We are the best - Official

[Mumbles]

Was never in doubt was it?

Totally off post but breaking news:

The FFA has announced that Sydney-born Major League Soccer senior executive Russell Sargeant will become the A-League's operations general manager.
Sargeant has spent the past decade in the US, working in administration and marketing for the San Jose Earthquakes between 2003 and 2005 and for the past eight years with the league itself. He takes up his new position in March.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/a-league/state-clubs-to-become-talent-production-lines-20130212-2eb53.html#ixzz2Kgd8j1UE

I wonder what Yankee flavour this will bring to the League.

Great see it is ofickle that we are beast.

I think Russell will have a lot to offer. His experience managing key sponsorship accounts for one and hopefully moulding this pathway from Premier league to A-League for young hopefuls. I like the U.S draft system where young eligible players (from their college system) go into a pool and the clubs take turns in selecting them one by one. It's fair and simple. Selection rights just means you get first dibs on offering a contract without a bidding war from rival clubs.

 

[adz]

The draft is an interesting idea; I like the general idea but would want more info on how the selection order is made.

It could be something that would advantage other teams and disadvantage CCM, as we have the COE set up, it could make it easier for other teams to poach our players? Depending on how it's done, we should at least get first crack at the players we've trained up before they go into the draft system.

This one's probably a good discussion on its own.

 

[MrCelery]

Another interesting thing is that the MLS actively connects with the fan base, eg: http://www.whitecapsfc.com/fans

 

[Mumbles]

The draft is an interesting idea; I like the general idea but would want more info on how the selection order is made.

It could be something that would advantage other teams and disadvantage CCM, as we have the COE set up, it could make it easier for other teams to poach our players? Depending on how it's done, we should at least get first crack at the players we've trained up before they go into the draft system.

This one's probably a good discussion on its own.

I've been following the new women's league draft in the U.S which just finished. From my understanding they select the best college players into a pool and each club gets to select one player per round starting with the club that came last in the previous season. The rounds keep going until they run out of players or the clubs withdraw.
Typically all the pro's are signed the weeks before and the draft is only for rookies/amateurs who haven't played professionally before but have excelled in the NCAA leagues.
It's considered a big deal for the colleges if one or more of their players gets drafted. Credibility!

With Mariners being the better rookie player factory it may not work in their favour to begin with. But the positive I see is it creates turn over in the youth league (instead of NCAA) which opens the doors for more young kids to come through. I'd prefer to see a requirement for each A League club to take at least 2 players per season.

 

[Atomic]

should i be editing the thread title to "we are the best"?

Don't you dare!!! Reading MF's fractured take on the English language is one of the joys of reading this forum

 

[Atomic]

Booo

 

[MagpieMariner]

I thought the original was correct. We ARE the BEAST!!!

 

[Wombat]

The draft is a joke for the HAL. The only thing we can learn from the Yanks....is Cheerleaders in short skirts. Or maybe Lingerie "soccer".

 

[dibo]

Why is it a joke?

 

[Wombat]

How is it going to work? Where are these fabulous young players going to come from. It doesn't make any sense.

 

[Mumbles]

How is it going to work? Where are these fabulous young players going to come from. It doesn't make any sense.

The Mariners have done a damn good job of finding and developing young talent. Big Ange has found a few. If Australia's state leagues can't develop 10 to 20 decent players per year it's a pretty sad future for the game.

And yes we need cheerleaders.

 

[adz]

I think we lost because we needed to be the beast rather than the best...

 

[Mumbles]

I think we lost because we needed to be the beast rather than the best...

Finding comfort in being the underdogs again?

 

[bikinigirl]

. our first two premierships came after being under extreme pressure in the closing rounds ... it's just the way we do things on the coast

 

[Gratis]

this is true we never do things the easy way

 

[Wombat]

The Mariners have done a damn good job of finding and developing young talent. Big Ange has found a few. If Australia's state leagues can't develop 10 to 20 decent players per year it's a pretty sad future for the game.

And yes we need cheerleaders.

What happens to the ones already on the books?

 

[Forum Phoenix]

+ 1 on cheerleaders. We need all the half time entertainment you can get. Besides it's about equality. The women enjoy watching Pedj all game. We need balance.

The draft... it's not that I don't want a draft perse. But personally I've been pretty concerned about our talent identification programs in this country for a long time. Seems to be improving though. Can anyone with more in depth knowledge on this comment for me.

Nope Bikini. We sure don't do things the easy way. But everything in life changes.

(Love that new smiley btw ADZ )

 

[Capn Gus Bloodbeard]

We definitely do not need cheerleaders. It's bad enough we have them at the league, and they're pretty cringeworthy. The cheerleaders in NFL matches are amazing and put a lot of effort into their performances. NRL? Every so often they'll shake a pom pom or do some half-arsed routine that looks like it was put together at 3 that morning. The last thing we need it football to share that embarrassment - and copying something which is embarrassingly used by another code is going to achieve absolutely nothing. I like an ogle as much as the next man, don't get me wrong

I was always a big fan of the makeshift band (using oil barrels and things) that Russell Crowe introduced at Souths for a while, and I think that would translate well to football.

We DO need some half time entertainment though, IMO. I'm a bit sick of seeing 10 year olds shaving a giant round logo in the middle of the pitch. The absolutely lack of ANYTHING happening at halftime is a real embarrassment - and it doesn't cost much (or anything at all) to have some sort of entertainment.

Be interesting having somebody at the top who's used to handling bigger leagues than what we have, see what happens.

 

[dibo]

The draft is a joke for the HAL. The only thing we can learn from the Yanks....is Cheerleaders in short skirts. Or maybe Lingerie "soccer".

The plan with a draft is all about pathways, in particular, providing a shop window for kids that might otherwise have been missed (read also: Matt Simon, Tom Rogic).

The draft isn't an end in itself, the key is the National Premier League - it's the new nationally consistent set of State League competitions running across the country, underpinned by a national playoff series at the end of the year and also contributing to the FFA cup. It's the natural base for expansion of the A-League and eventual introduction of promotion and relegation.

If they can build up the NPL to develop some real strength there, hopefully develop some presence, fanbase, etc. the clubs will form a genuine second tier, with something for HAL fans to be following in winter. Encourage people to take an interest in NPL clubs. If a club is particularly strong in a range of areas (finances, development pathways, supporter base) you can do as the MLS has done and give them an entry date a year or two or even three out and say "here's when you're playing in the big league - get yourself ready".

Get them to build their operations up so they're ready to start their engines and race with the big boys when the time comes. This has worked exceedingly well in the recent MLS expansions and the WSW experience shows it can be done pretty quickly.

You assist with expansion through a draft setup to function as a shared recruitment pool for clubs to fill their rosters - have it as a place for people to go to if they don't get a post-NYL gig or if they come from NPL clubs and are itching for a crack at the big time. In expansion years have an expansion draft with priority picks etc.

In most cases, clubs won't be able to stay in their ground - a Marconi for example would need to play somewhere better - but part of their startup period would be organising to sufficiently renovate their existing facilities or make arrangements to hire appropriate facilities.

If a club is relegated, it can be simply when they fall out of the system (like NQ, GC) and they should fall only to the NPL where they recover for long enough to build up for another go.

Until a pure promotion and relegation system is in place, a draft provides a clear player pathway to hop up the ladder if they've missed NYL for some reason and provides a solid recruitment base for HAL clubs.

 

[Mumbles]

Well said.

Wombat, the draft is for amateur players. Players already under contract whether youth league or A league aren't affected. If the Mariners have already invested in developing talent they have the right to keep them as do any club.

I'd like to see the pathway a little wider and more structured.

A draft is also good preseason marketing for the game. Gives media and forumites something to talk about.