Result Archive
MHFC Archive
Friday, February 12, 2010
No Melbourne Heart deal for Mark Viduka
Date: February 11th 2010
Author: Grantley Bernard
From: Herald Sun
MARK Viduka has rejected overtures to play for Melbourne Heart next season, effectively ending his illustrious career.
The former Socceroos captain, who has not played since May when the English Premier League season ended, told Heart officials on Tuesday he did not want to resume playing, ending hopes he would guide the expansion team through its first A-League season.
While Viduka has not made any official announcement regarding his career, it seems the striker, probably Australia's best ever player at that position, is retired.
"We spoke to him about playing, but he doesn't want to," Heart chief executive Scott Munn said last night. "We didn't even get to a negotiation stage with him because we had only discussed the possibility.
"He said he's happy to keep chatting about other things, but he made it quite clear he is not interested in playing. He has his head in a different space now (away from football).
"We made sure we spoke to him and we're happy to have had that initial discussion. He's decided he doesn't want to play and we respect that decision, so it's futile to be fuelling speculation if he's not going to be involved."
It is not unexpected that Viduka, who played 43 times for the Socceroos and captained the team at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, would resist attempts to pull on the boots again given clubs such as West Ham and Fulham had tabled offers during the off-season.
Fulham boss Roy Hodgson foreshadowed Viduka's departure from the game after the Melbourne-born goalscorer visited Craven Cottage in August to consider an offer.
"By the end of our discussion it was pretty clear he'd made his decision to leave it behind and start a new life," Hodgson said at the time. "With Mark, it was always going to be a long shot because we realised when he left Newcastle it wasn't to go somewhere else, it was to start a new life."
Newcastle United was Viduka's last club in a career that had its foundation in the National Soccer League with Melbourne Knights before he went to European from 1995 for stints with Dinamo Zagreb, Celtic, Leeds United and Middlesbrough.
Heart officials have not closed the door on Viduka, 34, being involved with the club in some capacity.
"Some of the information he has shared with us has been fantastic," Munn said.
"He is a football fan beyond the footballer and hopefully he'll continue to provide advice."
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/no-melbourne-heart-deal-for-mark-viduka/story-e6frf9if-1225828914678
Author: Grantley Bernard
From: Herald Sun
MARK Viduka has rejected overtures to play for Melbourne Heart next season, effectively ending his illustrious career.
The former Socceroos captain, who has not played since May when the English Premier League season ended, told Heart officials on Tuesday he did not want to resume playing, ending hopes he would guide the expansion team through its first A-League season.
While Viduka has not made any official announcement regarding his career, it seems the striker, probably Australia's best ever player at that position, is retired.
"We spoke to him about playing, but he doesn't want to," Heart chief executive Scott Munn said last night. "We didn't even get to a negotiation stage with him because we had only discussed the possibility.
"He said he's happy to keep chatting about other things, but he made it quite clear he is not interested in playing. He has his head in a different space now (away from football).
"We made sure we spoke to him and we're happy to have had that initial discussion. He's decided he doesn't want to play and we respect that decision, so it's futile to be fuelling speculation if he's not going to be involved."
It is not unexpected that Viduka, who played 43 times for the Socceroos and captained the team at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, would resist attempts to pull on the boots again given clubs such as West Ham and Fulham had tabled offers during the off-season.
Fulham boss Roy Hodgson foreshadowed Viduka's departure from the game after the Melbourne-born goalscorer visited Craven Cottage in August to consider an offer.
"By the end of our discussion it was pretty clear he'd made his decision to leave it behind and start a new life," Hodgson said at the time. "With Mark, it was always going to be a long shot because we realised when he left Newcastle it wasn't to go somewhere else, it was to start a new life."
Newcastle United was Viduka's last club in a career that had its foundation in the National Soccer League with Melbourne Knights before he went to European from 1995 for stints with Dinamo Zagreb, Celtic, Leeds United and Middlesbrough.
Heart officials have not closed the door on Viduka, 34, being involved with the club in some capacity.
"Some of the information he has shared with us has been fantastic," Munn said.
"He is a football fan beyond the footballer and hopefully he'll continue to provide advice."
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/no-melbourne-heart-deal-for-mark-viduka/story-e6frf9if-1225828914678
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment