition at club level. Then we have injuries, lack of form and melding the right balance and attitudes together. On top of that we have the pundits and journo's who think they know better and to cap it all off over a million fans who are adamant they do know better. The one saving grace is you do get paid handsomely for the job. Before any of us knock the national coach let us put ourselves in his shoes starting with the draw for the play offs and where they were played. Take a look at the extreme weather conditions the team had to endure. Take a look at the players that were injured, sitting on the bench for their club sides. We could probably all name a different team to the one that drew with Japan out of these previously injured or un (match)fit players. I think the only things we can knock Holger for are - playing Neil in a friendly, not starting with Oar and Bresch against Oman, giving Cornthwaite any game time or not giving Kewel a call up to the squad. But all of these are subjective and I for one can forgive Holger these providing he does own up to mistakes he knows he has made.

There may be a few options out there to get a short term coach from a cashed up Asian league, such as Big Phil Scolari or Lippi, but can you seriously see Han Berger or Gallop signing off on this? These boys are far too wise to play the short game.

I don't believe that qualifying makes Osieck safe at all. My money is on him being replaced by a more high profile coach on a lucrative short term contract, ending after the WC. To have come to this last game scenario is a damning condemnation of Osieck's many inadequacies. He simply isn't of the required coaching calibre for a national team job. Certainly not for a team heading to the WC finals.

What is fascinating for me to observe about myself, is that I am largely happy about the upturn in form not only because it means we are going to the 2014 World Cup, but because it makes Holgers job safe, it means the FFA will keep their grubby paws away from Ange Postecoglu Would much rather see Ange at MVFC then I ever would around the national team which says something about where my priorities are beginning to lie I was very hostile to the idea of Holger being replaced by Ange which was an idea being floated The other option of course would have been to do a Ricky Herbert and do both but that would take away from his focus on MVFC All in all, at the end of the say I think back to our win over Germany etc, it is a very different thing putting a European style team together to take on other European style/world teams, to navigating the Socceroos through the Asian qualifying process which is something I don't think people have quite grasped yet People have slagged Verbeek off, but he did his job briliantly, which was to take a team that flopped at the 2007 Asian Cup because it didn't understand the region, to one where his experience in the region was necassary to to navigate us through the pitfalls of the extended qualification process region rather than the pitfalls of a playoff game. He did this so well there was no drama, in fact he could have possibly done it too well to the point where there has been arrogant complacency from the public Back to Holger though, he may have struggled with an extended qualification campaign but if we think back to 2011 Asian Cup, he did very well at tournament level so he might be able to get us to do quite well at the World Cup then