right wing observations from last night,

Australia takes the lead and Jordanian players seem to stay on their feet more.
Anyone notice the ball boy lob the ball over the Jordi players head at a throw in? Nice one lad.
Australia players didnt complain about the play acting from the Jordis, showing our maturity in Asia
Never thought Robbie Kruse would be playing a vital role in our WC quest
Robbie Kruse needs a haircut
Aussie Rules markings on a WC match, still sits awkward with me
The crowd didn’t seem too footbally? Perhaps too much at stake or is the National team attracting a different audience to the A-League?
Glad to see no corporate sponsored giveaways, as in “ optus Gooooal”
& my favourite, Welcome back FTA Football.

Have I missed anything?

This is the best thing to happen to the A-League in regards to player transfers. Perhaps our League is still too young to understand or appreciate club loyalty.
I love you Harry and I hope you get that mojo back to see you off in Brasil, but if you do not need a riot squad to protect you from the abuse that the Victory supporters throw at you…..then this country is still at its infancy in regards to Football Understanding.

Sorry Franko but you have just crossed the line with Australias greatest ever Striker.
If the man wishes to retire because he can, RESPECT, but for your information lets just wind back the clock on Viduka.

The Duke was the biggest striker i have ever seen play at the highest level and proudly i say he chose Australia over his heritage of Croatia, and dont think for one second the mother land didnt tempt him. Mark Viduka had offers to go over seas after just one season in the nsl he said “No” opting to stay with the Melbourne Knights, his childhood club.
Twice Johnny Warren Medalist, twice top goalscorer and when the president of newly reborn Croatia asks him personally to come play for his fav. club Dinamo Zagreb, the offer was to huge to refuse.
With the transfer money, the Melbourne KNights built a new grand stand called ” the Mark Viduka Stand”
When he transfered to Celtic, the Knights wore the famous green and white hoops as their away strip in honour of their greatest ever product.
He openly said if i ever play again in Australia i would like it to be with the Melbourne Knights. The NSL folded.

So Franko, next time an Australian pup gets transfered to an O/S club with dreams of tearing the Football world apart and only to sit on the bench. Spare a thought for Mark Viduka who chose to stay that little bit longer, unlike a so called “Harrry Kewell” who was gone before he started.

We are all so lucky that we had the chance to see the Vbomber play in OZ as a youngster that was always bigger (no pun) than the Australian League at the time.

We are all so greatfull that his heart was always Australia and not another.

If only the youngsters of today would follow his footsteps we would probably have multiple players having their very own yatchts and villas.

Thanks for the memories Dukes, but you owe Australia nothing at all.

Filled out the survey and as i am a Football Romantic i said yes to all grass roots clubs competing.

On this issue though i dont really care how many mistakes the FFA make or how many teams outside the HAL take part.

Just Bring it!

Football fans are hungry for it and the best thing ive heard is that the final be played on Australia day.

Thanks AF,
well we tried. Terrific idea about forging relations with India. We have strong cricket ties and the football could use better direction. There is no code wars in India either. Actually now that i mention it someone in Kolkata was talking to me about the old days of East Indian Football when under the British colony, many Football fans referred to cricket as a game played by sissys and poofters….now where have i heard that before?

Just as a side note without doing in research into it, someone also mentioned that Steve Waugh has a charity foundation set up in Kolkata. So like you said AF, stronger Football ties with the Great country of India would be absolutely marvelous.

cheers Mid

Thanks for the comments Nordzz and KF.
T.O did have a contract with CCM and turned them down. I dont think T.O comments on the A-League are any more or less offensive than say Lucas Neil or Schwarzers words. T.O did mention he would like to consider the A-League in the future but right now he is in a happy place. In Australia we also have some of the highest tax systems in the world, where as in India he is genuinely living like a Maharja.
T.O was heavily criticised on departure on sites like 442, he took a risk and its paid off for him. So if it seems he has made the right choice then he can only encourage others to give it a go.
At the end of the day in regards to the A-League i think there is a balance of players coming and going. Burns, Milicevic, Vidosic, Zelic all had stints O/S to return and some go back again. T.O is no different and for choosing India dosnt mean failure. He plays regulary, a marquee player, financially beneficial, life experience, popular with fans and loving life.

Nordzz u said “Clearly footballers who stay here and contribute to the local scene are doing more for Oz football than Tolgay is. ”
True but also having an Australian that is doing well in the I-League looks favourably on our nation. Every foreigner that plays in the A-League should be contributing to lifting the standard of the League and we remember where they are from.

In Mumbai people would ask where I am from? id answer Australia. and the response would be….”ah Ricky Ponting, great cricketer”.

You see foreigners are more than just Footballers, they are the nations diplomats. If they misbehave it reflects badly on their nation. If they are loved, then the nation is better for it. It cuts both ways.

Ben of PP, unfortunetly no one didnt for the reason i was in Kolkata and my story was based on the Kolkata derby, Tolgay, we shot a small story on an N.G.O and Dihman briefly covered what was needed in the I-League more so than the falling of other clubs.

Ben G that is fine and your views about an Australian playing Football in unknown parts of the world is precisly the reason i decided to do such a story. I dont mean to take it out on you personally but your views are what many others think and i find it totally ignorant, but a few corrections first. T.O was the NSW Premier League Top Goal scorer, he had brief stints in Sydney, Newcastle and had a contract on paper with the CCM before his departure.
Here is a list of Australian Footballers playing abroad http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/Abroad/index.html. you can count them i couldnt be bothered.
As you may have noticed, not all the names are Harry Kewell or Tim Cahill. There are many that you havnt heard of that will never represent Australia at senior level. Do you see their decision to play abroad as a failure?
Do you see anyone that decides to open a business in PNG, Vietnam, Brasil or India as a reason to say they didnt have enough guts or wernt good enough to do that in Australia?
I see these people, whether it be Footballers or businessman with more courage and guts than the average person here in Australia with narrow thinking and faster judgement.
Would you say the same for Van Dyke, Flores, Brohich York or Fowler, choosing to play in the A-League as a failure for they couldnt play in more established Leagues?
Players choose to play in different countries for different reasons, most of the time it is financially motivated..but not always.
The best thing about Football is that players have choices and reason to travel and see the world from a different angle.
In Tolgays situation the guy is treated like a Rock Star. watch the vid you may agree with me. This my friend he will never experience in Australia. Indian fans are ….Fanatical.
I wish i was in such a privileged position to do so and getting paid 1000s in return for doing what i love.
But then again you may see it from a different angle.

Ben of PP your knowledge of Indian Football is impressive. Shillong, east India has a proud Football history.
Other points of interest is may be that the I-Leagues 2 biggest clubs, East Bengal and Mohun Bagan are owned by the same owner. There is no official national broadcaster and Salt Lake Stadium, Indias largest Football stadium has no sponsorship at all. The score board dosnt work and there are plenty of broken seats.
Yet one cant help wonder that this place looks like a living day Colosseum equal to Rome.

Cheers for the comments lads.
Like i said its a trailer and the Tolgay interview does stretch out to 15minutes with plenty of Kolkata cutaways. I did the trailer simply because doing films is quite expensive and without funding from a say SBS or other commercial streams, then the pocket does tend to burn quite heavily.

Other points that Tolgay mentioned to me was that there are some talented footballers living in India, the problem they face is that there is no real structure to move on to bigger leagues outside of India. There are plenty of 1st/2nd generation English Indians playing Football in the UK but it seems that they cannot hold dual passports if they are selected to play for India.
India is obsessed with celebrities, i think more so than hollywood. So the day India produces a talent lining up in say Chelsea, then the Indian landscape just may again change. In kolkata i was amazed to see even park Rugby being played, much more diverse than cricket centric Bombay.

I will try to finish the story with Indian Football Journalist “Dihman, the Fozz of Indian Football” featured at the end of the trailer. His knowledge of Indian Football, its rise and fall is incredible. Interesting stuff for those interested in Indian Football history. He is also very knowledgable about the A-League, Lowy, Buckley and our Asian and World Cup aspirations.

The crowd on this day was the lowest buy the way for the season for the Kolkata derby with 60,000 fans at Salt Lake Stadium. Anyone notice the Indian Flares (burning newspapers upon victory) its a wonderful site and one of which would give the FFA a fit if it was to happen in the A-League

thanks for the comments Gents. I was disappointed with the Roar admin this morning for changing my original title suggesting this was yet another article about the World Cup.

Just wanted to add that in a year where Australian Football has had plenty of highs and lows this will be our first real chance for some genuine silver wear since the Vietnam War in Saigon of 1967. I to have given up hosting the World Cup…for now. I guess its also what makes the Australian Football scene so beautiful. there is still so much to achieve, internationally and at home.But instead of getting to far ahead of our selves, a victory in Qatar will be just the injection we need post WC Fifa defeat.

ps- I have never in my life intended to visit Qatar, and until recently had to look up the exact location, but because of Football, this January it may become a reality. Im taking time out to see the beauty of our world from a different angle. a 3month trekking tour of Asia for me starts 17th of January. if Australia make the AFC finalfinal, ive promised myself i will be going to Qatar, and hopefully see history in the making when Australia is crowned Kings of Asia.
Like Ronaldo said ” Football takes me many places”, that goes for fans as well.

letting people in for free is not what i expected

This seems like a one night stand type of deal. Free entry once … but is there a plan and marketing strategy for us to get to the next home match? Does clive even have a marketing strategy? one would think not.

The least that we could pay would be giving you our email adress. Free entry for your email, sounds like a fair deal to me.
But for Free Clive, this is still not classed as, engaging with the community. You still havnt asked your friends from “the beach” now have you. Im disappointed Clive.

Thanks Clive, ill see you on the 19th, but im still not feeling the love!

Sounds like a great show i missed on Fox. With so many issues surrounding Australian Football post World Cup defeat, with opinions from every angle. Yet the only ways the true stakeholders of the game can express their concerns is through sites such as this one. Jeremy Brockie runs a show on sbs called insight. The same style programme could be made just on the issues surrounding Football. Now i Would love to see that.
Great article Tony T

In every competition one team has to come last. The strugglers, the battlers which are Fury are the sacrificial lamb of the A-League. Their current last place keeps the faith of supporters from Perth Glory and Sydney FC for this season.
an average of 5000 is not that bad considering this team has rarely breathed in the top 6.

I wrote an article in march ” we can own a football club” http://www.theroar.com.au/2010/03/24/i-want-to-buy-a-football-club/.
Some interesting ideas were put to the page by the roarers about community ownership.

Community ownership is what is needed in the A-League and not these American style, want fries with that, franchises.
The Fury experiment is what is right for the A-League. They should be given the chance and one year to transform the club into the community model where the people of North Queensland have their very own Football club.

10million was given to CCM for the construction of centre of excellence. Yet in all of that 100k couldnt be awarded to keep the CCM womens Football team running for another season and now 1million cant be allocated to the North Queensland area for a club that so much positives in the long run.

Keep the Fury Frank, for one more season. you wont regret it.

This Vid is only one of the many issues that will face qatar over the next several years and its not only about Football.

seems like my comment didnt get through. Perhaps its because of my darth avatar. so ill try again

“Soccer in particular is a migrants game – nothing to see here from a migrant’s perspective on Australia.” ?

So what Redb is saying is that Rugby League, Rugby Union and Cricket are migrant sports as well. Played internationally yet all originated in England…. your loosing me Redb.

thanks foget. It is to please you lads. wont last long though, ill put up something more esay on the eye. It is a bit creepy the image.

Buckley is still on about Western Sydney. Its over!! No Rovers! No west Sydney ! No next season! You blew it, Buck it !

thanks ARoo for clearing that up

“Some goals are so worthy, it’s glorious even to fail.”
Spoken with true wisdom, therefore i think its appropriate on the eve of Australias World Cup Bid to share with you a tribute to someone with the same ideals, someone that never gave up. Someone that may not be alive to witness where we are today but his vision lives on through us.

AF, Skippy the boxing kangaroo has hung up his gloves and is now Skippy the Football Kangaroo,he is finished with brutal sports and found his universal popularity rise with the beautiful game. A true citizen of the world. He has declared himself the official ambassador for the World Cup 2022.

Lads, im nervous, but what ever the decision tonight i think we will all need some time to ourselves to reflect on what a journey it has been. How far can we go, with or without, the FIFA World Cup. What it can do, or could have done for our nation, our economy, our culture, our League.

Either way, tomorrow is the start of a new journey for Australian Football.

Red dont bother with these people, they will never understand. Lowy takes $2 bux from Gobs taxs contribution and turns it into $100 for the nation. Yet they still ask the question ” ohhh why do i have to pay two dollars for…im not even going to watch the world cup ?”…..oh yes you will and you will enjoy it!

If Gobs was clever he would work out with his accountant how to pay minimal tax. That way he would actually be increasing his personal wealth and contributing to the wealth of the country as well, but they dont see it that way.

MyLF I liked it. ive watched it a few times now and the more i watch the more i like. Its funny to think that this short animated film was just intended for an audience of 22 senior men. Just to be shown the once.
Elle Mcpherson is wonderful to look at, but i wish she had done that little bit more in speech to complement that amazing body

TT- Does that really matter where you live? Can i say that you become more Patriotic living abroad than at home.
Ben you beat me to it. my thoughts exactly

It really was amazing. In all the Frank Lowy interviews over the past few years, I have never seen the man speak with a hint of nervousness until last night. Like he said, ” you cant express the right words for emotion.”
Well done Frank, what ever happens, No one could have done it better than you….Thanking you with all my heart.

I think our presentation was great and summed up what Australia is all about and we gave FIFA a look at our mascot, Skippy.

Qatars presentation looked like a trailer for a Hollywood epic. In reality its one of those trailers that are far better than the actual movie.

USA was predictable. We rock, we rule, the world is America and the rest of you got no game.
I didnt see Korea or Japans

So after last night….we still havnt done anything wrong.