These are hard times for the A-League. The wage dispute between the players and the owners has clearly eroded trust. It has also damaged the reputation of the league overseas.
Player agents do not like to send players to countries where their players may become embroiled in a wage dispute. Then by comparison the wages in the A-League are not as high as many other leagues around the world, so a 30% wage cut sends a worrying message to those looking to head to Australia to play. Now the league is in danger of only attracting those who are looking to head to Australia for the lifestyle rather than the football.
It is a sad indictment on the A-League that the Indian Super League in just six years has become a more attractive proposition for players. Some will say that the money on offer in India is the big drawcard, and that may be so, but the competition there has improved dramatically in six years. Credit must be given to the Franchise owners and those running the League to have made such improvements in such a short space of time.
The new CEO of the Football Federation of Australia, James Johnson will be well aware of the situation, and that there is a need for some very serious soul searching to resurrect the A-League not only domestically but in the eyes of the rest of the world. Regrettably under the watch of David Gallop the league’s reputation and the standard of football has slipped to its lowest level yet.
The problem many clubs face now is attracting players that have the ability to lift that standard. What we are likely to witness is even more recycling of players. The sooner the transfer of players between clubs becomes a part of the game in Australia the better, as clubs will only spend money on a player they know is going to deliver. Also the transfer system is the lifeblood of football.
If anyone was in doubt about the recycling element, today Perth Glory announced the signing of Jonathan Aspropotamitis. This 24 year old made his A-League debut as an 18 year old for Western Sydney Wanderers in March 2015 against Melbourne City. When he signed an extension to his contract at Wanderers in December 2015 the club said that they believed he would be a very important player for the club. However three years later he was gone. In 2018 he joined Central Coast Mariners, and in 2019 Western United now he has signed for Perth Glory, his fourth club in five years!
Also this week Perth Glory announced the re-signing of former Irish international Andy Keogh for a third spell at the club.
Keogh first signed with Perth Glory a few weeks after his 28th birthday. He came to Australia on a free transfer after Millwall who had signed him from Wolverhampton Wanderers had loaned him out Blackpool. He had an immediate impact and looked a class above many in the A-League. He scored 17 goals in 32 appearances which was a very good return.
Keogh then found himself one of the players front and centre of the Perth Glory’s salary cap breach. Only those close to the player will know what went on at that time, but at the end of the 2014/15 A League season in which the Glory’s finals place was taken away from them as punishment for the breach, Keogh left on a free transfer and headed to Thailand. At the time the Glory stated in a press release that “The club can confirm it is in the process of terminating the 29-year old’s contract.The Irishman had a one year deal remaining (with a one year option) and was expected to return to training yesterday, after being granted extended leave. Keogh received an offer from an overseas club- which Perth Glory could not compete with.”
It was not a happy experience and one that Keogh soon realised may have been made in error. He was reported in the press as wanting to return to Perth, and in December 2015 resigned with the club. However regulations prohibited him from playing until the next A-League season. Many speculated that the short term move was simply to move out of the spotlight following the salary cap breach, and let the dust settle.
On his return he continued where he left off, still scoring regularly, even if he did not look as sharp as he had in that first spell at the club. He developed a good understanding with the club’s other import Diego Castro from Spain, and that played a big part in his continually finding the back of the net.
Kenny Lowe was relieved of his coaching duties at the club in April 2018 at the end of the 2017/18 season. He was replaced by Tony Popovic. Keogh would last one season under Popovic, before yet again being given a free transfer. He made it quite clear that he wished to stay at the club, but clearly the coach no longer wanted the now 33 year old.
He moved to Saudi Arabia and to Al Qadisiyah FC, but his stay was short and he saw no action. After four months in January 2020 he was off to India and signed for North East United on another free transfer. The season ended in March and Keogh started seven games and scored once (One source claims 8 games). At the end of the season the club chose to only keep one of their overseas signings, and Keogh was once more a free agent. This week new Glory coach Richard Garcia announced that he had re-signed the popular striker for a third spell at the club.
They say it is risky to return to a club where you have had success as a player, but many have made that choice. Some have managed to slot back in and recapture the form that made them popular.
Liverpool’s Ian Rush is a famous example. Liverpool signed Rush in 1980 from Chester City, between that time and his departure for Juventus in 1986 he scored over 200 goals for the club. He struggled in Italy and returned to Merseyside after one season. By the time he finished at Liverpool in 1996, Rush had scored 346 goals in all competitions, making him Liverpool’s all time leading scorer. Gerard Pique is a Spanish treasure. The defender was a youth player at Barcelona before joining Manchester United and signing his first professional contract in 2004. He was loaned to Real Zaragoza, but also made 23 appearances for United between 2004 and 2008. In 2008 he returned to Barcelona and became one of the best defenders in the world.
Other players have not been quite so successful. Italian World Cup winning captain upset Juventus fans when he left for Real Madrid. Ironically Cannavaro like Keogh opted to leave when the club was punished following the 2006 Calciopoli scandal which relegated the club to Serie B. It was a far from happy return as injuries and age took their toll. Liverpool’s Robbie Fowler, a man nicknamed “God” by the fans left the club he had been at his whole career when he fell out with coach Gerard Houllier. He returned after spells with Leeds and Manchester City, but he was not the same player. He scored 12 more goals for the club over two seasons, but it was far from a memorable return.
Andy Keogh is now 34 years of age, he has had very limited game time since leaving Perth Glory in August 2019. The player he combined so well with in the past Diego Castro is now 38 and he is far from the player he was when he joined the club in 2015. He still has the deftness of touch and superb vision, but his movement and workmate has dropped as he now strolls in midfield rather than prowling, ready to pounce. Will the two manage to rekindle the connections of old?
Talking to players who are heading towards the end of their careers all will tell you that game-time is crucial. The more time spent on the sidelines the harder it is to get back to the level expected. Since the A League Grand Final on 19 May 2019 Andy Keogh has played just seven games. That is 7 games in 17 months. He has played 612 minutes of football in 17 months.
Keogh, has performed consistently for Perth Glory in the past with 55 goals in 122 games, and many hope that he can again in the future, but this signing is one that has some nervous. Keogh came to the Glory because he wanted to move to Australia, and had family in Perth. In the next month he will receive his Australian citizenship. Will he have the same hunger? He had slowed in his second spell at the club, will he have slowed more with such a long period without playing?
While understandable that Garcia would want to bring back a fan favourite, often sentiment can be a bad thing in football. Hopefully this does not prove to be a mistake, and Keogh signs off his career in a blaze of Glory.
It is a risk, but it may be one that pays of. Time will tell.
Thanks again for your comment.
Huge risk to bring back Keogh. He was hardly setting the world on fire when he left last time. With Castro and Keogh the club is becoming an old people’s home!
Castro as you said now does very little running, still is better than all of those around him, but is he playing for the team or the pay check?
Personally I would not have signed Keogh again, but it may be a masterstroke by Garcia, if he can find a player to work with up front.