With the season having been completed a fortnight ago the club's football operations find themselves in an uncustomary period of uncertainty. Neither the 2012 reserves or first team coaching positions have been confirmed or announced.
This for a club of Athena's stature and profile is not only unusual but frankly unacceptable.
We know that to have success in football you need stability, and without that the club is going in a different direction every six months and it finishes more often with disaster than success. Athenista believes that stability breeds success in football and he is a "complete enemy" of the quickfire approach to management. In order to cement this desired period of certainty the club must move quickly to ensure that quality coaching appointments are made as soon as possible.
Regarding our first team there is no question that current custodians Ante Kovacevic and Taki Nicoliades should be given the reigns once again for 2012.
Athenista is a great believer of technical stability in the club. It is this stability off the park and at Board level that is crucial for the success on the park of any football club. A year into its current reign the current Board leadership has effectively only made one football decision - that was to dismiss reserves coach Jamie Goodman without any input from Kovacevic at just over the half way mark of season 2011 with the side sitting second and days away from a cup semi final appearance.Goodman was more than a reserves coach since with Kovacevic being a player coach, Goodman was also a first team assistant coach.
At season end in 2010 the club saw the strategic recruitment of a quality highly respected coach in the Kovacevic appointed Goodman from the relegated Swan United. This carefully thought out move was made early and enabled the coaches to hit the road running in the cut-throat environment of young talent recruitment that resulted in a totally new look reserves outfit that seemed destined for success
These two men along with first team assistant Nicolaides hand selected the impressive reserves squad– that until the sacking of course – were turning in very commendable performances.
Where this action failed so miserably was in its lack of insight for what message it sent to parents and young players considering their future at Floreat Athena FC in 2011 and beyond - especially when the ages of the entire squad was already amongst the youngest the league. This effectively resulted in not only the forced departure of the coach but also young players who potentially could have made the step up to first team football since this was the basis of their selection in the first place.
The move to sack Goodman according to several board members who have disclosed to this blogger - did not result from a full and frank discussion or a vote of any sort.
Hence now, it is this less than favourable decision making structure and behaviour that has led Kovacevic to delay his decision regarding the sudden and most deserved “Board” offer to secure his coaching services a few weeks back. He felt reluctant to accept the initial offer of an extension without the absolute leader of the Board in attendance. Given that he (Kovacevic) had no say in the dismissal of his appointment his stance to delay his decision until the appropriate time essentially oozes of common sense - a truly defining features of the mans disposition.
Only time will tell – in what ultimately will be one of the club’s football department’s most important decisions to be made in at least a decade. This will only up there with the now historically successful 2004-2005 rebuild phase engineered by Michael Roki and past president Peter Koulizos. This period included the recruitment of Ante Kovacevic to Floreat Athena FC directly from the A-League outfit Perth Glory in 2007 by club vice-president at the time Con Poulios.
I am led to believe it will only be a matter of a few days where can hopefully release a sigh of relief that only stability can bring with the reappointment of Ante Kovacevic as senior coach of Floreat Athena FC.
We have seen an explosion of reality TV shows on our screens, with a myriad of offerings that have flooded the television airwaves. Also, several medically themed shows have emerged such as "Grey's Anatomy," "House, M.D.," and "Private Practice" that aim to entertain and sometimes educate the public on the wonders of medicine. For anyone above 40 there will be a recollection of the sensational Aussie soap series the Young Doctors. The series was set in the fictional Albert Memorial hospital and primarily concerned with romances between younger members of the hospital staff. It was produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation and screened on the Nine Network between 1976 and 1983.
In the spirit of this reality upon us, and more in line with the series - RPA that aims to capture the compelling around-the-clock drama of the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney - Athenista sought to inform the faithful readers of the blog about the intricacies of the surgical procedure - arthroscopic stabilisation of the shoulder.
Why? - because it is the exact operation that our first team keeper Alexander Dunn has recently undergone. A form of laproscopic (key hole) or minimally invasive surgery that is increasingly common amongst those mad cats in the cage, the goal keepers - the custodians of the goals in association football.
Among footballers, upper limb extremity injuries are, without question, less common than lower limb extremity injuries. Also, when upper extremity injuries occur, footballers tend not to lose as much training or game time when compared with lower extremity injuries. Upper extremity injuries primarily involve the goalkeeper position more often than any other player position.
Our first choice keeper Alex Dunn went for an early shower for the season after the brutal reality of no finals football was confirmed. The upside of this is that it enabled Alex to head off for his shoulder surgery.
Athenista Blogger caught up with Alex to see what the purpose of procedure actually was and how his recovery is coming along.
Hi Al, nice speaking to you again mate and thanks for updating us on your recent shoulder operation and your recovery.
No worries mate fire away.
What kind of operation was it?
The operation was an Arthroscopic Stabilisation on my right shoulder. I first injured my shoulder during pre-season training in late January, as the season progress my shoulder continued to pop out of socket and then go back in (sublux), probably the worst case was during Cockburn in the Semi Final of the Night Series and again in Round 5 against Balcatta where it stayed out of socket for a good 5-10 seconds before returning into place.
What did they do?
Basically they made 2 small incisions, on the front and the back of the shoulder, drilled a canal into the joint. Then found the big laberal tear of my cartilage then he pulled the cartilage back into place and anchored it onto the bone.
What was the aim of the surgery?
I have been told that your shoulder joint is like an egg in a small cup, so when you stretch, hyper-extend etc, the cartilage lining the joint stops the shoulder coming out of place. Because I had a big tear in that cartilage whenever i hyper-extended for saves, there was no cartilage there to stop the joint from popping out. So stitching the cartilage back into position this will hopefully make my shoulder 100% again and avoid these sublux’s from occurring again.
Who did it and where?
I got referred to Mr Ben Hewitt, who specialises in shoulder surgery and I have been told he is the best shoulder surgeon in WA, so I was lucky to get him. The operation was done at Bethesda Hospital in Claremont.
How does it feel?
Its been just over a week since the operation, at first it was very sore but now its feeling good, a bit stiff and restrictive, everyday its feeling better and better. I saw the Dr yesterday and he was happy for me to keep my arm out of the sling when at home and at work as long as I’m not doing much movement with the arm. Because I am right handed I just have to be careful as I forget sometimes that I’m not meant to use that arm.
What is the expected recovery like?
From the date of the operation, I have to be in a sling for 6 weeks. Like I said before I saw the Dr and he said I can come out of the sling a week early which is good news as the sling is a nuisance. After I am out of the sling I will need 6 weeks of extensive rehab to strengthen all of the ligaments, tendons and muscles in the shoulder up. As I had weak shoulders I will need to make them stronger than before to avoid this injury happening again, but that will be an ongoing thing and I will be ready to go come pre-season.
Thanks for the update Alex - speedy recovery and enjoy the summer mate!
Tutorial below:
Patient education video
A tutorial on the procedure Alex underwent
Al's not too sure what this is but he thinks its just the cartilage.
This shows the tear in the cartilage where the red is he thinks there is a little bit of scribble from a pen to show this
Pictures 3 and 4 show the cartilage getting pulled back into place and anchored to the bone
We look forward to Alex's testimonial like this happy chappy
The beauty of Athena leaves and indelible mark in the mind, body and soul of the fans
Stafford Heginbotham former Chairman of Bradford City FC back in the early 1980's was quoted as once saying that Football is the Opera of the People.
This blogger has taken the license to add the FAFC reference as the title of the latest blog
Both on and off the park season 2011 for Floreat Athena has certainly been a roller coaster that has covered the full gamut of emotions and passions of the football. However this is not necessarily unique just to our club. Over the duration of the 2011 season - whilst reflecting on personal experiences and communications along with random commentary regarding the clubs historical discussions and references certainly suggests that highly charged emotions and passions are a defining characteristic of Athena and what it means to be part of the complex interwoven social fabric of the football club.
Passion and emotion
Football is associated with passion, emotion, excitement and dedication across the globe. Even the often quoted and somewhat clichéd phrases such as "the world game", "more than just a game" or "the beautiful game" - do not just sit there without feeling.
Common references to extreme emotional experiences at football matches are characterised by comments from the fans of the game — some referring to the 'pure joy' and exhilaration of being at football games. Such is the intensity of the experience that surveys have shown that commonly up to two thirds of fans have actually cried at football matches — mostly through joy, but occasionally because of despair. Football provides for many fans an opportunity to let themselves go emotionally — to release the frustrations of everyday life.This phenomenon is a truly special feature of our game and our club.
At season end now it is time to further explore this emotional journey we have experienced in 2011.
A word from AK
Athenista Blogger caught up with the man in charge - the man who was entrusted with the steering wheel in driving seat of the FAFC vehicle, train or the bus - through this journey.
We are grateful that head coach and valued player Ante Kovacevic for for making his time available to provide the faithful with his regular and poignant insights into Athena first team goings on.
Hi Ante, thanks for opportunity to chat abut 2011 reflections.
Cheers - pal, happy to chat as always.
Looking over the season there were four distinct phases of this emotional journey we were taken on.Two were clearly very up and another two down. What do you put the two periods of poor form down to?
There were definitely four distinct phases. The two well performed phases were very satisfying. The two periods of poor form were very poor. Its not easy to put my finger on exactly what went wrong, but it was probably a collection of basic things that led to negative results.
The slow start to the regular league season was probably due to a night-series win “hangover” that led to complacency in the first handful of games. Simple mistakes we weren’t making in the night-series crept into our games and cost us points. Then not getting the all important first win put a lot of pressure on the team.
The poor finish to the season was for slightly different reasons I felt. We dug ourselves out of a relegation battle to be on the cusp of a finals birth which was at its crescendo with the 4-1 win over Perth at Dorrien Gardens. The subsequent stumble against Mandurah a week later, was something we couldn’t recover from. It just seemed like we ran out of steam and belief in ourselves for the remaining games.
Ultimately we only performed for half a season, which saw some superb football. But the poor results in the first 6 games and last 5 games put an end to any finals hopes.
Are you happy with the progress of the young players?
The progress of our younger brigade was superb for most of the season. With younger players there will always be inconsistent performances and that will be expected. For most of the year we felt we have provided a great environment for the young first team squad players to develop.
We had a fit hungry squad of about 20 and the reserves had a competitive squad with Jamie Goodman at the helm. This was interrupted with the sudden departure of Jamie as reserve team coach which resulted in promising young players departing from the first team and the reserves squad.
What areas do you see the squad needing some improvement looking towards 2011?
There are 3 key areas that most teams look for in the off-season and we are no different. I’d say the addition of and experienced Centre Back, a defensive midfielder and an experienced striker will need to be added to the squad for us to take the next step. The squad has shown it can be more than competitive, but these 3 additions will force the current members of the team to be competitive with all positions to be fought for.
Besides our night cup success what other memorable highlights do you personally have from the season?
The night-series cup win was a fantastic achievement for the boys that the majority were together for about 2 months. It provided belief within the team that unfortunately surfaced after round 6 of the regular season.
Other highlights for me personally was the emergence of youngsters such as Liam Boland, Calum O’Connel, Callum Fransz and young Jack Allen earlier in the season were pleasing. The new players we brought in such as the Van Dongen brothers, Damien Catalano etc added stability, enthusiasm and a professional attitude. And then of course the admirable performances with the boys that stuck with the club during this season. True gentlemen and honourable intentions in football and towards the club.
All in all, the squad has a lot of upside to it. A poor handful of games at the start and end of the season cost the squad a finals appearance. If the squad remains together with a few additions it will be bound for finals football next season.
What sort of operation did Alex Dunn have and how long do we expect his recovery to take?
Alex had shoulder surgery. Obviously for the goalkeeper it’s a very important area of the body so his recovery and rehabilitation will be important.
I believe he’ll need 3 months of no activity for that area, so he wont miss too much of the pre-season hopefully.
Remarkably you have retained your fitness and been free of major injury throughout your career, how are you feeling at the end of season?
Thankfully I haven’t had too many serious injuries. I’m definitely not as fit as I was or as I should be, but thankfully the body has held up quite well during the season. At the moment, a few regular aches and pains that I just deal with. But I still enjoy football too much.
There have been no retirement rumours flying around so we assume you will be a WAPL player next year right?
At my age it’s a year to year proposition. Its something that will take a couple of months to consider so I’ll wait until pre-season to decide.
Finally, who are you tipping to be crowned WAPL Champions at the end of the month and why?
Balcatta have been the most consistent team all year so they’d be my pick to win the league. All other teams have had poor sequences of games sometime throughout the year. In finals there is no room for inconsistency.
I’d say all teams in the finals will be happy that Graham Normanton isn’t coaching anyone this finals series, because he has proven almost unbeatable in finals football. Something we’re thankful for in the night-series competition also.
You're an utter champion of club Ante. Enjoy the break mate, give the body a well deserved break, work on the tan and hone your beach bird watching and catching skills and we look forward to having you take charge of the club into the 2012 campaign and beyond.
Pleasure mate - I like the way your questioning it makes me think for answers and reasons.
That's it from Athenista Blogger for the time being. Thanks you to all the positive feedback regarding the content style and themes tackled in this blog.
I hope you have enjoyed the latest post.
Athenista reminds readers that primary purpose of this blog is firmly grounded in keeping the Athena faithful informed on the big issues facing FAFC first team.
I leave you all with the two quotes below that resonate with me powerfully whenever I reflect on what it means to follow your football club as intimately as so many of us do regarding our Floreat Athena FC.
Concerning football playing, I protest to you it may rather be called a friendly kind of fighting, rather than recreation. ~ Author Unknown
The roots of our Soccer Tribe lie deep in our primeval past. ~ Desmond Morris
This for a club of Athena's stature and profile is not only unusual but frankly unacceptable.
We know that to have success in football you need stability, and without that the club is going in a different direction every six months and it finishes more often with disaster than success.
Athenista believes that stability breeds success in football and he is a "complete enemy" of the quickfire approach to management. In order to cement this desired period of certainty the club must move quickly to ensure that quality coaching appointments are made as soon as possible.
Regarding our first team there is no question that current custodians Ante Kovacevic and Taki Nicoliades should be given the reigns once again for 2012.