vbwhite
November 8th, 2006, 12:57 AM
http://www.smh.com.au/news/football/oneill-told-to-stay-out-of-the-way/2006/11/07/1162661688954.html
O'Neill told to stay out of the way
Michael Cockerill
November 8, 2006
OUTGOING Football Federation Australia chief executive John O'Neill seems certain to leave with some bad blood after the board yesterday moved to replace him ahead of time with a new leader, to be announced today.
O'Neill, who had been scheduled to leave on March 7, is believed to have been stunned when told after a surprise board meeting yesterday not to come into the office for 24 hours until after the replacement is made public.
Neither O'Neill nor his senior staff is believed to have been told the name of the new CEO, although it is believed he will not be able to take up his position until January - effectively making the FFA a rudderless ship for the next two months.
O'Neill declined to comment last night but there seems little doubt a smooth transition of power is now highly unlikely.
A month ago it seemed there might have been a chance of a rapprochement between O'Neill and FFA chairman Frank Lowy, but those hopes have evaporated.
The premature removal of O'Neill is a pre-emptive power play by Lowy, who this month is expected to be elected for another five-year term. Lowy was not elected to his position initially, as he was a government appointee.
It seems certain the new CEO will come from overseas, as Lowy only recently returned from a business trip to Europe, where finding a new right-hand man was top of his list of priorities.
Among the names that have been mentioned previously are former Football Association CEO David Davies; IOC consultant Craig McLatchey, an Australian based in Switzerland; and former NRL boss David Moffett, who has headed the New Zealand and Welsh rugby unions as well as Sport England.
FFA will wait for the dust to settle before making a decision on the future of youth coach Ange Postecoglou, but Australia's failure to qualify for the World Youth (under-20s) Championship seems almost certain to cost him his job.
Needing to reach the last four of the Asian Youth Championship in India to qualify for next year's world titles in Canada, the Young Socceroos were eliminated in the quarter-finals by South Korea, losing 2-1, in Kolkata on Monday night. Combined with the exit of the Joeys at the preliminary stage in Laos early this year, it will be the first time Australia have failed to qualify for world championships at under-17 or under-20 level in the same year.
FFA's head of high performance, John Boultbee, said: "It's very, very sad. It's very disappointing. Ange was one who pointed out moving into Asia [Australia left Oceania at the start of this year] was going to be a lot more difficult than many people expected. He sounded that warning right from the beginning."
Having seen his worst fears realised, Postecoglou now faces an uncertain future. After seven years at the helm, a period in which Australia have largely failed to emulate earlier achievements at youth level, he has been under pressure to produce results.
There is also a push for the position of national under-20s coach and head coach at the AIS to become one and the same, with the 2009 Young Socceroos effectively moving into the AIS en masse in January. AIS head coach Steve O'Connor has already been working with the under-20s as Postecoglou's assistant, and a change in job descriptions seems to favour his taking charge of the Young Socceroos.
O'Neill told to stay out of the way
Michael Cockerill
November 8, 2006
OUTGOING Football Federation Australia chief executive John O'Neill seems certain to leave with some bad blood after the board yesterday moved to replace him ahead of time with a new leader, to be announced today.
O'Neill, who had been scheduled to leave on March 7, is believed to have been stunned when told after a surprise board meeting yesterday not to come into the office for 24 hours until after the replacement is made public.
Neither O'Neill nor his senior staff is believed to have been told the name of the new CEO, although it is believed he will not be able to take up his position until January - effectively making the FFA a rudderless ship for the next two months.
O'Neill declined to comment last night but there seems little doubt a smooth transition of power is now highly unlikely.
A month ago it seemed there might have been a chance of a rapprochement between O'Neill and FFA chairman Frank Lowy, but those hopes have evaporated.
The premature removal of O'Neill is a pre-emptive power play by Lowy, who this month is expected to be elected for another five-year term. Lowy was not elected to his position initially, as he was a government appointee.
It seems certain the new CEO will come from overseas, as Lowy only recently returned from a business trip to Europe, where finding a new right-hand man was top of his list of priorities.
Among the names that have been mentioned previously are former Football Association CEO David Davies; IOC consultant Craig McLatchey, an Australian based in Switzerland; and former NRL boss David Moffett, who has headed the New Zealand and Welsh rugby unions as well as Sport England.
FFA will wait for the dust to settle before making a decision on the future of youth coach Ange Postecoglou, but Australia's failure to qualify for the World Youth (under-20s) Championship seems almost certain to cost him his job.
Needing to reach the last four of the Asian Youth Championship in India to qualify for next year's world titles in Canada, the Young Socceroos were eliminated in the quarter-finals by South Korea, losing 2-1, in Kolkata on Monday night. Combined with the exit of the Joeys at the preliminary stage in Laos early this year, it will be the first time Australia have failed to qualify for world championships at under-17 or under-20 level in the same year.
FFA's head of high performance, John Boultbee, said: "It's very, very sad. It's very disappointing. Ange was one who pointed out moving into Asia [Australia left Oceania at the start of this year] was going to be a lot more difficult than many people expected. He sounded that warning right from the beginning."
Having seen his worst fears realised, Postecoglou now faces an uncertain future. After seven years at the helm, a period in which Australia have largely failed to emulate earlier achievements at youth level, he has been under pressure to produce results.
There is also a push for the position of national under-20s coach and head coach at the AIS to become one and the same, with the 2009 Young Socceroos effectively moving into the AIS en masse in January. AIS head coach Steve O'Connor has already been working with the under-20s as Postecoglou's assistant, and a change in job descriptions seems to favour his taking charge of the Young Socceroos.