With the longest off season in world football now upon us I will be posting not as a rabid Sydney FC fan but as a general football.fan.
During the off season my allegiance is to football and football only.
In December I shot over an e-mail to the office of Hon Kate Ellis MP Minister for youth and sport. Today I received an e-mail back, the response coinciding with news from FIFA that the deadline for expressions of interest had passed for hosting the World Cup in 2018; it was revealed that 11 countries had entered the contest
The contenders are: England, Spain/Portugal, Russia, Netherlands/Belgium, USA, Mexico, Australia, Japan, Qatar, Korea and Indonesia - plus Egypt for 2022.
The email I received was very pleasing as it outlined just how much support the Federal Government was giving Football. The $45 million bid money aside its messages like this that warm my football heart.
"Australian Government support for the growth of football in Australia is a reflection of the growing interest among the Austrlian Football community in Football and the broader sport strategy of the Government to boost participation in sport and physical activities to help build a healthier nation. The strategy paper entitled Australian sport:emerging challenges new directions was released on 6 may 2008 and can be found on the department of Health and againg website at www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/sport-australian-sport.
There was a time when previous Federal governments have been quoted as saying things like”Soccer is not part of Australian mainstream culture”
Well how things have changed.
God was second choice to Jade North
So Robbie Fowler has signed up to play for the North Queensland Fury after Jade North quit the club to play in Korea. Isn’t 70% of Queensland in flood mode at the moment? Perhaps the heat will be the least of their worries. Has anyone asked God how he felt when he realised he was second choice marquee to Jade North. You can hear Robbie’s scoucer accent reply “who is Jade North?
Have you seen my chopper?
While North Queensland has made the news with the Robbie Fowler signing, Miron Bleiberg coach of Gold Coast United has been on TV telling everyone who will listen that “I have a very rich boss who has two pilots and they fly helicopters and my boss lets me fly in them all the time” Mad Miron is going to be entertaining next season we can all bet on that.
Sydney FC and their one season wonder Czech coach.
For all the talk about stability being the most important ingredient for a Football club it is encouraging to see the trend of Sydney FC owners bucking the stability trend by hiring Czech boss Vitezslav Lavicka on a one year contract only.
These are actual quotes from the following Four Four Two article
http://au.fourfourtwo.com/news/95590,czech-to-bounce-after-a-year.aspx
"We are looking at this as a long-term solution (but) we have to respect the fact that - coming from the Czech Republic - living over here is a lot different to living in Europe," Kamasz said.
Although conceding Lavicka's grasp of English was 'basic' but there was no problem with his 'football English', Kamasz hailed the former Sparta Prague coach's signing as a momentous occasion in Sydney's history.
So from the above article we can ascertain that the new coach wants to leave after one year because living in Europe is different to living in Australia. And he might not like Australia that much. And the coach has good Football English hopefully he knows shoot, pass, tackle, save, win, run, and don’t lose.
The pedigree he holds will be the highest of any of the A-League coaches. He won a championship in the Czech league he has coached in the Uefa cup and has the highest coaching badge you can get in Uefa.
Lavicka was the former coach of Sparta Prague, I have been to Prague a beautiful city untouched by ravages of World War Two filled with cheap beer the most beautiful stony faced women in the world and mullets.
The Czech national team always qualifies for World Cups and Euro championships regularly hopefully Sydney FC can gain something positive from this Czech experience.
What concerns me most is that Lavicka will most likely need to educate and train much of the Sydney squad heavily if they are to adapt to the East European school of football. We can't expect them to be as technically proficient as Czechs, so it will take time for them to adapt.
ReplyDeleteBut time isn't something Lavicka has, evidently
*Produces image of monkey trying to fit cube into cylindrical gap*
Hopefully a longer season with new teams and bringing coaches from Europe will stop national team coaches saying things like "training in for a European club is better than playing in the A-league"
ReplyDeleteand maybe Sydney FC could take note of Chelsea's case with scolari. the language barrier for a gaffer isnt easy. its all about getting the message across u know, and as an aussie living in germany, i know for sure that can be frustrating when u dont the speak the language well. nonetheless, i commend Sydney fc's decision to try something new
ReplyDeleteHey Ben good to hear from you. I see a lot of potential comical press conferences that will occur and hopefully the translator has a sense of humour otherwise that Czech dry wit will go to waste.
ReplyDeleteWhere abouts in Germany are you living?
Just had a look at your blog and have added you to the list.
ReplyDeleteWhich team do you follow in Germany?