I think the A-League will survive without Nicky Carle. I’m more interested in watching the new strikers and how Chianese, Petratos and the other young stars develop.

There has to be a FTA component because the Socceroos WCQ games go on the new Anti-Siphoning List due to come in later this year.
They may throw some A-League into the deal, but they don’t have to show A-League on FTA, so it might only be Socceroos games.

Why are people becoming obsessed with people’s ethnic background.
“Croatian coach” “Chillean descent”. His father was Uruguayan and his mother Chilean.

Tony Popovic and Nicky Carle are Australians born in Sydney and grew up in western Sydney.
Nick has won numerous awards and achievements in the sport around the world and doesn’t need Verbeek or Osieck’s blessing to be a great player.

Why all the conspiracy theories when he moves overseas?
He said he was doing it for the money to help make his family financially secure, he only has a few more years left to earn that sort of money.

ian Crook has bought very well so far and maybe they don’t even need to buy another big name player.

I’m getting a bit sick of non-football journalists becoming experts on “violence at soccer games” when it suits them.

Get your facts right for a start Jackson.
There was no flare thrown onto the pitch at the Edensor Park trial game,

Yes in 10 years in the top job and running a billion dollar business he has plenty of experience, knows plenty of people in Australian sport, media and business. Agree he is an excellent choice.

From a media negotiation point of view, his appointment instills more confidence in the game’s potential and its stability and growth and will increase the FFA’s bargaining power, not just for the media deal, but also attracting new sponsors.

Good luck to BB and wish him all the best when he leaves, hopefully with a huge bonus for the enormous FFA media deal he negotiates.

Yes and now in charge of the biggest football code in the country.
He has a lot of experience and one of his first jobs will be to grow the game and convert the millions who play and watch the game into Socceroos and A-League fans.

Often players frame the personality of a club, like RVP did at Arsenal.
It will take some getting used to him in a MU shirt and playing in a Man U team.

When its your own team its even harder but hopefully remember them for the good times. Players move on, usually for money, but not always, sometimes they need a change and a challenge to resurrect their game and their prospects and if they respond, its better for the player, the clubs and the game.

Same thing happens in sports markets all around the world including Australia.

The richest clubs affort the best facilities and attract the best players and most fans.
Why do more people wear Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool or Man United shirts. To a limited extent the investment usually pays off with titles and trophies and increased income.

The NRL just announced a 1.05 billion dollar media deal today which is a big increase.
They will be able to invest more in their game, in their clubs and in their players including juniors.

Hopefully a good sign for the FFA and their upcoming media deal, that broadcasters and advertisers are willing and able to pay more for sports content.

Leave it. Thanks.

We can’t publish this. Thanks, Roar mods.

Not a good week for Australian football followers.
1. Crowd trouble = soccer hooligan violence against little children, don’t take your family to an A-League game.
2. Socceroos Loss to Scotland = we are not going to get to WC Brazil 2014

On the positive side
1. It happened at a practice pre-season game and is a wake up call for SFC, WSW and the FFA who have time to fix the problem
2. It happened during a trial game and Holger has time to fix the problem

The reality lies somewhere inbetween, but I wouldn’t take either for granted. The FFA and Holger have some work to do to resolve both issues satisfactorily.

You might be right, it may well prove to be a good thing.

The Palmer affair brought out the worst in our enemies and the best in ourselves and lifted the FFA and the game to another level.

The clubs are doing the right thing and this sort of behaviour will not be tolerated.

And it happened in the pre-season game with only a couple of thousand spectators, 2 months before the season starts. Would have looked a lot worse at a sellout 20K Sydney derby game.

I think its also a strong warning to anyone else thinking of intentionally starting trouble.

Did you enjoy throwing stones at the wogballers Johnno?

Probably nothing to do with NSL or WSW.

Mike Cockckerill reckons its a few disgruntled ex-SFC fans who were expelled from the Cove for bad behaviour.

“Everyone wants the rivalry between the two Sydney clubs to build. But no one wants it to bring the game down.”

Its all conjecture, someone else on radio said it was a few drunken 16 year olds from the Campbelltown hotel looking for trouble with “wogball followers”.

Apparantly the police have already identified one juvenile and are expected to talk to a few more in the next few days, none of them old enough to shave.

Professor Foster did disagree with the team selections but as usual, didn’t have any suggestions about who to select in their place or provide a solution to the problem.

Its a balancing act at the moment as to how bad the ageing Socceroos have to get to be replaced by the younger ones, who are not quite good enough yet.

The standard of the Socceroos will fall in the short term until this is sorted out. Osieck needs to take some risks to make those fringe players good enough to step up, not just keep relying on the old brigade like Archie Thompson.

If the Socceroos lose their next couple of Asian WCQs and we are backs to the wall, it will be panic stations because he has no Plan B.

Yes Minister.

Porta is being talked about because of his very good goal scoring record – 76 goals in 146 games or better than 1 every second game.

The Uruguay national competition is very good in comparison to many others, since 1960 a Uruguay club has won South America’s premier club champions league competition, the Copa Libertadores, 8 times.

Porta has played for the young Socceroos and has played for the Uruguay U-20 team that included players like Suarez. Uruguay are ranked 4 in the world by FIFA. He was born in Sydney to Uruguayan parents, so can play for either.

He has also played in Seria A for Siena and in the UAE.
Its a good idea for him to play in UAE seeing we are now part of Asia and a lot of our WCQ games will be played in the middle east. If he does well, Osieck might notice.

Its the same standard of competition that Neil, Bresciano, Ognenovski and Spiranovic play in and not a “step down”.

Why would you selct Archie Thompson who hasn’t played a game for 5 months or McDonald who has never scored for the Socceroos in 26 games.

I’d love a job as the National Team talent scout at the moment.

You’d be clocking up thousands and thousands of flying miles and game watching trying to keep up with the many young Aussies trying to break into the Socceroos at this critical stage of qualification for Brazil 2014, the WC and the Asian Cup of 2015.

What a great time you’d have travelling the world and watching top class football.

Porta is turning into another Nick Carle . . .

And what authority do you have to say that Uruguay does not have a strong national competition?
Since 1960 a Uruguay club has won South America’s premier club champions league competition, the Copa Libertadores 8 times.

He played for the young Socceroos and has played for the Uruguay U-20 team that included players like Suarez. Uruguay are ranked 4 in the world by FIFA.

Who is mocking people playing in the UAE?
Its a smart move seeing we are now part of Asia and a lot of our WCQ games will be played in the middle east. If he does well, Osieck might notice.

I’ll walk naked through FFA headquarters if McDonald or Archie Thompson score a goal against Scotland.

Good thought provoking article Mike and makes you go through your memories that are part of your life and part of who you are.

Match of the Day with Brian Moore. West Ham was my first team, never forget Billy Bonds, Frank Lampard senior, Trevor Brooking, Bobby Moore.

Monty Python and the Philosphers’ World Cup, Pink Floyd’s Fearless. Arsenal’s Charlie George and Liverpool’s “You’ll never walk alone”.

I started to follow Liverpool more when Aussie Craig Johnston played for them and remember him scoring in the FA Cup Final victory of 1986.

I kept with the Aussie theme when Harry Kewell started playing with Leeds United and was followed soon after by Mark Viduka, Jacob Burns and Shane Candsdell-Sherrif and to this day with Neil Kilkenny, Patrick Kisnorbo in the current squad.

I’ve even been very fortunate to have travelled and worked in England and watched games at Stamford Bridge, White Hart lane, Highbury and Old Trafford. We even managed to catch a Milan derby at the San Siro.

But over the years with the growing number of Aussies playing in the EPL and other major European competitions, my European club loyalties have become somewhat muddled. Emerton and Neil’s Blackburn, Cahill’s Everton, Schwarzer’s Fulham and many more. I followed their games and results with interest.

I guess in the end its gone to show that the real team that I follow and want to win more than any other is the national football team, the Socceroos, and seeing Australia do well on the world’s football stage. Maybe even beyond the Socceroos and any football team representing Australia – man, woman or child.

Living in Sydney I have tried to follow NSL sides in my area and since the A-League started have been following Sydney FC. I’m taking interest in WSW as well now.

Like most of us, I also want to see the national domestic football competition establish itself, become financially viable and see the A-League, its clubs and its players do well.

I think Holger has missed a great chance to develop a sound younger brigade as insurance and back up if the older brigade start to falter on the way to Brazil.

He still seems to be putting faith in the older brigade to get us there and I hope he is right.

But if he is wrong, there are no seasoned international younger players to step in and shore up the team.

This was a great opportunity to get that second core of the team ready to step in.

I think Holger has missed a great chance to develop a sound younger brigade as insurance and back up if the older brigade start to falter on the way to Brazil.

He still seems to be putting faith in the older brigade to get us there and I hope he is right.

But if he is wrong, there are no seasoned international younger players to step in and shore up the team.

This was a great opportunity to get that second core of the team ready to step in.

I don’t get to Uruguay that often but there are plenty of highlights reels on you tube and on SBS, particularly scoring goals

He has been among the top goal scorers in Uruguay’s top division as well as River Plate in Argentina for the last few years and is the team’s penalty taker.

Scoring goals – is that not what you select a striker for?

Fair enough, but its the coaching staff’s responsibility to spot talent and get in touch with them, not the FFA – they don’t pick the teams.

I thought that Holger and the FFA have made an effort recently to improve communications with players and their agents because there is so many of them now.

Player agents and the players themselves should also make contact with the FFA, if they are serious about it. An “international” player (and his agent) should get more money when they are bought and sold, so its in their best interests to keep up contact with the national team managers and the FFA.

Devere yes, and lots of other good players not getting a chance – how are they going to break into this squad?

Exactly Kasey,
Australia has risen up the world rankings and our young players are well respected for their work ethic, commitment and teamwork as well as the skill levels.

There are now ample opportunities around the world to be a professional footballer these days and these kids have a promising future ahead of them.

But it doesn’t mean that you will all be automatically selected for Australia – its something you have to earn as a reward.

Threatening Holger Osieck by saying you won’t be an Australian any more, if you don’t pick me won’t have any impact on him, probably the opposite effect in fact, becuase like Pim Verbeek, he doesn’t like being told what to do.