Con here for long haul, says Remo
NEWCASTLE HERALD: You've gone from champions to wooden spooners. Has the club made mistakes? Would you have done...
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Newcastle Herald
NEWCASTLE HERALD: You've gone from champions to wooden spooners. Has the club made mistakes? Would you have done things differently? REMO NOGAROTTO: Well, I don't think you go from the lofty heights of where we were a year ago to the cellar of the A-League by getting everything right. Clearly mistakes have been made, both on and off the field, and we have collectively acknowledged that within the club and are now focused on what needs to be done to be competitive for the Asian Champions League. I have always found hindsight a pretty indulgent management tool. Much better to be candid and honest with what has happened and why and then move on. NH: Con Constantine has lost $15 million as owner of the club and copped some criticism from fans this season. What happens to the Jets if he pulls the pin? RN: There's no chance of Con pulling the pin, and we ought to be thankful for that. At a time when the world is experiencing an economic meltdown, I can't believe there are people out there who seriously believe that it is easy finding guys like Con willing to underwrite national sporting franchises on behalf of a local community. These people must be living in a different world to the one I am experiencing at the moment. NH: Some supporters have called for Con to walk away from the Jets. What do you say to that? RN: If some of these people knew Con Constantine like I knew him, they wouldn't be making such noises. The guy is a humble bloke who has been very successful in business, who has few pretences, and whose twin passions are family and football. There's no bling or flash about the guy no hired PR agencies swanning around the place trying to contrive an image for him. Basically, what you see is what you get. NH: Does it bother you that the Jets are seen by some as the sick puppy of the league? RN: Yeah, it does, particularly when you look at what's gone on at Sydney FC this season and Adelaide in the last couple of weeks. I'm not going to begrudge the right of fans to have a moan after the year we have just had, but we need to keep things in some level of perspective. After all, this is the same "dopey" management that has delivered a top-four finish in the first three seasons of the league, a championship plus ACL qualification. NH: The Jets have a hands-on owner, a coach, a technical director and a director of football. There's a perception that the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing. Is this fair? RN: Anyone who knows the set-up within our club would never accuse us of being top-heavy with staff. We probably run the leanest organisation in the A-League. Con knows my views about structure and accountability in a football club. If you have capable and loyal people in your organisation, you need to let them manage. It should be about collective responsibility, not individual blame. NH: You're based in Italy with your other job at Macquarie Bank. Does that work satisfactorily for the Jets? RN: In a day and age when business is transacted globally through all sorts of communication tools, it shouldn't be an issue, but if that's the perception by some, I can understand it and will cop the criticism. The flip side, of course, are the relationships and insights you get into the world of football over there. I have been pretty lucky to meet chairmen, coaches and administrators involved with some of the biggest clubs in the world, and whilst you always have to retain a sense of relativity between the game here and in Europe, some of the innovative things they are doing both from an administrative and football perspective merit consideration. NH: What is the main difference you have noticed between the game here and in Europe? RN: Well, apart from the obvious difference in the technical standard of the game, it is the culture of the game and how people's opinions are respected that has most impressed me. There's none of this "ah, what would he know, he's never kicked a ball" stuff that is so prevalent in our game here. Regrettably in Australia, if you have not played the game at a reasonable level, you are disqualified from expressing an opinion. Basically, you are labelled either a boofhead or a fraud. It's a view perpetuated by the "ex-players' club" who, fortunately for them, do not encounter the same level of short-sightedness and prejudice in their post-football careers. NH: The Jets have had some high-profile failures with South American players. This time you've gone to Europe for imports. Have you given up on Latin America? RN: My personal views on this subject are a matter of public record. With the exceptions of Hernandez, Fred and our very own Milton Rodriguez, the results with the A-League's flirtation with Latin America have been variable at best. The problem with Europe is that it is a more expensive platform from which to recruit players than say Brazil or Chile. This has been compounded in recent times by the devaluation of the Australian dollar against the euro. I also believe that from a language, cultural and physical perspective, European footballers have a greater chance of acclimatising to our league than the Latin Americans. It will be interesting to see whether the combination of a Russian owner and a Czech coach at Sydney FC will usher in a new wave of eastern European footballers, a market which I think suits our league particularly well. NH: Newcastle have a reputation as a selling club. Can we expect the same turnover of players in the future? Is there a danger the fans will become disenfranchised if they continually see their favourites head out the door? RN: My experience with these things is that they tend to come in cycles. It's not surprising that a championship-winning team becomes the target of marauding overseas clubs. Players are also susceptible to the Alice in Wonderland stories that are fed to them by agents who then position the club, if it has the balls to say no, as "standing in the way of the kid's career". This is going to be an ongoing problem not just for Newcastle Jets but for all clubs in the A-League. NH: As a former chairman of Soccer Australia and the National Soccer League, you've seen the rise and fall and rise of the code over several decades. How do you see the future of the A-League given it cannot compete with Europe or Asia financially? RN: In my view the single greatest challenge to the ongoing development of the A-League as a sustainable business model is how it responds to the competitive pressures of the better-resourced overseas football markets, particularly Asia. The base economics of the game here are never going to allow us to go toe to toe with Europe or Asia. Unfortunately, whilst it has its shortcomings, the salary cap is a necessary tool to ensure the A-League, still in its relative infancy, can continue to grow incrementally but responsibly. NH: Given the player drain, was the A-League right to expand to 10 teams, and is further expansion feasible? RN: It's a bold move to go to 10 teams but one that I personally support. It will refresh the league at a critical time in its cycle and demographically bring in two critical markets from north and south-east Queensland. Both franchises have decided to bolster the local roster with overseas talent with Socceroo Jason Culina and ex-Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler, so there's some recognition there that the local talent pool is simply not deep enough to support the product. NH: Con promised fans a big-name recruit who would knock their socks off. Where is he? RN: I think it would be fair to say that in the light of the Jardel fiasco we have re-evaluated our position on marquee players. With respect to big-name players, unless we can get the balance right between box office appeal and contribution to the overall football performance of the team, then we will probably give it a miss in the future. A player like Fabio Vignaroli, on the other hand, may not carry the rock star moniker of a Robbie Fowler, but he does bring football pedigree to the club, and at the moment that's the priority. NH: Finally, after the turmoil of last season, there is a feeling of renewed optimism about the squad you have assembled heading into the ACL. Have you got it right? RN: I am cautiously optimistic. The guys who have joined our roster are quality, proven footballers. Guys like Sash Petrovski and Angelo Costanzo have a wealth of experience at a domestic level. Ljubo [Milicevic] has played in Europe, Donny de Groot will give us some clinical finishing in the box, and Vignaroli, with an ounce of luck, could turn out to be something very special. Throw into the mix the prodigious talent of Ben Kantarovski and guys like Matty Thomson, Adam D'A{aac}puzzo, Song, Elrich and Covic, all of whom tasted grand final success last year, and on paper at least it doesn't look too bad.