Sydney FC were defeated not only by a better team of 11 men on Saturday night, but by a club who are executing a plan expertly both on and off the field. Even prior to kick off it was clear the natives were restless in the Cove. Boo’s rang out loud during Farina’s announcement on the PA system. Palestinians have had warmer receptions crossing the Gaza Strip. Yet it’s about time supporters shift their ire away from the man getting paid to sit in the $10 Bunnings chair every week and take stock of the bigger picture.
Calls to sack Frank have, and will only grow as the season progresses, and given the history of the club I don’t have complete confidence he’ll still be coach by the time this article goes live to the website. The fact the club are running through managers at a rate of one a season surely reflects on the divorcer rather than the growing list of divorcees. As George Castanza proclaimed “it’s not you – it’s me.”
The reality is the club is severely lacking in leadership and clarity. The fans are told in the lead up to the season that the team is adopting a high pressing, short passing style of game; yet the coach publicly claims “winning ugly” in Brisbane would be more than acceptable. Cult hero Pascal Bosschaart is then cut loose from his contract during the week. Despite joining in with the Cove and having a brief farewell to the crowd there is no mention of his service to the club in the official program notes. However, his image is used to help sell some Adidas merchandise.
Even in the regulated environment of the salary cap, the A-League is a competition of the haves and have-nots. The Central Coast Mariners are managing to squeeze blood from the same stone every season, but the self proclaimed Bling FC are treating their inheritance like the Rat Pack treat a bucks party in Vegas. Eventually the penny has to drop and the rhetoric has to marry what we are witnessing on the field. The Mariners, Roar, Victory, Wanderers, Reds and Glory have all demonstrated what can be achieved when a manager is able to implement a sound and clear philosophy from start to finish. No short-term solutions or band-aid fixes, but a plan that is formulated and carried out across all departments of the football club.
Kevin Airs from 442 recently discussed the Sydney FC training sessions held by Rado Vidosic. He mentioned that they were among the most impressive he has seen in the A-League with a high emphasis on movement off the ball in conjunction with tactical flexibility. However, he made the more relevant point that this was fantastic in theory, but how does this apply to Richard Garcia, Brett Emerton, Matt Thompson, Del Piero and others close to or beyond the 30 year old mark? Needless to say how this is supposed to apply to other squad players whose status as an A-League level player is questionable at best.
Farina brought in a rigid, tough counter attacking approach from the start of his 2012/13 season salvaging campaign. CEO Tony Pignata informed the fans Farina would get the job full time if he qualified for the finals. Before meeting this objective he was given an extension to his contract and the team ultimately missed the finals – you remember, the single job requirement the coach had to meet? Bringing back his old colleague in Vidosic, he and the club have attempted to perform a charm offensive and talk about football from a more purist perspective. Where is the evidence that any of this is working? Imports, journeymen and youngsters are recruited and discarded at an alarming rate.
Taking a quick snapshot of the club’s hierarchy tells its own story. The owner David Traktovenko has done a magnificent job of making himself invisible. Barely a handful of interviews in 4 years and supporters have zero idea of what he wants to achieve and even if he does, how he wants to go about it. The Sydney FC board are made up of four individuals – Scott Barlow, Mark Arbib, Michael Crismale and Jamie Samaha. Chairman Barlow “has extensive experience in the finance sector”, Director Arbib was a Labor Minister, Director Crisale “is a Chartered Accountant with a strong background in corporate and small business advice”, and Director Samaha’s expertise lie in marketing services. If I wanted financial advice these four individuals would have a wealth of knowledge and experience to push me in the right direction. But these four are supposed to run a football club.
By far the most frustrating fact of the clubs predicament is that if a new coach were hired today, he’d have to start from scratch. A number of players would have to be cut and new ones brought in. There is no rhythm or reason to the squad dynamic and good luck attempting to convey to supporters a style that you can say is truly Sydney FC. At this point we’re not even expecting competence, but simply creating and starting a plan that could theoretically work if carried to term.
Follow Blake on twitter: @blake_1986
