Sydney FC coach Steve Corica’s order to remove a conciliatory Milos Ninkovic from the victors’ dressing room on Saturday night after the A-League Elimination Final, was as childish, petty and immature as it comes in the world of sport.
Corica is obviously a fan of Liverpool legend Bill Shankly. To the Scottish-born coach who guided the Reds to promotion in the 1960s, won three league titles, two FA Cups and a UEFA Cup in 1972/73, football was a thing to be consumed all day long; lived, breathed and become engrossed in, at the expense of everything else in life.
For Shankly, his performances as both player and coach defined him as a man, such was his total obsession with the beautiful game. Across an astonishing 1,190 matches, Shankly forged a coaching reputation that would eventually see him consistently mentioned in dispatches when the greatest managers of all time were discussed.
Perhaps Shankly’s most recounted contribution to the game is in the form of a paraphrased line that is often used to explain just how much football means to people. Whilst the sentence “Football is not a matter of life and death, it is much more important than that” may not be precisely what the Liverpool great said, its spirit and core do represent his total commitment to the game.
However, Corica’s adherence to the sentiment and disrespect towards Ninkovic completely crossed the line on Saturday night.
After Sydney FC found two second-half goals to topple the Wanderers in the elimination final, hot heads were scattered across the field come the final siren. Coaches Marko Rudan and Corica have history and wisely kept their distance, whilst Sydney defender Rhyan Grant gave some lip and fired up a Wanderers bench that quickly rose for the fight.
As is often the case in Sydney Derbies, it was all a little bit childish, lacking in class and grace and not the best expression of worthy combatants respecting each other after the contest.
Instead, things inflamed further in the most unlikely of ways, when Ninkovic slipped into the dressing room of his former teammates to say congratulations and wish them all the best for the upcoming two-legged semi-final against Melbourne City. After seven seasons in Sky Blue, the Serbian international showed genuine class by popping in to reconnect with players that he has shared blood with in the past, felt the highs and the lows and become close friends.
Then in the blink of an eye, Ninkovic was forcibly removed from the dressing room, it appears, once spotted by Corica.
After the 38-year-old’s departure from the East to the West in 2022, it is obvious that bridges have been burned, certainly those extending between Ninkovic and his former coach.
Looking to extend his stay in Sky Blue, Ninkovic had felt insulted by the terms offered to him during the negotiations of what would most likely be his final professional contract. The club was not prepared to meet the player’s demands and wishes, Ninkovic went public about what he felt was appalling treatment from a club to which he had given so much, and weeks later, he was a Wanderer.
Corica stated the obvious in the elimination-final post-game, “We have issues, but that is between me and him.”
Yes, that certainly does appear to be the case. However, I’d suggest the issues to which Corica refers might actually be more significant on his side of the fence.
(Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)
Ninkovic’s gesture after what became a fiery clash during the second half, with plenty on the line, was a perfect opportunity for Corica to perhaps bury the hatchet and offer a simple handshake to a disappointed man who displayed great humanity in extending his to former teammates.
The animosity behind the Ninkovic deal is nothing new to football. Some players will leave clubs on bad terms. Sometimes, the players themselves will have unrealistic expectations and in other circumstances, clubs will have treated them far from fairly considering the service they have given.
The exact and full details of the Ninkovic versus Sydney FC saga will probably come out in the wash down the track, yet for now, the parties involved are the only two fully aware of them. Ninkovic appears to be happy to move on and recognise the friendships and relationships forged during his time at the club, even in the depths of disappointment. Corica, whilst glowing in victory, showed little class and like a vindictive child, threw his toys from the cot at the sight of Ninkovic in the Sydney room.
Perhaps he needs to be reminded that his former Serbian star was upset at the end of the 2021/22 season, not because he was unhappy and wanted to leave, but because he had never pictured himself playing for any other A-League team.
The club and Ninkovic simply could not make it work and it appears almost everyone in Sky Blue has now moved on. Except for the coach that is.
Christo the Daddyo
Roar Rookie
I think you overestimate the level of media coverage the AFL gets in Sydney. The game was reported on briefly, and then…that was it. About the same as the A League game really.
Christo the Daddyo
Roar Rookie
“The A league is a tricky one as we need it to fulfil many functions, probably too many to really do a good job of any of them.” I think you’ve identified the key challenge really well. It will never be treated seriously as a league because everyone knows the best talent heads off overseas. Which means its commercial opportunities will always be limited, particularly in such a crowded sporting landscape. And the reality is, the A League isn’t crucial for the Socceroos. If it fell over tomorrow, the talent pool would simply be all playing overseas. So it’s never going to be a serious revenue source, and it’s not critical as a source for Socceroos development. Which means that perhaps the sport needs to re-think how a local domestic competition is pitched in the Australian sporting industry.
Punter
Roar Rookie
Read what I said, football is massive in Sydney, but A-League is NOT!!! This is something AFL fans struggles with. We are talking about media attention, the Swans & GWS got so much more media attention despite only having 4K more. I have no doubt that AFL in Melbourne is the biggest, one of the best in the world & deserves all the media, but AFL in Sydney gets far too much media attention, so this blows this myth of media attention goes with the popularity of the game.
Sheffield WesDay
Roar Rookie
Very different to American football. We all know that is only played in the US, much the same as AFL. Nothing against those sports but they have literally no relevance anywhere else in the world. Football at an international level is the pinnacle of the game. Everything we do in Football in Australia has the Socceroos and their performance at the World Cup or Asian cup as the underpinning drive. From the mini roo under 6s to the youth community comps, to NPL academies to National second division, to A League. Again, I would argue that other codes don't quite get this as in Rugby league international fixtures are not the peak of the game, we all know it is state of origin. And we know most of our club NRL focus is always on Origin, just like footballs' is on international success. The A league is a tricky one as we need it to fulfil many functions, probably too many to really do a good job of any of them. It needs to be a high-level entertaining comp to attract the crowds and in turn the dollars (which clearly it does not yet). It also needs to be an avenue for our young players to develop and launch themselves. Its health is the key to our success on the international stage. And again, before you dismiss that importance, just have a think about the reports coming out this week about a potential friendly vs Argentina being negotiated currently. They are proposing to take the match to China in an effort to assist the federal govt in rebuilding commercial and trade ties between Aus and China. Tariffs on Barley, wine and other things will be discussed at this event as the two nations bond over their mutual love for football. For all the controversy of the Qatar world cup, it shone a very direct light on a nation's shameful treatment of human beings, and even though we are not so naive to think Qatar has made any real lasting serious changes, it put them under the the international microscope and was made very clear that they are in the wrong and need to do better to engage with the international community. This would never happen in ruby or AFL.... perhaps cricket. That is why we keep banging on about the international importance of football. It is literally one of the most powerful tools the international community has to come together in true peace and goodwill.
Buddy
Roar Rookie
Agreed. Once upon a time it was a rare occurrence that would therefore make headlines but commonplace these days and as you say, players quite regularly turn out for a multitude of clubs in the A League. Wellington just parted company with 8 or 9 today somdoubtless we will see at least some of them turn up at other clubs next season or perhaps they are all,following Mr Talay.
Grem
Roar Rookie
You are definitely a fan and one that our football needs.
Garry
Roar Rookie
I'm with you..some 'active' fans have an overinflated view of their importance
Christo the Daddyo
Roar Rookie
But you’ve just proven my point. There just aren’t enough people who are interested in the A League to justify NRL level coverage in the media. If there were, the coverage would reflect that.
Christo the Daddyo
Roar Rookie
I don’t disagree with anything you said. It depends on what you view the purpose of the A League to be. If it’s as you say - a development pathway, then you’re right. They should schedule as many games as possible. Just don’t expect many people to pay to come and see many of these games. And I don’t know why people keep banging on about how football is the dominant code internationally. It seems a pretty irrelevant argument for discussing the code in Australia. You might as well be pointing out that American football is really popular in the United States. Sure, but what’s that got to do with Australia. Football (soccer) just isn’t that popular in this country. In the sense of a professional league that people pay to watch I mean. Participation is a different story obviously.
Limo
Roar Rookie
What a load of rubbish..can you image NRL fans waking up tommorrow to see ZERO news on the NRLon TV on radio and in print media..there would be riots on the streets and attendances would start declining
Christo the Daddyo
Roar Rookie
“ So a Sydney Derby in Australia’s biggest sporting competition is not an event. However a Sydney Derby n the lowly A-League is an event? HMMMMM.” One was a regular home and away game being played (between two teams in the bottom half of the ladder) in a non-traditional AFL city. The other was a finals game in a city you claim “massively” supports that code. And yet it was the AFL game that had the higher attendance…
Limo
Roar Rookie
What about producing a story on the Friday night semi final or is that too difficult for your journalists?
Para+Ten ISUZU Subway support Australian Football
Roar Rookie
I've been waiting for a long time to say something positive about Caceres, hoping he showed me something that lived up to his potential. I think last Saturday we saw his day of arrival. But you are right, he now needs to get on the score sheet regularly to entirely convince me he has truly arrived.
ShirleyKnot
Roar Rookie
Hi JoshW...seriously? I apologise if I am not "instantly aware" of 4 guys & their podcast but how does that tell you that I am "not a WSW fan"? As stated in an earlier post, my family & group of friends are all Foundation WSW members & have rarely missed a home game in the last 11 seasons. I think that qualifies us as 'fans' & allows me to respectfully comment on this site.
Redondo
Roar Rookie
Corica's big mistake was to recruit 2 wingers and instead of finding one winger and a Ninkovic-like replacement. For all of his good points, Caceres cannot find a pass in attacking areas, and nor can he can score himself. Ninkovic's decline last season highlighted the gap in Sydney's playing group and Corica didn't fill it. Although, Burgess is doing a passable job now.
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
i've only met him once in passing (for about 20 seconds lol) so i can’t really provide detailed reasoning but the perception is he’s a deep thinker, who won’t just blurt out the obvious answer - he'll take his time to quickly analyse the question and respond appropriately. corica has a certain "smugness" about him, which also rubs people the wrong way - doesn’t exactly exude friendliness if you get what im trying to say. rudan is super arrogant while veart can go full scorch earthed - but i'd say, that rival fans pay more attention to these 2 coaches due to how controversial they are (complete contrast to corica, who is just bland). hes right to be heavily criticized though based on his squad this season (in the top 3 for oldest in the league and oldest of the 4 remaining teams), lack of playing teenagers/younger players, tactics and recruitment. The situation with ninko has shone a new light on him, in terms of how bitter the fall out actually was
Redondo
Roar Rookie
And just emphasising Ninkovic's decline, it was mostly Luke Brattan who neutralised him in this game, and Brattan is no great shakes defensively.
Redondo
Roar Rookie
I'd love to know where all this hate for Corica comes from. It seems so personal and yet it's all coming from people who - as far as I can tell - don't have any personal relationship with Corica. Based on what I see at the ground and on the tele and in interviews Corica seems like a reasonable guy - a bit introverted and intense maybe, but mostly unobjectionable. What else do commenters here base their hate on? And Ninkovic is no angel. If he went into the Sydney dressing room with good intentions his first handshake would/should have been with Corica, especially given their history. Ninkovic was clearly being cheeky and inflammatory - he had no right to be in Corica's dressing room without Corica's approval. It's all just a silly personal dispute caused by a combination of Ninkovic's fading powers and the pressure Corica was under after Sydney's dreadful performance last season. Without a Borello-like dynamo up front to compensate for him, Ninkovic couldn't cut it for Sydney anymore. Having said that, until around 2 seasons ago Ninkovic was still the best import the A-League has seen (maybe Broich excluded).
Sheffield WesDay
Roar Rookie
Unfortunately, holding fewer games is not an option. Not taking a swing at the other codes here, but Football is THE international sport. When your domestic league is the "nursery" of your international presence, fewer games just does not cut it. We are competing against nations and players that get a minimum of 38 - 40 club matches per year. All other nations play twice the football we do. Without similar game minutes Australia can never hope to develop players and compete with the rest of the world on any sort of level. This is not seen in other codes as the international competition is nowhere near the size or competitiveness as football.
Para+Ten ISUZU Subway support Australian Football
Roar Rookie
"And that all he wanted to do was stay" I believe the story is: Ninko wanted to stay on a visa contract, Corica wanted him to take out Australian citizenship to open up a new visa spot for a foreign player. For whatever reason Ninko refused. The rest is history. Stu, dig around and find out if that is true... There is a YouTube video where he is being interviewed about it.