Jorvan Vieira for Australia?
SPECULATION is doing the rounds that successful Iraq coach Jorvan Vieira could well be coming to Australia to talk to FFA about the Socceroos coaching gig.
Early this evening SBS's World News featured a wrap of the Asian Cup final, with an exclusive interview with Vieira, taped this morning. In it, he told SBS's man on the spot Scott McIntyre that he would certainly be interested in coaching the Socceroos because he believed the 'conditions' would be favourable.
By 'conditions' he wasn't talking about the weather of course, rather the support structures and resources he would have at his disposal should he get the job.
He claimed he wasn't so much motivated by the dollars, but by the ability to work in an environment where he had resources at the ready, something he has repeatedly claimed he didn't have throughout his short time with Iraq.
NOW Fox Sports News is reporting another 'exclusive', claiming that commentator Simon Hill was travelling on the plane to Singapore with the winning Iraqi team where Vieira is said to have signed off a conversation with Hill by saying he will be visiting Australia "in a couple of weeks" to chat to the FFA.
This news was being relayed by Robbie Slater.
The notion of Viera being a possible candidate for the Roos job was explored on the weekend by fellow blogger John of Brisbane.
While I'm not sure that Viera will get the gig, let alone be the right man for the job, I like the idea that the FFA are at least exploring options away from a big name, if indeed the speculation is true.
As per my comment in John's piece, I'm of the view that it doesn't necessarily need to be a big name manager, with a big pay packet. It just needs to be the right man for the job, regardless of his name or background.
Naturally, he will have a fair deal of experience in the cut and thrust of international football and what it takes to run a qualification campaign, while experience in getting a team through an Asian qualification campaign should be looked on favourably.
With Rob Baab now on board as the technical director, a least there is a football man for Frank Lowy to bounce things off. The fact that Lowy was seen in around Indonesia on the weekend is perhaps a sign that all options will be explored, and so they should be.
Interesting times lie ahead.
Early this evening SBS's World News featured a wrap of the Asian Cup final, with an exclusive interview with Vieira, taped this morning. In it, he told SBS's man on the spot Scott McIntyre that he would certainly be interested in coaching the Socceroos because he believed the 'conditions' would be favourable.
By 'conditions' he wasn't talking about the weather of course, rather the support structures and resources he would have at his disposal should he get the job.
He claimed he wasn't so much motivated by the dollars, but by the ability to work in an environment where he had resources at the ready, something he has repeatedly claimed he didn't have throughout his short time with Iraq.
NOW Fox Sports News is reporting another 'exclusive', claiming that commentator Simon Hill was travelling on the plane to Singapore with the winning Iraqi team where Vieira is said to have signed off a conversation with Hill by saying he will be visiting Australia "in a couple of weeks" to chat to the FFA.
This news was being relayed by Robbie Slater.
The notion of Viera being a possible candidate for the Roos job was explored on the weekend by fellow blogger John of Brisbane.
While I'm not sure that Viera will get the gig, let alone be the right man for the job, I like the idea that the FFA are at least exploring options away from a big name, if indeed the speculation is true.
As per my comment in John's piece, I'm of the view that it doesn't necessarily need to be a big name manager, with a big pay packet. It just needs to be the right man for the job, regardless of his name or background.
Naturally, he will have a fair deal of experience in the cut and thrust of international football and what it takes to run a qualification campaign, while experience in getting a team through an Asian qualification campaign should be looked on favourably.
With Rob Baab now on board as the technical director, a least there is a football man for Frank Lowy to bounce things off. The fact that Lowy was seen in around Indonesia on the weekend is perhaps a sign that all options will be explored, and so they should be.
Interesting times lie ahead.
posted by The Round Ball Analyst at 30.7.07
8 Comments:
Hi Tony, yeah its all quite fascinating isnt it. He's outside of the (very euro) square, i would like to see what else he has done over the years. He certainly gave us a footballing lesson, and they dominated the saudis in the final, strong (as was said) over all three areas of the park. He had 2 months with the squad, how long did Hiddink have? Can you really do much more than polish a rough diamond in that time? I think we are ready for a south american coach either way..although to be truthful i have no idea what that entails.
wayne, thanks for the comment, good to hear from you.
i'm not so sure it's need to be south american or european, i just think it needs to be the best man for the job, whether he's south american or european. i'd say the FFA might get inundated with resumes (if they already haven't) and then its a case of utilising the knowledge of Baan, intuition of Lowy and the networks that have been established.
i still think we, as an emerging football nation, are still learning about this whole process. we got lucky with hiddink, but the chances of being that lucky time and time again are slim.
we'll see what lands.
I think it would benefit Australian football if we had a good coach which is not in the 'top tier' (Hiddink, Houlier etc.) who would just come in for the world cup and then leave.
Hiddink was perfect for Australia because we needed to win a home and away playoff and then the World Cup.
But we have seen that once the big name coach leaves we fall in a hole again. And now we have the Asian Cup and a long qualification for the world cup.
Better to have someone who may be not a high profile coach but is happy to stick around and give the team some consistency.
Obviously it would be great to have him, but I think the trick is to sniff out these worthwhile "lesser-known" managers before they win a major tournament and have their price tag bumped up by a couple of million (as Vieira's surely will be).
Incidnetally, in my experience, when people say they're not interested in the dollars, you should immediately suspect the exact opposite.
I guess what I'm saying is, I hope the FFA doesn't just go hell-for-leather for him (and perhaps end up taking part in an expensive bidding war as a result) without checking some of the other options available as well.
guido and mike, spot on both of you...
guido, like you i'm a little worried about the prospect of throwing everything at big name and having nothing left.
mike, i agree we shouldnt be trigger happy and just sign vieira cause he's involved in a bidding-war..
If he's the best man for the job, and the price is right, then get him.
If not, I'm sure there are countless other 'lesser-known' managers out there who can do the job.
I'm just happy for now that FFA are thinking outside the big-name sqaure, but i guess you could argue that Vieira, having won the asian cup, is now a big name..
I still think he would and should command significantly less that a Hiddink, Advocaat or Lippi, despite the asian cup.
...and guido, I agree that Hiddink was perfect for the time cause of our historic need to make The Cup.
Every cent was worth it.
There's also a strong arguement that we need to consolidate on Germany by making 2010, so I guess we can't really afford to slip-up. Guess that's where the big-name argument comes from...
Guess what I'm trying to say is it ain't the easiest job for FFA...they're having to learn very quick.
The question i have with Viera is that, whilst he did an amazing thing getting Iraq not only to their first final but also winning the Asia Cup, he did so with a modest group of players.
Maybe modest in character, rather than playing ability.
Because Hiddink had such a reputation many European based players may have been in awe of him.
If Viera can take control over the so called "untouchables", then i would welcome him with open arms, as Iraq played some of the best football at this years AC, but this issue still remains the key.
Thanks for the reference Tony.
FFA are reported to have spent $2m on the Asia Cup. There are at least $2m of lessons to be learnt.
Decision making under pressure is key for anyone in a high profile position or merely has a lot at steak. Arnold failed this test when he blamed his team to their fans. But the signal was there from the start when he invited John Kosmina to sit next to him. He now has torpedoed Kosmina's chance to return to the FFA fold.
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