Monday, March 9, 2009

Ben Buckley must go!

In light of our recent stance-taking on Sunil Gulati's chairmanship of the USA program, I think it is only fair to look at how other countries are doing as well.

Let's start at the front of the alphabet and look for troubles. We'll knock off some who don't matter along the way. So Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, and Armenia are out. Angola has probs, but nothing unusual for African FAs. Argentina? Well, they hired a fat, cocaine-sniffing ex-player for a manager, but at least they get their players. Australia? Oh yeah, this is more like it.

Some kid named Bradden Inman (so obscure he doesn't have a wiki yet) has caused a bit of consternation Down Under because he declared that, if called up, he would gladly choose the soggy Scots over his native Australia. His reasoning should be familiar for those of us that saw what Vedad Ibisevic had to say about playing for America--no one has tried to recruit Inman for Australia.

Inman moved from Australia at 14 to go into the youth system at Newcastle. His initial hope was that playing for the Magpies would help him get into the Australian team, but that appears to be a no go. So, when Scotland called him up for a youth match last month, Inman has happy to put on the dark blues and now says that he would take a call up to the Under 21 squad, which would lock him out of Australia's team forever.

Now, I don't know if Mr. Buckley is the one to blame here. Football Australia, the official FFA site, lists him as the CEO, a position roughly on par with Gulati. If he is indeed the head, then he should bear the blame for failings in scouting and contact. My proposed solution for both Bradley and Gulati is pretty simple. It seems that they could both do much better if they just consulted the "I" in their respective rolodexes. See? Problem solved.

13 comments:

Spectator said...

It's unbelievable that a football organization can't keep track of its nationals. Put it this way, if it was so easy for Scotland and Bosnia to identify Ibisevic and this kid, why couldn't the U.S. and Australia?

And all it really takes is a letter of phone call! "Hey we've been tracking your progress, keep up the great work, we'll be in touch."

Unknown said...

Newcastle, Australia, fool. Newcastle Jets. Not The Toon.

The Fan's Attic said...

Chad, not sure what you are talking about becaust the linked stories suggest Newcastle -- The Magpies.

Precious Roy said...

Chad: Last name on the 'Current squad' list.

Jacob said...

Newcastle, Australia, fool. Newcastle Jets. Not The Toon.


Come on, Chad. All you had to do was open the second link. Perhaps you would like this one instead. His squad number is 47.

BackBergtt said...

They got Bouzanis to pick Australia over Greece, so there's that.

Precious Roy said...

And because "Dickheadland" isn't an actual country, they also got to hold on to Cahill.

phil said...

And because "Dickheadland" isn't an actual country, they also got to hold on to Cahill.

And here I thought Cahill was fr0m Cuntsylvania.

Jim Hendry said...

What we're ignoring here is the second-to-last name on that active Newcastle United squad, and how awesome that name is:

Nile Ranger.

I mean c'mon. That's just insane. Nile Ranger?

Jim Hendry said...

Also, NUFC has a massive active squad, but they're still shit. Granted a lot of 'em are reserves and youth team guys, but even so.

Email us at said...

LB, I've heard that Nile has some pace. In fact, some might say he's . . . .






























MOTORIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN'

phil said...

A Night Ranger drop?! Will wonders never cease?!

Spectator said...

And yet Riquelme has no desire to play for Nooocastle!!