@Mr Aussie Rules

Are you still worried a player will wake up on his birthday and be unable to play again? I don’t know what you do for a living (or what your level is at school) but it’s obvious it doesn’t involve anything that requires attention to detail & reading fine print.

Stick to what you do best… hitch the trousers up high & give us a high kick & pirouette.

No doubt, Jets will never let them go. 😉

I don’t have any faith in self-regulation for developing youth. As I gave the example from the EPL.

England are world champions at u20 level, yet the players who won the World Cup are not getting match time in their Top Tier domestic competition. The same is happening in the ALeague with our u20 players.

Heck, even our u23 squad that was just selected for the Asian Championships many of the players do not get match time with their ALeague clubs.

“I want to see cashed up clubs like City be able to recruit unchecked, force other clubs to try to keep up.”

Totally agree. That’s why the PPS has nothing to do with wages.

City (or any club) could have this Starting XI right now & not breach my PPS.

😀

—————Maty Ryan

Atkinson–Sainsbury–Spiranovic–Gersbach

—Modric—Mooy–Ronaldo

-Messi—Kane–Neymar

@Kangajets

Just one point I want to clarify.

I do not want this PPS I’m suggesting to be driven by the ALeauge, or clubs.

It will be a system that is enshrined by the FFA regulations. So, it will be a core principle upon which the ALeague competition is allowed to operate in Australia.

If clubs, PFA, etc do not agree, that’s too bad.

The FFA is the ultimate ruler of all things relating to football in AUS.

If the FFA decides it wants the ALeague to have 0 foreigners, it can do that.

If the FFA decides it wants the ALeague to be an u30 competition with only 4 foreigners (or 3+1) it can do that.

Even with independence, there will be no ALeague competition unless the FFA endorses the way the ALeague will operate.

@Redondo

Very valid issues you have raised about adding complexity for the less cerebral fans in the stands. In relation to the injuries, it’s not difficult to keep within the Points Cap. You’d just need at least 2x u21 subs and the other 4 can be Aussies 21 to 30.

Of course, we can completely scrap this whole Points System & just make a blanket rule:

There must be at least 6 Aussies on the park at all times and at least 2 must be under the deemed age of 26 & one under the deemed age of 21? [Deemed age is the age of a player on 1 Jan in the year the Aleague Premiership is awarded]

All sorts of options are available.

I simply want the ALeague to be a professional competition for Aussie players & I want youth given the opportunity to succeed.

PS: I did not choose the Headline.

My headline was: A-League Point of Difference – Remove the Salary Cap

The editors have – to my annoyance – removed some sections of the content & changed the heading, which indicates the editors do not understand this issue.

Thanks for the input, Paul D.

You have actually communicated many points in your post far more eloquently than I managed!

Much appreciated.

@jb

“..is the younger player being used, to keep within the system, a better player than the man he is replacing?”

A very valid question that is valid with – or without – any regulatory system to encourage youth involvement in the ALeague.

What is “better”? I think Christian Theoharous is better than Kosta. Others, including Kevin Muscat, might disagree.

This PPS is simply my way to ensure the ALeague, which is the professional men’s competition within the FFA’s jurisdiction, to have specific principles that will create the sort of competition I would like for the professional league in Australia.

Maybe, the development of Aussie players is not important to others.
I’m not suggesting 0 foreigners and 23 players u25.
I want a balance so that the foreigners & older Aussies who come back to the competition are contributing, not just taking up space to earn their final pay cheques.

Maybe, at the other extreme, some people might prefer all 23 players to be foreigners if clubs desire.
I do not want this.

Everyone’s input is appreciated. All clicks are equal.

Some input is valuable, some is just based on Wikipedia knowledge of an issue.

But, keep clicking on this article. Much appreciated.

@Ken Spacey

I addressed this very issue in a Discussion Paper that was published on this website in March 2017.

I proposed a “Development Levy” to be paid annually to each Australian football club where each ALeague player was registered when aged 13-17. This is not a one-off payment like a transfer. It is paid every year a player is contracted to an ALeague club and the development clubs will share the success of each player it develops with the amount received rising as the player’s wage rises.

Football transfer fees have become ridiculous and need to go

Thanks for the input, even though it is filled with false premises. In particular, your assertions about regulations relating to foreigners & age are factually incorrect. You should get someone to explain the concept of “Collective Bargaining Agreement”.

Thanks for reading.

Where did I say I only want Youth Players? Don’t be hysterical in your posts.

The “A” in A-League refers to “Australian” not “A Grade”. Just like the “E” in EPL refers to “English” and doesn’t refer to E Grade.

@tully

I also started working on a Points System that would have numerous inputs including:

Discounts for
– national team appearances
– loyalty at one ALeague club
– promotion from NPL to ALeague
– etc.

Penalty points for
– moving from club to club
– age
– foreigners
– etc.

The NPL has huge number of criteria for points.

In the end, I though I’d make it a simple Point System: Age & Nationality.

But, I’m open to any Points System that promotes the development of youth, Aussie players over older players who are just using the ALeague to make a buck as their careers wind down.

JANAKAN

Please explain how the NPL Point System can be rorted? The points are not assigned subjectively. The points are assigned using specific factual criteria.

A Salary Cap is not a must. You only have to open your eyes & look around the football world to understand that a Salary Cap is the exception. Not the rule.

And, I will repeat. A Salary Cap is impossible to administer &, if you think clubs are complying with the Salary Cap, you’re naive.

“Member owned AFL clubs”… if you believe that you also believe that fat man in the red suit came down your chimney.

How can any adult believe clubs do not cheat the Salary Cap? It’s as ludicrous as believing people who are not PAYE individuals declare all their income to the ATO.

With the PPS as I’ve defined, anyone with basic maths skills can monitor the Total Points.

Just like every player has a number of the back of his shirt, every player will have an Aleague Player Point assigned to him at the start of the season. This does not change for the entire season.

I’m sure anyone with arithmetic skills above Grade 4 will be able to add and subtract 5 & 10. Heck, it might even help kids in the stands & on the couch improve their mental arithmetic.

@JANAKAN

A Salary Cap does not work. It is constantly being abused by clubs and it is impossible to audit. If you think clubs in AFL, NRL & HAL are complying with the Salary Cap, you also must believe a fat bloke in a Red Suit came down your chimney a few nights ago.

I’m not sure if you follow much ALeague conversation outside your contributions on this website.

The ALeague will move to an independent structure within 12 months. And, from all that we’ve heard from club owners, coaches, players, fans & broadcasters …

the Salary Cap will be turfed out when the ALeague moves to an independent structure.

This discussion focuses on what regulations I would like the FFA to impose on the independent ALeague to ensure the ALeague is used to benefit Australian footballers.

Stuart, I did the numbers for MV’s starting XI against City in the Derby.

MV’s Starting XI had a Total Points = +15

This would not be allowed with my PPS.

However, by simply including Christian Theoharous into the XI instead of Kosta Barbarouses, the Total Points at kick-off would be 0.

A young Aussie would be given more match time &, in my opinion, the team would actually be stronger.

I don’t consider MV to have a young squad, so, if MV can easily meet my PPS requirements, I’m sure most teams will also be able to comply – perhaps with a tweak that pushes an u21 player into the XI rather than a fringe senior player?

I’d see clubs having to shuffle players to meet the PPS to be an opportunity, rather than a threat.

It also means clubs will need to have more u26 and u21 players in their match day squads, presuming they always have 4-5 foreigners always in the match day squad. Youth players will be given more chances than ageing Aussies who currently get passed from one club to another just to make up the numbers.

I know lots of people want more players on the bench. I can’t see the point. Each additional player adds more to each club’s travel expense &, it’s highly likely, the same players will sit on the bench for 27 matches without ever taking the park.

Fair enough.

I guess this becomes a philosophical discussion about what we’d like for the ALeague.

I want ALeague to be the 1st step for every Aussie footballer embarking on a professional career.

I want players like Ninkovic, Bobo, Adrian, Bujis on the park… but I want someone like Ngoy, or Zuvela to come off the bench instead of Matt Simon.

Given the option of Kosta Barbarouses or Christian Theoharous on the park, I want regulations that make the Aussie kid more valuable.

In the EPL, clubs have gone from being filled with British players to filled with foreigners. England are world champions at u20 level & champions of Europe at other youth levels. Yet, these world class English youth cannot get match time in their own domestic top tier competition.

This is a disgrace.

Remember, the PPS I’ve devised does not stop older players like Maccarone, or Castro. They’re valuable contributors and Aussie kids will learn a lot more playing competitive matches as their team mates rather than just training with them.

Buddy, my system specifically says that I expect the ALeague Salary Cap to be removed as soon as the ALeague moves to an independent entity.

There is no rational reason for club owners, coaches, or players (PFA), fans, or broadcasters to want a Salary Cap regulating the competition.

“One day, the starting XI might be hunky dory points wise, the following day, if a player has his birthday, he won’t be able to play.”

Clearly you did not read the detail, or you read but did not understand.

The Points assigned to a player are the same for the whole season. A Player’s “Age Points” is referenced by his age on the 1st of January on the year the Aleague season ends. So, this season, the reference date for age would be 1 January 2018.

This is the way age is determined for all FIFA youth competitions.

So, for the u20 World Cup that was played in 2017, players had to be 19 years old on 1 January 2017.

There are all sorts of systems available.

This is my system. If you wish to put forward a different system, no problem.

I want youth players on the park. Not on a sheet of paper, nor sitting on the bench, nor sitting in the stands.

Waz, whilst the Salary Cap is definitely an “equalization system”, I’d suggest the PPS is not an equalization system but, rather, it’s a system designed to promote a career pathway for Aussie youth.

In fact, with the PPS, a club could recruit Messi (+10), Ronaldo (+10), Modric (+10), Kane (+5), Neymar (+5) …

But, if these 5 foreigners are on the park at the same time their PP will be +40, so it means the other 6 players on the park must have total PP of -40.

This would require at least
* 2x Aussie u21 players on the park with them (-20 PP) and
* 4x Aussies 21-25 on the park (-20 PP)

or 5 Aussie u21 (-50) and 2 Aussies 30 yrs or over (+10).. or other variation that gives those 6 Aussie players -40 PP to offset the foreigners’ PP.

So, the PPS allows teams to recruit the best 5 players in the world and have them on the park. However, if they do this, they will need to have young Aussies on the park with them.

@Redondo

Restricting the picture size via Telstra Livestreams for AFL is a specific clause that FoxSports insisted upon when they signed the AFL deal. The clause was not there for the last AFL deal.

There has been no restriction in LiveStream for ALeague in previous deals with SBS LiveStream & with overseas streaming. I watched ALeague regularly via laptop connected to TV when I lived overseas.

The new TV deal allows TEN Network to livestream Saturday night ALeague matches & there is no picture restriction