Quicky said:

#55 was another awesome listen. I really enjoy @scout_aussie input and views. I do like the focus of working with the system we have to improve development. Not because the other stuff (pro-rel etc.) isn't important. But because it's important to put some focus on things we have more control over. Bonus I got to mow the lawn and chop down a tree while I listened. Gardening in the tropics ...

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I liked what he has to say except one thing. He was hinting that one of the reasons A-League Academies don't play younger players is because of the threat of relegation and that maybe it should not be the case. I have to disagree with this point - promotion/relegation is part of 99% of global leagues and playing in that environment will prepare them for senior men's football.

Quicky said:

I buy no iron shirts. Lifes too short to iron. I'd prefer to spend that time outside.

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smart is smart - poor D is a slave to the Mrs's as much he can't admit it and ol skool I keep reminding him !

grazorblade said:

To be fair i dont think he said the npl teams shouldnt have relegation just that it was a tradeoff at the moment that a league b teams are playing older players due to fear of relegation

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He didn't say it but it seemed like he was hinting at it being an issue.

3 more interesting points from James, FIFA Director, Podcast.

1. James considers the football season must be aligned in Aus. That is, having the AL season October - May, then the NPL and grassroots seasons currently separated, means a disconnect - unlike other countries. He posits the scenario of a few injuries at an AL club meaning they need a short term fix - where a NPL player might be playing really well with his club and grab a chance to play pro football. It creates interconnectedness. Good point.

2. The Professional Football Association in Aus has had a lot of success with national teams, like winning bigger pay for the Matildas, but the PFA has had far less success with Aus clubs.

3. The expediency of some the big office bearing position holders in FIFA. Obviously slimy, underhand deals. Conversely, James says there are a lot of wonderful people in the FIFA ranks who organise WC tournaments and are there for altruistic reasons building the game.

Once again this was a really good podcast.

I'm now into the Aussie Scout Podcast, but haven't finished. The ironing ran out! I'm in the wife's good books! She thinks the G and G Pods are a good thing!

Is this Aussie Scout, Tim Palmer, the pro scout, and former/current coach of SFC youth teams?

Initially, given what AS said, it sounds like he isn't. After waxing lyrical about the Pods I've listened to, I though the start of this one seemed amateurish and was going to lack the profound insights of the serious guest stakeholders in the game prevalent in previous Pods I've heard.

Alex advanced a view based on spurious rationale - about City success ( playing youth), Jets success ( playing youth), and a generic comment about AL academies in general. These were based on very small sample sizes. At that time, I thought it would be good to have a guest on the Pods, who has insight into the e and salient characteristics of all the e AL academies. Danny Graystone, a previous Pod guest knew a lot about Melb Vic and Melb City, having coached at the former.

Since I've lauded previous Pods, I will further advance criticisms. AS claimed he had
'heard' about various young players in AL acads. Based on what football criteria and what was the background of the sources of info?

Then after this, some terrific stuff appeared in this Pod!

* AS mentioned young players needing more resources in underage national teams. Alex sagely countered that the long term development in paramount. Excellent point! Underage football is short term. Berger and Baan were always broadcasting this as Football Aus TDs. That in Europe nobody cared about youth results, compared to seniors. However, teams like Argentina constantly have production lines.
There is also a lot of overage cheating involved in WC Youth comps. Plus players develop at different levels.

* AS then drew up some insightful stats/data comparing the AL and Serbian Superleague in terms of minutes played by youth players. I think this is a really interesting comparison - not using a Big Five UEFA league, but a middle UEFA league. Serbia has first year players averaging 540 mins over the season, whilst AL has 240 mins per first year player.
Also, AS described the league being dominated by Red Star - Degenek's former club. Red Star sounds like one of the Big 30 or 40 clubs outside the Big Five UEFA leagues.

* AS cited double the youth mins played by young players in the AL since COVID. Really interesting to hear this.
He has suggested that AL clubs need to see financial advantages of academies, rather than perceiving them as a cost. IMO Melb City seem to be producing a lot of impressive match ready talent through their academy. Are they producing more finished product than other AL acads? If they are, why?

* With rampant overage cheating, I wouldn't worry too much about Aus teams struggling to beat Thai, Indo and Viet underage teams, in ASEAN, particularly away in those very hot and humid conditions. Ali Edwards, former Ass Tech Dir in Aus, former Socceroo, has had many presentations at National Conferences where he sheds light on under age cheating in WC underage comps.
These tough games overseas build resilience. Plus many underage teams are not released by AL clubs, or even UEFA clubs, for underage international team comps. Underage coaches in the Football Aus Tech Dept in Aus in the past use technical expertise, comparatively, to appraise underage teams/players. This is because technique takes so long to develop. There are no short cuts. Football conditioning, tactical nous, insight, communication can be developed quite quickly, later on, in players' careers.

In England, Netherlands and Denmark, many insightful football pro stakeholders in the know, believe Aus is a tough, battle hardened, match-fit national team, used to playing in tough conditions away, right up through underage national team to senior ranks - unlike many UEFA international teams who play in comfortable conditions, then struggle at WCs in tough, unfamiliar conditions in Africa, South America, Middle-east.

There has been some really good content in this Pod.

grazorblade said:

was it about the need to play more younth in the 2nd round of qualifiers rather than just your best team at the time?

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I can’t remember?

You have asked a lot of good questions, sometimes open-ended, which have given the opportunity for knowledgeable guests to provide comprehensive detailed responses in their area of expertise.

Alex has too in recent episodes.

LFC said:

smart is smart - poor D is a slave to the Mrs's as much he can't admit it and ol skool I keep reminding him !

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You are far more hen pecked than me, LFC!

I choose to do the ironing more readily with the G and G Podcasts.

I don’t refer to my wife as ‘she who must be obeyed’ like someone we know!

Ha ha!

You don’t have many views on the Pods, LFC? Or does ‘she who must be obeyed’ put her foot down about the amount of time you spend listening to Pods?

Maybe I should talk to her about some chores you could do whilst listening to Pods?

Decentric said:

You are far more hen pecked than me, LFC!

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Fishing eh - no bites haha

Decentric said:

I choose to do the ironing more readily with the G and G Podcasts.

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ah the modern day approach to working - like with ear pods, buy more non iron products so you can get onto your other chores haha

Decentric said:

I don’t refer to my wife as ‘she who must be obeyed’ like someone we know!

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saying yes is good for the soul - happy wife happy life -

Decentric said:

Ha ha!

You don’t have many views on the Pods, LFC? Or does ‘she who must be obeyed’ put her foot down about the amount of time you spend listening to Pods?

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the pods are time fillers whilst in the car or sitting on the can and I admit I don't listen to every single one......I'm too busy

Decentric said:

Maybe I should talk to her about some chores you could do whilst listening to Pods?

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haha yer as if that gonna happen

I just wanted to remark that the AussieScout episode was an absolutely fascinating listen! I find that kind of stuff so interesting and it really presents a clear vision for how the league can move forward and become profitable (or at least sustainable).

grazorblade said:

@Decentric

I covered a more detailed statistical analysis in my article and also aussie scout had a lot of stats in his article

I managed to get the minute weighted average age of sides and see how well it correlates with success. A negative value means that younger=more success, a positive value means old = more success. This is the result in black with the red being a 3 year rolling average

View attachment 6659

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Impressive, Grazor!

Haven’t reached the end of that Pod yet with AS. I’m sure there is more good stuff to come.

Keep up the good work!

Toebash said:

I just wanted to remark that the AussieScout episode was an absolutely fascinating listen! I find that kind of stuff so interesting and it really presents a clear vision for how the league can move forward and become profitable (or at least sustainable).

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Agree from what I’ve heard so far.

I wish a few more people would post positive comments like you TB, as I think we are very lucky to have the Pods. A few people on G and G commit a lot of time, effort, maybe even money, for the rest of us to consume.

We don’t know what we don’t know. I have learned heaps from these pods. Plus we have had some globally renowned figures - Tom Byers and Stefan S ( Simon Kuper’s co -author).

Enjoyable listen to episode 55 currently.