As the moon plods through its celestial schedule, filling up and slimming down, ticking over through the months, so too do the ebbs and flows of the A-League.
In football, international breaks come and go to a pre-set schedule as well, and yet – not unlike the lycanthropes among us, or those who enjoy (or suffer through) particularly hirsute genes – there are some who can’t help but get riled up, howling in anguish, tearing at their bodies as the bilious fury rises.
Like the new moon, it feels as though FFA scheduling gripes pop up every month or so.
Last month it was Brisbane’s Asian Champions League mauling that prompted quivering pointed fingers – John Aloisi’s, in fact – all of them trained on the lumps, scuffs and scratches on the Roar squad, and those were just the injuries inflicted on their egos.
This month it’s the Wellington Phoenix, who once again have been hamstrung by the schedulers, playing as they will be on the 25th of March shorn of half a dozen of their players.
All-Whites manager Anthony Hudson named a full strength squad this week, in preparation for his team’s World Cup qualifier against Fiji on the 26th.
To add further absence to absence, Roy Krishna has also been called up for Fiji, meaning he will miss the Phoenix’s match against Western Sydney as well.
The Phoenix fans, incredibly, are actually pleased. They were expecting to lose more men. Kosta Bararbouses was not called up, leaving the winger no doubt disappointed but his team somewhat relieved. Barbarouses’ spot has been filled by Melbourne Victory’s Jai Ingham, with the All-Whites apparently keen on luring him into representing them at national level, not Australia, a country for whom he is also eligible.
Still, Vince Lia, Shane Smeltz, Glen Moss, Thomas Doyle, Michael McGlinchey, and the aforementioned Krishna will all be absent for the crucial tie against Newcastle.
With the Western Sydney Wanderers barely holding onto sixth place, and the Phoenix and Newcastle both teams breathing down their neck, this is a grandstand fixture in the Jets’ and Phoenix’s seasons. The fact that scheduling made in apparent indifference to the New Zealand national team commitments has crippled the Phoenix’s ability to compete at full strength is – however mundane an insult at this point, for long-time Phoenix fans – fairly appalling.
There aren’t that many interesting story lines to follow over these last five league fixtures. This final post-season spot is one of them, and if the intrigue is dampened by something as frivolous as poor scheduling, then it’s the figures in charge of such things that should be blamed for any loss of momentum heading into the finals.
The Phoenix have been scorned for poor attendance this season, as a petering out of crowds following the surge that occurred in response to their license renewal has cast the club into alienation and despondence; in a tie so consequential, a bumper crowd might normally have been anticipated. But who can blame the Phoenix crowd for feeling a little peeved, and a little sluggish, when they know their chances have been handicapped so unnecessarily by the governing body?
The Victory, who stand to lose Marco Rojas and Ingham to the All-Whites, as well as Besart Berisha (called up for newly formed Kosovo, how wonderful) and James Troisi (who deservedly earned a Socceroos call-up, and will likely make the 23-man squad to face Iraq), have also been affected by the internationals, albeit with much less to play for over their final five regular season games.
That’s the entire starting front four gone, and Kevin Muscat must be exasperated, and more than a little annoyed, at being forced to reshuffle and reassess to such a degree in preparation for the March 25 match against fourth-placed Brisbane.
Would anyone object to a break in league proceedings to accommodate for these qualifiers? New Zealand football fans, already living in a lonely place, straddling confederations between league team and national team, now have to temper their excitement at one of the strongest All-Whites teams in memory – Chris Wood, scoring for fun in the Championship, and West Ham’s Winston Reid would walk into the Socceroos – because their only professional league football club is being punished in the process.
In the wider context of the A-League, with expansion on the mind, and the FFA congress about to be restructured, there are bigger issues to ponder over than this. But not many bigger issues in New Zealand, and if we want the Phoenix to be a successful, present member of the A-League over the next handful of years, then more support must be given to them.
The Roar aren’t playing this weekend because they have an ACL tie against Kashima Antlers next week; allowances have been given to them, a team currently bottom of their group and with a goal difference of -6. An already beleaguered team, however, struggling to prove their validity, must play shorthanded.
j binnie
Guest
Waz- figures for the last 5 seasons are, at game 112, remarkably similar. Season 12/13 it was 12,327,season 13/14 it was 13,493,season 14/15 it was 13,113,season 15/16 it was 12,446, and to date it is,12.698, so perhaps you are right,we may well be needing another ADP character who will raise interest all around the country. However there could be other reasons,Sydney FC,s runaway performance in the league, WSW's move to another ground which clearly their fans don't llke, and of course the crazy scheduling that has taken place in recent weeks. Also the continued poor average gates at 'Nix, Jets and CCM don't do much for the overall HAL "averages" either, and it could well be that it is this area of "performance" that could be contributing to the hesitancy re. expansion. Cheers jb.
Arnold Krewanty
Guest
I think you may find that the majority of HAL followers have ZERO sympathy for the Nix and their scheduling plight. A NZ team playing in the Australian Football League that missing all their NZ internationals fails to compare to the need to expand HAL with Australian teams.
Euromob
Guest
The FFA is run by ANTI-Footballers. People who have no clue whatsoever about the true spirit of Football. They all need to be sacked and replaced by EUROPEANS who grew up with Football in Europe and who KNOW and LIVE the true spirit.
Waz
Guest
We're at 12,707 today v 12,511 for the equivalent fixture list two years ago. And while we can analyse reasons why it's clear the league is not breaking through in terms of average attendances. Maybe we need a guest marquee program, oh wait lol ....
Waz
Guest
If a Championship side has a certain number of players called up then their game is postponed so they are not disadvantaged
j binnie
Guest
Cousin Caudio - Good points all around with just a minor correction. The HAL average attendance figure for the season,(round 22,5) so far is standing at 12,698 tonight. There are of course factors that could have caused that figure to drop drastically over the last few rounds, (at the close of round 18, it was standing at 13.100), for it is not often a team can lead the league by such a large margin as Sydney FC are doing at the moment. This could cause a drop in attendance figure among other clubs, but there is little doubt that the severe drop in the overall average could be caused by poor scheduling of matches, for in the last 20 games played, 14 having attracted crowds of less that 10,000,7 of those games attracting crowds nearer to 6000 than 10,000.and in fact only one club,Perth Glory have increased their average attendance over the season so far. Hope this is of some interest .Cheers jb.
Waz
Guest
Just to emphasise a point and the need for us to manage schedules better than we do: Goalkeeper Michael Theo, Dane Ingham, Joey Katebian, Nathan Konstandopoulos, Tommy Oar (hamstring), Thomas Kristensen (quadriceps), Luke DeVere (calf) and Daniel Bowles (knee) are injured and not travelling to Japan. That's 8 players out of a squad of 29 injured. And out of the 18 that did travel nine of them are in contention for international call ups (2 at Socceroo, 7 at Olyroo) so in theory Roar could have 17 players out of 29 unavailable fir the following week. That's plane stupid - now it's not riar this time and we'll likely benefit from a weakened victory Dude
saul
Guest
The problem is there isn't been enough criticism of the management of football in this country I mean When Lowy got appointed as chairman I was reminded of Phil Olivetti from we can be heroes "I mean this whole Australian of the year thing, It's..... I mean, I laughed at the suggestion................ when I nominated myself, when I sent in the form" funny meme
saul
Guest
foxtel no longer has the epl rights, they do not have the BBL highlights either, the FFA should take advantage of this and use it as leverage to get better deals. It's lack of vision that's destroying the game, the FFA need to stop acting like it's 2007.
Paul
Guest
The FFA are incompetent. Time for a spill
Nemesis
Guest
I know in England only the EPL stops - the Championship & all leagues below play through. I might be wrong, but I was under the impression the MLS also doesn't stop for international breaks. Will also have to check other Euro nations outside the Big 6.
Midfielder
Guest
Waz Answer the question Your answer is Yes / No… Question Given all we and FFA know about the importance of International breaks… Do you think FFA made the decision not to have them without a major fall in revenue being the consequence.
Chopper
Guest
This started as a gripe on behalf of Wellington Phoenix and the International break but has morphed into many other areas. Now there are posters assuming that Fox Sports do not like the idea of the international break but nobody can prove that nor can they prove that the commercial deal for football would be more or less with a break. It may come to a head if FIFA or the Asian Association were to ordain that the International break in the A League was a rule and not a suggestion. The relevance is that Fox and the FFA would have to suck it up if that were the case. On the point of FFA also denuding the game by training camps for youth teams at the same time as they do not honour the FIFA break I think the clubs should be saying thanks but no thanks. If not the fan base will become agitated and even more aggressive toward the governing body. Fans have a huge stake in the game and should not have to put up with decimated teams that will lower the quality of the product that they have paid good money to watch live. The same should apply to TV viewers that have paid their subscription for a quality product. Changing the dates of some games may upset the equilibrium in the present but the games will still be there in the future and of a better quality that is fair to both teams and the A League. Grass roots football is a different matter and I am positive that many posters have served similarly to Mid as have I but I think it is worthy of an article in its' own right.
Waz
Guest
No; The A League owners want international breaks because they're fed up getting their teams dismantled three times a season.
Waz
Guest
I never connected the two. You did. The FFA need to get out of running the HAL for a start and leave it to an independent commission working to a charter the ffa set. That's the simple bit. Then they need to focus on the national teams and grassroots more. In particular grassroots where smarter people than me seem to think we're off track, they also need to listen to the NPL clubs who are very restless. We have come to a point where the ffa are basically saying "we'd like to get around to fixing all the problems in the game but we can't because there's too many problems in the game". The only conclusion is that we have some very competent people with too little time in charge, or we have incompetent people in charge and it doesn't matter how much time they have. It fiesntdoesnt matter which we have to have change. International breaks - easy, just tell fox you're doing them, if fox are worried about them and not the other things impacting the game I'd be very surprised So lets just agree to disagree. I respect your opinion and passion even though we disagree.
Cousin Claudio
Roar Guru
I believe its what the A-League club owners wanted, they don't want any breaks in competition because of their cash flow issues. Avg NRL attendances this season = 12,261 Avg A-League attendances this season = 12,997 Given the amount of money spent by the NRL on advertising, promotion and their blanket media exposure in NSW and Qld, that's a pretty good effort from the FFA and the A-League. Imagine what they could do if they had billion dollar media deals.
Waz
Guest
There don't be a major fall in revenue. You keep saying there will be but there just won't be.
Midfielder
Guest
Waz There is a lot more than international breaks for the grass roots .... I have put up ideas and plans for years.... FFA have been woeful in this area .... The connections to teh park teams is where the answer lies and having served on committees for over 25 years and being a coach for over 30 years I can assure you P & R and International breaks are not the wow factor that will drive hordes to the game.
Midfielder
Guest
Waz Answer the simple question ... its maybe the 20th time I have asked you in one form or other... Your answer is Yes / No... Question Given all we and FFA know about the importance of International breaks... Do you think FFA made the decision not to have them without a major fall in revenue being the consequence.
Waz
Guest
there you go again. Jumping at shadows. There are solutions to this problem but we need people in the ffa that can see solutions not problems all the time. If we want the HAL to be respected then we must treat it with respect and not as some "best effort League" that's better than what we used to have but really it's only there as a feeder to Australian national sides, rich Asian clubs and European leagues. And if you don't believe the ffa is disconnected from the game then you are in the minority, look at everything that is going on in the media lately. We are fast approaching crisis point. But that's not the FFAs fault right.