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Nine of one, a dozen of the other: A-League & W-League season 2020/21

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    Nine of one, a dozen of the other: A-League & W-League season 2020/21

    And we’re off again! They said it wouldn’t happen but here we are. Hyundai buggered off at the end of last season and there’s still no main sponsor, Fox Sports are in the final year of their re-negotiated contract and most of the top players have departed. Oh yeah, and Sydney is currently in the grip of a new Covid cluster so the season’s opening W-League/A-League double-header extravaganza scheduled for Sunday 27 December had to be put back. But despite the numerous setbacks, top flight football in Australia has resumed. So strap yourself in and enjoy the rollercoaster ride whilst we have it – this season really could be make or break for both leagues.

    The A-League now has 12 teams as we welcome new boys Macarthur FC, another Sydney-based team to go alongside Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers (WSW). The new boys, with their Oxford Utd-themed badge, have recruited well with a lot of experienced pros in captain, Mark Milligan, goalkeeper Adam Federici, a couple of Spanish imports Benat Extebarria and Markel Susaeta and former Blackburn Rovers striker, Matt Derbyshire. Already the pundits are tipping them for a top 4 finish.

    But, as always, it’s Sydney FC who are the red-hot favourites. Looking to be Champions for the third successive time they’ve lost striker Adam Le Fondre, but have kept the core of their dominant, title winning team, and it’s hard to see anyone stopping them. Bastards!

    WSW have a new coach in Carl Robinson and assistant Kenny Miller, who made the move after an impressive stint at Newcastle Jets. And they wasted no time in pissing off their former employers by taking winger Bernie Ibini-Isei with them. After a few seasons of being utterly shite, big things are expected of WSW this season. It’ll be funny if they cock it up again.

    In Melbourne, the Victory have a new coach in Grant Brebner and his assistant, the snake in the grass, Steve Kean. Watch out Grant, he’ll be after your job within weeks! Victory did well in the Asian Champions League, being the only A-League team to get through to the knockout stages. They had a shocker last season but look to be in far better shape this season.

    Melbourne City, last season’s beaten finalists, have a new coach in Patrick Kisnorbo and they look like they’ll be challenging for the title again. Andrew Nabbout has arrived, having cancelled his contract with Perth Glory having never set foot there due to Covid restrictions, whilst striker Jamie Maclaren will no doubt hammer in the goals. Being part of the Man City portfolio saw them ride the Covid wave far better than others.

    Western Utd had a great first season but have been quiet in the transfer market. They still have the evergreen Alessandro Diamanti who was superb last season, but Utd’s biggest issue is where they’ll play their home games when the season progresses. With a later start to the season, their ground is shared by AFL side Geelong who have first dibs, and with Victory and City sharing AAMI park they’re running out of options as to where they’ll go.

    Wellington Phoenix are currently based in Woolongong due to the travel restrictions to New Zealand, but will be hard pushed to match last season’s fantastic third-place finish. Not eligible to take the Asian Champions League spot (I presume because they aren’t Australian), they’ve lost striker Gary Hooper and captain Steven Taylor. And if the players start to get homesick, things could easily fall apart.

    Brisbane Roar lost Robbie Fowler as coach but he wasn’t missed as they finished 4th last season and took the ’Nix’s Asian Champions League qualifying round spot. They’ve relocated from the huge Suncorp Stadium to the smaller Dolphin Stadium, which is a good 40+km away, but the atmosphere at the new place will be far better. If they can win on the road, then they’ll be a dangerous team.

    Adelaide Utd didn’t do draws last season – they either won or they lost and this lack of consistency saw them miss out on a top 6 finish. They have lost striker James Troisi as well as star player Riley McGree so could be another frustrating season for the reds.

    And now for the three basket-case clubs.

    Newcastle Jets are the most basket case of the three with their absent owner, Chinese businessman Martin Lee, having his A-League licence revoked by the FFA having let the club hurtle towards the abyss for the past 14 months. The have no coach and all their decent players want to leave this horribly sinking ship. A recent buy out fell through leading to some dodgy property developer to say he’ll step in to save the day, so at the moment it’s the other 11 clubs who’ll be propping them up and that goodwill will very quickly evaporate. If they can’t get a new buyer sorted quickly, the new 12-team league may soon go back down to 11.

    Perth Glory, Premiers just two seasons ago are in deep financial trouble with owner Tony Sage desperate to offload them. He was at the forefront of standing players down during Covid, much to the dismay of the players and their union. Ultimately this led to a raft of departures of key players including Jake Brimmer, Tomislav Mrcela, Jacob Tratt, Ivan Franjic, Joel Chianese and Juande and at one point it looked like they wouldn’t have enough players to complete their remaining Asian Champions League fixtures. But they’ve managed to hold on to star striker Bruni Fornaroli as well as re-recruit striker Andy Keogh and more surprisingly captain Diego Castro is still there, despite failing to appear for the lockdown fixtures last season and instead went on holiday. But with the emphasis on youth, they’ll probably get hammered regularly and who knows who’ll own the club in 6 months’ time.

    And finally, the team who always finish bottom – Central Coast Mariners. They have the lovely ground with the palm trees and the giant inflatable condiment bottles. But that’s as good as it gets for the Mariners, who have lost key defender and former Hamilton Accies player, Ziggy Gordon, to WSW. Financially they’re more stable than the Jets, and seem to have a happier squad than the Jets so could easily finish 11th this season. Finally, there’s hope for the long-suffering Mariners fans!
    Last edited by CY_Boaby; 29-12-2020, 13:54.

    #2
    Westfield W-League

    Unlike the A-League, the W-League has a league sponsor. This is a campaign I’m really looking forward to as it could be won by any number of teams due to all the Matildas and star players heading overseas and very few imports allowed in. Even more so than the A-League, the emphasis is on youth and with the Women’s World Cup coming here in 2023, it’s a great opportunity for young Aussie talent to get noticed.

    All conquering Melbourne City won it convincingly last season, but have lost ALL the players who started last season’s Grand Final. City being City have still managed to recruit some top players in Matildas Teagan Micah and Jenna McCormick however will find it hard to repeat last season’s success where they won every game bar one.

    Sydney FC have also lost a raft of top talent including Caitlin Foord, Chloe Logarzo and Alanna Kennedy, so will be relying on youth. The Sky Blues are the only club to qualify for finals in every season since the league’s beginning, and having also made it to the Grand Final in four of the last five seasons, so it’ll be interesting to see if their kids can keep up this impressive record.

    WSW had a great campaign last season, but they too have lost just about every player who got them to the finals. They’ve recruited locally including Sarah Willacy, Nikola Orgill and Georgia Yeoman-Dale, as well as having some exciting young talent, but it could be a tough season as they rebuild.

    Adelaide Utd have a settled squad so could really shock the re-building big teams this season. They’ve not escaped the mass exodus completely unscathed and have lost captain Amber Brooks and centre-back Julia Ashley, but their stability could be crucial to their success this season.

    Brisbane Roar have been pretty poor the past couple of seasons having been a powerhouse in previous years, have lost some key players, but this time have recruited several current and former Matildas including Tameka Yallop, Clare Polkinghorne, Kim Carroll, Katrina Gorry and Emily Gielnik, as well as a handful of promising Aussie youngsters such as Jamilla Rankin, Leticia McKenna, Anna Margraf and Sharn Freier. The Roar could be the team to beat this season.

    Canberra Utd, the league’s only stand-alone women’s football club and like the Roar a former W-League powerhouse, have re-recruited the players that once made them so formidable - Michelle Heyman, Kendall Fletcher, Nicky Flannery and Grace Maher. Even if they aren’t as good as they were a few years ago, they could still be a force in this crazy season of unknowns.

    Melbourne Victory finished in second place last season and have recruited Matildas legend Lisa De Vanna, who’ll surely bag a number of goals this season as well as lead the team. Last year’s teen sensation Kyra Cooney-Cross returns from her loan spell with WSW so a finals place should be within their reach.

    Newcastle Jets, like their men’s team, are the victim of financial woes and were the only side last year that didn’t recruit a single international player. But like Adelaide Utd, their settled squad could see them perform better than the rest who are having to completely reshuffle their packs.

    Perth Glory have an exciting new coach in Alex Epakis who comes highly recommended after an impressive spell at Sydney University. Sam Kerr is long gone so the time has come for the next generation to come along and fill the vacuum. They have a decent squad with captain Natasha Rigby, Sarah Carroll, Elizabeth Anton, Marianna Tabain, as well as promising up-and-coming Aussie and Kiwi stars including Hana Lowry, Lily Alfeld, Caitlin Doeglas, Malia Steinmetz and Deborah-Ann de la Harpe.

    And there we have it. All to play for in the W-League but with Covid wreaking havoc, only the first 5 rounds have been confirmed. It’s only a 14-round season so hopefully we’ll get to see it played out in full and who knows, maybe in the future we’ll get a full home and away season as well as an expanded league.

    Comment


      #3
      Just one goal in the first two games. Hoping for more in today's WSW v Macarthur game !

      BT Sport are showing the A-League in the UK

      Comment


        #4
        Just read that early in December the NSW authorities removed all capacity restrictions for sport events, only to re-introduce a 50% restriction 3 days ago following the Covid outbreak in Sydney's Northern beaches.

        Comment


          #5
          Excellent summary on both leagues from CY_BOABY. As he predicted it was great atmosphere for Brisbane at Dolphins Stadium.

          Comment


            #6
            Thanks for those.
            ​​​​
            As far as the A-League goes, family connections have doomed me to the reliable mediocrity of the Phoenix. However I'm a free agent as far as the W-League is concerned. I need to pick a side to jinx follow.

            The A-L thread is another of those I check in on but never have anything of use to contribute, so I'll take this chance to say thanks to those who do. That will probably be the last you'll hear from me for a year.

            Comment


              #7
              Just dip in and out as you please and cheers for the kind words lads.

              Goals not flowing yet but at least the two derbies both produced winning results; Macarthur FC winning on their debut, 1-0 at WSW, whilst Central Coast won the basket-case/F3 derby with the Jets, 1-0. I had to laugh at the WSW banner that has a counter for the number of goals they'll score this season - it's still on zero.

              The W-League's been far more impressive when it comes to goals despite the opening game between Brisbane and Melbourne City finishing goalless. Sydney then thumped WSW 3-0 whilst Canberra Utd fantastically fought back from being 2 down at half-time to beat Adelaide Utd 4-3. Great finish with 3 goals coming in injury time. Michelle Hayman showing she still has it with a hat-trick for Canberra.

              Interesting article from The World Game website a few days ago regarding the cost of the cheapest season tickets for each club. It surprised me that Perth Glory are the most expensive but what really annoyed me was just how more expensive they are compared to a lot of other clubs.

              I contacted the Glory earlier this week as they still have my $60 from the Asian Champions League 3-game package that didn't get to be played in Perth. I was going to put it towards the 5-game flexi pass that I normally buy, but due to Covid these aren't being offered and I'm not interested in buying a full season ticket. My son was meant to receive a free 3-game flexi pass as he's a registered junior player, so I wanted to know what they'd offer instead - of course I had to be the one that initiated contact. The club was very reluctant to offer me my $60 refund, however I have managed to negotiate for my son and I their Deep Purple membership, which gives us any 2 games each and won't cost me anything extra, just the $60 ACL money.

              I was initially thinking of putting the money towards a season ticket for the W-League, but Glory's home game against Melbourne Victory tomorrow has been postponed as the WA Government slammed the border shut to Victorians at midnight on Hogmanay, so who knows if they'll get to play many on their matches in Perth. A real shame as I was really looking forward to heading along to Dorrien Gardens tomorrow evening.

              Comment


                #8
                Not many goals in the matches so far, but I have been impressed by the standard of goal-keeping

                Comment


                  #9
                  Well, I'm breathless having just watched Western Utd v Perth Glory. It was only 1-0 at half-time but then it went mental as both teams decided they couldn't be arsed defending. A further 8 goals were scored and Utd just edged it 5-4. Crazy game.

                  Glory finally got their season underway on Wednesday evening with a stunning 5-3 win over Adelaide, however it was clear to see they can't defend so looks like they'll be the great entertainers this season. Two games played, 9 goals scored and 8 conceded.

                  Big shock last night when Central Coast won 2-0 at Sydney, which now sees the Mariners rocket to the top of the table with 9 points from their first 4 games. What a turnaround from Alen Stajcic's team and hard to see them finishing bottom again this season. That spot is currently occupied by Newcastle Jets who have lost all 4 games so far. They were very unlucky midweek against Brisbane Roar and somehow managed to lose that game 2-1. New boys Macarthur have won twice on the road but are still winless at home.

                  In the W-League, Melbourne City suffered a right battering at the hands of Melbourne Victory a couple of weeks ago, losing 6-0, with Lisa De Vana scoring a great solo effort. The same teams faced-off again last weekend and this time it was City who raced into a 2-0, only for it to be wiped out by two stunning strikes 10 mins into the second half, but City had the last laugh with a late winner. Unfortunately this great game was marred when the raucous Victory fans behind the goal threw a glass bottle at the City goalkeeper. Utter twats who can fuck right off if that's what they plan on bringing to the W-League.

                  Top of the table are Sydney, with a perfect 3 from 3 record with Adelaide doing great in second place with 3 wins from 4. Brisbane Roar, having drawn their opening 4 games, finally found that winning feeling when they thumped Melbourne Victory 6-0 last night and move up to third.

                  Overall, it's been great seeing youth getting loads of game time in both the A-League and W-League and we're certainly getting entertained. More of the same, please.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    I usually watch the Glory’s matches, but a 6am start on a Saturday felt a tad brutal. Having seen the win over Adelaide t’other morning, I rather feared a suspect defence. Seems these fears weren’t without foundation.

                    Still, seventeen goals in the first pair of matches: I think we know where to find the entertainment in this season’s A-league.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Central Coast Mariners won again today to stay top of the A-League. They have 5 wins from 7 games.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Pretty much the entire weekend's football was bonkers. Hapless defending at time but great fun.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          This A-League season has been tremendously entertaining. The rise of Central Coast has been terrific and their 3-2 win over Western Utd was great fun to watch. Then we had Macarthur v WSW which saw a scorpion-kick assist and a mental piece of play where surely it was easier to score.

                          It's also funny seeing Melbourne Victory continue to be rubbish. I'm no clairvoyant but I'm gonna put it out there and say Grant Brebner's going to win the sack race. And I'm also sticking with my pre-season narrative that Steve Kean is whispering sweet nothings into the ear of the Victory board saying Grant Brebner has got to go and he's the man for the top job.

                          I don't know when I'll get to see the Glory (men or women) play at home again. Feb 20th is still pencilled in for Glory v Melbourne City (A-League), but with another cluster from the Holiday Inn in Melbourne, this game will surely get postponed. And it looks like they've just given up trying to schedule any more Glory home W-League fixtures.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            I got along to my first A-League game of the season on a lovely, balmy Friday evening as Perth Glory beat Brisbane Roar 3-1 and in the process set a new A-League scoring record of 18 goals after only 6 matches. Despite setting this record, Glory's goal difference is only +5 as they continue to be the league's great entertainers. And the entertainment continued on the Saturday.

                            First up was Western Sydney v Adelaide Utd. A win for Carl Robinson's team would have taken the Wanderers above Brisbane Roar and up to second place, but Adelaide had other ideas and took the lead in the opening minute from returning favourite, Craig Goodwin (on loan after an unsuccessful stint in the Middle East), and went in at half-time 2-0 up. WSW pulled one back and it was game on, but when 16 yr-old Mohamed Toure calmly restored Adelaide's 2 goal lead with 8 mins to go it looked like game over. But WSW also have a returning favourite on loan after an unsuccessful stint in the Middle East, as Mitch Duke scored in the 90th minute and then he hit the post deep into injury time as things got really tense, but Adelaide held on for a great 3-2 win.

                            Next up was the Melbourne derby between struggling Melbourne Victory and Western Utd. What a game this was. 1-1 at half-time, the second half went mental when Besart Berisha scored twice in 5 mins for Utd to put them 3-1 up with just under an hour played. Got to hand it to Berisha, the A-League's great pantomime villain. There's none of this failing to celebrate scoring against his former clubs - he just loves scoring and doesn't give a toss what anyone thinks. But Utd couldn't close the game down and when Jacob Butterfield scored a long-range beauty for Victory, quickly followed by a red card for Utd, it was Victory's game for the taking. Rudy Gestede duly equalised with 8 mins to go and Victory coach, Grant Brebner, was sensing a win and the pressure easing on him. But no, Victory then cocked it up against the 10-men when Utd scored with the last kick of the game in the 95th minute and cue massive celebrations from the visiting bench, including coach Mark Rudan jumping on the great pile-on of celebrating players. A superb 4-3 derby win for Utd and a thoroughly fantastic half of football to watch.

                            Today's two games just couldn't live up to yesterday's goal fests and drama. First up was the derby between Sydney and Macarthur, which saw Macarthur gain revenge with a 1-0 win after losing to Sydney 3-0 only 4 weeks earlier. It's strange seeing Sydney lose back-to-back games having been so dominant last season, whilst new franchise Macarthur are now up to second in the table. The last game of the weekend saw Wellington Phoenix climb off the foot of the table with a comfortable 2-0 win at Newcastle Jets, which was a surprise considering the Jets were on a good run of form.

                            So the A-League continues to both surprise and entertain. Amazingly Central Coast Mariners are still out in front, whilst the two big hitters, Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory are struggling. Sydney have lost 3 games already which nobody saw coming, but the ongoing turmoil at Melbourne Victory is a joy to watch and long may it continue. They were shocking last season and the appointment of Grant Brebner seems to have made things worse for the A-League's biggest club. Given what we're getting served up so far, surely the newly formed Australian Professional Leagues (APL) must be able to negotiate a decent TV deal for next season.

                            In the W-League things are more settled. Sydney FC are out in front having won 8 out of their 9 games, however did get walloped 4-1 at home to Brisbane Roar a fortnight ago. The Roar sit in second place and are on a 5-game winning streak, but are still 5 points behind Sydney having drawn their opening 4 games. Adelaide Utd's home-grown talent sees them sit in 3rd with 16 points and looking good to qualify for the finals for the very first time. Melbourne Victory occupy the last finals place with 14 points but could have been sitting prettier had they beaten Canberra Utd earlier today, but it ended 1-1, with Canberra still only 2 points behind them.

                            It's hard to see Western Sydney muscling in as they only have 10 points and played a game more than both Victory and Canberra, whilst last season's champions, Melbourne City, are bloody awful and sit second-bottom with only 4 points. It's the same number of points as Newcastle Jets, but the Jets have a far better goal difference. And rock bottom sit Perth Glory with only a single point, gained on the road at Canberra, to show for their efforts. Glory's young squad have only played 6 games so far due to travel restrictions and got thumped 6-2 by Sydney at home on Thursday night. Their next game is at home to Newcastle Jets but a win might just take them off the bottom.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              It's congratulations to Sydney FC in the W-League for clinching the W-League Premiership after beating Melbourne Victory 2-1 on Wednesday evening. Scheduling wise it couldn't have turned out better with the final game of the regular season coming down between first v second with the winner being crowned Premiers. You would have thought the League and the broadcasters would have hyped this game up to 11, but no, it was only available via streaming service Kayo or the the My Football Live app.

                              Fox Sports' pathetic coverage of the W-League continued when the broadcast stream went wonky just as Sydney were awarded a penalty around the 70th minute. So unless you were there, nobody has idea what the foul was or how well the resulting penalty was scored. And to think the Federal Government has given these shysters $40 million of taxpayers money to promote the women's game, it really is disgusting how this government continues to bend over backwards to keep Uncle Rupert happy.

                              So the W-League Finals commences this Sunday, as Brisbane Roar (second) take on Melbourne Victory (third). The Roar have just lost two key players in defender and captain, Claire Polkinghorne, and star striker Emily Gielnik, who have both signed for Swedish side Vittsjo GIK and had to leave for Sweden. It'll be a hell of an effort if the Roar can reach the Grand Final missing these two.

                              The following day sees the newly crowned Premiers, Sydney, at home to 4th-placed Canberra Utd. Canberra will need Michelle Hayman to It was a shame to see Adelaide Utd miss out in making their first-ever Finals appearance as they were pipped on goal difference by Canberra. A couple of weeks ago Adelaide finished their campaign by setting a W-League regular season attendance record when they beat WSW 3-1 in front of 5,159 fans, but although they just fell short, the reds have had a really good season.

                              WSW finished 6th and last season's Champions, Melbourne City, finished the season strongly with 3 wins but could only finish 7th. Newcastle Jets had another poor season and finished second bottom with only 2 wins all season, but the wooden spoon goes to the Perth Glory. Their young and inexperienced squad only gained a single point all season, but were better than that and lost 7 of their 12 games by only 1 goal.

                              Comment


                                #16
                                It'll be a Big Blue W-League final this Sunday with Melbourne Victory demolishing Brisbane Roar 6-2 and Sydney disposing of Canberra Utd 3-0.

                                Victory's win wasn't as easy of the scoreline suggested. Brisbane thought they'd taken the lead when a shot crashed off the underside of the bar onto the ground and back up onto the underside of the bar again. It looked over the line but the officials were having none of it, and Roar's misery was compounded when the evergreen Lisa Da Vanna thumped Victory into the lead 10 mins later. Roar equalised with a beauty of a shot into the top corner just before half-time but then ruined all their hard work by conceding right on the half-time whistle.

                                Victory started like a runaway train at the start of second half, scoring through Melinda Ayres who'd go on and score a hat-trick. De Vana then got her second and was ripping the Roar defence apart with her direct running. Roar got one back and then the ref awarded Victory a dodgy penalty which Ayers missed. By this time the Roar bench were all getting booked for dissent as the ref started to lose control of things and their mood wasn't helped wheb Roar had a goal disallowed for offside. Victory put the game to bed when Ayers scored twice and they best team went through despite Roar's controversies.

                                The following day Sydney swept aside Canberra Utd 3-0. A hard task for Canberra was made almost impossible when start striker Michelle Hayman was ruled out with an injury. Sydney took the lead midway through the first half but Canberra dug in and stayed competitive to half-time. Second half Sydney took control and capped off a fine performance with a fantastic strike from Ally Green that sailed into the top corner from about 30 metres.

                                So here we go again as Sydney take on Victory just like they did last week as they clinched the Premiers Plate. Unlike last year's final when it was a given that Melbourne City's superstars would easily clinch it, this year's final could go either way. I'm going for Victory as they've hit top form at the right time and with Lisa De Vanna looking right up for it, she's the big game player that'll get them over the line.

                                Comment


                                  #17
                                  And it's congratulations to Melbourne Victory who are crowned the 2020/21 W-League Champions with a 1-0 win over Sydney - the only goal coming from the magnificent Kyra Cooney-Cross, who scored direct from a corner kick in the last few seconds of extra time.

                                  Victory were by far the better team over the entire 120 minutes and thoroughly deserved to win it, but real heartbreak for Sydney 'keeper, Jada Whyman, who was named player-of-the-match after a series of fantastic saves that kept Sydney in the game, but ultimately her error in flapping at the corner resulted in the winning goal.

                                  In keeping with the sub-standard TV coverage that we've had to endure all season, the game was broadcast live on both Fox Sports and our national broadcaster, the ABC. I watched it on ABC, who were taking their feed direct from Fox Sports, so all the captions flashing up on the bottom of the screen saying who was commentating made no sense as ABC had their own commentary team but they mustn't have been able to afford their own graphics.

                                  With neither station happy with the extra time ruining their scheduled programming and with Victory captain, Angela Beard, giving her speech on the podium, Fox Sports flashed up a message saying you had to switch to another channel for continued coverage, as this channel was switching to the A-League clash between Wellington Phoenix and Western Utd, and not even staying on for a few extra minutes to allow viewers to see the winning team raise the trophy aloft was going to stop them switching over. So the feed immediately cut to the Phoenix game, even though neither team had even emerged from the tunnel. If you had Fox Sports you could change channel, but for us watching it via our national broadcaster, here in Western Australia they immediately reverted back to their normal scheduling and on came Gardening Australia. The Eastern States being 2 hours ahead will have probably gone straight to their 7pm news bulletin, just so they could let us all know that Prince Philip is still dead.

                                  We all know Fox Sports haven't given a shit about the W-League this year, but our national broadcaster needs to do far better. In 2 years time the Women's World Cup is coming here - this season should have been all about promoting the Women's game, but our broadcasters have shown utter contempt for the W-League. The mass exodus of all the Matildas players for Europe had us fearing the worst, but this season's W-League has been a fantastic watch with loads of younger players getting valuable playing time. There's only 9 teams so let's expand the League and also have a proper home and away season. And get a broadcast partner that's actually proud to showcase the product.

                                  Comment


                                    #18
                                    Having already lost the first derby to Melbourne City 6-0 earlier in the season, Grant Brebner and his Victory players would have been determined tonight's rematch wouldn't be a repeat scoreline. And they were right, but unfortunately for them City went one better and battered them 7-0 with 5 of the goals coming from red-hot striker Jamie Maclaren. Within minutes of the final whistle, Victory sacked Brebner, but it'll take more than a change of coach for this shower of shite to start winning.

                                    City's crushing win saw them go top of the table after Central Coast Mariners lost 1-0 at Western Utd earlier today, with the game getting played in Tasmania to try and help develop the game there. Watching the brief highlights, the people of Tasmania don't appear to be overly bothered as all I could see was a swathe of empty seats.

                                    The race for the Top 6 Finals places is hotting up with Melbourne City, Central Coast and Adelaide looking good. Sydney in 4th are looking shaky but we all know they'll finish the regular season in the top 2, but it's places 5 & 6th that are really up for grabs. Macarthur sit in 5th with 26 points but have lost their last 2 games, and WSW hang on to 6th on 25 points but are winless in their last 5 games and have played more than the chasing pack. Brisbane Roar beat the Wanderers last night 2-1 to move on to 23 points and look poised to grab that 6th place from them as they have 3 games in hand.

                                    Western Utd's win today also has them on 23 points so we could easily see them and Brisbane Roar knock WSW and Macarthur out of the Top 6. On the fringes are Wellington Phoenix and Perth Glory, both on 18 points. They face off tomorrow in Perth and whilst it's hard to see either of them troubling the Top 6, defeat for either team or a draw, will spell the end of one or both of them respectively.

                                    At the bottom, Newcastle Jets stopped the rot midweek with a 1-1 draw against Perth Glory having lost their previous 7 games and remain second-bottom on 12 points, whilst the dreadful Melbourne Victory are bottom on 11 points and a goal difference of -27.

                                    Earlier in the week reports surfaced that Man Utd were interested in buying the Central Coast Mariners and relocating them to the rugby-league stronghold of North Sydney. With no promotion or relegation in the A-League, it's a cheap, easy and attractive proposition for big European clubs looking to expand their brand into the Asian market. With the Man City portfolio already here, I wouldn't be surprised if Newcastle Jets and Perth Glory (two other clubs looking for new owners) were also to become targets. I'm sure those lovely chaps at Red Bull are monitoring the situation very closely.

                                    Comment


                                      #19
                                      Oh Steve Kean. Your dastardly plan almost worked. You'd seen off Grant Brebner and was looking forward to being in sole charge of Melbourne Victory and staking your claim to be given the job permanently. And then the Victory board went and ruined it all by appointing Tony Popovic when the season finishes.

                                      More entertaining games over the weekend. First up saw Steve Kean think this game was easy as Victory were thumping Western Sydney 5-1 with 15 mins to go. Cue the predictable Victory collapse as WSW scored three times and should have equalised right at the death. As usual, those lovely, tolerant chaps at the Red and Black Bloc made their feelings known this week. With Brebner now gone, Carl Robinson now finds himself leading the sack race.

                                      Central Coast have gone a bit off the boil but their 2-2 draw with Sydney was another great game to watch. End to end all game, Mariners went 2-0 up but Sydney pulled one back on the stroke of half-time and although they dominated possession, it took a defensive mistake with only 7 mins remaining for Sydney to get the point they deserved. Played in front of a boisterous 10,000+ crowd, both teams continued to just go for it right until the final whistle.

                                      Melbourne City threw away a win with a defensive error to allow Macarthur to draw 1-1, so Adelaide had a chance to go top but they too messed up, losing 2-1 to the ever-improving Wellington Phoenix, who scored their winner with a 97th-minute penalty.

                                      A Covid outbreak in Perth saw a snap 3-day lockdown, so the Glory's match over in Brisbane was postponed. The final match of the weekend was last night as Western Utd moved into the top 6 with an easy 2-0 win over bottom-placed Newcastle Jets, played in front of 990 fans, the lowest ever A-League crowd. A new franchise in only their second season, their nomadic lifestyle is not proving to be a hit for fans seeking an alternative to either Melbourne Victory or Melbourne City. It's hard to see what the bloody point of them is at the moment.

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                                        #20
                                        Been a big week in the A-League. Last Saturday Melbourne City won their first ever Premiers Plate when they defeated Central Coast 1-0 and can no longer be caught. Beaten in the Grand Final last season, they've been the stand out team this season after a shaky start, but it's no guarantee they'll go on and win be crowned Champions.

                                        Why? Well once again the A-League has decided to undermine its own competition by not breaking for the Socceroos World Cup qualifiers, meaning Melbourne City will be without super striker Jamie Maclaren, defender Curtis Good and midfielder Connor Metcalfe, whilst Sydney's backline has been ripped apart with 'keeper Andrew Redmayne, full back Rhyan Grant and central defender Ryan McGowan all called up. Other teams affected by call-ups who are fighting for a top-6 spot include Perth Glory, WSW, Macarthur and Central Coast. None of these players will feature in the A-League again this season, so just as the season reaches its climax, teams are now weakened and fans are denied seeing the best Aussie talent.

                                        Biggest A-League crowd of the season was set in New Zealand at Wellington Phoenix, where 24,105 greeted their heroes on home soil for the first time in 433 days. And the 'Nix didn't disappoint their fans as they wallopped the increasingly useless Western Utd, 3-0. Great to see the Yellow Fever removing their tops on the 80 minute mark.

                                        And earlier this week, the APL announced they finally have a new TV deal, with the A-League now finally severing ties with the shitty Fox Sports at the end of the season. Channel 10 and their new streaming service Paramount+ (owned by ViacomCBS) will apparently shell out $200million over 5 years, and they've also secured a 2.5% stake in the APL so will hopefully give the league the coverage it deserves. Channel 10 had the free-to-air rights a couple of years ago but hated it and were glad to dump them due to poor ratings, but have since lost the Big Bash League so needed something to fill the void. The APL and the clubs are trying to spin it as something mega-fantastic, but once again the A-League will be going behind a paywall apart from one game a week, and Channel 10's ratings figures are bloody awful so dumping the ABC in favour of this mob is not the best way to attract a wider audience. The W-League, as ever, appears to get the bum end of the deal with their free-to-air game getting punted to their standard definition channel, 10Bold.

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                                          #21
                                          It's Finals time as the top 6 was all sorted without the drama and excitement we were all hoping for. The chasing pack fell away before the final round of fixtures and in the end it was just finalising the final positions within the top 6.

                                          Tonight is the first Elimination Final as 3rd-placed Central Coast Mariners take on 6th-placed Macarthur. It's been a superb season for the Mariners who have gone from a complete joke of a club giving Usain Bolt a trial and being yearly wooden-spoon favourites, to now being a really tough, well-drilled unit who can beat anyone. Hopefully their incredible season continues this evening.

                                          Tomorrow sees the next Elimination Final as 4th-placed Brisbane Roar have home advantage against 5th-placed Adelaide Utd. Home advantage makes the Roar clear favourites along with Adelaide going off the boil in the last couple of games.

                                          Premier's Melbourne City will host the lowest-ranked team who progresses, with Sydney hosting the highest-ranked side. Both these games will take place next week.

                                          The bottom 6

                                          Congratulations go to the god-awful Melbourne Victory for winning the wooden spoon for the first time in their history. A mess of a club both on the pitch and off, coach Grant Brebner was appointed when he didn't want the job and was made the scapegoat when it all went horribly wrong. A huge pre-season awaits the League's biggest club when new coach Tony Popovic takes over.

                                          Newcastle Jets were as rubbish as expected, but at least they finished ahead of the Victory. No money and an absent owner, they took and age to finally give the job permanently to coach Craig Deans, only for him to call it a day just the other week saying he was burnt out. And who could blame him.

                                          Western Utd had a difficult second-season. The set an A-League record-low crowd of 990 fans and finished the season in total freefall, losing their last 8 games and getting battered along the way including a 6-1 thumping by Melbourne Victory. Needless to say, coach Mark Rudan was fired earlier this week and after only 2 seasons in existence, it's hard to see what was the bloody point of the League introducing another Melbourne-based club.

                                          9th was Perth Glory. Hard to believe it was only 2 seasons ago they were crowned Premiers, but they're a pale shadow of that team. They let a huge swathe of experienced players go and their cost-cutting saw them focus on youth, along with a rookie coach in Richard Garcia. Covid affected their travel plans with many games having to be played in hubs in the Eastern States then a run of 8 consecutive games at home, so there was no consistency to their fixtures and the players clearly suffered. With the attacking talent at their disposal they should have finished higher than 9th but their defence was at times dreadful and it was no surprise when their season fizzled out.

                                          8th was Western Sydney Wanderers. Another season without Finals football was not the plan for a club who spent big, including bringing in coach Carl Robinson. Big things were expected from Robinson after his impressive short stint last season with Newcastle Jets, and with loads of attacking talent in James Troisi, Mitch Duke and then Scott McDonald, for them to implode with the final few round of fixtures when they appeared to have it in the bag, was funny to watch. The board say they are sticking with Robinson for now, but he has to make a good start next season otherwise he'll win the sack race.

                                          And just missing out on the Finals was 7th-placed Wellington Phoenix. They had it toughest of all the teams, having to base themselves in Wollongong for most of the season. The 'Nix finally got back to NZ for their last 2 home fixtures which saw the Kiwi crowds come out in force, which was a magnificent sight. They were unbeaten in their last 11 matches and have some exciting players coming through like Ben Waine but will lose star-player Ulises Davila, who's buggering off to Macarthur. I would have much preferred them to make the top 6 than Macarthur, and of all the clubs in the bottom 6, their future is probably the brightest.

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                                            #22
                                            It's the Grand Final tomorrow as Melbourne City host Sydney FC.

                                            The only shocks came in the Elimination Finals when both the away teams won; Macarthur beating CCM 2-0 AET despite having James Meredith sent off in the 75th minute, whilst Adelaide won their first ever Finals game when played away, at the tenth attempt, as they won 2-1 at Brisbane Roar.

                                            But that's where the shocks finished. In the first Semi-Final last Saturday, Sydney saw off Adelaide 2-1. VAR was not Adelaide's friend, firstly awarding Sydney a penalty that the ref initially waved away, which Adam Le Fondre scored. With Sydney 2-0 up, a lengthy VAR decision overturned a Sydney offside flag and instead awarded them a penalty. Le Fondre stepped up again but this time the 'keeper saved it. This finally shook Adelaide into life as they'd been outplayed at this point, and when Juande pulled one back 12 mins later, it was game on. Despite heavy pressure, Sydney held on to reach another Final.

                                            Due to a Covid outbreak in Melbourne and restrictions still in place, Melbourne City saw their home Semi-Final against Macarthur moved to Sydney. A crowd of around 2,300 saw a goal-less first half before it exploded into life within 10mins of the restart with two goals in as many minutes for City, with their young guns Stefan Colakovski and Marco Tilio doing the damage. Colakovski scored first after a great run and pass from Tilio, then the roles were reversed a minute later and it was game over. This turned out to be veteran Mark Milligan's last match, retiring after a career that's seen him play for Sydney, Melbourne Victory, Newcastle Jets and now Macarthur as well as being a Socceroos stalwart for many years.

                                            With covid restrictions still in place in Melbourne, tomorrow's Grand Final at AAMI stadium will only be allowed to be at 50% capacity meaning a crowd of around 15,000. With a covid outbreak currently shutting down lots of metro Sydney, it should be a fairly partisan home crowd. Sydney are going for a three-peat (a phrase I really don't like, much like Sydney) in a rematch of last season's Grand Final. Both sides are without 3 key players as they got called up for Socceroos duties and are still isolating, so City will be relying on their young guns of Colakovski and Tilio to produce the goods again like they did last week, whilst Sydney will be praying classy playmaker Milos Ninkovic is fit to play.

                                            Haven't a clue how this one will go. It's the league's two best teams but both are under strength. City have been the best team all season so deservedly picked up the Premiers Plate. We're all getting fed up with Sydney winning the damn thing every year, so would be nice to see them lose but that means victory for the City Football Group. Such a shame they both can't lose.

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                                              #23
                                              It was Melbourne City who picked up their maiden Championship title, as they beat Sydney 3-1. It all started so well for Sydney as they took the lead with a great strike from Kosta Barbarouses, but City hit back within minutes through Nathaniel Atkinson, and when Luke Brattan stupidly picked up a second booking for the Sky Blues, it was all but game-over on the stroke of half-time when City converted a penalty. All one-way traffic in the second half, but the win was only confirmed in injury time when Scott Galloway tucked it away with a fine shot from just outside the box.

                                              Joe Marston Medal (man of the match award) went to Nathanial Atkinson, who should have been playing for Perth Glory this season but no sooner had he signed for the Glory, Covid travel restrictions meant he couldn't get to Perth so instead signed a new deal with City.

                                              We also say goodbye to Fox Sports covering the A-League. They've been the A-League's main (and at the beginning only) broadcaster, but the relationship seriously soured once Covid kicked in and if the APL have any balls, they'll never let Fox Sports near the game ever again. Few will mourn their departure.

                                              So there ends one of the most entertaining seasons in recent memory. Some crazy games, youth given a chance to shine and matches played at a pace that you only see when they're held in the autumn/winter as opposed to the draining summer 35C days. This season could have been a total disaster spelling the death for the A-League, but instead we have a new TV deal with CBS (which now also includes the Socceroos and Matildas) and the future appears so much brighter than it did 12 months ago. Bring on season 2021-22!

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                                                #24
                                                Why the sudden CCM upturn? Youth?, experience?, fitness?, dead balls? ultra defensive? One stand out player? Luck?
                                                I was at a Boxing Day game at Sydney in the big ground off Oxford St/Rd? beyond Kings Cross a few years back. Two poor teams. Roy Keanes “help his old club out” with £250k of Sunderland’s money signing Roy ODonovan was upfront for CCM. He never touched the ball in the last 70 minutes.
                                                I’ve occasionally looked them up since and as you say they’ve been a basket case of a club ever since.

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                                                  #25
                                                  Originally posted by Sunderporinostesta View Post
                                                  Why the sudden CCM upturn? Youth?, experience?, fitness?, dead balls? ultra defensive? One stand out player? Luck?
                                                  I was at a Boxing Day game at Sydney in the big ground off Oxford St/Rd? beyond Kings Cross a few years back. Two poor teams. Roy Keanes “help his old club out” with £250k of Sunderland’s money signing Roy ODonovan was upfront for CCM. He never touched the ball in the last 70 minutes.
                                                  I’ve occasionally looked them up since and as you say they’ve been a basket case of a club ever since.
                                                  Being pedantic here, Roy O Donovan was signed from Cork City, Roy Keane played for Cobh Ramblers.

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