P-Plates vs Experience
Posted On 26/01/2010The other Fergie this week said: "Cross me and you're dead." Our Fergie was clearly listening and apparently decided to try out that tactic on Robbie Fowler.
The difference of course is that Fergie-with-a-knighthood has a lifetime of achievement and success at every level of club competition that he's been eligible for.
Our Fergie-with-the-P-Plates, erm, hasn't.
Fergie-with-a-knighthood might be brash and abrasive, aggressive and arrogant, even petty and vindictive. But he's entitled to be. He's won everything. He knows what he's talking about, probably better than anyone.
Fergie-with-the-P-Plates, on the other hand, has been assistant coach of a side which won the A-League Premiership.
I'm trying not to take sides here. Frankly, the Fowler- Fergie row is a mess and neither party emerges smelling of roses.
But the row highlights the problem with hiring genuine world-class marquees like Robbie Fowler and then putting them in the care of inexperienced coaches like Our Fergie.
His player credentials are as good as anyone's at domestic level - winning the Scottish Cup with minnows St Mirren before becoming part of Rangers' squad that won nine titles in a row.
Unfortunately his playing days coincided with a bleak period of Scottish international football under Andy Roxburgh and Craig Brown and he barely even got a look in, with just nine caps in his career. He deserved more.
As coach at North Queensland Fury, he's done remarkably well with a ramshackle squad, even given that Adelaide United have gone out their way to make Fury look good.
His first choice signings though were quite simply awful. (Jacob Timpano? Nice guy with talent - but he's made of glass and is just never fit. Ever. Bargains aren't bargains if they don't play - it's just a waste of salary cap.)
He's overcome a run of injuries and early exits from the club that have allowed him to replace mediocre players with genuine talent like Dave Williams and Shane Stefanutto.
And he looks like he is destined not to finish last (thanks, Aurelio!).
Last weekend, he actually had the chance to punish his intrastate rivals Brisbane Roar and could have seen Fury remarkably push for a finals spot.
Instead he decided to get involved in a silly power struggle in a feud that's been simmering all summer.
To begin with, a good man manager should never have let it get to that point.
(It irks me that the people in charge of running teams are now called coaches. Coaches teach football skills. Managers choose tactics, teams and motivate. Calling our managers 'coaches' often allows them to ignore that side of the job, it appears.)
Find a compromise. Do a deal if you must. Swallow a bit of pride. No man is bigger than the team - and that includes both players AND the manager.
Did Fury really benefit from the weekend's debacle? Well, they didn't win. And you have to say they stood a better chance of winning if Fowler had played than if he was in the stands eating ice cream with his daughter.
But in truth, Fergie...what were you thinking? Seriously?
You can't pander to an under-performing star just because he's your marquee and on a huge wage - look at Aloisi at Sydney, after all.
But Aloisi has been dogged by injury and poor form and has frequently deserved to be dropped or benched.
Meanwhile Fowler is Fury's top scorer. He's third equal top scorer in the league. He's played more minutes than any outfield player in the A-League. He's your captain.
More importantly though, he came here to play. He could be sitting on the bench at an English Premier League club for the same or even more money...but he's not.
He came here to play.
And if Fergie had read the interview he gave the Daily Mail, Fergie would have seen (if he didn't already know) that his family haven't settled properly in Townsville.
I can just imagine the conversation in the Fowler house on Friday night - "You're on the bench?? WHAT IS THE POINT OF US BEING HERE IF YOU ARE NOT GOING TO PLAY?" (I may be projecting here, but, well, you know...!)
Fowler is not the only good thing about Fury - but he has undoubtedly made the difference this season in stopping the side from being easybeats. He's done his job in attack.
And yet Fergie wanted to drop him in favour of Dyron Daal, a journeyman striker that struggled to get a game anywhere else in the world. Yes, he's hit some form for Fury - but can't Fergie see what an unnecessary slap in the face that is for Fowler?
What's more, Fergie wanted to use a 4-5-1 formation, at home, against an out of sorts Roar in a must-win game.
Fergie is lucky Fowler even bothered to hang around to watch the game. Others with Fowler's wealth might just have packed a bag and gone home and thought nothing more about it.
(By the way, do Fury actually think anyone believes the tired old 'oops, it was all just a silly misunderstanding' line? Fergie: Fowler, you're on the bench, Middleby, you're skipper. Fowler: Oh right boss. See you on Monday. [Two hours later] Fergie: Anyone seen Robbie? No? Ah well, I'll just tell the TV he's refused to play. No, don't bother trying to phone him...)
You can play stars off the bench without offending them. In the euphoria of the 2005 Uruguay game in Sydney, one of Guus Hiddink's little masterstrokes was overlooked.
Harry Kewell had returned for a rare game in Australia at the height of his injury-plagued spell at Liverpool...but Hiddink kept him on the bench.
However, he knew Kewell only had an hour or so in him - but instead of starting him and then having to take him off at the crucial last half hour period of the game, he did it in reverse.
Harry came on late in the first-half - and made an immediate impact with his reputation intact, and both player and manager delighted...and soon, so too was the whole country.
That though is the difference between a coach with P plates and a coach with experience. It's not just tactics, it's man management too.
Fury have now conceded Fergie's position will be reviewed at the end of the season.
'Cross me and you're dead' can be effective - but like all conflicts, Fergie would do well to choose his battles carefully before launching into all-out warfare.
Sometimes you can win the battle - but lose the war.
2 comments:
I still Fowler knew what he was in for when he signed up for the Fury and should be prepared to play under a coach who he thinks he knows better than sometimes. Refusing to play because he has to start on the bench reeks of 'me' rather than 'team'.
Sorry I meant to add that: Fowler didn't refuse to play. Ferguson dropped him (and Cooke) for being 1 min late for a video session... The media were the ones who claimed he refused. He hasn't spoken up to defend himself because it would be bad publicity for the club. Pity the coach doesn't feel the same way.
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