THE COYNE family certainly knows a thing or two about football.

Older brother Chris plays regularly for the Socceroos, Jamie was Perth Glory's captain last year, and their father John was a journeyman striker and Socceroo in the 1970s. All up, that's not a bad little family business. As we approach D-Day for knowing whether or not Chris Coyne will sign for Perth Glory, it's interesting to note the way in which local fans have been talking about the two Coyne brothers. But first, a quick history lesson...

Both Coyne brothers spent their younger days at Football West Premier League side Perth SC. A dominant force in local football, Perth are nowadays often criticised for "buying titles" rather than building up local young talent. In the case of the Coyne brothers however, the club kick-started their careers and soon had both trialling with West Ham United in England. Jamie's spell in England lasted only a year before he returned to the Azzurri, but brother Chris kicked on with West Ham's youth team and spent time on loan with Brentford and Southend United before moving to Scottish Premier League outfit Dundee in 2000. After 20 games with Dundee, Coyne was brought back to England by the then Luton manager (and best friend of journalists) Joe Kinnear. The next seven years saw Chris establish himself with Luton, assist in them winning promotion twice, and be appointed club captain. He was sold by Luton to Colchester for seven times what they paid for him, and had firmly established himself as a reliable defender and capable leader.

In the meantime, brother Jamie had been focussing on the local game back home. After returning from West Ham in 2000, he re-established himself as an important part of the Perth SC lineup. Playing through the midfield, he won the player of the season medal for the Football West Premier League in 2002. This soon led to him joining Perth Glory in the 2002-2003 NSL season, which saw him receive yet more silverware as Glory won their first NSL Championship. 2003-2004 saw yet more success, as Coyne was a regular member of the Glory side that captured back-to-back NSL titles, playing in 22 of the team's 24 games. His performances saw him capture the attention of Dutch side ADO Den Haag, but he enjoyed limited success in Holland and migrated back to Australia for the start of the A-League. Having played a significant role in each of Glory's first four A-League seasons, Jamie could now be regarded as a veteran of the club; and has been played everywhere from right wing, to central midfield, to centre back, to right back during that time.

Yet for all of Jamie's service to the club (he's now played over 100 matches in Glory colours) there's a general feeling of discontent when his name comes up in discussions amongst fans. Their primary grudge is usually based around his performance as captain of the Glory last year. David Mitchell handed the armband to Coyne in what was rumoured to be part the new contract he signed with the club; however his leadership qualities came under scrutiny when it became obvious to many that he was not the natural leader Perth required, ala club legend Jamie Harnwell.

It was amusing and demoralising for fans to see Perth with as many as three or four "captains" on the field at one time, all barking orders and confusing the heck out of their teammates. Coach Mitchell didn't seem to help things by establishing an AFL-style "leadership group" including Harnwell and Eugene Dadi to assist Coyne on matchdays; further undermining the opinion of the younger Coyne's captaincy among fans. Jamie had been a fairly reliable defender during previous seasons (although prone to making the most inexplicable mistakes now and then) but placing the captaincy on his shoulders and shifting him everywhere from central defence to central midfield must have played on his confidence. As a result, it became near-traditional for Glory fans to groan during matches as Coyne passed the ball straight to an opposition player in the middle of the field (though that said, the groaning could have easily have been because they realised their "midfield" at times consisted of Jamie Coyne and James Robinson).

Another part of the criticism for Jamie stems from the fact that the media built him up as one of the stars of Glory during their succession of poor seasons. He certainly was a contender at some points for player of the month awards, but this just made the odd mistake that much more painful for Perth fans - especially if it cost Glory a goal, as defensive mistakes so often can. Former player Stan Lazaridis (himself not very well liked by a large portion of Perth fans) claimed that Coyne was one of the better crossers of a ball in the Glory team, and that he should be in line for a Socceroo call-up. This of course was bound to rile Glory fans last year when unheralded players such as Adriano Pellegrino and Scott Neville showed they could just as easily match, if not better, the performances of their club captain in either midfield or defence. Now, with one of the best starting midfields in the competition, Perth have no need for Coyne in the midfield and have a very willing replacement in Neville for him at right back. So it seems to be up to Jamie to perform this year and prove that he deserves to keep the likes of Neville out of the side - and judging by last year's performances, taking the captaincy away from him might actually help his case.

With all that said about the younger Coyne, if you ask the Glory faithful about his older brother Chris at the moment you'd be hard-pressed to believe they came from the same stock. Coyne the elder is seen by many as the final piece of a Glory team that can once again have the potential to dominate Australian football. Certainly Chris would help reinforce what was a very leaky defence last year, alongside new signing Andy Todd and club stalwart Jamie Harnwell. If Chris was to join Glory, it would be likely that he'd line up alongside his younger brother, who would resume his once-regular position of right back. With Harnwell relegated to the bench and Sekulovski, Griffiths, and perhaps Todd Howarth fighting it out for the left back position, it would at best be a very good defence led by two powerful centre backs, and at worst still a heck of a lot better than last year's. Therefore it's not hard to see why Perth fans have attributed near-Messianic status to his possible return; especially when you look up the centre of  Glory's probable starting lineup - Coyne, Burns, and Sterjovski. That's a Socceroo spine, and that's pretty impressive; even if all three don't always start together in the national team.

But of course all this assumes that Coyne chooses to come home. Opinions vary as to who is leading the chase for his signature, but it's accepted that clubs in Asia, the Middle East, and across the A-League are all interested. In my mind, if Coyne wants to return "home", then Perth has to be high on his list. His dad is part of the coaching and development setup at Perth SC, his brother is a Glory regular, and Perth itself is a great place for his young family to live and grow. The difficulty comes with regards to money, specifically as to how much Glory have left under their salary cap to pay for Coyne's services. Club owner Tony Sage has already admitted Glory needed to do some "juggling" to table their three year offer- perhaps putting aside other signings for the time being, or looking at how their ASAs are structured. Sage is reasonably confident of Chris becoming a Glory player this season; but even then he admits that Coyne's club Colchester will have a part to play. As easy as it might be for Perth fans to cast them as villains standing in the way of a great signing, if I were losing my £350,000 signing to the other side of the world I wouldn't let him go for free either! Thus the only person who knows for sure what's going to happen is Chris himself- and even he would be having a few restless nights at the moment.

If (and that's a big if) it does come to pass that Perth double their amount of Coyne this year, you would imagine  Glory will once again be a force to be reckoned with. With a much greater depth of talent than last season, the very minimum fans would expect would be finals football. Indeed, many will be disappointed if Glory aren't there challenging for the title in the final weeks of the season. It might seem harsh, but this is Perth we're talking about - Glory have a long and proud history, and it is only recently that mediocrity has become a feature of it.

As some fans' attitudes towards Jamie Coyne shows, simply playing games for the club will not guarantee your place in their hearts. Glory fans expect more; while some NSL clubs were happy to make the finals, Perth fans demanded championships. While some clubs were happy to escape with draws, Perth fans demanded thrashings of opponents. As such, a Perth Glory team with three Socceroos won't be seen as just finals contenders; they'll have even more expectation placed upon them. Fans can only hope that the two Coyne brothers can play a part in meeting and exceeding those expectations.