A LEAGUE TO PLUG PLAYER DRAIN

[swarey]

A-League to plug player drain (SBS ARTICLE)

2 May 2008 | 16:30

Australian football prodigies like Adelaide star Nathan Burns could be convinced to postpone moves to rich overseas clubs after the A-League announced a marquee system for under-23 players.

The initiative, designed to stem Australia's player drain, will grant the A-League's franchises a salary cap exemption of $150,000 for outstanding young talent.

Burns, who will turn 20 next week, is widely regarded as the Australian competition's best young player and has already trialled with European clubs.

The striker has also indicated he could be persuaded to prolong his stay at Adelaide if offered a marquee package.

The scheme was among several changes announced by Football Federation Australia boss Ben Buckley at Friday's release of the 2008-09 A-League draw.

The competition's fourth season will begin August 15 with a grand final rematch between the Newcastle Jets and Central Coast Mariners in Newcastle, and will culminate in the first Saturday night grand final on February 28.

The league will also align with FIFA's international match dates by breaking on September 6, October 11 and November 11 this year.

"It's a very important initiative and one that we consulted with the clubs on and the players' association," Buckley said of the under-23 scheme.

"In partnership with them we can use this mechanism to try to retain players who may be enticed to go overseas on slightly larger financial incentives.

"So if the clubs use it wisely we think it has the real ability to retain some of the players who can do with an additional one, two, three years in the A-League before they may want to go overseas."

The scheme is also seen as crucial by FFA in lifting the quality of the competition after Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek said earlier this year that training in Europe was of a higher standard.

"The A-League is only three years old and the quality of play will continue to grow as we improve coaching, improve education at the talented pathway level, that we retain more of the players that are leaving to go overseas," Buckley told reporters.

The chief executive also announced a four-year extension to the naming rights sponsorship deal with car manufacturer Hyundai, saying its "significant increase" in dollars would help the league expand to 10 - and possibly 12 - teams by 2009-10.

The competition toyed with the idea of fast-tracking bids by the Gold Coast and Townsville for this season and Buckley said this week second sides from Sydney and Melbourne were also a possibility.

"It's a very, very challenging exercise to put together a team in the space of a three- or four-month period and we felt that an 18-month, 12-month lead-in would be a much better outcome," he said of the twin Queensland bids.

"Over time there's some clear benefits in having additional teams in both Sydney and Melbourne.

"It's not just about rivalries, it's about having a high quality match available to all fans of the game each week."

Among other changes announced, A-League squads will be increased from 30 to 35 to help accommodate the national youth league kicking off in round six, and the salary cap for each of the league's franchises has been increased by $100,000 to $1.9 million.

 

[midfielder]

It's like the football train has started and just keep gathering pace picking up new passangers and still has not fallen off the track.

Hope Ald keep Burns he is a good player ........... but Jedi owned him at Bluetounge.

 

[Arabmariner]

It's like the football train has started and just keep gathering pace picking up new passangers and still has not fallen off the track.

Hope Ald keep Burns he is a good player ........... but Jedi owned him at Bluetounge.

Agreed. There is no going back.Regardless of their faults the FFA is doing a decent job.Bit by bit,little by little things happen.They resist the push to move certain things too quickly ie salary cap rises,more teams etc. It will all come in time.
Anyone who doubts where this game is going only has to look back 5 or 6 years to erase these doubts.

 

[RADINHO]

Jedi is over 23 i am quite sure when the new season starts and i am not sure if we have any players that are even worth that 150k u23 our best player is boogs but is only gettin third of that or simon who is getting fifth of that.

And why don't we use that on an Eduardo Da Silva for Australia or some hot foreign player

 

[soccersensei]

It's like the football train has started and just keep gathering pace picking up new passangers and still has not fallen off the track.

Hope Ald keep Burns he is a good player ........... but Jedi owned him at Bluetounge.

Well said!!!

 

[Jesus]

Jedi is over 23 i am quite sure when the new season starts and i am not sure if we have any players that are even worth that 150k u23 our best player is boogs but is only gettin third of that or simon who is getting fifth of that.

And why don't we use that on an Eduardo Da Silva for Australia or some hot foreign player

Cant be a foreign player. For Oz clubs has to be aussie. The nix can have a kiwi.

You dont have to use the whole 150k. If you move someones 50k outside the cap, it leaves you 50k more to spend on other players.

 

[Pete]

This has been mentioned before in another thread and it's a good idea.

But unless the players are going to be getting a better development by staying in Australia, I can see agents/managers steering them clear of the extra $$ incentive to stay here.

The training facilities for some clubs in Europe are the best in the world, and the chance to get that sort of opportunity is very appealing to a serious young footballer.

And unless we can offer a brighter future for them by staying at home - and not just warehousing them and hoping they mature into great players - then they'd be better served going os if they have the potential to succeed.

Academies, Development Programs, mentoring, outside study schemes etc. will all have to be considered to provide an attractive package to any hot prospect.

 

[Jesus]

This has been mentioned before in another thread and it's a good idea.

But unless the players are going to be getting a better development by staying in Australia, I can see agents/managers steering them clear of the extra $$ incentive to stay here.

The training facilities for some clubs in Europe are the best in the world, and the chance to get that sort of opportunity is very appealing to a serious young footballer.

And unless we can offer a brighter future for them by staying at home - and not just warehousing them and hoping they mature into great players - then they'd be better served going os if they have the potential to succeed.

Academies, Development Programs, mentoring, outside study schemes etc. will all have to be considered to provide an attractive package to any hot prospect.

They are only looking at extending players for a year or so. Young players who really wont to head overseas immediatly wont change their mind. But players who are 50/50 probably will. There is no point young players heading to romania, or english 3rd or 4th division. They may as well stay another year, and try and get an offer slightly higher up.

 

[marinersman]

Maybe the FFA need to have a special policy to stop the scum player drain. ;D

 

[pche0508]

The Rub Of The Green - Analysis Of The Salary Cap Reforms

The FFA has announced some changes to the salary cap. The club's spending budget will increase from $2.25m to $2.525 million for next season, a health increase of 12%. That includes the Additional Services Agreement which is 25 per cent of the salary cap and amounts to roughly half a million dollars.

Each club will also now be able to name a Marquee Under-23's who can have a maximum salary of $150,000 excluded from the cap. The player has to be Australian, or a New Zealander for Wellington. The purpose of this particular change is to try and help the clubs maintain their best young talent. In addition, the club can also have a main Marquee player whose salary is completely excluded.

Even though there is a salary cap, the disparity between the spending of the clubs could be quite substantial. It is a well known fact that Newcastle owner Con Constantine refuses to allow ASA payments to his players so there could be a disparity of over half a million dollars there already. If a club fails to use the extra salary cap available for the Marquee and/or Under-23 Marquee player, the disparity could be significant. If Aloisi is really a million dollar player, Sydney could be spending well over one and a half million dollars more than Newcastle, and probably are. It will be interesting to see if the disparity in spending will begin to reflect in terms of results and performance on the pitch.

Marquee Under-23

In relation to the Marquee Under-23's, it seems that the PFA's proposal of 50 per cent of the wages of three Olyroos players to be outside the cap is much more functional in terms of achieving the goal of helping clubs to retain their young talent. Firstly, the extra $150,000 for one player will only operate as an effective defence against other A-League clubs. While the extra cap will be sufficient to provide a youngster with a good living in Australia, it is still pittance compared to the wages available overseas. This reality is really evidenced by the fact that ex-Sydney FC duo of Ruden and Talay are earning a much better living playing in Japan's second division. For foreign clubs, the Marquee Under-23 feature will not present a great barrier to signing the young talent they desire. In any case, the A-League is meant to be a stepping-stone for those talented enough to play abroad.

Arguable, the PFA model better encourages the development and utilisation of young players. If you can develop quality youngsters who become first-team regulars, you are effectively getting a first-team player for half the price, assuming that the club has the finances in the cover such wages. This will free up money for the club to sign other players. This could provide real incentives for clubs to engage in scouting, developing grass-root links and seriously try and bring through the kids in their squad.

Under the FFA model, there is not the same level of incentive to develop youngsters. If you have more than one high-quality youngster, the Marquee Under-23 could well work against you as one could get poached by another club as their Marquee Under-23. There is only really an incentive to develop one quality youngster so that you can utilise the additional cap. It could even be beneficial to have your other youngsters being mediocre players which will reduce their wages and free up the cap to sign other players.

Additionally, excluding half the wage of three players under the PFA model provides for more flexibility than excluding the complete or the majority of the wage of one player. However the total sum is distributed amount the three players, half of that total will be excluded and the club can vary the distribution at their discretion. If you take the same three players and completely exclude one of their salaries, the club may have to moderate the salary of the other two to fit it within the salary cap. You will probably end up with a situation where the excluded player is earning much more than the other two simply because he is Marquee Under-23. This could put the club in a difficult situation if their youngsters are fairly equally talented as they will have to decide who they will protect with the salary cap option. Will Queensland protest Zullo and hope that Kruse isn't poached? The PFA model avoids this problem as it gives the club the discretion to evenly distribute wages among the youngsters if this reflects their talent.

It is ironic feature of the FFA model that the exact opposite to the intended effect could result as a club has an abundance of quality youngsters could face a poaching barrage from A-League rivals who could utilise the Marquee Under-23 option to sign their talent. To avoid this, I would add one additional feature to the PFA model. Once a player moves from his first A-League club, he is no long eligible to have half his wage excluded. This ensures that it will become very difficult for rivals competitive with the wages that the player's current club will be able to offer. Under this system, Newcastle would probably still have the services of Bridge, Musialik and Hearfield even if the owner refuses ASA payments. This feature will help clubs reap the benefits of a successfully policy up until the point a foreign club comes knocking.

One foreseeable problem with this feature is that it could provide detrimental to a youngster who is released by a club and is trying to find another A-League club. Because that players salary will now count fully to the salary cap, teams may not be too keen to use up their limited cap in such a manner, particularly if they are signing a player for potential rather than intending him to be a regular immediately. A possible solution would be the introduction of a tribunal to hear applications of exemption. Of course, exemptions should only be granted in strict circumstances and there should be required evidence that the youngster has failed to establish himself at his former club, and hence he is not being poached as an established talent.

It will be interesting to see the practical consequences of the reforms next season and whether the clubs will be able to better hold onto their best young talent.