Kudos for United is good but it doesn't pay the bills

THE MANLY DAILY

By Phil Moss

LET'S get one thing straight right from the start - Manly United has never and will never stand in the way of a player going to the next level.

And any accusations to the contrary, such as Newcastle Jets coach Gary Van Egmond's in the Newcastle press last week with regards to defender Beau Busch, is just ludicrous.

The only issue in Beau moving to Newcastle from our point of view was not if, it was when.

And, given we were playing for our season on Saturday night and had an injury crisis in defence, we simply asked for a delay of a week or two. The win over Sydney United secured us a finals' berth and Beau has now gone to Newcastle on loan for three months with our full blessing.

I'm not here to air dirty laundry through the media I'm here to highlight the major issues we have within our player pathway at the second top tier - that is NSW Premier League players going to the A-League.

Truth be known, the country's richest breeding ground for A-League talent is in real danger of collapse.

Let's name names. John Hutchinson, Alex Wilkinson, Matthew Osman, Ryan Griffiths, Adam Griffiths, Hamilton Thorp, Tom Willis, Nikolai Topor-Stanley, Chris Payne and now Beau Busch have all had stints at Manly United before heading to the next level - either the old NSL or the new A-League - over the past seven years.

Throw in Robbie Cattanach - who signed a short-term contract with Sydney FC last season - for good measure.

May as well add Brent Fisher as well who moved from Cromer Park to massive German first division outfit Energie Cottbus a few years back.

And the grand total of financial compensation Manly United has received so far is a whopping $0-00!

The club may receive $3000 for Payne when he departs after this weekend's final regular season clash with Macarthur.

And while we are at it, coaches Glenn Sterrey, John Kosmina, Tony Pezzano and Van Egmond himself have all got their chance at professional coaching after learning their trade at Manly. Not that you expect financial compensation for coaches but it still proves the theory that Manly is not a stumbling block but rather a springboard in the careers of players and coaches alike.

Bear in mind that it costs the club around $700,000 a year to compete in the NSWPL with playing and coaching wages, fees and everything else that goes with it and if we won all four competitions on offer - the pre-season Johnny Warren Cup, Tiger Turf Cup, the league and the grand final - you stand to make just $70, 000 back in prizemoney (most of which goes to the players in bonuses).

Hardly a feasible return on your investment and trust me, we are one of the lower budget clubs in the league?

While A-League clubs have to take some responsibility to compensate state league clubs for the time and effort that goes into developing players, it is the FFA and Football NSW who really need to step up to the plate.

As it stands, A-League clubs don't have to pay a cent in compensation for players who sign as short term injury replacements.

Topor-Stanley, whose career was at the crossroads when Belconnen were dumped from the NSWPL, joined Manly for just one season. But that season saw him establish himself in the Olyroos squad and then sign several short-term contracts with Sydney FC before moving on to Perth.

Fisher, worse still, went to a massive club in Germany but had Manly United dared ask for a transfer fee the deal was off and they would find someone else.

Emotional blackmail.

I'm a massive advocate of young players staying in Australia until such time as they are ready to play regular first team football in a major foreign league. Brett Emerton is a prime example. Starred on a weekly basis for Sydney Olympic in the old NSL, captained his country at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and then went to Feyenoord to play regularly almost from the get-go.

But how can the state league clubs encourage players to go to the A-League when financially it just doesn't make sense? Sure there is some kudos for Manly United when a player goes to the next level but it doesn't pay bills.

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Article Source http://www.manlydaily.com.au/article/2008/07/29/11316_sports.html