GUUS Hiddink's last day in the job as Socceroos coach came with a warning.
He sat with John O'Neill, who was then in charge of Football Federation Australia, and told him our national team needed to blood new players immediately.
That was in 2006, when we were basking in the glory of the World Cup. The vibe was great, football had never been stronger and this was the perfect time to take advantage. Sadly, his advice was ignored.
Graham Arnold tried to tell Frank Lowy the same thing. Arnie was adamant the 2007 Asian Cup was the ideal tournament to try new players. Instead, he was overruled in pursuit of silverware. The Socceroos have been in decline ever since.
To understand how far Australia have fallen, we now seem happy to finish second in World Cup qualifying behind Japan - as long as we make it Brazil in 2014, that's OK.
I find that a sad indictment of Australian football.
There have been so many wrong turns and everyone - from administrators, to players and coaches - has a part to play in us losing our way.
But a lot of the blame can be placed at the feet of foreign coaches paid incentives to get the Socceroos to the next tournament. There is no need to create a legacy when you move on to a new job after each World Cup cycle.
Yet before appointing Holger Osieck, the FFA stated that the role would involve actively assisting youth development. It seemed they had learned a valuable lesson after Pim Verbeek.
Two years ago, Osieck himself said: "Taking over at a stage of natural transition as we start our preparations for 2014 is an ideal opportunity to influence the future direction of the young players and coaches from Australia."
Then on Tuesday, he said the development of players "is not directly my concern". Excuse me?
So now we have the same core group of players from six years ago losing to Jordan - a team they would have blown off the park in their prime - and angry fans calling for the head of captain Lucas Neill, the coach and demanding the inclusion of young players.
I'm sorry to disappoint you, but it's all too late now.
This mess did not happen overnight, it has been a long time coming.
Common sense tells you Neill wouldn't be as fast at 34 as he was at 27. Even players such as Alex Brosque, Matt McKay, Archie Thompson and the like are either pushing 30 or on the other side of it.
But no one listened to Hiddink or Arnold, did they?
Still, it's too late to tear everything down now.
Australia have to play Iraq in Doha in what effectively is a cup tie and we need players with strong minds and strong hearts to get the points. I would hate to burn a young career by throwing a Tommy Oar or Mathew Leckie into that hostile environment.
I still think we will qualify for the World Cup because traditionally teams such as Jordan, Iraq and Oman don't travel well and we could pick up a maximum nine points from our home games.
But then what happens in Brazil? And straight after that we have the 2015 Asian Cup at home.
The other thing we shouldn't overlook is the Asian teams are getting stronger as they pour more and more money into football, while we have allowed things to roll along.
For a long time, Australian football has needed some strong leadership. Favourite players needed to be tapped on the shoulder and thanked for their stellar service. Osieck needed to be reminded that part of his brief is to leave behind a strong national set-up.
Instead, we have been short-sighted to the extreme.
In 2005, when John Aloisi kicked the penalty against Uruguay that took Australia to the World Cup for the first time since 1974, it was the golden moment for a golden generation.
They were heroes and we all owed each and every one of those players so much.
But now they are in danger of tarnishing that legacy by hanging on too long.
GUUS Hiddink's last day in the job as Socceroos coach came with a warning.
He sat with John O'Neill, who was then in charge of Football Federation Australia, and told him our national team needed to blood new players immediately.
That was in 2006, when we were basking in the glory of the World Cup. The vibe was great, football had never been stronger and this was the perfect time to take advantage. Sadly, his advice was ignored.
Graham Arnold tried to tell Frank Lowy the same thing. Arnie was adamant the 2007 Asian Cup was the ideal tournament to try new players. Instead, he was overruled in pursuit of silverware. The Socceroos have been in decline ever since.
To understand how far Australia have fallen, we now seem happy to finish second in World Cup qualifying behind Japan - as long as we make it Brazil in 2014, that's OK.
I find that a sad indictment of Australian football.
There have been so many wrong turns and everyone - from administrators, to players and coaches - has a part to play in us losing our way.
But a lot of the blame can be placed at the feet of foreign coaches paid incentives to get the Socceroos to the next tournament. There is no need to create a legacy when you move on to a new job after each World Cup cycle.
Yet before appointing Holger Osieck, the FFA stated that the role would involve actively assisting youth development. It seemed they had learned a valuable lesson after Pim Verbeek.
Two years ago, Osieck himself said: "Taking over at a stage of natural transition as we start our preparations for 2014 is an ideal opportunity to influence the future direction of the young players and coaches from Australia."
Then on Tuesday, he said the development of players "is not directly my concern". Excuse me?
So now we have the same core group of players from six years ago losing to Jordan - a team they would have blown off the park in their prime - and angry fans calling for the head of captain Lucas Neill, the coach and demanding the inclusion of young players.
I'm sorry to disappoint you, but it's all too late now.
This mess did not happen overnight, it has been a long time coming.
Common sense tells you Neill wouldn't be as fast at 34 as he was at 27. Even players such as Alex Brosque, Matt McKay, Archie Thompson and the like are either pushing 30 or on the other side of it.
But no one listened to Hiddink or Arnold, did they?
Still, it's too late to tear everything down now.
Australia have to play Iraq in Doha in what effectively is a cup tie and we need players with strong minds and strong hearts to get the points. I would hate to burn a young career by throwing a Tommy Oar or Mathew Leckie into that hostile environment.
I still think we will qualify for the World Cup because traditionally teams such as Jordan, Iraq and Oman don't travel well and we could pick up a maximum nine points from our home games.
But then what happens in Brazil? And straight after that we have the 2015 Asian Cup at home.
The other thing we shouldn't overlook is the Asian teams are getting stronger as they pour more and more money into football, while we have allowed things to roll along.
For a long time, Australian football has needed some strong leadership. Favourite players needed to be tapped on the shoulder and thanked for their stellar service. Osieck needed to be reminded that part of his brief is to leave behind a strong national set-up.
Instead, we have been short-sighted to the extreme.
In 2005, when John Aloisi kicked the penalty against Uruguay that took Australia to the World Cup for the first time since 1974, it was the golden moment for a golden generation.
They were heroes and we all owed each and every one of those players so much.
But now they are in danger of tarnishing that legacy by hanging on too long.
Good article, however I do disagree with the bit about throwing a young player in being wrong, I remember Harry Kewell playing in Tehran when he was 17 and being our best player
GUUS Hiddink's last day in the job as Socceroos coach came with a warning.
He sat with John O'Neill, who was then in charge of Football Federation Australia, and told him our national team needed to blood new players immediately.
That was in 2006, when we were basking in the glory of the World Cup. The vibe was great, football had never been stronger and this was the perfect time to take advantage. Sadly, his advice was ignored.
Graham Arnold tried to tell Frank Lowy the same thing. Arnie was adamant the 2007 Asian Cup was the ideal tournament to try new players. Instead, he was overruled in pursuit of silverware. The Socceroos have been in decline ever since.
To understand how far Australia have fallen, we now seem happy to finish second in World Cup qualifying behind Japan - as long as we make it Brazil in 2014, that's OK.
I find that a sad indictment of Australian football.
There have been so many wrong turns and everyone - from administrators, to players and coaches - has a part to play in us losing our way.
But a lot of the blame can be placed at the feet of foreign coaches paid incentives to get the Socceroos to the next tournament. There is no need to create a legacy when you move on to a new job after each World Cup cycle.
Yet before appointing Holger Osieck, the FFA stated that the role would involve actively assisting youth development. It seemed they had learned a valuable lesson after Pim Verbeek.
Two years ago, Osieck himself said: "Taking over at a stage of natural transition as we start our preparations for 2014 is an ideal opportunity to influence the future direction of the young players and coaches from Australia."
Then on Tuesday, he said the development of players "is not directly my concern". Excuse me?
So now we have the same core group of players from six years ago losing to Jordan - a team they would have blown off the park in their prime - and angry fans calling for the head of captain Lucas Neill, the coach and demanding the inclusion of young players.
I'm sorry to disappoint you, but it's all too late now.
This mess did not happen overnight, it has been a long time coming.
Common sense tells you Neill wouldn't be as fast at 34 as he was at 27. Even players such as Alex Brosque, Matt McKay, Archie Thompson and the like are either pushing 30 or on the other side of it.
But no one listened to Hiddink or Arnold, did they?
Still, it's too late to tear everything down now.
Australia have to play Iraq in Doha in what effectively is a cup tie and we need players with strong minds and strong hearts to get the points. I would hate to burn a young career by throwing a Tommy Oar or Mathew Leckie into that hostile environment.
I still think we will qualify for the World Cup because traditionally teams such as Jordan, Iraq and Oman don't travel well and we could pick up a maximum nine points from our home games.
But then what happens in Brazil? And straight after that we have the 2015 Asian Cup at home.
The other thing we shouldn't overlook is the Asian teams are getting stronger as they pour more and more money into football, while we have allowed things to roll along.
For a long time, Australian football has needed some strong leadership. Favourite players needed to be tapped on the shoulder and thanked for their stellar service. Osieck needed to be reminded that part of his brief is to leave behind a strong national set-up.
Instead, we have been short-sighted to the extreme.
In 2005, when John Aloisi kicked the penalty against Uruguay that took Australia to the World Cup for the first time since 1974, it was the golden moment for a golden generation.
They were heroes and we all owed each and every one of those players so much.
But now they are in danger of tarnishing that legacy by hanging on too long.
Good article, however I do disagree with the bit about throwing a young player in being wrong, I remember Harry Kewell playing in Tehran when he was 17 and being our best player
Sadly there are no new stars on the horizon
Only difference is that Harry at 17 was already good enough to earn a starting spot in the Socceroos. Name one kid who could do that?
Definately take them and include them in the squad maybe give them gametime. But if we want to make the WC we just need to play people who are match fit. That means No Carneys, No Neills, No Spira, No Oga, Cahill off the bench and Harry off the bench too. If we are going to play people with no fitness Harry deserves a spot then!
With Herd playing for Villa first team, and playing away against massive clubs like Man Utd, Man City, Arsenal, Chelsea & Liverpool, surely against Iraq in neutral Dubai, wouldnt be anymore pressure than the EPL?
