"Interesting" article from the Courier Mail.
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,26197167-5003412,00.html
Brisbane Roar should have accepted FFA's offer of help
Marco Monteverde
October 12, 2009 06:18am
THE alarming lack of discipline at Brisbane Roar is proof the club's directors made a huge mistake in not accepting Football Federation Australia's help.
There is no chance the FFA would have put up with the poor behaviour continually shown by the Roar's players and now coach Frank Farina had they temporarily bought the controlling share in the financially embattled club.
The FFA, desperate for a Brisbane-based club to be an A-League success, were ready to step in, appoint the right people in the key positions and rid the club of the troublemakers who had led the Roar down a road of disaster.
But, all of a sudden, there was a change of heart, with directors Emmanuel Drivas, Emmanuel Kokoris and Serge and Claude Baradel agreeing to go it alone.
It's understood the Baradels, particularly Claude, needed some convincing that turning their back on FFA aid was the correct decision.
How they wish they could have their time over again.
The club has been nothing short of a walking time bomb this season, so it should come as no shock that new investors the Roar had hoped to attract have failed to come knocking.
It's also no secret that Farina likes to be in total control of everything that happens at the club, both on and off the field.
Farina likes to use his standing as one of Australian football's highest profile figures to throw his weight around.
The directors have accepted that, and up until yesterday's decision to indefinitely suspend the coach following his drink-driving charge, had been reluctant to make the tough decisions that the coach does not agree with.
Hence their decision to knock back FFA assistance. Had the FFA taken the controlling share in the club, Farina's power would have been diluted.
A classic example was the FFA's desire to appoint a football manager at the Roar.
Successful clubs in all sports have a knowledgeable person in such a role. It relieves pressure on the coach, who can concentrate on what he should be doing conducting training and guiding his team's on-field fortunes, rather than concern himself with player contracts and the running of off-field football matters.
It works for Melbourne Victory, the A-League's most successful club, with coach Ernie Merrick and football manager Gary Cole the competition's best leadership team.
But Farina didn't want a bar of the football manager appointment idea when it was first mooted, and became particularly threatened when his former Brisbane Strikers teammate Alan Hunter was canvassed as an option.
A no-nonsense, hard-nosed character, Hunter would not have stood for the rubbish that Roar players now get away with, and would've had no issues with standing up to Farina.
It's believed the Roar board might have finally found the gumption, perhaps only as recently as last week, to demand that Farina accept the appointment of a football manager.
But is it too late?
With the Roar lurching from one crisis to another the latest Farina being charged with drink-driving on Saturday on his way to training the fans have had a gutful and have stayed away in their droves this season.
It doesn't seem to worry the players, and that stems from what Farina lets them get away with, particularly the more experienced members who are setting a poor example to the club's talented brigade of youngsters.
The actions of Danny Tiatto and Charlie Miller last week against Melbourne Victory were totally unacceptable, with Miller later having the audacity to blame the media for his two-match ban for describing his behind-the-play, blindside striking of Robbie Kruse as a "cheap shot".
Miller, who can consider himself lucky he wasn't suspended for two months rather than two weeks, needs to take responsibility for his own actions.
As do the Roar for the actions of their coach already sent from the sidelines this season and players, who have been punished with 36 bookings and one red card during a campaign still in its early stages.
Why was the amount of Tiatto's club-imposed fine for giving the finger to Melbourne fans not disclosed? Why wasn't Miller fined by the club? Why hasn't more been done to eliminate the on-field and off-field discipline problems that are ruining the club's standing in the community?
The fans want answers and, most of all, they want transparency from a club they've supported through the good and, more recently, the bad times since the A-League's inception in 2005.
Hopefully, the resolve shown yesterday to act on Farina's poor behaviour is a fresh start for a club in need of some serious help.
