If there has been any consistent theme in 10 years of A-League football, it is the tendency of winning teams to fail to build on successes and experience a decline that is either gradual or, in some cases, rapid. Witness Sydney FC’s failure to follow up their 2006 and 2010 successes (and not coming close until last season’s grand final), or the even less surprising fall of Newcastle Jets after their 2008 win from which they never recovered. Both Melbourne Victory and Central Coast Mariners experienced gradual declines after winning titles, but Victory have since rebounded, taking out last season’s championship, and equalling Brisbane Roar’s record of three grand final wins.
While not as dramatic as the fall of Newcastle, the decline of Brisbane Roar since their grand final win over Western Sydney in 2014 has not only been rapid, but is verging on becoming a crisis that may yet necessitate the intervention of the FFA. Since 2011, Brisbane Roar have been owned by the Bakrie Group, a major Indonesian corporation. When the takeover took place, Brisbane were on their way to winning their second consecutive title. After a post-Postecoglou dip in 2012-13, where they only fell a game short of the grand final, it seemed to be back to business as usual for 2013-14 when they swept all before them.
Clearly this continued, on-field success has masked the off-field problems. The extent to which the club has been mismanaged is being revealed right now, with unpaid wages and superannuation to players, along with a recently settled debt owed to the Queensland Rugby Union almost forcing the club into liquidation. The FFA has indeed hinted that the Bakrie Group could lose their A-League licence unless these financial issues are resolved.
This is already having an impact on players, with talented midfielder Luke Brattan all but gone, which would be a major blow. Although, the squad still retains the core group of players which won three titles in four seasons, it is also showing its age in parts.
The head coach role has also proven to be a problem for the Roar with Mike Mulvey replaced by Frans Thijssen in round seven after a poor start to the season. In May of this year the club appointed John Aloisi as head coach which raised a few eyebrows given his abysmal record at Melbourne Heart. And while the club played finals last season, it is worth remembering that this was only by virtue of the punishment handed out to Perth Glory for breaches of the salary cap after a less than impressive season.
It is quite likely that Brisbane Roar, with the albatross of the ownership issue likely to affect player morale and motivation, will struggle in the upcoming season. It is hard to see how Aloisi will be able to inspire or motivate the squad, or whether he’s learned anything from his ignominious coaching spell in the league, and whatever happens on the ownership front, he’s unlikely to be in a position to strengthen the squad very much, even with the quality that’s still left. It will be interesting to see how Perth Glory, Newcastle Jets and Central Coast Mariners all fare in the coming season, with Brisbane under Aloisi potentially providing them with ‘formidable’ competition at the wrong end of the table.
As for the Wanderers, who also found themselves at the lower end of the table last season, Brisbane won nearly twice as many points as them. However, the Wanderers are far more likely than Brisbane to be returning to the business end of the league in the next few years, with Tony Popovic being afforded the luxury of clearing out his squad and rebuilding, something Aloisi is less likely to be able to do.
Staleness and complacency are the watchwords here when it comes to Brisbane’s squad and a return to Roar dominance in the league seems out of reach for the club under the current conditions.
[interaction id=”55f3df70cfb503701d2ed7a1″]
What are your thoughts? Let us know by dropping a comment below via our Facebook comment box. Make sure you follow us on Twitter @Outside90 and like us on Facebook.
