http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,27299638-5019291,00.htmlMedia criticism of Socceroos part of maturing process of football in Australia
From Simon Hill in Johannesburg, South Africa
Fox Sports football commentator
June 21, 2010 Football commentators and broadcasters at my former employers, the BBC, had a saying that went something like this: "If you don't upset a player or coach at least once during a season, then you aren't doing your job properly."
If we go by that maxim, Australian journalists covering 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa are doing their jobs pretty well.
I've been amazed by the depth of coverage, comment and analysis that followed the Socceroos' debacle against Germany, and then the subsequent draw with Ghana. And I think the players have been too.
Some players have become embroiled in arguments with reporters in South Africa (echoes of the Asian Cup campaign in 2007); and while coach Pim Verbeek has told everyone that he doesn't read the papers or listen to the criticism, I'm not sure many people believe him.
The World Cup has become a big deal to Australians - and the column inches devoted to it reflect their fascination. This is part of the maturing process that Australia is going through with regard to football; whether the players like it or not, it's something they are going to have to get used to.
Whether you agree with people's point of view in print or on television is a different matter entirely. For example, I can't say the calls for Verbeek's head midway through the tournament sat easily with me. But those of us employed in the industry are paid for our opinions, and the fact that those voices are being heard at all (in a country where football is starved of oxygen) should be a cause for celebration.
Harry Kewell has been at the centre of a lot of the discussions. He was angry with my Fox Sports colleague Mike Cockerill for writing an opinion piece that, Kewell felt, was unfair. Kewell, so often missing from media line-ups, was eager to vent his spleen - and that's fair enough. As Mike, himself, said: If you dish it out, you have to be prepared to take it - and Harry deserved his right of reply.
But I have to take issue with Kewell on one view he expressed to the assembled throng. Harry said the media's job was to "support the team and make them feel good".
Sorry, Harry. I'm a huge admirer of your ability - and it's a great pity that your World Cup looks as though it may be limited to a 25-minute cameo. But the media's job is not to be a cheerleader for the national sporting teams.
Of course, it's easier if results go swimmingly and we can convey back to Australia the joy a World Cup can bring.
But football is not always that simple.
And when a team is not winning, it is the media’s job to critique, and ask questions the fans (who have no public voice) are demanding be answered.
For the past four years, in particular, the Australian media (or at least the members who are interested) have lauded the Socceroos for their achievements. Even if this World Cup ends in disappointment, this current group of ‘Roos will rightly be praised as legends for all they have done.
But for the media to wave scarves and flags without scrutiny would be disingenuous - and unfair on the supporters, many of whom have spent large chunks of cash following the team to South Africa.
The media are the fans' representatives - not the players'.
Mike Cockerill is not alone in having had problems in dealing with some Socceroos at this tournament. Tim Cahill has had the hump with me since I asked whether he’d suffered an injury during a training session. And there are other journalists in South Africa who’ve had the cold shoulder treatment.
Fallouts are part and parcel of being in the media trade, particularly when it comes to such an emotive subject as football; as a journalist, you have to develop a bit of a thick skin.
But the players need to have a thick skin, too, and they should not see the sheer torrent of media coverage as a negative. By contrast, it shows the game is making great strides in Australia.
And I’d much rather have a debate on a radio station as to whether Kewell is worth his place than hear the usual garbage about “soccer being a dull game full of divers". Wouldn’t you?