Media

The other week I listed ten reasons why it is brilliant to be a Brisbane Roar fan right now. Here's another one: the media about our team is endless, and pretty much all flattering. Here's just a few of the headlines from the last few days:

Possession statistics compare A-League's Brisbane Roar to La Liga and European champions Barcelona

Brisbane, That Was Football Porn

Who Can Stop Brisbane Roar

The Roar Effect

Brisbane Roar are a Gift for the A-League

That really is only a few, and they're not by Roar partisans. I admit I chose them for their sexy headlines.

You can only imagine, with Brisbane's team causing the waves that it is, undefeated now for 32 games, breaking records every week, and most recently stunning the League by trouncing one of the favourite teams 7:1... You can only imagine how Brisbane's own flagship newspaper The Courier Mail, not known for its lack of sport coverage, or jingoism for that matter, must have gone bonkers with this story. With the Rugby and AFL seasons over, here is NEWS! Great news, of Brisbane showing up all the bigwig southern teams and looking like clear favourites for the comp. You can only imagine!

Well, three stories came out of the Courier Mail actually. One of course was about the game. Apparently it was on page 6 of the sport pages. I don't even know what came in front of it as I haven't managed to get a hard copy.

The second story came out yesterday. In the Courier Mail's soccer feed the headline is, "Japanese Giants Want Roar Boss", but upon going to the page it is more carefully titled, Japanese heavyweights Urawa Red Diamonds rumoured to have sights set on Brisbane Roar coach Ange Postecoglou. It was written by Marco Monteverde and Val Migliaccio. I'm going to analyse it a bit, and then tell the story of how it continued and grew as the rest of the media got hold of it, so I'll quote it in full here first so it's easy to reference:

STRUGGLING Japanese heavyweights Urawa Red Diamonds want an Australian coach next season, with Brisbane Roar master mentor Ange Postecoglou rumoured to be at the top of their wish list.
Despite being contracted to the Roar until 2013, Postecoglou is one of two A-League coaches tipped to be chased by J-League outfit Urawa, the other being Central Coast Mariners boss Graham Arnold.
Urawa, the home of Australian defender Matthew Spiranovic and formerly coached by current Socceroos mentor Holger Osieck, are hovering just about the relegation zone and fired manager Zeljko Petrovic on October 20,
Petrovic was replaced by former player Takafumi Hori, but Japanese sources close to the Asian Football Confederation's most popular club have told The Courier-Mail Urawa are chasing an Australian coach next year.
Reigning A-League coach of the year Postecoglou yesterday said he had not heard from Urawa officials, but confirmed previous interest from Asian clubs.
"If they did make me an offer, I'd think about it then," Postecoglou said.
"I've never made plans too far in the future with coaching because things are always changing.
"All I'm focused on is being successful as I can with Brisbane, and keep building what we've started."
Under Postecoglou, the Roar lost just once in 33 matches last season to clinch the A-League premiership-championship double.
Currently on a 32-game record A-League unbeaten streak, Brisbane continued their perfect start to the defence of their title with a 7-1 thrashing of Adelaide United at Suncorp Stadium last Friday night.
But Postecoglou, a former Australian under-17 and under-20 coach, isn't only chasing further domestic success.
He is also aiming for glory with the Roar in the 2012 Asian Football Confederation Champions League.
"Our goal is to match it with the best teams in Asia," Postecoglou said.
"Our players have already been recognised, and if that (Champions League success) happens, I'm sure our coaches will as well."
Arnold's Mariners side are the A-League's other representatives in next year's AFC Champions League courtesy of their effort to reach last season's grand final.
It's the second time within days Arnold has been linked with a move abroad.
Currently negotiating a contract extension with the Mariners, Arnold last week denied claims he was on the verge of taking over at Scottish Premier League club St Johnstone.
But sources close to Arnold - who played in the J-League with Hiroshima Sanfrecce - said he would consider offers from Japan.

Now this was a scoop! It was all over the Australian mediascape within half an hour. So all those stories we may have read, on The World Game, The ABC, the Fairfax papers, Fox, the other Murdoch papers and any number of amateur sites and blogs - came from Marco Monteverde and Val Migliaccio of the Courier Mail.

The first point of interest here is that the journalists - crucial to the story - are completely left out. Not one media outlet reported, "Marco Monteverde and Val Migliaccio of the Courier Mail allege that they have sources close to the Urawa Reds..." Instead it is just repeated endlessly, "Ange linked to Urawa Reds." One might think, given the reputation News Limited, and the Courier Mail, has for antagonism and ignorance toward soccer, that someone might have thought to include this reference to the source. It would just be good journalism in any case.

Now via a Facebook friend who is Japanese and happens to be a Reds fan, I have confirmed that Ange Postecoglou is indeed on a list of coaches that the Reds have compiled. No Japanese media have taken it up though apparently. It's a list. As for being "rumoured to be at the top of their wish list", it's a fair question where such information comes from.

Wading through the fill of factoids gleaned from Wikipedia, we find that the source is, "Japanese sources close to (The Urawa Reds)". Interesting they didn't tell the Japanese media, or any other of Australia's dedicated football media. The Urawa Reds are well known to many of them through the Asian Champions League (which the CM has virtually ignored so far). The Courier Mail? Anyway, moving on...

It's hard to disect. We assume that this source is the one mentioning Ange's name, and I do independently know of a list with his name on it, but apparently the source told the Courier Mail that "Urawa are chasing an Australian coach next year." An Australian coach.

Now, Ange has proved himself perhaps, or he is in the process of doing so, but there is a reason the past few Socceroos coaches have been from overseas and a reason most A-League coaches are foreigners. Right or wrong, it's because Australian coaches are considered crap. They do not have any reputation at all overseas. Urawa Reds are one of Asia's biggest clubs and they're in trouble. And we are asked to believe that this unknown source says that they are after an Australian coach. Ange, maybe. But an Australian - I don't believe it.

The other coach on the list, apparently (and I haven't had confirmed from Japan either way), is Graham Arnold. I don't believe this, at all. I think the Urawa Reds have ambition, and Arnold hasn't won anything or proved himself especially. Reaching the finals in the A-League is not that great on the international stage.

Before I get to the interview with Ange - a real source at least - in passing I'll note that the Courier Mail confirmed, not that there had been any communication whatsoever with Arnold, but that "sources close to Arnold" said he would "consider offers from Japan." According to the journalists though, "It's the second time within days Arnold has been linked with a move abroad." It is these journalists who made the link that they are now reporting on. At this point, with Arnold, they have completely fabricated a link and then 'reported on it'.

Then there is the call to Ange of course, getting his response. That's only fair after all.

What's not recorded are the questions. Did the journalist ask, after Ange told them that, No, the Reds had not been in touch and this is the first he'd heard of it, "Well, if they did ask you tomorrow, would you consider it?" or "Would you ever coach in Asia do you think?"?

It makes an enormous difference to what Ange was getting at when he said, "I've never made plans too far in the future with coaching because things are always changing. All I'm focused on is being successful as I can with Brisbane, and keep building what we've started." The latter part - the commitment to the Roar and seeing out the vision that he has articulated - remains unambiguous.

Since then other media outlets have also clearly talked to Ange, and he has said nothing different.

Anyway, my suspicion was, and still is, that the Courier Mail made this story up in order to cash in on the Roar's success. They succeeded.

By Twitter I asked the two journalists, "Did you guys make up the story about Urawa seeking Ange as coach? No reports in Japan. You scooped that? Ha!"

Val Migliaccio tweeted back, with what I can only interpret as contempt, "here. Ｊリーグ１部（Ｊ１）の浦和は来季の新監督候補にＡリーグのブリスベン・ロアーを率いるアンジェ・ポステコグルー監督を挙げているようだ。浦和に近い日本人関係者の話として、ポステコグルー"

Um...

I tweeted back, "That quote is a vague as yours and is not a source. Are you being funny now?", but only after using Google Translate to come up with, "The J-League 1 (J1) Urawa coach seems to raise the groupco-led by Poste Angeles Lower Brisbane A-League next seasonProposed new coach. Japanese officials as saying that close toUrawa, Posutekoguru".

For all I know it could be from a report some Japanese press discovered through their Australian connections.

Today, I note The Herald Sun has added the word, "heavily", presumably because so many news outlets have repeated the story. So now Ange is "heavily linked" with the Uwara Reds. Even though he's never heard of such a link and he has clearly restated his commitment to The Roar and finishing what he has several times outlined as his mission.

Sorry that one took so long to go through. As I said, there is a third story that came out in the Courier Mail yesterday. But it is in the Rugby League pages (far more prominent even though the off season has just got going). It is titled, "NRL scheduling blunder leaves Brisbane Broncos without home for opening round of 2012", and included the following curious passage:

There should be 50,000 league fans packing the stadium on Friday night, March 2, to celebrate the new rugby league season.

But the NRL's late decision to push their season forward a week means there will instead be 10,000 Roar diehards watching their side taking on Melbourne Heart.

(Same game last year got 20,000 incidentally, and last game (fourth of the season) got 11,500.)

It's a non-story by the way, with a happy ending. It seems the NRL made a boo boo and didn't tell Suncorp about a change in plans, so the opening NRL game will not be in Brisbane but in Sydney instead. By the end we know that the NRL is happy, seeing the positives in fact, Suncorp is happy. Everyone is happy. The complaint, clearly antagonistic to the Roar, comes from the Courier Mail alone. This is on the very day when the entire sporting world is ogling over Brisbane's own champion team.

Now, there are no doubt many reasons that the Roar struggles with crowd numbers. One reason is probably that Brisbane folk are slack, or stupid, or broke. But the local media is not helping us out.

Nb. Of course News Limited would never be so sloppy when it came to news about politics or the economy. From those matters their commercial interests are properly and professionally divorced. :)

How good can it get?

I might have to be writing a bit this season. Things are exciting at the Roar and I am full of material. If anything I've been suffering the writer's block of someone with far too much to say. So fuck it, I'll start with a rave. Anything to get the gripes with FIFA (which I still have) from the top of the page and some news of this brilliant team filling the space.

How good can it get for a Brisbane Roar fan? I'll briefly outline how good it is.

1. We have the best coach in Australia. I read around and come across this sentiment often, along with frequent speculations that he will be Australia's next coach. Behind The Roar is a good short documentary on 'the Ange Revolution'. I'll elaborate on why, in my view, Ange is a rare coach, in further blogs.

2. Our team has been undefeated for longer than Manchester United's longest undefeated run (29). Meanwhile the general chatter is that Brisbane is virtually unbeatable and the earnest conversation is "How do you beat them?" I guess I'll give my views on that by and by as well.

3. Our team is enthralling to watch, and this can be confirmed by the dozens of comments I've read from people from other teams, as well as the praise of every commentator in the country, but of course I mostly confirm it for myself when I see for myself. I read a Melbourne man say that he didn't follow the Victory because he thinks the A-League is pretty crap (it has been), but he is going to fly to Brisbane for their games. People travelling a long way to see very high quality soccer is not new. I can see why keen soccer fans in Australia would.

4. Our team is good because of Ange's plan and training, not because we are wealthy. This strikes at one of the great myths, or at least distortions, in World football, that the reason great teams are great is because they have great players. The Roar have no expensive marque player at this time and have won most of the games with a team well under the salary cap. It is a team.

5. We have hit the new season in a form looking like where we left off last season. Ange post-match only ever speaks of how the team can improve. He's serious. They can improve and with sustained determination and training, they will. It actually still looks uphill, if that is possible.

6. With Point 5. in mind, we will compete in the Asian Champions League at the end of the season. One of the stupid things about the ACL qualifying is that the A-League winners from the season before qualify. Too often Australian teams have gone into the ACL having lost their players and their form from one year earlier. Brisbane has the opportunity, and it appears the capacity, to head into the ACL very strongly. Playing in it is exciting enough in itself, and that will happen even if for some unforseen reason Brisbane bombs out mid-season.

7. Brisbane players are not stars, but they are cool. Ange himself is clearly an intellectual, but Broich has a very cool doco made about him (can't wait) where he is revealed as a maverick philosopher (Part 1 is linked, but you'll find part four of the trailer, which has the Roar bits, including a bit of interview with Ange), and Issey is an Artist. But in general, there's not a lot of machismo in the team, even less without Matty. Our star of game one, Mitch Nichols (who was only tentatively a footballer when Ange got hold of him, incidentally), looks like some kind of sweet choir boy. They're all lovable.

8. In the soccer blogosphere, with its sites and blogs and hundreds of amateur commenters, something that is historic has, I think, occurred. Nobody, not even the most crusty, hard-core, trollish fans of the other teams, say that Brisbane plays badly or that Ange should be sacked. Anyone familiar with football fan sites will know how ludicrous a claim that this is. It's true.

9. We just got a billionaire owner. God knows I'll probably be writing a bit about Aga Bakrie, but meanwhile the financial woes of the club are over and, well, we can dream! The guy, who owns an Indonesian Club and one in Belgium or something, wants the Roar to go to the top of Asia, and why wouldn't he? I don't know what his source is but Michael Flynn over at 442 quoted the new chairman as saying, "I think that if we could have our own stadium in ten years time that would be fantastic." What? And Ange mentioned a clubhouse, and training facilites. A youth academy?

Good people, that is not all. All of that is merely context for the thing that has happened to the Roar which really is, for this fan, deeply satisfying:

10. The kit, for the first time in The Roar's history, looks cool. It really does.

Go Lads. And for fuck's sake Brisbane, this sort of moment in a sporting team only comes once. Let's fill that fucking stadium.

Brisbane finally gets the Final

The last time I wrote about the A-League or the Brisbane Roar was April last year. The short of what I had to say then was, "the Brisbane Roar cannot repeat its original seduction of this consumer. This time they're going to have to realise a product that is worth it for me to seek out."

They have done it. Not only has the A-League improved in that short space of time, but the improvement has been led by my own home team, Brisbane Roar. I'm not exagerating and it's far from my observation alone. This season the Roar are playing a quality of soccer that is worth paying concert prices for, and that is not easy to do. In response several other teams started getting serious about high quality play, namely Central Coast, Gold Coast and Adelaide.

It takes time and patience to build to this level. You actually have to be prepared to lose a bit as you learn a system, and Ange did that last season (stating his intent clearly, but we had to wait and see to believe he was serious). And now we can say not only that The Roar are 27 games undefeated, but that they have an opposition in the Central Coast for the Grand Final who have shown that they can match it.

The Grand Final is anyone's game.

I've been to five or six games this season, including the last two, and I can say that the atmosphere has improved markedly too. The fans' singing is getting brilliant, and Suncorp even with 21,000 (v Gold Coast) or 25,000 (Central Coast semi-final) produces full elation when the home side scores. I've paid $28 to go to these games and it has easily been worth it.

Times are tough though and with the exciting prospect of a really full house for the Grand Final, I was frankly pissed off with the FFA for doubling the price. They didn't in a way, because it's only $3 more than the Grand Final in Melbourne last year, and as others point out it is cheaper than the finals of other codes.

But for the Brisbane fan the price had doubled. To me that was a big mistake because it would dampen demand just when we had a shot of filling the 53,000 seat house. "Why not go for the full house?" I screamed on Facebook. It's tough times in Brisbane. A number of friends backed the impression up saying they would not go or were considering not going due to the price.

I may have been right or wrong about my take on the commercial judgement, and nobody can be blamed for not having a spare recreational $56 in these times. But now I ask a seperate question. Is it worth it? Is the football being offered for the A-League Grand Final, in itself, worth $56 a ticket (that's the cheap seats)?

Yes it is. No worries. I truly hope that the price does not keep the people away because anyone who goes will witness a true contest of really good teams. The two best teams to have ever graced the League, I would say, and I know many 'experts' agree with me.

In my anger at the price, and feeling the pain in my pocketbook, I considered not going. I really did. But how absurd.

I've followed this team for five seasons. I've sometimes despise the Board and the FFA but I love the team, know their names and they've been through near misses and tough times. They deserve this. Ange deserves this for taking the time and effort (and study) to be a proper coach. Matty McKay, Brisbane boy and Captain, deserves this after sticking with the team for six years, from the very beginning. Brisbane deserves this because it is the finest city in the world and keeps producing good soccer players (Fozzie asks if there is something in the water).

Last I heard 30,000 tickets have been pre-sold. It looks like I may have been wrong. If Suncorp comes close to selling out, I was totally wrong and the FFA made a wise business decision.

Sunday 13th March, 4pm. Brisbane Roar v Central Coast Mariners. My advice is be there.

Go the Roar. Go Brisbane. Go Soccer.

We Believe In Brisbane

The Roar - Its Woes and its Women

Marco Monteverde over at the Courier Mail is often worth keeping an eye on because he breaks stories. The headline of the linked article, "Roar is banking on Robbie Fowler to lift crowd numbers," hides the true importance of the story however, much of which is exclusive quotes from Roar chairman Chris Bombolas. For some reason the Courier Mail failed to publish my comment on the story, so I better blog...

The headline does reinforce the basic tragedy we are witnessing. The Roar is clearly in trouble. Bombolas states, "I'd be lying if we didn't say we were worried... The bottom line is we need to get some results now. Winning might get a few more people back. ... We keep making excuses and we keep talking it up, we keep saying that we had all the chances, but we're just not winning." Coming from the top these are seriously concerned comments, and they are the context for the hope that Robbie Fowler will bring a crowd to Suncorp tomorrow night. In short, there is just no hope here.

We've had the big talked-up 'game we have to win' against Melbourne a few weeks back, and we lost, and the publicity barely brought any new numbers. Then we lost again, against bottom-of-table Adelaide, to the worst crowd ever. It was over a year ago that we gathered the Roar was in trouble, needing an average 15,000 at Suncorp to break even. All the information is there for us to know, regardless of any new spin, that the Roar is in very serious trouble indeed; that the Roar is in danger as a franchise.

But are they learning? No they're not. Sure they stupidly tried to get the books balanced by radically increasing ticket prices, but now that they've 'listened to the fans' (cough) and made them cheaper than ever they've managed to a) piss off the season ticket holders who rightly feel ripped off, b) fail to bring back the crowds and c) made it even more glaringly obvious that their trouble is chronic and not just a blip. If they weren't breaking even before, now we're aware with every game that they are digging a large pit of debt.

Sacking Frank Farina, and hence (apparently) losing their high profile players, was also stupid, but I guess there's no going back. They are left with a team that is not only failing on the park and failing to draw crowds, but is not even more implicitly interesting than, say, the Brisbane Strikers, who are virtually free to watch.

They're left with a humble, but surprisingly loyal, fan base following a humble, but surprisingly gifted, team. All is not lost but the whole operation clearly needs to adjust its boot size downward.

But we get this news: "Despite the poor crowds the Roar remain committed to signing a new tenancy deal at Suncorp Stadium."

Are these people completely stupid? "To have 5000 in a 52,500 capacity stadium is a crying shame, but we've got to stay at the best stadium that will cater for corporates, the general public and the players," Bombolas says, then asks, "Where is the alternative?"

Well Ballymore is fine for the 'general public' - actually I love it. I can't see the problem for the players, but hell, give the dressing rooms a paint job if that's necessary. The real ones that Bombolas is clearly concerned about is 'corporates'. What I want to know is who? What's the story? Which sponsor is it who have threatened to pull the plug if they leave Suncorp? Reading between the lines, it is clear that at least one has. Is it Coffee Club, Luxury Paints, or someone else? Whoever it is, they're going to kill the club.

"You can't expect corporates and sponsors who put in their hard earned dollars to be in facilities that are very dated."

Which ones have made it clear to you, Bombolas, that they won't support The Roar at Ballymore?

"Ballymore's not ready."

Ah, so by this can I educe the excellent news that there are efforts to make Ballymore ready? No, I can't can I? There's no Plan B is there? We stay at Suncorp, which utterly fails for the small fan base, because the 'corporates' won't support a smaller venue. I've never been brilliant at maths but this is an equation I can cope with. Answer: The Roar is fucked.

See also on 442, Roar's Ghost Town Fear.

The Good News

Thank the soccer gods for the Roar Women. They won a tough semi-final against Central Coast on Sunday and will be in the Grand Final against Sydney away this Saturday. It's being televised on the ABC at 3pm (Brisbane time).

Along with my progressive disillusionment with the Men's team, and with the Roar Board and, let's face it, with the FFA, I have had the delight of watching the W-League throughout its short season and loved every minute. It has been very inexpensive ($5 for home games), I've got to watch one game on free-to-air TV every week, it has lived up to its 'football with style' slogan with free, attacking, uncynical football, and has been played at a wonderful stadium with free parking (Ballymore). To Westfield and whoever else helps this competition happen, my sincere thanks.

For a pre-match review of the Grand Final, I can't compete with Fiona Crawford at 442, who has given great coverage to the W-League all season, along with blogger Merryn Sherwood at Girls With Game.

Rolling Rambling Rave (and a Recovering Roar)

Now after several very critical blogs about the Brisbane Roar my dear son Jacob is insisting that I write a positive one, and there was some real positives from last night so I shall concentrate on them. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your perspective), John over at A Seat At the A-league did a pretty good job of the negatives, so I get to play good cop.

But first an aside about my lad Jacob. His indoor soccer team, 'The West End [censored]', is undefeated after 8 rounds and top of their table. Yesterday they won 21:5 (3 to Jacob). The problem when they're thrashing a team is their game falls apart as each one of them starts taking turns to run at the goal and shoot by themselves, rather than using it as a training game for their real nemesis (The Razor Blades) who they haven't played yet. Their defense fell to bits and they conceded 3 goals in as many minutes (to a team who has only scored 10 in 7 games). I've discovered the strategy of cheering loudly for their opposition to stir them up. Yesterday it seemed to work, and they started slotting their own again, except with decent crossing and maintaining their shape.

I'm also still playing futsal on a Tuesday night, though no longer with the Red Eye Pirates, who are disbanded unfortunately, but with the Ligers. All fun. I might write about this crew some more some time, but yesterday I heard a cool rumour about the futsal centre (at West End Primary School) which I intend to check out tomorrow night. No other than Roar striker Sergio van Dijk plays in goals for a futsal team in that same centre on Monday nights. I'm told his keeping is pretty crap, and I guess it's just a fun way for a bit of extra fitness and sociality for him, but I am very keen to see for myself.

Ok, back to the Brisbane Roar, and the game last night. 0:1 loss to Melbourne, as we know I'm sure. But here are the positives as I see it:

1. It cost Jacob and I $25 to get in. That makes it affordable. It makes it more of a, "Hey, let's go to the football," than a ($65), "Ah, I'll just check my finances to see if we can afford to go to the football." This issue is exacerbated for me as I'm saving my biscuits for the big trip to South Africa in June next year. Much more expensive I know (about $20,000 for Jacob and I for three games), but let's just say I reckon it's worth every penny.

2. The advertising was good. The adds had a parochial (Brisbane) theme (which as I've written before is probably the best angle). I saw one during the final Rove program on Sunday night (the most overrated comedian in Australian television history, but popular all the same). Then I saw one during the shorts before 2012 at the cinema (this movie should be cut to 45 minutes, abolishing all the actors, renamed "The End of the World" and put to a rock n' roll soundtrack, after which it would be quite brilliant viewing). There was some print adds too I spotted, and generally I'd never felt so exposed to a game beforehand as this game. I suspected that this was a big reason for the increased crowd, and it was confirmed anecdotally by a friend I met at half-time who said he saw adds a few times before deciding to go with his girlfriend. He also noted the excellent timeslot, but I know that's more-or-less out of the Roar board's control, especially at this stage of the season.

3. Now, I try not to let my impressions be too educated. That is, I try to reflect what I actually felt at the time, on the assumption that this authentic viewpoint will be shared by many everyday (as contrary to hardcore) punters. So I already know that many people disagree with what I'm about to say, and that perhaps it reflects my hopeless ignorance about the game, but keep in mind that most people are at least as ignorant as me. I thought the lads played as well as I've seen them play. I can not name one player that played badly.

John's comment that we are too slow up front certainly rings true, but all that can be said for sure is that the Melbourne defense beat the Roar's attack. Without an elaborate analysis with high-tech equipment it's really impossible to say whether we were too slow or Melbourne were exceptionally quick to defend. We certainly seemed to dominate and make more convincing attacks, starting from about 90 seconds into the game.

For reasons to do with one of Jacob's mates I was watching Packer's game in particular. I love a wing back who attacks, and his combination with Tiatto attacking up the wing was great to watch. In general there was plenty of combination play. Henrique showed both his speed and inexperience, and missed one good chance in particular, but I still couldn't say he played badly.

But I can't with all integrity get through this without some criticism of the experience. As has been said over and over, the refereeing quality is shocking and inconsistent. Without a replay nobody in the home crowd knew why an apparently clinical goal was disallowed. I had to surf the media to find out. At another point we were sitting precisely behind the linesman, perpendicular to the sideline, when the linesman who was actually looking away incorrectly called Henrique offside. I completely participated in hurling abuse at the stupid bastard, and the crowd around me felt pre-riot. There were other incidents less blatant, and the totality of the experience was... I'm searching for the right words... deeply disturbing. Just left a lump of gunk where your fan's heart is supposed to be. It utterly ruined an otherwise positive experience.

This evening (Ballymore 6pm) I'm off to the last Roar women's homegame of the season, and the reffing issue made me consider one of the reasons I love it so much. Clearly it's not that the reffing's better - that would be a foolish claim I think. It's that the quality of refs and officials can keep up with the relatively slow pace and hence get most things right. Poor decisions on the part of officials, especially when you are denied a replay and have no way of knowing why a decision is made, I am increasingly convinced, is an enormous detraction from enjoying the game.

Anyway, I can't wait for tonight, when for $5 I know I'll have a really wonderful time, win or lose. The girls put the lads to shame when it comes to fair play (see Fiona Crawford's blog on this). When one stays down you know she is injured and you immediately feel for the player's pain because you know it's real. (All the best for a speedy recovery Brooke Spence).

Jacob is too much of a man to enjoy the women's game. He prefers boys. :) Truly, I've even explained to him how many chicks there are of his age there watching, and he's still not convinced. He prefers the pace - along with the diving, theatrics, poor reffing and long journeys on public transport. I can see his perspective of course, but it is my job to give him shit. He gives as good as he gets.

Well that was a ramble. To anyone who got this far, my apologies.

Go girls!!!

Why the Roar Need a New Board

The financial crisis has highlighted a dilemna in capitalist society, especially so in the United States. Simply put, some corporations and institutions have been deemed just too big to fail - the damage of letting their poor decisions break them would be so great for society that it is deemed in the public interest to bail them out. The dilemna is that if they can rely on being bailed out they are, given the normal forces of competing self-interest, likely to continue taking careless risks, knowing they'll be bailed out if their gambling fails. It's a very difficult area for governments, balancing public interest and the need to maintain the fear of failure as a basic incentive for institutions to make the best possible decisions.

It seems reasonable to me, and to many others, that if a company is just too big to fail, and hence has to be bailed out, that at the very least the entire board of said company should be replaced as a part of the bail-out package, and that the departing board members lose any extra entitlements. That seems to be the best compromise - it maintains that crucial fear of failure for the individuals on the boards at least, even if not for the institution as a whole. I know from innumerable informal discussions that many people share this basic view, and judge the decisions of governments and the actions of such companies on more-or-less this criteria.

Same goes for A-League clubs. The FFA clearly (and rightly I think) believe that it is better for soccer and for the A-League to help a club financially that to let it go bust. But doesn't that give the respective boards the message that even if they take ludicrous risks and make stupid decisions, it'll be ok because the FFA can't let them fail? Well, yes it does. Bailing them out is fine, if that's what's deemed in everyone's overall interests, but, well, you can see what I'm getting at. For the same people to continue to run the said club is absurd. The individuals involved must go if they have failed, as the only basic incentive for them to be very careful to make good decisions.

The board of the Brisbane Roar have made so many poor decisions, and have shown such incompetence in building the club in what should have been the most perfect market for an A-League club, that they really can't hold any respect whatsoever. Let's go through a bit of it.

They immediately set out to alienate soccer fans. I mean that. Oh they tried to develop 'community relations' all right, but not with Brisbane's enormous soccer playing and soccer watching community, but with some fictoid 'family' base, that doesn't drink, smoke, swear, dance, have sex, make rude gestures or actually have any passion for life. Since becoming a soccer fan a few years ago I've met hundreds of real soccer fans, mostly amateur players, people who kick about in the park on a Sunday afternoon (in Davies Park, West End, every Sunday at 4pm, incidentally), and people who have kids in teams. Guess what? Most of them are not Mormons, but Australians, of every colour, gender, religion and sexuality to be sure, but real live Australians nevertheless who live in a real world. They don't follow the A-League, almost without exception. It's not just that they haven't been reached out to, it's become increasingly clear that the Roar don't want most of these people because they don't fit into the fluffy pussy mold that the Roar (and the FFA, to be fair) is apparently aiming for.

I got a warning I'd be thrown out once for yelling the F word, and later heard stories of even the Orange Army being told that "shit" was out of bounds. Is this the real world they're trying to market to?

Now getting to the recent past, in that infamous away game against Melbourne where frankly I was disgusted by the violent bullying of Robbie Kruse by the Roar older boys. The Roar board cracked down of course... oh no, actually they didn't. They fined Tiatto an 'undisclosed sum' for giving the finger (ooh so rude!) and completely ignored Miller punching Robbie in the head. The thing about violence is it is not just a fluffy Christian issue, but an objectively ugly behaviour. False morality exposed. Later on they actually claimed that they held back on disciplining the players because Frank told them to. Um... So the Board doesn't take responsibility for its decisions? It's Frank's fault for 'telling them to'. I have to laugh but I want to cry. And meanwhile I can't help suspecting that their claim that Frank 'told them to' is utter bullshit, given their clear motives to scapegoat him.

Suncorp was ambitious in the first place, and I can't complain about that. Hindsight is not really fair, and I was among the many who thought it was fantastic - best stadium in the country, wonderful reputation as 'the cauldron' etc. But at a certain point there has to be a swallowing of ego and a recognition that it's not working. The small crowds actually made it an anti-fortress - great pitch and facilities with the intimidation factor of a possum. The away teams just loved it, even as the Roar lost money every week.

I have heard the Roar had the opportunity to buy Ballymore Stadium outright. If so, not doing so has to be counted as one of their follies. Ballymore is also a fantastic stadium, albeit with half the capacity (but still plenty for the crowds we were getting). It is also the recognised home of Brisbane soccer.

Central Coast model anyone? Wellington model? I like what the Fury is doing as well. Attempting to build a sustainable support according to reality, and engaging with an actual rather than an idealised, largely fictional community.

The FFA offered last year to buy a part of the Roar and help them out, but the offer was refused. We start to get the picture of a bunch of petulant egos that have no idea but who simply can't face it that they've fucked up.

The last stupid decision they made was sacking the coach who has had two moderately successful seasons and is himself a Brisbane soccer icon that every soccer player/supporter over 30 knows. He's probably Brisbane's number one soccer identity in fact.

It wasn't just stupid because Frank is a good coach and a drink driving charge is simply not grounds to be sacked, but let's just make the point that noone on the Board would ever be sacked for the same thing, and that there are journalists, engineers, judges, politicians and doctors who continue in their employment despite losing their licenses for DD. It was also stupid because it's going to cost them $300,000. They can't afford it. Oh that's right - it's ok because the FFA won't let them fail.

I could go on. The response to two years of dwindling crowds was the classic accountant's folly of raising the prices. "Watch my calculator - see, if you put the price up we're in profit!" Then, when crowds inevitably bottom out even more, they drop prices - twice in three weeks - and congratulate themselves for "listening to the fans." Don't make me fucking choke. We're just back to last year's model, except with even greater financial losses.

The Roar is being run by a bunch of rank amateurs and I strongly suspect they're there for the trough rather than the sport. They have no idea and they deserve zero confidence from anyone. I have no doubt that the players despise them. The FFA must be embarassed by them. Most of Brisbane's soccer fans don't follow the Roar anyway, but the few who do have zero reason to have any faith in these people at all.

The Roar - or at least the flagship men's team - have completely lost this fan. I've gotten right into the women's game, which at least has the advantage of being attacking, uncynical football. The stories about the Homeless World Cup inspire and move me. Following Jacob's team is absolute joy. Playing myself is grueling but extremely rewarding. Watching a good game on SBS gives me the pleasure of witnessing virtuosity at the highest level. If the Brisbane Roar wants my support, it's going to need a new board, a new plan, a new vision for where it wants to go.

Of course the FFA must move in. The operation must be rationalised, moved to Ballymore and concentrate on developing the support of the real soccer-loving people of Brisbane, as we find them, rather than as we want them. Of course it must be moral - it must emphasise fair play, zero tolerance of diving, falsehood and violent behaviour. Swearing, gesturing and getting pissed have nothing at all to do with real morality - they are subjects of religion.

But first and foremost, we need a new Board. Let me know when that happens will you, and I'll get back to you. Meanwhile, I'll keep loving soccer, and there's plenty of it to enjoy without stretching patience and credulity with this bunch of tossers.

Roar vs Mariners 0:3 and the Rest

What's there to say?

The coach is sacked, a whole lot of laundry is aired, some no doubt utter bullshit, other true. Frank is scapegoated for a long period of administrative incompetence in the Roar and the FFA.

At the same time - quick, someone mentioned a 50% hike on the already most expensive tickets in the league might have 'contributed' to the disappearing crowds - the Roar announces a 15% price cut and a special promotion letting kids in free. According to John atA Seat At The A-League they were giving tickets away outside. Anyway I took advantage of this and brought three kids. A sign of my waning loyalty is that for the first time I just bought the cheepest ticket available and then sat wherever I bloody well wanted. So $29 for four people was pretty good!

7,400. Lowest crowd ever, to watch a 0:3 tragedy.

Now, no matter how atheist, naturalist, secularist and humanist you are, is there no point at all at which you wonder, however fleetingly, that the universe is trying to tell you something?

Frank Farina was a scapegoat for a disastrous period that noone but the Board can ultimately take responsibility for, but are we sure the universe isn't trying to tell us something else too?

What is the 'Suncorp curse'? At one point it was almost miraculous in its absurd consistency - certainly for long enough to tell us something.

And the women at Ballymore? Well into their second season now at Ballymore they have been defeated just once, and reign as premiers and Champions.

If we are AT ALL superstitious, the ides all point to Ballymore. "Goooo toooo Ballleeeemooooore", the universe chants, over and over. Actually a bit of old fashioned common sense says the same thing, but I'm trying a new tack in frustration.

Look we've got 8000 fans still if we can halt the rot about now. Even at Suncorp, can't we just close the whole second tier and the whole eastern side. The ground, with its patchy concentrations in several disparate parts of the massive stadium, speaks of someone holding out with, "...but what will we do if 35,000 show up." Someone is continuing to be ridiculous, and that person hasn't been sacked yet.

Meanwhile at the beginning of the season there was a name change to Brisbane Roar. Now a name change is a big thing, and the timing to have a big splash of renewal was perfect, but the change came behind nothing, almost a feeling of blushful embarassment.

Look, there are two seperate things the Roar need to do NOTHING about.

1) Soccer is the World Game. The game itself is constantly publicised on every channel and everywhere else. Constantly there are massive world competitions, gossip about the world's richest sportsmen etcetera. The game happens to be highly skilled, accessible and beautiful at the same time. Even in Australia junior participation has been greater than the other codes for a long time. Soccer can and does speak quite well for itself.

2) Brisbane is a large, growing and increasingly proud city. I'd say the civic cult is going from strength to strength. Idiomatic titles like Brizvegas and Brisburgh illustrate this, but many people I know who live here openly love their city and say so.

All the Brisbane Roar has to do then, with a realistic home at Ballymore, is state the message, and repeat the message, that Brisbane Roar represent BRISBANE in the WORLD GAME. If they keep emphasising those two things, they are effectively mobilising a multi-billion dollar promotion strategy.

Suncorp 'the greatest stadium' isn't going to sell it. 'The Brisbane Roar is wonderful' isn't going to sell it, even if it's true. 'Fun family day' isn't going to sell it on its own due to the expense, even if the prices were more reasonable. 'Soccer is really cool' is redundant. 'Soccer is the real football code' is insulting to Australians everywhere.

Ballymore is Brisbane's traditional soccer home and it is big (25,000), homey and intimate. I for one would love to support my city there, in its efforts to compete against opposition from across the world in the greatest of all sporting contests, the lingua franca sporting code of the world.

Meanwhile, sack the accountant and the PR graduate and hire a bloody seer. You would do better Brisbane Roar.

Good Luck Frank Farina

Dear Frank Farina,

You were the best coach the Roar has had and if we find a better one in the current circumstances we'll be lucky.

The board were stupid to sack you, and you are clearly correct to point out that you are being scapegoated - to the extent that you didn't need to say it.

False moralism, of which you are a victim, is sickening, anti-creative and anti-freedom. None of the real crooks and incompetents are being sacked.

My love stays with the boys, who apparently supported you 'till the end. I won't blame any of them if they want to move on now, but for those who stay and any new lads the new coach brings in, I hope they manage to pull a good game together.

I love the lads, but can't stand the Board or the FFA.

But my respect for you is undiminished. All the best in the future in whatever direction you decide to take.

Sincere Regards,
Hamish Alcorn.

Operation Ballymore

The truth is I don't know how to say this, but I'm just going to go for it. Have been thinking about it since the Roar vs Sydney 'meh!' game yesterday afternoon where, quite aside from paying $40 for an adult ticket, it costs $4.10 for a cornetto and over $6 for a watery beer in a plastic cup.

The first very important reality check is that professional soccer has NOT 'taken off' in Australia in any profound way. If anyone thinks it has it's because they either have no friends or because all of their friends are soccer fans. Really, sometimes football fans sound like Trotskyites who still think the revolution is imminent.

So that's the first thing: soccer in Australia, compared to the egg-ball codes, still has the relatively small support it always has had. In terms of the last decade, with adjustments for the World Cup peak (and yep, we'll get another one of those, but by its nature that is fickle growth), I'm guessing 'growth' in support pretty much charts the growth in Australia's overseas born population, or even less. That's it. Argue with me otherwise but please give me evidence and not FFA (or SBS) PR bullshit.

Now a couple of caveats. Sure junior soccer is huge and probably still growing. My experience with junior teams in the last few years however is pretty similar to my two years playing with The Gap as a kid in the 70s, in that virtually none of the players, coaches, parents or administrators have a clue about the A-League or any other senior soccer. My favourite anecdote is that when I tried to encourage some kids to help their game by watching as much pro soccer as possible, I had parents get back to me complaining I was telling their kids they had to get FOX (which I didn't). That is, there was actual antagonism toward the idea. The mentality of junior participation in sport (for which soccer is widely considered perfect) and the tribal activity of following a local pro team are two completely different things.

Women's soccer is also growing in countries including Australia where women have been, in the past 50 years, freed to choose their own lifeways. This is fantastic for more than one reason, but frankly it's a growth in women's liberation, not soccer as such. Once again growth in this area does not necessarily translate to support for the elite men's game. There's been growth in women's truck drivers too, but that doesn't mean there's growth in truck driving. Once again, the chicks I know who play (a fair few, through playing in mixed futsal comps and vaguely following the West End women's team) simply do not know or care about the A-League, with rare exceptions.

Incidentally I can't wait for the W-League to kick off this weekend in Brisbane, at Ballymore Stadium, Saturday 3rd October 3pm (I can't remember what it costs but I think it's significantly less than twenty bucks). All of the games are curtain raisers for A-League games except for this Roar vs Canberra match. This I can see growing because, a) it's cheap to go to games, in a friendly stadium with a smoking area, and b) it's free to air on the ABC so people will encounter it accidentally as well as being able to watch it easily if they find themselves with a glancing interest. Glancing interest can grow of course, but not if it takes getting FOX or spending a month's entertainment budget on going to a game.

Third and last caveat. Of course now that the other codes have finished their seasons there will be a bit of growth in crowd numbers, with families etc looking for alternate entertainment. That will be a slight blip over the next few weeks, after which (just going by the past four seasons) it will steady off again, then blip again for the more successful teams toward season's end. If anyone wants to get excited about that, fine, but I'll be keeping the cork in my champagne.

I'm already getting confused between a discussion of the A-League and the issues with Brisbane Roar particularly, which have a lot to do with Suncorp Stadium. They're related of course, but I'm trying to manouvre this narrative from the former to the latter.

The FFA of course has been trying hard, navigating the tension between trying to sell a top quality football competition and simultaneously making strategic compromises of quality. The quality of teams is deliberately kept in check by the salary cap, as a strategic effort to keep the competition fairly equal while the game has a chance to grow. The quality of refereeing is a compromise, reflecting insufficient funds (stemming finally from insufficient support).

Crowd numbers are down generally. 442 has covered this, as has The Roar sports website. These are both good articles with lots to think about, especially if you include the hundreds of comments. If I could distil the lot into a single formula, it's that punters are waking up, partly due to pressures on discretionary spending generally, that they're being sold a mediocre product for an elite price.

Meanwhile the FFA is continuing as if things are going from strength to strength. Apparently there's going to be two new teams next year. Now the FFA demands prospective new clubs jump through some pretty tough hoops proving viability, but I tell ya if I was a prospective club I'd be demanding the FFA jump through some hoops proving viability before accepting any deal. Wellington for one, if as is speculated they get axed, will have a very good case to litigate, considering, a) they were made to jump through hoops to get there, and b) they would have proceeded with a five year economic plan at the least.

But from here I'll leave the question of the medium term viability of the League itself and get back to the team I love, Brisbane Roar. What can they do?

Firstly, let's get real and move to Ballymore. We'll call Suncorp a long term vision, and if we have a winning season and get into Asia maybe we'll look at it again, but meanwhile let's get a viable, healthy stadium atmosphere going in an iconic soccer stadium. The hard core, who are most of what is left at Suncorp anyway, will go, and most of the public transport issues can be covered by providing special buses, which happens anyway to Suncorp. The most important thing in terms of slowly finding growth is making the experience a hoot, and the intimacy of a smaller, fuller, cheaper stadium would do that. It would be much more of a 'cauldron' than 'The Cauldron' too which arguably might actually help The Roar play better for their fans and provide the intimidation an away crowd is supposed to provide for visiting teams.

All this would be doing is facing the reality of the situation. Noone's going to be fooled that this is not a step backward in terms of ambition, but pretending that the ambition is realistic is, in my opinion, even more embarassing. Meanwhile the Roar would be obliged to get its PR people to sell it as a positive step forward - a home ground that can better involve the community, provide a better and uniquely soccer atmosphere, increase accessibility through cheaper tickets if not public transport (it would still be cheaper for Jacob and I to go if we caught a cab), and colonise a place that the Roar can truly call home, including for training, youth games, women's games etcetera.

I'm guessing the reason the women's champions (The Roar) are not curtain-raising the Brisbane game is because staffing Suncorp for double the time when it's already breaking the bank keeps the Roar's accountants from being able to sleep at night.

So this, I reckon, is the project. There may be all sorts of other things in the way, but we (the 'royal we' of course as I shall merely continue to snipe like a blogger) should get busy. The project is not merely to move the games but to colonise a permanent spiritual home for our heros and all associated activity, and one that is appropriate to a realistic assessment of support, rather than a zealot's dream.

One more thing, and I'm back to the League as a whole. I have argued several times that the biggest impediment to the growth of the A-League is FOX. The main retort is that the A-League could not exist without FOX. I guess we won't hear from the same if the A-League doesn't survive anyway. So here's the problematic: do we attempt to overcome the lower income we might recieve from free-to-air coverage, providing a much better gamble for growth, or do we attempt to overcome the non-existent growth that FOX coverage provides? Either path will take great imagination, business acumen and hard work, but I know which challenge I'd prefer.

To those who say we're locked into the FOX deal for x years so we have to deal with it I say bullshit. A contract is simply the terrain for negotiation. The FOX people, the FFA and free-to-air interests, if the will was there, could hammer out a deal that everyone would benefit from, especially if the game was to hence grow rather than continue to shrink.

Here's a starting point:

• FOX sells the rights to a 'game of the week' every week on FTA, which attempts to be the biggest game, including the finals at the end.
• FOX still has the game on its own network anyway, so all those FOX subscribers can still use the special features etc.
• FOX still runs the show, does the commentary etc.
• FOX gets to promote its subscriptions on FTA at the same time... "If you want special features...", "If you want to watch all the A-League action...", "If you want to make sure you see all of your teams games...", "If you want the world of elite soccer - EPL, whatever..." ... "then here's the latest special FOX deal!"

Anyway, as I foreshadowed from the beginning, this is a rave and it's not entirely coherent. In my defence I only plee my sincerity. I dearly love this game. It might have saved my life. I love the Brisbane Roar, whether they win or lose. If The Roar went broke, or if the A-League collapsed, I would be heartbroken. I honestly think both of these things are not only possible, but all things going as they are, it's on the cards. So if I sound cynical or negative at all, please believe that my only objective is trying to discuss these things openly for the long-term survival of the League and my beloved haz-chem orange clad lads. I'm over trying to talk it up or find the positive needle in the looming haystack of problems. I am SO over the fans and pundits who pretend it's all hunky, dory, growing and on the yellow brick road to soccer heaven. Let's get real, get just a bit humble, and rethink this thing with reality clearly in mind.