A-Leagues & Football Australia General Chat and News Thread

[Colonial]

Great to see another 20k stadium


But

How the hell can't Brisbane, Wellington and Sydney get it done when a beach regional outpost with no professional sports teams can?

 

[giggler99]

Uncle Ernie bites the dust!

Newcastle Jets part ways with Ernie Merrick

Newcastle Jets can advise that Hyundai A-League Head Coach, Ernie Merrick will leave the Club, effective immediately.
He joined the Club in 2017 and took the Newcastle Jets to a Grand Final in his inaugural season, but with the side currently sitting bottom of the Hyundai A-League the Club’s ownership and senior management have taken the decision to part ways with Merrick.
The search for a new Head Coach is already in progress, with Westfield W-League Head Coach, Craig Deans and Hyundai A-League Assistant Coach, Qiang Li to step in for the interim.
There have been no changes to other coaching or football staff at the Club.
Newcastle Jets CEO, Lawrie McKinna, thanked Merrick for his efforts during his time in Newcastle.
“During Ernie’s tenure, the Club reached it’s first Grand Final in more than ten years and we’re grateful for his contribution during his two and a half years in Newcastle,” McKinna said.
“However, results and performances haven’t been good enough this season and a change was needed.
“On behalf of everyone at the Club, I wish Ernie all the best in his future endeavours.”

Newcastle Jets part ways with Ernie Merrick

Newcastle Jets can advise that Hyundai A-League Head Coach, Ernie Merrick will leave the Club, effective immediately. He joined the Club in 2017 and took the Newcastle Jets to a Grand Final in his inaugural season, but with the side...

www.newcastlejets.com.au

 

[gaskin]

It was coming. They have been dire for a while now and I'm surprised he lasted as long as he did TBH.

 

[nobbyiscool]

They can't afford players. They can't even afford a full staff (they never replaced Zane.)

What were they expecting? And who is going to take that on as a good job? You're only going to get someone desperately seeking a last option (eg. John Aloisi.)

 

[acm21]

I feel really sorry for him, he has had to deal with some really average players. But even last year he had a pretty massive fall from grace (with the only real reason he probably lasted was because of what he did the year previous). Even though he is very experienced, he has always really had a really good start and then it just falls apart. I reckon they will keep one or both interim coaches until the end of the season and then work out from there what needs to be done.


Sent from my iPad using BigFooty.com

 

[giggler99]

Open season: A-League urged to explore feasibility of winter switch
Vince Rugari

A winter calendar would align the A-League not only with Asian leagues but the state-based competitions throughout Australia, removing one of the major obstacles to the ultimate goal of a top-to-bottom football pyramid with promotion and relegation.

It would also present a raft of significant challenges, not least the availability of stadia during AFL, NRL and Super Rugby season, and the prospect of being drowned out in media space by rival sports. Those are the chief reasons why a switch is not on the A-League's radar and viewed as completely unworkable by FFA, as well as the fact that current broadcasters Fox Sports would almost certainly not be supportive.
But with the A-League's television ratings and attendances on a concerning downward trajectory, and the competition failing to capitalise on the "clear air"of summer, the time is nigh for some "out-of-the-box thinking" and research, according to broadcast rights advisor Colin Smith.
"You're being swamped as it is," Smith, the head of consultancy Global Media & Sports, told the Herald.
"Where 12 months ago I would have said definitively 'no, that's the craziest thing they could do', because of the shape it's in now, it is time to rethink things."
Smith, who has brokered numerous deals between broadcasters and sports for over 20 years, believes it could be that European leagues in England, Spain and Italy are the A-League's biggest competitor for viewership and fan engagement, not the AFL or NRL.
"Right now, as a broadcast, fan engagement product, the A-League is probably the worst its been since its inception," Smith said.
"If I was the A-League, I'd think it's time to do a really detailed and comprehensive analysis of the business case [for playing in winter] and it's something I'd be talking to broadcasters about.
"It could be then attractive to an Optus to then say, 'wow, that means we can actually have wall-to-wall football 12 months of the year, we become the home of football in Australia'."

Officials called off a Big Bash League cricket match after Manuka Oval was engulfed in smoke in Canberra last month.Credit:AAP
Professional Footballers Australia chief executive John Didulica is also supportive of broaching what he said was an "incredibly complex" topic.
The old National Soccer League switched to summer for the 1989-90 season, primarily to escape the long shadows of the AFL and NRL – a decision Didulica said has largely proved to be incredibly successful.
Didulica acknowledged a move back to winter would have profound implications for grassroots football and facilities access, but he said no long-term plan for the sport would be complete without a thorough examination of which is the most optimal season window for football.
"These are the discussions we need to have," Didulica said. "The broadcast deal's up in 2023. The question is whether it gets tied into a bigger discussion around the integration of our football vision.
"Ultimately, we want to be selling our best product. That's the way to maximise value. If we're looking ahead 15, 20, 30 years, are we putting ourselves in a position where it's impossible to deliver a product of requisite quality as well as managing player welfare issues?
"With so many other things in flux, I think it's a really timely opportunity to reset and discuss everything. There should be no policy matter that can't be revisited over the next two or three years."
The current A-League regulations allow for games to be moved when forecasts exceed a prescribed "Wet Bulb Globe Temperature" reading, but players and fans often complain that the threshold is too high.
"It's just a lot more physically demanding," Sydney FC midfielder Paulo Retre said after Saturday's 2-1 win over Adelaide United, which was played in draining 35-degree heat at Kogarah.
"You make a couple of runs and you just feel out of breath. Things that you think maybe you could normally get to or you feel like you could be in the right position, you're just maybe not there.
"To be honest, it is tough. Whether [the answer is] scheduling games on a different day or even a time change, I'm not sure, but today it was really tough."

Open season: A-League urged to explore feasibility of winter switch

Thirty years after the idea of summer soccer was first raised, there is a growing belief within some sections of the game that the A-League may be better off in winter.

www.smh.com.au

thoughts? Should the A-league take the risk?

 

[Quivorir]

They'd lose me to the game probably. AFL is the priority over the winter. I doubt I'd even watch an A League game let alone attend one if they ran at the same time.

 

[bok_party]

Yeah I’m not sure it would improve things. People would probably rather play than watch an a league game.

 

[giggler99]

Yeah I’m not sure it would improve things. People would probably rather play than watch an a league game.

Couldn't be any worse then it is now really.
The only good thing about it is that it will realign with all the state leagues thus making it easier one day to implement a pyramid system.

 

[gaskin]

As someone who goes to both the AFL and WAFL during winter, I really don't want the A-League moved to winter. There is no way it can compete with both the AFL and NRL.

 

[bok_party]

Couldn't be any worse then it is now really.
The only good thing about it is that it will realign with all the state leagues thus making it easier one day to implement a pyramid system.

Yeah I mean that’s ideal and logical but in our sporting environment it doesn’t make sense. They just have to schedule games better. Take Glory for example. They cater to fox and the eastern states but then games are from between 3pm and 6pm during a scorching summer and it affects attendances or they schedule it against the scorchers and wildcats. People love watching multiple sports these days and will go to other sports so they aren’t really giving themselves the best opportunity to get the highest attendance possible.

 

[nobbyiscool]

I don't know how I feel about it, but I agree it's a conversation that we need to have. Not only because of the league stagnating, but because the league risks becoming untenable playing in stifling heat. At some point we have to give a s**t about the players.

The problem is we don't have a history of consulting all stakeholders in Australian football. Ultimately broadcasters will make the decision, and fans will be ignored.

 

[acm21]

Western united is moving a game to whitten oval

 

[Elmer_Judd]

I don't know how I feel about it, but I agree it's a conversation that we need to have. Not only because of the league stagnating, but because the league risks becoming untenable playing in stifling heat. At some point we have to give a s**t about the players.

The problem is we don't have a history of consulting all stakeholders in Australian football. Ultimately broadcasters will make the decision, and fans will be ignored.

Just wait for all the sooking about the 'stifling heat'at the Qatar World Cup in 2022 (which I still think is a good thing, despite sooking about their human rights and social policies, which is more progressive than many Mid East Nations)

Solution is fairly obvious, have all A League games at an twilight/night fixture, bring in a couple more teams, and you can pretty much have an HAL game on practically every single game of the calendar week, extend the season and league teams involved, problem solved.

 

[acm21]

Just wait for all the sooking about the 'stifling heat'at the Qatar World Cup in 2022 (which I still think is a good thing, despite sooking about their human rights and social policies, which is more progressive than many Mid East Nations)

Solution is fairly obvious, have all A League games at an twilight/night fixture, bring in a couple more teams, and you can pretty much have an HAL game on practically every single game of the calendar week, extend the season and league teams involved, problem solved.

Would be good to have a lot more games during the school holiday period. Would say 3 more teams would be good with one up in nqld, canberra and maybe another Adelaide side. Summer league would still be good to have just needs a rethink on timing and ground usage.

 

[SM]

Just wait for all the sooking about the 'stifling heat'at the Qatar World Cup in 2022 (which I still think is a good thing, despite sooking about their human rights and social policies, which is more progressive than many Mid East Nations)

Solution is fairly obvious, have all A League games at an twilight/night fixture, bring in a couple more teams, and you can pretty much have an HAL game on practically every single game of the calendar week, extend the season and league teams involved, problem solved.

Crowds would be destroyed lol.

 

[giggler99]

Good read, well written!

A-League's 'avalanche' of problems steering towards NSL fate

By Lucy Zelic

Over 13,000 fans piled through the gates to take their pride of place at what was then known as Energy Australia Stadium, where there was an element of surrealism in the atmosphere.
The Jets lost 1-0 that night thanks to a Carl Veart strike in the 19th minute but the results of that round weren’t leading the headlines - after a 12 month hiatus, the beautiful game had made its sensational comeback and so too had the fans’ mercurial inamorato for Australian football.
Merely a year prior, the National Soccer League suffered through its tragic demise and depending on who you speak to, the nostalgic attachment to that particular era is still palpable today.
From witnessing a young Mark Viduka’s spellbinding talent to watching Perth Glory striker Bobby Despotovski infamously gave the three finger salute to Melbourne Knights fans - moments like these were etched into domestic folklore and represented a level of storytelling that transcended the pitch and rival codes.
Through its people, the NSL managed to transmit the very soul of who Australian’s were - a passionate and diverse mix of immigrants who with them, brought their infectious penchant for food, family and of course, the beautiful game.
Romanticism aside, the league wasn’t without its issues but it produced an inordinate amount of wildly talented characters who would go on to carve out hugely successful careers abroad.
They were our pride and joy; our “golden generation” and still to this day, the NSL diaspora will preach that we haven’t been able to produce a similar ilk of talent since.
When the A-League was proposed, it was off the back of Frank Lowy’s announcement in October 2003 that a task force had been assembled to develop a new national competition.
What was trumpeted then, is still very much apart of the customary suit and tie rhetoric now - we’ve learned from the mistakes of the past and are setting out to make things right.
At the time, there was a genuine sense of optimism from a variety of stakeholders because the bells and whistles sounded in all the places you would expect from a professional league.
There was an official broadcaster, a major sponsor and lure of Australian football royalty, and the likes of Dwight Yorke to Sydney FC upheld the governing body’s promissory note that a new age was on the horizon.
A statement of intent had been made and by all accounts the first season of the A-League was championed as a success with even the highly skeptical being forced to stand up and take notice.
Though, sadly for many, their unfettered attachment to the clubs that preserved and celebrated their foreign identities saw them accuse the status quo of being “soulless”.
Not even geography or titles were enough to lure this displaced cohort because to them, football was more than just about winning trophies.
They had been shown the ultimate disrespect when they were told to become more “inclusive” because the irony was, one of the only ways they felt included in this foreign land was through their football clubs, which to them, had now been decimated by their faceless foes perched atop their ivory tower.
This belief gave birth to the “old soccer versus new soccer” war which still rages on today.
Depending on which side of the battle lines you sit, one seemingly shared belief is that 15 years on from the A-League’s inception, the league has begun to suffer from a fate eerily similar to that of its dead and buried predecessor.
The competition’s rap sheet is a long and painful read.
The unsavoury treatment of fans, inadequate free-to-air access for the public, unsuitable stadia, exorbitant ticket prices, the strangulation of active support, competing in summer, the failure to capitalise on the popularity at the grassroots level and poor leadership at the governance level are the leading perpetrators.
The failed expansion attempts in North Queensland and the Gold Coast were ill-advised laboratory experiments that should never have gone ahead.
Worse yet, the lack of strategic enterprise around expanding the competition from the time the league was established has fuelled the mess we are in today.
We’ve witnessed the Lowy family dynasty rise and subsequently fall, and with the changing of the guard have come a new set of promises, actions and problems.
The expansion announcement in December 2018 gave a semblance of hope to the football populous but it was subsequently dashed after the dramatic sacking of Alen Stajcic, which, rightly or wrongly, was handled terribly; both internally and publicly.
However, it goes without saying that the new board have attempted to make inroads.
They announced in March last year that the existing National Club Identity Policy would finally be replaced with a new Diversity and Inclusion Policy, revealed that a New Leagues Working Group had been formed to give autonomy to the A-League owners and that a National Second Division Steering Committee had been forged.
There are justifiably shared concerns amongst the community that the switch to an independent A-League have proposed a new set of problems.
It’s precisely what Steven Lowy was eluding to in his final press conference in August 2018 when he told us he would not be running for re-election and to “be careful what you wish for.”
Whilst the official changeover is yet to occur and won’t for sometime, the fact that the owners couldn’t agree on something as simple as a marketing campaign for this season is worrying beyond measure.
Although Steven Lowy’s legacy at the FFA was left somewhat besmirched, he understood what was coming and although it may taste like poison to some, admitting that he may have been right isn’t all that absurd.
Respectfully, David Gallop’s role as CEO attracted less than desirable opinions for the duration of his tenure but now, James Johnson has been given an opportunity and a clean slate to enact the change we all want to see in the game.
With a sip of rationality, we can all agree that some positive baby steps have been made but for now they are still just words and the far scarier proposition is whether or not the damage has already been done.
It begs the question: what will it take for the fans to come back?
When the expansion announcement was made in 2018, it was welcomed by an increasingly disgruntled football populous, but after three short months, Western United’s admission into the league hasn’t delivered the injection of life many of us were hoping for.
The reality is, we cannot expand our way out of trouble.
While our derbies continue to be the competition’s major selling point, the remaining fixtures suffer and without promotion/relegation or an Alessandro Del Piero to prop up the league, the game has well and truly reached a point of stagnation.
It would not be unreasonable to assert that Australian football’s reputation continues to take a dive and its beginning to show through crowd attendances, television ratings and the news that sponsors like Aldi and Caltex have abandoned their financial ties with FFA.
Back in 2016, FFA announced the unprecedented six year, $346 million dollar deal it struck with broadcaster Fox Sports who have provided economic stability to the league from day one with little reward.
Will they continue to provide said support once the deal expires or will they too, walk away?
These issues, in addition to an avalanche of others are all problems the owners, FFA and the game in this country continue to face and should they remain unchanged, I fear our future is destined for the same fate no different to that of the NSL.
With the way the game has been treated, it surely looks that way and instead of being labelled a pessimist by the powers-that-be, at what point does this view become that of a realist?

A-League's 'avalanche' of problems steering towards NSL fate

I still remember my first A-League game like it was yesterday. It was a bitterly cold night in August, 2005 and together with my family, we journeyed from Canberra to Newcastle to support my brother Ned as the Richard Money-led Jets hosted Adelaide United in the inaugural season’s first-ever match.

theworldgame.sbs.com.au

 

[giggler99]

The A-League must move on from its ‘archaic’ transfer system. Here’s how it’s done

Football agent Paddy Dominguez says the A-League must move on from its ‘archaic’ transfer system and create a new economy if it wants to grow and compete with other leagues across the globe.
Dominguez, who has been a player agent for 30 years and has brokered deals for the likes of Aaron Mooy and Jamie MacLaren, told Fox Football Podcast host Adam Peacock that the A-League needs to create a financial transfer set up that gives players a dollar value — rather than just in-house swaps with zero fees.

If the competition wants to be recognised on a global scale by potential international suitors who are hoping to poach talent from Australian shores, Dominguez has urged the A-League to step up its game in regards to the transfer system itself.

“Initially the thought process behind creating the A-League was to centralise everything and to put a salary cap on to give us a stable base to grow from rather than just allowing people to spend as much money as they want and create haves and have-nots very quickly. It’s also to make the clubs sustainable in the early days. You could look back now in hindsight and say that maybe that didn’t work because the owners have racked up a lot of losses.

“The intentions were good, but it’s now at a stage where it needs to create an economy of football. At the moment there is no financial transfers between clubs so we’re back to an archaic barter system where two teams in the A-League have to agree to swap players.

“Traditionally when two clubs wants to swap players they have a dollar value on them, maybe it’s a player plus cash, but you can’t do that in the A-League.”

Remarkably, Riley McGree’s transfer from Club Brugge to Adelaide United was the very first fee paid by an A-League club for a player.

Dominguez claims Aussie clubs are, in fact, ‘business-minded’ and says transfers like this will be - and should become - more frequent.

“If a player like Riley (McGree) can improve significantly over a year or two then they’ll (A-League clubs) get an offer and they may even make a profit on that investment,” Dominguez said.

“It’s sheer investment for them but at the same time they get a good player.

“Australia, for all intents and purposes, is an export market. Every young player in this country if you speak to them in a park or wherever they’re kicking a football and you ask them of their dream, it’s to go and play in Europe. If I got to Brazil and I speak to a kid in a park in Brazil then it’s the same dream there — they all want to go to Europe and play at the top-end of football.

“You have to become good at being an export market. Firstly you need a local economy I believe which can kickstart it and then from there it will grow because you’ll start to have actual dollar values on people. To build it, you just need to get it started and get it started soon.

“With the A-League they’re talking about creating a transfer system in Australia and that will build that economy.”

The A-League must move on from its ‘archaic’ transfer system. Here’s how it’s done

The A-League must move on from its ‘archaic’ transfer system. Here’s how it’s done

www.foxsports.com.au

Thought's should we have transfer fees between clubs? I also think there should be a little trade period window too, but if a club say like City want to flat out buy a player off the Mariners for example than that could only be a good thing, at least he CCM know where they stand and can concentrate on being a development club and make some coin out of it! Only problem is you'll have the big clubs get even bigger!

 

[acm21]

The A-League must move on from its ‘archaic’ transfer system. Here’s how it’s done

Football agent Paddy Dominguez says the A-League must move on from its ‘archaic’ transfer system and create a new economy if it wants to grow and compete with other leagues across the globe.
Dominguez, who has been a player agent for 30 years and has brokered deals for the likes of Aaron Mooy and Jamie MacLaren, told Fox Football Podcast host Adam Peacock that the A-League needs to create a financial transfer set up that gives players a dollar value — rather than just in-house swaps with zero fees.

If the competition wants to be recognised on a global scale by potential international suitors who are hoping to poach talent from Australian shores, Dominguez has urged the A-League to step up its game in regards to the transfer system itself.

“Initially the thought process behind creating the A-League was to centralise everything and to put a salary cap on to give us a stable base to grow from rather than just allowing people to spend as much money as they want and create haves and have-nots very quickly. It’s also to make the clubs sustainable in the early days. You could look back now in hindsight and say that maybe that didn’t work because the owners have racked up a lot of losses.

“The intentions were good, but it’s now at a stage where it needs to create an economy of football. At the moment there is no financial transfers between clubs so we’re back to an archaic barter system where two teams in the A-League have to agree to swap players.

“Traditionally when two clubs wants to swap players they have a dollar value on them, maybe it’s a player plus cash, but you can’t do that in the A-League.”

Remarkably, Riley McGree’s transfer from Club Brugge to Adelaide United was the very first fee paid by an A-League club for a player.

Dominguez claims Aussie clubs are, in fact, ‘business-minded’ and says transfers like this will be - and should become - more frequent.

“If a player like Riley (McGree) can improve significantly over a year or two then they’ll (A-League clubs) get an offer and they may even make a profit on that investment,” Dominguez said.

“It’s sheer investment for them but at the same time they get a good player.

“Australia, for all intents and purposes, is an export market. Every young player in this country if you speak to them in a park or wherever they’re kicking a football and you ask them of their dream, it’s to go and play in Europe. If I got to Brazil and I speak to a kid in a park in Brazil then it’s the same dream there — they all want to go to Europe and play at the top-end of football.

“You have to become good at being an export market. Firstly you need a local economy I believe which can kickstart it and then from there it will grow because you’ll start to have actual dollar values on people. To build it, you just need to get it started and get it started soon.

“With the A-League they’re talking about creating a transfer system in Australia and that will build that economy.”

The A-League must move on from its ‘archaic’ transfer system. Here’s how it’s done

The A-League must move on from its ‘archaic’ transfer system. Here’s how it’s done

www.foxsports.com.au

Thought's should we have transfer fees between clubs? I also think there should be a little trade period window too, but if a club say like City want to flat out buy a player off the Mariners for example than that could only be a good thing, at least he CCM know where they stand and can concentrate on being a development club and make some coin out of it! Only problem is you'll have the big clubs get even bigger!

Could go either way, maybeto set up a proper trade system but monetary value within this sort of league and the varying finances/ salary cap system may be a step too far at this stage

 

[TommyD13]

Gradually remove the cap and the transfer restrictions over the next 3-5 years is the best bet for mine

 

[HulkSmash]

Trust us to have a totally screwy transfer system!

You're probably right, it'll have to be removed slowly. But to be honest, a cap isn't a bad thing, but it could be improved.

 

[giggler99]

The deadman walking finally went to the gallows

 

[Colonial]

The deadman walking finally went to the gallows

Damn it.

 

[acm21]

The deadman walking finally went to the gallows

Makes sense why they have made that decision but I do think, probably an unpopular opinion, that both babbel and Kurz have had pretty difficult hands played to them (and could have been kept on a little bit longer at least)


Sent from my iPad using BigFooty.com

 

[giggler99]

Aussie rookies don’t love football enough, warns Skoko | The World Game

As the limitations of Australia’s next generation were laid bare by the 2-0 lesson handed to the Olyroos by Korea Republic at the AFC U-23 Championship, Skoko warned that qualification for future AFC Asian Cups and FIFA World Cups will be anything but foregone conclusions.
Part of a celebrated Australian alumni including Harry Kewell, Mark Viduka, Lucas Neill, Tim Cahill, Mark Bresciano and Vince Grella, Skoko isn’t sure where successors of a similar calibre are going to come from.
A lack of A-League minutes, or a similar paucity of game time at their overseas clubs, has stunted the growth of next gen Socceroos hopefuls, whilst rival nations across Asia continue to invest and deliver opportunities to their new breed.
But he believes there’s another culprit in Australia’s failure to produce technically adroit, free-thinking footballers - a disconnect in their love for the game.
“When we were developing (back in the era of the NSL) there was this passion for the game we had, in terms of our upbringing,” said the 51-cap Socceroo.
“That was huge, we loved the game so much and would go out and train on our own after regular sessions. That’s how much it meant to us.
“Today, everything is about ‘ah we’re not training enough’. Well, go out and train by yourself.
“If you want to make it you have to do whatever it takes, no matter what.
“Now everybody is worried solely about ‘making it’ - rather than just going out there for the love it and learning skills that way.”
A one-time Premier League star at Wigan Athletic, with successful spells in Belgium, Turkey and Croatia, Skoko is back at his roots in Victoria heading up football operations at NPL club North Geelong Warriors, where former Ajax and AZ keeper Joey Didulica is on the coaching staff.
And what he’s witnessed among the next batch of hopefuls has been instructive.
With Skoko questioning the idealism of players on the one hand, he also bemoaned football’s place in Australia as a high participation but poorly funded code.
“Other countries (in Asia and elsewhere) are investing so much more than us, they have larger populations and are footballing countries, which we are not,”’added Skoko.
“So qualifying for big tournaments is going to get harder and harder. It’s going to be an achievement in itself because that’s where we’re at right now.
“We are not a footballing country. We’ve tried to act like one but we’re not. The finances aren’t there and the budgets aren’t there.
"At least, even in the less wealthy European countries, football is number one and gets the backing, so they can artificially recreate what has happened in the past (in terms of success).
“We can’t do that and just keep falling further behind.”
Watching youngsters drop into a black hole of inactivity in the crucial age group between 15 and 19 distresses Skoko, with a smattering of NYL matches and cameos of the bench at A-League level a potential career killer.
“It’s one of the biggest issues - they don’t have enough games,” he added.
“They’re not juniors, they’re not seniors ... they don’t have a league where they’re getting good exposure.
"At the same age we were getting 30 or 40 games a season (mainly in the NSL). So how do you expect them to develop?”
The closure three years ago of the Australian Institute of Sport, the Canberra-based finishing school which counted Skoko, Brett Emerton, Viduka and Grella among its graduates, was a significant loss, according to Skoko.
“About 50 percent of our group of players came through that system,” he said. “The knowledge we gained from that was huge. It was a big part of the picture.”
Asked if Australia might ever again be blessed with a golden generation mark II, Skoko replied wistfully: “It’s going to be difficult because everything came together for us as a group of players.
“The right conditions were there for it to happen, whether by design or not.
“It can't happen in the same way again. But if we are a bit more efficient about things, and funding is there and we do things a bit differently, then you give yourselves a chance.
“There’s no magic wand that will fix things. All you can do is as much as you can and hopefully things go in the right direction.”

Aussie rookies don’t love football enough, warns Skoko

Golden Generation midfielder Josip Skoko fears for the future of Australia’s national teams, insisting lack of passion from emerging youngsters allied to funding shortfalls and scant opportunities at club level are a toxic mix.

theworldgame.sbs.com.au

Skoko is on the money but it's nothing we don't already know. How about some soultions on how to fix the problem?