The latest “beat-up” by Robbie Slater in criticising Craig Foster’s perfectly reasonable criticism of Melbourne Victory’s latest show of incompetence ( says much more about Slater than Foster. This is not the first time Slater has sought to insinuate himself into debate going on around him by making frankly silly remarks. He can be seen in my view as the “Bill O’Reilly” (in reference to the US Fox News commentator) of the Australian sporting media where the more outrageous the remarks the more he seems to think he will be taken seriously. It is not by accident that Slater always seems to be put in the second tier of Fox Sports Football commentators – never seems to get the gig commentating overseas on the Socceroos, gets second tier A-League matches to call, because frankly he is not very good.
Mind you, Foster has at times been rightly accused of hubris in his commentating duties, such as the time at the last World Cup when after Australia lost 4-0 to Germany he suggested that all the past Socceroo captains should go down to the team’s dressing rooms and arrange a replacement for the coach (Pim Verbeek). His alliance with the pompous and antiquated Les Murray (the “Ffffff…ossie and Sir Les show” as Roy and HG call them) can at times be ponderous and downright embarrassing, but overall I think Foster is one of the more considered and thoughtful of our football commentators, and has the Australian game’s successful development at heart.
So I say “Congratulations Craig Foster”. You are spot on about the Melbourne Victory’s “back to the future” in appointing the less than distinguished British coach. It is a great pity we cannot continue the European approach in football philosophies and tactics which has served us pretty well as an emerging football nation. For a football-mad nation like England, where a disproportionate amount of its sporting resources are devoted to the game, it has been singularly unsuccessful. Certainly Australian Football can always learn from the best, but Australia is most successful in sport when we look at the best in the world and adapt their practices to our own very strong and unique sporting culture. England is a long way from the best in the world in football.
Filed under: Football, Sport, australian football, Craig Foster, Melbourne Victory, Robbie Slater, SBS
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