With 7 goals in 15 games John Aloisi played a key role in getting Central Coast to the Grand Final and to Asia. When he signed for Central Coast he said that it was the only A-League club he'd play for. But now perhaps not.
"There are clubs overseas that want to talk to John and there are a number of clubs in the A-League that have made their interest clear, as well," Dominguez (Aloisi's Manager) said. "Central Coast have already made a good offer. John is not a greedy footballer and, ideally, he would rather stay in Australia now that he and his wife are back here with their young family, but there are a number of important factors for him to consider." Aloisi may leave after decider, SMH.com.au Greg Prichard, February 21, 2008
Potentially any A-League team may decide he is worth buying to get them to the finals. Perhaps the Roar could use their Reinaldo transfer cash (Roar were the first team negotiating with him last year). Or Wellington who have just released their disappointing marquee Ahmad Elrich. Or Gold Coast with property developer mega bucks behind them.
Probably not Newcastle.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Silly Season: Hooray a year of football
The season is over. Long live the season.
If both NQ Thunder and GC Galaxy join for version 4 of the A-League, there will be 6 more rounds. That means the season will start on about 11 July - only 4 months away. If NQ Thunder don't meet the criteria, and I really really hope they do because Australian football needs a hot and humid playing field much more than anything else to practice for Asia, then the season will start at the beginning of August.
Either way, the pre-season is only 3 months away - whatever that will mean this year.
In between we will have both Melbourne and Adelaide playing in the Asian Championship and a number of Socceroo qualifiers.
Plus the junior pre-season is now underway. I wonder if the Queensland league will work?
If both NQ Thunder and GC Galaxy join for version 4 of the A-League, there will be 6 more rounds. That means the season will start on about 11 July - only 4 months away. If NQ Thunder don't meet the criteria, and I really really hope they do because Australian football needs a hot and humid playing field much more than anything else to practice for Asia, then the season will start at the beginning of August.
Either way, the pre-season is only 3 months away - whatever that will mean this year.
In between we will have both Melbourne and Adelaide playing in the Asian Championship and a number of Socceroo qualifiers.
Plus the junior pre-season is now underway. I wonder if the Queensland league will work?
Monday, February 25, 2008
CCM 0 v Jets 1: Miron recons he has 4
Four players from the final for the Gold Coast Galaxy that is.
Newcastle's win has probably saved that team from imploding and may have added pressure on Coast players. Although walking away from playing in Asia next year is a big call. Even Bridge, snubbed by Jets owner Con Constantine in favour of Mario Jardel for most of the season, is now indicating he may stay.
Going to Galaxy are Noel Spenser (Jets this year and CCM last), Andre Gumprecht (CCM), Andrew Clark (CCM) and possibly Tom Pondeljak (CCM).
NQ Thunder has been quiet on players and they may not make the FFA requirements next year - which will be a same - reducing the games and variety. If they do get up don't be surprised to see Sydney FC's Queenslanders pop up - Steve Corica (Innisfail) and Clint Bolton (Wide Bay) - the later is pure speculation on my part.
Expect 6 foreign players (a concession on the normal 4) including Simon Lynch from the Roar and ex-Roar defender from season 1 and 2 Remo Buess. Galaxy are also promising a Brazilian international midfielder within their cap (could it be Juninho?). Plus a superstar - Kanu? Plus a host of mid ranking A-League players. Gold Coast has the glamour of Sydney overseas.
On the match, it is an irony that Danny Vukovic's career is now in doubt for striking ref Mark Shield since the Jets year was made on the back of Joel Griffiths who - early in the season - punched an assistant and only got a yellow card, with FFA saying that there was nothing to be done as the ref had made a decision.
And how will the FFA handle Lawrie McKinna describing Mark Shield's decision not to give a last minute penalty as a 'mistake' when a similar comment on a Kevin Muscat hand ball resulted in a fine to Frank Farina. My guess is they will let it go as ensuring consistency in decision making is not how the FFA follows through.
Newcastle's win has probably saved that team from imploding and may have added pressure on Coast players. Although walking away from playing in Asia next year is a big call. Even Bridge, snubbed by Jets owner Con Constantine in favour of Mario Jardel for most of the season, is now indicating he may stay.
Going to Galaxy are Noel Spenser (Jets this year and CCM last), Andre Gumprecht (CCM), Andrew Clark (CCM) and possibly Tom Pondeljak (CCM).
NQ Thunder has been quiet on players and they may not make the FFA requirements next year - which will be a same - reducing the games and variety. If they do get up don't be surprised to see Sydney FC's Queenslanders pop up - Steve Corica (Innisfail) and Clint Bolton (Wide Bay) - the later is pure speculation on my part.
Expect 6 foreign players (a concession on the normal 4) including Simon Lynch from the Roar and ex-Roar defender from season 1 and 2 Remo Buess. Galaxy are also promising a Brazilian international midfielder within their cap (could it be Juninho?). Plus a superstar - Kanu? Plus a host of mid ranking A-League players. Gold Coast has the glamour of Sydney overseas.
On the match, it is an irony that Danny Vukovic's career is now in doubt for striking ref Mark Shield since the Jets year was made on the back of Joel Griffiths who - early in the season - punched an assistant and only got a yellow card, with FFA saying that there was nothing to be done as the ref had made a decision.
And how will the FFA handle Lawrie McKinna describing Mark Shield's decision not to give a last minute penalty as a 'mistake' when a similar comment on a Kevin Muscat hand ball resulted in a fine to Frank Farina. My guess is they will let it go as ensuring consistency in decision making is not how the FFA follows through.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
AFL scores a greenhouse gas point
Mike has written a very informed piece on the expansion of AFL into western Sydney here.
I have the branding prod on my shoulder that shows that I am a Queenslander. However, I grew up in the Blue Mountains. Which means in my regular trips down to Sydney I copped being a 'westie' (and from the sticks) and from the 'westies' I copped worse. Still, as Mike points out football has always been huge in the mts from a participation angle. Although, rugby league was, and is, the game.
Enter the NSW government, who bulldozed a stack of trees and handed $20m to the Blacktown City. Blacktown knew what it wanted to do - build a local sport - and had discussions with Rugby League, AFL, cricket and maybe the FFA. The problem for rugby league is that it doesn't want to expand in NSW - having had Souths forced back on them - and half of Blacktown supports Paramatta and the the other half Penrith. Another team didn't make sense.
For AFL this was ideal. With a major facility in Sydney's mid west it could build fans and launch a major team in 2012.
Blacktown also saw football, rugby union, league and AFL targeting the Gold Coast. These regions have quite similar issues although very different places. Both are growing, Blacktown (17% in 10 years) has over 270,000 people and Gold Coast around 510,000 (fastest growing region in Australia). Both areas have very challenging youth problems that sport and loyalty to a local club can help alleviate. But the Gold Coast has more glamour and property developers willing to back new sporting teams. Now all codes have committed to the coast. The AFL were not quite able to convince an existing Victorian team to move there, and Blacktown had no major code.
Plus Blacktown has a major sporting advantage. It has a large indigenous community. AFL has a long history of making the most of indigenous spirits and talents. Blacktown has already established an AFL indigenous academy. Soon it will have a stadium (the new team will play home games a bit further down the road at Olympic park), a national team that calls it home and the AFL NSW headquarters. Great young players will make all this work.
Cricket have the off-season agreement with Blacktown. Which is a miss for football.
As a footnote, ABC radio is now a more better and less biased source of information on football than SBS. Try here.
I have the branding prod on my shoulder that shows that I am a Queenslander. However, I grew up in the Blue Mountains. Which means in my regular trips down to Sydney I copped being a 'westie' (and from the sticks) and from the 'westies' I copped worse. Still, as Mike points out football has always been huge in the mts from a participation angle. Although, rugby league was, and is, the game.
Enter the NSW government, who bulldozed a stack of trees and handed $20m to the Blacktown City. Blacktown knew what it wanted to do - build a local sport - and had discussions with Rugby League, AFL, cricket and maybe the FFA. The problem for rugby league is that it doesn't want to expand in NSW - having had Souths forced back on them - and half of Blacktown supports Paramatta and the the other half Penrith. Another team didn't make sense.
For AFL this was ideal. With a major facility in Sydney's mid west it could build fans and launch a major team in 2012.
Blacktown also saw football, rugby union, league and AFL targeting the Gold Coast. These regions have quite similar issues although very different places. Both are growing, Blacktown (17% in 10 years) has over 270,000 people and Gold Coast around 510,000 (fastest growing region in Australia). Both areas have very challenging youth problems that sport and loyalty to a local club can help alleviate. But the Gold Coast has more glamour and property developers willing to back new sporting teams. Now all codes have committed to the coast. The AFL were not quite able to convince an existing Victorian team to move there, and Blacktown had no major code.
Plus Blacktown has a major sporting advantage. It has a large indigenous community. AFL has a long history of making the most of indigenous spirits and talents. Blacktown has already established an AFL indigenous academy. Soon it will have a stadium (the new team will play home games a bit further down the road at Olympic park), a national team that calls it home and the AFL NSW headquarters. Great young players will make all this work.
Cricket have the off-season agreement with Blacktown. Which is a miss for football.
As a footnote, ABC radio is now a more better and less biased source of information on football than SBS. Try here.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Toffs v Toughs: A week in the A-League
Newcastle v Roar was a great game. I was emotionally drained but accepting. You don't win with 30% of possession - well not unless you were playing the Roar in season 1 or 2. Well I was satisfied on Sunday anyway. Monday and Tuesday added blows.
Sasa Ognenovski is going to Adelaide. And the club, in a turnaround, confirmed that Reinaldo is off, this time - as predicted here - the interest is from the American Major Soccer League. The MSL is also likely to take Marcinho - who looked very flashy but appears to have been over-sold by his agent.
Interestingly, when Frank Farina was quizzed by the press on replacements his response was he wasn't going to rush and that he would wait to see what the space was in the salary cap. For me this hints at two of the Roar's top 4 players Sasa and Reinaldo probably only creating the space for lower tier players because of their low cost contracts. Sasa is end of contract and free. Reinaldo could make a lot for the club - but not dollars it can plow into new players.
With Lynch off to the Gold Coast and Seo becoming Australian, the Roar may buy 4 new foreign players. Great opportunity - but as everyone has found out - huge risk. The A-League can only really afford foreign players who have not yet proved their ability or whose bodies are wearing out - and once they do prove themselves - Fred, Reinaldo and... (did Carlos Hernandez return from Costa Rica) - they are off. When they flop - Zhang and Mario - they make fools of their club.
Anyway, the other news making me feel a little quezzy is the prospective entry of Gold Coast and Townsville. The A-League needs variety for its survival. So it has to happen. And the clubs have two weeks to report back to the FFA. But I hope it isn't at the expense of the Roar. Their will be 69 players in Queensland next year, equal to the 5 times bigger NSW market, and 3 times the players in the much more mature Victorian one. The Roar have already had difficulty attracting current A-League players up north - Jade North, Greg Owens and Sasho Petrovski (who even agreed to come until his wife apparently said she wasn't moving).
------------------------------------------
Adam Griffiths was the key to Newcastle's performance this year. Not because his bravoury led to Sasa being off the field when Newcastle scored. No that's not it. At the start of the season the Roar were after Jade North - he had played with Frank before and was interested. Joel Griffiths was offered the Newcastle captaincy to keep him after the mass exodus. However, Newcastle then gave the captaincy to North and he stayed. Griffiths thought about going till his brother Adam said 'hey I came all the way from Europe to play with you at Newcastle.' So Newcastle kept both North and Griffiths - without them them Newcastle would not have made top 4 and the Jardel decision would have been a body blow. And imagine the Roar with Seo, Moore, Packer, McCloughan and North - particularly in the light of their getting snagged by Melbourne Newcastle, Central Coast and others when the back line has been under-strength.
Which is why it is so extraordinary to hear that, on the eve of the final, Newcastle is once again being pulled apart. Apparently they have spent the least amount on players of all clubs and Gary Van Egmond has seen fit to go public today to prevent a post finals walk out of 4, 5 or more players. Can they perform Sunday with that type of pressure?
-------------------------------
Did you know that all finals gate-take goes to the FFA to help fund the annual $1.4m distribution to each club. Actually, I think this is a very good idea as it helps to keep the competition close - vital to its survival. But. The Roar managed 36,000 for their game, Sydney only 23,000, Newcastle only got 16,000 to the Roar match...
--------------------------------------
Actually, this leads to something that is cheezing me off. Sorry Wayne, but its Central Coast. Great team, but the behaviour of their management appears to leave a bit to be desired. My understanding of their story is: CCM get through the early part of the season a cut above with Tony Vidmar as marquee. Fair dues. Then Nik Mrdja got reinjured, Damien Mori returns but fails to shine. So CMM fork out $500,000 for John Aloisi and win the league. How? apparently excluded from the salary cap and marquee requirements as 'injury cover'. What? FFA how about making this option transparent at the start of the season? I am keen to see how that will work next season, or is Vidmar to gracefully retire to make it all happen? And now we hear that CCM is trying to talk the FFA into giving them prise money - presumably to cover their wage bill. The line is something like why should a successful club like CCM subsidise Perth. Well because that is what gives us a competition that's why.
My view is that we must avoid at all costs giving financial rewards to clubs that can risk $500,000 on ensuring they have an edge on other clubs. Otherwise the A-League will be doomed to an NSL style demise - with 2 or 3 wealthy clubs boring everyone by winning every year.
-------------------------
So Sunday it is CCM Toffs v Newcastle toughs.
Sasa Ognenovski is going to Adelaide. And the club, in a turnaround, confirmed that Reinaldo is off, this time - as predicted here - the interest is from the American Major Soccer League. The MSL is also likely to take Marcinho - who looked very flashy but appears to have been over-sold by his agent.
Interestingly, when Frank Farina was quizzed by the press on replacements his response was he wasn't going to rush and that he would wait to see what the space was in the salary cap. For me this hints at two of the Roar's top 4 players Sasa and Reinaldo probably only creating the space for lower tier players because of their low cost contracts. Sasa is end of contract and free. Reinaldo could make a lot for the club - but not dollars it can plow into new players.
With Lynch off to the Gold Coast and Seo becoming Australian, the Roar may buy 4 new foreign players. Great opportunity - but as everyone has found out - huge risk. The A-League can only really afford foreign players who have not yet proved their ability or whose bodies are wearing out - and once they do prove themselves - Fred, Reinaldo and... (did Carlos Hernandez return from Costa Rica) - they are off. When they flop - Zhang and Mario - they make fools of their club.
Anyway, the other news making me feel a little quezzy is the prospective entry of Gold Coast and Townsville. The A-League needs variety for its survival. So it has to happen. And the clubs have two weeks to report back to the FFA. But I hope it isn't at the expense of the Roar. Their will be 69 players in Queensland next year, equal to the 5 times bigger NSW market, and 3 times the players in the much more mature Victorian one. The Roar have already had difficulty attracting current A-League players up north - Jade North, Greg Owens and Sasho Petrovski (who even agreed to come until his wife apparently said she wasn't moving).
------------------------------------------
Adam Griffiths was the key to Newcastle's performance this year. Not because his bravoury led to Sasa being off the field when Newcastle scored. No that's not it. At the start of the season the Roar were after Jade North - he had played with Frank before and was interested. Joel Griffiths was offered the Newcastle captaincy to keep him after the mass exodus. However, Newcastle then gave the captaincy to North and he stayed. Griffiths thought about going till his brother Adam said 'hey I came all the way from Europe to play with you at Newcastle.' So Newcastle kept both North and Griffiths - without them them Newcastle would not have made top 4 and the Jardel decision would have been a body blow. And imagine the Roar with Seo, Moore, Packer, McCloughan and North - particularly in the light of their getting snagged by Melbourne Newcastle, Central Coast and others when the back line has been under-strength.
Which is why it is so extraordinary to hear that, on the eve of the final, Newcastle is once again being pulled apart. Apparently they have spent the least amount on players of all clubs and Gary Van Egmond has seen fit to go public today to prevent a post finals walk out of 4, 5 or more players. Can they perform Sunday with that type of pressure?
-------------------------------
Did you know that all finals gate-take goes to the FFA to help fund the annual $1.4m distribution to each club. Actually, I think this is a very good idea as it helps to keep the competition close - vital to its survival. But. The Roar managed 36,000 for their game, Sydney only 23,000, Newcastle only got 16,000 to the Roar match...
--------------------------------------
Actually, this leads to something that is cheezing me off. Sorry Wayne, but its Central Coast. Great team, but the behaviour of their management appears to leave a bit to be desired. My understanding of their story is: CCM get through the early part of the season a cut above with Tony Vidmar as marquee. Fair dues. Then Nik Mrdja got reinjured, Damien Mori returns but fails to shine. So CMM fork out $500,000 for John Aloisi and win the league. How? apparently excluded from the salary cap and marquee requirements as 'injury cover'. What? FFA how about making this option transparent at the start of the season? I am keen to see how that will work next season, or is Vidmar to gracefully retire to make it all happen? And now we hear that CCM is trying to talk the FFA into giving them prise money - presumably to cover their wage bill. The line is something like why should a successful club like CCM subsidise Perth. Well because that is what gives us a competition that's why.
My view is that we must avoid at all costs giving financial rewards to clubs that can risk $500,000 on ensuring they have an edge on other clubs. Otherwise the A-League will be doomed to an NSL style demise - with 2 or 3 wealthy clubs boring everyone by winning every year.
-------------------------
So Sunday it is CCM Toffs v Newcastle toughs.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Pushing Og forward backfires for Roar: Newcastle 3 v Roar 2
Newcastle did have the goods.
The defining moment:
Ognenovski pushed forward into the Newcastle box, searching for a defenders goal, as he had been up to that point. Heads in but collects the ball, which goes out, and Adam Griffith's head. Blood and bruises. In the time he is off the field, Newcastle counter and make use of the space his absence causes - Zullo turned by Bridge on the right, Reddy can't clear and its a goal. In reality its the decider.
Ognenovski not at his best from the time he came back - the 'if only' is if Farina had switched him for Seo immediately he was injured. Is Seo fit enough?
Up to that point, Marcinho, Kruse and Zullo had all missed easy (ish) goals. Marcinho may pay a high price for his foot over the bar from the 6 yard box - open goal all beaten by the cross, should have put Roar ahead.
Tiatto came on late but couldn't get into the match. Very flat. Reinaldo was obviously still injured stayed all match - scored two penalties. The youngsters got experience out of the match. Two doddgy penalties - Song's dive the most blatant.
Moore got two yellow cards and was sent off.
Simon Lynch got another chance to show what he could do, apart from winning the last minute of normal time penalty - he seemed unable to create.
Newcastle defence excellent - particularly after last week.
The defining moment:
Ognenovski pushed forward into the Newcastle box, searching for a defenders goal, as he had been up to that point. Heads in but collects the ball, which goes out, and Adam Griffith's head. Blood and bruises. In the time he is off the field, Newcastle counter and make use of the space his absence causes - Zullo turned by Bridge on the right, Reddy can't clear and its a goal. In reality its the decider.
Ognenovski not at his best from the time he came back - the 'if only' is if Farina had switched him for Seo immediately he was injured. Is Seo fit enough?
Up to that point, Marcinho, Kruse and Zullo had all missed easy (ish) goals. Marcinho may pay a high price for his foot over the bar from the 6 yard box - open goal all beaten by the cross, should have put Roar ahead.
Tiatto came on late but couldn't get into the match. Very flat. Reinaldo was obviously still injured stayed all match - scored two penalties. The youngsters got experience out of the match. Two doddgy penalties - Song's dive the most blatant.
Moore got two yellow cards and was sent off.
Simon Lynch got another chance to show what he could do, apart from winning the last minute of normal time penalty - he seemed unable to create.
Newcastle defence excellent - particularly after last week.
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