Focus on developing local talent and getting marquees: Branko Culina on football in Australia

It seems we all understand that marquees have a role to play in our game, but we lack the funding to attract anyone that would actually achieve the ideals that a marquee player should fit. That is: higher level of playing than our local based player, leadership to develop those around them, and marketing value. With $140m available to the APL for what is essentially a marketing campaign to get more fans through the doors, is there not better ways to spend $140mil to lift the profile of the game? We all seem to agree that a fee based transfer system that also sees money trickle down to the clubs that developed the players in the first place needs to be introduced to stop the free movement and recycling of average older players around the A league. I also like the idea posted by a few trendsetters here that A League Squad recruitment should be more targeted for the good of the game. "Buddy" suggested age quotas, which I think are an excellent idea. I too would much prefer to watch an exciting 18-24 yr old screaming round the park than a 28 year old average player that has just signed for their 5th or 6th A league club, or foreign based player that has not lit up the league with their "overseas quality". The A League should be littered with Asian and European scouts weekly looking to pick up a bargain. This all does not seem to be rocket science, but we keep going round and round calling for the same thing, year after year with no real change.

Jb - the A League is more like a laundry. There’s been a lot of spin, recycling and trying to get the most out of tired and worn out, or past their best by using some different settings. I just would like to see something different and see it actually spelt out.

I remember when the current national coach made a comment when he was coaching in the a-league, that the a-league should not be a development league? Fast forward to now and it's still looks like the game has similar issues, clearly being an development league has benefits for the national team given the recent struggles and I honestly don't think we could afford big marquee players given how expensive they are too but a mixture of quality foreign players and the best young players has benefits.

Watching both games tonight, what strikes me is the massive disparity in the quality amongst the foreigners. A bit of class to be found in SFC, WU, could probably add the Jets. Then you watch the Victory foreigners, and you're left scratching your head wondering where they found these blokes.

What’s the point of bidding up the salaries of international 35 year olds when we have hundreds of great local 16 year olds that could benefit from an NSD and a full time career.

The problem with marquees these days is that firstly European clubs who used to dump their old players are keeping them on at top dollar no matter how badly they play. Chinese, US and other clubs now cant even get them and now people want A-league to get them. Ronaldo and Messi both way over the hill and still earning a fortune. The A-league needs the advice get marquees like a bullet to the brain. What the A-league has picked up has been players that have failed to live up to their promise and are half famous in Rodwell and Sturridge. However at least those players have some upside, the others there is no excuse for getting old players who dont have any upside. What needs to be done is sacking a lot of coaches and stop recycling coaches, ex Socceroo sponger network needs to be dismantled. The reason teams cant compete in the ACL is because the players are too old. Now that everyone has the disease its not as apparent until you play in the ACL. Culina shouldn't talk as he ignored the talented youth they had at Gold Coast , then signs up his son to a huge marquee contract despite him having a bung knee.

Usain Bolt. Lock him in, Eddie.

Buddy - Have you stopped for a minute and had a look at our teams in the present A League. The top team Melbourne City have a least 8 players in their run on team who have been overseas and are we to assume they are all now in the twilight of their careers despite 4 or 5 appearing with the Socceroos in the last few games?. The average age of this team is 29 so can be said to be reasonably experienced. Is that why they are top of the table?. Their chasing team West. Utd are made up in a different manner having 4 players who have spent most of their careers in other countries but the remainder of the places being filled by players who have been doing the rounds at other A League clubs. That team's average age is 30.Out of the 23 players examined there are only 4 under the age of 25. So are we kidding that the A League is a development league or is it a league finding it's own level of standard based more on returning players than the honest development of local youngsters ?. Cheers jb.

Nick, That’s the point. Not every player needs to be a “crowd puller” - Danzaki increased the quality of play which in itself becomes a crowd puller. Roll in a couple of genuine crowd pullers (and not “has beens” with a good CV) and it’s a run-win surely.

waste of money if they go spend the $140 mil on marquee players. Especially so for the women’s league where we see plenty of very good international players come in and win a premiership on their own, with a couple of average locals making up numbers made to look good and get themselves immediately selected for the Matildas, while genuine young talent coming through struggles to get a look in. No wonder the Matildas struggle. So called big clubs (we mean clubs with a bigger budget don’t we?) can afford to pay their own marquees. We’ve wasted enough already, on helping them out and still their crowds are no better than the clubs we haven’t helped. Level the playing field, equity for all clubs if we want our league to grow. If you don’t watch Ch 10 you would have no idea that the A League even exists.

Who's Broich?

Marquee players is not always the answer. Also what about marketing? Do people know that the A League M is on? Probably not.

The A-League can't compete on salaries to draw big name marquee players, yet there are 5 visa places at every club which makes it hard for young players to get in the door. Without big name marquees that are household names the marquees won't have crowd pulling power, while it also ends up failing as a development league at the same time as young players are squeezed out. A-League wages are behind Japan, South Korea, India and even Kazakhstan. If the A-League doesn't have the money to compete on wages then it needs to focus on being a development league so that it can at least be good at doing one thing.

Spot on. Just like the rest of the world there are big clubs in big cities and smaller clubs in provincial towns, you cut the cloth accordingly as you say. Sydney FC are averaging 5600 in a city of over 5 million, CCM 4200 and the Jets 5000 in cities one tenth, vanilla manipulation indeed. All need development but Sydney FC (and Wanderers) need a marquee to appeal to the cosmopolitan and diverse nature of the city. The other two should be mainly development clubs selling players for decent transfer. fees(another issue as stated). The fact is that Vanillerisation of the A-League over the 16 years of existence has resulted in a lack of ambition by the clubs that could be big. Hence the inability to compete with other countries for marquees today. Ambitious money will always look for its most prestigious market.

Most of Australia: "Who's Danzaki?" Crowd pulling factor: Zero

A strange choice of interviewee in Branko who has been around football in Australia since starting his playing career in 1972 and then switching to coaching around 1989 and through that 50 year time frame spreading his influence at over 20 clubs, mainly in the NSL and early A-League. Always well presented and articulate Branko has had an obvious affinity with Croation identities in our leagues no doubt showing his preference to go to clubs with origins in his country of birth. What I find strange going through this interview is his suggestion that more use should be made of Socceroos in publicity positions. This first came to light from one Frank Lowy and his idea is still causing huge debate in football circles as to the success or failure of the idea. Branko's assertion that players can make more money overseas is hardly what one would describe as "new information" since Krncovic, Mitchell and Farina led the exodus in the late 1980's and early 1990's. It surprises me somewhat that when dabbling around these time frames that Branko doesn't mention Arok's time in charge of the Socceroos when ,due in no small part to Arok's working with local players, the Socceroos had a wonderful run of matches against both international and club visitors from overseas. It could be argued that it was that spell between 1983 to1990 that sowed the seed for the Golden Generation to form in the minds of young players, Jason Culina included ,around the country. Unfortunately when that exodus of players became a flood, Arok's ideas were to perish in the usual manner in Australian football. - "lack of comprehension in the minds of those running the game". Branko also touches on the standard of the coaches teaching our youngsters and this makes me smile just a little sadly for Branko was around the game, 1975, when a professional educator was brought to Australia with the aim of setting up coaching classes in every state in our country but finished twiddling his thumbs when the then ASF ran out of money to pay his wages. His name decorates the Australian Soccer Federations "hall of fame" and I'm sure he died wondering what he had achieved to warrant such acclamation. So, at the end of Janaka's interview. I was left asking the question "What's new? Cheers jb

We must lose the Frank Lowy “one-size-fits-all vanilla flavour model” Some clubs are ideally suited to develop and bring youth through, others need or thrive on the big name players. It’s time all clubs settled on a playing philosophy and a recruitment strategy to match - all teams doing the same thing at the command of Sydney HQ must stop. (Oh, and bring in domestic transfer fees).

True. And given our tendency to think marquees come from just Europe or Latin America even if we paid to get genuine Asian marquees they may not be appreciated. But there’s nothing to stop the signing of players like Danzaki at Roar last year (and there’s been other examples), ideally not on loan - these players raise the quality of the competition and if they leave and go on to bigger things, raise its profile too.

“The problem is that the top tier players in Asia and Middle East are earning more money than they would in Australia therefore it would be difficult to attract the very best to the A-League,” said Culina. This is precisely the key issue. Why would any decent Asian footballer come to Australia when he can earn triple the salary pretty much anywhere else? (that's without even thinking about the better leagues) If any Asian footballer is happy to come to Australia at an average A-League salary, then in all likelihood, they are going to be a below par footballer.

It's a good point, but that could have been done 18 years ago. In fact, that could have been done by simply re-modelling the NSL. It's sort of too late now. Owners have lost $300+ million over those 18 years, have bought licenses at hefty prices and now control the comp, so they are not going to agree to anything which risks diminishing the value of their license.