Fraser says heads will roll at FFA!

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that_dood

that_dood

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http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/news/1034991/Fraser-slams-Buckley,-FFA

Former A-League boss Archie Fraser says he will be surprised if Football Federation Australia (FFA) CEO Ben Buckley is offered a new contract by the ruling body after what he describes as four years of missed opportunities under the watch of the former AFL man.

Fraser, who quit his post in April, believes Australia’s abject failure to convince more than one member of FIFA’s Executive Committee to vote for its 2022 World Cup bid could be the final straw for Buckley as well as others at FFA.

Buckley’s contract is up for renewal this month and while he insists he wants to remain under the wing of chairman Frank Lowy, he has not been forthcoming on his plans beyond that.
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Read the article because he tees off having a go at the lack of promotion, dwindling crowds, shocking A-league fixturing, lack of radio broadcasting, neglection of the A-league to focus on a failed World Cup bid, and more!

I really hope Buckley is not re-signed. he is a blight on football in Australia and by some of the comments, a few board members need to be axed as well.
 
1. A rugby person rides the initial wave to growth, the AFL person resides over obvious decline (with some massive things causing a distraction). I don't think it's as clear cut as that; however

2. It has to be said that the expansion decisions looked like the were part of a flawed process at the start, and that's proven to be the case - and that's something that sits squarely with Buckley.

Who is at fault for the flawed process that resulted in Osieck being appointed? All for the sake of one vote?
 
I doubt he'll be kept on.

The world cup bid wasnt his fault so it'd be drawing a long bow to blame him, the struggles of the A-league is something that he holds more responsibility for.

Who would likely replace him? John O Neill has said he didn't enjoy working under Frank Lowy but id love it if he came back
 

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Wasn't experience with negotiating the AFL TV rights deal one of the primary reasons for Buckley's appointment? Change is definitely needed but this experience may be invaluable when then new TV rights negotiations take place. The FFA did seem to put most eggs in the world cup basket. Let's see how they go when there are less distractions.
 
mustapha said:
Wasn't experience with negotiating the AFL TV rights deal one of the primary reasons for Buckley's appointment? Change is definitely needed but this experience may be invaluable when then new TV rights negotiations take place. The FFA did seem to put most eggs in the world cup basket. Let's see how they go when there are less distractions.
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This is reportedly his strong-point, based on what exactly remains a mystery.
 
Barkly St End said:
Who is at fault for the flawed process that resulted in Osieck being appointed? All for the sake of one vote?
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It would be a shame if FFA appointed Osieck for this reason (political above sporting) but he's doing not a bad job, and seems happy here. Franz Beck may have liked the decision but we have signed Osieck up to 2014, so I would expect that it was a 'sporting' appointment as opposed to a political one.
 
Absurd articles coming from so called soccer experts like Cockerill and Lynch basicially calling for Ben buckley's head. The emphasis on his AFL origins has gone up tenfold since the failed world cup bid.

Oh we need 'football' people in the FFA, blah , blah. :rolleyes:

History lesson - they had 'football' people running the ASF for years and it went nowhere.

Lowy looked at sports adminsitrators to improve the professionalism of the game and it still isnt capturing the attention of mainstream fans.

The underlying belief that soccer is a superior spectator game to all others has been proven wrong, dead wrong in Australia.

You cant polish a ****. Its still a domestic league with 4th or 5th level players, the best Aussie players are all overseas.

Its true the established codes have rusted on supporters, but the A league is simply not good enough to convert anywhere near enough of them to make the A league a major sporting attraction in this country.

Quite simply the AFL and to a lesser extent the NRL are far too good a product from a spectator's perspective.

This has all been said before, but as the crowds keep staying away the proof is in the pudding. Blaming a lack of promotion or media bias is just an excuse.

The A League is simply not, apart from the odd derby, going to get the public interested week in week out. The so called Asian Champions league was meant to provide a new level to Australian sport, but no-one gives a crap about some unknown Korean or japanese side - low care factor.

The only chance is to let some of the old NSL clubs (Sth melb,etc) back in and drop the franchises like Hearts, Fury, GCU. There is passion there but also risk.

If the FFA dumps Buckley and puts in 'football people they will push to admit the big NSL clubs and that is what Lowy is afraid of. Buckley will never agree to it.

In the end of the A League is in nowhere land as a result.
 
Bit harsh there mate, some good points, but some slightly over the top ones also.

Of course the very elite will play overseas, the players here should be lucky that they can earn a living full time from the game.
 
mdma said:
Bit harsh there mate, some good points, but some slightly over the top ones also.

Of course the very elite will play overseas, the players here should be lucky that they can earn a living full time from the game.
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I'm currently listening to the 442 podcat, with Hill saying that like the WC bid, the A-League has been far, far too safe.

This is evident in the FFA accepting half-arsed bids from Heart and Rovers rather than looking at NSL clubs like South Melbourne - a club with real fans, real history.

Some risk, edginess and controversy needs to be injected into the comp to generate interest - this safety first approach will see the ongling slow death of the A-League that we are currently witnessing.
 
Redb# said:
You cant polish a ****. Its still a domestic league with 4th or 5th level players, the best Aussie players are all overseas.

Its true the established codes have rusted on supporters, but the A league is simply not good enough to convert anywhere near enough of them to make the A league a major sporting attraction in this country.
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See, you're full of crap. The A-League is genuinely good to watch, and the people who are saying that it isn't have never seen a game.
 
Barkly St End said:
This is evident in the FFA accepting half-arsed bids from Heart and Rovers rather than looking at NSL clubs like South Melbourne - a club with real fans, real history.
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South Melbourne would have been the safe bid. The FFA went with a weak Rovers bid in order to break into the WS market. It's a bit like the AFL going with GC and WS instead of Tas.
 
Dimenhydrinate said:
South Melbourne would have been the safe bid. The FFA went with a weak Rovers bid in order to break into the WS market. It's a bit like the AFL going with GC and WS instead of Tas.
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Which one is safe and which one is controversial depends on one's perspective!

The FFA went with Heart for the sole reason that it wanted to shut out South Melbourne forever.

The FFA had a starting position of maintaining distance from the NSL, the old NSL clubs, and "old soccer" generally.

So from that starting position, in the eyes of the FFA, the Heart becomes the safe option - it wasn't going to countenance the possibility of a club with even remote links back to Hellas.

But I think the FFA should have dropped that whole philosophy - and that's what I mean about taking a risk rather than doing the predictable thing. At that time - it would have been a risk to run with Hellas - there would have been plenty wanting to get the knives out.

Hard to fathom what the hell was going on with the Rovers decision, but clearly it wasn't thought through sufficiently, and they have been impresssed by the personalities of the people involved, rather than the substance.
 

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Barkly St End said:
Which one is safe and which one is controversial depends on one's perspective!
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From a purely technical standpoint, South Melbourne are far safer than any of the bids the FFA has accepted so far.

- Full squad at a decent level of quality.
- Full staff.
- Suitable stadium.
- Small but dedicated fan base with a larger dormant fan base that could reappear if they rejoined the top flight.
- Established identity.
 
Dimenhydrinate said:
See, you're full of crap. The A-League is genuinely good to watch, and the people who are saying that it isn't have never seen a game.
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pretty neutral observer here, don't support a team or have hatred for any of it


have watched 90% of the foxtel games this season since watching the brisbane v adelaide game where brisbane went bezerk with 2 men sent off (first A-league game i watched, that wasn't a final)

before watching games i thought the league had lower skilled players and not alot of goals were scored (not really sure why i thought this, but thats where i was at with it)

can say i have been proven completely wrong in regards to goals scored, there have been a few dud games, but the majority are quite high scoring

the league seems to have the same problem the nbl has, anyone with REAL talent will be scooped up and melbourne and sydney seem to be s**t in both leagues which hurts the competition with televised fixturing (i seem to be watching the victory and the tigers getting beat comprehensively a bit)

but happily admit my pre-conceptions about the league were wrong, its not the premier league, but am enjoying watching the season unfold

the excitable commentator (ex player can't remember his name ) is hilarious

theres my 3 cents
 
Dimenhydrinate said:
See, you're full of crap. The A-League is genuinely good to watch, and the people who are saying that it isn't have never seen a game.
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This.

The football being played currently is the best we have seen in Australia ever IMO.

But it means nothing when it isn't being marketed to the masses and Joe Average has no idea games are being played other than a highlight or two at the end of the sports news.
 
flight23 said:
the league seems to have the same problem the nbl has, anyone with REAL talent will be scooped up and melbourne and sydney seem to be s**t in both leagues which hurts the competition with televised fixturing (i seem to be watching the victory and the tigers getting beat comprehensively a bit)
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Melbourne Victory and Sydney have both been fairly successful (two titles apiece).
 
I didn't start going to A-League games until about two years ago, and wasn't overly impressed by the standard, but being a football fan, I still enjoyed it a lot.

But since then, the league has been improving heaps and it's easily at a respectable level now. Compulsory licences for coaches clearly has a lot to do with it, and it's definitely showing in the way the teams play.

If only the standard was like this from the start when the crowds were a lot higher. But the fact that it's improved like this in a short space of time is a good sign.
 
that_dood said:
http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/news/1034991/Fraser-slams-Buckley,-FFA

Read the article because he tees off having a go at the lack of promotion, dwindling crowds, shocking A-league fixturing, lack of radio broadcasting, neglection of the A-league to focus on a failed World Cup bid, and more!

I really hope Buckley is not re-signed. he is a blight on football in Australia and by some of the comments, a few board members need to be axed as well.
Click to expand...

Ben Buckley is a superb sports administrator but has a long way to go before understanding football fans & football culture. Once he does, I think he will make an excellent CEO. Let's just hope he gets things right in the near future.

Oh and I wouldn't look all that much into Fraser's comments - he is a bitter ex employee after all.
 
Barkly St End said:
1. A rugby person rides the initial wave to growth, the AFL person resides over obvious decline (with some massive things causing a distraction). I don't think it's as clear cut as that; however

2. It has to be said that the expansion decisions looked like the were part of a flawed process at the start, and that's proven to be the case - and that's something that sits squarely with Buckley.

Who is at fault for the flawed process that resulted in Osieck being appointed? All for the sake of one vote?
Click to expand...

Osieck wasn't appointed for a World Cup vote, he was appointed because he is a good manager. And he has proved as such so far, apart from the Egypt game (where players were turning up 1-2 days before the game in any case).
 
WorldCup2022OZ said:
Oh and I wouldn't look all that much into Fraser's comments - he is a bitter ex employee after all.
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Every one of his points is valid and fair. Sure he is bitter but he should be the way he was treated. I reckon Lyall Gorman is also feeling pretty aggrieved at having no control over a league he is supposedly the head of.
 
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