Fair enough, but I think it’s a bit rich for guys like Floyd Landis to be in line to get money as a “whistleblower”, especially given his role in cheating his way to the Tour de France yellow jersey back in the day. And was Armstrong really the mastermind? I don’t trust the testimony of dudes who “came clean” only with the incentive of being saved from prosecution themselves.

How much did USPS actually know? I would suspect they probably had a fair idea of the culture of cycling at the time, the “Omerta” that existed and so on. Otherwise they were not doing their due diligence when looking to sponsor a team.

I’m not defending Armstrong here, but this really does look like a witch hunt whereby everyone else who was involved gets off scott free, provided they implicate Armstrong. He was a bully, a grade A tosser, and we all know that. He deserves to be sued by those he hurt and intimidated.

However, he was simply the most successful of the drug cheats, which doesn’t diminish his sins, but also doesn’t mean he should be the only one crucified to salve the souls of all the guilty of his era.

Fair point, Midfielder, but surely if there has been a change of plans, they should communicate that change of plans?

Most uncertainty comes when the heads of an organisation don’t tell you what’s happening. When there is a vacuum, something or somebody will fill it, and that’s where we are nearly at now.

People are frustrated, and speculating, based on the FFA’s track record to date, and starting to wonder what’s really going on.

Good leadership would be to come out and say, “Look, we know we said we would have the investor guidelines out by the end of February, but these things have changed [list them], and as a result, we cannot provide you with this information now. Our best guess is that we will release the guidelines by [date], but we will keep you posted.”

That’s it. end of speculation, everyone knows where they stand, and, like it or not, clarity has been provided. that is the kind of leadership that is required from the FFA. Clear and open communication, rather than obfuscation and silence.

and yet far less time for prospective bids, potentially, to put their house in order and make a bid that meets the criteria.

The easiest way to look at how football might deal with having no offside is to look at field hockey. They once had offside and removed it.

No. Only the Gabba.

“Henrique may have a point to prove up there and who’d bet against him?”

Matt, curious to know why he would have a point to prove? He rejected an offer from the Roar to stay, and chose to go to Malaysia. He then got remorseful about his choice when he and his family failed to adapt to life in Malaysia and asked to come back.

Brisbane had moved on, so Adelaide took him in. No biggie there, so not sure where this “point to prove thing is.

Tips:

Draw
Nix
WSW
Glory
Roar

I recommend you get on Trove (the online newspaper archive) and look up Brisbane sporting events in the 1930s. I remember reading an article that was about the two big “football” events that occurred at the Showgrounds (the EKKA Grounds these days) back then. One was rugby league, the other Association Football, each of which attracted about the same big crowd numbers.

To prove the point of the article, to a degree, both sports were referred to as football in the Brisbane Courier (now Courier-Mail), and no doubt no one at the time would have batted an eyelid. The term can coexist across codes, but I think it is a bit silly for people to be getting stroppy about one code wanting to call it football as opposed to another.

Call it what you like. Just don’t get upset if I choose to call the round ball code football, and simultaneously refer to your preferred code as “Aussie Rules” or “Rugby” or “League”. I won’t get upset if you call your sport Football or “footy” or whatever, but I will probably seek clarification as to which sport you are talking about.

Trouble is, Fuss, that he isn’t playing at all. The point everyone here is making is that he is rusty, and clearly so. If, as you say, Bayer Leverkusen truly valued him, he would have made it onto the pitch this season; he would have played more games when he went out on loan; he would have been played more often for Leverkusen prior to being sent out on loan, etc.

The other point being made is that Ange always said that you need to be playing to get selected. He has seemingly ceased to apply that rule. The inconsistency is problematic, and could be seen to have contributed to the lacklustre performance against Thailand.

And before you dismiss me completely, I trialled with professional clubs as a young man (didn’t make it, but at least I know something of the expectations and how hard it is to crack a contract).

Ryan looked out of touch? Which game were you watching?

The player who looked most out of sorts was Aaron Mooy, who had an absolute stinker, and his giveaways from poor passes or being too slow in possession put us under pressure constantly.

And Juric hasn’t really looked out of sorts, in my opinion. He plays a vital link-up role, and has scored a couple of goals, has good close control, etc.

The big question is why so many players not getting regular or any game time (for that matter) like Kruse and Smith (Ryan being the exception – he again was excellent last night) are getting on the teamsheet at all.

Regarding the stand, it’s simple really. The Western Stand is heritage listed. They couldn’t touch it.

There was a story about him on the TWG website, I think. He states he was hampered with injuries, but that he is now fit and firing. One to watch, I reckon. But yeah, he went pretty quickly from the Roar to Germany…

I won’t repeat what everyone else has said, except to say I agree that Brattan isn’t ready and there are others ahead of him. He was great for Brisbane, and is looking decent again, but no, there are others ahead of him.

However, what’s with the Milligan bashing? To be honest, I rate him more highly than Jedinak. The only true “destroyer” in our squad is Jedinak. Milligan is an accomplished DM with a very good range of passing, vision, and an ability to score goals. Sure, he’s no Pirlo, but we don’t have any players like him in our squad. But Milligan is still at a good age, playing regularly (albeit in the Petro Leagues), and every time he plays for Australia, he plays very well. He rarely gives the ball away, unlike Jedinak, who is regularly guilty of it.

I can remember a time when I was perplexed by Milligan’s selection in the squad, but having watched him play, and comparing him to the other options we have, I reckon it’s time we put him in Jedinak’s place. I really think you’re off track with your criticism of Milligan.

Cmon Brisbane! Kill the game!!!

MF

Just from the Brisbane Roar, there is Robbie Kruse, Tommy Oar, David Williams, James Donachie (ok, he was released to MV, but that’s the new normal), Adam Sarota, Ivan Franjic, Ognenovski (he was plucked from VPL obscurity), and others who I can’t recall off the top of my head, who were developed in Brisbane and sometimes went to another A-League club or went overseas to great success. Brisbane is a great nursery of talent that has strengthened the national team over the years – the Og Monster, Franjic, Kruse, and Oar in particular having played their part with the Socceroos over time.

CCM are another great example of a nursery of players who have contributed greatly to the Socceroos – Mat Ryan is their best example.

Some dead wood still abounds, but that’s the same everywhere, and as the A-League has become more and more professional, less and less of that deadwood has been retained. It’s a maturing process.

It’s like the teams outside of Sydney and Melbourne don’t really exist…

…until they win the league!

Pretty frustrating, and the media coverage of the A-League reflects that bias too.

This will seem a little off topic, but my point arrives towards the end…

The Copa Libertadores has just changed its format to be much more like the European Champions League – more teams, bigger knock-out phase, etc. They operate on a calendar year format, however. The Brazilian competitions all operate on the Calendar year (they play competitive football from mid-to late January until the end of November.

They have this crazy requirement for all professional teams to play in their state championship first (Jan-June) and THEN squeeze a 20-team Campeonato Brasileiro into the months July-30 November! Then there are the continental competitions (Libertadores and Sul Americana), the Copa do Brasil (currently in Quarter Finals stage). It’s crazy.

I don’t think moving to winter is the answer for the A-League or an eventual A2 league, but maybe if we kept the state NPL competitions in winter that would be ok. As Fuss suggested, the clubs involved in both the A2 and NPL could hire staff to cover the volunteers who cannot commit to 12 months of effort. The Brazilian model is not a good one (most fans and many of the big clubs agree), so we should not seek to replicate it. What we have now works at the elite level. We should keep it, and expand the A-League first, then move towards a potential national A2, which would play at the same time as the A1.

I actually think Brisbane’s squad is better now than it was last season, especially with the acquisition of Holman and Tommy Oar having a full preseason.

Then again, I’m happy to see Brisbane written off, so that they can prove the doubters wrong. MV’s squad does look strong, but I’m not convinced by Sydney FC. City will be up there again, but I think you are selling WSW short at this stage – Poppa always makes his squad work well as a unit, and will take some beating.

Glory the smokies for the Premiership, especially if that attacking lineup you listed can gel together.

Fair call, Tim.

Bobridge’s TUE is for Rheumatoid Arthritis, which he has been receiving treatment for over the last 5 years. It is no secret. It is clearly NOT the same as the Wiggins situation, where he himself has said the TUE was for “preventative” reasons, not due to a flare up in his condition.

http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/article/2016/09/18/bobridge-has-no-problem-wada-exemption-hack

Mattq, I was responding to Sn, not you.

Top 3 players in the world? Really? better than Kaka, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Bergkamp, Henry, Totti… do I need to go on?

Klose is a far better player than Cahill too, and a contemporary. Oh, boy….

The ONLY thing Cahill has over Klose is the fact that Cahill is an Aussie. Klose is a far better, more complete player, has scored more goals, whether in world cups or in top flight competitions, than Cahill.

These are the facts.

As KJ said, it makes a difference only when it comes to seeding for tournaments.

Rankings operate on a points system. Official FIFA matches, such as WCQs and Confederation Cup qualifiers and matches at FIFA sanctioned tournaments rank higher than friendlies. Obviously, wins grant higher points, as do wins over higher-ranked opposition.

So no, Bob, no bribery is involved, but it is some kind of voodoo, no question.

really? Which parts of Central America have a bigger baseball league than football? I would love to see your statistics on that one. Participation rates, Crowds, amount of sponsorship $$.

Can’t wait for that.

I have only seen highlights of tonight’s game, but based on what I saw in Perth and the comments here, it seems that Rogic is one too many in the midfield, and seems to go missing. In Perth he was practically anonymous for the vast majority of the match, while Mooy was everywhere. Luongo was also full of drive and got himself involved as much as possible, whereas Rogic was quiet. What is going on there?

Very pleased when I woke up to this result. Vital win, which sets us up for qualification, provided we can maintain the standard, of course.

It was agonising from my position in the stands.