A very warm welcome to our new signing, Austrian international captain Marc Janko! The 31 year old has signed on to add more attacking strength to Graham Arnold’s team. Despite what some may think, this signing is a HUGE leap forward in terms of the mentality and ethos of the club at a footballing level. And here’s why:
There are a few points that need to be made here in regards to a lack of faith being shown by some fans before the guy has even had a chance to show us what he’s got. So here’s 4 reasons to get excited about Marc Janko joining us:
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The big ‘unknown’. Some people have the erroneous idea that simply because a player is not famous, or a ‘big name’ to them that this automatically makes the signing a failure. The fact of the matter is, we need this player to be someone who will fit the coach’s system and style of play, a player that will be one key part of the bigger machine that AS A WHOLE will make us into a championship winning team once again. What we DO NOT need is to just sign a player that will sell shirts and bring bangwagoners to games. Winning football is what will bring the crowds. End of.
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This is Graham Arnold’s signing. In the past a huge problem at SFC has been the coach not having full control over what players he has in his team and what players are signed, thus affecting his ability to properly prepare, structure and build a team into a unit playing under the right system. Not this season. For once, Marc Janko is the player GA wanted, the player he selected and the player HE believes fits this team. He is the coach. It is HIS team. Honestly who are you to say you know better than the actual coach of the team?
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His pedigree. For starters, 31 is a near-perfect age for a marquee. Still plenty in the tank. Obviously to judge him on his past exploits overseas would seem like the smart thing to do, not necessarily. Yes, Marc has done well for Porto, Twente and Salzborg, and of course the Austrian national team. His goal-scoring record is top-shelf. BUT. Time and again, it has been proven it means very little when coming to the A-League whether you won a world cup or you were playing 3rd division German Bundesliga, the likes of Berisha and Broich are now the hottest commodities in the league yet nobody had a clue who these guys were when they first came here. Yet under the right system and with proper coaching look what Brisbane were able to do with those two leading the charge…. And on the other side of the coin, we’ve had some superstar names grace this league but have they been as effective? Something to think about…
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Do you really support this club? I am not saying this guy will be an instant mega success. It’s impossible to tell at this point. But here is the final point to be made about why you should get excited: In the past 5-6 months this club has made gigantic steps forward in a number of areas. But this signing represents a great change in the mentality of the footballing department, we are finally building a squad of players in aim of creating a systematic and disciplined team that play well together, rather than signing one guy to build a squad around. Some people seem to think that the marquee is meant to be signed only to sell jerseys and put bums on seats, and that’s what they want to see, since we are the biggest club in the country. I say this, if after 10 years of supporting this club, all you care about is having a superstar name in the squad that you can put on the back of your jersey, rather than having a successful football club that plays a great style of football, no matter who the names are in the team, then I seriously think you need to question why you are bothering to support this club at all.
So, rather than being negative and short-sighted, how about getting pumped up about the season ahead, let's get behind Marc Janko and show we have faith in him!! Cannot wait to see him in action.
Welcome to Sydney Marc!
Pauly.