Sydney Harbour Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down, why Frank Lowy?

Sydney FC the glamour club of the A-League. They won the inaugural A-League with the much publicised Dwight Yorke as their marquee man. With Frank Lowy at the helm, the club is supposed to be prosperous, instead, it seems, Sydney FC are becoming the Chelsea of the A-League. Their billionaire owner has decided to harshly dismiss the coach, the crowds aren’t great, the football played isn’t attractive, and there is instability on all levels at the club.

Branko Culina and Jose Mourinho should get together and have a drink. After all, each knows how the other feels. Both were harshly dismissed, suddenly, during the middle of the campaign. Chelsea is now playing catch up in their league, with many players unhappy, most notably Didier Drogba. I daresay Sydney will follow this trend and miss out on the finals in the A-League. I’m not here to hail Branko Culina’s coaching, or to say that he was a legend or anything, but he was one thing, a top bloke who gave it his all. Football is football and the coach is always the first victim in a crisis situation. That’s the reality, but even then, there are some limits, and clearly Culina wasn’t given a fair go. Only nine games in charge this season, and not a single week, did he have a full quota of players to choose from. At the end of the day, Culina probably has to take some of the blame, but my main point is, to judge a man for just nine games, is a tad harsh, don’t you think? Look at Ernie Merrick south of the border. He had a very poor first season, but came back and annihilated the opposition in Version 2. Melbourne have a stable club, a great team, and most importantly consistent crowds of over 20,000 each week.

I don’t see how Culina’s sacking can help the club at all. The instability is sure to bring more poor results. This will also lead to lower crowds. The players will surely be affected, and unless Culina’s replacement is someone along the lines of Arsene Wenger, the attractiveness of the football isn’t going to change either. The A-League is a small league. You only need to make the top half to make the finals, unlike other world leagues. Why then, was this bombshell dropped in the middle of the season? After all, Sydney are only two wins away from second spot, such is the compactness of the league. These are only the problems on the field, off the field, there is continual instability on the board of directors as well.

‘The Cove’ will continue to sing “Sydney til I die”, at the Sydney Football Stadium, and so will I, despite recent events. I will also be sitting there however, wondering whether there is a possibility that Sydney FC will die before me.