Lavicka future at Sydney FC

[David Votoupal]

Looks less certain:
http://www.sydneyfc.com/default.aspx?s= ... y&id=37828
http://www.smh.com.au/sport/a-league/la ... 19b6l.html

[Agostinho]

On borrowed time.

Bye bye Larry.

[flavze]

a bit surprised he's lasted this long, has been a massive full from grace for SFC this year.

[David Votoupal]

Poor recruitment aside, it's clear Lavicka is lacking in both flexibility and motivation. Players clearly have no heart, mirroring the back end of the Kosmina years. Incidentally, Kosmina's fate was already sealed before the Adelaide Oval game two years ago- is history repeating itself?

[shinAUFC]

Gotta feel for the guy,

His players have absolutely no heart, his star signing has spent very little time on the pitch.

Though im not sure what he was thinking with his recruiting? maybe he had some deals that fell through at the last minute and left the club lacking punch.

But when a club signs a japanese backpacker to one of their visa spots you know somethings up

[David Votoupal]

The A-League is a league where team fortunes fluctuate wildly and teams struggle to back up. Look at Adelaide United's returns- 6th, runners-up, last place, and currently 2nd. Every team that's won or made a Grand Final has usually struggled to back it up, except for Melbourne last season who missed out only on penalties.

Is it down to the salary cap and FFA regulations? They seem hardly conducive to stability, which may be a problem with the A-League. Also the need to retain quality players in this league, which is why I feel United need to do all to keep much of their current squad.

[shinAUFC]

The A-League is a league where team fortunes fluctuate wildly and teams struggle to back up. Look at Adelaide United's returns- 6th, runners-up, last place, and currently 2nd. Every team that's won or made a Grand Final has usually struggled to back it up, except for Melbourne last season who missed out only on penalties.

Is it down to the salary cap and FFA regulations? They seem hardly conducive to stability, which may be a problem with the A-League. Also the need to retain quality players in this league, which is why I feel United need to do all to keep much of their current squad.

I would say alot of it is down to salary cap, if you look at AFL, NBA, MLB, NFL.. all salary cap based leagues. It becomes very dificult to keep championship winning teams together.

Though, the FFA are now letting clubs handle their own finances a little more now , with extra marquees, and higher salary caps that some club cannot fill. Which i fill is a good thing as more succesful clubs are not held back, yet the gap from 1st to last is still competitive.

Sydney FC however cannot use this excuse, they have cash yet never spend it wisely

[David Votoupal]

I'm just saying it's not conducive to stability or building long-term support. Overseas football clubs, even AFL, SANFL, NRL, etc, they all have 100+ years of history to build up what they have. A-League clubs do not.

[Old Gregg]

The thing that hurt Sydney most of all was the retirement of Corica and then losing Carle for most of this season. Against us at Hindmarsh Carle was the only one running in midfield and the only one who looked like he might be able to manufacture something for SFC..
I kind of feel for Lavicka but with Corica, Kisel, Aloisi, Bolton having left that's a whole lot of experience and quality - letting all those guys go without adequate replacement was a mistake. I'm not sure whether overhauling the squad or replacing the coach would be the best course of action for Sydney at the moment.. probably both.

[David Votoupal]

Didn't the FFA take a chunk of Adelaide United's ACL and CWC earnings? Something that I find disgustingly Communistic, really.

We can look at the effect of the salary cap and draft on the AFL. Now the AFL and especially NFL can manage this better, due to a lack of external competition and a larger base to draw upon, but the A-League is in a global football market. Notice how teams that have won the AFL premiership over the last decade or more- Essendon, Brisbane, Port Adelaide, West Coast- have all sunk into mediocrity or worse (although hilariously so in the Egirls' case). Everyone lamented the Victorian teams' decline, yet the Victorian teams dominate the AFL again.

I could say that the A-League is still fragile at this stage, but how are current FFA policies doing anything to build up trust and confidence in this league? Especially as the bottom can easily fall out of any given club. We want to see a league attain a level of quality, which we are seeing now, and maintain and build on that. We can ill-afford what happened a few years ago, when the loss of a few players from this league led to a drop in standard, a season of dire football (2007/08), and subsequent damage to the league's standing.

[shinAUFC]

I tend to agree with you DV on the cap.

In the AFL clubs plan over a 5 year process that see's them only really competitive for the flag for a year or 2.

It goes something like this.

1,Clean out the dead wood and recruit youth from the national drafts, since finishing last gets you the reward of a 1 draft pick this helps greatly.

2,attempt to make the finals for the next 2 years by the slimest of margins.

3,The next 2 years are your window of opportunity for a flag.

4, try to be graceful in a dramatic slide down the ladder in the 5th season.

5, Repeat process again.

I hope this does not happen in the A-league, id rather see the best clubs in the land be what they are and not held back

[Agostinho]

Salary caps are difficult to manage. The AFL do it well because they incorporate it with a draft and restrictions on player movements between clubs. More difficult in the NRL because they grow their own talent and are free agents at the end of their contracts, so clubs are forced to bid against each other.

The A-League has that same issue (as the NRL) but on a much grander scale due to the international nature of the game - which to a small extent rugby league has to deal with because of the cashed up Super League in England.

[David Votoupal]

The NFL can spread the talent pool easily among its teams, which are spread out across the USA.

While achieving an equitable league may be ideal, what point is it if "equitable" does not equate to quality?

[shinAUFC]

Its interesting the way its done in the baseball in the states.

Clubs scout their young talent, put them on a contract with their "organisation"

Basically meaning every Major league club have control over many A/AA/AA level clubs where they filter their talent through, the vast majority of them will never make it to the majors at all but there is still money to be made from these players.

Also the salary cap for the majors is far out of reach for quite a few organisations, which is why Powerhouses like the Yankee's with their long winning tradition have become such icons.

You simply cannot rely on finishing last for a few years in your division to pick up some draft picks

[David Votoupal]

That's the problem with the type of "socialist" sporting model- a system that rewards mediocrity and fails, ultimately, to provide any incentives for betterment. That's why Communism failed, folks. Ironically, no Communist regime I can think of ever adopted such a system for football- because they were smart enough, at least, to know it wouldn't work.

I don't think a "dynasty" is a bad thing for football- Real Madrid, Ajax, Benfica, Celtic and Santos being good examples, those teams were simply fabulous to watch.