Double or Nothing?

As revealed on “Not The Footy Show” on Wednesday Perth Glory have tabled an offer to bring Robbie Fowler to the club next season.

How so? We asked when they already have a Marquee player in Mile Sterjovski. Some questions asked in the right places gave us the answer, the FFA are looking at allowing clubs one Australian marquee player as well as one International marquee player.

Apart from the burning question would Robbie Fowler suit the way the Perth Glory play, we asked the question, looking at the bigger picture, whether the option of two marquee players is a good thing for the Hyundai A League.

Our feeling is that it is not; the marquee label should be an exclusive one, reserved only for players of Robbie Fowler or Dwight Yorke’s ilk. Players who come to Australia and help grow the gate everywhere they play, and who still have the desire to perform, and the ability.

Having canvassed a few players around the A League who are not high profile players they too feel very strongly on this issue. The feeling being that too many of the current crop of Marquee players are not performing to the levels they believe that they should be in comparison to their salaries.

This was always going to be a risk, and if we look at the Marquee players of season 2009/10 one would have to say that those players who feel this way have a very valid point. Resentment can be a real cancer within a squad and some A league coaches in the upcoming season are going to have to be sure that their man management skills are at their peak.

Maybe the Central Coast Mariners and Adelaide United were right to not sign any marquee players, time will tell.