Another entertaining weekend of football action is in the books, with Brandon Borrello stealing the show yet again and the race for the final two places in the top six no closer to a resolution.
Here are your A-League Round 23 talking points.
Borrello rescues stuttering Wanderers
Continuing his excellent campaign for both club and country, Borrello pulled his side out of the fire to salvage a point at Campbelltown Stadium on Saturday evening. The 27-year-old’s second brace of the campaign sees him sitting on 10 goals, and he has also laid on three assists in 2022-23.
It’s been a stunning return to form for a player who had bounced around in Germany in the last few years without finding too much success. Before this season, Borrello had hardly scored a goal in years.
I won’t go so far as to say that Borrello is single-handedly carrying Western Sydney’s season, but he has certainly been their main man and focal point in attack. The midseason addition of Tunisian Amour Layouni has been a hit, taking some weight off Borrello’s shoulders, but the frustratingly inconsistent Kusini Yengi – outside of two huge Sydney Derby shifts – hasn’t put in enough performances commensurate with his considerable abilities.
Speaking to AAP, Yengi admitted as much in a very frank interview.
“I enjoy the derbies but I struggle to get myself going for the smaller games,” he said.
“When you go to a worse stadium or pitch, you don’t really feel as motivated. I need to do some digging and find out what really motivates me.”
Kusini Yengi of the Wanderers (Photo by Steve Christo – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)
Yikes. You can’t fault his honesty, but this is a rare and frankly bizarre admission for a professional footballer to volunteer to a wide-eyed journo.
It’s not yet time to panic for Marko Rudan and his squad after two ordinary performances on the back of a great night at Allianz Stadium. They return home to Parramatta next time out as Melbourne Victory come to town – while it may seem like an easy three points on paper, Victory will bring desperation and this could be another banana peel.
Does Papas deserve to keep his job?
Since a magical run to the 2018 Grand Final – and perhaps the biggest VAR farce in league history – loyal Newcastle Jets supporters have had little to cheer for. This season has been no exception, the Daniel Penha-less Jets side struggling for form and lacking class.
Arthur Papas has been in theMcDonald Jones Stadium dugout for almost two full seasons now, and after an eighth-place finish in 2021-22, it seems Newcastle will miss the finals once again. What’s most concerning is that with their season on the line, they travelled to Queensland to face cellar dwellers Brisbane and put in possibly their worst performance of the campaign.
As a point of comparison, Warren Moon was dismissed by Brisbane Roar with a similar record earlier this season and there couldn’t really be any argument with that decision.
There are mitigating factors in the Hunter, namely the disastrous ownership situation and dearth of quality in the squad, but there doesn’t seem to be any signs of improvement for the Jets under Papas. If he’s going to stay in the role, there has to be changes to the roster in the off-season and a top-six finish next season is a must.
Perfect vibes in Adelaide but AAMI Park sees three miserable attendances
A-League fans have always rode high highs and oftentimes lower lows, and the disparity in vibes between Sydney’s visit to the City of Churches on Friday night and the three games at AAMI Park in the last five days was absolutely stark.
In Adelaide the fans are finally warming to their side, who have played some fantastic football under Carl Veart and have set themselves up for an all-important top-two finish. There were great scenes as the atmosphere inside perhaps the league’s most intimate venue was beamed around the nation, and it was difficult not to feel envious of those who’d secured a ticket.
It was just the opposite scene, however, in Melbourne. The farcical rescheduled derby was a largely uneventful affair played out in front of just 6423 spectators, while the biggest football club in the land could only attract 5012 spectators for their miserable scoreless draw with Perth, and while I haven’t seen a published crowd figure for Melbourne City’s romp over Wellington, it was possibly the worst of the week.
There was some positive signs in Sydney’s southwest, with 7534 turning out to Campbelltown Stadium as Wanderers stole a point late on.
Derby disaster should never have gone ahead
As tiresome and cliche as it may be, football is always competing with the other major Australian sports for eyeballs, column inches and airtime. Bearing that in mind, it’s really hard to take when the APL just keeps shooting itself in the foot.
From the Grand Finals decision, to mind-boggling 3pm kick-offs in the height of summer, the absurd amount of money wasted on the ‘digital home of Australian football’ KeepUp, and now giving the other codes even more ammunition with this comical Melbourne Derby ‘replay’, we just can’t seem to get competent administration.
The rules of the restarted derby were widely shared around social media, and then widely mocked in quick fashion – rightfully so. As soon as Alex King (who was back in charge on Wednesday evening) made the absolute right decision to take the players from the field on that fateful December evening, that should’ve been the end of it. City awarded a 3-0 win, case closed.
I’m not shooting for the stars, and I’m not even asking for good decision-making at head office – just some basic competence would suffice. Well, I’m not holding my breath.
Grem
Roar Rookie
It would certainly have to be within reason, but he is a character who is much loved. I think you were at the recent Socceroos v Ecuador game and he is popular. A life on the Central Coast with a decent income would compare favourably to a bigger contract in Mumbai.
Garry
Roar Rookie
tbh I dont think we can afford to pay him any amount that would make a difference PLUS Im not sure he would be worth such a payment in any cost/benefit analysis "Central Coast Mariners are bracing themselves for the post-season departure of born-again striker Jason Cummings, with owner Richard Peil confirming interest in the Socceroo from India, Japan, the US and Europe."
Grem
Roar Rookie
You’re right - that was an oversight. I hope he can stay with CCM. This is a case for the APL marquee fund to help a club retain a personality and very good player in the A Leagues.
David Shilovsky
Expert
It's an interesting one - if you're Talay, both jobs are glamorous but come with a lot of pressure, and neither squad is really championship quality.
Garry
Roar Rookie
I believe atm the rumours are only rumours but it could come to pass. Personally I think Talay is hoping for the Sydney gig
Midfield General
Roar Rookie
You missed Cummings. Currently likely to be runner up for ‘The Boot’.
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
finals are still in the jets hands - last 3 games are in nsw, all against rivals in or around the 6. they would need to get at least 7 points to qualify (in fact i reckon they may need to win all 3 games to get in the 6, given how close the race currently is) if the jets dont make the finals, then i feel as though there will be a little more scrutiny on the coach (first season was always going to be a free hit, second is the one to judge him on) theres a league coaching vacancies this off season that need to be filled as well (brissy, macarthur and likely victory, wellington and sydney depending on the next few weeks) even though hes under contract to the jets for another season, he has a lot of interest
Denzo
Roar Rookie
Pappas gets a soft ride from the media over Jets' performances. Anybody else would have been hammered in the media like Poppa and Corica. Probably sacked. I agree we need a club in Newcastle but surely they can find somebody to buy it. Do we need a club in Campbelltown ? Probably not. I think we are stuck with it though. A real shame it was ever thought of.
Denzo
Roar Rookie
No it means that both have the same level of active away support.
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
its not a simple process in buying an a league club. i mean look at adelaide united (who for their size, could lay claim to be the best run club in the league) 18 months of talks with the peligra group, even going through escrow - but the deal still ended up collapsing jets had that american group going over there books for several months, then it went silent i've heard nothing about any potential takeover since
pete4
Roar Rookie
It was a strange decision to play the last 70 mins of City v Victory. The Victory haven't recovered since that match You wonder if rumours that Talay will replace Popovic next season are true
David Shilovsky
Expert
Sounds like it's a bit of a mess, like the club is as a whole. I imagine there's very little appetite to buy the Jets out there, otherwise why would a bloc of clubs still own them?
David Shilovsky
Expert
I see where you are coming from, don't get me wrong, but whether it's away fans or not I'm just happy to see some improvement from them. At the rate they were going, some NPL crowds would soon catch up to them.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
Sydney got the same crowd there as well. Does that mean Sydney is as big in Campbeltown as the Wanderers. Considering you have Liverpool next door where its equal distance to Parammatta its a poor turnout, the nearest Sydney area is Hurtsville and thats twice as far.
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
very difficult for me to discuss given what i said above. i've mentioned a few times this season about the lack of progress made in promoting young players from the hunter region into the actual first team. how can i word this, pap's was expecting a different type of 'professionalism' from the underage teams - from my understanding of the situation he was unhappy with how they were being trained and let mcbreen know mcbreen took offence to it and aired him out publicaly
David Shilovsky
Expert
Wasn’t Daniel McBreen involved in the youth set-up, and he had a go at Papas on twitter?
JoshW
Roar Rookie
Alright i'll bite. WSW fans made up at least 5000 of that crowd. Anyone who thinks that it's good for Macarthur is dreaming, it shows which team the Campbelltown region feels represents them already.
David Shilovsky
Expert
It’s more than double their average attendance. At this stage, anything over 5k is positive signs for the Bulls. Is it adequate? No, of course not, but we’ve got to take what we can get.
JoshW
Roar Rookie
WSW and Macarthur is not a derby. Anyone who thinks 7k at Campbelltown is good signs for the Bulls rightly needs to be called into question over it.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
Borrello has been the best for Wanderers, Niewenhoff has also been very good and always performs. The addiiton of Layouni meant they went to the next level before him they were struglling to score. I think its unfair to single out Yengi , what about Ninkovic he has produced little in attack , some people have gushed over him the odd occasions he does something but its been rare. Ngabokoto while he has been good in attack he doesn't track back and his pressing is poor, its not like he is old like Ninkovic . The addition of Niederling is questionable, he is not that mobile these days, and they had a lot of midfielders already. Papas Newcastle their performance against City with 10 men and the penalty for handball should be the sacking offence. Their performance against Brisbane wasnt that bad, it wasn't that good either but they had plenty of the ball , Brisbane were a lot better also than previous weeks, Brisbane got some incredible generosity for the penalty, it was particularly amazing that was on review by the VAR, yet two bigger calls in the City Phoenix match weren't even reviewed. The final goal as well Scepovic slid through on Newcastle Goalie when he had a hand on the ball, I suppose it a lot more effort than Scepovic has done in his previous games but it should have been a foul. Adelaide attendances if they turn out for Adelaide then do it against other teams not just Sydney. Recent crowds against top of the table rivals WSW 9k and City 10k. Victory as wooden spooners for some reason are preffered over them in additon a mid table Sydney being the star attraction. The derby why would you turn up to see the last 70 minutes midweek. The following crowd against Perth was pathetic. Victory are not playing badly either and still in contention. How is a Macarthur Wanderers derby getting 7k positive signs.