Regular readers of my work will be aware that I frequently lurk on fan forums overseas where Australians are playing.

This affords hours of entertainment – some of those forums feature some very funny and perceptive people – but it also gives a lot of insight into different football cultures and how our players are going.

One very common feature of these forums – especially in the UK – is initial disparagement of a particular player, followed by grudging acceptance, followed by gushing enthusiasm, followed by despair when they leave. This says as much about the UK fan mentality as anything else but I’ve watched this process (to greater or lesser degree) unfold many times.

Aaron Mooy at Huddersfield, Brighton and Celtic; Tom Rogic at Celtic; Ange Postecoglou at Celtic and Spurs (he hasn’t left yet but there will be wailing and lamentation when he does). Any number of players at Hearts – Nat Atkinson, Kye Rowles and Cammy Devlin have all come under the bipolar microscope of fan wrath and rapture and it is on Hearts’ fan forum that I’ve most recently been following this process in respect of Calem Nieuwenhof – The Hoff as he is known.

I can only assume that young Calem never read that forum in his early days at the club. If he did it could have destroyed him to perceive the levels of abuse to which he was subjected by so-called “fans” of his club. Too slow; no skill; out-of-his-depth; no physicality; never a footballer. And all to be expected because he was an Australian from the A-League which (as everyone knows) is “pish”.

I’ve written before about the two leagues compared, but Nieuwenhof is actually a pretty good litmus test for the quality of A League players in the SPL.

When he left the AL he was a decent enough player but definitely not one of its stars. (You could say the same of Keanu Baccus and Ryan Strain now at St Mirren – solid players but not top tier.) He was reasonably skilled technically, had a good shot on him, and an excellent motor – very much the all action box-to-box midfielder.

The early fan assessments were divided. Plenty thought he was rubbish (mainly due to his Australian DNA) but just as many found this assessment harsh and said he was doing alright. It was confusing for me as I don’t get to see SPL after Bein Sports left Foxtel.

I rarely comment myself on such forums but in the interests of international relations between Australia and one of its chief importers of footballing labour, I went online to point out how different are the conditions in the two countries and that Australians will always take time to adapt to the weather, the softer (slower) pitches, the pace and the fan expectation and scrutiny. The Hoff is a class player, I told them, and will prove it ere long.

I daresay I moved the needle not at all, but The Hoff has done a pretty good job himself in the last couple of months. The fans are now raving about him.

“MOTM every week”; “first on the team sheet”; “the box-to-box midfielder we’ve been crying out for”; “covers every inch of grass”; “superb”.

Some of the fans have also been holding him up as an example of why new players (especially from overseas) should never be judged too early, before they’ve had a chance to acclimatise.

That will have little impact, I suspect, fan forums being what they are – an amusing blend of trolling, rage and joy. But it’s great to see The Hoff doing well overseas and he is now being mentioned in despatches as a bolter for the Socceroos. He almost certainly would not have been in consideration if still playing in the AL so it does suggest that going to the SPL can improve a player. It is a much better shop window than the AL and I suppose that’s why it’s attractive.

It will be interesting to see how quickly the next Australian hopeful will be judged at Hearts (or elsewhere). Because the likelihood is that plenty more will be going to the SPL in the next little while. The Mariners, in particular, will be losing a few more to the SPL according to the rumours.

 

Adrian's books can be purchased at any good bookstore or through ebook alchemy. His first sci-fi novel (Asparagus Grass) was published by Hague Publishing in July 2023. The ebook can be purchased here and the paperback can be ordered here or at your local store.