Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Dear Craig
I cannot speak for Terry Butcher, the Sydney FC board or Sydney FC fans, but here's my own little response to the latest diatribe from SBS’s pathologically Anglophobic manifesto-merchant, Craig Foster.
Dear Craig,
You address your admonitory letter to Mr. Terry Butcher, the new coach of Sydney FC. May I ask why you did not address similar concerns to (a) any other club managers in the A-League, (b) Pierre Littbarski last year, (c) those in charge of technical development at the FFA – the only ones to whom such plangent rhetoric really should be addressed?
Mr. Butcher has been appointed to a post as manager of Sydney Football Club.
Let me repeat that, just to make it abundantly clear: that was Sydney Football Club.
A club manager is beholden to the board, shareholders and fans of his club. He is not beholden to any sporting philosophy favoured by a national sporting organization, still less to the opinions of an individual who has never had any managerial experience of consequence, and whose views do not necessarily reflect those of the aforementioned national body.
Mr. Butcher’s job is to obtain favourable results for his team in whatever manner he sees fit. Fans and media will judge his success or otherwise in this regard.
It is likely that Mr. Butcher will obtain better results if he encourages positive, progressive football, not that this will be the only factor.
Your thesis that Australian football has undergone a total paradigm shift from a physical-based game to an “entertaining, technical and intelligent” style simply does not stand up to analysis. The overwhelming opinion of the world’s football media was that Australia’s chief asset at the World Cup was their physical combativeness, and despite this aspect of our play being, in my opinion, somewhat overstated, there is a solid basis of fact underlying the general conclusion.
Certain statements in your “letter”, to wit…
“Your role must be to help [young Australian players] progress to being quality senior internationals who can take on the world in 2010, and to do so they will need to improve in experience and understanding. A manager offers the former; only a technician the latter.”
“It is pretty simple, really. For the game, you must play entertaining football and develop our best young players technically and tactically.”
…are pretentious, unrealistic and disgracefully patronizing.
Mr. Butcher may well feel he can make a contribution to Australia’s ongoing football development, but in the context of his managerial position at Sydney FC, this is emphatically not a part of his remit.
In short, as a Sydney FC fan, I sincerely hope that Mr. Butcher is able to adapt his squad into an effective, and – yes – entertaining unit. I hope that he proves a sensible tactician, and a shrewd man-manager.
I hope that he pays as little attention as possible to your condescending, naïve twaddle.
Tragically yours,
Mike Salter.
Dear Craig,
You address your admonitory letter to Mr. Terry Butcher, the new coach of Sydney FC. May I ask why you did not address similar concerns to (a) any other club managers in the A-League, (b) Pierre Littbarski last year, (c) those in charge of technical development at the FFA – the only ones to whom such plangent rhetoric really should be addressed?
Mr. Butcher has been appointed to a post as manager of Sydney Football Club.
Let me repeat that, just to make it abundantly clear: that was Sydney Football Club.
A club manager is beholden to the board, shareholders and fans of his club. He is not beholden to any sporting philosophy favoured by a national sporting organization, still less to the opinions of an individual who has never had any managerial experience of consequence, and whose views do not necessarily reflect those of the aforementioned national body.
Mr. Butcher’s job is to obtain favourable results for his team in whatever manner he sees fit. Fans and media will judge his success or otherwise in this regard.
It is likely that Mr. Butcher will obtain better results if he encourages positive, progressive football, not that this will be the only factor.
Your thesis that Australian football has undergone a total paradigm shift from a physical-based game to an “entertaining, technical and intelligent” style simply does not stand up to analysis. The overwhelming opinion of the world’s football media was that Australia’s chief asset at the World Cup was their physical combativeness, and despite this aspect of our play being, in my opinion, somewhat overstated, there is a solid basis of fact underlying the general conclusion.
Certain statements in your “letter”, to wit…
“Your role must be to help [young Australian players] progress to being quality senior internationals who can take on the world in 2010, and to do so they will need to improve in experience and understanding. A manager offers the former; only a technician the latter.”
“It is pretty simple, really. For the game, you must play entertaining football and develop our best young players technically and tactically.”
…are pretentious, unrealistic and disgracefully patronizing.
Mr. Butcher may well feel he can make a contribution to Australia’s ongoing football development, but in the context of his managerial position at Sydney FC, this is emphatically not a part of his remit.
In short, as a Sydney FC fan, I sincerely hope that Mr. Butcher is able to adapt his squad into an effective, and – yes – entertaining unit. I hope that he proves a sensible tactician, and a shrewd man-manager.
I hope that he pays as little attention as possible to your condescending, naïve twaddle.
Tragically yours,
Mike Salter.
Comments:
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I think that you are being far too nice - Foster is a bitter and irrelevant voice in a world that has passed him by.
# posted by 
: August 29, 2006 at 2:43 PM
: August 29, 2006 at 2:43 PM
I can only hope Foster reads this, although hoping he understands it, let alone takes notice of it is wishing for too much.
Keep up the good work Mikey
Keep up the good work Mikey
# posted by : August 30, 2006 at 10:52 AM
: August 30, 2006 at 10:52 AM
Fantastic Mike. Fantastic.
For years I have seethed at the amateur Foster's pathetic and bitter and twisted negativity, particularly towards anything remotely English. The worst thing about him, he's dubbed an expert, yet has a less than mediocre playing pedigree, and who the hell has he coached?
He raves on about about playing the beautiful game and technical and tactical ability, but even I could demand that from the comfort of my armchair.
I have never once heard him provide any deep and meaningful tactical appreciation of any one single game. This possibly stems from the fact that he really is totally out of his depth. He's good at slating and publicly assassinating characters, but that's about it. He's an amateur, a sham, and a bitter and twisted one at that. In short, a joke.
It doesn't take an expert to demand that a team plays the beautiful game the "Guus" way. 18 million Australians could demand that. Foster is far from an expert.
And yes, the Australian team, I believe, were statistically the dirtiest team at the world cup. The scorecard reads: played 4, won one, drew one, lost two. Hardly cause for overt celebration.
For years I have seethed at the amateur Foster's pathetic and bitter and twisted negativity, particularly towards anything remotely English. The worst thing about him, he's dubbed an expert, yet has a less than mediocre playing pedigree, and who the hell has he coached?
He raves on about about playing the beautiful game and technical and tactical ability, but even I could demand that from the comfort of my armchair.
I have never once heard him provide any deep and meaningful tactical appreciation of any one single game. This possibly stems from the fact that he really is totally out of his depth. He's good at slating and publicly assassinating characters, but that's about it. He's an amateur, a sham, and a bitter and twisted one at that. In short, a joke.
It doesn't take an expert to demand that a team plays the beautiful game the "Guus" way. 18 million Australians could demand that. Foster is far from an expert.
And yes, the Australian team, I believe, were statistically the dirtiest team at the world cup. The scorecard reads: played 4, won one, drew one, lost two. Hardly cause for overt celebration.
# posted by : November 30, 2006 at 4:53 PM
: November 30, 2006 at 4:53 PM
Fantastic Mike.
For years I have seethed at the amateur Foster's pathetic and bitter and twisted negativity, particularly towards anything remotely English. The worst thing about him, he's dubbed an expert, yet has a less than mediocre playing pedigree, and who the hell has he coached?
He raves on about about playing the beautiful game and technical and tactical ability, but even I could demand that from the comfort of my armchair.
I have never once heard him provide any deep and meaningful tactical appreciation of any one single game. This possibly stems from the fact that he really is totally out of his depth. He's good at slating and publicly assassinating characters, but that's about it. He's an amateur, a sham, and a bitter and twisted one at that. In short, a joke.
It doesn't take an expert to demand that a team plays the beautiful game the "Guus" way. 18 million Australians could demand that. Foster is far from an expert.
And yes, the Australian team, I believe, were statistically the dirtiest team at the world cup. The scorecard reads: played 4, won one, drew one, lost two. Hardly cause for overt celebration.
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For years I have seethed at the amateur Foster's pathetic and bitter and twisted negativity, particularly towards anything remotely English. The worst thing about him, he's dubbed an expert, yet has a less than mediocre playing pedigree, and who the hell has he coached?
He raves on about about playing the beautiful game and technical and tactical ability, but even I could demand that from the comfort of my armchair.
I have never once heard him provide any deep and meaningful tactical appreciation of any one single game. This possibly stems from the fact that he really is totally out of his depth. He's good at slating and publicly assassinating characters, but that's about it. He's an amateur, a sham, and a bitter and twisted one at that. In short, a joke.
It doesn't take an expert to demand that a team plays the beautiful game the "Guus" way. 18 million Australians could demand that. Foster is far from an expert.
And yes, the Australian team, I believe, were statistically the dirtiest team at the world cup. The scorecard reads: played 4, won one, drew one, lost two. Hardly cause for overt celebration.
# posted by : November 30, 2006 at 4:54 PM
: November 30, 2006 at 4:54 PM << Home
