fao ozzies (new oz coach)

wolf man

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By DAVID LEWIS
11dec01

SOCCER Australia's divided board is bidding to drive out coach Frank Farina and replace him with cut-price alternative Ange Postecoglou.

The national youth teams coach has three-quarters of his salary subsidised by the Federal Government and would cost the game's peak body a measly $20,000 a year.

With taxpayers picking up the rest of his $80,000 package, Postecoglou is the cheap-as-chips solution to SA's financial woes.

The move to replace Farina – who has been asked to accept a massive $100,000 pay cut – is being driven by three board members. The trio – Victoria's Joe Brondolino, South Australia's Les Avory and Northern NSW's Bill Walker – are locked in a power struggle with chairman Ian Knop.

Knop is a lone voice railing against the rest who want Victorian Postecoglou to fill the void should Farina refuse to accept the derisory $75,000 offer tabled over the weekend.

Postecoglou's portfolio hardly inspires confidence.

The former South Melbourne coach failed to take the Joeys (under-17s) beyond the group phase at the world championships in September and couldn't guide the under-20s beyond the quarter-finals in Argentina in July.

But with SA $2.2 million in debt and facing financial fires on all fronts, Postecoglou's appointment as caretaker coach would appease the accountants and please a pro-Victoria lobby on the board.

Farina has been approached to take over a national soccer league club for a six-figure sum next season and several months ago rejected a tax-free $600,000 offer from a Japanese club.

His predecessor, Englishman Terry Venables, earned $500,000 during his brief stint with Australia, and no national coach of any self-respecting soccer nation earns less than $400,000 a year.

"I am confused by the offer which I have yet to see in writing," said Farina yesterday.

"I'm not even sure of the term involved (whether it is two or four years) and what control I would have over the selection of support staff such as coaches."

The wrangling tearing apart the game's peak body is symptomatic of the rampant incompetence afflicting the sport. Knop's arrival in August was meant to be the dawn of an era of co-operation and progress.

But with his board – including deputy chairman Greg Woods – aligned against him on this issue, the goodwill has been shortlived.

Farina's No. 2, Graham Arnold, was first told over the weekend he was surplus to requirements by SA. But a backflip has apparently brought him back into the equation – at least on a part-time basis.

There has been no such reprieve for team manager Ross Musso.

It's a cruel reward for Farina and Arnold, the tag team which helped generate $2m for Soccer Australia by taking the Socceroos to the final of July's Confederations Cup and earning plaudits from French coach Roger Lemerre along the way.

"I'll be having further discussions with Ian Knop over the next day or so and hopefully then I will see something tangible on the table," added Farina. "There are a lot of things which need to be clarified."

Under Farina, Australia won 19 of their 33 matches, drawing seven and losing six, four of which were with second-string teams.

Were he to go the close alliances he built with overseas-based stars like Harry Kewell and Mark Viduka could also be fatally compromised.

Kewell is already on record as saying that but for Farina he would have jettisoned the national team.

And last night at least six other British-based Socceroos voiced their disbelief at the latest turn of events.

Knop, who refuses to divulge the depth of a board split, is believed to be working on ways for corporate sponsors to make up the shortfall in Farina's wages.

"I view this as an interim deal (which could be improved as a four-year term unfolds). We're not cash rich and we're trying to work within our financial framework."

When asked if the offer was a slap in the face for Farina, he replied: "If I was in Frank's position I'd try to see this as the board trying to act responsibly. It's not a negative thing, it's positive. Frank is certainly the man to take us forward. He will have learned from the experience of (losing in) Uruguay."