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On the pitch. For once that’s where all the focus should be as the A-League conjures a penultimate round of real significance for all ten clubs.
Tomorrow marks 713 days since John Aloisi stood on the touchline, arms crossed and ashen-faced, and watched his Brisbane Roar give up a 3-0 lead to lose 5-4 to the Western Sydney Wanderers in the last ever A-League game at the old Parramatta Stadium.
“You couldn’t make this up!” bellowed Simon Hill as an exquisite Jamie Maclaren chip arced over Andrew Redmayne’s despairing hand to give the Roar a three-goal lead midway through the first half of their 5-4 semi-final defeat to the Wanderers.
Much has changed since. Redmayne is now the undisputed number one at table-toppers Sydney FC; Maclaren, who hails from a Hearts-supporting family, now plays for Hibs; the Wanderers need a new home; and the Roar have just signed an old Henrique.
But Aloisi is still there. That 2015-16 campaign was his first as Brisbane coach, and how different might his reputation be if the Roar had managed to win that semi-final?
Yet this is an Aloisi made of stern stuff. He’ll forever be remembered as the man who scored the decisive penalty to take Australia to its first World Cup in 32 years, but on his peripatetic jaunt through European club football he was relegated no less than four times.
He was sacked by Melbourne Heart after a 17-game winless streak. And as an Adelaide-born, one-time Sydney FC player he remains largely unloved by a section of the Brisbane Roar support.
So has he had 713 sleepless nights since that infamous evening in Parramatta? Probably not.
But if football is as much about redemption as it is making new records, Aloisi will be itching to stick the knife in and end Western Sydney’s season once and for all at Homebush on Saturday afternoon.
As for the rest of the round, have the Newcastle Jets peaked too soon? Will they put much stock into tonight’s performance against Perth Glory?
Since recording a fortunate 1-0 win over Wellington Phoenix in Auckland, the Jets have lost twice and conceded eight goals in back-to-back defeats to Adelaide United and Melbourne City.
Melbourne City, meanwhile, are coming off back-to-back 3-0 wins. And you wouldn’t put it past them racking up a similar scoreline against the beleaguered Central Coast Mariners on Saturday night.
It’s a shame, though, that City’s game at AAMI Park – and not the Wanderers do-or-die clash with the Roar – is the free-to-air TV clash.
Not that anyone seems to watch it on One, mind you, but perhaps Football Federation Australia would be better off having some kind of inbuilt ability to schedule the final few rounds a little bit later in the season.
David Gallop should be familiar with the concept – he was in charge of the NRL when they did it for years.
Meanwhile, Melbourne Victory were on the receiving end of a tennis scoreline in South Korea in midweek as they went down 6-2 to Ulsan Hyundai.
(AAP Image/Tracey Nearmy)
It’s been rocks and diamonds for the Victory all season, who looked imperious in their 3-1 win over Western Sydney last weekend, only to turn into an absolute rabble at Munsu Stadium on Wednesday night.
Fortunately for Kevin Muscat’s side, they’re playing a Wellington Phoenix fighting for their A-League future by playing like their extinction is a foregone conclusion. They’ve won four games and conceded 52 goals all season. Get rid of them.
Marco Kurz? Here’s hoping for Adelaide fans’ sake he doesn’t take a liking to Bondi Beach, lest he ends up in Sky Blue next season. The Reds’ clash with Sydney FC on Sunday night should be one of the games of the round.
And for once some old scores should be settled not on the back pages or in the comments section, but where it really counts.
On the pitch.