Australian Football Stuff - not worthy of a thread

[Rowdy]

Melbourne Victory have launched a new look home jersey with a stacked chevron the big change for the 2016/17 A-League season.

The new chevron features five stacked blocks which fade from the iconic Melbourne Victory navy, to a crisp white base.

Victory launched the new home jersey on their social media channels on Thursday night, with a mostly positive response.

 

[Rowdy]

Loving that stacked 'fade', it looks fk'n awesome.
- They'll sell a shitload of'em.

Often wished we had something similar instead of the solid line transition from yellow to blue.

 

[Wombat]

meh
not bad but not great.
Surprised its 5 lines not 3.

 

[JoyfulPenguin]

Looks a bit too busy for me but I guess I already have a natural distaste for it

 

[Rowdy]

Postecoglou lashes European leagues:

Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou has savaged standards of European football, declaring the A-League to be as good as many overseas leagues.

Returning from a scouting trip to name his latest World Cup qualifying squad, Postecoglou said he wasn't eager to head back to watch overseas-based Australians in action.

"Watch some football from Europe. It's hard to watch. It's very poor in standard," he said.

"I'm not just talking about the UK. I've just come back from Europe and I won't mention the clubs but I saw a couple of first-division games and I could have walked out at half-time.

"That's not a knock on them, it's paying credit to our competition."

Postecoglou said a case in point was Aaron Mooy, widely regarded as the best Australian in the A-League last season.

Mooy was signed by Manchester City and loaned to second-tier Huddersfield Town, where he's helped the unfashionable club climb to top of the table.

The Asian Cup-winning coach suggested anyone who was surprised needed to take off their Europe-tinted glasses.

"I'm not surprised and I don't know why we should be," he said.

"The only surprise was he wasn't picked up by a Premier League club.

"I'm sure that will happen at some point. Maybe he'll get Huddersfield up and they'll sign him.

"If anything I think he's got more in him. They haven't seen his goals yet and he'll start scoring a few as well."

Postecoglou said despite the pain, he would persist with monitoring and scouting the full gamut of footballers eligible for Socceroos duty.

"There's no one that isn't getting watched. Everyone's getting assessed by me personally," he said.

He urged any local 'Eurosnobs' wanting to watch high-quality football to tune in to the A-League.

"We shouldn't continually seek some sort of validation for our competition," he said.

"If a player does well in our competition it means he's got to be a good footballer."

The A-League kicks off on October 7 when Brisbane Roar host Melbourne Victory.

 

[sydmariner]

 

[sydmariner]

LMFAO even their NPL team can't win a grand final.

 

[Rowdy]

.......... Oh dear ...

Frank Farina sacked again after going missing:

Former Socceroos and Sydney FC coach Frank Farina has reportedly been dismissed as coach of the Fiji national team.

The 52-year-old was reportedly sacked after a poor performance by the Fijians at the Rio Olympics, in which they conceded 23 goals in three games - including a 10-0 loss to Germany.

It has been reported by the Fiji Broadcasting Corporation that Farina had not shown up to coaching committments and had failed to submit a post-Olympics report.

Farina was appointed coach of the Pacific nation in October last year after originally being employed as a technical director in 2014 after his removal as boss of Sydney FC.

The Fijian Football Association is yet to comment on the reports.

 

[Rowdy]

that Farina had not shown up to coaching committments and had failed to submit a post-Olympics report.

Most likely could be found in a 'Kava Rehab Klinic' on the outskirts of Nadi
or passed out drunk behind Ba's giant 'Soccer Ball'

 

[Rowdy]

Victory hire Ronaldo scout to lead academy:

Paulo Cardoso, the scout who discovered Cristiano Ronaldo, has signed with Melbourne Victory to be their academy football director.

Cardoso brings with him more than two decades of experience as coach, technical director and scout in elite football as the team look to improve their youth setup.

Best known for his time at Sporting Clube de Portugal, where he was the first to spot a young Ronaldo, Cardoso oversaw his development from the age of 12 until he made his senior debut at 17.

"I'm excited about this opportunity to join Melbourne Victory and I'm looking forward to helping the club establish its football academy," Cardoso said, who has also worked in South Africa, Brazil and Saudi Arabia.

Cardoso, who has also worked in South Africa, Brazil and Saudi Arabia, will play an important role in shaping Victory's philosophy and assist in developing a junior academy structure, which will feed into the club's existing NPL Victoria, National Youth League and W-League programs.

"He has excellent leadership skills, a proven ability to recruit and develop players to a world-class standard, and a football network which extends to over 40 countries," club CEO Ian Robson said.

"These are all attributes that are important to the success of our academy, which we see as critical to the further growth and prosperity of Melbourne Victory."

 

[Rowdy]

Adelaide United has unveiled its new 2016/17 home strip for the upcoming A-League season.

The reigning Premiers and Champions will defend their crowns in 2016/17 in a kit that embraces the Reds’ double-winning season last campaign.

While Guillermo Amor’s men will remain in an all-red strip, the state’s two other official colours, blue and gold, highlight the shirt, shorts, and socks

United will showcase an exclusive Champions badge with the club’s establishment date beneath the back of the collar.

The kit was designed in Bologna, Italy, and made specifically for Adelaide.

Fans are invited to accompany players at the launch event on September 24 from 12pm at the AUFC official store.

 

[dibo]

Good looking kit.

 

[Tevor]

Agree, and it has the silver star!

 

[Rowdy]

FFA come under fire from A-League and NPL:

A-League club owners have reportedly set up an association as they push for an independent commission to run the competition.

The power brokers, who have created the Australian Professional Football Clubs Association, also want the idea of the commission officially placed on the agenda for their meeting with Football Federation Australia next month, according to News Corp Australia.

The move comes after a letter in April from FFA CEO David Gallop to FIFA was leaked, where he pushed to have meetings between clubs and the global governing body postponed due to concerns they would come at the same time as broadcast negotiations.

The talks eventuated last week.

Meanwhile National Premier League club Sydney United have also threatened to "take matters into their own hands" if the FFA continue to stall on creating a nationwide second division competition.

United will host Edgeworth Eagles in Sunday's final at Edensor Park but the former National Soccer League club want more opportunities to play on the bigger stage.

"We, as a club, have been very patient, but time has run out," club boss Sam Krslovic told Fairfax media.

"We did the right thing at the start of the A-League, we supported the establishment of a new national competition even though we weren't part of it.

"But we've had enough, it's time for the game to evolve."

 

[dibo]

If Sam Krslovic wants to start a national second division, I'm all for it. Go back to the Crawford report and the PFA's APL proposal and build from there.

Seriously, if he's got the stones then all power to him.

 

[FFC Mariner]

Central Coast kids Futsal team (under 11 possibly?) just made the semis in the national schools tournament in Brisbane.

NNSW were 2nd last on the ladder, our kids were 2nd.

 

[Rowdy]

Independent A-League 'inevitable' claim club chiefs:

A-League bosses believe that an independent panel to run the competition will be introduced sooner rather than later leading to the eventual establishment of a separately run A-League.

After the establishment of the Australasian Professional Football Clubs Association (AFPCA) comprising of representatives of all ten clubs, the Football Federation Australia can expect a fiery meeting between the two parties on 12 October, as the clubs prepare to table their demands.

With the ability to set up their arguments against the backdrop of FIFA's call for the FFA to bring its constitution into line with statutes employed by its member associations around the globe, the APFCA are convinced that the increasing pressure from the global body and the Asian Football Confederation will only enhance their mission for grater autonomy.

Club bosses - who are also seeking a seat on the FFA board and a doubling of the $2.6 million salary cap once a new TV deal has been signed off - are in uncompromising mood after CEO David Gallop sought to have meetings between FIFA and FFA stakeholders shelved while also suggesting clubs "don't act in the interests of the game of football in Australia as a whole" in a letter leaked to the media.

"The end result of what is being sought, and sooner rather than later, is an independently run league like everywhere else in the world," said an APFCA source.

"It's really a case of when, not if, this will happen, perhaps along the lines of the English model, where you have the FA and the Premier League.

"Obviously when something similar is launched here you would have a close relationship between the two bodies but both would have their independence."

The clubs are particularly disturbed by the federations ongoing bid to avoid FIFA scrutiny and Gallop's comments on their values and aspirations.

"The statements attributed to David Gallop in that letter simply demonstrate the sentiments of the FFA," added the source.

"The bottom line is that the FFA feels other aspects of the game are better equipped to drive football forward than the A-league.

"The clubs don't share that belief... especially since the A-League generates around 80 per cent of the game's revenue yet gets back only about 40 per cent.

"The FFA claims the A-League is their top priority but there is nothing they have done to back that up."

The clubs are hell-bent on receiving a larger slice of the pie as the FFA seeks to double the value if its existing TV rights deal from $40 million to $80 million amidst on-going negotiations with Fox Sports and other parties.

"The reality is that unless the clubs are better funded we are nott going to be competitive and nor will the product." the source continued.

The clubs, according to the source, feel FIFA has "a lot of sympathy" for them in their push for reform and will be forced to cede their iron grasp on the game.

The source also added that the club's united face has been five years in the making, adding: "Perhaps the timing wasn't quite right before but it's natural that we should have a body representing us, because the FFA certainly don't represent us, although they are supposed to represent every aspect of football."

 

[Rowdy]

Who owns the A-League?

The FFA created it, Australian Govt. gave Federal funding to it.

Why should the Australasian Professional Football Clubs Association (AFPCA) just have it handed to them ?

How does the 'trickle down economy' work to the lower tiers of Australian Football when the AFPCA are a 'stand-alone' Rich Pricks Private Boys Club ??

 

[dibo]

The counter-argument is that they effectively bought to run it / own it by shouldering the accumulated losses over the last 11 seasons.

I'm not saying I 100% agree, but that's the counter-argument.

The Crawford Report way back in the early noughties also recommended that the league be administered separately to the federation.

 

[Rowdy]

Postecoglou calls for A-League expansion:

Australia manager Ange Postecoglou is eager to see the national competition add up to six new teams - with local derbies in Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth - to cater for what he sees as an incredible growth in the sport.

Postecoglou has used his soon-to-be published book 'Changing the Game' to challenge the sport's decision-makers, issuing a call to arms to grow the league.

Those decision-makers, Football Federation Australia, are also his employers as national team boss.

But the Asian Cup-winning coach hasn't cut the governing body any slack in comments that are likely to hurry the pace of A-League expansion on the eve of the new season.

"Consolidating at a time of growth seems counter-intuitive to me. We should be right in the middle of an investment boom," he writes.

"The A-League is a great product but it can't be what Australia needs it to be with just ten teams.

"It may be enough for a financial model in a boardroom but it's out of whack with the reality of the opportunity."

Postecoglou details his ideal Australian competition - with 15 or 16 teams, derbies in each state, running from August or September to May including finals.

"I'd be getting there as fast as I could. I'd be breaking doors down to make it happen," he writes.

"Football seems to be in an introspective mode at the moment. We're head down, dealing with today's problems.

"What are we waiting for? Let's get it done."

Postecoglou does not address a possible two-tier system, with promotion and relegation, which is impossible until 2034 at the earliest given the licenses of A-League clubs.

Speaking ahead of the book's launch on October 3, Postecoglou said he was eager to remove a cap on talent and enthusiasm.

"My push comes from a pretty simple, basic premise. More and more people are loving the game and playing the game," he told AAP.

"The one thing you don't want to do is deny young boys and girls, people that want to play the game and support the game, the opportunity to do so because of limited spots."

Changing the Game, written with Andy Harper, details Postecoglou's rise - and pitfalls - on the road to becoming Socceroos coach.

But he isn't shy of offering an opinion on the state of the sport.

Postecoglou also savaged his employers for their money-grabbing approach to staging the 2015 FFA Cup final.

The competition decider, won by Melbourne Victory over Perth Glory, was witnessed by a half-empty AAMI Park with just 15,098 people last November.

The Socceroos coach called it "a classic example" of the sport's decision-makers putting profit before sense.

"What's more important, money in the bank or the opportunity to sell out the stadium and make a statement?" he writes.

"Deciding in favour of the balance sheet is consolidation, not a growth strategy."