Friday, May 18, 2012
Sydney FC parts way with trio
Sydney FC has continued its off-season clean out, opting not to renew the contracts of Shannon Cole, Scott Jamieson and Michael Beauchamp.
Jamieson has agreed to join Perth Glory along with former Gold Cost United captain Michael Thwaite.
New coach Ian Crook has made it clear he wants to bring big names and young talent to Sydney FC next season, with the likes of Bruno Cazarine, Juho Makela, Karol Kisel and Liam Reddy already out the door.
The have been followed by the Australian trio, who have all played for the Socceroos.
"We would like to place on record our sincere thanks to Shannon, Scott and Michael for their service to Sydney FC," said Football Director Gary Cole.
"After a number of discussions in recent days, we feel Sydney FC is moving in a new direction and an injection of fresh faces with different skills is what is required to take the club forward.
"On behalf of everyone at Sydney FC, I'd like to wish Shannon, Michael and Scott every success in the future."
Tags: a-league, sport, soccer, sydney-2000, nsw, australia First posted May 17, 2012 09:47:48Crook wants to bring bling back to Sky Blues
Sydney FC's newly unveiled head coach Ian Crook says he wants to bring the 'bling' back to the A-League club.
Once dubbed Bling FC, the Sky Blues have lost their lustre and Crook thinks it is time for Sydney to reclaim its title as the glamour club.
The Sky Blues on Monday ended their long search for a head coach with Crook's elevation from youth coach to the senior job on a two-year deal.
This now allows the focus to shift to the much-needed recruitment of up to seven players with chairman Scott Barlow saying there was enough money at the club, now owned by his father-in-law, Russian billionaire David Traktovenko.
With three spots available for overseas players, Crook feels the addition of some star quality to attract fans is vital, especially with imminent cross-town rivals west Sydney also vying for supporters.
He says his priority would be to bolster the forward pack particularly with the loss of Brazilian striker Bruno Cazarine.
"This club has been blessed in times with some real crowd pleasers - Dwight (Yorke) was a crowd pleaser, even David Carney and then we had Juninho." Crooke said.
"So I think it's important that who we bring in needs to fit into a culture that we want to develop, but they need to have a little bit of flair where it will actually get people in here.
"We definitely need to have something that's going to bring back a bit of excitement."
When asked if he wanted to bring the bling back to the club he said: "Yeah I have no problem with that and if I live to regret that then it's not an issue at all.
"This club had this cocky kind of mentality from day one where everybody else wanted to knock it off and Sydney, just by having that name, should have that character."
Crook's promotion comes after Sydney pursued and missed out on top coaching targets Graham Arnold and Tony Popovic.
But Crook, who admitted he only considered going for the job when it appeared Arnold was out of the running, said he had no problem being further down the list of candidates.
"You start hearing little things that it's (Arnold's signing) going to happen, it's not going to happen.
"I just sat there thinking to myself `I wonder if I could do this?'
"Then you just have to have the guts to put your hand up and thankfully for me they've decided to go that way.
"I know Arnie was first choice, and that's alright, I'll give him that one."
After two disappointing seasons the heat will be on Crook to restore the two-time championship winning club to the top of the league with Barlow saying the benchmark was to secure an AFC Champions League spot, which requires a top-three finish.
Crook confirmed Steve Corica will remain assistant coach with Zeljko Kalac staying on as goalkeeping coach.
AAP
Tags: sport, soccer, a-league, sydney-2000, nsw, australia First posted May 15, 2012 11:57:19Aston Villa sack McLeish
Alex McLeish was sacked as manager of Aston Villa on Monday, fewer than 24 hours after the end of his first season in charge.
In a statement, the Premier League club said McLeish's contract had been "terminated with immediate effect".
The Scot was an unpopular appointment with many Villa fans after he oversaw city rivals Birmingham's relegation from the Premier League last term.
And he only narrowly avoided a similar fate with Villa this season, the club finishing just two points above the bottom three to stay in English football's top flight.
"The club has been disappointed with this season's results, performances and the general message these have sent to our fans," the Villa statement added.
"The board wishes to assure supporters that we are conscious in every sense that Villa expects and deserves more and we will strive to deliver this."
Villa ended the campaign with a run of nine winless matches and for the club's US-based owner Randy Lerner, never mind fans capable of recalling the Midlands side's 1982 European Cup triumph, that was not good enough.
Its home form was especially dire, with just four wins at Villa Park representing a record low return in front of its owns fans in a single season.
Lerner, in a message on the club's website, said: "We need to be clear and candid with ourselves and with supporters about what we have lacked in recent years.
"Compelling play and results that instil a sense of confidence that Villa is on the right track have been plainly absent.
"The most immediate action that we can take is to look carefully at our options in terms of bringing in a new manager who sees the club's potential and embraces our collective expectations."
Villa chief executive Paul Faulkner added: "We'd like to thank Alex for his hard work and efforts throughout this tough season.
"We are mindful of the club's need to prepare thoroughly for the new campaign and for the new manager to be able to begin working with the board so that he is quickly immersed in these preparations and also in the long-term objectives of the club.
"Our focus now will be driven by these imperatives and we will update when appropriate."
McLeish had to cope with reducing what he said was an "astronomical" wage bill and he was also deprived of several key players through injury or illness such as record signing Darren Bent and club captain Stiliyan Petrov.
Even so, it was still something of a surprise that Villa only made sure of their Premier League status on Sunday's final day of the season.
AFP
Tags: sport, soccer, english-premier, england, united-kingdom First posted May 15, 2012 06:26:32Popovic takes reins in western Sydney
Former Socceroo Tony Popovic has been confirmed as coach of the new western Sydney A-League franchise.
Popovic, who has served as an assistant at Sydney FC and then Crystal Palace in England, will lead the club as it prepares to enter the 2012/13 competition.
He has agreed to a four-year deal.
The 38-year-old's career took him from Sydney United to Japan, England and the Middle East.
His 61 appearances in 12 years for the Socceroos included the 2006 World Cup.
Popovic, who grew up in western Sydney, said he looks forward to the challenge and knows it is a role he can be successful in.
"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to coach the new club in western Sydney and I'm really excited about the mission ahead of us," Popovic said.
"I grew up in west Sydney and learned my football there, but it's the challenge of a start up club in football's heartland that has brought me home.
"I know the region has a great passion for the game, fantastic junior ranks and thousands of life-long fans. These are ingredients that can help make our club a success."
Lyall Gorman was named full-time executive chairman of the new A-League club, leaving his position as A-League chief.
"Everyone in the game knows and respects Tony's leadership qualities as a player in the Socceroos and in 400 games of club football," Gorman said.
"There's no doubt Tony will bring those qualities to the new club. He has the coaching skills and the character to be successful in the A-League and his heritage in western Sydney makes him a fine ambassador for the region.
"I'm delighted to have a man of the stature of Tony Popovic as one of the pioneers of the new club in western Sydney."
Popovic is set to begin player recruitment as soon as possible, with preseason training to start June 25 ahead of the 2012/13 season commencement in October.
Tags: a-league, soccer, sport, fairfield-2165, nsw, australia First posted May 17, 2012 12:25:11Is fantasy focus hurting football?
Ron Barassi was in an angry state of mind when he confronted Gerard Healy when they were both at the Melbourne Football Club in the early 80s.
At the end of the exchange during a break in the game at the SCG, Barassi told Healy to "give me possessions and I'll shut up".
Possessions, or more particularly statistics, now rule AFL football. Statistics have spawned an industry.
Collecting, collating and categorising each kick, mark, handball, tackle, tap out, entry to forward 50, rebound from defensive 50. It goes on.
The nuances of these statistics are often lost on the general public but not those absorbed in the Dream Team/Supercoach phenomenon.
People in the past were content to enter tipping contests but for the real football nerd now the quest is to win Dream Team/Supercoach games.
For the uninitiated, Dream Team and Supercoach are basically the same statistically based competitions. Participants select players to make up a squad.
Each player is priced according to the number of points he averages per game. The points are based on the number of kicks, marks, handballs, free kicks for and against, hitouts, goals and behinds.
There is a a salary cap and the job of the participant is to select 22 players each week to take on another team. In each round, the participant with the most points wins the match-up.
Coaches repeatedly point out that the worth of a player in a particular game can't be judged on his statistics. This is most definitely not the case in the land of Dream Team or Supercoach. Rather, it is the only worth of a player.
The phenomenon has hit rugby league and rugby union as well as soccer and other sports but the plethora of statistical information in the AFL makes it a superior offering to the thousands addicted to closely watching the fantasy unfold.
Apparently it's fun. Supposedly it keeps participants interested in games even if there is a blowout on the scoreboard - the actual scoreboard; you know, the one that actually shows who wins or loses.
On the other hand, the long term effect of Dream Team and Supercoach could also reduce the public's interest in following a club.
In the fanatasy world, the only thing that matters is the individual and how many points they can accrue for your fantasy team. Hence, the club, the result, the interest in the game itself could die.
Perhaps that is a little dramatic. But then again, there are plenty of people who review the weekend's AFL games according to how Hogan's Heroes or Macca's Madmen or Hellboys performed rather than whether Carlton, Collingwood or West Coast won or lost.
There are even media outlets who publish or read out the fantasy points accrued by players. There are advice columns in newspapers on how to pick the best 22.
AFL is evolving. Fantasy leagues are growing. Whether they are good for one another in the long term will make for an interesting study.
Tags: sport, soccer, a-league, australian-football-league, rugby-league, super-rugby, australia First posted May 15, 2012 13:58:32Van Nistelrooy announced retirement
Former Manchester United and Real Madrid striker Ruud van Nistelrooy has announced his retirement from professional football.
Van Nistelrooy, 35, broke the news on Monday a day after his Malaga side sealed qualification for the Champions League.
"Yesterday I played my last match as a professional," the 35-year-old Van Nistelrooy said.
"I wanted to play in the Champions League, but it is the moment to leave. I have arrived at my physical limit and I can't play at the maximum level. I couldn't have had a better send-off than this."
In his stellar career the Dutch striker has won five league titles, two each in the Netherlands (with PSV Eindhoven) and Spain and one in England.
Although he failed to win a Champions League in his time at United or Real Madrid, he finished as top scorer in the Champions League on three occasions, in addition to him topping the domestic charts in the Eredivisie twice and the Premier League and la Liga on one occasion each.
At his peak at Old Trafford he was regarded as the best finisher in world football and he ended his United career with 150 goals in 219 games.
After a serious knee injury forced him to miss the Euro 2000 on home soil and the Netherlands failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup, van Nistelrooy played in the next four major international tournaments.
Although these tournaments ended in disappointment, van Nistelrooy ended up with a superb international record of 35 goals in 70 games.
After leaving Real Madrid in 2010, van Nistelrooy was dogged by injury in his final two years in football with Hamburg and Malaga and managed just ten starts for Los Boquerones in 2011/12.
Tags: sport, soccer, netherlands First posted May 14, 2012 22:21:36