Holger hears a who?

As we see the exit of Pim Verbeek following Australia's FIFA 2010 World Cup campaign, a new coach has been chosen to prepare for the team's next effort in Brazil 2014 - Holger Osieck.

Holger who, you ask? You're not the only one.

Osieck has a reasonable resume when it comes to football coaching. A fairly uninspiring playing career was followed with a fairly unnoticeable coaching career in the German lower leagues. The juiciest piece of info for Aussie football fans, however, is that Osieck was involved in Germany's 1990 World Cup win, under the tutorage of German hero Franz Beckenbauer. This experience alone, in addition to his success as coach with Japanese club side Urawa Reds in the Asian Club Championship, has quite a few people salivating (in fact, the Reds have since been referred to as 'Holger's Heroes' since then - expect a Herald Sun report to use this at least 50 times).

But there's still trepidation. After such a great start with Guus Hiddink, Verbeek's stern, straight-faced tactics were unimpressive to many. If you watched SBS football tragic Craig Foster present the sports during the 2010 World Cup, you'll know that he was definitely not a Pim fan (even mentions of his name around Fozzy is enough to send him into an extended diatribe). The question is: will Osieck embrace the physical, take-no-prisoners style of football that Verbeek suppressed, or will he introduce something new?

After seeing the Aussies stumble against Slovenia 2-0 this morning, Osieck will not doubt have a few things to think about - not least the fact many of the Socceroos best players are on downhill-side of their-mid 30s now. He'll be heartened no doubt by a promising crop of young players beginning to creep through to replace the likes of Breciano, Neil, Moore etc.

I also suspect that Frank Lowy's decision to name Osieck could be based on the former Usawa Reds coach's former position within the FIFA administration following the 1990 World Cup. Having someone who was on the inside and no doubt has a lot of FIFA contacts couldn't hurt when you're applying to get the World Cup to Australia. Or am I being cynical?

No country for old men: why a younger generation of new coaches are eclipsing their elders.

It was something of an analogy of the new AFL – former cellar-dweller team Richmond raining goals on the better-rated Crows in the final quarter, to bring life to the Tigers once-thought-to-be dead season. The old stable coach in Neil Craig versus the first-year former Essendon and Port Adelaide defender Damien Hardwick.

Both have had mix seasons in 2010. Hardwick watched the Tigers lose nine in a row before the ship steered correctly, while Adelaide started off well enough but stumbled mid-season due to injuries, an uncompromising schedule and, well, poor performances.
This made me really consider the plight of the current crop of young coaches who are making their mark in the game. Since they have generally come from playing the game within the past 10 years, they have a good grasp on how much it has changed.

North Melbourne’s Brad Scott has yet to prove himself, though his team has performed well against better-rated sides. Dean Bailey’s influence on the Demons also appears to be paying off, but his is a team still in the rebuilding stage. Collingwood’s favourite son Nathan Buckley had a couple of successful attempts at steering the Magpie ship this year on par with the ‘Buckley/Malthouse’ secession plan, and who could forget Alistair Clarkson’s young Hawthorn team upsetting the natural balance of the Geelong juggernaut to usurp a surprise premiership. And, of course, there’s Hardwick.

These ‘Young Turks’ aren’t immune however. Essendon’s Matthew Knights has been readily criticised for his teams’ inconsistent performance, especially from former Bomber players and staff (though the team’s 33-point win over the Saints will no doubt keep the criticism to a minimum).

But there is hope for the embattled Knights. This time last year the Docker’s Mark Harvey was equally lambasted for a perceived lack of coaching prowess. Considering the win/loss ratio of the teams’ 2009 season, there was little hope that Harvey would see a full 2010 – no doubt Fremantle’s performance against the Crows in round 15 will be forever etched in Harvey’s mind (the Dockers scored one goal and seven behinds for the whole game).

Oh ye of little faith.

The Dockers start to 2010 was a whirlwind of wins. The media and critics were scratching their heads, trying to work out where this new-found ability had come from? How was this young coach taking a side that’s had at least three lack-lustre seasons in a row to the top of the ladder?

Top-team coaches such as Mark Thompson, Rodney Eade and Ross Lyon are showing that they’ve still got their finger on the pulse, but for how much longer? Thompson has already indicated that he’s looking to stand down at the end of 2010 or 2011. Eade has been coaching for more than 20 years if you include his stint as the Brisbane Bears reserve coach. Ross Lyon is safe for now but for how long will supporters put up with another lost Saints trophy?

Next year, Sydney Swans will see the start of a new coach and former player, John Longmire, replacing a successful coach in Paul Roos – he’ll be a new face in the ‘Young Turks’ coaching club. With him will continue the new coaching styles being adopted by many of the clubs.

With so many fresh faces bringing new ideas and strategies to the AFL, it’s no wonder the game is turning into no country for old men… unless, of course, you speak to Kevin Sheedy.

Don't tread on me Storm, mate...

I tend not to take much notice about what’s happening with the NRL, but after watching the media hype that has followed one of the biggest controversies and challenges to the league's credibility it has ever had to face, I’m compelled to contribute.

The tragedy that is the collapse of the Melbourne Storm due to salary cap breeches is no doubt dramatic, akin to a play that would impress the ancient Greeks. This will resonate for years to come when the code tries to expand into more states and compete with the ever-expanding AFL.

What I take exception to is media representatives taking cheap shots at the club’s supporters, who are themselves dismayed by the events that have occurred and looking for answers and venting their frustrations.

The lack of humanity shown by some journalists has been disgraceful, and says a lot about the denials that the penalties put on Melbourne Storm were heavy handed. Rebecca Wilson from the Herald Sun suggested on ABC program Inside Sport that fans directing their frustrations at NRL David Gallop was immature and unnecessary. Trying to justify her comments as an unbiased position, Wilson said that last week’s game, the first since the penalties were imposed, was one of the best she’d ever seen in her career, citing the commitment shown by the supporters… the same supporters she accuses of actions akin to stupidity.

An interesting ‘war’ has broken out between the Herald Sun's publisher News Limited (which is part owner of Melbourne Storm) and competitor Fairfax, over the fact that Wilson’s partner is News CEO, John Hartigan, who is spending much of his time trying to deflect scrutiny of the media company’s own knowledge of Waldron’s dealings. Fairfax media has been keen to point out that Wilson’s opinion on the matter is instantly biased, regardless of her claims of independence. She also has admitted to being a personal acquaintence of David Gallop.

Wilson has fired back at Fairfax for its coverage of the issue, saying it was more interested in paying money for the story than for the story itself, and, in their own way, using Waldron as a pseudo weapon against its main competitor.

My question to both companies is this: Regardless of who is to blame for this calamity, why isn’t anyone responsible to the supporters, especially Gallop, focusing their attention on the figures and facts of ‘who did it’? Why focus your scorn on the players and supporters publicly instead of the business dealings that caused this crisis in the NRL?

The last thing the supporters want to feel is they have been abandoned and are being ridiculed by the media, whose responsibility is to them.

It’s no doubt a hard enough job trying to expand the code when people like Gallop and Wilson shoot wildly, where the only result is supporter death rather than damage control or finding culprits.

Man City, take me over the moon...

Manchester City has outdone itself in its performance against Aston Villa, winning 3-1 in a fantastic display of skill and teamwork.

Despite having to play catch ups after a quick opening goal from Villa, Tevez brought them back after a clumsy Villa tackle, and Abedeyor got them in front with a piece of brilliance from a Craig Bellemy cross. Bellemy sealed the game late in the second half with a smashing shot just inside the box.

If this isn’t proof of City’s ability to be a challenger in the Champions league then I don’t know what else is.

Next week, City faces Tottenham in a game that both teams need to win. Coincidentally, it’s the last game of the season. As the bigwigs duke it out at the top of the table, City and Spurs both have their eyes on a Champion’s League position, which this game will essentially decide.

I spoke to a Spurs fan last night who wasn’t convinced of City’s chances, but after watching their display Villa it would be a dangerous thing to dismiss them too quickly.

Footy club transformation continues

After six games of the 2010 AFL season, any sort of coherent patterns by specific are yet to emerge. While the Sydney Swans have had an unbeaten run, it seems too early to tag them a Grand Final contender.

However, while the Swans are at least somewhat easy to pick, the rest of the ladder is a hodge podge of inconsistent performers and surprises. This may seem like a complaint but to be honest, I think it’s actually a great thing – it shows that teams, no matter how brilliant or bad their performances have been in past years, are all having a decent crack this year, instead of focusing soley on building for specific years (with exception being Richmond). An example of this can be seen on the performances from the Dockers, Demons and, to a certain extent, Port Adelaide and Brisbane.

After watching Essendon and Hawthorn try to out-skill each other last night, I feel heartened by the genuine effort the clubs are putting in, rather seeing seasons as ‘We’re not strong enough to have a go, so well sit this one out’. This attitude seemed to be most prevalent in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s.

(Note: Was a great feeling seeing the Bombers do so well after a disastrous ANZAC Day match – it’s never good when you receive a flogging from Collinwood).

Sure there have been some pretty scrappy performances this season – the Collingwood v Hawthorn game in round four comes to mind – but there are also higher quality matches. The Bulldogs fought hard against the Saints on Friday night, and though they failed, they both played hard, skill-based footy and showed genuine effort.

It seems to me the impending arrival of the Gold Coast team and the eventual emergence of another team in NSW has put the pressure on the existing clubs to show they deserve to keep their status as top flight teams and not rely only on their heritage to keep them safe.

As Fitzroy’s demise taught us, nothing is certain when dollar signs are flashed.