A deadset rant

Posted on February 1, 2012 by jtm

After another abysmal defensive collapse by Leeds United this morning, I decided to cancel my subscription to LUTV.

I figured I’d had enough of Ken Bates and didn’t want to give him any more of my hard earned money as he clearly refuses to back Simon Grayson in the transfer market. That said, I’ve had enough of him too.

So on the helpdesk form it said to leave as much information as possible about my cancellation request…and suddenly, this happened:

I wish to cancel my LUTV subscription immediately. The reason? The Chairman and the manager. The Chairman will not give the manager the money he wants. That said the manager seems to have run out of ideas and the ability to organise the defence.

It’s the same story every week and the same excuses. Bates, if you don’t trust Grayson with your precious money then get rid of him. But if you do trust him, then back him properly. And if money is an issue, why weren’t more players moved on during the transfer window?

Bates, in July you said promotion was the target for the season, well, looking at the way the season has unfolded that will never happen. Yes, we may have played ok in the first half v Brum but it sounds like the 2nd half was awful. Many of our wins this season have been lucky ones where we’ve been outplayed but scragged a lucky goal, played against ten men or scored late goals. This league may be wide open but we’re now getting torn apart on a regular basis and the defence and defensive midfield positions have been crying out for ages for quality players to fill the obvious gaps.

Judging by attendances your policy of charging high ticket prices has failed and so now, not only do we have a watch a team in decline, we have to do it in a rapidly emptying stadium. Yes, I live in Australia but you can feel the negativity from here. It would be best if you just leave now please and let someone deal with the mess.

You have blanketed the club in a cloak of secrecy; no one knows where all the money from transfers has gone except towards facilities. These may look good but if no one goes to the games then what have you achieved?

Further, your treatment of the media is terrible. Having only a station owned radio/TV station to access Leeds United matches/footage/interviews etc. is a sham. We never hear an independent voice so have no idea of what is really going on. People who dare critique Leeds get banned and often publicly rebuked, which is embarrassing.

The weekly Yorkshire Radio segments with Ben Fry are cringe worthy as there are obvious restraints on what he’s able to ask you. Are you worried he might ask you something difficult to explain? Surely a man of your age and experience can anticipate all manner of questions. This and the other media restrictions only make it seem you have something to hide. By all means have a club owned TV station, but make it ONE part of Leeds focused media the fans can access. Tying so much exclusivity into LUTV makes your ownership of Leeds United nothing short of a dictatorship. And what’s more the quality of programming isn’t even that good.

I have been a Leeds fan since I was a boy. Bradford born, my heart bleeds Leeds. Even when the club was in Premier League meltdown I felt a sense of optimism that we would sort it out, but that’s not how I feel now. The team is increasingly full of loanees, which is a worry when you look at Sheffield United and their relegation to League One. One of the stated contributory factors for their demise was the high number of loan players. They simply don’t play for the shirt. It’s also not a way to build a team. So, yes, I have had enough.

I’m sick of being told to wait until the next transfer window for some serious activity, because as we’ve just seen, good players leave and are either not replaced or the new player is on loan or a free transfer. And I’m sick of being told that the players will just have to work harder on the training track. Martin O’Neill has turned Sunderland around in a matter of weeks. Grayson has had three years to sort out a back four. It’s Groundhog day!

And on the issue of players leaving, where’s the Howson money gone?

That of course is just one of so many questions Leeds fans have asked over the past seven years about your murky ownership of the club and management of players and staff.

As mentioned earlier, it’s time for you to go. And when someone who really has ambitions for the club is in charge I’ll happily spend some money to help restore Leeds to greatness. Ken Bates, you may have saved Leeds once but you’re killing it now. I look forward to seeing confirmation of my cancelled LUTV subscription.

Now get out of our club and take Harvey and Grayson with you.

John Thompson-Mills

President

Leeds United Supporters Club Adelaide

…well that feels better, I think.

Greipel wins again–TDU Stage 3

Posted on January 19, 2012 by jtm

Andre Greipel continues to dominate the 2012 SANTOS Tour Down Under, after winning the 134.5km stage three between Unley and Victor Harbor.

The powerful German recorded his second win this week (three if you count the Down Under Classic) to regain the Ochre Leaders jersey he held after Tuesday’s first stage.

Greipel’s 10th stage win puts him only two behind current record holder Robbie McEwen (12) and erases bad memories of the stage to Victor in 2009 when he crashed and broke a collarbone.

Making today’s victory even more remarkable is that several of Greipel’s teammates are injured and in Jurgen Roelandt’s case, in hospital and out of the race.

Greipel now holds an eight second lead on GC over yesterday’s Ochre jersey winner Martin Kohler (BMC). Michael Matthews (Rabobank) is third on 12 secs with Vacansoleil’sThomas de Gendt(0:14) and GreenEDGE’s Simon Gerrans (0:16) 4^th and 5^th.

The early stage of the race followed a predictable pattern with a small group of riders attacking as soon as the riders left the race neutral zone.

Four riders soon established a break. Vorganov (Katusha), Bakelandts (Radioshack), DeGedndt (VCD) and Brammeier (Omega Pharma Quickstep) contested the SKODA KOM (Sellicks Hill 42.9km, cat 2) ) and both the Jayco Sprints (Mt Compass 65km and Goolwa 70km) before they were caught.

Unlike yesterday though the peloton never let this break get too far ahead because in Vorganov and Bakelandts they had two riders highly placed in the GC—(6^th and 9^th respectively).

Also there was DeGendt who last year was in the same breakaway where Cameron Meyer effectively won the TDU (Stage 4 into Strathalbyn). Meyer won that stage with DeGendt recording the same time in 2^nd.

So the lead was never allowed to break six minutes and when Brammeier was the final rider caught, only 92k’s had been ridden.

The high speeds ensured that no other riders were able to establish an attack, so we were set for a bunch sprint into what would be a technical and cross wind affected finish in Victor Harbor.

Numerous riders punctured as the race approached Victor but when the sprinters finally got going, Greipel once again proved to be too strong beating Hutaroavich (FDJ) and the impressive Boassan Hagen (SKY), with Renshaw (RAB) in fourth.

Attention now turns to the Barossa Valley, specifically Tanunda, where Greipel won in 2010; in fact he’s one of three Germans to triumph there. Despite declaring that his Lotto-Belisol team has now achieved its objectives for the SANTOS Tour Down Under don’t be surprised if tomorrow Greipel exceeds them in the 138km BUPA Stage 4 from Norwood to Tanunda.

Ignore history at your peril

Posted on December 18, 2011 by jtm

In light of Rini Coolen’s sacking, many questions have been raised, but as I found out when researching Coolen’s career for the 2010/11 preview, the decision to hire him was always questionable.

Adelaide United 2010/11 season preview for The Ange newspaper’s “Goal” magazine

In the year Adelaide United make the fewest alterations to their squad, they make the biggest change to their coaching ranks, in the process increasing the burgeoning Dutch influence on Australia’s football landscape.

The appointment of Rini Coolen, a relatively unknown 43 year-old Dutchman, to replace new Socceroos Assistant Coach Aurelio Vidmar, appears both a bold and conservative move.

It’s bold in the sense of ‘going’ Dutch, when Coolen’s immediate influence will be restricted by a near capacity salary cap, a full quota of foreigners, continuing FFA ownership, and barely three weeks of pre-season to work with the team.

It’s conservative because Adelaide has essentially played with a Dutch system for the past three years, so Coolen’s blueprint may not be too much change for the players to cope with.

Following a mostly Dutch second tier playing career, Coolen has built a modest coaching CV.

Seven years at current Dutch Premier League Champions FC Twente (1999-2006) was followed by spells at two first division clubs; AGOW Apeldoorn (2006/7) and RBC Roosendaal (Nov 2008-2010).

As assistant coach, Coolen helped Twente to the 2003/4 Dutch Cup final. As coach he guided them to sixth in the 2004/5 league campaign, but resigned in February ‘06 with the club struggling in 13^th position.

Twelve months later Coolen left Appeldoorn, which ultimately finished bottom of the first division. His 18 months at Roosendaal—one of the division’s smallest clubs–resulted in 11^th and 16^th place finishes.

But Coolen has a presence in Australian football circles, scouting for Pim Verbeek during the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, and working under Melbourne Heart coach John van ’t Schip at Twente (2001/2).

Such was his attraction towards Australia, in 2006 Coolen considered applying for the Sydney FC job, but decided the time wasn’t right.

But now he believes it is, and with a commanding persona but unassuming style, Coolen has promised not to change anything until he’s conducted a thorough review of United’s squad. He sees himself as more of a manager than a coach, indicating he will delegate responsibility to offsider Phil Stubbins.

Stubbins actually made it to the final two in his bid to land Vidmar’s job, but says the promise of more responsibility under Coolen has more than compensated for missing out.

What Coolen has to work with is a squad that is well below full strength. Four players – Dodd, Cornthwaite , Barbiero and Owusu – have missed most or all of the pre-season through injury, but even when they return , the Reds still have some significant weaknesses .

The departure of fringe Socceroo Scott Jamieson (Sydney FC) robs the team of one third of its left side, with only Cassio and the somewhat inconsistent Lucas Pantelis to plug the gap.

In central midfield, the robust Adam Griffiths, perennially injured Kristian Sarkies and talented Michael Marrone have all gone, leaving only the injury prone Paul Reid and battling Adam Hughes as obvious selections.

Completing the departure lounge personnel are Brazilians Alemao and Cristiano, plus veteran defender Mark Rudan. That said, it would be a crushing blow should fringe Socceroo keeper Eugene Galekovic join them by deciding to use his World Cup selection as a springboard for a move.

With no money for marquee players, to date just three players have arrived for the new campaign.

Striker Sergio van Dijk (Brisbane Roar), defender Nigel Boogaard (Mariners) and Argentine playmaker Marcos Flores all signed for the Asian Champions League campaign. That they’re well settled-in is good because it’s vital Adelaide begins the new season strongly.

As the current A-League wooden spoon holder, United scored a league low 24 goals last season, so van Dijk’s 25 from 50 games for the Roar suggests an instant solution has been found.

Keeping the ball was also a problem for the Reds. Flores can help address that, but Stubbins says maintaining possession has been one of the priorities of an “impressive pre-season.”

“It’s something I’ve tried to instil in the players, faster movement off the ball, better retention of the ball, not allowing things to be played above head height in training. So there’s no long balls which creates a better understanding of movement by having to move to receive the ball.

“You’ll see a faster brand of football with a better linkage of play, with a transition from the back to the front which will be a much better spectacle.”

You would also expect to see more signings because at the time of writing one spot has to be filled, although there’s room for up to four.

Relative success should follow for the Reds, as moving off the bottom will mark an improvement, but just how much further Rini Coolen can take them is as debatable as what FIFA will do to end refereeing controversies.

Wind back the clock…

Posted on November 13, 2011 by jtm

**Due to financial restaints, The Age’s Goal Magazine was not published, so my season preview has not seen the light of day. Given Adelaide’s mixed start to the season, it’s worth reflecting on Coolen’s thoughts before a ball was kicked in anger.

Read on:

It’s been a long off-season but Adelaide United Coach Rini Coolen isn’t bothered. He’s just overseen the biggest player cull in the club’s eight-year history, so there’s been a lot to sort out.

Since last season ended with an error strewn home defeat to Gold Coast United, 10 players have left Hindmarsh Stadium, some by choice, others at the wishes of the club.

Four more players went before the season ended, while two coaches also departed as Adelaide United’s administration and football departments were pruned back.

But while money has been saved off the field, it’s a different case on it. The Reds will go into A-League season seven with arguably their best ever squad, certainly in terms of depth.

Socceroos Jon McKain and Dario Vidosic, headline the ‘ins’ along with former Reds striker Bruce Djite and Zenon Caravella (both Gold Coast).

One time Brisbane Roar midfielder Spase Dilevski is back from three years at Universitatea Craiova in Romania, while former Adelaide youth player Osama Malik returns from North Queensland Fury.

Evgeniy Levchenko, a 33-year-old Ukrainian, arrives from Dutch club Willem II to take Marcos Flores’ international spot. Paul Izzo and Jacob Melling (both AIS) have also joined and there’s one spot to fill.

So some obvious quality but we can’t yet know whether they’ve successfully replaced; Travis Dodd (Perth), Johnny Warren medallist Marcos Flores (Henan Jianye), Matthew Leckie (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Iain Fyfe (Busan l’Park), Adam Hughes (Perth), Robert Cornthwaite (Chunnam Dragons), Lucas Pantellis (Wellington), Paul Reid, Lloyd Owusu, Inseob Shin, Dario Bodrusic, Joseph Keenan, Joe Costa and Francisco Monterosso.

There are changes in the coaching ranks too. Luciano Trani (Wellington) replaces Phil Stubbins as Assistant Coach. Specialist Coach Carl Veart has also gone. Peter Cklamovski is Adelaide’s new Strength and Conditioning Coach.

It’s such a contrast to last year, when Iain Ramsay was the only off-season signing, and Coolen had barely three weeks in charge before the season started.

Coolen says initially he cursed the seven month off-season, but now he feels good about it.

“We have to fit in a lot of new players and for that reason it was better to have a long pre-season to work on the shape and get to know individuals.

“I can look back at it now as a more positive thing to prepare the team than five months previously.”

Coolen is pleased with his new-look squad which he says has the balance, depth, experience and mentality to succeed.

“We needed more experience, which I think is necessary for making decisions on the pitch instead of the coach needing to make all the decisions during the game.

“Once the game starts the players have to take the decisions, so that’s how we try to build up our squad.”

Jon McKain is one player who’ll have that responsibility, because he’s the Reds new skipper.

Coolen says handing the 28 year-old defender the ‘armband’ was an easy decision.

“He gave us an indication in the first few weeks that he didn’t just do it on the pitch he did it off the pitch too.

“In the change rooms we find out the players highly respect him and how he handles things.”

But the fans’ biggest question is have the Reds replaced Marcos Flores?

Coolen says they haven’t, but he’s happy with the outcome.

“What we actually did, is replace Marcos Flores with two players.

“We brought in Dario Vidosic but he’s more of an attacking player and Marcos Flores more a number ten.

“And we used Flores foreign spot for Levchenko.

“So we did ok, but to replace Marcos Flores directly, that’s impossible.”

Coolen did a remarkable job taking the Reds from bottom to third ahead of the finals, although results fell away after an unbeaten 11 match run. Adelaide won just eight and drew one of its next 19 games.

The supporters were happy enough though after Adelaide ‘won’ the wooden spoon in 2009/10. But this season expectations are much greater. Coolen says he welcomes the pressure.

“That’s one of the things we have to handle in our culture.

“You can’t walk away from it. We are one of the clubs that could work for position number one. But you have to look at it as a positive.”

Apart from a Grand Final spot, Coolen’s other big goal for this season is a simple one, consistency.

“Last season we had a lot of very high moments but we also had moments when we dropped too much and made silly mistakes.

“I prefer to bring the gap between the two together so we have more consistency and more control over our game.

But with Perth (away) Melbourne and Sydney (home) and Brisbane (away) as their first four fixtures, just how much control the Reds have over their game, and season, should soon become clear.

PLAYER TO WATCH:

If he can get fit and stay fit, former Dutch international Andwele ‘Andy’ Slory could set the A-League alight.

Twice capped by Holland in 2007, and able to play on both wings, Slory is a player of exceptional speed, with a healthy goal scoring record, but injuries have cruelled his career.

Slory joined Adelaide last December as a guest player, but Reds fans only saw glimpses of him due to thigh and ankle injuries.

With Coolen’s love of speedy wingers and the departure of Dodd and Leckie, there’s a lot of pressure on Slory, but Coolen is confident the former Feyenoord player will succeed.

“He’s a player who will work hard to stay as fit as possible.

“At the moment he is fitter than he was the last year, so it’s up to us now to keep him fit and get him on the pitch, because he is a player that can make a difference during a game.”

Marcos Flores: An opportunity missed

Posted on June 28, 2011 by jtm

However you look at the inevitable departure of Marco Flores, Adelaide United has missed a big opportunity.

In a nutshell, the owners have shown a distinct lack of ambition.

They are clearly more interested in the bottom line, which, yes is hugely important but should not be the only factor when it comes to owning a sporting club.

When the Gerard consortium bought the licence from the FFA, they talked about building a club, an entity that represents South Australia’s football community.

This is some of what Chairman Greg Griffin said at their first media conference in November last year.

“Essentially it’s imperative as the new consortium sees it, for us to embrace the South Australian community and the public, and that means that we have to, as a group, reach out to the public and give them some facilities, membership ideas and if we are to take this club further, we need to start working with the grass roots,”

“It is very important to us that this club has a viable and solid foundation. We are going to attract the best people we can possibly get to ensure the ongoing success of this club.”

Marcos Flores was achieving many of those aims.

He was immensely popular and had become the face of the club, and not just here in Adelaide.

And as Adelaide’s only Johnny Warren Medal winner, he was obviously ticking all the boxes on the field.

He was one of those “best people” Griffin alluded to.
Ok, Flores only had a year left on his contract and the club stood to lose him for nothing at the end of the season, but if Adelaide was so insistent on selling, I think they could’ve held out for more money.

When Bruce Djite left for Genclerbirligi in Turkey, Adelaide netted a reported $850,000.

Surely Flores was worth at least as much?

As we know, Adelaide didn’t demand more money and neither it seems did they make a last ditch attempt to keep him.

According to yesterday’s media release from Adelaide United, Flores told the club he was leaving on Friday.

“The Adelaide United Board was not in favour of releasing Flores, keeping the midfielders marquee deal on the table until Saturday morning however Marcos advised the club he did not intend to remain in Adelaide and intended to take up the offer from China.”

From that, you can read that Adelaide United did not submit a counter offer. But why not? Wasn’t it at least worth a try?

If they were prepared to improve the original deal, extra numbers through the gate and sales of Flores merchandise would have helped recoup some of the money. The fans would have felt more valued and the owners get to write another chapter in Adelaide United’s story as it BUILDS a culture.

Now coach Rini Coolen is back to square one, which as always provides no guarantees.

Another option would have been to follow the example of Leeds United in England—no not that example, but another more recent one. And yes, I’m a Leeds fan, but bear with me.

In January 2010 their top scorer Jermaine Beckford was the subject of several lucrative bids from Premier League clubs. He was out of contract at the end of that season and had refused to enter into any discussions about the new deal on the table.

Leeds were then at the top of League One (England’s third tier) and the money would have been very handy.

But the club decided to forget about the cash and instead pinned their hopes on Beckford’s goals ensuring Leeds’ promotion to the Championship after three years in League One.

History shows Beckford scored THE goal that sealed Leeds promotion, and while he then walked away (to Everton) for nothing, Leeds had been justified in their decision not to sell.

As things stand at Adelaide United, the owners are $500,000 richer, but what if they decided not to sell and bank on Flores helping them to qualify for the ACL, maybe even win the ‘toilet seat?’

On top of the extra fans and merchandise, that $500k could have easily been bettered, while A-League fans could have enjoyed another season of Flores magic.

Yes the A-League will always be a feeder competition but given Flores has gone to a struggling club in China, it’s hard to imagine the football will be any better, not to mention the lifestyle.

The league needs players like him and we can’t assume another one will just land in Coolen’s lap.

On the plus side, there is time to find a replacement but it will take time and then whoever they sign will have to settle in.

In the meantime, given the current lack of success by SA sporting teams, an opportunity to build public momentum towards the most important A-League season since 2006/7 has gone.

Thanks for the memories Marcos, you’ll always be welcome back here.

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST

Posted on March 16, 2011 by jtm

There’s now no doubt that Rini Coolen is doing things his way.

The decision today to dispense with the services of assistant coach Phil Stubbins has surprised many but not everyone.

And following the departure of Dodd, Leckie, Reid, Cornthwaite, Fyfe, Shin, Owusu, Monterosso, youth coach Joe Mullen, strength and conditioning coach Sean Tagg, team manager Ryan Peremiczko and media manager Dom Rinaldo, the new owner’s broom has now swept through all parts of the club.

That said there may be more to come.

There are more meetings with staff scheduled, and with question marks over the future of some players, it wouldn’t surprise to see further departures

Of course coaches are totally entitled to bring in their own staff, and for that reason, Coolen deserves time to show us his Adelaide United master plan, but it will be fascinating to hear the reasons why Stubbins was given his marching orders.

The timing is interesting too.

Some media wags speculated that the only surprise was that it had taken so long.

But given the season review has just been completed, would it be fair to suggest Stubbins’ input was required and once that was done, he wasn’t required?

Some people at Adelaide saw Phil Stubbins as the glue, and when you think he brought in players like Leckie, Galekovic, Flores, Ramsay and Ognenosvki, on the surface you have to question the decision to move him on.

Stubbins had been there for nearly four years and was a likeable and accessible bloke. It’s hard to believe it was a personal decision.

Rini Coolen will have to bring in someone to replace him, but will he go with someone he knows (someone Dutch?), or appoint someone with good local knowledge? If it’s the latter then the obvious question is what was wrong with Phil Stubbins?

It suggests that Coolen is looking overseas.

Again, Coolen deserves time to build the club in the way he wants, but, once again his history as a senior coach/manager does not make for encouraging reading.

As assistant coach, Coolen helped Twente to the 2003/4 Dutch Cup final. As coach he guided them to sixth in the 2004/5 league campaign, but didn’t see out the 2005/6 season. In February 2006 with the club struggling in 13^th position, there was a mutual parting of the ways.

Coolen started at FC Apeldoorn the following July but by February 2007 was on his way again with the club struggling and ultimately relegated.

After some time away from coaching, in November 2008 Coolen joined second tier RBC Roosendaal. He guided them to 11^th at the end of the season, but the following campaign they went backwards, finishing 16^th. A few months later he joined Adelaide United.

It’s hardly a compelling record and there’s a pattern there too. Relative “success” in his first season before a decline the following campaign.

No one wants to see Adelaide struggle but the same pattern could be emerging here too.

A successful first season it may have been, but it was built on the back of an unbeaten 11 game (25 points) run at the beginning of his tenure. The following 19 games (25 points) were not so good, with only the Heart, Glory and Fury faring worse.

Sure there were injuries to important players—Leckie, Dodd, Mullen, Boogaard, and Coolen hasn’t yet been able to play a team of his players there’s no doubt the season fell away.

By next season, expectation will be high and Coolen will not have many excuses. The media who seem to love him may also not be so forgiving.

It would be brilliant to see Adelaide build on the success of last season, because their fans deserve to see some silverware. At this point in time thogh all we can see is that Coolen has made some pretty big decisions and now has to prove that he knows the way forward.

He’ll get a chance to explain his ideas to the media on Friday, but at this stage it’s fair to say there are as many questions as answers.

THE LONG, LONG OFF-SEASON

Posted on March 9, 2011 by jtm

There’s no other way to describe Adelaide United’s season; it’s been a success.

Bottom in 09/10 to third at the end of this Premiership season represents a massive turnaround, but, and there has to be one, you can’t help feel that this campaign will go down as something of a wasted opportunity.

It was always going to be hard for Rini Coolen. Coming in just a few weeks before the season he had no opportunity to sign players or develop his game plan. But the city was rejoicing when after 11 matches United topped the table, unbeaten, with seven wins and four draws. A finals place was all but guaranteed and a top two position looked a very good bet.

One journalist even called Coolen “The Special One.”

And funnily enough that’s when things started to go pear-shaped.

In its next 19 games, Adelaide won only eight times, losing ten times for a total of 25 points. Only the Heart (22), the Glory (15) and the Fury (nine) fared worse.

Matches were lost in clusters; three in four followed by four in seven–including four in a row–and finally two in three. Six defeats were by a single goal.

Adelaide drew five matches, the same as the Phoenix, but that’s two less than even the Fury managed. Phoenix aside, the other top six teams drew many more games; Brisbane (11), Gold Coast and the Victory (10), the Mariners (nine).

They weren’t frequent to begin with but clean sheets became a rarity. Just four in the remaining 19 games after four in the first 11.

And the goals scored dropped off too, 20 in the first 11 (1.81 goals/game) to 29 in the final 19 (1.52) which of course included eight in one game.

Goals conceded went from nine in the first 11 (0.82 goals/game) to 27 in the remaining 19 (1.42).

So what does all that mean?

Well the raw numbers suggest that Adelaide wasn’t too far away from going a lot further this season.

Four of those single goal losses were at home, and two of them you’d “normally” expect Adelaide to win. If you do that and add in a draw for one of the others, then you have seven more points. That would have been enough for second spot.

Throw in Leckie’s untimely injury and some obvious player discontent and the waters muddy a little more.

But of course, that’s all ifs, buts and maybe’s.

What did change was the team in the second half of the season as injuries unbalanced Adelaide, especially in defence.

Nigel Boogaard started only 11 games, Fabian Barbiero 10, and Daniel Mullen nine. The versatile Joe Keenan broke his leg in early January, and then Iain Fyfe was allowed to leave.

Fyfe’s departure was particularly poorly timed. The scouts that were impressed by him on that December evening weren’t even at Hindmarsh to watch him—presumably it was Cornthwaite— but soon contact Adelaide with an offer the board wouldn’t refuse.

You can’t blame the player for leaving, but Adelaide should have had its eye on the big picture instead of the bottom line.

The persistence with Francisco Usucar instead of Paul Reid in central midfield was also puzzling, given the excellent partnership Reid and Hughes struck up. There’s nothing wrong with competition for places, but despite an encouraging debut there were games when Usucar was badly exposed, yet he wasn’t substituted.

A fit Joe Keenan would have allowed Rini Coolen to take some of pressure off Cameron Watson. He toiled honestly at right back but just didn’t have enough experience to play there every week.

History suggests finishing second instead of third cost Adelaide a place in the Grand Final and therefore participation in the 2013 ACL.

So despite Adelaide not going as far as it should have done, the Prelim Final was the least the fans were expecting, Rini Coolen was entitled to his honeymoon period.

But that has now ended.

Coolen’s been given cart-blanche to shape the squad in his image and fair enough too. The question is though will next season at Adelaide be like his times in Holland, where the promise of a debut campaign fizzled out the next time around?

At the three previous clubs he has been senior coach/manager, Coolen left before the end of the second season.

Hopefully he has learned from these disappointments and will apply that knowledge here.

The Adelaide United team that runs out for the first game of the new campaign will also be much different to the one which fell to the Gold Coast two weeks ago.

Travis Dodd, Paul Reid, Matthew Leckie, Robbie Cornthwaite and Dario Bodrusic have all gone, and Johnny Warren medalist Marcos Flores is no certainty to stay. Lucas Pantelis must be unsure of his future and who knows whether Adam Hughes will be here either.

Throw in Iain Fyfe, Lloyd Owusu, Inseob Shin and Francesco Monterosso and it adds up a big change in personnel.

Of course Ange Postecoglou performed a much more ruthless operation at Brisbane and look at what’s he achieved. He did have the “luxury” of coaching at national junior level and also watching the A-League from a commentary box.

Coolen has not been able to do that, but he has had a season to bed in and presumably has good connections in Holland.

We’ll get an insight into Coolen’s thoughts for next season when he addresses the media on the 18th of March.

Rini Coolen’s Master Plan

Posted on February 17, 2011 by jtm

Yesterday’s turn of events at Adelaide United was both a surprise and no surprise at all.

As contract talks and rumours of player discontent have bubbled around the club and in the media in recent times, it’s been gratifying to see whatever is going on at Hindmarsh, hasn’t overly affected the results.

Some selections have been rather curious, and the team may have played differently had the personnel been changed, but the players have been putting in a shift. Results have simply been down to who’s been better on the day.

But now everything has changed.

A player showed his true feelings and while the full story is yet to come out, there has to be some blame attached to both sides.

Paul Reid is clearly not a wanted player at Adelaide United. The club says he is a valued squad member, especially so during the finals series, but once the Reds‘ season ends, it will be also the end for Paul Reid as a Red.

It’s clear Reid is not wanted because contract talks have stalled. Well not so much as stalled, they never got going so low was the proposed deal. Stunning really for a senior player, a real on-field leader and many people’s choice as captain.

There’s also talk that Reid and some of the other senior players have found their ideas and opinions and not really welcome, disregarded even. So despite Coolen still coming to grips with Australia and the A-League, it’s fair to say he is his own man.

So Reid’s anger has been simmering for a while now, and at the same time, he’s been trying to understand why he’s lost his place in the starting XI.

In a statement, Reid said he’d been left “feeling extremely disappointed and frustrated” after being told he wouldn’t be playing against Wellington in the Elimination Final. Reid was inspirational in midfield against the Victory, scoring a rare goal and it’s simply unfathomable that he would be benched for tomorrow.

If that’s the case and it’s also true that Cassio will play, then that means Usucar returns to midfield alongside Hughes. It’s fair to say the Uruguayan has been exposed in recent games and Adelaide certainly has looked better with Reid playing in that role.

So Reid decided to make himself unavailable for selection claiming with all that’s happening, he can’t focus on the game. That isn’t the same as walking out on the club, but it might as well be. Reid may regret “withdrawing his services,” but it’s hard to imagine Coolen will welcome him back at all now.

Coolen was indeed right to call Reid “unprofessional” for his actions, but in his defence the veteran midfielder thinks he risks letting the team down by playing when mentally he is not focussed.

Ask any player and they’ll tell you, Reid is not a troublemaker, he’s the total team man, so this must have been a very difficult decision for him to make. But now it’s made he’ll have to live with the consequences and potential suitors may also take a dim view of what he’s done.

The question remains though, why has Adelaide United decided to cast so many senior players adrift? Fyfe has gone, Reid is all but out of the door, Dodd looks likely to follow and so too it seems does Hughes.

Quite simply it’s about money.

Throughout the season, Coolen has complained publically about the difficulties of managing a 27 game season with only 23 players and the inevitable injuries that crop up. Currently, there are four players with season ending injuries—Costa, Keenan, Barbiero and Mullen, while Owusu never played and Monterosso has racked up a mighty nine minutes on the field.

So Coolen has never really had 23 players this season …more like 20, and with the salary cap nearly all spent.

And this is the problem. Coolen wants 23 players, but essentially has no more money to spend. The only way to make space for two or three extra players is to cull some of the high earners.

Thus Reid, Dodd and Hughes have been tabled below par deals, and Fyfe was given an offer the club could not refuse, but he would not have been at the bottom of the club pay scale either.

Rini Coolen may get his full quota of players next season, but unless he discovers some unknown gems, almost certainly the quality of the squad will be reduced.

It’s not so silly to think that performances could do likewise.

The run home

Posted on January 30, 2011 by jtm

After 27 games of a 30 game season, Adelaide United sits in 3^rd spot and while some may be disappointed at the recent slip from 2^nd, based on what we’ve seen over the past few weeks, I don’t think anyone can have too many arguments.

Four wins and six losses from their past ten games has seen the Reds slip back into the pack after having a top two spot there for the taking in the middle of the season.

But given three of those losses have been to Brisbane and the Central Coast (twice), and three have also been at fortress Hindmarsh (Roar, Mariners and Heart), then the case for 3^rd seems pretty fair.

So what about the run home?

Melbourne Victory’s win over the Gold Coast was a massive one in terms of the ultimate make-up of the top six.

Miron Bleiberg’s team is still four points behind Adelaide but now only has one game in hand. That game is a home match against the Central Coast a week on Wednesday, seven days after Adelaide makes the trip to Rubina in another “six pointer.”

With home games to come against Wellington and Melbourne Victory to close out the season, a result on the Gold Coast could be enough for Adelaide to secure 3^rd spot and a home final.

And given they finished bottom just 12 months ago, that’s a fantastic achievement.

But the most two recent home losses have exposed some worrying signs for Adelaide supporters.

In fact even the Fury game highlighted some serious problems that if not corrected will stop Adelaide’s season before a much desired Grand Final appearance is achieved.

One problem can be fixed by restoring Paul Reid to the holding role in midfield alongside Adam Hughes but that may not be possible.

Francisco Usucar has now had three games to strut his stuff in that position. On debut he was a major reason Adelaide beat the Victory because he shut down the inspirational Carlos Hernandez. That made it hard for Rini Coolen to drop him for the next game, against the Fury.

But in that match Usucar wasn’t as effective. Considering the poor Fury performance, he was caught out of position a few too many times and allowed the struggling club easy access to the centre of United’s rearguard. They also made hard work of dealing with balls from wide areas, result, Adelaide ended up conceding 13 shots at goal with four on target. For the record United had 14 shots at goal with 11 on target.

Last night was essentially a carbon-copy. Speaking at the post match press conference Mariners’ coach Graham Arnold said he had spotted a few things in the Fury romp that he thought he could exploit.

But to be fair, any regular Adelaide United watcher would have seen the same things. That weakness in defensive midfield, and the other one at right-back where Cameron Watson is vulnerable. To be fair it’s not his natural position, but with Mullen and Barbiero injured Coolen has no other real options. Watson’s inexperience at right-back isn’t helped though by Travis Dodd, who does not always track back, thus leaving Watson and Adelaide exposed.

These areas so ruthlessly exposed last night by the Mariners saw them rack up 15 shots on goal with eight on target, while offering Adelaide only ten (five on target).

It’s hard to work out how Adelaide can reorganize itself at the back. With Iain Fyfe gone, which in itself is another huge blow, the form of new Croatian defender Dario Bodrusic will be important.

Maybe a back three is an option as we saw in the final 25 minutes last night, or failing that moving Adam Hughes to right back and playing Reid alongside Usucar. Reid will have to be teacher as much as performer though.

The other worrying aspect of the Mariners defeat was the lack of fight and passion. Given so much was at stake, United looked out of the game after barely ten minutes. Sitting on the sideline it was evident how little cajoling there was from Adelaide’s on-field leaders. It was a very quiet performance and just doesn’t seem right.

Dodd denied the contract issues surrounding his future had any effect on his or his team’s performance, but his answer like the match appeared to lack conviction.

How much so, will surely be revealed on Wednesday night on the Gold Coast.

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