John O'Neill: About to quit?

[Rubbernose]

This apparently went out a short time ago...

FFA Media Alert

Tuesday 29 August 2006

URGENT - TODAY 5PM - SIGNIFICANT ANNOUNCEMENT BY FOOTBALL AUSTRALIA

Football Federation Australia Chairman Mr Frank Lowy will make a significant announcement about the future of CEO Mr John O'Neill today at 5pm.

What: Press Conference. Mr Frank Lowy and Mr John O'Neill

When: 5pm TODAY

Where: Westfield Boardroom, Level 23, 100 William Street, Sydney
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I don't think he's gonna re-sign on, my gut feeling is O'Neill is gonna walk away.

I keep hearing that he is very unhappy with certain things Lowy does, namely his involvement with Sydney FC.

We'll know soon enough. I hope I'm wrong.

[Rubbernose]

Looks like we can rename this thread;

O'Neill quits as Soccer boss
Exclusive by Phil Rothfield

August 29, 2006 12:00

JOHN O'Neill has quit as the boss of Australian soccer, The Daily Telegraph has learned.

He will make the announcement at a press conference at 5pm in Sydney today.

O'Neill left a meeting with the game's major benefactor, Westfield supremo Frank Lowy, at 3.30 this afternoon following discussions over his future.

O'Neill - the mastermind of Australia's rise to the World Cup - told Lowy at the meeting he would be stepping aside.

O'Neill was responsible for setting up the A-League and negotiating a $20 million television contract with FOX Sports, securing soccer's future in Australia.

He was personally responsible for signing Guus Hiddink to spearhead the Socceroos 2006 World Cup campaign to Germany.

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Not good.

[Rubbernose]

O'Neill quits as football boss

August 29, 2006 - 4:10PM

Football's marriage made in heaven - John O'Neill and Frank Lowy - is about to dissolve.

Football Federation Australia chief executive O'Neill has decided not to seek a renewal of his contract, which expires in March.

After a 2½-year partnership, in which the sport has emerged from the shadows to become a major force, the federation will now be looking for a new boss to capitalise on the surging momentum.

Lowy and O'Neill will shortly attend a hurriedly arranged press conference - originally scheduled for tomorrow afternoon - after rumours began to gather strength that the chief executive was going to leave.

It is believed Lowy had hoped to try to convince O'Neill to stay, but the former head of the Australian Rugby Union has made up his mind.

Among those being touted as possible replacements are O'Neill's right-hand man at the federation Matt Carroll and the president of the Australian Olympic Committee, John Coates.

O'Neill's decision caught staff by surprise early today, but there were clear signs of friction between the CEO and the chairman in recent months, most notably surrounding the pursuit of a new national coach to replace Guus Hiddink.

It is believed O'Neill will cite personal reasons for his decision to step down, and at this stage does not intend to return to rugby union.

[Auburn Mariner]

This will end with O'Neill taking up the reigns, again, at the ARU.

Lowy has a lot to answer for, although O'Neill is arrogant and ruthless.

Very interesting to see who gets the job. Will they go for Carroll, or are any of the HAL CEO's good enough?

[Perm]

hopefully whoever steps up has the right direction in mind.

[blackadder]

Place your bets on Bling CEO Tim Parker

[Jesus]

Time to appoint Singo i reckon

[Auburn Mariner]

Hope it's not the current CEO of Austalia's largest Telephone Company!!!!

[Ursus]

Oh dear, things were going too well.
I hope whoever gets the job can keep the sport moving forward. There is still a massive amount of work to be done before we start having blues at the upper echelons.

[Perm]

i think we are still on track and that football is on the up n up.
this may appear to be a hiccup, but im sure O'neill has done his job. and a great job he has done:)
hopefully the person to step up can build from this, and im hopeful and optimistic of this.

[Coastie]

Gutted to be honest. Him and Lowy together were the best things that ever happened to the game. I'm not sure which one I'd rather lose, both have been instrumental in the rise of the game but to be honest, at this stage, I think O'Neill is the biggest loss.

Lowy was essential to get things going, with his clout and contacts, and even drawing a man like O'Neill into the game but it is O'Neills smarts in my opinion that has propelled it and it is a devastating loss.

I can understand the enormity of the job being a factor in whatever stress he has endured and why he might be rethinking things, but there have also long been rumours that O'Neill has never been pleased with Lowy's involvement with Sydney FC.

It kind of makes sense aswell because it wasn't long after O'Neill first hinted to the press that he was considering his options that Lowy publicly declared that his ownership in Sydney was only for the inital good of the club and that he was looking to offload his share when he "thought the time was right".

From O'Neill's words in regards to 'sporting administration' it might be ok to assume we're not losing him to rugby union or something. However, we have lost an indescribably large part of what the game is right now and what it will be, this is his work. We just have to cross our fingers and hope for a capable and equally able replacement but it is devastating that at least we/I knew he was the right man for the job. ....

Luckily as he said himself, he has left the game in a position where it would be 'hard to screw it up' now. However, as a football fan in this country- I have learnt to be cynical.

[gialloblu]

Got this from the Guardian (Britain), a bit more detail:

O'Neill to step down as FFA chief executive
(adds details, byline)
By Ed Osmond
SYDNEY, Aug 29 (Reuters) - John O'Neill is to step down as chief executive of Football Federation Australia (FFA) in March after three years in charge.
O'Neill, former head of the Australian Rugby Union (ARU), has chosen not to stay on when his contract ends to consider other career opportunities and for family reasons.
"It's been fantastic and I've had an absolute ball," O'Neill told a news conference on Tuesday. "We have achieved a lot and laid fantastic foundations but the time is right for me to move on to other things.
"On the one hand, my involvement with football has been an exhilarating ride and while we've achieved so much, the potential to take the game even further is enormous," he added.
"But with our rapid progress has come an incredibly intensive and demanding workload and that creates a lot of pressure on personal time and family life."
O'Neill, 55, joined the FFA after leaving the chief executive post at the ARU in 2003 and was seen as key to the revival of soccer's fortunes in rugby-mad Australia.
TREMENDOUS SUCCESS
He oversaw the appointment of Dutchman Guus Hiddink to the national coaching post in 2005 and the Socceroos went on to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in 32 years. They reached the second round of the finals in Germany this year, losing 1-0 by eventual champions Italy.
O'Neill was also instrumental in the establishment of the domestic A-League competition, which opened its second season amid much fanfare last weekend, and in Australia's switch to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
"It is not good news but John has achieved tremendous success in the last three years," FFA chairman Frank Lowy said. "I expected him to sign for another four years but he has decided to move in a new direction."
Lowy said he would not be rushed into finding O'Neill's successor or the next Socceroos coach to take over from interim manager Graham Arnold who has led the team into next year's Asian Cup finals.
"I would have liked to have had an international coach in position by now," he said. "But there is no rush or urgency because Graham is doing a good job and we don't need to panic."
SPORTING HIGHLIGHTS
O'Neill picked out qualifying for the World Cup and the matches in Germany against Japan, Brazil, Croatia and Italy as the sporting highlights of his reign, but said that taking Australia into the AFC was perhaps his most important achievement.
O'Neill said he had an open mind about what to do next and denied that he had already discussed a return to rugby.
"I haven't had any approaches from anyone in rugby," he said. "This is just a fork in the road for me and I will consider all my options."
O'Neill said he would continue to work hard for the FFA over the next six months.
"It will be business as usual until March," he said. "The foundations are in place for the continued growth and success of Australian football."

I'm pretty worried about this, not about O'Neill in particular (although I agree that he's done a fantastic job), but the fact that the key personnel that did so much to transform Aussie football (Hiddink and now O'Neill) are leaving, which opens up a lot of uncertainty. Let's face it, their successors will probaly be a bit of a let down, if for no other reason than that Hiddink and O'Neill did such a good job.

I agree that with Lowy that he doesn't want to rush out and get the first vaguely qualified CEO and national team manager, but I don't want him to sit on his hands either. A new CEO must be in place when O'Neill finishes in March, and a new (suitable) national team manager (or even technical director, for fear of sounding like Craig Foster) must be appointed ASAP. I thought a few things about the Socceroos' performance, and by extension Arnold's management after the Kuwait game, but "a good job" wasn't one of them.

[Golden Boy]

You shouldn't have a fear of sounding like Foster but pride that you would be sounding like Johnny Warren.

[dibo (pron. "DIB-OH")]

i think it is perhaps an unwelcome surprise, though of late football in australia has surprised me in a pleasant way more than not. don't rule out a pretty good sporting administrator coming in to take over the role, just like we shouldn't rule out a good coach and technical director coming our way and leading the charge to 2010 and beyond.

based on the fact that we're getting news stories on the guardian already i think it's safe to say that football in australia is a big deal so it's set to be pretty attractive.

we're the cinderella code at the moment, a little shabby looking with a not very glamorous past but when we get the nice threads on we look a million bucks.

this is just the carriage turning to a pumpkin at midnight - it was bound to happen with the armwrestling that's been going on between these two over the last 12 months or so. all the same, the move into asia's shiny slipper will still put us into the big time.

long story short - keep the faith. as a community australian football fans have had worse days than this.

[omni]

Well I don't want to say this is the beginning of the end, but if they appoint someone involved with Sydney FC I won't be surprised. Maybe Singo could go in there and even up some bias. I'm a massive admirer of everything O'Neill has done in both sports, and am so grateful for it. I'm worried about Lowy being the only man up there, noone to keep him in check.

[greenpoleffc]

Step forward Mr Gorman................

[beowulf]

greenpoleffc said:

Step forward Mr Gorman................

How about Mr Keech...!!!

[Jesus]

If anyone has the wallets to get a top guy for the job it is lowy. And as much as he loves sydney, i do not think he would jepordise the game for it.

[Golden Boy]

Ex-England FA chief Davies in line for Oz job
tribalfooball.com - August 30, 2006

Former England FA chief executive David Davies has emerged as a frontrunner to succeed John O'Neill at Football Federation Australia.
Davies, 55, resigned his position, effective from the middle of September, after 12 years in the post. He was short-listed for the FFA position in 2003, losing out to O'Neill.

Also in the frame is Rugby League chief David Gallop, who told the Daily Telegraph: "While it is nice to be considered I've not spoken to anyone from the FFA, but this speculation happens regularly when these types of jobs come up."

[marinermick]

greenpoleffc said:

Step forward Mr Gorman................

more like mr john mckay

john is the motor and work behind the mariners operations as general manager

lyall is a merchant banker and more like frank lowy

john is the proven sports administator and the unsung hero of the mariners camp