In a move that has bemused many supporters of the besieged Brisbane Roar, a ghost from its fractured past, has returned to the club as full-time coach for the next 2 seasons – Ross Aloisi.
Aloisi was the assistant to his brother John and then Darren Davies for 4 tumultuous years at Brisbane – where his passionate and volatile side both mixed on and off the field.
In 2016 Aloisi threatened to meet a 20-year-old player in the change rooms after a preseason friendly match that turned fiery with Aloisi being heard berating opposition players and officials – all within earshot of the board of Football Queensland at the time.
There was the memorable altercation with Melbourne City coach John Van Schipp and the side’s star player Tim Cahill – that had tongues wagging around the A-League.
It’s also hard to forget Brisbane’s controversial loss to Adelaide in 2017, Where Ross followed his opposite number Jacob Ramallo down the tunnel and assaulted the United assistant – leaving Ramallo crumpled on the floor and being banned for four matches.
Ross is a very passionate man and other coaches like Marko Rudan and Carl Veart, who share similar traits and have channelled that passion into success.
I have seen Ross’s passion first hand, when he returned home as the assistant coach for Adelaide in 2020.
Whilst at Brisbane, Ross and his brother John jettisoned a whole generation of talented Roar youth that supporters of the team have never forgiven the duo over.
However, at Adelaide it was a complete opposite – as Ross was extremely nurturing of the younger players and was constantly providing advice and guidance.
Ross was in charge of Adelaide’s defensive shape during his two years at the club and has never received the recognition for the clubs 21/22 season – where the side had one of the meanest defences in the league, conceding only 31 goals.
After leaving United, his next destination was the J League, where he became the assistant to Kevin Muscat at Yokohama F Marinos – who won the title on the back of a very solid defence.
Supporters of the Roar were hoping for a local to be given the job, but the best option Ben Cahn had already moved to Victoria to take up the head coaching role of fallen giant Melbourne Knights.
One of the most interesting aspects of the search for the new Brisbane coach, was the sheer number of coaches with a South Australian connection who were interviewed – with Brisbane Roar now starting to resemble an interstate version of Adelaide United.
Leading the recruitment was Brisbane general manager Ante Kovacevic, who oversaw Adelaide United’s trophy-laden period several years ago.
There are several ex-Adelaide United players in the current playing group that Ross Aloisi is already familiar with and the club signed another South Australian recently – with Kur Kur returning to Australia after a disappointing season in Serbia.
Just like Adelaide, the Roar no longer has an academy and will need to build better relationships with QLD NPL sides – when it comes to the acquisition of talented players.
It would also come as no surprise to see Ross raid his former employers Adelaide, for several of their highly touted youth – including his son Mathias.
Fans of football in Queensland may not like the appointment of Ross Aloisi or the large South Australian influence now running through the club.
But it’s no coincidence that the Roar have been looking closely at how a similar sized club to itself in Adelaide – has been able to always remain competitive on a very tight budget.
Brisbane Roar should be capable of playing finals football next season, especially with a move back to the city – where attendance should be over five figures every home match.
Fireworks on and off the field will be expected with Ross as coach of Brisbane, he will need to work hard to win the fans’ trust back.
John Lang
Roar Rookie
I have finally had some time to catch up and read this article. Lots of good points. I have also read the comments. A couple of issues I have is how Roar fans (Unless they have inside contacts) often believe Roar have let players go. Recent examples Eli Adams went for trials overseas, returned to Roar and immediately slotted into the team. He was offered a contract, wanted more and then said no and went off to Melbourne on similar money to what the Roar was offering, except at Victory despite their poor season hardly got a run. Alex Parsons also was touted to be the next big thing. First season did well, 2nd Season dropped off, but was offered a contract, he and his agent wanted more and refused the contract, he then signed with SFC only to find himself sitting on the bench and not doing anything. I know the Roar talked to several coaches hoping to get them, but were unable to brake down the barriers of returning to Australia. Ross still has contacts ang business in Qld. He has not had the position of head coach and therefore I think his first gig will see a different Ross Aloisi, Having spoken to him as a Roar Supporter in Adelaide after a game, he seemed to have a love of Qld and the Roar and I believe he sees it as unfinished business. We have had coached without passion in recent years, perhaps the Roar need that bit of "mongerel" to get out strikers at least have shots. - I also know that Ross is spending time at the NPL games (Despite the view Roar is Running 2 Academy teams) checking on the upcoming tallent. - I will be very happy to be right, but devestated to be wrong.
jbinnie
Roar Rookie
Lionheart - have you ever come across a record of Roar's performance at selecting manager/coaches for their teams ? The A League, entering it's 19th season, has seen the coming and going of 12 different men to the job, hardly what one would describe as a long- term career. Having dug out that info I decided to see if this hire/fire habit was endemic at the club so went back to the original NSL competitions and, surprise, surprise, found that from the opening year of 1977 to 1983. ie six seasons, the club, as Brisbane Lions, had employed 7 different coaches, so it would appear that the "disease" has a deep set root in Roar's recruitment of these high positions. Food for thought is it not? Cheers jb.
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
interesting. I’ve gone back over the youth teams of both clubs on worldfootball.net sine the 2017-18 season, expecting to see wave after wave of top A League players coming through Adelaide. Although there appears to be a few gaps in the website’s squads, I was quite surprised at what I found. The issue for Roar is recognising young talent and keeping it, not raiding from Adelaide. Roar has uncovered plenty of youth talent in the past, locally and from around Australia, they just need to learn how to appreciate their talent and keep them. And they need to learn how to identify and recruit Visa players too. An ex Phoenix recruiter/talent spotter would not go astray on their staff.
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
Juande – 50/50 if he retires Javi López – 50/50 if he retires Blackwood – has a ceiling as a player, but would still expect to renew D’Arrigo – interest from europe, 50/50 if he remains in adelaide Cavallo – my views are entirely different to the clubs, but i believe he will be resigned Duzel – loan will be expiring – club unlikely to extend Cox – wonderful young keeper, but there are so many good keepers in front of him – likely wont renew Yull – negotiating. Alagich – negotiating Kasumovic – has shown glimpses of his promise, but will likely not renew if ross is to raid adelaide, it will be for players from the youth team
Scarecrows
Roar Rookie
The club have consistently stated that they are spending the full cap. I'm not sure where you got the impression they weren't. In saying that, some players were obviously on a paid holiday and certainly not getting paid for results.
Scarecrows
Roar Rookie
I would suggest your guestimate of 3/4's of the fan base being unhappy with this appointment is understating the figure by a big margin. My interactions with fellow fans indicate it's closer to 95%, and justifiably so. Yet another appointment which shows the complete abandonment of any ambition this once great club used to show. Rarely do 40+ yo men change their spots, so it's difficult to believe that the emotional child supporters have already seen FIRST HAND could possibly have turned a new leaf which would make him at all suitable for a head coach position at an AL club. I don't care that he's from SA. I DO care that he has no apparent qualifications for this job, and actually appears to be the complete opposite of what is required to return this club to the position it once held.
338
Roar Rookie
I understand Courtney Perkins'is back to Poland from where he came on loan for the season.
jbinnie
Roar Rookie
Lionheart- Am glad to see you continue to pick up on how your team performs and what is needed to take the next step. Roar's defence has been carrying the overall team performance for the last 2 seasons, while knocking up a performance this year, sees them with the third lowest goals against record , third only to Melbourne City and WSW. The question is ,where does the team go from here?. The administrators have shown the depth of their ambition over the last season, using 2 coaches of extremely limited experience, even at the lower end of the coaching spectrum. Did these lads succeed? The league position suggests not and they, the coaches, should not be blamed, for how can they refuse a job when it is dangled in front of them. They can't. This latest "selection' is one covered by chance ,for again the incomer has only "assistant coach" experience to fall back on. Not only does he have to overcome that "weakness' in his job description but he has also to regenerate a team that will again win games in a style that will bring 5 figure crowds to the home games. This is a statement easily stated but not so easily achieved. You mention rumours concerning the departure of both goalkeepers and this too is hard to follow for they too have been part and parcel of the successful defence that has done so well this year. So instead of improvements in crucial areas , especially wing backs and midfielders, we are already hearing of reasonably successful players leaving the stable. What is next? One can only wonder. For the other 'rumour' circulating it would be interesting to know who are leaving Adelaide Utd this year, and we could perhaps follow the thinking behind the Roar administrators, after all there are a few ex-Queenslanders on their books. We can but wait and see. Cheers jb.
jbinnie
Roar Rookie
Lionheart -
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
Stu McLaren is another they could have considered, former local junior and Roar player and doing well at Celtic from all accounts.
338
Roar Rookie
It wasn’t how he was perceived by people. It was how people saw with their own eyes he behaved.
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
There's been nothing wrong with Roar's defence this season, as many teams will attest. As I said, in my view Roar needs an established, experienced head coach right now, after more than a decade of first time, give them a go, coaches. Still, Roar always played finals and often ACL, until JA & RA led us slowly downhill. Too often money and owners get the blame but they don't recruit or release players. The selection process, from the get-go, has stunk of small town bias from the moment they announced the departure of Moon. Jordan Holmes has already been shown the door and so too, according to rumor, Macklin Frecke, both excellent keepers. I guess we'll see Majok leading the line. On past performance here, I can not think of a single reason for his appointment but I'll give him time to settle and praise Ross when it's due.
338
Roar Rookie
//www.frontpagefootball.net/post/like-a-genius-ross-aloisi-on-kevin-muscat-yokohama-f-marinos-and-the-j-league”
338
Roar Rookie
I don't think there is risk of anyone think roar isn't a Qld club just because a couple of SA bods are employed there. Based on past history I can almost guarantee they won't be employed there in 2 years time!! It's be nice if they can make a difference and improve things. It surely needs improvement.
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
a recruitment process was done involving several coaches with connections to south australia, a shortlist was made which including some recieving a second interview. given brisbanes financial predicament, who would you have expected to interview for the position? the last high profile coach the side had was fowler and he ended up winning a few hundred grand in court. i'm not going to write ross off as a head coach (and this has nothing to do with my relationship with him) the time is not now to judge him. brissy will be on a budget again next season which means not spending the full cap, he'll need to wheel and deal in the transfer markets, bring through young players and tactically figure things out quickly. i dont share the same reservations as most roar supporters do when it comes to how he previously handled young players in queensland - based on what i saw him do in sessions with the young adelaide players, it should be alot different this time round. do i expect him to scream and shout and occasionally be a loose cannon? absolutely, but i also expect him to give reassurance and guidance to players.- his press conferences will be box office as he doesnt mince his words either im trying to give a critique (without bias) of someone i know and thats a hard thing to do, i guess the main point is ross is aware of how he was percieved previously in brisbane - he'll be doing his best to prove that perception will not be a reality this time
coolncold
Roar Rookie
Yes, no one cares where one comes from. Yes, it is about "community based", quality performing" and "consistency". However, what does hiring Ross, a n0tori0us and inexerienced head coach, has anything to do with "community based", quality performing" and "consistency"? Actually, that is called "cr0nyism".
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
ross knows he has a lot to prove, given his past indescretions (which will probably be forgiven if the side makes the finals next season - or maybe they wont?) during his previous time at the club. way too early to base judgement on him, especially given the sheer amount of players at brissy who are off contract/loans ending - i think they have the most off contract players in the league currently and it wouldn't surprise me if 10 brand new players came into the squad for the new season alternatively, what were the options locally for a head coach? ben cahn would've been the logical choice but hes on a good wage in melbourne and is performing well at a very demanding club (i doubt brissy would've paid out his contract either) scott macdonald is too young in his coaching career to take a senior a league head coaching role (however if it was me, i would have him locked in as an assistant - solely focussing on working with the teams attackers) grae piddick falls in the same boat as macdonald (young, great knowledge of football in qld, but would be far better suited to an assistants role currently at a league level) chris grossman gave a debut to a lot of players in the youth team that went on to play in the a league - but he left the roar there's absolutely nothing wrong in targeting coaches with a connection to south australia either, SA is the nations hotbed for young players as well as coaches currently. smallest australian state in the competition but has a quarter of the competitions head coaches as well as some assistants. add to that, coaches like paul pezos finally being interviewed for a league jobs (he interviewed for brissy) and hopefully barney smith will be the next one - you can see why a few clubs in the a league are looking closely at south australia currently like i said above, ross can organise a defence (as seen by his time at adelaide and yokohama) the test will be trying to make brisbanea a successful side offensively - thats where the jurys out still
338
Roar Rookie
It's got nothing to do with SA influence which you seem to be always banging on about. It's about conducting a recruitment process the best we get is a bloke whose been here before and demonstrated a pretty limited ability to perform and get results. A leopard doesn't change its spots. I want the club to succeed. But based on what I have read I expect Ross to come in wanting to build a Japan like team and when it doesn't happen he will start abusing people. Interesting article here from his early time in Japan. Expect sushi at training boys. https://www.frontpagefootball.net/post/like-a-genius-ross-aloisi-on-kevin-muscat-yokohama-f-marinos-and-the-j-league
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
I am a little reluctant to vent my anger as I want Roar to succeed, as does every Roar fan. The club said they would appoint a coach with a proven record, but it was obvious from day one that the GM Football, Ante, had only a SA coach in mind. He said so as he announced Moon's departure. Sad to say but I can't help but think it simply shows small mindedness. Not even jobs for mates, just, this is all I know. This is my box and I can't think outside it. Ross has a bad reputation with fans, stemming from an ACL game many would remember when he gave the small crowd the finger. Not good memories. That's apart from his win/loss record here, which is abysml. The club just got gradually worse under the two brothers. It hurts Roar fans enough to see players like Jelacic, Eli Adams, Lleyton Brooks, Rowles and a great many others released from the academy and doing very well at other clubs, let alone toss out the academy junior teams. You mention Ben Cain, Scott McDonald is firing on all eleven at GC Knights and would surely have been worth a look if the intention was to give an untried coach a go. But I'm with Sheffield Wesday, Roar needed an established, proven coach now. Potentially, this is a massive disaster. I hope not and will be supporting my team, but I will be tested if we become a place for SA players and assistants to get game time.
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
he's the defence coach who showed Kye Rowles and a few others the door, not good enough they told him