When Nikolai Torpor-Stanley slid in on Archie Thompson on Saturday night, he guaranteed Victory coach Mehmet Durakovic had a ready-made excuse after another costly defeat for the visitors.
There’s no doubt in my mind Victory were denied a cast-iron penalty against the Newcastle Jets as Thompson’s pace took him around Torpor-Stanley and into a scoring position, prompting the Jets defender to scythe Thompson down.
“We all make mistakes” was how Durakovic summed up referee Jarred Gillett’s decision to wave play on but the embattled Victory coach had every reason to feel hard done by regarding the decision.
Meanwhile, journalists everywhere had something to report on and analyse.
And as dire as some of the refereeing has been this season, the truth is it generates some much needed talking points.
It’s a similar scenario to what’s going on down at Adelaide United, as the Reds lurch from crisis to crisis under coach Rini Coolen.
Adelaide’s dismal form raises some interesting questions about the Reds – including “why have they forgotten how to defend?” – but it also prompts some scrutiny of the men who recently decided to extend Coolen’s contract.
Lawyer and current United Chairman Greg Griffin and former North Adelaide AFL club executive Glenn Elliott were two of the figures who saw fit to hand Coolen a four-year contract extension at the start of the season.
No doubt the pair thought signing a European coach to a long-term contract was a smart thing to do, but what do they do now that United are sinking faster than the Titanic?
Could it be that a pair with little football experience were hoodwinked by the notion that signing a European coach would automatically guarantee success?
Perhaps – yet Coolen is sitting pretty knowing the Reds can hardly afford to terminate a contract reputedly worth more than $1 million.
The kerfuffle surrounding Coolen’s coaching capers at least has people talking about Adelaide United.
It’s a shame former North Queensland coach Franz Straka didn’t give his infamous beige jacket to compatriot Vitezslav Lavicka when he left the A-League, since beige is the colour which best sums up Lavicka’s personality.
The affable Czech coach seems like a lovely guy but when Sydney FC started losing under Lavicka the Sky Blues dropped off the media radar.
That’s not to say excess column inches necessarily equates to good football or even stable off-field situations but what talking points do is help foster a culture of discussion around the A-League.
And it’s culture which helps entice neutral fans to turn out at games, as many in the more than 17,000-strong Newcastle Jets crowd did on Saturday night.
They were joined by Newcastle Knights coaching supremo Wayne Bennett and the Jets would do well to pick the mind of a coach who has a healthy respect for the round ball game.
Nathan Tinkler is in the midst of building a multi-sport empire in the Hunter and the Jets looked as stylish as they did successful in their red and blue stripes against the Victory.
Ordinarily changing a club’s colours is a sure-fire way to alienate long-term supporters without encouraging too many new fans to clamber on board.
But in the Jets’ case, mirroring the colours of NRL side the Knights is a strategically sound decision in a fiercely partisan town like Newcastle and I’m sure plenty of casual fans will return after sampling a fabulous A-League atmosphere on Saturday night.
So whether it’s dodgy refereeing decisions, coaching controversies or colourful new kits, what the A-League clearly needs are some obvious talking points.
We’ve had plenty so far this season and long may it continue, as the A-League looks to generate some comprehensive media coverage and ingrain itself in the psyche of Australian sports fans.
Roger
Guest
Wait, so bad refereeing is good for the game? I don't know about you, but really bad calls made on clear cut decisions generally annoy me in a bad way. Not a good way. Of course, calls that could have gone either way are a different story. Those are the calls that we can all discuss to our heart's content until the cows come home. But offside calls when the attacker was clearly onside, tackles where the defender gets all striker and no ball (at all!!!), are bad.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Grist for the mill, as they say. It's all part and parcel of following sport, if such conversation pieces didn't arise, you'd think there was something unnatural about it. Having said that - there are breaking points - I don't think you'd want to see poor pen decisions, or obvious ones not given, deciding matches every single round.
Axelv
Guest
As silly as Mike Tuckerman sounds, I actually agree with him. Big referee decisions that go right or wrong are not exclusive to the A-League, they also happen in England, Spain, France, Italy, Germany Netherlands every single round. Video replays and having players challenge every single decision even if they know it's the right one and slowing the game down as a tactic to break the momentum of the other team is not the way to go. The referee's this season in the A-League have guts for the first time in their history, and are not afraid to give cards and penalties for dirty play, that was celebrated and overlooked in seasons gone by. They don't always get it right, but 95% of the time they are spot on. Talking about the game is a passionate thing that all supporters of football love to do, and it's the reason why we visit sites such as The Roar. Without controversy, all sport and not just football would be boring and predictable.
TomC
Guest
I have a couple of problems with this article. Firstly, 'another costly defeat' for the Victory? That would be their second loss all season. Secondly, Gillett made a bad mistake, but I don't think he deserves to be the focus of an article bemoaning the quality of refereeing in the A-league in general. All in all he had a pretty good game, I thought. He's been pretty solid from what I've seen this season. Thirdly, Ernie Merrick's lack of Franz Straka-like exuberance didn't seem to hurt the Victory's media coverage or support, from what I could see. Watched the Jets-Victory game, and while I was disappointed with the result I could see what a fantastic night it was for the Newcastle Jets Football Club. Big crowd, high standard, come from behind win. Lets hope they can capitalise on that for a big season on and off the field.
Matt F
Roar Guru
I wouldn't say that they're good for the game, though they do create talking points during the week which must help with media coverage. Though as the sport gets more and more professional there is more pressure to get decisions right. Goal line technology, at the very least, must be introduced ASAP. Though over the course of a season I think that bad decisions tend to even themselves out and, in general, teams get as many favourable decisions as they get bad ones. One example would be in the EPL over the last 2 weeks. Newcastle got a dodgy penalty against ManU at Old Trafford but were on the other end of a poor decision on Saturday when Luiz from Chelsea wasn't sent off within the first 5 minutes.
Titus
Guest
I wouldn't say bad decisions are good for the game, but I am happy that Football goes with the call of the Ref. There are numerous bad and disputable offside calls in a game but I wouldn't want a video ref making those calls, it just slows the game down, makes the game dependant on TV companies and takes responsibility and authority away from the ref. With the Thompson decision, it was a clear penalty, but I also think Thompson went down very easily, he dragged his foot for the contact when he could have beaten his man and scored the goal. So, thats life, you win some you lose some.
Johnno
Guest
loved the matches being played at kograh and at morwell, the A-league should not judge these matches being played there as controversial, but as a winner for real football, great atmpshohere at both games. An FFA cup style atmosphere , bring it on.
Roger
Guest
Jeb - hard to disagree with what you're saying. Bad refereeing decisions are bad for the game. Sure they provide talking points, but it's not positive talk about the game - it's negative talk about the game.
Jeb
Guest
As a life-long football fan I've got to say that I couldn't disagree more. We do not need bad referreeing decisions. Full-stop, end of story. The argument that it provides a talking point or that bad decisions are part of life (life isn't fair) etc is plainly wrong. For a start - life should be fair. When we can make it so, why don't we. Ok before I go into the obvious need for video ref, I'll just say that I'd much rather be talking about the game (or the coaches and kits) than dodgy decisions. Bad calls leave both sets of supporters dudded - there's no joy being on the good end of a bad decision - much better feeling to have won fair and square. There's no surer way NOT to become ingrained in the psyche of australian sports fans than let the terrible standard of referreeing continue. The casual observer becomes frustrated because the game is so low scoring, a bad call has massive impact.
Bondy
One question has to be asked why are Adelaide so inbalenced third last year most likely last this year their very in and out . Kewell dragged another 5,000 to Ausgrid on Sat night hopefully 2,000 of those will be back with the Jets winning in style in a close game where the score didn't reflect the game . Sydney F.C pounced and The Roar were not themselves although Sydney F.C put in a shift for their supporters . It's great to see Perth win well earned and Gold Coast were poor there worst game of the season for mine . Great to see The Heart in rural Victoria also, and lucky to win against The Phoenix .