Mark Rudan said it better than anyone when he told reporters he didn’t want to talk about the football following Wellington’s 3-1 win over Western Sydney.
Rudan’s a fantastic coach doing a superb job at the Phoenix, and if newcomers Western United have nabbed him for next season then they’ve signed one of the best in the business.
But all of that is immaterial. The unfathomable attacks in Christchurch on Friday reminded us that at the end of the day, football is just a sideshow.
How do you find the words to sum up what happened in the picturesque city on New Zealand’s South Island? It will simply never make sense to me.
(Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)
I’ve been to Christchurch. There’s a photo on my mantelpiece of my wife and I punting on the Avon River – me with a harried look on my face, her grinning broadly at the camera.
I can’t imagine anyone being so arrogant as to take something like that away from us simply because we might hold different beliefs.
But that, sadly, is the world we live in. One of the victims in Friday’s senseless act was Atta Elayyan, the goalkeeper for New Zealand’s international futsal team.
So I didn’t watch the A-League with any real relish this weekend. I tuned in like I always do, but it was more a matter of routine than something I felt excited to do.
I watched Perth Glory beat Adelaide United on Friday night and wondered what – if anything – Marco Kurz could do if he had a decent striker in his squad.
Would Kurz fare any better at a club like the Brisbane Roar? The Roar Supporters Federation posted a fantastic Q and A session with the club’s chief executive David Pourre on Saturday that went into specific details about the Roar’s recruitment process.
I only caught the tail end of the F3 Derby – although that was clearly the best part of the game to catch – as Ben Kennedy saved not one but two Roy O’Donovan spot-kicks in stoppage-time.
Should Daniel Georgievski’s equaliser have been chalked off for encroachment? It certainly should have if you’re following the letter of the law.
There were reports a couple of weeks ago that FIFA was to change the law for penalty kicks and no longer allow rebounds, although those reports appear to have been incorrect.
At any rate, the Central Coast Mariners and their interim coach Alen Stajcic deserve plenty of plaudits for their backs-to-the-wall 3-2 win over the Newcastle Jets, although it does beg the question of why they haven’t put in that sort of effort every week.
Kosta Barbarouses’ opening goal celebration was the best thing about Melbourne Victory’s 2-1 win over Brisbane Roar on Saturday night, although how the Kiwi international didn’t finish with a hat-trick only he will know.
Substitute Kenny Athiu was unlucky to hit the post with a fantastic back-heel late on, but Victory’s inability to run away with that game said more about their finishing than Brisbane Roar’s resilience.
Anything could have happened at Westpac Stadium, but the fact that the Phoenix scored three goals inside the first 33 minutes spoke volumes for their mindset.
They did New Zealand proud, with Mandi’s spectacular free-kick undoubtedly one of the goals of the season.
Melbourne City managed to bore Sydney FC out of the contest in the late game at Leichhardt Oval, with on-loan Tottenham striker Shayon Harrison doing most of the damage in City’s 2-0 win.
The Sky Blues’ loss all but hands the premiership to Perth Glory, but in truth that’s nothing less than Tony Popovic’s team deserve.
It all matters little in the grand scheme of things anyway.
Football is a wonderful diversion from our day-to-day lives, but it is just a game after all.
We’d all like to believe it’s a matter of life and death, but Friday’s events prove that some things are much more important than that.
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
No drama Onside - I appreciate the comments.
Onside
Guest
Mike,reason for above post is I was in a hurry and I never fully read your article where you did mention the NZ goal keeper. I read your article last night and realised my error.
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
wow Nemesis, never expected that reaction for merely pointing out the number of former Roar players accumulated by Victory. You seem a touch sensitive on this point, but you simply can not alter the fact that Victory has signed a lot of former Roar players, whether they be direct from Roar or if they came via another club, they are still former Roar. And the fact that MV signed them indicates to me at least that Victory thinks they’re decent. Can you name a club that has accumulated more players from another club? I saw something recently on Victory starting their academy, so let’s hope in the not too distant future Victory will be a net supplier of A League players.
Fadida
Roar Rookie
Then I agree David
Punter
Roar Rookie
All 3 goals were touch by the Gods. However, the last one, well.
chris
Guest
Punter what about his second goal? To generate that amount of power with the outside of the foot is really exceptional. The keeper barely had time to watch it flash by.
David V
Guest
I was more talking about Wanderers under Babbel.
Punter
Roar Rookie
Thanks for article Mike, very sad weekend. However, both Barbarouses & Krishna's goal celebration were class acts. Crazy end to F3 Derby. LEO MESSI's third goal, just WOW!!!!
Fadida
Roar Rookie
Ernie has assembled this side, it's his own. The Jets were falling away by the end of last season and they've been off the pace all of this
Fadida
Roar Rookie
Ernie has a "tell" for when things are going wrong. His team's get very narrow and he packs central players into all positions. He did it in his later years at MV. All season he has made inexplicable team selections. I haven't got time to go into them all, but just in recent weeks alone we've seen; Shepard, the most stereotypical target man playing right midfield, Jair a striker spending the season on the left wing, Jackson stinking the place up at left back- he's a centre back. Ernie loves a midfield of 2 defensive mids who won't push up no matter the score. 3-0 v ccm and we have 5 at the back v 1 attacker. Jackson sits in and left back until 20 to go leaving Jair with no support, no overlaps. When he finally went forward he sets up a goal. Ernie has a blind spot with fullbacks. He played Katroumbis at left back in the final, leaving Petratis totally isolated, even when chasing the game. Remember, the ccm game was a game the jets absolutely had to win. His plan? Ridenton, a cm, as the right attacker. Jair, a central player, left attacker. Jackson, a cb at left back, a midfield of Cowburn and Ugark. Pre game I predicted a defeat with the line up. On the bench was Shepard, who's been excellent, came in with 20 to go. Vargas, the marquee. Even at full strength he'd squeeze in every central player he could, making the team very narrow. He is negative and inflexible. Subs are like for like and predictable. There is no intensity and his in game management is poor. The same problems have persisted all season, the Jackson one especially, and the lack of width. Ernie had a great first season at the Nux but struggled thereafter. He's on the same progression
Waz
Roar Rookie
Yeah signing Brown was a mistake but understandable, there aren’t many good Aussie LB’s around. However it’s disapointing he couldn’t realise the opportunity he was given by Victory and seize it with both hands. He just looks lazy to me (which was the criticism in his early tears when he was trying to displace Stefanutto).
Nemesis
Guest
Apart from the goal Donachie scored in the Grand Final, I've never enjoyed having him in the MV team. Agree, Brown had shown good form for Brisbane many years ago (he tormented MV a few times), but I couldn't believe Muscat signed him. At least when his confidence is up, he can be useful; but his confidence is now at an all-time low. Thankfully Donachie is only on a loan deal so he'll be gone soon enough. Ingham has already signed with another club - either NIX or Western Utd. But, his brother is at BRI so maybe he joins him there.
Waz
Roar Rookie
We can’t take responsibility for Donachie I’m afraid, you had a good year out of him before he left for Korea but what’s going on with him now I don’t know. I’d send him back again ... but not to Brisbane please. And Brown, he’s all yours now. Muscat signed him on the back of an outstanding year at Roar 2 seasons ago but last season (with us) he was below average and unfortunately he’s continued that trend this season. That’s a bit surprising but says more about Browns personality than it does either of our respective clubs.
David V
Guest
Ange Postecoglou rode out 2009/10 at Brisbane Roar, cleaned out the squad, and then assembled the game-changing side that won two Grand Finals in a row...
Buddy
Roar Rookie
Ernie out - even given he took them to within a whisker of a championship winning seasonlast year? Wow - the stakes are climbing high. How long should Corica and Babbel be given? - I’m trying to find a scale here, not an argument or justification. It is always interesting to see what we nail together as acceptable/unacceptable from managers, it is just a shame that doesn’t go on at board level when the club is not performing.
Nemesis
Guest
Who are the decent Roar players at MVFC? If you include Brown, Donachie you've got low standards for "decent players". Please, I beg you - take them back. Matt Acton nearly cost us the game, he was awful on Saturday. Ingham came to MV from NPL club Hume City. Akbari - for sure; thank you for giving him to us. I've got big hopes for him. Kosta started his pro career at Wellington Phoenix. And MelbVictory got him from overseas the first time, from the NIX the 2nd time. But, again. I beg you. Please take Donachie & Brown back. You can have them for free. I'll even drive them to the airport.
AGO74
Guest
A year ago, people were throwing Ernie's name in the mix for Socceroos coach alongside Arnie. To be honest, I haven't watched that many Newcastle games this year - what's gone wrong Fad? Separately the Mark Rudan after match press conference was pretty emotional watching it. He spoke incredibly well. You could see how the act of terrorism had shaken him and by extension and his team/club - just as it has shaken us all.
Fadida
Roar Rookie
Well said Mike. I've always believed that football needs to bring joy, given how bleak and cruel the world can be. Win or lose your team needs to try and excite you, to attack and try and win, because it's not life or death. As a Man U fan LVG and Jose sucked the joy from their games. On the CCM, you do wonder where that effort has been the last month especially. How well did Stajcic do? They scored with 3 of 5 shots, compared to 24 from the Jets. The Jets were rotten too, mainly down to Merrick and his reactive, conservative approach. I'll reserve judgement on Stajcic, but not on Merrick. Ernie out.
Fadida
Roar Rookie
Agree re the CCM fans. Can't help but feel happy for them
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
A pretty flat weekend of football, I thought especially, as Mike says, after the tragedy in Christchurch. I was pleased to see the 'Nix get their win, just for NZ. A point that really stood out for me, as a Roar supporter, was the number of former Roar players now accumulated by Victory; surely no other A League club has recruited so many very decent players from the one other club, although I suspect Akbari may regret his move. And how about the passion of those Mariners fans. Well done them.