Joey Schirippa: Near Miss

In the midst of the recent rise of former Sydney Olympic and now Sydney FC sensation Shannon Cole, the story of the man who almost took his place at the A-League club, Joey Schirippa, has since long been forgotten.
After an impressive season at Many United, where he helped his club reach the Telechoice Premier League Championship Series under the guidance of Phil Moss, Joey Schirippa reveals the details of his near miss and why he believes he was good enough to play A-League football.
FNSW: Joey, a fairly successful season at Manly, you must be feeling pretty good about it?
JS: We?ve had a fairly good year, got together a fairly good squad at the start of the year and knew we could give it a nudge this year. We started exactly how we wanted, finishing the first round on-top but during the second round, we were a little bit inconsistent. But we made the finals and I think it would have been a complete disaster if we didn?t make the finals.
FNSW: Was the trial with Sydney FC a distraction for you? Did it affect your football whilst you were playing with Manly?
JS: I?ll always be fully focused on Manly because that?s who I?m contracted with. The three or four seasons I?ve played in the [Telechoice] Premier League, there?ve been times where A-League interest has been generated and this year probably it gained a bit more momentum than usual actually when I spending a bit of time with Sydney. But at the of the day it was Manly who I was contracted to and I was playing for each week, they still remained a priority and that?s how it ended up.?
FNSW: How disappointed were you that you didn?t sign for Sydney FC?
JS: As with any player who gets that close I was disappointed that I didn?t sign for Sydney, there?s no doubt about it, especially coming awfully closed and then Sydney opted for someone like ?Colesy? [Shannon Cole] where they felt they needed his style of play at the time for Sydney. They were lacking a little bit on the right side also and me traditionally being a left-sided player, in the end they needed someone on the right more than on the left at the time. But the experience with them was good and life goes on.
FNSW: Do you think you are as good as Shannon and are able to play A-League football?
JS: I had four years in the NSL with Northern Spirit, Newcastle and Olympic, so I had played at the highest level in the country before the A-League popped up. I found the NSL?s standard very similar to that of the A-League, a lot more professional in fact with regards to facilities and bits and pieces like that, they had a lot more stuff readily available. But when I spent that first year with Sydney under Pierre Littbarski and Ian Crook, I really enjoyed it, I was on a short-term deal there for about 3 or 4 months and it is just unfortunate that I got injured, which kind of cut it short. There is a big difference between the state league and the A-League now, there?s an obvious step-up.
FNSW: The debate about the unprofessional structure of the Telechoice Premier League contrasting to that of the A-League seems to constantly pop-up with A-League hopefuls. What are your thoughts on it and did it affect your chances with Sydney?
JS: I?ll agree with the rest of the boys that you can?t dedicate your whole time to being a footballer. I?ve got a job through the day which means I have to go from work straight to training. My days begin at 7 in the morning, I work close to 10 hours during the day and then go to training for 3 hours. I can?t build my life around football because unfortunately it?s not my sole income and not full-time. So any player who is coming from the Premier League into an A-League club midway or at this time of the year is going to be disadvantaged at this point. The A-League boys have been training day-in-day-out for three months, fine tuning their weaknesses and strengths, while we?re working away like normal folk, like the average punter, then we train at six.
I couldn?t have dedicated my whole time to Sydney and they knew that and that?s probably an advantage that ?Colesy? had, being able to dedicate his whole time to it. Unfortunately I was in a position where I couldn?t afford to spend all day that they available to train, so that might have played a big part. But I guess hindsight is a beautiful thing. What?s happened now is done and dusted, I?m a pretty big believer in destiny and fate and obviously for some reason it wasn?t meant to be.
In a way we play a similar game but technically I think I?m just as good. If I had anything over Colesy it?s my experience; I?ve spent years playing at different levels in the country, I understand he?s spent time overseas too though. I think it?s hard to compare and say whose a better player because we are fairly different in some ways but just as Shannon said he thinks he can compete in the A-League, so do I. I think if my chance had come around I would have done a job just like him.
FNSW: Phil Moss has done superbly well as the Manly manager this year. How has his influence been on you personally?
JS: On a personal level I?ve known ?Mossy? [Phil Moss] for many years now, I played football with him at the Northern Spirit. So Mossy?s been really good for me, he knows my game fairly well and we discussed my game on a regular basis and he gives some really good insights. The good thing about Mossy is that he tries to run a very professional ship down at Manly, he keeps everything really well organised and he?s very passionate about the game and about coaching and even though we?re semi-professional we tried to keep it as professional as possible. It starts from the coaching side of things and Mossy does set a professional atmosphere up from the start.
FNSW: Joey thanks for your time and congratulations on an excellent season with Manly.
JS: Cheers
–By Chris Paraskevas