Just who is trashing the legacy of John Aloisi? Not Sydney FC fans, that's for sure. As usual football supporters are the excuse of last resort but if anyone wants to know who has given the former Socceroo's reputation a black eye then look no further than the likes of Mark Schwarzer and David Zdrilic.
How is it that a four season stint in the A-League resulting in two Premier's Plates and a grand final medal has been reduced to a cautionary tale about the perils of returning home? And why is it that fans of the club, where much of that success was achieved, are being demonised as perpetuating an aberrant fan culture?
In the farcical circus engulfing the "will he or won't he return" of favoured son, Harry Kewell, some have dared to invoke the name of Aloisi. Few, it seems, are prepared to challenge the gangrenous and increasingly entrenched interpretation of his sojourn in the A-League and, by extension, the potential pitfalls that await those returning from Europe.
A-League supporters hardly need reminding but this is what Aussie goalkeeper Schwarzer reportedly told Football+ magazine recently: ''I have seen too many players go back home and it has not worked out. The biggest example is John Aloisi and how he was treated so badly. You are up there to be shot down very, very quickly.''
Not worked out? What a crock. As a Sydney FC fan I'm bemused. Aloisi should be apoplectic. Is there no one prepared to rescue his story from the hand-wringing revisionists who are intent in turning a successful tour of duty into some tawdry life-lesson in poor career choices? Let's be clear - after years of fruitless toiling in the topflight of England, Italy and Spain one of Australia's favourite journeymen comes home and finally picks up some silverware that isn't part of his grandmother's cutlery collection. And what is he remembered for - one frustrating and barren season in front of goal. Well, a lot has happened since 2008/09, although you'd never know it from the public discourse.
David Zdrilic, now an expert analyst for SBS, apparently still carries the scars from his three seasons with the harbour-siders. Sounding a note of warning to returning Socceroos he suggested Sydney-raised Kewell steer clear of the Sky Blues: "You'd normally say yes, but look what happened with John Aloisi. I wouldn't want that to happen to any other player."
Fan behaviour must be so much more polite in other clubs, right? I couldn't plant my tongue more deeply in my cheek if I had a backhoe. I mean, what are we talking about here? A deadly parcel bomb sent to a former international (think Celtic's Neil Lennon)? Right-wing extremists infiltrating the fan base with their toxic views? Water bottles and rocks hurled down onto the heads of players? A festering boil of racial and sectarian-fuelled violence erupting in the support bays? Any one of which occurs at football matches every week around the globe.
Well, not quite. Booing. That's right some, not all, Sky Blues fans booed their marquee. And yes there was jeering as well. In his first year, Sydney's $1.4 million a season man, the richest paid footballer in the nation and a World Cup qualifying hero, was looking like a bargain basement dud. Did the fans vent? You bet. More than a few suggested Aloisi hook up with their optometrist. It was ugly, uncomfortable and possibly among the player's darkest hours. But it was also a prelude to some of his finest.
Anyone with a modicum of interest in the A-League knows that Aloisi's first season with the Sky Blues was not the culmination of his story. That would be like leaving the Rumble in the Jungle in the fifth or sixth round and declaring Ali had received a real pasting. By the following season Aloisi was already on the road to redemption. In 2009/10 he was instrumental in helping Sydney FC win the double (though he missed the grand final due to injury), was the first Sky Blues striker to reach double digits in a single season and scored a brilliant solo goal that helped deliver the harbour city its first Premier's Plate. He was influential for three A-League clubs and, in the case of Melbourne Heart, continues to make a valued contribution.
Was it all sunshine and lollipops? No. That's football. One day you're making history, haring around the park, bare-chested and waving your shirt in front of 82,000 screaming fans, the next you're slumped in the foetal position kissing the grass after missing a dead-set sitter from a metre out. Sometimes the fans are with you, sometimes they're not. It's the same the world over. Just don't tell me Aloisi is a cautionary tale. Don't invoke his name to warn off returning Socceroos. Some overseas-based players - especially the Class of 2006 - won't have the stomach for local club football after reaching the heights of nation-wide adulation, that's understandable. But whatever you do don't cry for Johnny - he did more than okay.
