The Football Tragic

It's a pity that Branko Culina's undignified, self-serving comments at Sunday's press conference have served to obscure the fact that he does have a point. He developed that point somewhat truculently in his "clarification" today, pausing for a moment to offer Vitezslav Lavicka a well-deserved apology.

Those leading the "our coaches aren't good enough" bandwagon tend to ignore two important points: first, that at national team level, foreign recruits have been given the sort of logistical assistance that local incumbents only dream of. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, it isn't always the best local candidates who snag the high-profile coaching jobs.

Culina mentions the case of Graham Arnold (probably referring to the Asian Cup debacle), but he could just as well have cited the current preparations of the Australian Under 20 side. Compare these to the slapdash schedules provided for Ange Postecoglou in the past, and it's clear that there is an issue here.

Foreign (well, Dutch) coaches within the national team setup are one thing, but let's consider the records of foreign bosses in the A-League for a moment. It doesn't make for pleasant reading; the various British cast-offs hired in the A-League's first season failed to make any impression, while Terry Butcher, a fine player but a mediocre coach, won few friends in Season 2.

Impressive attempts have been made to put a positive spin on Pierre Littbarski's earlier stewardship of Sydney FC, but fans with clear memories know very well that much of the football played by the A-League's inaugural champions was dismal. Several players were repeatedly played out of position, and the long ball reigned supreme for considerable periods.

I still feel that one of the problems with the appointments of both Littbarski and Butcher was that they were known primarily for their playing records, rather than their acumen in the dugout. Lavicka represents a refreshing change in this regard, although it's far too early to assess his contribution.

This fondness for past on-field stars brings us to the appointment of the locals in the A-League. Craig Foster and his ilk like to complain about the shunning of former Socceroos when it comes to coaching positions, but in reality such former internationals, often neophyte coaches, have been actively favoured in recent times.

Think Aurelio Vidmar. Think Graham Arnold, whose failures at Northern Spirit did little to diminish his standing in the eyes of some.

And more recently, think Paul Okon, who has clearly been earmarked for coaching stardom. I too believed that such a thoughtful, elegant player had the potential to be an excellent coach, but some of the details of his blink-and-you'd-miss-it period in charge of APIA-Leichhardt earlier this year have come to my ears, and believe me, they don't reflect at all well on the former Socceroo captain's ability to handle the pressures of coaching.

Once again: you don't have to have been a player on the very top rung to be a successful coach. There are plenty of decent coaches out there, but the A-League shows every sign of being a closed shop up to a point.