I think the point they are trying to make is that we are the only (or one of the very very few) countries in the world that have a closed off professional league which has its main purpose of existence as being to provide "content" for a broadcast deal and NOT as a football competition... Like Schwartzer and Bridgey said, the Australian top flight will never be a "destination" league for our best players but without the ability of clubs and therefore players to climb the pyramid then Australia is creating a mediocre "safety net" without ambition for the development of playing stock for the national team.

without watching the video, I’m tipping it was a bunch of Eurosnobs talking about the bullshit outdated narrative of how Australian youth players are not striving to play in big European leagues anymore. And reminiscing about how the NSL were producing players for those leagues, but the AL isn’t.

Times have changed. There are other options out there. New markets have opened up to us now that we are in Asia. We have some very good youth coming through right now. the best we’ve had in a while. Start supporting them and stop criticising them.

Sorenson and Bridges both played in the Aleague though didn't they? Also a bit harsh calling Schwartzer a Eurosnob in my opinion but if thats what you feel about him then OK. If the narrative is so outdated, why do you think it is still constantly brought up over and over and over again by people so passionate about football in this country?
As for your second point, I dont criticize the young players at ALL.. I criticize the system that has failed them.....

Because they are boring old men and need "content"..oooh no not CONTENT!!!!!

The golden generation happened in spite of the NSL structures (closed shop, no?) not because of it.
They existed in large part on the back of 50s migrations.

Bresciano etc etc would have been just as talented without their 1-2 years in the NSL and that same player today would have gone o/s just as quickly.

The safety net issue is the only possible point of interest that players can come back on a secure career rather than fight it out but that is purely as a result of having a professional league no matter what the structure is.

The idea that we would trade a professional league for a non-professional one so they don't have a cushy home to come back to is ludicrous no matter how you look at it.

A player like Viduka or Bresciano wouldn't come back after 1 season anyway and never try again o/s

This is all bullshit and Optus is just taking pot shots that fits their audience

Yeah your probably right, these old men have no idea. Australian Football is in safe hands with the APL , I mean a NZ franchise is the only "professional" club to send its youth teams to world wide youth tournaments (Lets not include the dozens of NPL teams that participate in tournaments in Asia, America and Europe every year they are old and 50s migrants) but Im sure the *cough *cough Australian owned franchises will see the benefits of investing in youth tournaments and qualifying (and playing) in overseas senior tournaments like ACL soon ... I hope for Paramount's sake the APL send their clubs to Asia this year otherwise there might be a few low rating metric events.

Did not address a single thing I said - not sure why I expected any better

OK, Ill try and humour you, despite your condescending tone (don't worry I always expect it)

Because they are boring old men and need "content"..oooh no not CONTENT!!!!! -
Correct one of the reasons is they probably want something to write about, doesn't make it not true though.

The golden generation happened in spite of the NSL structures (closed shop, no?) not because of it.
They existed in large part on the back of 50s migrations.
Not sure how you can claim clubs like Newcastle Breakers, Perth Glory, Brisbane Strikers, Carlton SC, Northern Spirit existed because of 50s migration but OK, what's your point? - Surely, despite your antipathy towards the "ethnic bogeyman" you can see that if these clubs where not around the so called "golden generation" would be playing some other sport or nothing at all?

Bresciano etc etc would have been just as talented without their 1-2 years in the NSL and that same player today would have gone o/s just as quickly.
Maybe, maybe not, fact is they where nertured with these clubs and without them would not have had a chance to be scouted overseas. - What is today's excuse?

The safety net issue is the only possible point of interest that players can come back on a secure career rather than fight it out but that is purely as a result of having a professional league no matter what the structure is.
Yeah I get your point but fact is that players were paid back then too, only slightly less (n comparison) than they are now. I hear of players on "academy wages" at Aleague level who are surely not staying n Australia because of the money... 

The idea that we would trade a professional league for a non-professional one so they don't have a cushy home to come back to is ludicrous no matter how you look at it.
Agree with this 

A player like Viduka or Bresciano wouldn't come back after 1 season anyway and never try again o/s
Also agree with this, but partially I think it was their club and fanatically ingrained club passion that made them have this hunger.

This is all bullshit and Optus is just taking pot shots that fits their audience
Agree to some respect about Optus taking pot shots but I do think thy have a valid concern for the national team - I mean Schwartzer cannot be questioned for his commitment to the Socceroos, why would he want them to fail?

I meant the players.
The golden generation (players) existed mainly on the back of migrants who had football in their blood and skills long before they played a season of a closed shop NSL league.

Shit tonnes of players are scouted - Bresciano's generation were more natural ball players and I maintain that's because of how they were raised at home as much as anything else.

I don't get your point.

Schwarzer etc always go on about their generation had to do it tough as there was no league to come home to that could give you a reasonable career. I doubt his point would be the same if he was solely referencing youth/academy wages.

Viduka yes.
I doubt Bresciano was born and bred to love Carlton SC.
No doubt they had good good youth to seniors set-ups - woin't argue that point but again I think most of these players had the passion not just from their NSL clubs. Not all of them are Vidukas in that sense.

I don't think he wants them to fail but if I was being cheeky I do think some of them are happy to bask in the glory of nobody taking their mantle aha

Final point - I am by no means in hell saying the system we have now is perfect.
Only that so many of these points are laboured while also missing said point

NSL that over 27 years had 42 different clubs play in it is closed shop? Thats not a laboured point now is it :) Agree with the rest.

Bresciano played for Bulleen for a decade as a junior and naturally played seniors at Lou Sticca's Carlton FC the defacto Itey Club in Melbourne at the time.....

And most of them, not just Viduka, speak of their NSL clubs as if they were "home" ...

If you wanna play it that way then the A-League is a 17 team league :hehe::hehe:
teams going broke isn't P&R in the classic sense

Bulleen was an NSL team?
How is that different to playing at any of the local clubs now?

Hmmmm
Anyway, you can slice it any way you want but the only thing the NSL had over the A-League was they had more teams which meant more opportunities.

There wasn't a true pyramid then either, the players weren't paid professionally for the most part.

I have admitted the second half of that likely did form a bit of a culture of sink or swim when they went overseas BUT nobody in their right mind would trade a professional league at home for that.

It's everything else that needs tweaking not that - which you agreed with I know

FTB and to all with your welcome counters......
In the big picture everyone here is a football follower/supporter first and foremost I'm sure we all can agree....we wouldn't be here eh.

Spot on times have changed but the holy grail hasn't - FTB can you tell us have you seen any kids/youth/teens wearing any Asian/ME Club kits to trainings or in the local parks ? nope they are wearing Euro Snob land kits and they know feck all of the NSL more so they know AL.
Even us devoted mature supporters of ol NSL/AL Clubs/NPL clubs who invest alot into local football LOVE Euro football because its still the goal period mate !
What opened up as you say is for our average talent thankfully is to make a pro living nothing more nothing less, what has it achieved to date of players stepping up above Asian/ME leagues ? who has excelled in those leagues to date and moved further up the ladder ? (we're 16odd yrs down the times have changed timeline)
Most come back home don't they.
The one and only Asian/ME comp with decent cred is Jap who might I add as we've known produced some pretty impressive talent last 20yrs playing in top leagues today, where in eurosnob land.
Whats that telling you or are the Japs behind the times have changed mantra.
Were supporting all of football here, were watching what the current crop of Atkinson/Tilio etc do in the coming couple of seasons, hope they make it, not in Asia/ME getting good cushy money I hope to see them break through in eurosnob land for thats the holy grail ffs.

Its all AOK, CBS is the new dawn shining light getting back on topic.
I'll be @ the Roos game tomorrow night cheering on our boys and that hated Arnie for most here, for lets face it everyone has an opinion because we are passionate supporters of the game here, we do have alot in common :)

A-League clubs are now investing proper youth academies that should pay dividends in the future (e.g. Sydney, WSW, Macarthur, Melbourne City, etc.). The problems we have now derive from the development black hole of the 2000s when NSL clubs were shunted back to the state leagues and A-League clubs started from scratch.

The main thing that needs to change for the purposes of player development in the current set-up is more games. Both the A-League and the NPL need to have 9-10 month seasons with 30+ regular league games, not 6 month seasons. 

The second issue is the domestic transfer system which will encourage clubs to see players as an investment in the future, which will hopefully mean longer contracts and the like. There is a certain degree of incompatibility with the salary cap there. It's already been watered down but should probably just be scrapped altogether.

An NSD will also help bridge the gap between semi-pro NPL and the A-League. I'm all for pro-rel but it's a minor consideration as far as player development goes.

I guess so many clubs went bust in 27 years it probably seemed like the NSL did have promotion/relegation 

Anyone else finding it annoying you can't rewind the stream on the 10play app?

Missed 2nd and 3rd goals of WSW game tonight and it reminded me.

Going to miss being able to do that!! 

Really? I can think of only a handful, that went bust all the rest pretty much still exist and have done, some for almost 100 years. Its interesting that the only "clubs" to fold were not really clubs to begin with, just stupid prototype franchises like Carlton SC and Northern Spirit...... 

No, Bulleen was not an NSL club ( despite later murkiness as far as them claiming the Zebras name for a while) but my point stands that being at a club like Bulleen as his childhood club for so long none was suprised when he kitted up for Lou Sticca's first Italian franchise.

Morwell Falcons, West Adelaide, Sydney City, APIA, Newcastle Breakers (twice) all dropped out of the NSL by going bankrupt, while others like Footscray JUST went bust shortly after relegation. Granted many of them were later revived but you can't seriously argue the NSL wasn't wracked with chronic instability, much of which was self-inflicted.

Damo and Darren at it again .....

Children, take a deep breath, count backwards from 100 and relax....

In simple terms what we have today is better in most measurable ways.... but not everything from the past was wrong... 

The thing I like about 10 so far is they talk about Australian Professional Football and the senior teams without the need to lecture everyone about their short comings... 

SBS for all there good work were incapable of not telling us how to run the game, the coaching was to English, the appointment of the national coaches was wrong, the wrong national coaches were chosen, the structure was wrong, the wrong people were in charge, we were not enough like Europe and so on an so on.... Ex senior internationals on Fox similar.....

While nothing about was entirely untrue it was also laboured to the point of holding the game back .... never any good news... always negative...

10 are different to date, they report whats happened and show and call the games... OMG its nice not to be lectured to by journalist who believe only they have the wisdom...
 

Some good points raised here, Midfielder.

It is probably good that what is occurring on the pitch is mainly  discussed on Ten.

I find with sports in general, it is a big mistake to have panels  of pundits who have played in the same teams and the same era in the past . They can't stop talking about how good  their era was, unless they are prescriptively guided away from those topics  by hosts, reporters, journos.

One pleasing modern phenomenon is having the introduction of female commentators, with a past pro background. They have not played in the same teams or milieu of their male counterparts. Hence, the avoidance of far too much discussion about the past instead of what is occurring in the present and the games at hand.

Agree.

I hate watching a bunch of ex pros talk about "war stories" it takes the focus off what people are actually watching for. Slater is a special for it