Legendary mentor Ron Smith could return to Australian youth coaching fold

Legendary coach could secure youth role, another injury for Mariners star and the value of a name. It’s all in Football Confidential.

Former Australian Institute of Sport boss Ron Smith helped develop the careers of some of Australia’s fintest players. Picture: Gregg Porteous

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It’s been the great forgotten secret of Australian football — the identity of the new national technical director who’s supposed to oversee youth development across the country.

Incumbent Eric Abrams left with little fanfare in July last year, and a panel was put together to find a replacement, but a deafening silence has followed since.

You might think it’s kind of an important role to have open — and in fact we hear the delay is down to a possible rethink that would see more than one technical director appointed with specific areas to cover, because Australia is too big for one person to manage alone.

Not only that, we understand that one of the people under discussion to fulfil one of the roles is none other than Ron Smith — something of the doyen of youth development in Australia, and the man credited by many of the Socceroos’ Golden Generation with turning them into footballers.

Former Australian Institute of Sport boss Ron Smith helped develop the careers of some of Australia’s fintest players. Picture: Gregg Porteous

In fact there aren’t many roles he hasn’t held over the years but at 69 still produces reams of analysis of tactical and coaching trends for his own website, and currently runs a consultancy from his Canberra home.

His return to a position of influence would be a rare good news story for the game.

THERE’S a few difficult decisions to be made at the Mariners after such a horror season, and one of the hardest surrounds fan favourite Tom Hiariej.

Coach Mike Mulvey revealed on Thursday the Dutch midfielder is injured once more, but our spies tell us he’s out for four to six games with a torn groin.

With only eight games of the season left the prospects of seeing him add any more meaningful minutes this season looks remote, compounding a record of missing well over a third of the action since he joined the club.

Multiple muscle tears are not a good sign for a player in his 30s, and sadly surely cast a huge doubt over the prospect of him being re-signed for next season.

Mariners star Tom Hiariej has suffered another injury. Picture: AAP

MUCH excitement surrounds the unfolding identity of A-League entrants Western United, and it’s a terrific name they’ve chosen. So good, in fact, that another team from the same local area is already called that.

Luckily the two clubs have come to an agreement, which will involve the A-League side paying its rather smaller brethren $5000 a year, and the latter changing their name.

The money will be well spent, as the newly renamed Wyndham United Soccer Club has a heavy focus on offering subsidised facilities to refugees.

SYDNEY FC’s Asian Champions League squad will be named on Monday, and the unlucky one of the quintet of foreigners to miss out isn’t hard to guess.

Barring injuries elsewhere Jop van der Linden won’t be flying anywhere in Asia, not least as he hasn’t made the last three extended A-League squads.

WE trust — or rather, hope — that Channel 9 has learnt to differentiate their Antes now that Ante Milicic is officially the Matildas' new coach. When word of his impending appointment first surfaced last week, the network reported Milicic was poised to get the job, but instead ran overlay footage of … Sydney FC coach Ante Juric. The package even specified that 'Milicic' would first have to lead the Sky Blues to the W-League grand final against Perth.

FOR all the talk of local A-League talent, it can't be easy to scout potential internationals when less than a third of the players on the field are Australian. It's believed Socceroos and Olyroos coach Graham Arnold switched on the Wellington Phoenix v Melbourne Victory game last Friday afternoon only to find half a dozen of the total 22 starting players were eligible for selection.

Originally published as Legendary mentor Ron Smith could return to Australian youth coaching fold