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We’ve past the halfway mark and all my wishes for this A-League season haven’t come true. But like my unwavering belief in fairies at the bottom of my garden, I still hold out hope that one day they will, even if not this season.
As a Sydney FC fan, I was very excited when Brett Emerton signed for the Sky Blues.
Throw in a fit Nicky Carle, Juho the Finnish goal scoring surgeon, the rise of young talents Antonis and Petratos, and the addition of two very experienced defenders in Boschaart and Beauchamp, and we were starting to dream up Alice in Wonderland scenarios.
Brisbane Roar lost some of their best players and signed up a few high risk unknowns and the Central Coast Mariners were about to trot out the same tired old team they’ve had for years. It wasn’t a question of if we would win the Premiership Plate but more like by how many points.
A few weeks ago when we became the first A-League team this season to beat Brisbane and end the Roar’s amazing run of 36 unbeaten games to take second place on the ladder, those wishes were starting to come true. Surely it was just a matter of time before we overtook Brisbane to be the number one A-League side in the universe…
But what’s happened since then?
SFC has disappointed, culminating in three losses out of three in the past week, leaving us languishing in fourth place with Victory, Adelaide and Glory in equal fifth place, one point behind and breathing down our necks.
What went wrong?
Lavicka’s reasoning for the slump – it’s all in the mind. At a press conference yesterday to explain the disappointing run of results, Lavicka pointed at his head and said, “The problem is up here.”
Maybe it was just all in the SFC fans’ heads too. Pointing at my right temple, maybe we were just imagining that things had changed and we were legitimate contenders for the golden toilet seat this year. Yes, the problem is up here.
And if you are a Victory fan, don’t laugh so loud either. We’re still in front of you.
At the start of the season when it was announced that Harry Kewell was coming to the A-League, big things were expected, not just for Melbourne Victory but for the whole league.
Harry’s reason for not living up to the great expectation placed on him is that the A-League is harder than he thought.
Harder than he thought? What was he expecting, to pick up a few easy million before retiring in a push-over, second rate competition? Are we long suffering A-League fans to take that as a compliment Harry?
Following an A-League team is harder than you think too.
Maybe it’s our own fault if we thought Harry would come here to be a superstar, draw hundreds of thousands of new spectators to the games, score bags of spectacular, unbelievable goals and run rings around opposing A-League defences.
We didn’t give our own humble competition enough credit, did we.
Certainly the other A-League teams weren’t going to lie down and give Emmo and Harry an easy run at it either. They’ll have to work hard for it like the rest of us and earn the respect of the opposing players and fans.
But let’s forget about big name Australian superstar ex-Socceroos, they aren’t a sure bet after all. Maybe its time to bring back the real legends of world football, like goal scoring machine Romario.
Rio de Janeiro still holds the world record for selling the most number of Adelaide United tops, caps and scarves in one season.
Or maybe just sack your football manager and watch your team climb back up the A-League ladder.
Having watched the sacking of Coolen and Durakovic for team non-performance and marveled at the players’ improved performances since then, I’m looking forward to the press release when Dirk Melton announces SFC’s new head coach.
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