Highlights: City top A-League with 3-1 win over Roar

No, you don't have to make that assessment on the recent game. Since the beginning of Feb, with Wilko and Malik in the side, the team has conceded 8 goals in 7 games at a rate of 1.14 goals per game. Before that we conceded 31 goals in 17 games at a rate of 1.82 goals per game. Clear improvement. May it continue :)

Waz - Depends on who is doing the recruiting, yes-no? Cheers jb

Knock it off fuss flip flops are what yanks wear to the beach. To the tune of man city pelligrini Nirwan Bakrie drove to Sydney In a Lamborghini Brought us back our manager Johnny Aloisi Sheik Mensor flew somewhere On a corporate jet Brought you back your manager Whose name we all forget Not much JA could do after hingert got the red but the scoreline was reversed at lang park. Im confident anyone meeting BRFC in the finals is beatable away and a formality in Milton. Nice touch buy the vic yuppies to boo JA too. Are there no heart fans who stuck around or do they just have short memories? I remember a time their coaching staff weren't goven enough money to go looking through the salary cap regulations looking for loopholes. No excuses on our part though we should have done better. Regardless still very happy with the season by the players, staff and management.

jb: more money should lead to better visa players but done wrongly it could lead to more money being spent on the same quality players. Worse still, more kurtishi's than Berisha's. Unfortunately this will come down to each clubs recruiting ability right?

I'm in Melbourne (just arrived) all week for work and have just bought tickets to the game. Looking forward to the atmosphere and hopefully a good game.

Thanks Fuss. Do you think there's a coaching issue? I'm not sure about Rado as assistant, he's more of a player development coach, more suited for an academy from the little I know of him. Still, we play you guys in a few weeks, away, and it won't be easy. You've still got an impressive squad.

A lot of talk on here about how good the MC defense looked. Perhaps - but I certainly hope noone is making that assessment based on this most recent game. They all went home at half time - didnt anyone notice? I'm reasonably confident the ball never made it into their penalty box from the 22nd minute on and it certainly never made it into their half with Brisbane in possession of it - so how could anyone make any kind of assessment on the MC defense when they had absolutely nothing to do for 3/4 of the game?

Mathew -I am not trying to change your opinion just pointing out that in my book "smashing" a player inside or outside the box is not good defending. Waz has an undying faith in his club's players and for that has to be commended but my point is that Jack Hingert has been playing HAL football for nigh on 18 months now and has not yet apparently learned the principles between GOOD defending and BAD defending.Does it take game experience to teach him or should he be getting told????? I'll leave that to you. By the way had he committed that foul outside the box he would still have departed the scene albeit possibly leaving his team in the lead. In my book that is not good decision making.. Cheers jb

Certainly, but in an urgent situation, with no-one else coming to Hingert's aid, Brisbane would've been better served by Hingert committing a blatant foul early (i.e. outside the box), rather than a blatant foul too late. And I agree with Waz above: Hingert can only benefit from the experience.

@Lionheart For me, the 2015/16 Aleague season is over. I'll still go to the final 3 home matches, but ACL is all that matters & then we have 4 months to rebuild for next Aleague season. My forecast is MV gets 1-2 points from the final 4 matches & we will be competing with SydFC for 2nd bottom on the ladder. Big wake-up call for the club - 2015 was the perfect calendar year; 2016 is a write-off after 2 months.

Thanks JB, good points as always. I recall the MCY game at Suncorp and Moody was not to be seen, kept very quiet. I wonder why the change.

What you said pre-season Fus, versus your now 7 games to go. Your tune changes regularly, but I'm not here to attack you. Good luck with these few games left, who knows, you may be laughing loudly yet and reminding us all how you predicted a MV win, and why they'll win the ACL.

blah blah blah. Lame insult about management……. but you do follow Brisbane more closely than your own team. A guy saying Adelaide will win the Premiership as if that is an insult to Brisbane….when his team may fall out of the six and their 'interstate' rivals may lift the plate. Strange Then again he supports Melbourne Roar.

Waz -I have one disturbing thought about the FFA's proposal to get into the marquee importation scheme and that is who is going to do the assessment of the proposed marquees and where they are needed most. FFA have had control of an HAL club for nearly a year now and don't appear to have done anything to improve the playing stocks of that team and yet we now expect them to improve 10 teams with their proposed efforts.Again I pose the question,who is going to do this all important job,if and when it transpires. Cheers jb

Mathew - Good defenders don't "smash" people,that is a term for other body contact sports. Good defending can be done in two ways,either reading the ball movement and intercepting the ball before it gets to your dangerous opponent.in fact cutting off his supply of ball & thus stopping his progress, or conversely, by staying goalside of him while using your body shape and strengh to send him in the direction you want him to go. It is like the slide tackle incident used by Lucas Neill in that famous World Cup incident.All Lucas had to do was stand in front of the player and shepherd him toward the goal line,instead of diving in on his backside ,sticking a leg out which the Italian immediately used to fall over and a penalty put an end to the Socceroos challenge. Rash defending yes, but definitely not GOOD defending. As you say, the lad Fornarolli has great ,fast feet,all the more reason not to get sucked in to try and disposses him,that is exactly what he wants you, the defender, to do and in this instance Jack obliged.Cheers jb

Waz - Yes I saw the game you mentioned among many other over the weekend both here and in England and the malaise is not only being allowed here but appears to be a worldwide phenomenon as referees hold up play while "sorting out" the wrestling matches going on. Perhaps really drastic action is needed, such as a referees edict that if it doesn't stop then penalties will be awarded. Drastic???? yes, but just watch the coaches sort it out in quick time after they have had 3 or 4 succesfull penalty kicks put away. We can but hope. Cheers jb

Fornoroli is undoubtedly one of the best ever recruits into the competition. And he's central to Gallops TV valuation argument of "give me more money and I'll give you better imports" ... more players of his quality will not only increase the domestic comps quality but also most/all of the players in it at the same time. Hingert will be better for that one incident than probably anything else he's done this season imo. Personally I'd have been happier if we weren't talking about his little piece of brilliance but the reality is, our competition is better for it much to the many detractors of soccers dismay :)

That'll be a great signing for them.

Wilkinson, has agreed to join CCM for next season..

Thanks for that. Agreed that, in hindsight, Hingert should've smashed Fornaroli straight away, before they had a chance to tussle. Fornaroli plays with South American street-smarts, that much is clear. And his ability to turn, like lightning, on a 5-cent piece is incredible. Those two aspects of his play make him a nightmare for defenders.