Image: Mark Avellino
With the final two NPL Victoria representatives for the 2016 FFA Cup to be confirmed later tonight, attention will quickly turn to how far each of the four respective sides can go in the competition.
However, Hume City manager Lou Acevski and his Bentleigh Greens counterpart John Anastasiadis believe that the FFA should reform the rules of competition to enable previously ineligible players to feature for their new clubs during the national stage of the cup competition.
As it stands, players who made appearances for their former clubs in the early rounds of FFA Cup qualifying are unable to play for their new employers in the Round of 32 stage of the competition.
With A-League clubs not subject to such limitations due to their entry in the tournament coinciding with their pre-season, there have been calls for the cup-tied rule to be scrapped ahead of the national round of games, with Acevski being a prominent supporter of such an initiative.
“The cup-tied rule doesn’t help, and I think the FFA and all the other state member federations need to make a change,” he said.
“What they should be doing is to scrap the rule once we enter the national Round of 32 stage and start with a clean slate as they are essentially two different competitions.
“I’m happy for the cup tie rule to apply with respect to the Dockerty Cup, but not for the national competition.”
The former Melbourne Knights, Preston Lions and Heidelberg United goalkeeper had first-hand experience of the difficulties NPL clubs face with this rule when Hume made it to the semi-finals of the Cup last season.
The ineligibility of cup-tied defender Daniel Chaabani, coupled with injuries to Petar Franjic and suspension of Isyan Erdogan, forced the Broadmeadows-based club to be granted a special exemption to sign Sydney Hakoah defender Bradley Walker for their semi-final tie with Melbourne Victory, and suggests the easing of restrictions would be beneficial to NPL clubs.
“Maybe they should even look at allowing NPL clubs who reach the Round of 32 stage to be allowed to sign two players who have been cup tied, because at the moment it’s a disadvantage not just for the club, but also the players,” he said.
“We’ve got Richmond in the FFA Cup on Wednesday and it will be touch wood if we can go through and the new boys who we have brought in are not able to feature.
“But having said that, all teams are in the same boat, and as long as it’s equal and even, we just have got to take it on the chin.”
Acevski will be without mid-season signings Craig Carley, Daniel Dixon and Jordan Hargreaves when the 2015 semi-finalists take on Richmond tonight at ABD Stadium for a spot in the Round of 32 of the competition.
Acevski’s sentiments were echoed by Anastasiadis following last night’s 4-0 drubbing over South Melbourne, with the Greens manager expressing his dissatisfaction of not being able to utilise the services of new signing Lambros Honos in the competition.
“I had that conversation before the game with Chris Taylor and he told me it happens around the world and not just here,” he said.
“I don’t agree with it, but if it’s a worldwide rule, then we cannot do anything about it. You would love to have someone like Ross Honos involved in the FFA Cup national stage because he’s a sensational player.”
However, with A-League sides also advantaged by their ability to sign up to five visa players compared to the NPL’s two, the Greens supremo believes that the FFA should expand the guest player rule to allow state clubs to recruit more than one player for the tournament proper in order to bridge the divide that exists between the professional clubs and their semi-professional opponents.
“You are always going to have an A-League clubs in the final, but if we can expand the one guest player rule in order to give the NPL clubs a better opportunity against the professional clubs because we train twice a week, while they train twice a day,” Anastasiadis said.
“We need to bridge that gap a bit more to actually give NPL clubs a realistic chance of winning the FFA Cup eventually.
The Greens will also be without the services of second-choice shot-stopper Kile Kennedy for the competition, as he is cup-tied after featuring for the Goulburn Valley Suns earlier this year, with goalkeeper coach and former Oakleigh Cannons custodian Daniel Neesham featuring between the sticks for Bentleigh, who will mark their return to the competition following last year’s hiatus.