Bleacher Report - Articles by Joseppio

A-League News: Move Over Robbie Fowler Here Comes Alvaro Recoba

Joseppio — Fri, 01 May 2009 03:03:38 -0400

Australian newspapers today reported that storied Uruguayan international Alvaro Recoba was a target for last season’s A-league cellar dwellers Perth Glory.

If the deal goes through Recoba—the man who said before Uruguay's defeat at the hands (or is that feet) of Australia in a World Cup playoff in 2005 "Uruguay has a divine right to play...[in the Finals]”—will become the latest 30-something great (some say former great) of the game plying his trade as a “Marquee Player” in the A-League.

But in the fifth season of Australia’s fledgling national competition is this as great a move as some make out?

Since its inception, the A-League has enforced a strict salary cap. However, each team is allowed to sign one marquee player whose salary is not included under this cap. This is the system that allowed the likes of Dwight Yorke, Juninho, John Aloisi, and, from next season, Robbie Fowler, to come to the A-League party.

It’s also allowed some lesser-known but talented Australian players such as Archie Thompson, Joel Griffiths, Ned Zelic, Craig Moore and Tony Vidmar to ply their trade at home.

But it’s also the policy that’s brought us the likes of a 38-year-old Brian Deane (who left Perth Glory after seven games because he couldn’t keep up), Romario’s embarrassing four-game stint at Adelaide United, Scot Gemmill’s uninspiring tenure with the now defunct New Zealand Knights and an overweight and unfit Mario Jardel making a laughing stock of himself at Newcastle Jets.

Obviously, as the A-League is tiny by international standards, we could never hope to grab a superstar at his peak, but there was a hope that the money on offer, combined with the Australian lifestyle, would pull in some players near the end of their career who still had the skill and flair to light up the occasional game (as well as a well-known name that the marketing guys could throw about, of course).

Now don’t get me wrong, I loved watching Yorke, Juninho and even Deane (although that was because he was so bad it was entertaining). And yes, the prospect of watching North Queensland, with Robbie Fowler up-front, take on a Recoba-led Perth Glory side has many A-league supporters including myself salivating.

However, I can’t help but be filled with dread looking at Fowler’s ample waistline and Recoba’s recent form which has been far from stellar.

All the hype surrounding these two reminds me of the media smoke blowing a few years about Jardel and, gulp, Brian Deane. But hey, Charlie Miller proved last year, winning the best foreign player gong, that you can be a lard-arse and still have good touch.

So football fans, what do you think of the marquee player, or designated player system? Does this rule allow a small league to attract big international names? Or does it pay over inflated salaries to has-beens and declining stars of yesteryear while keeping young local talent out?

Kuwaiti Family in Talks to Purchase Liverpool FC for Six Kakas

Joseppio — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 00:42:04 -0500

Reports in this mornings papers say that the Al Kharafi family of Kuwait are in talks to purchase Liverpool FC for the princely sum of £600m, or six Kakas if you believe Man City's valuation.

Nasser Al Kharafi is the worlds 48th richest man and apparently his fortune of about £8 billion seems to be burning a hole in his pocket.

Remember, this is the same group who were interested in buying Liverpool and Newcastle at different times last year but pulled out of both bids.

It's no secret that the financial crisis has hit George Gillett and Tom Hicks (the American owners of Liverpool) hard and they will struggle to gain the bank support they need to refinance the nearly £300 million loan used to purchase Liverpool in February 2007.

The suggested sale price would allow them to walk away from Liverpool having doubled their money in less than two years.

So, the pros and cons as I see it:

Pros:

Liverpool will get their new stadium at Stanley Park, a project which has become ever the more tenuous in the past six months.
Financial clout in the transfer market. Although this isn't 100% assured.
An end to the infighting and uncertainty of the Muppett Show of Gillett and Hicks.

Cons:

Yet another billionaire owner in the EPL adding to over-inflated salaries and transfer fees.
With a new owner, they may demand more input, a la Abramovich. Gillett and Hicks have so far kept their nose out of team selection. Admittedly that's probably because they think a sweeper is what you use to clean the streets.
Liverpool still in foreign hands. Not really a big deal in my opinion as that's already the case.
Yet more ownership speculation in the final stages of a promising campaign.

So what do you think? Would this deal send yet another club down the slippery slope of relying on their owners personal wealth? Or, is this the future of the EPL, where the only way to be successful is to have a wealthy benefactor?

Australia: Old Soccer, New Football

Joseppio — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 17:29:04 -0500

The Australian Government today put nearly $50 million behind an Australian bid to host the 2018 World Cup representing a phoenix-like rebirth after the disorganised and factional mess that was football in Australia during the 1990s and early 2000s. Joe Ennis gives a run-down of how this remarkable transformation came about.

Australia is a land of sports fanatics. The country supports an amount of competitive sporting teams that would be unsustainable in any other comparable country of about 20 million people. And when it comes to football (footy) the country has traditionally been divided into Australian Rules and Rugby League territory with the game known as Soccer derided as a game for "sheilas, wogs and poofters."

Soccer Australia

In the olden days (pre-2004) Australian Football was a mess. Most teams were still aligned to one or other ethnic group, creating racial tension and regular violence at suburban grounds with Soccer Australia, the national governing body, was impotent under the weight of factional infighting and rampant mismanagement. Soccer Australia eventually folded in 2004 and the NSL was scrapped at the end of the season. This lead to the Australian Government commissioning the Crawford Report, looking into why the game was in such a terrible state.

So Australian football had bottomed out. It was a game without a government, without a competition and seemingly without hope. The darkest period, though preceded a fabulous new dawn.

Football Federation Australia (FFA)

Football Federation Australia rose from the ashes of Soccer Australia and the recommendations of the Crawford Report were put in place. The FFA was (and is) lead by prominent businessman Frank Lowy and under his stewardship Australia has moved on from the bad habits cultivated in the NSL and relaunched a national competition, the Hyundai A-League.

The game became fully professional and new clubs were formed in major cities and regional centres. The only remnants from the NSL are Perth Glory and Adelaide United, the latter only competing in the final season of the old competition. The A-league was formed on the principal of one club for each city or regional centre with eight teams—including one from New Zealand—competing in the foundation season.

The FFA then made a successful push for Australia to be admitted to the Asian Football Confederation, paving the way for Australian teams in the AFC Champions League and the Australian national team—still sporting the irritating nickname The Socceroos—to compete in the Asian Cup and AFC world cup qualifiers.

2006 World Cup

With Dutch wonder-coach Guus Hiddink at the helm as manager, Australia qualified for the 2006 world cup in Germany by beating Uruguay—the fifth placed team in South America—in a two-legged playoff. This was the only way a team could qualify for the world cup from the Oceania region.

It was only the second time Australia had qualified for the world cup and the country came down with a serious dose of football fever. The night John Aloisi slotted home that fateful penalty to send Australia to Germany the main intersection in Melbourne's CBD was blocked with thousands of jubilant fans spilling out from the public viewing area in Federation Square.

The Aussies went on to advance to the second round, advancing from a group consisting of Brazil, Japan and Croatia. They eventually were sent home after a dubious penalty decision in the last minute of extra-time in their second-round match against eventual champion Italy.

But it didn't matter; a whole generation of sports fans were smitten with the beautiful game leading to a massive increase in spectators going to the local A-League games and mass enrolments of children and amateur sportsmen in grassroots football.

The Hyundai A-League

The inaugural competition in 2004/05 was won by Sydney FC with former Manchester United striker Dwight Yorke leading the way. The following year crowds increased to such an extent that Melbourne Victory were forced to move from the 18,000 capacity Olympic Park to the larger, 56,000 capacity Telstra Dome. The grand final that year between Melbourne Victory and Adelaide United attracted a crowd of 55,436—a record for an Australian domestic game.

Now into its fourth season, the A-League has gone from strength to strength, although some critics have cited lower crowd numbers this year, most see this as the natural fall off from Australia's 2006 World Cup campaign.

Australian teams are now eligible to compete in the AFC Champions League with Adelaide United making it to the final in only the second campaign by Australian representatives. Quite an achievement considering the salary-cap restrictions imposed on Australian teams. Adelaide are now off in Japan as the second Asian representative at the World Club Championships.

The league is set to expand in 2009 with two new teams entering the league from Queensland while 2010 will see the first test of the one-club per town policy with teams from Western Sydney and a second Melbourne team mooted.

Eventually, the league should be able to support a 16-18 team competition, overcoming the slight monotony that can sink in with an eight team competition. It is a testament to the solvency and potential of the A-League that it is going ahead with expansion plans in today's financial climate where other competitions such as the AFL have postponed the admission of any further teams.

2018 World Cup Bid

On the December 10, 2008, the Australian Government approved a grant of nearly $50 million in support of an Australian world cup bid. With the potential competition including, England, USA and China it is a measure of the development of the game in Australia that the government is willing to support such a venture.

Association football is now the No. 1 code of football by participation in Australia. If the 2018 bid is successful, participation figures would likely receive another significant boost.

So as 2008 draws to a close the World Game is taking hold in this former footballing backwater. The national league is expanding, as is the newly created National Youth League and W-League for women.

Sponsors are flocking to the competitions, participation is up and the government is supporting the lofty ambitions of the FFA. It's an exciting time to be part of the game in Australia as we watch the ugly duckling sprout it's sporting feathers.

04-12-08: What Is My Name?

Joseppio — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 10:21:02 -0500

From the list of clues below, can you guess what my name is?

Born in the mid 1960’s I was a natural sportsman from an early age, being talented at many sports other than football.
At 17 I was offered a lucrative contract to play football overseas but turned it down.
In the same year I signed professional papers with a London-based first division club.
Initially making a name in the youth team, I made a goal scoring first team debut two years later.
I was hailed as the next big thing but in seven years at the club I only managed just under 70 games—although I did come away with a cup winners medal.

My next move took me north to a team in Greater Manchester.
I was top scorer in my first season at my new club.
I saw more action there notching up over 200 games in six seasons.
The third season at my new club was ruined by a serious knee injury.
After six years it was time to hit the road again, this time heading further north.

I have often referred to my third club as my spiritual home.
I finished my career there but not before making 200+ appearances
I made my international debut at the age of 20.
I eventually played in two World Cups and one European Cup.
In my professional career I have also played as a goalkeeper, saving a penalty in my first game between the sticks.

I finished my career after 19 years and nearly 500 games with a strike rate of a goal every 2.3 games.
After my professional playing career came to an end, I had a brief stint as manager of a championship side.
Now in my forties I still play amateur football for my local club.
I made several appearances as a pundit on Sky Sports and released a book in 2002.
No longer a player or manager I am still a well-known figure in the football world.

What is my name?