Another action-packed weekend was bookended by a 4-3 thriller in Sydney’s southwest while Melbourne City’s struggles continued, we saw another coaching change and the Mariners just keep on rolling.
Here are your A-League Round 15 talking points.
Bulls pip Wanderers in classic
Pre-game it seemed there was a bit more buzz around this Western Sydney clash, and thanks to some common sense from the decision-makers at the APL, a reasonably healthy gallery witnessed a very entertaining game of football.
After a six-goal first half, it was Valere Germain who sealed the three points for Macarthur late on, completing his hat-trick in the process. Despite the later kick-off time it was still sweltering at Campbelltown Stadium as both sides struggled to deal with the conditions. The scoreline could also be attributed to some pretty questionable defending.
It was a drama-filled evening, and never one to shy away from the spotlight, Marko Rudan delivered an explosive press conference in which he opined there is a “stigma” attached to the Wanderers. It’s quite the claim that will presumably have raised some eyebrows among the powers that be.
“There is an absolute stigma attached to my football club. It’s clear for all to see,” Rudan said.
“For the life of me, how Germain stays on the pitch when he kicks at my player in that first half – I have absolutely no idea.
“When it’s a retaliation, it’s a clear red.”
Only the officials themselves know for sure, but I’d be surprised if any referee has conscious bias against a particular side. Rudan perhaps will come to rue his choice of words, but it’s hard to deny he’s the most entertaining manager in the league. He brings an element of excitement that few coaches in the history of the competition have.
In a league devoid of meaningful rivalries and spite, A-League fans can only hope this ‘Sydney Derby’ will develop into something a bit more adversarial than its current state.
Glory late show sinks struggling City
Melbourne City have been meandering along in 2023-24, hovering closer to the fringes of the top six than the top of the table, and their latest defeat to the undermanned Glory was another low point. It was always going to be a challenge for new manager Aurelio Vidmar to get his squad back into title contention after Rado Vidosic’s somewhat abrupt dismissal but even still, the league’s most affluent club are not living up to expectations.
The signings of Jimmy Jeggo and returning star Marco Tilio should make City formidable heading into the business end of the season, despite their poor current form. After suffering an injury in pre-season Tilio never got a look in at Celtic Park, which has also affected his Asian Cup campaign for the Socceroos.
(Photo by Graham Denholm/Getty Images)
Credit to Alen Stajcic, who’s extracting pretty much every last drop of energy out of this Perth squad. Despite still sitting second to last on the A-League table, Glory are only six points out of the finals places. With his hand basically forced, Stajcic has been blooding some unheralded youth and it’s paid off; Joel Anasmo’s strike sealed the win on Friday night, prompting wild scenes in the Shed.
They are lacking quality across the pitch but it is too early to say Perth are incapable of causing some havoc as we approach the business end of the season.
Gauci earns Premier League move
Another rising star is off to the bright lights of European football, with Joe Gauci completing a dream move to Premier League surprise packet Aston Villa. Gauci joins former teammate Nestor Irankunda in making the switch to a world-class club. These sales have netted Adelaide United millions of dollars in transfer fees, laying out the blueprint for other A-League clubs who may be struggling to stay in the black.
The Birmingham side already have an undisputed No.1 gloveman in World Cup winner Emi Martinez, and the Argentinian’s spot is certainly not under any immediate threat. This is an ambitious choice by the 23-year-old, no doubt about it.
Gauci will presumably be given the opportunity to supplant backup Robin Olsen, who’s only managed a handful of games for the club over two years at Villa Park. In fact, the Swede has only made one appearance in the EPL this campaign, though he was out injured for some time. It’s difficult for me not to draw a parallel with Mitchell Langerak’s situation at Borussia Dortmund, however.
Langerak’s magnificent form for Melbourne Victory was rewarded by a move to Signal Iduna Park, but being stuck behind the evergreen Roman Weidenfeller limited him to a measly 19 appearances with the German giants. The 31-year-old Martinez may only now be hitting his prime years, so it’ll be a mighty task for Gauci to usurp him in the pecking order.
Joe Gauci. (Photo by Damian Briggs/Speed Media/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Quick hits
-Angel Torres and the Mariners are looking formidable. Mark Jackson truly has done a masterful job turning around the Gosford side’s fortunes.
-Best wishes to Ben Cahn, who has stepped away from Brisbane Roar for health reasons. It’s another disruption to a Roar campaign that started so brightly under Ross Aloisi, and now they’re onto a fourth manager in 2023-24.
-Football Australia’s data leak was quite comprehensive. It’s one thing to suffer a cyberattack like Optus did, but this was just plain old incompetence and seemingly wouldn’t have even been discovered had it not been for a cyber security website’s intervention.
-It was a harsh way for the Socceroos to bow out of the Asian Cup at the quarter-final stage. On paper it’s no great shame to go down to South Korea but Australia should’ve been able to close the game out.
Redcap
Roar Guru
Go you Lonely Bulls!
David Shilovsky
Expert
Possibly. I don't think he came up with this theory spontaneously, feels like it's been building for a while.
Doran Smith
Roar Guru
Would Rudan have complained that much if the Wanderers had won?
mrl
Roar Rookie
No. Rivalries need to be driven by the media and force-fed to the zombie-like fans. For example, the "showdown" and the "battle of the bridge". Or the best one, the "Q" clash.
Grem
Roar Rookie
It’s great when rivalries build naturally. The City v Mariners game is now a spicy one. The Wanderers v Bulls game yesterday showed some extra bite as well. Add these into our derbies, the Big Blue and Adelaide v Victory and you have some great matches. Next year will see the NZ rivalry as well. Jackson and the Mariners are amazing atm and long may it continue and please keep Torres in the A Leagues. We can’t lose every star factor player - we have to keep some! Great article again.
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
You would not have noticed or seen it unless you were at the game on Friday night when the super confident Phoenix away fans had to put their shirts back on in added time and the Den remove theirs. It was a classic spontaneous celebration by the Den, best I have seen in many years. Well done to them. Game's in good hands with young fans like these coming through, rather than the grumpy old fa#*ts ahead of them. The game was a bit dull bit that was in a large part due to the 'nix game plan. When the ball gets in the final third, or half sometimes, their back five sometimes back six, form a wall in front of goal. No wonder they have a good defensive record, like Roar under Moon but 'nix have a quick counter-attack.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
OShea shouldn't have been sent off, Payne was bordeline, Brilliante was worse than Payne mostly red but he could have got yellow. Simmons was the most dangerous, he was coming in with a lot of speed, he looked like he was going to clean up the player anyway,with or without a slip. Germain I cant see the contact on the replay.
Garry
Roar Rookie
Agree Davila – and FallandRolly – are among the most ‘fouled’ because they create a lot of those fouls themselves. I really do think this falling over in agony when accidentally catching a slight arm or clutching a leg when going down even when that leg was not invovled at all needs to be looked at! I still want the Match review panel to award pts post match for simualtion wiith the total eventually resulting in a card.
Garry
Roar Rookie
“When it’s a retaliation, it’s a clear red.” rubbish, never been so. I didnt pay close attention to the game so cant comment on the incidents except maybe the ball over the line. I have no idea but since we cant afford goal line technology yet Im happy to go with goal which was my instinct seeing it live. Nothing Ive seen suggests anything else NOR that any real bias exists against any time. Its a fact of life successful teams create their own luck.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
The MAC and WSW match the first half was played at an impressive pace. The second half I was impressed by WSW with 10 men their subs were good. Macarthur were not that good in the second half, the real mystery is why Lachie Rose is brought on at the 90th minute, not the first time either. Rose added intensity, and you would think he would be on earlier. City, Sahki was their midfielder with defensive intensity, they lost him now and Ugarkovic lacks it. Antonis has given them much better passing but they lack runners without Jankolis. Football AUstralia well I remember discovering the head tutorers computer was publicly accessible so students could have edited their own exam results . Who knows if anyone did. A lot of times things are left unguarded, it could be for a lot of years.
Chris Lewis
Roar Guru
Mariners were most impressive team on weekend from the four games i watched.
JoshW
Roar Rookie
When the Bulls were introduced I said they were nothing more than WSW 2.0 The G rated version. Others said no no no they're South-West Sydney it's a different area and they deserve their own team! Now I hear the broadcasters calling it a battle of the west, and in this very thread you're calling it a 'Western Sydney clash'. Why is it a clash over an area when the Bulls supposedly represent a different area? Which is it, pick one.
Chris Lewis
Roar Guru
true, very skillful, but his milking of clashes is right up there with what i have seen.
338
Roar Rookie
He does milk it but I thought he got the crap kicked out of him yesterday.
Cameron
Roar Guru
Congrats to Gauci! The journey doesn't start now though. It started as a kid and continues onto Aston Villa. Let's see what's in store for him there. We all hope he does well and he dreams big. Love watching Perth Glory in the East on the late Saturday night games. They've been very entertaining to watch in a lot of their home games and it makes for entertaining viewing. Central Coast are the team to watch currently. 12 games unbeaten? Was there much to turn around or is it more a matter of he just needed a few weeks to settle in? The culture at the Mariners looks just as good. It could be argued its even better? I'm going to make a prediction about Tuesdays fixture between Phoenix and Mariners. 15k will be there in the top of the table clash and I can't wait to watch. Prayers go out to Cahn. No complaints about the 4th coach this season when the loss is a result of unfortunate health.
Chris Lewis
Roar Guru
Davilla is a joke with his antics. such a bad look.
Chris Lewis
Roar Guru
pretty intense match yesterday, and well done MAC.
Paul01
Roar Rookie
Davilla should get punished for his diving. He is a good actor who milks the fouls from our A-League referees except one, Alireza Faghani. All the referees on the current as well as former ones are guilty of group think and believing that professional players should not be sent off. Fouls like those of Brillante, O'Shea, and Payne are deemed worthy of a red card for serious foul play with studs contact above boot and all get 2 weeks. Fair enough. The tackle by Simmons last week was a slip in a tackle from behind but is 3 weeks. Contract lash out by Germain to Beadling on the ground and only a warning. The Laws of the Game state you do not have to connect to be sent off for violent conduct. Kersey failed to apply the LOTG. In another forum, someone pointed out that Davilla grabbed a Brisbane Roar by the throat with no sanction. The Laws of the Game need to be applied consistently to all teams. The question to ask is why are Macarthur Bulls FC different to the rest of the league. There would be no Germain hatrick if he was sent off for VIOLENT CONDUCT in the first half instead of being kept on the field by Kersey. One will never know but Beadling may not have seen a red card if Germain had been off. Nathan McGill get your referee to apply the Laws of the Game consistently to all clubs with NO BIAS.