sport today

Ilic sacked, but is changing the coach enough?

The Malta Football Association finally took the decision that they have had enough of Josif Ilic. Although he still had a year on his contract, the results were mostly a nightmare, while it is no secret that his rapport with many of the players was going from bad to worse. RAY ABDILLA believes that Ilic’s sacking was a good decision but there are other things that have to be looked at.

At last the Malta Football Association did something about the poor state of Maltese soccer (results wise). Whilst I still believe that Ilic was not the only problem, it was about time that new blood be injected into the team.

Ilic needed support, but unfortunately did not get much. On the other hand, Ilic’s mistakes with the National Team were such that you would have expected better from an amateur coach.

Playing Luke Dimech and Noel Turner as wide defenders, or wingbacks, simply does not make sense. Granted there are not many players to choose from, but I would still prefer a normal right-wing defender than to opt for an out-of-position player.

We will now see if Sigi Held will inject some new life in our players. Maybe the German coach will be luckier. With Horst Heese, another German national at the helm of the Malta squad, he might achieve better results.

The new 59-year-old coach has had an interesting career. He played 422 matches in the German league, mostly with Borussia Dortmund. He also played with Kickers Offenbach and Bayer Uerdingen.

Held also played 41 times for West Germany and took part in the 1966 World Cup Finals, which Germany lost to England, and the 1970 World Cup Finals in Mexico when the Germans made it to the semi-finals.

After retiring from the game, Held coached Schalke 04 and Dynamo Dresden in Germany, Galatasaray in Turkey, Admira Wacker in Austria and Osaka in Japan. He also coached the Icelandic national team for three years and was coach of the Egyptian national team until last February.

But changing the coach is not enough, the whole system needs to be revamped. Good players who are in form should play for Malta. Another important factor is that more Maltese players should have the opportunity to play abroad, in more major leagues to improve.

Iceland, with a population less than Malta, have about 60 players who play in tough leagues and who have made good progress.

Both Stefan Giglio’s and Chuck Nwoko’s transfer to CSKA Sofia proved that some Maltese players have got the ability to play abroad. Certain Bulgarian coaches are training Maltese players.

It seems that these players are now optimistic that they can start off a career in another country and Bulgaria looks to be an option.

Although Bulgaria may not seem to be the best of countries for a football career, the league there is of a higher standard and financial rewards are better than in Malta. Another plus for the Maltese players who go to Bulgaria is that many German scouts visit to see the players, with some of the good ones actually playing in Germany.

Some more good news is that young Floriana keeper Mark Haber has also gone for a trial in Bulgaria. Also, Michael Mifsud is about to join German side Kaiserslautern. And what about Gilbert Agius’ trial and possible move to Italian Serie C giants Pisa?

So what is Maltese football benefiting from all this?

Players would surely improve their standard of play when they are fielded with more professional players in leagues of a higher calibre than what they are exposed to locally. The national side will definitely benefit from this, as it would give the whole team more impetus.

With expenses rising all the time, especially for Premier League clubs, the state of Maltese football for 1999 showed that financial difficulties are on the increase. To compound this problem, local clubs still suffer from poor attendance at the stadiums.

The final figures showed that 118,106 paid their way into the local stadiums for the Coca-Cola Premier League matches, last season. With ticket prices ranging from Lm2 to Lm2.50, takings stood at around the Lm270,000.

At least, an increase of around 20,000 spectators is expected this year.

This means that with the ticket prices ranging from Lm2.50 and Lm3 this season, the takings should exceed the Lm350,000 mark.

But while this may look like a princely sum, expenses dig into the takings even before the 10 Premier League clubs can start receiving anything.

Costs include the paying of police and security at the stadium, as well, as the wages for cashiers and other staff, reducing the amount of money considerably. The remainder is then divided between the 10 teams. A paltry sum when one considers that a Premier Division team spends around Lm90,000 a year to survive.

Valletta and Birkirkara only received around Lm12,000 each from the gates in the 1997-98 season. Their income from the same source for the season 1998-99 was around Lm10,000. With this season’s increases in spectators, both sides should get around Lm14,000.

For some clubs, costs have escalated to quite dramatic heights. For example, last season Birkirkara’s expenses totted up to around Lm250,000. A couple of Birkirkara players earned on average, around Lm1,250 monthly. Some of these players are now on the transfer market.

Champions Valletta, meanwhile, managed to spend less money on their team as wages are not as steep as those of the Stripes. However, club officials still need to look for around Lm200,000.

Valletta added a substantial sum to their club funds with the transfer of Stefan Giglio. Valletta’s initial transfer fee was Lm120,000 but their negotiators were then ready to accept Lm70,000, with a number of conditions including a maximum of 30% commission over any future transfer of the player. CSKA declared that they were not ready to accept such conditions and offered Lm84,000. Giglio finally joined CSKA for approximately Lm82,000.

Clubs such as Valletta, Birkirkara, Sliema and Floriana, can also earn some revenue from UEFA by participating in European Competitions. Champions Valletta, who managed to knock out Welsh Champions Barry Town in the First Round of the Champions League, are entitled to their fair share of money from UEFA for participating and moreover for beating the Welsh Champions.

It is true that lower division clubs may not have the same expenses as the larger teams but their financial situation is such that any small reduction in revenue may, in some cases, be enough for them to stop being able to function.

Let’s hope that something will be done for the good of Maltese football.