It was nice to see Australia’s under-23 team get off to a winning start in China, on the same night Robbie Slater unleashed a stinging critique of the FFA.
It’s that yin and yang that makes football in this country such a compelling proposition – one moment the game is up, the next minute it’s down.
Kudos to coach Ante Milicic and his young charges for getting off to a professional, if at times nervy-looking 3-1 win over Syria at the AFC U-23 Championship in chilly Kunshan.
Although the game was streamed live on the Fox Sports website and the Asian Football Confederation’s YouTube channel, I only watched the second half because I tuned into Just For Kicks beforehand.
And that was no doubt the whole point of screening the second half of the Olyroos game on the back of Fox Sport’s regular programming – to capture a few more viewers who might otherwise have neglected to watch Just For Kicks.
Sound enough logic, I would have thought, but tell that to Fox Sport’s genial executive producer Murray Shaw – who copped a flurry of Twitter abuse after announcing the network was to broadcast Australia’s opening game from what one A-League chief executive had earlier called “a meaningless tournament”.
But wait. Are they the Olyroos, or aren’t they? Kind of.
Perhaps our most famous Olyroo of all, Ned Zelic, wondered himself why certain players were picked despite being too old to represent Australia by the time the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo roll round.
Turn’s out Football Federation Australia wanted to expose a broader group of players to international football, and was worried about potential seedings for the 2020 Olympic qualifiers. Fair enough.
But that’s something a few more Australian fans might have realised if the information wasn’t buried on the suite of FFA websites, with fans paradoxically having to navigate to the Socceroos page to read news about the under-23 side.
Which brings us to Slater’s remarks about the FFA.
“The farcical pursuit of a national coach is ridiculous and embarrassing,” Slater thundered on what is usually a light-hearted program.
“We do not have a national coach – we’ve got a friendly in March, we’ve got a World Cup in six months. Pick a national coach.
“We’re using consultants, and I’m hearing – and I’d like this confirmed – we’re paying money to consultants. I’ve heard of Gerard Houllier, I’ve heard of Andy Roxburgh.
“Why? What are they going to tell us about what we need? Don’t we have a technical director… Eric Abrams? That’s his job to do that, along with Luke Casserly.
“These are the faceless men leading us on a farcical pursuit of a national team coach. We need one, and we need one now. We don’t need one now… we needed one a month ago.”
Tell us what you really think, Bulldog!
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Slater’s abrasive style can sometimes rub fans the wrong way, but as a former Socceroo and one-time winner of the English Premier League, he’s more than earned the right to express his opinion.
And he saved his most withering barbs for last:
“Ange Postecoglou left in November. It’s not good enough on all levels. The FFA, lift your game or change your game.
“People are under pressure at the FFA. They closed their offices over Christmas. Open on the eighth of January.
“Not good enough – it’s our busiest time of the year!”
Touché. But if you believe some online critics, he shouldn’t have said it because it’s negative.
The truth is there’s no such thing as ‘positive’ or ‘negative’ coverage from Australia’s football media coverage – there’s just coverage. And those who care passionately about the game – like Slater or Zelic or Murray Shaw – are always going to comment on the topics of the day.
That’s all part of building a football culture.
We should embrace it and be thankful for it, because without it, the game would simply be all action and no talk.
nachos supreme
Guest
That's a quality post right there.
punter
Guest
JB, don't worry yourself, you are still correct. Some will get results anyway possible like Mourinho, others have a style or plan they play to like Pep. My point being Verbeek & Osiek more like Mourinho, while Ange more like Pep, please not staying same level, but more he had a game plan that was heavily criticised, rightly or wrongly, for another time, but he did & that did take it's toll as change is sometimes difficult as we see in football around the world.
j,binnie
Guest
Punter - In all my years in the game I have thought managers /coaches were employed to "get results". Obviously I was wrong so thanks for pointing that out, Cheers jb.
punter
Guest
Verbeek played to get results only Osiek also just played to get results Ange played to a principle, totally against how we have always played (Robbie, put in the ringer Slater). This the difference.
j,binnie
Guest
Buddy - I watch a fair bit of football and it's programmes on TV and much as I admired Ned Zelic as a player and for his football knowledge, I cannot help but think he has a deep-seated wish to become a TV comedian, such is his penchant for cracking what he considers "funnies" during his comments, and then proceeds to burst out laughing at his own "jokes", which in showbiz is not regarded as a true indication of how your "performance" is going down. Cheers jb.
j,binnie
Guest
Kris - Talking about former Socceroo coaches. Verbeek actually supervised 27 Socceroo matches for a success rating of 55% Osiek was there longer supervising 44 matches for a success rating of 52% Ange actually supervised 49 Socceroo matches for a success rate of 45% Those figures (which included World Cup games) actually highlight any differences that may have occurred over the last 10 years and,lets be honest, they don't show a huge differential. This leads us to the question, do we really need a high profile coach,hired at great expense for a short term, to take our team ,which Ange has cut back to a workable 30 players, to Russia,, when we have so many people involved in coaching jobs at FFA level.?? jb
j,binnie
Guest
Waz - On the 17th of November (2 months ago) I was in the company of a man who works among the top people in Australian sport and is also on first name terms with AP. He told me then,in some degree of confidence, that AP had received "a life changing offer " (his words) and would be officially announcing his departure from the Socceroo job in the near future. Now as we are all aware that is exactly what happened.. Life goes on but as you can see ,much goes on that we,as fans, are not always party to. Cheers jb.
Waz
Guest
Ned on twitter can be quite bizarre lol
Kangajets
Guest
Up there Cazaly , in there and fight.
Grobbelaar
Roar Guru
Speaking of Ned, who can argue with this tweet of his from last night: Ned Zelic Verified account @NedZelic 15h15 hours ago Ice cream vanilla drumstick hat-trick complete. Tremendous movement between couch & fridge. Deserve Alex Tobin points. #NEWvBRI
Footoverhand
Guest
Agree.
Footoverhand
Guest
Balanced means you get to hear both sides of a story, we never hear from the FFA on anything, just delays. That's part of the problem, the FFA don't encourage discussion. Oh and yes, the football has been good so far this week.
Redondo
Guest
Messianic!
Simoc
Guest
"It was painfully clear that Ange’s departure left the FFA blindsided somewhat". Well Spruce if everyone in Australia except the FFA guessed that Ange was about to leave it shows you the lack of intellect available there. They obviously never spoke to him or read any media then. Or are they just stupid office people collecting their pay. Yes! That's what they are. 9 to 5ers.
jeff dustby
Guest
he said that the opinion of Nemesis is more important, which is pretty spot on. And yes anyone that doesnt appreciate the subtleties of the world game is by default a bo%an
Kangajets
Guest
Messi is god
Billary Swamper
Guest
Love the Fox Sports commentators getting riled up, problem is, noone is watching them, don't they see the ratings report?
Chris Wright
Guest
Its going nowhere.
Redondo
Guest
British cooking, according to the French: ‘stuff stuffed with stuff’.
Doc Disnick
Roar Guru
Well technically, the British have also given us the Highland games, although the Scottish would disagree. They also taught us how to not cook fish and chips, bangers and mash and pretty much any other cuisine known to man.