Road to Redemption
It might have been a long road, but after months of trying his luck abroad MARK MILLIGAN is back in the A-League looking to revive the struggling premiers
WHATEVER happened to Mark Milligan? It was a question that went around for months. When his contract expired at Sydney FC after the last season, the talented utility player went in pursuit of overseas success. It didn-t quite go to plan for Milligan, though.
Trials with European clubs failed to result in a contract (mainly due to visa problems, not ability) and all of a sudden he was on the outer. Dropped from the national side and with no offer of club football, Milligan was fast becoming the forgotten man of Australian football.
Enter Gary van Egmond and the Newcastle Jets board, who brought him home for a seven-week stint this season and a one-year deal for the Hyundai A-League 2009/10 season. Not that the attempt overseas wasn-t fruitful, despite not securing a contract. Milligan acknowledges it was hard, but still somewhat heartening.
“I really enjoyed it, but there were times when you wonder if you-ve done the right thing,” he admits.
“The teams I was with reassured me that it wasn-t because I wasn-t good enough, it was down to passports and visas. But it came to a point where I had to make a decision because I had to play and that-s why I came home.”
And so it was that a player who left these shores to further his career returned in a bid to resurrect it. “I-m really enjoying it in Newcastle,” Milligan says. “At this point in my career I needed a change to a slower pace in lifestyle. I just want to concentrate on my football and that-s why I came back here.
“To a degree I wanted to do it for myself and not for anybody else, it helps there aren-t as many pressures on me and I can just get my head down and concentrate on getting back on the field.”
Homecoming Milligan admits the Jets- eagerness to sign him and get him playing again was a major reason for his return, but it has taken some adjustment, a lack of competitive football for one. “Each week I-m playing and training and I-m feeling a lot better - I-m starting to get on a roll,” Milligan says, and he-s also pleased to now have a contract with his signature on it.
“It-s nice to know that I am secure, and that-s when players play their best football - when they do not have to worry what-s going to happen in a few months- time. When everything is going right, and you start playing better football, things start happening for you.”
But then there-s the Jets- stuttering form. No wins in five matches since his return - four of which he-s played in - and the team are joint-bottom of the table.
Milligan-s return to the A-League has dropped him right into a team with its fair share of distractions off the field, and continued struggles on it.
“We-ve had some good performances, it-s not that we-re playing bad football,” Milligan says, “and that adds to the frustration when you do play good football and sometimes you can try a little bit too hard.”
The side-s form threatens to leave the team without a chance of defending their title this season, but Milligan remains defiant in the face of the team-s current plight. “Luckily the A-League has always been a tight competition, although we need to turn it round quickly,” Milligan says. “We won-t be throwing in the towel.
“It-s harsh when you haven-t won for a while. It-s even harder watching it from the stands.”
Milligan-s forced absence from last week-s defeat against Adelaide United wasn-t injury-related, but for a rush of blood against Wellington Phoenix in round 12, where an out-of-character two-footed challenge resulted in a red card and a two-match suspension.
“It was very disappointing,” he admits. “Although it-s not a good situation, in the past six months my passion and confidence might have been a bit low, but that (challenge) shows that I really do want to be playing there and that I-m eager to do well.”
That eagerness, however, has robbed him of the chance to face his old teammates this weekend at EnergyAustralia Stadium. “I was really looking forward to it,” he says. “But we-ve got one more in Sydney (in the final round of the regular season) so I-ll hold out for that one.”
The prospect of returning to Sydney Football Stadium and possible hostility from Sydney fans doesn-t really concern Milligan either, in fact, he-s relishing the thought. “It-s good for the game,” Milligan says. “If it brings in crowds and builds up the excitement for the game then it-s a good thing - it-s part of football.”
higher goals
Through all this, though, Milligan will be looking higher and aiming to make a big impression with Socceroos- coach Pim Verbeek to regain his spot in the national team. It-s a step-up in quality and the player knows he will need to fine-tune his game to compete.
“If you make a mistake in Socceroos camp you-re punished, unlike the A-League where you can sometimes get away with little mistakes.”
This could be what Verbeek was referring to recently when he questioned whether players were progressing to his liking and if better players would benefit by moving abroad to enhance their careers. But for Milligan, who tried that and was almost forced to return, the A-League became one of few options for him.
“Pim has shown that he will use A-League boys if he needs to and I want to be in the squad as much as possible, but it-s not my decision,” Milligan says.
“I just want to play football and concentrate on myself and football at the moment.”
Milligan is wiser for his experience overseas has and can warn of the traps when trying to further your career beyond the domestic league. “The younger boys need to make sure they-re doing well here first, because if they-re not playing well here it-s hard to get picked up.”
But after a long road that-s taken Mark Milligan from Sydney to Newcastle via many European destinations, he-s happy to be back in competitive action.
“I-m just enjoying my time back on the pitch and hopefully over the next few weeks we can take Newcastle back up to where they-ve been for the past couple of years.”