A-League Season Preview: Perth Glory - time to deliver

No, no, no, that isn't an accurate take. He played 4-2-3-1 through the 2011 pre-season, but picked up Mehmet late and tried a 4-4-2 to accommodate him. Naturally it didn't work - it wasn't what we trained for and practiced with and didn't suit our list. Defensive injuries led to clumsier work from the back line too. When we returned to 4-2-3-1 thing clicked and we saw much better play and better results. I'll hold you to that finals boast, too! If nothing else, the strength in defence this year will make us so hard to score against I can't see us missing finals ;)

@Midfielder "under rate a player of his ability"? Playing pedigree has nothing to do with coaching. See Maradona, Bryan Robson, Gullit, Roy Keane etc. They did improve over the last part of the season, but they needed to. Tactically he still played 442, long balls to Mehmet, relying on Smeltz goals. Results were better late in the season but they needed to be. Still the very ugly sister of the league. I'm from British parents, so no bias. I prefer football with style and technique though. Perth are Stoke City. If they make the finals I'll eat one of Fergie's sweaty shirts, and change my son's name to Second Ball, and my daughter's name to Knock Down

Its called a smash and grab and its done week in week out in the world of football,no shame in it,unfortunatley Glory didn't quite pull it off.

Yes this perception we're some hoof ball side does make me laugh.There has been so many coaching changes in the last few years there just hasn't been any stability and its shown in our on field performance.Credit to Tony Sage for keeping the faith when i'll admit i wanted Fergies head,he finally got the team to gel and play the way he wanted and the Glory were one of if not the best performing sides in the back half of last season.I don't think the rest of the comp is going to have the luxury of the Glory not starting till after christmas this year.

Lot of speedy players and youngsters in, people who look like they will get a lot of game time. But hey, if people want to continue to think of us as 09/10's team, well, I just hope their managers make the same mistake.

If you recall correctly, it was our kick that just happened to deflect in, despite the angle it was still goal-bound, but Champion Data decided to not consider it a shot. The ball didn't end up on the goal line by accident, you know! Now if we had no goal AND no shots, you'd have a point. And yes, Subiaco is a complete Above Ground Hole. Went to the Wallabies game and overheard many a Saffa decrying it as the worst ground they have ever seen. The city is desperate for the new stadium to be built.

Glory will be better this season,the inclusion of Thwaite will give us one of if not the most solid defences in the league.Theres been some real pace injected with Zahra,Harold and Nagai which was lacking last season.Im confident we'll finish in the top four.Sunday can't come soon enough,i have a feeling we might give the Roar a nice touch up.

Yes Mike got my tickets yesterday. I am really looking forward to the A-League this season.

Pardon me? Shots didn't matter? Ahem, just how do you win a football match? What is the aim of the game? And you didn't score - Brisbane had to do it for you! But it makes for great rivalry. The A-League needs stuff like this. Hope you get a good crowd in - the ground doesn't look like much of a venue.

Exactly. I don't care where he is from. All I can say is that when I've watched Perth (which I'll admit isn't a lot, maybe 6 or 7 games?) I've never been very convinced when you compare them to the leading teams. I'm neutral towards Perth. No real love or hate. I saw Ferguson on the world game talking about playing out from the back etc. just like everyone else this year. But so far all I've ever seen from his teams involves a lot of long balls. But hey I'd be happy to be proved wrong! Hopefully he evolves to keep up!

You do all of your football analysis from a stats book? Shots didn't matter, we scored, we held, we looked for the one-hit kill at the edge of the box but didn't want to expose ourselves on the counter. 0 shots on goal = doesn't matter. But if you're unconvinced, let's hold this discussion sunday evening, bet you'll be singing a different tune. Football is back and Glory is back - grr! :D

His team failed to muster one single shot on the Roar's goal in 90 minutes. It was the most abject display we have seen from an A-League Grand Final side, apart from Adelaide and Archie's 5 goals. I thought Perth were very, very poor in the final. Certainly didn't take Brisbane all the way, not by any stretch of the imagination. 0 shots on goal. Fergie doesn't suffer from being Scottish. He suffers from the kind of football his side have played more often than not. This is his chance to prove he has something else in his locker.

Love to see the Glory Boys shine in WA .... as for those saying Fergie can't coach.... HHHHHMMMmmmmmm IMO he had PG playing quite well in the last third of last season... he is no fool and to under rate a player of his ability in terms of technical understanding of football is to say the least foolish... Fergie suffers from being Scottish and what I think seems to be almost a anti ANGLO thinking by many in football...plus starting his trade in Australia.... for mercy sake his side took the Roar all the way last year give the guy some credit and he seems to have chosen his new players with great care...

Have to agree on all points. I'm just not convinced Ferguson can compete with many of the coaches in the league now, despite last years run to the final. In a season where it looks like nearly all teams have recruited very well, its the coaching which will make the difference.

was 5-3 the score in the penalty shootout with central coast in the preliminary final? then it should have read beat CCM 5-3 on penalties (1-1), lost 2-1 in the GF.

Thanks Mike I didn't realise we had a tipping comp. That will do me fine, no need for my comp. Cheers

Always loved Glory in the NSL but I don't share the optimism. I thought they overachieved last season and just don't rate Ferguson, despite making the final.. I doubt he'll ever lose the British mentality toward the game ie physical players, competing for second balls. The game here has move on. I rate Thwaite and haven't seen the young Japanese, but Harold, Ward , Jamieson etc are limited players. They have a fairly old list too (the oldest?) and when you consider most of the contenders will play a high tempo pressing game I just think they'll struggle mobility wise, and tactically, despite that extra experience.

You said in the playoffs we lost 5-3 to brisbane on penaltys?

Yeah, we had a nasty 0:4 loss to Brisbane away, but we did nearly shock them when we went 2:0 up in the first half, though the game ended up a 3:3 draw. We did manage to knock CCM over in one game and were doing alright against CCM in the earlier home game but got hammered 1:3 after that. I remember that particular night well, was a very, very bad mood in the Shed. "You really f...ed it up this time, and it's your job on the line, didn't you, Fergie?" to Little Lion Man was one of the nicer chants coming out as the scoreboard ticked over... Was increasing signs of promise towards the end though; here's hoping we can take the next step.