If the knives weren’t already out for Frank Farina, then Sydney FC’s listless performance in the derby on Saturday has, at the very least, opened the cutlery draw.
With club barometer Alessandro Del Piero looking moribund in full kit along the sidelines, the Sky Blues were exposed as the malfunctioning unit they are by a rampant Western Sydney.
If the Wanderers are an army of Poppa’s disciplined little soldiers, consider Sydney FC the A-League’s equivalent of a Saturday night on Cavill Avenue during Schoolies.
Everyone’s off doing their own thing, trying to pick up, but nobody’s on the same page. And everyone looks in far worse shape than they did 12 months ago.
Farina comes after a long line of coaches who, in retrospect, don’t exactly feel like the smartest appointments.
Ian Crook. Whose idea was that? Branko Culina. Yeah, good one. John Kosmina? That was only ever going to end one way.
Many have had the same kind of feeling about Farina since the moment his name was brought up as a potential candidate. Was he really the man to build what has been missing at Moore Park?
Perhaps inspired by Ange Postecoglou’s rise from oblivion to glory, Sydney FC’s board decided he was, and rolled the dice on him.
Three rounds into the new season and it’s snake eyes.
There have been calls for Farina to be given more time and for the fans to pop a couple chill pills in the name of stability, which has long proven the enemy of the Sky Blues.
Sure, things are bad, but sack him now and you’ll just spin the revolving door, trigger the resignation or termination of someone in front office and start all over again. So the argument goes.
Stability has also been the buzzword in Newcastle in pre-season. At least, it was.
Unlike last year, there have been few comings or goings for the Jets.
With how reliant Gary van Egmond’s fortunes are on the young players he has hoarded over the years, that was a good thing. They’ve all had time to gel.
Have they gelled? Have they improved? Nope. Same as it ever was. No lovely attacking football, just a portable 90-minute soul vacuum.
Newcastle haven’t scored an A-League goal in 406 minutes and don’t appear to be in any danger of breaking that run anytime soon. That’s good news for Central Coast, who will be licking their lips at the prospect of adding to their torment in this weekend’s F3 Derby.
The pressure is mounting. Rumours persist that Nathan Tinkler’s leg men have been off canvassing alternative coaching options in the event van Egmond’s revolution fizzles out.
How long should Jets fans have to wait for this masterplan to come together? Why should they when there has been no evidence yet that it will?
The Jets should not be a holding bay for junior internationals – you can’t ignore reality because there’s kids in the team.
Newcastle is a professional football club in a senior competition and that means if you’re not winning things, or looking like a chance to, you’re failing.
Fortunately, like Farina, van Egmond can breathe easy – it is only round three and anything can happen. Just look at Western Sydney’s rise last season.
That’s one thing Sydney FC would rather not do, given how good their rivals are going on all fronts.
In a blog post earlier this year, Farina gave forewarning he couldn’t assemble the squad he truly wanted because of contracts and the salary cap and whatnot.
It’s a convenient excuse, but the simple fact is this squad should be doing better. Aside from the obvious genius of Del Piero, there are plenty of players batting well below their average, and for that the coach must take some flak.
Richard Garcia didn’t look lost for the Heart last season. Nor did Nick Carle’s spell in the Middle East reflect a career on the wane.
The jury is out on Marc Warren, but Pedj Bojic is a good player, Seb Ryall is solid and Matt Jurman used to go alright, back in the day. OK, maybe it’s a little thin at the minute.
Will injuries work as an excuse, in that case? Not when fitness coach Anthony Crea was brought in on Farina’s orders.
Again, anything can happen from here. But unless something good happens very quickly, the Sky Blues will keep scraping along until it’s too hard to justify why Farina should still be in the job.
Nobody wants to see him or van Egmond fail – they just want the club to come first and for those employed by it to be held accountable for the end product.
It’s about results, I guess, but not really – most fans would be stoked just to be competitive, as long as there’s a roadmap to follow and a bit of progress.
What both these teams need far more than stability is clarity. Get that, and everything else falls into place.
But that’s easier said than done. Sometimes, the only way you can get clarity is to take everything apart and put it back together again.
Qantas supports Australian Football
Guest
Maybe I am, but I was extremely impressed with this kid and a second year in the HAL will make all the difference. It was no coincidence when he was promoted to the senior team, SFC started to get results. He does for ADP what ADP can't do for himself---defend. Triantis's work rate and defending almost accounts for two players.
Dave
Guest
Arto, maybe only 3 games this season but he's coming up on 12 months training these guys with no obvious improvements.
Arto
Guest
@ realfootball: Unfortunately for us SFC fans, I think you're right as this oes sound very familiar. One corretion though, Abbas was a Crook signing in May last year.
Arto
Guest
@ Qantas supports Australian Football: I think you're looking through rose-tinted glasses if you're going to pin your hopes for the season on the shoulders of a 21 y/o who has played all of 14 HAL games in his career. Yes, he's a good player with lots of potential, but even with ADP SFC are struggling!
Arto
Guest
@ The artist formally known as Dave: I see your point, but with only 3 rounds done for this season so far, maybe it's a bit early to say there's no obvious system or style of play in place. I tend to agree a little with Farina when he says the goals have for the most part been the result of ndividual errors at crucial times rather than a generic failure by SFC to defend properly (although some of the goals can be classified in that category). With SFC yet to have it's full-strength team on the park, I think w should reserve judgement a little longer - espeially as you say we are relying on these individuals. On a general note, I think the hysteriain the media regarding SFC's pre-season has focused too-much on the results and hasn't looked at the context of those results. As was ponted out in another article, 155 goals during the past 3 seasons is an awful lot and Farina wasn' here for te majority of them.
Arto
Guest
@ Christo the Daddyo: Here, here, well said that man! The only thing I would like to add is that in many instances sacking a coach during the season happens due to the team's fight against relegation (not relevant for the HAL, I know) or in order to allow the manager more time to undertake a big change in the club (eg: Postecoglu @ Roar some seasons ago). So I'm also ok with SFC doing what Roar did with Postecoglu this year (provided they adhere to the caveat you wrote about), but with such a long off-season in the HAL, IMO they are better off waiting until the end of the season before making a decision...
Orly
Guest
GVE has no control over his eyes either, especially when Ellyse Perry is nearby... ;)
Orly
Guest
I've only heard good things about Mark Jones. Even Mad Ljubo raves about him!
Griffo
Roar Guru
Not quite...but there is no extra cash for emergencies and contingencies, otherwise GvE would have been paid out last year. FFA has looked into the club once or twice regarding finances and 'have no concerns'. I think they are more hoping it will blow over (fortunes turn around) without making too much noise...
Griffo
Roar Guru
GvE contract is up end of this season. IIRC Tinkler was recently worth $18M. Having the cheapest memberships brings the crowds in: they buy merchandise, emotionally invest in the club and it's mission... ...the emotive #standwithus campaign was designed to stop the bleed of memberships from 11300-odd last season to about 10000 this year. People bought memberships at the last moment because they care about the club, but knew nothing was going to change. We had our best start to an A-League season last year; this would be close to one of the worse starts. No player dares speaks out, as they will be out of the team and looking at NYL games at best for the rest of the season. I expect that may change towards the end of the campaign if the season has gone too far south and GvE is on his way out...
Midfielder
Guest
Griffo Interesting ... GVE seems to me to be loosing the shed as well... when does his contract run out .... NT has no coin to put in so its a big call however if crowds drop .... so too does revenue...
Jorji Costava
Guest
Thought Tinkler was a bankrupt. Bit of a worry he is allowed to run a club, still, in spite of everything. Is Alan Bond still involved at Richmond FC?
pete4
Guest
I agree on form Sydney and Newcastle look the bottom 2 at season's end ATM
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Youth is required to do well in a league with a tight salary cap. You do need more senior players, but in senior players you are either getting players not good enough to play elsewhere, or players who have played elsewhere, but are now past their best. The only exception might be some players who come back still in their prime, even though they could continue to play at a high level, for more money, overseas, because they know they don't need the money and want to come home to play in Australia. But by in large, you are getting players who are no longer at their best or never really got that good. But with young players, if you can still offer them enough in terms of development, then you could possibly have players still playing in the A-League who are well and truly good enough to play in much better leagues, but are just giving it another year or two of development here before getting poached by an overseas club. If clubs do a good job at developing youth, then, while Marquee players like ADP will be around showing their class, the best players in the league among those under the salary cap could often include significant representation from the young players on reasonably minimum contracts. They may not be here for long before being poached by some Euro club, so you need to keep the production line going so you can have the next guy ready to step in when someone goes. If more clubs can get that mentality then it will both be better for the A-League, and definitely better for the Socceroos.
Mato-Bateman
Guest
Had a decent first year, terrible second year and third year? Not looking good so far, although he has only played one game and is injury prone.
Mato-Bateman
Guest
Along with those players, have liked the look of defender Jacob Tratt and mid Anthony Tomelic. Future is looking really bright for Sydney if Farina can see it. Rado should tell him to just play these blokes and see how they go.
Mato-Bateman
Guest
Ernie Merrick would have been the better option as head coach. The guy won 2 championships at Victory. I know Sydney fans didn't want Merrick cause of the rivalry but you got to think best for the club. There is already improvements in this Wellington team compared to previous seasons. Now, we are stuck with Farina. If he doesn't incorporate at least 2-3 youth players into the first team then he should go. There is so much quality in the youth team, Farina would be too foolish not to use them.
Mato-Bateman
Guest
When GVE left the first time, Mark Jones was the one who should have taken the mantle. You can't underestimate that Newcastle's best success was when Jones was the assistant. Van Egmond struggles because he doesn't have a Mark Jones by his side.
Michael
Guest
I reckon you're right. GVE won't be marched out until the Jets are mathematically out of the finals. Then he will be. The fans on the Newcastle Herald website are already screaming VERY loudly for him to go. But to do it now would not help and would cost a lot of money, with possibly no upward bounce.
realfootball
Guest
Griffo, if ever I have seen a coach who has lost the plot, it's Van Egmond. He clearly has no control over the ship, nor any idea what to do next.