According to my belief system, there is no god but football gods. They are there to remind us that the beautiful game, like life, is not just about winning and losing.
This was the case last Wednesday night when I had a horrible feeling that AAMI Park was about to be visited by these omniscient beings.
With five minutes left in the match between Melbourne Heart and Central Coast Mariners I looked at the football sage sitting next to me. In that instance, as if we had become mediums, we channeled the same thought. The football gods were about to pay us a visit.
A rampant Melbourne Heart, who should have been two or three goals to the good, were about to experience a painful defeat.
This eventuality was aided by Mariner’s goalkeeper Matt Ryan, who should have worn his underpants outside his shorts, as he stopped everything that came his way.
When Michael McGlinchey picked up the ball on the right we called it in.
It was like watching a slow motion replay. He tormented Rutger Worm, who was too mindful of his right foot, cut inside and delivered a cross with his left. A paralysed Brendan Hamill watched helplessly as the ball sailed past him for Adam Kwasnik to deliver the coup d’grace.
Like life itself, the result proved, yet again, football’s capacity to deliver an injustice. The better side does not always win and happy endings only are only guaranteed in Hollywood movies; no wonder many Americans have such a hard time embracing the game.
“We got three points we didn’t deserve tonight,” Mariners manager, Graham Arnold said after the match.
“To lose a game like that at the end is very hard,” said the crestfallen Heart manager, John van’t Schip.
Arnold is no stranger to this desolate feeling.
A feeling he hopes not to revisit in April when the football gods cast their eye over this season’s A-League Grand Final.
Unfortunately for Arnold I can’t see the Mariners winning the championship, let alone reaching the Grand Final.
This time the football gods will take a back seat to football Darwinism. The race to the championship will become a case of survival of the fittest.
The Mariners will struggle to adapt to the punishing schedule of mid-week Asian Champions League matches and A-League finals.
To make things worse they face the prospect of losing some very important players in this period if the Olyroos happen to finish second in their qualifying group. A likely scenario.
It will also be difficult for Brisbane Roar, but if they were to finish one-two as predicted I would be picking only Brisbane to make it to the Grand Final.
Even the football gods won’t be able to save the Central Coast Mariners this time.
Athas Zafiris is on Twitter @ArtSapphire
Midfielder
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http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e328/MrCelery/Respect.jpg
Realfootball
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Hmm - can you hold onto Arnold and your best players? That will be the next challenge. Especially Arnold. I expect to see him at Sydney next season. A small club, champion team, no money. It might not be pretty in the off season.
We are going to be hearing more of this in the next two months. Arnold said he was "disappointed" his calls to FFA to consider changing the schedule to lighten his side's travel load in March had fallen on deaf ears. "They've given us Perth Glory and Wellington away when we have Asian Champions League," he said. "I worry about the players' welfare. We play Sydney on the Saturday, we fly to China for the Wednesday via Hong Kong, then we have to back up in Perth. "I don't know whether to play a reserve team in the A-League or in the Champions League. It's tough. I don't want any players to get badly injured. It's tough enough as it is travelling from Sydney to Perth. Throw China on top of that as well." http://au.fourfourtwo.com/news/229520,mariners-brace-for-mad-march.aspx?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=442+Twitter+Feed
Axelv
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It certainly looks like it's going to be their 2nd premiership, not just because they're so far infront, that can change quickly, but because there are not many games left. 9 rounds left, 11 points infront of 2nd place, almost 4 rounds of wins ahead Premiership is an under rated trophy and should be celebrated as being mentioned when talking about past winners of the A-League.
jamesb
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A-League Ladder ATM the figure in brackets are games- 27 game season. Central Coast Mariners 40 pts (18) Brisbane Roar 29 pts (18) Wellington Phoenix 27 pts (18) Melbourne Heart 26 pts (18) Perth Glory 22 pts (17) Sydney FC 20 pts (17) Melbourne Victory 19 pts (16) Adelaide United 19 pts (17) Newcastle Jets 18 pts (17) Gold Coast United 14 pts (16) games today Sydney FC v Gold Coast United Perth Glory v Melbourne Victory Wednesday Adelaide United v Newcastle Jets Australia Day (thursday) Melbourne Victory v Sydney FC
Punter
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Mid, I'm a converter. Well done Mariners. i think you have the premiership sewn up.
Bondy
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Premierships are the priority in futbol always has and always will be .
Bondy
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The Melbourne Heart should have been two to the good at least but thats futbol 'we move on", and to also see three points dropped last night against Brisbane it must be hard to swallow for heart supporters thats one point from what should have been six a cracking match by the way end to end, im not seeing a Roarcelona . I congratulate Van't Schip for remaining calm in post match interviews . Catch us if you can .
nordster
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if they want to get the best out of the ACL, i think they do need to rest players perhaps more than others have done in the past. Arnie is taking the opportunity to do that now which should be noted. and when it comes down to it, CCM will have to make a few calls on prioritising one or the other. For me its Asia all the way. (Not making the cup/grand final would ease the congestion a little at least!) And they can get the youth team kids in there to make a name for themselves in the finals cup. oh yeah and ELEVEN points clear, "good ordinary" is looking pretty NICE :)
Midfielder
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Art Just back from a well deserved break.... my Mariners as always never expected to win... interesting how when we win it because the of how poorly the other team played or luck or both is most often the comment.... yet GA has by a fair margin the best win record in HAL... they can't all have been luck or the Football Gods... As to our end of season schedule is does raise questions of whether SFC or MV would be placed in the same position by FFA... It is strongly rumoured if we make the GF first there is next to no chance the match will be at Blurtounge ...we operate on the smallest budget have played some great football over recent times and still those who prophesize with there keyboard talk of luck of football gods... IMO the Mariners have the best coach in the league and the deepest squad .... we have a youth team to die for with at least six players ready to take on a first team roll... the Mariners academy tho the COE has and is working....
Lazelle
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Two words, Graeme Arnold /Internet
Dean - Victory did not have to travel Sth Korea four days before the biggest match of the year - the A-League GF like CCM have to. Also 4 of Victory's 6 ACL matches in 2010 were played after the HAL GF. Only 1 of CCM's & Roar's 6 matches is after the HAF GF. This means they have to fit in 5 ACL games during the HAL season & finals as opposed to Victory's 2.
Dean
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MVFC & other HAL teams playing in the group stages of the ACL have faced the same congested fixture. In 2010, MVFC played 120' HAL semi-final & qualified for HAL GF then, less than 48 hours later, played evenutal ACL Champions, Seongnam, in the ACL. Then, after the HAL GF went to extra-time & penalties with the game finishing around 11:00 p.m., MVFC had to fly to Japan 3 hours later!
Axelv
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Key words get pending moderation, don't take it personally.
Agree Realfootball - they will be deserving premiers. They have shown great consistency this season. It's not all over yet. With the Olyroos absence in Feb things will become very, very interesting.
Nordster - Have you seen how congested CCM calendar is going to be in March and April? It's going to be a huge test for both CCM and the Roar. Regardless of how their playing style's will translate to ACL, CCM don't have the depth. We saw that last week when Porter played in place of Bojic.
Realfootball
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Not sure why I am being moderated, mods. Have I transgressed some code without being aware of it?
Realfootball
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The Mariners, with a 9 point break, may hold on for the Premiership, but there is little doubt that with their best 11 players on the park, both Brisbane and Heart are significantly more potent teams. The key for Brisbane, as we have seen, is their best 11, because the second tier players are not up to standard. That being said, CCM without Matt Simon have certainly lost their edge up front, and this will hurt them in games to come. Like you, Athas, I do not expect the Mariners to make the Grand Final. However, they would be deserving winners of the Premier's Plate.
nordster
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just reading Philip's post further down ... CCM as the "good ordinary" team ... Adelaide have sometimes been considered the same, and they often have done well in the League Premiership race. so what do u reckon about a parallel to AUFC's Asia campaign taking them to the ACL final? Do the Mariners have the same qualities and will that translate well to them getting out of the group? though from memory AU were coming off the back of bottom of the league the season leading up to their campaign... so maybe i'm shooting down my argument somewhat. But as for playing style, they may well be solid enough to make it through.
jamesb
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i still think Brisbane Roar are the favourites. At full strength, the Roar are easily the best side. Broich's injury has brought them back to the field.I also reckon that in the finals the mariners will miss someone like Patricio Perez rather than Matt Simon