Graham Arnold’s revolution at Sydney FC is almost ready to begin. The A-League winning coach has cut free the deadwood, made some impressive signings and pre-season is well underway.
There’s just the small matter of a second marquee signing.
After Frank Farina was dumped following poor results and fan unrest, Arnold was parachuted in to bring Sydney back to the top of Australian football.
Marquee signings have come and gone at the foundation club, some having a positive influence both on and off the field, while others have failed to light up the city.
With Alessandro Del Piero’s departure, does Sydney FC need to bring in another high-profile foreign marquee? Or do they need to focus on their playing squad, and give fans a genuine feeling of satisfaction that their club is moving forward?
Big signings are great for both management and fans at first glance. They boost sponsorship opportunities, put bums on seats and create an air of excitement and glamour unrivalled in Australian sport.
Yet are they conducive to creating a winning team?
If we look at the history of the A-League, teams that have signed high-profile stars have often been found wanting come the end of the season.
Sydney FC found instant success following Dwight Yorke’s arrival in the inaugural A-League season. But since then they have failed to build on the buzz following further high-profile acquisitions.
When Brazilian maestro Juninho arrived in 2007-08, Sydney finished third but were knocked out in the semis. John Aloisi was the big arrival in 2008-09, but Sydney failed to make the finals, finishing fifth.
They managed to win the competition the following year, but that was with a largely unchanged squad.
In 2010-11 Nicky Carle returned to the A-League, yet Sydney had their worst season with a ninth-spot finish. Socceroos legend Brett Emerton’s arrival the year after didn’t improve fortunes, with the club sneaking into the finals following a win over the Newcastle Jets on the last match day.
After that it was Del Piero’s turn, and while the Italian maestro did a lot for the A-League, he failed to bring success to Sydney.
So is it possible that big-name signings can actually be a detriment to the overall performance of a club? A-League sides have rarely won a premiership following the arrival of celebrity-style players.
There have been marquees who have pushed their team to victory, namely Fred for Melbourne Victory and Thomas Broich for Brisbane Roar. But they weren’t the star names that got the press in a frenzy and resulted in immediate fan hysteria. Marcos Flores, Besart Berisha and Carlos Hernandez can be placed in the same category.
Shinji Ono is probably the one player to go close to what Dwight Yorke achieved – off-field excitement and on-field success – but his Western Sydney Wanderers side fell at the last hurdle in 2012-13.
Stars signings such as Harry Kewell, Robbie Fowler, Jason Culina and Emile Heskey also failed to spur their respective sides on to glory, and let’s not talk about William Gallas.
Of course there is more to a marquee signing than just on-field success. It’s about growing the game, growing the club and bringing in memberships. But Sydney FC have for too long searched for those star names to both fly the A-League flag and bring in sponsorship dollars.
It’s time they concerned themselves with mounting a serious premiership challenge, and if they want to compete for silverware they should steer clear of that path.
Graham Arnold wasn’t accustomed to bringing in star men at the Central Coast Mariners, where he was contained by a tight budget. It would be interesting to see how he would deal with a celebrity player. Would he be pleased with having to ensure that player was in the team week-in week-out, regardless of team and individual performances? If he signs a relatively unknown, yet quality player then he has the freedom to get on with his job.
Sydney are reportedly close to securing current Austrian international Marc Janko. Arnold has admitted that talks have been held with other candidates, such as Shola Ameobi, Bobby Zamora, Louis Saha, Guillaume Hoarau and Eduardo.
Based on the first three alternatives, who are household names due to their EPL experience, Sydney would be better taking a chance on Janko.
As a Newcastle fan, it’s clear the A-League should keep clear of Ameobi, however much of a cult figure he is within the Toon Army. Meanwhile Zamora and Saha have had their injury woes, and are nearing the ends of their careers. Hoarau is an unknown quantity, but his scoring record doesn’t impress, while Eduardo (if Arnold was speaking of Eduardo da Silva) would be one to rival Janko, but he signed with Flamengo earlier this month.
Janko, at 31, has scored 17 goals in 40 appearances for his country, the latest coming against Uruguay in a 1-1 draw in March. He has also been a consistent goal scorer for previous clubs Red Bull Salzburg and FC Twente, and in a brief stint with Porto.
The six foot five inch striker is strong in the air and a poacher in the box. His addition to the Sydney squad would provide a perfect alternative to the current strikeforce of Shane Smeltz, Alex Brosque – Sydney’s Australian marquee – and Bernie Ibini.
Memberships have already been snapped up by supporters at a solid pace too, showing that Del Piero’s departure will not be too keenly felt on that front, and that there is no burning need to draw in fans.
Janko could be the right pick, and won’t bring a media circus with him. Sydney will just have to wait and see if he is willing to accept terms and play in the A-League.
One other player who would fit the mould is ex-1860 München forward Benny Lauth, who was linked to Brisbane earlier in the year, but doesn’t seem to be on Sydney’s radar.
Bling FC is a term that is becoming a less common description for Sydney, and that’s how it should be. Arnold has brought in enough talent to excite fans, with a mix of pace, power, experience and youth being injected into the side.
The A-League needs a strong Sydney FC, and they have fallen woefully behind the top brass in recent years. Arnold has to bring success to the foundation club, but he should be allowed to work without the extra burden of a high-profile star hogging the limelight.
AZ_RBB
Guest
Marc Janko confirmed as SFC foreign marquee for this season. Good buy, I reckon.
Arto
Guest
@ Matthew Skellett: Hahahahaha! Very true! :-) Well, all the best with the attempt at signing Ronaldinho (despite my worries he would upset the 'no dickheads'- style culture at WSW) as if for nothing more than to keep the HAL in the international limelight and who knows, maybe he proves me wrong and is a hit!!
Matthew Skellett
Guest
Im a member of WSW Arto , lol and on the Ronaldinho issue -he might be a risk yes but most ageing stars are anyway and despite the chances of fading most people would want to see a comet blaze across the night sky in its glory and feel the blaze and power of its passing be it ever so fleeting than settle for a vague medocrity of unraised expectations :-)
Arto
Guest
@ Matthew Skellett: Are you a WSW supporter? I thought you cheered for Roar?! Or have I misunderstood you wanting Ronaldinho in the HAL at WSW, perhaps? I don't mind him coming to the HAL, but not to SFC as he wouldn't fit what Arnold has started and I can't see him being the great player his previous on-field achievements imply. It would be great for interest in the HAL, but I see it being a bit of a 'sugar-rush' to be honest and he would more likely fade badly performance-wise during the course of the season.
Arto
Guest
@ clayts: Yes, you're right it was in Rnd 21 that SFC lost 1-2 away to CCM and fell to 6th on the ladder after having been in 4th position, 2pts behind MV (who also lost that round, 0-4 to Heart). However, SFC were so inconsistent last year and really only scored points against teams lower than them on the ladder or in matches that were highly-strung affairs (see my previous comment). SFC's results prior to that loss were: P5 for 3Ws & 2Ls (the highlight being the 5-0 away win over MV which was followed the week after by a lowlight in the 2-1 loss away to Heart.), That they then went on to win 3-1 against WSW the week after, shows how frustrating it was to follow SFC last season You also neglect the fact that Farina wasn't universally welcomed when he was appointed 18mths prior to that period you brought up, so given the lack of structured progress under his time in charge fans were understandably calling for his dismissal (especially when we were wasting the opportunities ADP's time at the club represented!). So, in a nutshell, no I don't find it funny, but as you're not an SFC supporter I can understand how you do! :-)
Arto
Guest
@ Scott: "for the size and population of Sydney when they were the only team their attendances were below par. Winning or not.". Yes, I'd have to agree with you to a certain extent. And I think SFC & it's fans would be the first people to say that has been the case. However, there are some mitigating circumstances for this such as; - Sydneysiders notorious fickleness in following sports, - the majority of Sydney's population who would potentially attend sporting events has previoulsy had more of an affinity to old-soccer than the HAL (eg: the rise of WSW), & - the sheer amount of alternatives on offer for spectators is only really matched by Melbourne. Therefore it's misguided to simply compare the stats without looking at causality. For the record, here is a list of SFC's average attendences for the HAL from Season 1 onwards (source: http://www.ultimatealeague.com - includes Finals matches): HAL 1: 19,648 (next came Roar at 14,785 & MV at 14,167) Champions: SFC HAL 2: 15,555 (behind MV at 31,374 & Roar at 16,465) Champions: MV (SFC: 4th out of 8) HAL 3: 16,963 (again behind MV at 26,064 & Roar at 18,556) Champions: Jets (SFC: 3rd out of 8) HAL 4: 12,375 (once again behind MV at 27,494 & Roar at 13,968) Champions: MV (SFC: 5th out of 8) HAL 5: 13,677 (behind only MV at 22,095) Champions: SFC HAL 6: 8,014 (behind 7 other clubs. The HAL had record low attendences that season an average of only 8,793 across all 11 teams, with MV topiing the list at 15,058) Champions: Roar (SFC: 9th out of 11) HAL 7: 11,861 (behind MV at 19,208, Roar at 15,963, & Jets at 12,117) Champions: Roar (SFC: 5th out of 10) HAL 8: 18,637 (behind only MV at 21,953. Saw the impact of ADP & WSW) Champions: CCM (SFC: 7th out of 10) HAL 9: 18,682 (once again only behind MV at 21,736 and once again due in large part to ADP & WSW) Champions: Roar (SFC: 5th out of 10) So, if the goal is to match Melbourne than yes, SFC's crowds have been poor - even allowing for the 2 cities reputations for following sports. An aggreagted average of 15,046 is a lot lower than MV's 22,128. However, Roar have only an aggregated average of 14,723 during the same period, despite being the more successful club. And the aggreagted average across all HAL teams is only 12,239, so SFC is arguably one of the better supported teams, even considering the unachieved potential.
Matthew Skellett
Guest
GA's SFC will be good this year and competitive with the best that MVFC ,MCFC and The Roar can offer -WSW is content with it's seemingly modest progress in the crazy season and we are still holding out for Ronaldinho ;-) -let's face it , no one in their wildest dreams would have imagined ADP coming to our shores , or Shinji or Villa or Lampard -but they all have or will do -so why not Ronaldinho ?-(I just hope Poppa whips him into svelte shape soon enough ;-) )
Arto
Guest
@ pete4: Cool! Great to chat with a fellow member! :-) I'm afraid I can't agree with you in whether SFC should sign Ronaldinho - of course us supporters have very few details of what has actually gone on in his career lately, but from the reports in the football media he sounds like his best days are not just behind him - they have been for a number of years. I don't think we'd get the same impact as we got from ADP (although it might be similar off the field in terms of attracting supporters & sponsors) as he just doesn't seem committed enough and can you imagine how his relationship with Arnold would be (despite all the good things that are said about how Arnold man-manages his players!)? I just can't see it being the great success his name implies...
Bondy
Guest
Fussball I have to say that Ronaldinho was the most entertaining footballer I've ever watched and I've seen a few, a snippet ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5xoFFvlKD8&index=3&list=FLBpNUbfE13gut3ExU5Ka5Yw ) ....
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Well, your analysis of MVFC's strategy in signing Harry, Flores & Berisha is extremely unsophisticated. Perhaps, you should pay more attention to football strategy & squad selections from reputed sources; rather than what you learn from playing football video games?
clayts
Guest
The fact still remains that i remember Sydney FC being ahead in one of their games (possibly against CCM?) and with a win i think they went either top 2 or top 3 and everyone wanted the coach sacked. You have to admit that is pretty odd, whatever the reasons. All I said was that it was funny. You don't think it was funny? I do
clayts
Guest
Ok, replace my statement with 'replace Sydney FC with HALF of the other teams in the A League and it is equally valid'
clayts
Guest
Haha. I know I watch way more A League than you. You only watch Victory games as you have stated many times. I watch all of it.
Scott
Roar Pro
I meant Sydney had the sole advantage..... and nothing happened. Their crowds were crap. I was being facetious. I would prefer Ipswich over the GC. But they need to build a 13 to 15k stadium. Arto , for the size and population of Sydney when they were the only team their attendances were below par. Winning or not.
pete4
Guest
@Arto I'm an SFC member and would love it if we signed him. Reports are a Premier League club has joined the race for his signature so we'll see what happens from here
The Minister
Guest
Absolutely. I loved having ADP at Sydney but it was a one man team as you stated. Not his fault.
Arto
Guest
@ clayts: Fans were calling for Farina to be sacked because he wasn't displayed signs of a well-developed plan (either on or off the field). As admirable as his handling of the media and ability to instill a fighter insrtinct was, it was clear to those of us watching the team each week that we both relied upon ADP to create something and were a team that could only do well up to a certain level (as soon as the tempo of a game was screwed up to fast, SFC struggled - think of the games against Roar & AU in particular!). We managed to do well when the game required a fighting quality or when ADP was given time enough to show how good he was and teams started to catch on to that after a while. If you look at SFC last season in depth, you'll see that most of our wins came against the bottom 4, and then we split the games that were of high intensity (not high tempo), before losing against teams that moved the ball with speed and this was both a sign from 2012-13 and a constant during the 2013-14 season too... This was Farina's biggest failure and the one for which he ultimately paid the price...
Arto
Guest
@ clayts: Are you off your rocker??!!! I can admit that the HAL doesn't need a strong (or successful) SFC every year, but you are way out of sync with the game if you think that ANY of the other HAL teams are as necessary to the HAL as SFC. The HAL has kept growing and improved despite the demise of 3 clubs and the rebranding of a 4th during it's 9yr history. I would dare say that if any of Newcastle (sorry Griffo!), Wellington, Perth and possibly even Adelaide & CCM were to cease to exist during the course of this season that the HAL would still survive and improve. Yet if you saw any of MV, WSW, SFC & Roar go bust then the HAL would definitely suffer in the short-term. Despite what you might think, there is a clear divide between the 'little' clubs and the 'big' clubs in the HAL and that's neither a negative thing or an something which makes it impossible for any of the clubs to win the comp.
Arto
Guest
@ Scott: Your argument is a bit muddled... On the one hand you say it helps to have more than 1 team in the city, bu then you also say SFC had a sole advantage for many years. What's it to be? I agree that WSW have helped SFC's numbers somewhat to the extent that more people in Sydney think it is good to follow the HAL - it's a fact (as much as the club would like to deny it) that SFC lost some of it's previous supporters to WSW for a variety of reasons, but the majority of WSW's supporters are people who didn't really support the HAL prior to the team's introduction and as such are 'new' fans to the HAL. But it's facetious to state that Roar's crowds were bigger than SFC's prior to WSW's arrival in order to defend 1-team city principle. Or are you positive to another team in the Brisbane area being admitted to the comp? Roar's crowds were up as they were the most successful team the country has ever had!! At the same time, SFC was serving the kind of mediocre drivel that gets regularly spat back out with disdain by a Sydney sports market that has a variety of choices for fans to spend their hard-earned upon. Everybody loves a winner - especially i Sydney - and when SFC wasn't delivering the fans decided to show interest in other things. Just look at the Waratahs this year!
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
"The signings of Kewell, Berisha and even Flores tend to suggest otherwise." I sometimes wonder if you watch ALeague? Kewell, Berisha & Flores were signed for their football ability. Just happens Kewell is an Aussie superstar, too. You're kidding yourself if you think Berisha & Flores were signed to generate hype, or increase membership.