Asunto: [NT]Cometer

Firstly, I'd like to let everyone know that doesn't already that I'm running for the Australian NT job.

For those who don't know I've been around for a while now and have previous NT manager experience.

My achievements during my time include:

2 x A League winner
2 x A League runner up

2 x Australia Cup winner
2 x Australia Cup runner up

1 x Champions Cup campaign

1 x Trinity Cup winner (friendly cup organised before Champions Cup came in and was divided in 2 sections based on seeding and I was in the lower section)

1 x State Cup winner (2 x State Cup team winner)

8 x elected Australian NT manager

4 x world cup qualifying campaigns
1 x world cup qualification

3 x Mini World Cup campaigns
2 x Mini World Cup runner up

My intentions if elected are to improve the way the NT has been run the past few seasons by communication, reliability, increasing interest in the NT and hopefully along with that results, taking the NT standards back to where they were a few seasons ago.

Obviously that's a lot of aims, on top of that there is a world cup to attempt to qualify for. I've got a lot of the same methods as when I last was NT manager but I've also got a few new ideas from being on the sideline for a bit which I'm hoping to build upon to improve the way the NT has been run.

I do strongly believe that given where we are as, improving communication and making the NT interesting again is the highest priority. Whilst this might temporarily reduce results (I'm confident that it won't) in the long run if I'm successful with this aim our results will improve.

So hopefully those that are interested in having the NT given the time and effort it deserves will consider electing me for the upcoming season.

Should there be any questions, I'll be happy to answer them.


(I'll fix some of the formatting later, just wanted the general idea out there of what I intend to achieve if elected)

I definitely believe out of the candidates here, you are prepared to put in the most work, but your resume does have a few blemishes. Care to explain?

4 x world cup qualifying campaigns
1 x world cup qualification what happened the other 3 times

3 x Mini World Cup campaigns
2 x Mini World Cup runner up 2x runner up and 1 time nothing? From memory we were the highest ranked team, therefore favourites, why did we not win?

Enjoy :D

Saves me doing it :p

2. Your team has recently been relegated to Div II despite you having some of the best players in the country, and team ratings of roughly equal to that of the Australian team.

How do you plan on making sure the National Team doesn't follow down the same path as your A-League team?

NTs cant relegate, simple as that :)

Cometers relegation is like Eesti not making it to the WC. If that's the case, how far can Australia drop? Lose to New Zealand?

I'll answer these questions later this evening but I'm happy to explain all of them with some detail :).

final questions for now.

Given the U21 already has a brains trust, of a few of the active managers in Australia, are you going to rely on them to help you out, take on the whole job yourself, or make your own, senior brains trust, from those outside the U21 circle?

And if it is the later, how do you plan on developing enough interest in those not normally involved in the NT for them to want to put the time in?
(editado)

Congrats on your 9th term :P

I had some questions, but I don't think they really matter

Wow, what a grilling by Achmid. :-0

Haha I wouldnt expect anything less from Achmid!

I definitely believe out of the candidates here, you are prepared to put in the most work, but your resume does have a few blemishes. Care to explain?

4 x world cup qualifying campaigns
1 x world cup qualification what happened the other 3 times

3 x Mini World Cup campaigns
2 x Mini World Cup runner up 2x runner up and 1 time nothing? From memory we were the highest ranked team, therefore favourites, why did we not win?


Interesting questions :).

1st, the other 3 times

Team Matches Wins Draws Losses Goals Points
1. Argentina 10 8 1 1 47-3 25
2. México 10 6 1 3 32-8 19
3. Australia 10 5 3 2 29-13 18
4. Colombia 10 6 0 4 29-16 18

We missed out by goal difference I believe from qualifying as one of the best 3rd sides from a seemingly impossible position going into the final round match against Colombia where we had to win by a minimum of 4 goals to qualify. We banged 6 against them in a hurry in the last 30min. Still arguably my best ever match. During this campaign we only lost to Argentina and Mexico whilst also managing draws with both of them.

In the end though, failure to qualify was a combination of the difficult group with this horrible result against Bulgaria listed below.
Bulgaria draw. End of the day it wasn't exactly my fault we dominated and couldn't put something in the back of the net and conceded a very soft goal. I was able to take 2pts against much stronger competition and put us in with a chance despite the dropped points against Bulgaria.

2nd failure to qualify:
Team Matches Wins Draws Losses Goals Points
1. Hrvatska 10 8 2 0 53-4 26
2. Brasil 10 7 2 1 62-12 23
3. Australia 10 5 2 3 42-20 17
4. Uruguay 10 5 0 5 24-28 15

Again failed to qualify by I think 1pt. Was again able to show we could be competitive against top sides with draws against both Brazil and Hrvatska. The game which sunk our boat was the final round against Uruguay where we lost 3-2. A tactical choice which went wrong -> these things happen. I'd gone in thinking a tactic was good enough and it got horribly outplayed, we lost and paid the price. Again though another poorly drawn group whereas others got new countries in as 3rd seeds and got that extra easy win to make qualifying from our group from 3rd very difficult.

Checking up the other one but it would have been with Belgium and Austria where again we missed out by somewhere around the region of 1pt.

Team Matches Wins Draws Losses Goals Points
1. België 10 9 1 0 108-6 28
2. Österreich 10 7 1 2 81-15 22
3. Australia 10 7 0 3 54-18 21

There we go, as I thought, we missed out on 2nd place by a single point. We struggled to put large number of goals on the weaker sides and if I'm not mistaken lost a game to Austria which could have gone either way. Again one more result and we'd have qualified.

2x runner up and 1 time nothing? From memory we were the highest ranked team, therefore favourites, why did we not win?

As for this question, the other time we made the semi finals. So technically 2x runner up, 1x semi finalist from 3 attempts. We lost one final to Turkey -> Was away (not sure I actually think it was for a friends 21st and as I had limited access went in with a stock tactic that had worked for us in the past and we got blown away (though I'll check the date of that match). One final was lost against New Zealand by 1 goal in an even game against perhaps one of the better managers in the game. That being Vilpu. The semi final loss was against Belarus where the tactic went horribly wrong by not marking their winger and we paid for it.

In the process I don't think we were the highest ranked side, well we definitely weren't the strongest (however we were one of the highest and I believed we could win). In one of those campaigns we knocked off Norge,Canada and Bosnia in consecutive weeks all of whom had ratings far superior to ours. I'll grab the links for the match in a second.

So blemishes yes but the overall campaigns were some of the best we've had and usually came down to a single moment in time that went wrong.

I feel recently that our NT hasn't been challenging the top sides like it use to and we're even struggling to beat sides on our own level whereas in the past we had been doing so. So from that angle it's been a bit disappointing and I hope to try to rectify that somewhat.

(editado)

2. Your team has recently been relegated to Div II despite you having some of the best players in the country, and team ratings of roughly equal to that of the Australian team.

How do you plan on making sure the National Team doesn't follow down the same path as your A-League team?

I believe there is a big difference between National Teams and my own club side. The biggest difference is that I'm not restricted to players and I can select players that suit my style of play much easier than I can with my club. Also assisted with this is that as the National Team manager I wouldn't be going around playing my "trainees" in competitive fixtures for training purposes. This led to a lot of my early season poor slump with my club and I never really overcame that poor start. I had previously finished 2nd twice in succession.

If there is a concern at all about applying for the NT this season it comes down to the current match engine. I still haven't completely understood what works and what doesn't under this current system but I have been improving whilst fiddling around with tactics. So from that angle it's a bit concerning as I have a tendency to be a bit more on the defensive side with tactics whereas this match engine tends to favour those that are a bit more aggressive. Always something I can build upon though :).

Getting back to the point of answering the question, I intend to spend a far greater time looking at tactical options, taking on board any advice anyone else is prepared to give if and when it comes along, whilst also ensuring that I don't go in with players not upto standard. As a result of the more extensive scouting/tactical decisions and quite simply more care I would hope our National Team wouldn't follow in my clubs footsteps and finish down the bottom end of the log.


(editado)

Cometers relegation is like Eesti not making it to the WC. If that's the case, how far can Australia drop? Lose to New Zealand?

The last time you guys beat us was the 25th of April 2009. Six consecutive wins since =]

cometer, your campaign appears to have the momentum of a runaway freight train. Why are you so popular?

The problem has been a lack of Kris Hirons.

We'd probabyl beat NZ even if he just sat on the bench.

The last time you guys beat us was the 25th of April 2009. Six consecutive wins since =]


Time to end it then :p.


cometer, your campaign appears to have the momentum of a runaway freight train. Why are you so popular?

Are you being forced against your will to use that quote ;).
I guess you might say the fact that atm there are very few candidates (if any) advertising in the forums outside of myself, it makes it a bit easier to gather momentum :p.