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It was a night to remember for John Filan, the former Blackburn Rovers and Wigan custodian and current Sydney FC goalkeeping coach, when his team steamrolled Melbourne Victory with that emphatic 3-0 victory in Round 10 at Etihad Stadium.
“A performance like this, accompanied by the huge inter city rivalry in front of that big Melbourne crowd, fully justified my decision to work with the club and all the hard work the coaching staff and the players contributed in pre-season training and matches,” proclaims Filan post-match.
Yet, it wasn’t always certain that Filan would participate on a permanent basis in the local game when he returned to Australia in 2007 after playing 335 games in English professional football.
“There were all these rumours floating around that I was going to make a comeback in the A-League with Sydney FC, just because I was casually assisting Jim Fraser with the goalkeepers at the club.”
However, when Fraser vacated the senior goalkeeping coaching spot in October 2008 to concentrate on his coaching academy Filan, who had been at the helm of the youth team, swapped places with Fraser.
A year on and Filan has settled down into his role and slowly, he is starting to spread his wings and he’s been pleased with the league’s progress. “It’s great to be involved again in the game at senior level because it is light years ahead of where it was when I went to England in 1992.”
When Soccer International checks in on Filan his professionalism is personified when he enters the training ground at 9.30am sharp. He quickly sets about measuring out the temporary goalposts, in full preparation for the morning session with Clint Bolton and Ivan Necevski.
The intensity which he generates from the session is demonstrated in the early warm-up as both are put through their paces.
The keeper’s alternate control of a five minute reflex session followed by a sequence of one touch passes from 20-yards, consisting of low, high and driven half volleys in a triangular structure.
The keepers switch again in the temporary goal with a dozen or so volleys from five metres.
After this Filan, in the absence of the third keeper, is summoned to the eastern end of the ground to participate in concentrated repetitive work from the flanks while Bolton and Necevski interchange in goals during a session where the ball is played from the back through to the midfield, wide to the flanks and into the attacking zone for strikers to hit the target.
Filan is beaten by a fierce volley and a well placed shot from Steve Corica but picks himself up to save a point blank strike from Kofi Danning and quickly re-adjusts to dive at Byun Sung-Hwan’s feet.
After the group activities are complete Filan returns to hit more volleys at Bolton and Necevski with an accuracy and power seldom matched in the Australian game. “I’ve kicked a million footballs since first playing so the technique and power is automatic,” explains the former Wigan man.
The inspiration he provides for the ‘keepers is obvious in Bolton - a wily veteran in his own right - but even more so in Necevski, who admits that Filan’s guidance is a key reason in his staying at the club.
“John has been incredible for Clint and myself and is making a huge contribution in the club’s quest for championship honours,” says Necevski.
The team training session concludes with a 40-minute four-sided contest where players are interchanged every two minutes and Filan is actively involved with encouraging and instructing the players.
The frailties at national level aside, Filan is really enjoying life at Sydney FC this year.
“The set up and the facilities at the club are superior to many clubs in the UK. The training grounds, gym and physio and medical support, and the resources at Aussie Stadium are second to none.
“Only at Blackburn where we were lucky to have Jack Walker did I experience similar conditions but Dave Whelan at Wigan eventually provided the right infrastructure when we were promoted to the Premier League.”
Filan strongly believes the standards at Sydney FC have raised a level this season. The coaching staff of Viteslav Lavicka, Michal Zach, Tony Popovic and Filan all work in perfect harmony.
“Lavicka has done remarkably well this season when you consider he could only sign two new players due to the contract situation of the existing players.”
While his admiration for the work of Lvicka is obvious, the former pro also expresses a sense of sympathy for former coach John Kosmina.
“Things didn’t work out for Kossie because he needed more time, but in the demanding world of professional football, sometimes it’s only about instant results. The pre-season preparation which included 15 trial matches was a key factor in our success this year.”
Filan has a demanding program as he trains the goalkeepers on most days and travels with the team to all away matches to ensure the pair are mentally, physically and technically prepared for all match situations.
“With Clint Bolton it’s all about maintaining what he’s got because he’s now in his prime and won’t alter his style but for a few minor changes and working on his sharpness.”
Bolton knows Necevski is just waiting for his opportunity again and the understudy knows he must maintain a high level of intensity in training for after all he played ahead of Bolton for a number of matches last year.
“Although it’s disappointing for Ivan, he’s mature enough to realise that every professional club must have two reliable custodians and he knows his chance will come again like last season,” explains Filan.
CUSTODIAL CRISIS?
His contentment with life with Sydney aside, Filan reflects quite grimly on the broader state of Australian football and its goalkeeping stakes.
“The level of goalkeeping in Australia (of late) has been disappointing because we’re not producing the number of young keepers we used to,” says a circumspect Filan who was part of a kind of golden generation of local custodians that included Mark Bosnich, Zjelko Kalac and current Socceroo saviour Mark Schwarzer.
“I see keepers at 17 or18 years of age who have poor technique because they’re not coached correctly in the formative years. If you don’t teach the right methods of handling, body shape and foot movement at junior level it’s very hard to create a production line.
“There are also problems at senior level which have to be addressed. At Gold Coast United the keeper coach is only employed three days a week and doesn’t even travel on away games, so is it any wonder with situations like this we aren’t producing any keepers to replace Mark Schwarzer?”
Right now it’s fair to say that an automatic replacement for Schwarzer isn’t exactly picking themself. Apart from Jim Fraser’s Academy, Filan believes when player development is discussed, goalkeepers are rarely mentioned and there are very few organisations investing in the position.
These are sentiments echoed by Peter Zois, the 31-year-old South Melbourne FC shot-stopper who spent a decade in Holland with NAC Breda and Willem II Tilburg and now works with Roy Hunter’s Premier Football Tuition academy in Melbourne.
“I had a club recently who wanted to bring us in. That is always good because they are realising that ‘keepers are different beasts and need specialised training. As we went into it all they asked ‘so is one session enough?’ Good on them for wanting specific coaching, but one session? We’re competing against the like of Holland, Germany, Brazil who dedicate their lives to this and we’re asking about one session.”
So after a period of producing a seemingly endless supply of ‘Number 1s’ is it time to take stock? Filan thinks so.
“There’s simply not enough attention paid to the business side of goalkeeper development whereby keepers reach the highest level like Schwarzer, Bosnich and I. We should be producing more quality ‘keepers, not limiting their numbers. If there aren’t sufficient outlets for young players to learn their trade, the shortage of quality keepers will continue and the opportunity for them to make the grade in Australia or overseas will be restricted.”
Although he is achieving great things with the Sky Blues, Filan would like to be involved with more development work and start a goalkeeping academy at the club.
There is also the thought of being included at national level but he does acknowledge Tony Franken is doing a sterling job in that area.
“That’s the unique thing about goalkeepers, we are like a fraternity and are loyal to one other. It’s probably because it’s such an individual position and sometimes you can’t get a game for a long time, so this strong respect has developed amongst us.”
If not involved in the Socceroo set up, Filan would like to help in the youth arena, where he has the chance to impart of his 15 years of top-level experience on developing football bodies and souls.
“I would certainly be interested in a national youth position. Also, in the medium term, I would like to influence the thinking in the game where goalkeeping is only third or fourth in people’s minds.”
On this point, fraternity member Zois agrees. “Last time I checked the team sheet starts at number one doesn’t it?” Touché Mr Zois.
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