Indisposable Heroes

 

 

One thing society must guard against is discrimination. And one form of discrimination which seems to be snowballing is ageism. Admittedly some old people, if not adaptable to new and positive trends, can end up ruining things or outstaying their welcome. But most of them are gems and more of a balance needs to be struck. We live in a consumer culture of use and discard, where the general mindset is: what’s useful today cannot surely be relevant tomorrow. And although the Roman empire has long collapsed, the mob still bays for the blood of fallen heroes. Nowhere is this more apparent than in football, the quintessence of popular culture and eternal metaphor of life.

Last week history was made when Tottenham Hotspur finally beat Arsenal away after seventeen years. It was a historic victory and one which proved the value of older players. Arsenal did not have one player on the pitch over thirty years old, yet the player named man of the match was Tottenham’s William Gallas, a 33 year old French defender who was discarded by Arsenal before this season even started. To add salt to the wound of Arsenal’s defeat, Gallas was also made captain by Spurs coach Harry Redknapp before the game. After Tottenham’s incredible win a number of younger Spurs players like Jenas and Kaboul stressed the importance of having Gallas in the side, whose leadership qualities helped Spurs to turn their two nil deficit into a 3-2 win.

This is not to say that Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger got his just desserts for ditching Gallas. The latter is known to be a vocal character and his public outbursts at Arsenal could not have been helping Wenger’s plans. Yet although youth must have its fling, it is hard to win big matches with kids alone. Ferguson is constantly heralded as being the guy who ‘won it with the kids’ in the 95-96 season when Beckham, Giggs, Scholes etc. burst onto the scene. Yet many forget that that side was also studded with grizzled senior players like Steve Bruce, Gary Pallister, David May and Denis Irwin. Wenger seems reluctant to pay large fees to keep hold of senior players, yet although he is to be admired for the youngsters he unearths and bloods, the Arsenal coach must be fast realising that experience and maturity also possess market value.

It certainly cannot be excluded that wily old fox Wenger will mastermind a turnaround but, technically gifted as his latest Gunners side is, there seems to be something lacking with his squad. And it’s not technique or potential. We’re talking wise ol’ heads. That’s right, the over 30s veteran that barks at the boys to get stuck in, who can read the way the game is going and lead by example when putting in a few ‘Chopper Harris’ tackles or engaging in some dirty old Billy Bremner gamesmanship. All this is crucial to a winning side. An idealist is one who thinks roses make better soup than cabbages because they smell better and it appears Wenger is falling into this trap. He should recall that his Invincibles record-breaking side that ran away with the Prem in 03/04 featured veterans like Martin Keown, Sol Campbell and Ray Parlour.

Every team needs a balance of veterans and young starlets. Just ask great Scot Sir Alex Ferguson, who still unleashes his trusted pint-sized ginger ninja Paul Scholes to rip heads off opponents when things get sticky. He’s a piece of work that Scholes, at times putting his former midfield mate Keano to shame, and if he were thrown into a fridge with a rabid lioness, I’m not sure what bets I’d place on the feline surviving. Which is not to mention the value of the evergreen Ryan Giggs, albeit a balder and gaunter prospect than the fresh-faced pin-up boy of yore, but still a seasoned trickster along the wing or nipping in behind the striker. And there can be little doubt that if Beckham had followed the Ferguson code of shunning the limelight, he would still be gracing the right wing at Manchester United.
 

 

And on that note, what a force of nature is David Beckham. Long after people have claimed that he’s done and dusted, to the point that you imagine him possessing intricate varicose veins and hobbling around with a cane, the man returns from injury time and again, managing to play high octane games in the US and Europe whilst also managing the odd friendly in Australia.  This week he’s readying to face Newcastle United downunder after shaking off a knock. He is an incredible ambassador of the game and always bursting to play for his country, when he never gives less than 100 per cent. He’s a breath of fresh air and a far cry from the increasing number of young players that abandon their national side due to rejection or for no reason at all.

Which is not to mention some of Beckham’s Italian contemporaries, two of whom ruled Juventus in the days when Becks fuelled Manchester United’s forays into the European Champions League. Indeed at 36 Alex Del Piero is still an integral part of Juventus, even scoring a brilliant winner against deadly rivals AC Milan this season. Which is not to mention Del Piero’s former team-mate Filippo Inzaghi with whom Del Piero formed such a successful and unlikely little and little (meant to be little and large) striking partnership at Juve before Inzaghi moved to AC Milan, where this season he broke Gerd Mueller’s record in the European Champions League and would probably be extending it had injury not cut him short. Despite this latest setback there can be little doubt that Superpippo will be back next year to continue his goalscoring exploits, although he would by then be 38.

The duo's exploits might have also stirred their former Juventus team-mate Edgar Davids, at 37, to come out of retirement this year. He was certainly deemed fit enough to be offered a stint at Championship side Crystal Palace. Although he went on to quit early, It appears his attitude with his new team mates had more to do with his stint coming to an end than did his lack of playing ability. As useful as a senior player may be on the field of play, you certainly cannot teach an old dog new tricks!

Ageing beautifully also appears to be in evidence on the West Coast of Australia, with 35 year old Robbie Fowler rolling back the years with his hat-trick against Melbourne Victory, his 2nd and 3rd goals proving that his left foot finishing remains world class. His goals brought back memories of his infamous hat-trick against Arsenal which remains the fastest ever hat-trick in the English Premier League.

Indeed certain goal-poaching instincts and skills simply cannot be coached. But older heads also serve to put the boot in when it matters at crucial points of the game, thereby helping to drag their team-mates along. It’s probably why Capello tried to reintroduce Scholes and Carragher to his side before world cup 2010 shortly after news of Beckham’s injury made world headlines. 
 

 

 

 

Old heads also lead by example and drag their team-mates along when it matters most. Its probably why Inter Milan keep Javier Zanetti (37) on their books and refuse to let go of Materazzi (37), and why Serie A leaders AC Milan have no concerns with keeping 34 year olds Oddo, Yepes and Seedorf (often nicknamed Slowdorf) in their squad and would probably still have Maldini on their books if the latter hadn’t decided to retire at age 41.

This has been a season of indisposable heroes. Aston Villa supporters might scratch their heads about 37 year old Robert Pires having recently joined their squad but the Frenchman might yet prove an inspired acquisition if he lives up to Houllier’s former shrewd acquisition of Scottish midfielder Gary McAllister in 2000, who at 35 spurred Liverpool on to 3 trophies in one season during his solitary year there, a trophy haul which since remains unmatched by an English club.

All of which makes me think that when a player gets older he actually gets better and better. The only thing he may start to lack is the belief of fans what with the media constantly chipping away at older players’ confidence by claiming they are too old and making them scapegoats for team losses. All players certainly have dips in form, but so too have young players. Is Rooney finished? He would be if he were over 30, with just about every tabloid journalist probably lining up to call on him to call time on his career. It’s a grossly unfair trend among many club fans and media outlets to pick on an older player which is why criticism of older players often goes ignored by coaches who in fact prefer experienced players.

Why shouldn’t players last longer with the advanced training regimes and specialised diets afforded them in this day and age? Back in the pre-war and post-war days many players played until and beyond their fifties which certainly could not have been a mean task given the little protection they were afforded by referees back then. 

England legend Stanley Matthews played beyond his sixties, and Pele (arguably the world’s greatest goalscorer) retired at 37. And what about the shameless 37 year old former Socceroo Kevin Muscat, who years after making international headlines for his shocking challenge on Frenchman Christophe Dugarry, still captains the Melbourne Victory, having twice led them to the A League title after choosing to snap shins in midfield instead of defence. Muscat certainly the most famous player of Maltese background, still showing all players how far they can go if they possess enough gall.

 

 

At times managers latch onto fans' complaints that players are getting too old and claim that they’re ‘building for the future’ but often its just an excuse to justify their losses because they’re ‘blooding young players’. Which is probably why Bolton’s Kevin Davies wasn’t selected again for England after becoming the oldest England debutant since Leslie Crompton in 1950 when he was selected to play a Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro last month. Yet despite his advanced years (33) many fans have long argued that Davies should be an England regular what with his cast-iron pie arse being a useful tool with which to hold up the ball for a younger nippier striker.

Older players might at worst lose a yard of pace, but experience counts for so much more, as was evidenced by Teddy Sheringham before he hung up his boots. Here was a striker who lasted so long because he could read the game so well. It’s easy to discard older players but they’re difficult to replace. As evidenced in the Spurs-Arsenal clash, they are all too often a determining factor in close encounters, just like when Spain faced the awesome young Germany side in the semis of World Cup 2010 and old head Puyol (second oldest player on the pitch after fellow Spaniard Capdevila) popped up to bang in the winner with his shaggy head in what was a tense and close encounter. 

Conventional wisdom has usually dictated that retirement ages should be 34 max for a striker, 36 for a midfielder, 38 for a defender and 40 for a goalie, but this season the exploits of many veterans have flown into the face of this dogma. David James has broken the 40 year old mark playing in goal for Bristol and will he play on till 50? One wonders what hairstyle or woeful cream suit will he might sport at that age? Perhaps James is hoping to follow in the footsteps of the other eccentric keeper and inventor of the infamous ‘scorpion kick’, Colombian goalie Rene Higuita, who only retired earlier this year at the venerable age of 43.

For all the debate surrounding whether older players should be kept in club sides and international squads, I say let them play for as long as they want to, it’s often the media hype about how old they are that eventually gets them to pack it all in. Tell a football player – or anyone for that matter – that they’re finished for long enough and they’ll even start to believe it. But once they’re gone, they're inevitably always missed.

 

 

Nanny State

Is the western world becoming one big overregulated nanny state? We inevitably always point the finger at China, but are the warnings contained in George Orwell’s 1984 finally ringing true?

I was in a bar in Byron Bay a few years back, a bit beyond tipsy which I thought was par for the course, given that I was in a bar. Earlier my Spanish mate Jorge and I had managed to walk all the way up to the lighthouse without stepping on a brown snake or being bitten by a funnel-web and it seemed a better excuse than most to get slaughtered (and over time I’ve had some really bad ones). So I staggered up to the counter and asked the barmaid for another two Peronis, proffering a red lobster (twenty dollar note) in her direction. She shot back a look of disgust and rasped at me.

‘How much have you had to drink?’

Admittedly since the move to Sydney my alcohol intake has sunk to ridiculously low levels and two beers already had me feeling quite light-headed. So it was no lie when I replied:

‘A couple.’

The barmaid was having none of it and it took my most pitiful ‘Puss in Boots’ stare out of Shrek II to finally get her to give me another drink. 

By the time I’d reached the dance floor again to flop about some young birds that had just turned up, a squat and short skinhead of a bouncer cut a swift and diagonal beeline for me and whispered threateningly in my ear.

‘You look like you need a breath of fresh air mate.’

By no means am I a risk taker, so I obliged the little tosser by walking out of the club. There see? I’m a good boy. I could easily have floored the little runt and made a dash for it, although take it from me: in Australia (or any other country for that matter), a brush with a bouncer could be your last, no matter how famous or athletic you think you are.

But incidents like this have had me thinking: are we being overcontrolled? Isn’t the whole point of going out on the town to get drunk? Besides, although I’m not sure where my eyes went, I didn’t touch anyone, nor did I succeed in spilling a drink on anybody (a fate that often seems to befall me in nightclubs). So am I being unreasonable in stating that we’re living in a society whose institutions and figures of authority are always falling over themselves to appear to be politically correct? 


I mean on one hand it’s also true that figures of authority (if indeed a bouncer does fall under this category) get bagged a bit too much, and I guess guys like Lotito (President of Roman club SS Lazio) is to be admired for his sporting attitude after his club lost the Rome derby when saying that institutions and referees should be accorded more respect (despite questionable decisions of the referee in a game that cost his club at least a point.)

 

 

But aren’t vehement protests also in order when good faith is not accorded to citizens by those same institutions? How can you explain not being allowed to be seen carrying a bottle of booze in the street, or having to show up with a doctor’s prescription at the pharmacy all the time? Why is it that everyone except the ‘pirates’ have got to watch the same old stupid ‘piracy is a crime’ clip whenever they rent a dvd?

And it’s the same in football. There’s the vid tech, but FIFA instead gets its panties in a wad about creating a 'technical area' (a square box literally used to keep a coach from pacing too far during a match) or appointing a fourth official to make sure managers don’t raise their voices too high or players don’t take their shirts off after scoring. What a load of absolute pizzle! And therefore overregulation raises its ugly head again whilst the really important things are overlooked. So because figures of authority lack the cookies to show some muscle with real offenders, the rest of us have to be patronised and told how to breathe. It’s really becoming a bit too much.

So much so that today a manager cannot even select a team of players he wants to play. You read that right. Today the English Premier League (EPL) risks losing its brightest young English manager because they might fine him for picking a team that almost beat Aston Villa. Why? Because they think the team was weakened by his selection. It’s an absolute farce if you ask me. In a league where a messianic manager who does the impossible (Chris Hughton at Newcastle) is risking getting the chop because of an unlikely defeat to Blackburn, can the EPL seriously think that a manager would willingly play other players in his 25 man squad in a bid to lose a game?!

The roots of this problem lie in last year’s EPL season when something happened which passed by almost unnoticed. In short, Wolves manager Mick McCarthy dropped ten players from his first team squad which went on to face Manchester United and end up on the wrong side of a 3-0 stuffing. The EPL stepped in and fined Wolves for their first team coach’s squad selection, quoting rule E20 from their rulebook. Which is really stretching the wording of the law when you consider that all rule E20 says is that ‘a team should field its full strength lineup.’

When I heard of this absurd action by the EPL I was sure it would send shockwaves running through the world of football and draw rants and raves from McCarthy (if not the whole football world). Instead, Ireland’s Captain Fantastic took the decision squarely on the chin without so much as batting an eyelid (ever since the days of his head to head with Roy Keane during the 2002 world cup, Mick appears a manager who tries to sidestep controversy and a guy that prefers his team’s actions on the pitch to do the talking.) So McCarthy was silently punished for picking his own team which, as a manager, you’d think he had every right to do. On their part the EPL dished out a hefty fine to a smaller club of a few hundred thousand pounds before returning to their offices in the West End to further discuss important things like the 39^th game for a few more decades. 

Evidently they thought that the matter was done and dusted and that (in the words of McCarthy) a precedent had been set: if we think you’ve been naughty, boys, you’ll get a slap on the wrist. And before this season began, everyone seemed willing to toe the line.

When along came Ian Holloway, lovingly known by his growing list of admirers as ‘Olly, fly in the EPL ointment extraordinaire. After his charges’ gruelling encounter with Everton on Sunday 6th Nov, 'Olly dropped none less than ten first team players to play Aston Villa last Wednesday (10th Nov), his choice flying straight into the face of the EPL’s sanction against Wolves. For horror! William Tell forgot to bow to the overlord's hat! Ever an entertainer of the passionate variety, Holloway went on to engage in an endless post-match rant and rave, passionately defending his selection when it was suggested by journalists that he would be penalised by the EPL for dropping ten players.

This is going to be a real appetiser. The institutional bully of the EPL having no choice but to take on the voice of world football’s inconvenient truths. The EPL looks like it’s being left with little choice but to investigate the most outspoken manager since Jose Mourinho, a guy who’s not about to take anything on the chin, or anywhere else, without good reason.

You’ve just got to laugh. It’s just ludicrous, another case of an institution being strong with the weak and weak with the strong. Does anyone ever investigate Sir Alex Ferguson or Arsene Wenger when they decide to rest some players at Manchester United or Arsenal? Was Rafa Benitez ever fined for his rotation policy when manager of Liverpool FC? Or should UEFA perhaps punish Roy Hodgson because he fielded a weakened side against Napoli in the Europa League a few weeks back? The EPL should really be ashamed of themselves. Or alternatively, they should really try and save face by refunding Wolves last’s season’s fine and leaving Blackpool well alone. As pointed out by ‘Olly himself, Manchester United almost got the same result against Aston Villa themselves a few days after he fielded his controversial selection. And as admitted by Villa manager Gerard Houllier, ‘Olly’s irascible starting lineup had Aston Villa completely confused and almost won Blackpool the game.

If Allegri at AC Milan or Real Madrid’s Mourinho rang the changes to their side, will they be fined? Will Alex Ferguson be fined for not picking Rooney for such a long period of time even though the latter has admitted that he’s not really injured? Of course not, and therein lies the problem with applying rule E20 in such an overzealous, irrational manner. Unless there’s concrete proof of purposely fielding a weaker side or of match-fixing, the regulator should have no choice but to assume good faith on behalf of the coach and respect his selections. Can you force a player to score a goal regardless of whether Drogba or Sturridge is picked? Or are the EPL also going to try and locate the intent behind a keeper’s clanger to check if Van Der Sar was just securing a last season pay out with the bookies?

 

 

 

The league is heading into dangerous waters if it keeps up with this lunacy. They are actually paying people to investigate whether some players are better than others: that’s what it boils down to isn’t it? So some of the money paid by people to watch EPL football in the comfort of their own sofa is going towards paying these buffoons, a handful of bureaucrats, paid to investigate whether world cup veterans like Australia’s David Carney or Ghana’s Richard Kingson can contribute to a full strength squad! I must say, it’s both patronising and ludicrous.

What's also being overlooked is that ‘Olly gave a chance to four new English players in his new starting lineup (Southern having played in previous games), two of whom are EPL veterans anyway (Ormerod, Euell) and the other two new players who put in impressive debuts, with Phillips chosen again in Blackpool’s following game against West Ham. The rest of the foreign contingent that were selected were by no means football novices having played in leagues like the Dutch Eredivisie or French Ligue 1. So for blooding two promising young English players (who put in a great debut) and giving them a stab at glory, ‘Olly now faces an investigation and a fine. 

What a joke are the EPL, a competition that does an almighty zilch and wholehearted nought towards developing the game at grass-roots level in England, to the complete detriment of the national team, reducing the latest beleaguered England manager Fabio Capello to having to pick the benches of Premier league clubs and the championship (England's second division) in order to snuff out a snitch of English talent. It’s completely pathetic, and the EPL, despite being a league that earns millions, is the top tier league of a nation that always lags behind when it comes to youth development, unlike the Germans who of late seem to all too often have it right, with their rules forcing 12 homegrown players (and eligible to represent Germany) to be on the books of each team playing in the Bundlesliga.

The truth is that some action must now be taken, with the EPL’s punishment against Wolves last season leaving them between a rock and a hard place. McCarthy has justifiably heaped the pressure upon them further, having claimed that after the fine he suffered last year, action must now be taken against Blackpool FC. Indeed what’s good for the goose should be good for the gander. On his part, ‘Olly has stoked the pressure up to boiling point by claiming that if the EPL interfere with his team selection, he’ll quit. It will be a crying shame if he does and a much poorer EPL for it. ‘Olly and his band of journeymen and unknown upstarts (DJ Campbell sounds like some character straight out of a Guy Ritchie flick) have really brightened up the Premier league this year and his rants, about Wayne Rooney in particular, have been priceless.


‘Olly calls it as he sees it, which is why in an ideal world he would eventually become England manager and eventually head of the EPL. Of course there is as much chance of this happening as Brian Clough ever had of becoming England manager. After all, ‘Olly and institutions do not commonly sit in the same sentence, unlike a Russian owner and mystery, for example. But if this really is the end and the curtain’s almost about to fall, then thank you ‘Olly. We have enjoyed every step of the journey with you. 

 

No Place Like Home

Whenever any of the cousins walked into my grandmother’s house with take-away food, she’d turn her nose up at them with a suspicious stare and ask ‘where did you buy that from?’ Regardless of the answer or excuse provided she would look distinctly unimpressed. Perhaps she had a right to be cynical, given recent revelations surrounding food retailers in supposed ‘upper end of the scale’ suburbs. And furthermore, it was somewhat disrespectful to walk into an abode that produced brilliant home-made cuisine at all times of the day proffering some cheap pizza soaked in oil or a pathetic excuse for a burger from MacDonalds.

Which begs the question: why is it that when people have great things at home they feel like they have to replace them with half-baked things from outside? And spend stupid money to boot? This happens all the time in football, where good home-grown or domestic players are replaced by foreign misfits for no apparent reason. But should a league so easily forego its talented domestic players? It’s not just a good player that’s being lost, but all his loyalty and dedication to a club that’s worked hard to produce him. Just look at Steven Gerrard at Liverpool. Would Kopites rather have a multi-zillion pound Brazilian instead with twice his dribbling skills but half his attitude?

 

 

Of course not, it’s the spirit that makes a house a home, not the Olympic sized swimming pool or the big Merc parked outside. Just ask Steve Gibson, chairman of Middlesborough. The poor sod spent many fortunes on foreign mercenaries only to see his club relegated twice. And for what? One Worthington cup. Back in the days of the crazy gang, Wimbledon FC won a bleeding FA Cup against the indomitable Liverpool FC of old without a scintilla of Gibson’s major outlay. And it was a famous victory forged of rock-hard team spirit, not oodles of cash. You can’t buy spirit, and maybe that’s why Chelsea haven’t yet won the Champions League.

This might be sounding overly romantic, but it is nonetheless worth asking: why have local players become such a rarity at top level club sides? Back in the day, it was the rare overseas player that caused a stir among a club’s fans, especially if they were good (which meant they were not shipped back home the following season instead of earning money on the bench like they do nowadays), but these days domestic leagues (especially the English Premiership) are so flooded with a glut of (often average) foreign stars that it’s now the home-grown player that gets the pulses racing: like Stevie G did last week against Napoli.
 

 

These days it’s the domestic player who is the exotic prospect that captures the fan’s imagination, be it Ignazio Abate scything down Cristiano Ronaldo for AC Milan, Del Piero still outwitting Milan sides for Old Lady Juve, or young guns Kelly, Spearing, Shelvey or Eccleston featuring in famous wins for Liverpool against the likes of Napoli and Chelsea. In fact the trend seems to be slowly changing for the better, with clubs like Liverpool and Juventus showing greater faith in homegrown youth. Only last week Juve manager Del Neri expressed his full confidence in youngsters Giandonato, Buchel, Liverio and Giannetti whom he threw on against Salzburg in the Europa Cup. Indeed recent selections at Turin and Merseyside (Everton are one of few English clubs to have a large scouting network at clubs in England) are flying in the face of the seemingly endless invasion of foreign players that is causing good (if not better) domestic players to seek to thrive elsewhere. But if it ain’t broke, why fix it?

Besides, home-made players (with the possible exception of Mario Balotelli at Inter) are generally good for their club and the game in general. Roy Hodgson recently spoke of Gerrard and Carragher’s unquestioned readiness to represent their club on the field of play. Which is not to mention the phenomenal success of Barca’s home brew in the form of Xavi, Iniesta et al and the success that these same players have brought about for Spain on the international stage. These types of players are usually enduring role-models who won’t leave the club unless they are sold, players that young fans can look up to, like the former Paolo Maldini at AC Milan or Scholes and Giggs who embody Manchester United (not to mention the friend of all submissive Maltese editors, Gary Neville). And can Torres’s brace against Chelsea feel as good to local Liverpudlians as Gerrard’s goals did against Napoli? It’s a long shot.
 

 

Today, when a player is homegrown, he causes far more excitement when he stars in the starting lineup where before the same furore was created by a foreign star. It’s a funny and ironic state of affairs but one which will hopefully begin to mark a turnaround in a hopelessly lopsided modern game that always seems to favour style over substance. I mean surely the whole of West London can produce more than one player to feature in the Chelsea starting lineup? And how is it that academies like that at Everton or West Ham (following in the footsteps of Leeds Utd) can produce such a healthy supply line of first team talent whereas other clubs only seek to buy foreigners on the cheap?

And even if the talent is not available at home, shouldn’t the national league create it by developing and fostering it? It's not how good you are, it's how good you want to be, right? After the world cup, there were some interesting debates floating around about what constitutes a successful domestic league. Is it one like the Premier league that usually competes well in Europe but produces questionable and meagre talent for the English national team? Or is it a league like the Bundesliga which although not producing as many successful clubs in Europe has bred a phenomenal young national side who all of whom plied their trade in their domestic league (before Real Madrid swooped for two of them)? Which is not to mention the success of the Spanish national team, who hardly fielded any foreign based players at all when clinching the Euro and the world cup.
 

 

Recently Australia coach Holger 'Osi' Osieck stated that the A league should be a breeding ground for future Australian internationals since there is no substitute for first team football, wherever it is played. What was more interesting was hearing his talk of there being a ‘responsibility’ to help local players improve. Which in turn would imply that if players are leaving their country, then someone is not doing a good job back home or that someone abroad is offering them big carrots because they cannot do a good job of meeting their own responsibilities in their own country. Ok, it might be a case of easy brownie points for Mr Kraut, a way for Osi to outshine his predecessor Grim Pim who always dissed the A-league. At the end of the day actions will speak louder than words but given recent performances by his country's national team it's not improbable that Osi will start giving home based Aussies their break on the international scene. Ideally this attitude would be complemented by allowing a smaller number of foreigners in domestic leagues, who should only be introduced to spur a domestic tournament along qualitatively, not drown out the local talent which has the potential to shine on a bigger stage.

Recently there were sniggers heard all round when it was touted that Wayne Rooney might join Perth Glory in the A-League. But if an influx of foreign players like Rooney are going to make it impossible for local Aussies to get a game, then who on earth wants him here anyway? Together with all the petty scandals that will follow him around like a bad smell? If control of the foreign contingent in the A-League means that Australia’s domestic league can produce a competitive national team, akin to the clinical German squad produced by the Bundesliga or the successful Spanish side forged in La Liga, then foreign players and their agents can infest the domestic leagues of other ‘less responsible’ countries, to the detriment of their national sides. 

 

Bolts From The Blue

So no one expected the Rooney turnaround, but stranger things have happened. I mean look at the Serie A table. Lazio are sitting above Inter Milan with a four point lead. If you love an underdog, you cannot but agree that it is fitting. What’s even better is that the despicable ultra faction of the ‘SS’ Lazio’s fanbase, who have long contested the grounded approach of club president Claudio Lotito to the transfer market, have been served with a large slice of humble pie, despite their professed ‘love’ for their club.

Last season’s Serie A was also subject to a bolt from the blue, the early season high flyers being Sampdoria. Inevitably this led to parallels with Sampdoria’s legendary side of the early 90s that conquered the 1990-1991 Serie A in style after tasting European silverware in ‘89. These claims grew when Cassano and co. beat Mourinho’s Inter (treble winners) in their first clash. Eventually the wind in the club’s sails was lost as injury took its toll on the side. Nevertheless Del Neri’s Blucerchiati enjoyed a resurgence late on in the 2009/2010 season, going on to claim the coveted fourth spot in Serie A and European football.

Although Lazio are this season’s ‘mick o’ the moment’, nobody has yet compared this year’s side to the team that dramatically claimed the Serie A in 2000 (courtesy of Juventus losing to Perugia on a soggy pitch). And I’m not sure anyone ever will, even if results keep going the way of the Aquile. Lotito’s Lazio are an entirely different beast from the championship winning side built by Sergio Cragnotti, the first most notable difference being the tran$fer kitty made available in Lazio’s war chest.

Many football fans will recall the exciting and heady days when the boss of Cirio would whip out a cool 18million quid for Seba Veron, with Christian Vieri arriving for a single season for 19million quid and Crespo brought over from Parma for a then world record 35 million quid. Hardly have football headlines ever been so exciting, in a time when English football was only just beginning to reassert itself in Europe and the Serie A was still an elite league with Cragnotti rivalling Moratti’s spending power at Inter.

 

A difference rendered all the more notable this summer when Lotito only coughed up 10 million Euros for a single player. Which in itself presents a perhaps more significant change from Cragnotti’s Lazio, in that these days the club is not run at a huge loss, and does not risk taking up the paths of Tanzi’s Parma, Ridsdale’s Leeds or Gaydamak’s Portsmouth, (with Hicks and Gillett’s Liverpool only just missing out on this list). Unlike Cragnotti’s Lazio, Lotito’s brand need not seek to quickly offload its biggest stars, e.g. Crespo and Nesta in 2002. In fact, players like Zarate and Ledesma remain among the Aquile’s ranks despite the interminable transfer speculation which has surrounded them. Furthermore, despite the occasional ramblings of discontent in recent years from the dressing room and the club’s supporters, Lazio’s players need not endure an 80% pay cut to save the club.

Those were the incredible circumstances Lazio found themselves in 2002 when all financial hell broke loose and the club had to face up to its overspending. (Today Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini cops a lot of stick from the English press because of the war chest at his disposal. However many forget that the former Sampdoria & Lazio hero took over the Aquile in these dire circumstances in 02 and besides sparing them from relegation even managed to win the club silverware after by clinching the Italian Cup.)

Some might present the argument that Cragnotti et al are not really to blame and that football can only ever be run at a loss. So how can Lazio with its prudent income and expenditure be performing so well on the pitch? These days the sides they play do not even manage a shot on goal. The confidence in Lazio’s play has soared and derby rivals Roma cannot be looking forward to their impending encounter with the biancocelesti. According to recently appointed manager Edy Reja, the success on the field has all been down to his insistence that the club’s entire transfer kitty of ten million Euros be spent on a single player, Hernanes, who has been fundamental to recent successes (it is also worth mentioning that the wily Reja, the Serie A’s oldest coach, quietly went about obtaining Australian Mark Bresciano on a free transfer before the world cup kicked off in South Africa).
 

 

Lotito may not yet have won any major trophies but his legacy of financial stability at the club is finally paying dividends. What's more, the kids of Lazio supporters have players to look up to and who serve as role models, who won’t necessarily vanish to Milan overnight. Clubs who prudently monitor their spending have been constantly penalised by the system in the past. Few might recall former Bologna president Gazzoni Frascara’s lament in 2004 that Juventus and Bologna were the only teams in the Serie A that ran their clubs without incurring any debt, whilst angrily casting an accusatory finger at Franco Sensi’s Roma who fielded a clutch of star players without having even paid for the away tickets of Roma’s season ticket holders.

Yet the tables are set to turn with the introduction of UEFA’s financial fair play measures which will become mandatory from the season 2013 / 2014 and will doubtless hit some club owners like a bolt from the blue.  This initiative has passed almost unnoticed by many football fans due to other 'important' headlines which have been given more prominence by the ever tasteful tabloids.

It is most unwelcome news for owners who want to make a plaything out of a club they own but great news for long-suffering owners and coaches who have striven to do the right thing by their club by not exposing it to financial ruin or possible extinction. Can Leeds United supporters who these days endure championship games against the likes of Scunthorpe and Lincoln City still be grateful for their club’s run to the Champs League semis in 2001 which was aided by players Leeds could not afford in the first place? Perhaps they are, but many amongst them must now wish that success could have been achieved in a different manner.

 

 

UEFA’s new measures will seek to ensure that a club can only spend money from its earnings, thus seeking to make football more sustainable and avoid an owner coming in and then jumping ship after leaving the club with a mountain of debt. After the distasteful excess of spending witnessed in the Premier League, Serie A and Real Madrid this is a welcome development in a year of international economic crisis (and the sickening trials endured by Portsmouth last season).

Doubtless some might bemoan sheikhs and oil tycoons being unable to splash the cash on a plethora of exciting stars but these measures should at least help protect clubs from descending into oblivion due to irresponsible and egomaniacal owners. It should also ensure that players are paid on time.  One major criticism which has been levelled at these rules is that clubs that qualify for the champions league will earn such a huge windfall from their participation in the competition when compared to the other clubs in the league that a big-spending owner taking over a club that has recently missed out on the champions league (e.g. a modern version of the late Jack Walker) will be unable to lift the club into the big-time despite him footing the whole bill without leaving his club in the red. All of which threatens to make the big clubs (or at least those regularly qualifying for the champs league of late) even bigger. This is one hot potato that UEFA will have to address sooner rather than later.

All that being said, the measures should hopefully help common sense prevail again in football, and since a club’s (as opposed to an owner’s) earnings are to become of greater relevance, there could be more impetus towards making stadiums bigger and encouraging incentives for crowd attendances to rise. The sight of a half empty Riverside stadium during games might yet become a thing of yesteryear when wealthy owners realise that the best chance of splashing money on better players in the summer and / or January is not to reach for their own chequebook but to ensure that fans’ bums are back in their seats.

Meanwhile the much maligned and sensible clubs in world football like Lazio, Arsenal and Juventus will be vindicated for continuously refusing to succumb to ridiculous transfer fees beyond their means. And as evidenced so far this season, this approach should make big-spending club owners and raving ultras look like muppets.