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The next perspective on analysing the decision leads us into analysing the part the FFA has played and whether the decision to take Ange our of the A-League.
More specifically the fallout that shall occur as a result of the manner in which it has been done – will be to the detriment of the sport more broadly than just the fortunes of the national team.
Read Has Ange Postecoglou been set up to fail? (Part 1)
Firstly, questions needs to be asked about the process, as Graham Arnold has already.
Why was there was such a rush to replace Holgier Osieck following his axing after successive 6-0 losses so that the new coach was in place for the mid-November friendly (now confirmed to be Costa Rica) when there are no other games until March?
The FFA had plenty of time to search for a suitably qualified and high calibre candidate from the foreign pool of candidates.
This would have taken some time given there was some lukewarm interest the risk the current playing squad posed to their reputations, despite the free gift of a World Cup coaching appearance on offer.
Secondly, given the impetus of football’s growth in Australia is increasingly lying with the A-League, the wisdom of taking out one of the top coaches that makes this competition as engaging as it is needs to be questioned.
This holds true whether this be Ange Postecoglou, Graham Arnold or Tony Popovich which is why I argued in another article they are best left where they are.
Postecolgou’s appointment has subsequently left something of a vacuum, and regardless of what De Bohun may say, Ange Postecolgou has left shoes that will not easily be filled.
The populist feel-good vibe surrounding the appointment does nothing to actually paper over the cracks on the football side of the equation?
For example, people are tiring of Lucas Neill et al, but not many people seem to be able to answer just who is actually meant to take his spot and improve the performance of the team?
In the event of a predictably underwhelming showing at next year’s World Cup in Brazil, the A-League would be more important than ever in acting as a counter-force and keeping the naysayers quiet.
In taking Postecoglou out of the A-League and undermining that competition in the process however (certainly in terms of the resurgence of interest that occurred in Victoria throughout the 2012/2013 season), the FFA have run the risk of a situation where the esteem in which the the A-League is held declines in conjunction with that of the ‘Socceroos’ brand – meaning a double whammy for football in this country.
Then there is Melbourne Victory and the matter of compensation.
It has been rather incredulous to see talk that Victory are obliged to ‘give up’ their coach ‘for the good of the nation’.
What is most disturbing is that the board themselves have been naive enough to allow themselves to be pressured by such a sentiment.
In the football world the relationship between clubs and national associations isn’t so much as a benevolent hierarchy, but rather the reality is that they are rival organisations who very often squabble over the allocation of resources.
Club versus country rows over ‘playing resources’ are the most common and readily understood examples of this dynamic.
And it is no different in terms of the FFA and the A-League clubs, the idea that Melbourne Victory were somehow obliged to do their ‘national duty’ when ‘the nation came calling’ merely covers up the fact that this has once again been an unsavoury treatment by the FFA of the games stakeholders.
This episode even eclipses the famous poaching of Gary Van Egmond from the Newcastle Jets during the Constantine era.
In terms of the A-League’s benchmark club, the loss of Postecoglou could not come at a worse time as the loss of Postecoglou in conjunction with a protracted stand-off between active fans and club administration (and the consistently sub-par atmosphere that comes with this) is a double whammy that can see the wind taken out of the sails of the club quite considerably.
On to the larger issue, in the event of a Socceroos decline, the emphasis for football’s progress will rely on the domestic game through the A-League and the incoming FFA Cup more than any time previously.
A spirit of goodwill will by extension be more important than ever, but a lingering spirit of ill-will shall by extension serve to stultify the games progress of the domestic front.
While the establishment of the A-League joint commission has kept the clubs versus FFA tensions that erupted via Clive Palmer and Nathan Tinkler below the surface, there are still nevertheless issues bubbling below the surface such as the length of licenses for example as raised by new Mariners owner Mike Charlesworth during the off-season.
However as I have discussed in an article recently published on The Roar, the power is slowly shifting from the Socceroos towards the A-League.
This will only become stronger with successive TV rights deals. When the tipping point is reached where the ‘rainmaker’ tag has undoubtedly transferred to the A-League, there will inevitably be an almighty power struggle between the A-League clubs via the newly formed ‘A-League Owners Group’ and the FFA.
It will dwarf anything seen thus far.
This will be a similar dynamic to the pressures that led to the formation of the Premier League in England, and will see centre around Crawford Report and AFC recommendations for a fully independent relationship between the national professional competition and the national association.
Lastly, there is the issue of Postecoglou himself. He has done an excellent job in building a profile in the mainstream media – his appearance in Offsiders being a case in point.
He is in effect one of the first personalities from the football fraternity to do and his pseudo celebrity status as a ‘Super A-League coach’ is a good ambassadorial role for the game.
This will be higher than ever at this moment of time given his new appointment as Socceroos coach.
However Postecoglou has also prospectively just made himself the face of Socceroos decline.
While he will always be able to garner an A-League job, there is a possibility that being so publicly outwitted against world class coaches on the elite stage will have a shattering effect on the aura he has built around himself since his exploits with Brisbane Roar in particular and his reputation will go the same way as Graham Arnold’s did in 2007.
This will be a setback not only for Postecoglou personally, but also the game of football who will have lost the person best able to elicit mainstream cut-through for the game in Australia.
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