Brisbane Roar skipper Craig Moore’s loyalties are being dived in more ways than one, with the Qantas Socceroos veteran making no secret about his intention to leave the club in January to pursue his dream of playing at the World Cup in South Africa.
“I don’t know where I’m going to be but there’s every chance that I will be away in January that for me is no secret, that’s something that’s been spoken about and the club have been supportive of that,” Moore said on Wednesday.
“I feel personally, that I can’t let things drag on because then I may be left without any options, so that points to getting something sorted in January and probably that’s when I’ll be leaving.”
With the Roar hitting some fine form of late notching up two back-to-back wins, finals football is a real possibility for the club, however it seems as if Brisbane will have to go it alone, with Moore’s priorities fair and squarely laid out in a possible move back to Scotland.
“Of course it’s hard (to leave Brisbane if they make the finals), but it’s a lot harder to miss out on going to a World Cup,”
“Europe is a possibility, the only one definite things is that I have a mate at St. Johnstone who’d love to have us, that’s the one definite I have, but obviously we’re still looking at what’s out there.” Moore said.
But in the meantime concern falls to Saturday night’s M1 derby with Gold Coast United, with Moore up against former team-mate and close friend of 17 years Charlie Miller. It’s the first time the two have met in the A-league and it is also first time the derby has been played on United’s home soil, Skilled Park.
“Charlie and me are great mates, that’s something that’s happened, our club’s moved on, Gold Coast has moved on, Charlie’s moved on.”
“That’s football and that’s the world we live in, things change very quickly and you have to come to terms with these things as professional player.”
“It’s been disappointing as far as derby games go, our last two (against Gold Coast United) have been, I played the first and missed the second, but we’re confident going into this game that we can take all three points,”
“Serg (Van Dijk) is back to form and is firing and banging goals, but its all down to hard work even when results haven’t gone our way,”
“If you stick to the right things over time you’ll get the results, they had to start to come because we were quickly running out of time.” Moore said.
With Gold Coast holding the mantle over Brisbane, one player that Moore rates highly and has the talent to influence the match is 18-year-old Tommy Oar.
After being named in the Qantas Socceroos Asian Cup squad, Oar looks set to terrorise United’s right-flank in a bid to cement a starting spot against Kuwait, but Moore said it is important that too much pressure isn’t placed on Oar, with some in the media already touting him as the next Harry Kewell.
“People have known about him (Tommy Oar) for some time, he’s a great young player, and it’s a good opportunity for Tommy to see how the national team works and see what’s required.”
“If anyone is going to take that experience on board it will be him, I definitely think he’s an overseas prospect, I think he will do that , at what stage that is, is a tough one because its important to see him develop,”
“Any players that are doing well, 18-20 (years-old) if they’re good enough, they’re gone. There’s been talk that he could be a bolter, I don’t know, I think that for Tommy to go somewhere at the moment is very difficult,”
“He’s come off the back of a few decent performances and you don’t want to put too much pressure on the kid, he’s still very young.” Moore said.
