Melbourne City will win the premiership if they defeat Wellington Phoenix tonight, but would the A-League Men be better off if every game in the final round kicked off simultaneously?
We should start with the obvious point that the final round of the season isn’t running to schedule anyway.
COVID restrictions and numerous postponements have left the A-League Men competition playing catch-up all season, with the net result being that the last few weeks have consisted almost entirely of rescheduled fixtures.
So, the games we watched on the weekend didn’t match the original fixture list anyway.
But it’s hard not to wonder, given Melbourne Victory’s 4-1 thumping of Sydney FC on Saturday night and Adelaide United’s 2-1 win over Western United on Sunday, whether the drama wouldn’t have been heightened by having every game kick off simultaneously.
Or at least the games involving the three Melbourne teams. After all, it’s not every day you have three clubs from the same city all vying to win the same piece of silverware.
(Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)
It’s not like Paramount+ haven’t been scheduling simultaneous fixtures all season anyway. Saturday night’s clash between arch-rivals Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory kicked off at the exact same time as the F3 Derby in Gosford.
It’s a decision that has baffled regular viewers – even though the whole point of it is drive Paramount+ subscriptions – and you wonder if some Goals Rush-style coverage showing all the goals from around the grounds wouldn’t have made for more entertaining viewing.
But then you have to wonder whether any of this feedback is getting through to Paramount+ at all.
The whisper around the traps is that the APL is quietly dismayed by certain aspects of the coverage, not least the fact that you still can’t pause or rewind games mid-stream.
Whether they’ve been able to make that clear to a company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan remains a mystery, although given the fact these issues have remained throughout the season, you’d have to think probably not.
That said, it’s no doubt helpful to retain a sense of perspective around their entry into the Australian streaming market and the fact the A-Leagues would probably no longer exist had it not been for Paramount’s desperately needed injection of capital.
For all the complaints, it’s not like you can’t actually watch the games on Paramount+. It’s just that there’s ample room for improvement.
Which is the same that could be said for Melbourne City, who go into tonight’s make-or-break clash with Wellington Phoenix on the back of a shock 2-0 loss to cellar dwellers Perth Glory.
Having also been knocked out of the AFC Champions League in such deflating circumstances, Paddy Kisnorbo’s men are no doubt desperate to head into the finals with a bit of momentum behind them.
They’ll come up against an in-form Wellington Phoenix side coached by one of the most underrated tacticians in the league.
Will Sydney FC make a move and try and snatch Ufuk Talay away during the off-season?
The Sky Blues’ defeat at the hands of Melbourne Victory on Saturday night summed up their campaign, with the retiring Bobo not exactly receiving the sort of send-off his countless goals deserved.
Will Milos Ninkovic go around for another season? And how will Sydney FC fare commercially now that chief executive Danny Townsend is moving on full-time to the APL?
It’ll be an intriguing off-season in Moore Park, but before that the finals should conjure some equally compelling storylines – not least because rank outsiders the Central Coast Mariners have already booked an unlikely spot.
And with the first legs of the two-legged semi-finals taking place on a weeknight, we’ll be spoiled for choice with games to watch on Paramount+.
Let’s just hope it’s an entertaining finals series. On the back of a difficult premiership campaign, the A-League Men could certainly use it.
Bludger
Guest
Well, 80 percent of Russia(at the moment, and this could change) is in Asia, east of the Urals. It really depends if they are happy playing at a lower standard than Europe. Russia in AFC would just add to the rogue's gallery of nations we have in Asian soccer. They would be the best team without a doubt.
Football Fan
Roar Rookie
Waz, please don't tell me you believe we should scrap finals and have pro/rel? I agree in principle to pro/rel but we are simply not ready for that now. We don't have enough top tier quality clubs. Once we establish an NSD and it runs successfully for a period of time, imo 10 years, then the clubs may be A-league capable financially and are professional enough to join the A-league. We need to set criteria now for both NSD and A-league membership that need to be met by clubs. As for the finals, why after all these years do we still hear people saying it should be scrapped? I am personally sick of hearing that everything in Europe is better when it clearly isn't. With 3 rounds to go we had 8 out of 12 clubs in the A-League that still had a chance for a finals spot. The Mariners -Jets game some weeks ago was a thriller for exactly this reason otherwise if this match were in a Euro league it would have been a dead rubber. With 1 week to go we had 3 teams going for top spot. I am now planning on travelling interstate for any finals game my club competes in, something that I and many others would not have done if there were no finals. Also, the finals and the GF in particular attract the most media and fan interest by far and therefore attract the highest attendances and tv ratings. Who in there right mind would want to scrap that just to copy the Euro leagues. Geez. Meanwhile, the Mexican top tier has suspended pro/rel from their top tier for the next 5 years. As for the simultaneous kickoffs for the final round, I believe it is a must and this should be implemented. The drama this season would have been even greater if they were all scheduled at the same time on Saturday night and network 10 showed one game but actually switched to each game for all the goals as they happened, not just showing it on a small picture in picture.
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
Although Victory keeper is not that good either.
coolncold
Roar Rookie
City worth the plate as the team plays attacking football. And MV will win the Championship because Glover has shown weaknesses again.
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
City have beaten the Nix to claim the Premiership.
chris
Guest
Waz it really annoys me that in this country, all semblance of fair play in regards to scheduling is totally disregarded. It happens across all sports. It's all driven by TV and what the suits think will rate etc. Whilst covid has wreaked havoc over the past few seasons, this practice was in place well before covid and will continue now.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
Nix were gone till the government saved them. https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/a-league/122768222/wellington-phoenix-were-almost-out-of-cash-before-their-first-government-handout--will-they-need-another?msclkid=39b4a11dcf7811ec9cd0468daea78d07 So I assume you have the imaginary money to fund an A-league team in Canberra or Wollongong, you think it should go here or there or wherever in your dreams.
Waz
Roar Rookie
Here’s your Sydney bias gentleman: Roar play on Tuesday and are expected to play wanderers away on Friday in an FFA Cup eliminator. So for Roar it’s: - light session Monday - play Tuesday - rest Wednesday - fly Thursday - play Friday For wanderers it’s: - train Monday - train Tuesday - train Wednesday - train Thursday - play Friday. Fair? Not a chance. Bias or just plane incompetence doesn’t matter. Australian football is not worth following for many people because of rubbish like this.
Jordan Sports Fan
Roar Rookie
Indeed. I have seen a few ads on TV for the FA Cup final and a digital billboard on the drive home just now which means channel 10 football is being advertised, just not the Australian kind.
Franko
Guest
That's it. You don't fold the club, you change the administration.
Nick Symonds
Guest
Current big five in AFC: Japan South Korea Iran Saudi Arabia Australia - Something gives me the feeling that the Russians wouldn't really want to make a move...
chris
Guest
Where to go with this story... 1/ Was a thought bubble from an ex Russian boxer 2/ Was reported by channel 7. 3/ I thought AFC was part of FIFA and its FIFA doing the sanctioning? Hilarious.
AR
Guest
Waz: In my restaurant analogy, I didn't mean copy the ingredients/methods from a particular cuisine. Also Waz: If soccer is an Indian restaurant, we should copy what Indian restaurants do.
Waz
Roar Rookie
Agree
Waz
Roar Rookie
It can’t make that move unilaterally. As Australia found out there’s quite a few hoops to jump through and would require FIFA plus two Confederations to agree.
Full Time NSD
Guest
If they spent like crazy and had the highest ticket prices in the league than what did they expect? Their ticket prices were crazy. Sell the license to a new owner in the area rather move the club. Create more licenses for new clubs.
Nick Symonds
Guest
NEWS: Russian soccer ponders UEFA switch to Asia Russian football is considering a move to the Asian confederation AFC from UEFA after being sanctioned by European soccer's governing body. - https://7news.com.au/sport/russian-soccer-ponders-uefa-switch-to-asia-c-6683197
Full Time NSD
Guest
Australia’s results in the last decade of the ACL only warrant one spot. If a full time NSD isn’t up and running any time soon than I can’t see 2 ACL spot on the near horizon.
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
exactly. I've read that they Canberra consortium is cashed up and they are possibly linked to a licenced club. Now there's how you support a footbqll team.
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
I always thought Bulls were a really poor choice. Canberra has one of the highest football population densities per capita, and Hobart is begging for a national team in anything above and beyond B-Ball. And the Taswegians have a rather healthy football population. I would have chose the Gong before Macarthur. I really feel for Nix, they were treated like absolute trash in not being able to be at home. I also notice the Kiwi government, just like the Independent Nation of WA offered zero assistance as well. No wonder they've lost some dollars. Get them regular home games next season and hopefully they start to edge back towards the black