Time for a coaching revolution?

[David Votoupal]

How many feel that there is a greater urgency in the need for a coaching revolution in this country, and especially in the A-League? The reason being that too little new blood in coaching, too little outside influence, is causing something of a stagnation in this competition.

We have to ask ourselves how the standard of the league can possibly improve without an improvement on the coaching and tactical side of things, and how it's affecting player development- especially when so many of these players are touted as future Socceroos and candidates for a move abroad, where technical standards and tactical awareness are invariably higher- even in the lower leagues of Europe, and I'm sure the best managers there would wipe the floor clean tactically.

The solution is not to discard local coaches altogether, but import at least moderately well-known foreign coaches with proven records to show everyone in the league how it's done. This is exactly how Japan got its act together when the J-League began in the early 90s- and some very high profile coaches, including one who now managers in the Premiership, passed through the ranks and left an undeniable influence on many aspects of the Japanese game- and now we see Japanese coaches like Akira Nishino who have won the ACL with Gamba, clearly bearing the stamp of that influence. It's time we broaden our horizons and do the same here.

I can tout people who'd be most welcome on our shores to do the same things that foreign coaches had done in Japan. Surely it's not out of reach? How can progress be possible then if we were to stubbornly ignore such opportunities.

 

[dibo]

cbf digging them up, but the FFA has put out numerous publications talking about coach education and has hosted a number of coaching schools around the country. with the national development plan there's a whole coaching curriculum etc.

the problem is that while it's great for the FFA to talk, it's up to the federations to deliver, and they're too busy having arguments over important things like whether bonnyrigg should play in the NSWPL.

 

[brett]

I agree with DV. If Clive Palmer has so much money to burn that he wants the salary cap lifted, why didn't he spend some money and get in an international manager instead of Miron?

It would only take 1 or 2 overseas managers at A-League clubs to show the rest of the competition the way. Promising Aussies like Aurelio Vidmar would develop faster by coming up against these sorts of tacticians. I feel like one of the reasons the league has become a bit stagnant this year is that the football is one-dimensional and predictable, even if the results are unpredictable.

Dibo - what you're talking about it more about the coaching cirriculum. That means coaches who teach 13-year-olds how to use the ball and retain possession. DV is talking about A-League managers bringing a more sophisticated style to the national comp, which would be great.

I watch a fair bit of Sydney FC live, and Stuart Musialik is great to watch. Tackling, retaining possesion, passing range, and even goals this year are all great attributes of his. In his position, most of the developing he needs to do now is in his brain. He needs to learn how to better dictate the tempo and steer the team, and perfect his positioning. I would say no manager here is really going to offer him the information he needs to learn that, or play a brand of football to suit it.

 

[Redline]

The only coaches I have any respect for are Vidmar, LM and Mitchell over at Perth.

 

[David Votoupal]

Let me list a few coaches:
Zdenek Zeman- a 4-3-3 attacking football zealot who achieved much with Foggia, Lazio and Lecce. Brought through such players as Signori and Baiano.

Giovanni Galeone- another preacher of 4-3-3 attacking football who managed four promotions, two of them with Pescara.

Joel Muller- runners-up in Ligue 1 with Metz and Lens, brought through Robert Pires.

Daniel Leclercq- Ligue 1 title with Metz.

Alan Buckley- attactive football brought memorable League Cup run with Walsall and 3 promotions in his first two spells in charge of Grimsby.

See, those are credentials FAR beyond what any A-League coach has done so far and would represent a measurable improvement.

 

[FFC Mariner]

Might it be time for a coaching revolution in Gosford?

Just putting it out there

 

[clarence]

TBH, I thought at the national level, the greater priority IMHO was a need for a better standard level of refereeing.

But yes, a better standard of managers/coaches at the A-League level is on the cards.

But what can you do when the clubs themselves bring in the likes of Kosmina when they had ample money to lash out on a better overseas manager? (Mind you, word would have quickly spread about Sydney's handling of Littbarski and Butcher, so getting overseas managers interested in Sydney is probably going to be a problem)

In our case, Lawrie is probably only a few seasons away (if that) from handing the reins over to someone else. With the Academy on the drawing board, I can see Lawrie heading up a role in the Academy once it is completed.

The FFA has done the best it can to prepare the younger players and also provide a better training curriculum for the coaches of younger players, so it is possibly safe to assume that this will have a flow on effect with future coaches being more savvy at the job than the current bunch of A-League local coaches and managers we have.

I think, David, that getting foreign managers in is something that A-League clubs should be thinking about if and when the opportunity presents itself, but getting good managers (as opposed to jokes like Butcher) is hard to find at a decent wage.

 

[David Votoupal]

Let's look at the foreign coaches that have come here.

Richard Money- got Newcastle to the top 4 in V1. Only one to have had ANY kind of success since leaving Australia, taking Walsall to the League Two title and re-establishing them in their traditional third tier station.

Steve McMahon- sure, he got promotion with Swindon and Blackpool, but he is regarded especially by Swindon fans as a bad manager (who left the club bleeding red ink and have never recovered). Perth actually were contenders for finals in V1 and in the end just missed out.

Pierre Littbarski- has never done anything of note as a coach before or after Sydney FC. At Sydney FC he had the good luck of having a team signed up before he was appointed (part of the reason they're in the mess they are in right now), and a great deal of luck in the finals and the Grand Final.

Terry Butcher- he did well to keep Sydney in the four considering injuries and boardroom shennenigans, however dire the football was. He failed miserably as a manager in England with Coventry (who never really recovered), Sunderland (left them facing relegation to the third tier) and Brentford (7-0 loss at Peterborough last season???). Admittedly was successful at Motherwell in what were dire circumstances.

See, NONE of those coaches are of the calibre of the ones I propose, in terms of quality and achievements and that shows our clubs haven't tried hard enough.

 

[fruitbat]

Let's look at the foreign coaches that have come here.

Richard Money- got Newcastle to the top 4 in V1. Only one to have had ANY kind of success since leaving Australia, taking Walsall to the League Two title and re-establishing them in their traditional third tier station.

Steve McMahon- sure, he got promotion with Swindon and Blackpool, but he is regarded especially by Swindon fans as a bad manager (who left the club bleeding red ink and have never recovered). Perth actually were contenders for finals in V1 and in the end just missed out.

Pierre Littbarski- has never done anything of note as a coach before or after Sydney FC. At Sydney FC he had the good luck of having a team signed up before he was appointed (part of the reason they're in the mess they are in right now), and a great deal of luck in the finals and the Grand Final.

Terry Butcher- he did well to keep Sydney in the four considering injuries and boardroom shennenigans, however dire the football was. He failed miserably as a manager in England with Coventry (who never really recovered), Sunderland (left them facing relegation to the third tier) and Brentford (7-0 loss at Peterborough last season???). Admittedly was successful at Motherwell in what were dire circumstances.

See, NONE of those coaches are of the calibre of the ones I propose, in terms of quality and achievements and that shows our clubs haven't tried hard enough.

Excellent idea.
We bring marquee players into the league so why not coaches too?
Dont forget the influence that overseas coaches have made on the success of the national teams too. (Venables Hiddink & Verbeek).

 

[Bear]

Marquee refs 1st plz

 

[David Votoupal]

Well that's what I've been saying... instead of going for over-the-hill marquees to improve our league, we'd be much better off going for coaches who would improve what we have in our players. We need to take inspiration from somewhere, that's how emerging/developing football nations got it right.

 

[FFC Mariner]

As a contrary view, we wont develop quality Australian coaches unless we let people actually coach. If we fill the HAL with overseas coaches, where's the incentive for the vidmar's etc.

 

[David Votoupal]

That's not what I'm getting. I think our coaches will have all the time to learn and become just as good, as we have seen in Japan. Look at the influence of foreign coaches have had in allowing Japan to produce such good coaches as Akira Nishino, who had everyone raving about Gamba as they won the ACL.

It's not just Japan, we can even see it in African countries which actually have a VERY long football tradition, arguably longer than that of much of Asia.

 

[brett]

As a contrary view, we wont develop quality Australian coaches unless we let people actually coach. If we fill the HAL with overseas coaches, where's the incentive for the vidmar's etc.

Fair point, but as the league gets more teams, you can have a mix. And I'd also like to see the Vidmars of the A-League going overseas to get out of this fishbowl and learn something new. It's no point making Aurelio the next Socceroos manager. The Aussies should have to do the hard yards first, either in a place like Japan, or as a number 2 to a decent coach of an overseas national team.