The Sun-Herald

The Complicated Case for Mark Viduka

Should he play or should he go?

Mark Viduka - apparently - still has it and still confounds fans and critics.

That's the good news Australian football fans can take from his man-of-the-match performance for Newcastle United against former club Middlesbrough last week.

This was a rare treat performance by Viduka, who has started just four matches for Newcastle this season, and a display that may see the club that promises so much but delivers so little, avoid relegation from the Premier League.

Viduka is a complicated case. Late last year, one of the more influential characters in Australian football made a comment to me about Viduka that now has echoes of Nostradamus.

"Just wait and see," I was told. "Viduka may have rarely played for Newcastle over the past two years but I guarantee you that he will be fine at the end of the season and will put in a handful of brilliant performances to guarantee a new contract or at least interest other top clubs to sign him."

What do you know? With two games left this season, and with his current contract up for grabs on June 30, Viduka seems to be the only man likely to save Newcastle from an inglorious drop.

His coach, Alan Shearer, Newcastle's latest messiah, certainly thinks so.

"People will have their thoughts on him but he's a very good footballer if we can get him out on that pitch," Shearer said.

"He shown a great appetite to get us out of trouble which is what I' m looking for. Everyone knows he's got ability.

"He's shown a great attitude and pushed himself hard. He's been in early every morning and does extra work every afternoon. It's a fine balance of trying to get him fit without pushing him too hard.

Viduka joined the late season love-in.

"I'd love to spend more time at this club," he said. "I have been here for two years and we've had five managers. I would say to whoever is in charge, keep Alan [Shearer] for as long as he needs."

"When Alan came in, the first thing he said to me was 'Are you up for a fight?' and I am always up for a fight. I said 'Definitely'.

"I'm a massive fan of Alan's. I admired him as a player, we play the same position, and when someone with his personality and what he has done in the game comes and says 'I need you', it lifts you."

This was exactly the tactic employed by Guus Hiddink when the Dutchman took Australia to the World Cup. Viduka needed to be cuddled and coerced to put in his best performances for the national team. Hiddink's solution was to make Viduka captain (this has been confirmed to me by several of Viduka's teammates).

But Viduka, now faces another crossroads: the Socceroos and the World Cup.

Pim Verbeek is desperate to have a player who can fulfill his no-striker-OK-maybe-just-one tactical master plan. Viduka, even aged 33, fits the one-man role perfectly.

Viduka's last appearances for the national team were during the disastrous Asian Cup campaign in 2007. He had to be convinced by then-coach Graham Arnold that he should even play at that tournament.

Since then, injury and perhaps apathy have seen him miss the hard slog of this World Cup campaign. But, like his club career, Viduka seems set to arrive at Pim Verbeek's back post at the final minute.

"I always said that Mark is always on the list when he's fit and when he's playing," Verbeek said last week. "So we will take care of (him), it will be one of the last decisions we make."

So, while Viduka still has something to give, the question is whether he still has something to give for Australia.

Verbeek, ever the pragmatist, will be hoping he has.

Viduka is a fan of both bands Duran Duran and Metallica. He has told me this himself. Go figure. But it explains a lot. He should also dig out a few albums by The Clash and have a listen to their classic Should I Stay or Should I Go.

But like Verbeek, Viduka is a pragmatist rather than undecided.

There's no need to consult Nostradamus.

We will, no doubt, still be having this will-he-won't-he? discussion this time next year ahead of the World Cup.