Sometimes you just hate being proved right. Walking down to the pub after work last Friday, I still retained some hope that Perth Glory would be able to salvage something, anything, out of their trip to North Queensland. But deep down I knew that wouldn’t be the case - and soon enough last week’s blog post was vindicated in the most miserable way possible.
“It’s not whether you win or lose - it’s how you play the game”.
I think the first time I heard those words they were uttered by my under-8s indoor cricket coach. That was some time ago now, but after Friday night it seems never a truer word has been spoken. You may crush your opponents by 50 points, get thrashed by eight wickets, or take part in a dreary 0-0 draw; in the end, the result doesn’t matter. It’s about giving your all, enjoying yourself, and respecting your teammates and opponent. Seeing as Glory don’t seem to be getting these basics right under current coach David Mitchell, may I suggest my under-8s coach as a replacement?
Grow a Pair
I pity anyone who went to the Fury-Glory game expecting some kind of spectacle. Both sides displayed a mistake-ridden, unskilled brand of football only provided with a touch of class whenever Robbie “Scouse God” Fowler had the ball. But there was one major difference between the two sides, as rubbish as they both were; and that was the fact that the boys in lime green actually looked like they were trying. Jeremy Brockie may be a hack - but he’s a hack with heart, dammit; and that’s a hell of a lot more than what Glory had on the night.
A more insipid opening 45 minutes I don’t think I’ve ever seen from a team in Purple under Dave Mitchell’s reign. I’ve seen the boys go into half-time 3-0 down and still felt better than I did during the break on Friday night. Maybe the players have been reading my blog, and they’re depressed that a brilliant coaching mind such as myself is being wasted on 'citizen journalism'? Or (far more likely) Dave Mitchell told the boys they had nothing to worry about, were playing at the top of their game, and these Fury lads would be a bit of a cakewalk. Or that's certainly what it looked like, anyway.
Naum Sekulovski forgot that left backs play on the left side. Wayne Srhoj looked like he’d stopped for a pizza and pint at the local before the game. Mile Sterjovski showed off the moves he’s been learning from the Eugene Dadi School Of Falling Over. Jacob Burns ran in circles, kicking at air. Jamie Coyne practised long passes to the opposition goalkeeper and the third row of Fury fans. Adriano Pellegrino ran into opposition players and then forgot what to do next. Jimmy Downey had running races with the ball to the by-line, and lost. And after witnessing all of the above, Victor Sikora just didn’t run at all.
Who can blame him? Glory were nothing more than a team of gutless wonders on Friday night. No heart, no passion, no effort, no idea. We had all the creativity of a mentally-challenged sloth, and looked twice as slow. All the while, some genius kept our most creative young player on the bench until the last ten minutes of the match. I’ve seen some rubbish performances from some truly awful Perth line-ups in the A-League, but Friday night hurt the most. Not because we lost, or because we were rubbish - it was because I’ve seen cleaning contractors at ME Bank Stadium display more passion than the majority of those blokes in purple did.
The Rage of Sage
It seems I’m not the only person to hold the above views, either. On Saturday, owner Tony Sage blasted his employees, stating that he’d just up and leave if the players didn’t pull their socks up and work for the club:
"It's the first time this season I've been embarrassed to be the owner of Perth Glory... If you're not desperate, don't become a Glory player. That's the message. I don't care about the travel. I think all the players should apologise to the fans. We've spent up big and I'm just bitterly disappointed. I've committed now to the FFA for a number of years. But I'm frustrated and angry at that first-half performance."
By the end of the weekend, Sage’s anger had subsided; well, almost. He reiterated his passion for the club and his commitment to its long-term future, explaining his earlier outburst as letting his emotions get the better of him. But he then promptly threatened to tear up the contracts of about seven players if they didn’t step up. All’s well that ends well, then?
Heck, I applaud Tony for his outburst. At least he’s showing that he has a pair, which is more than you could say of someone like Wayne Srhoj or Adriano Pellegrino. I hate to pick on individuals off the back of what was a very poor team performance, but these guys have been out of form and out of passion for what seems like an age now. It’s time they were dropped either to the bench or the youth side and somebody else was given a go. The main qualifying criteria being “are you going to go out there and give it all for your club and fans?”. If they can’t answer that in the affirmative, then what the hell are they doing here?
Of course, this whole mess isn’t just the players’ fault alone. They may underperform, and they may look like they don’t give two hoots about the club as a whole- but who would honestly put players like that out on the park in the first place?
David Mitchell: Tactical Genius
At the beginning of the season, this was viewed as a make-or-break campaign for David Mitchell. Problem was, it soon became clear that he was neither going to ‘make it’, nor ‘break it’ in season 2009-2010; leaving supporters in a state of confusion over what the club might do next. Recently though the needle has taken an alarming swing towards the ‘broken’ side of things, and there seems little hope of it reversing momentum on the back of Mitchell’s current selections.
If a team is lacking in creativity, you DO NOT throw on a big man and a bloke whose only piece of creative flair is running fast. If players aren’t performing, you DO drop them. You DO NOT change a winning formula; you DO change a losing one. Trust me on this one Mitch; the current Glory lineup is a losing formula. However, these are all points that seem to have escaped the attention of our head coach.
One of the saddest things in this whole debacle is that while the senior side looks heartless, gutless, spineless - just generally looking like a sack of wasted skin and fat - there’s some young blokes at the club who are in absolutely red-hot form for the youth team. Glory Youth are in third place on the National Youth League ladder, two points from the top and with a game in hand on second-placed Adelaide.
These lads are in contention to make the grand final of their competition, and yet they all seem a lifetime away from getting into the hollow cadaver that is the current A-League lineup. Even Andrija Jukic, seemingly forever doomed to wander the twilight zone between senior team benchwarmer and youth team visitor, struggled to get but 10 minutes on the park last Friday night.
If I were Mitchell, I’d be booting guys like Srhoj, Pellegrino, and the like down to the youth side to give them a real kick in the balls- if only to test if they actually have any. Compared to those two, Jamie Harnwell and Andy Todd look like they’ve got space hoppers swinging between their legs. It’s no surprise to me that those two players were the only ones that Tony Sage said could hold their heads high after last week’s performance.
Jukic deserves a full 90 minutes on the pitch- I’ve said it numerous times, and it will probably never happen, but he needs to be given a go. Likewise, Ludovic Boi has been in dominant form for the youth team, netting a goal every two starts and being heavily involved in other attacking plays. Glen Triforo has also been playing well, and defenders such as Sam Mitchinson and Dean Evans would also be a good solution to any problems in the senior team’s backline.
Injury replacement Tommy Amphlett is another player who would really add an extra dimension to the senior side’s attacks. Even veteran Eugene Dadi, himself currently a permanent fixture in the youth lineup, would probably deserve to be given another chance up front in the A-League; especially since the likes of Sikora and Sterjovski are much better utilised in midfield. If nothing else, all these youngsters and otherwise discarded players are going to have a fire lit in them; a point to prove to the senior squad and the coach himself. God knows, that’s what Glory needs more than anything at this point.
At the end of the day, I again know that these changes are unlikely to happen. But with each poor result, I grow more and more sure of one thing. Either David Mitchell goes back to the drawing board with his starting lineup, or Tony Sage and co. will go back to the drawing board with their coaching staff. It really is that simple.
I laughed last week when a fellow forumite stated that Perth was simply his own team Adelaide in drag. The same problems with lineups, passion (or a lack thereof) and coaches exist at both clubs. But I do see one distinct difference; while Adelaide have internal strife to deal with and are in the possession of the FFA (good luck with that guys) Perth at least have an owner who clearly won’t endure performances like last Friday for very long. He may be threatening the players in public, but I’ve no doubt over just who the pressure is really on behind the scenes.
