Former English Premier League boss Richard Scudamore believes the lure of marquee players is overrated, saying "alchemy" can be created in the A-League through a focus on homegrown talent, good football, small stadiums and high occupancy rates.

Scudamore has landed in Australia for his first round of face-to-face talks with clubs in his new role as an advisor to the A-League, first revealed by the Herald last month.
It will be a whistlestop trip for the 60-year-old, who will barely have a spare hour as he consults with owners and administrators, discusses strategy and the impending separation from Football Federation Australia, and attends fixtures on Saturday and Sunday before flying out on Monday.

In an hour-long briefing with reporters on Friday morning, Scudamore made it clear there was no silver bullet for the A-League and was not willing to make any predictions as to where it could be after five or 10 years of independence.

But he said a recent move from the clubs to prioritise youth was the right one, saying big-name marquees were not essential and pointing to Leicester City's famous title-winning season as an example of how players like Riyad Mahrez and N'Golo Kante - largely unknown at the time - can become overnight celebrities.

full article https://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/marquee-players-are-overrated-says-new-a-league-advisor-scudamore-20191115-p53b1p.html

At least he's showing up in person, unlike Redknapp's time with South Coast Mariners.

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Just look at the difference in what someone like him says compared with people like Steven Lowy and David Gallop. 

All we can hope for is that those controlling the game now actually follow these simple steps to grow football in Australia.

LOL @ his comments on pro-rel...

Money well spent on this first class flying, five star hotel staying, all expenses paid consultant...

LOL at anyone who doesn't agree. He never said he's against it. Only basically said that first you need to get the basics right before moving into promotion and relegation.

How can anyone disagree with that?

That's what Lowy and Gallop were saying too. 

Not sure I agree.  Of course a league full of Emile Heskeys and Mario Jardels would stink but Keisuke Honda, Shinji Ono and the reverent ADP clearly add value, excitement and class to the A league. 

Of course the focus has to be on youth, filling stadiums and delivering exciting football, but the marquee concept is an important string in the bow for A league clubs to pour a little sugar on their marketing models, provided it’s the right kind of marquee.

Inagree with his statements about promo and relo, the league needs to be stable first before introducing a second tier.  The idea that promo and relo will save the A league, fill stadiums and be a immediate commercial success is fanciful and foolish.  

Wanker. 

He’s right. Better bang for buck elsewhere.

Agree with this assessment, it all depends on the quality and contributions of the marquee. Otherwise his comments are spot on, especially about needing to be ready for pro/rel.

Saw an article the other day (on Guardian football pretty sure) questioning the worth of Ibrahimovic v the young central/South American imports some of the MLS teams are bringing in. The main thrust of the argument was that while Zlatan no doubt brought attention to the league, his legacy is only “memories” whereas Almiron’s (?) transfer (and possibly Carlos Vela next window) leaves the legacy of creating a path for MLS players to big teams in Europe. I’ve no doubt they could say Zlatan’s time in MLS was successful for the league overall, but an interesting take nonetheless. 

"But [Major League Soccer in the US] has done pretty well in terms of attendance and interest without any promotion and relegation."

Tells you everything you need to know about this guys views on pro-rel in Australia..

Get your point, but in no way should Heskey be lumped in with Jardel. He also brought value, excitement and class to the Jets (for his first season at least). Easy to laugh at his goalscoring record at the top level of football, yet I'm sure Taggart picked up a thing or two from playing alongside him.  

I heard part of Scudamore's interview today.

He made two key points:
1.  football is the biggest sport in the world, and
2. football has the biggest participation in Australia.

It was his expert opinion that it was merely a matter of time before the A-league became the biggest sporting competition in the land.

LOL !!!

Worth every penny by the sounds...

Wanker. 

Well I guess it was always going to take an expensive consultant for the suits to listen to the same things that the fans have been saying for years. 

What's more interesting for me was this:



Perhaps he'll finally convince the executives in this country (looking at you Di Pietro) to fuck off the big soulless stadiums and play in smaller boutique grounds.

Yeah we will play in parks and on cricket pitches again just to satisfy some knut.

Libel, can you at least for once be positive and constructive for once in your pathetic Kafkaesque life, you deadbeat.

Only problem being those two combined couldn't get the basics right to then move onto promotion and relegation. 

Lol if anything ditching the Lowy legacy of playing in inappropriate venues purely because they are modern (and have flasher corporate facilities) will mean less cricket grounds.

ILLAWARRA WOLVES ??

To think it takes someone from overseas to show people how it’s done.

It shows how clueless our leaders..a slap on that face...

So our leaders now know that the MLS has done pretty well in terms of attendance and interest without any promotion and relegation.

That must warm everyone's heart...

That is not clueless ..that is smart ...it isn't a leaders job to know everything ..his/her job is to surround themselves with people who know more than they do and get the best advice ......it's called "management ".
It makes perfect sense to get someone in who has done it very successfully before ..and in this case the consultant has possibly the best track record of anyone in this area.
Smart move .

Preferred his comments
"What I do know is this: football is the world's best game, bar none. It's a question of putting strategies in place to build this thing. It will happen, the professionalisation of football here will find its place and find its voice and the opportunity is huge."

Balance your negative to my positive.

Prefer it if you want, but that's all just meaningless fluff.

Go back to felching the Lowys,  libel you sodden cockfart💡