Well, let’s all exhale and take stock of a hectic round. Victory’s undefeated streak was ended, their crosstown rivals hit rock bottom and plenty more happening across another very busy weekend in this chaotic competition.
Here are your A-League Round 16 talking points.
Quite fitting that a seesawing 3-3 draw bookended Round 16. A double from Jets talisman Apostolos Stamatelopoulos had Newcastle ahead until WSW captain Marcelo again levelled the scores with a powerful header. Both sides certainly had a case that they deserved all three points but in the end it felt like a share of the spoils was a fair result.
Wanderers’ discipline, or lack thereof, is starting to hurt them with four red cards in three games. The argument could be mounted that Tate Russell was hard done by but either way, you can’t have players being sent off every week.
It came as no surprise to anyone that Marko Rudan doubled down on his anti-administration tirade in a midweek press conference. Rudan does have some legitimate gripes – shared by many around the league – about the APL’s processes, but they’re getting lost amid the conspiratorial nature of his accusations.
He was much more reserved after the match on Sunday, but still showcased his trademark stubbornness, revealing he won’t be rolling over after Football Australia issued a show-cause notice to the former centre-back.
Reports of Wanderers owner Paul Lederer abusing referee Shaun Evans post-game are concerning, and it seems the club will be hearing from the authorities again. It always stuns me just how many people are allowed on the field immediately following the final whistle – perhaps it’s something that needs to be looked at.
The last unbeaten streak of 2023-24 came to an end on Saturday afternoon as Macarthur defeated Melbourne Victory at AAMI Park. It was an impressive run Tony Popovic’s side had put together, going 15 matches without a loss. Dropping points from winning positions on multiple occasions has put a decent dent in Victory’s premiership hopes, however, and despite the streak they’ve now dropped down to fourth on the A-League ladder.
Lachie Rose should’ve made it 2-0 with a simple finish after Raphael Borges Rodrigues’s marauding run through multiple Victory defenders but could not convert. Just minutes later Bruno Fornaroli almost levelled the scores when his close-range header hit the top of the crossbar.
In the second half Filip Kurto again denied Fornaroli, from the penalty spot and a one-on-one situation, to preserve the Bulls’ slim advantage. The Socceroo was insistent his spot-kick had crossed the line but with the assistant referee’s view impaired by Kurto’s body, it went upstairs as no goal and the VAR confirmed the on-field decision.
Mile Sterjovski’s team are putting together some excellent results, downing two of the competition’s heavyweights back to back. With talisman and captain Ulises Davila on the park the Bulls would always be a threat, but with contributions coming from across the park they are now looking more formidable.
Rodrigues’s class is shining through, and Valere Germain’s showing he’s one of the premier strikers – and imports – in the league, sitting fourth in the Golden Boot race behind some pretty talented goal-scorers.
I wrote last week that Melbourne City were at a low point in their season, but in hindsight that was clearly premature. With Ruben Zadkovich at the helm Brisbane exacted revenge for an 8-1 humiliation at the hands of City earlier in the season, downing the premiers 5-1 at Suncorp Stadium.
Roar appointing first-time A-League manager Ben Cahn to the top job after Ross Aloisi’s departure was met with a mix of optimism and scepticism. That optimism was tempered when Cahn was forced to step down due to medical reasons but it should be remembered Zadkovich did an admirable job with the vastly under-resourced Glory last season.
If Saturday evening is any indication Zadkovich’s philosophy will result in entertainment when Brisbane are in action. Turning that philosophy into wins and ideally a top-six finish will be another story, but right now it’s hard to begrudge Roar fans some positive vibes in this emotional rollercoaster of a season.
-Pat Wood’s miss in his side’s big road win over the Mariners has unfortunately gone viral. The enterprising forward has been given plenty of chances under Ufuk Talay and works extremely hard, but finishing has always been a weaker point in his game.
-It’s difficult to pin down how good – or bad – Adelaide are. They’re a well-drilled side under Carl Veart but whether it’s the compounding psychological effect of losing star players or something else, they’re playing well under expectations.
-Another solid home win for the Phoenix as they inch closer to their first-ever silverware (unless you count the Pre-Season Cup). Conversely, Western United lie eight points adrift of Perth in 11th place, albeit with a game in hand. John Aloisi’s side are well on track for their first wooden spoon, having lost 11 of 15 games at a truly awful 73 per cent.
-Kick-off was delayed by 15 minutes at Sky Stadium on Saturday because of a kit clash. This coming after Sydney FC’s bus inexplicably drove to the wrong venue in the women’s. You’d have to be a pretty talented comedy writer to conjure this kind of script.
Denzo
Roar Rookie
Yep gone soon. The elephant in the room is Simon Pearce the Melbourne City CFG representative on the APL. He is directly implicated in the Man City CFG fair play scandal that the English FA are investigating. If this goes against Manchester City then he will surely have to resign from the APL Board as not being a ‘fit and proper’ Director. The other Directors must know this.
NickA
Roar Rookie
Still one of the best players at the tournament & probably in Asia
Brendan
Roar Pro
Credit to the Roar editors - it’s an awesome photo of WSW’s Marcelo. He has electrified the appreciative crowd. :thumbup:
chris1
Roar Rookie
The Qatari Mauk as you call him, Afif, is an out and out cheat. Diving, feigning injury etc.
chris1
Roar Rookie
Jupiter I totally agree. No one can fault his work rate and his passion etc. But he is just not A League standard. His miss was not a one off as he fluffs his lines time and time again. He would probably be better off out on the wings where his speed will get him around some defenders. But technically he would struggle out there as well.
David Shilovsky
Expert
That's commendable, and as I said Waz's passion always comes through. The incessant negativity does start to grate though, when it's the same rhetoric on every article.
338
Roar Rookie
Simple and Physics were never two words I associated with one another LH. But Im with you on the cameras...
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
Not my place to comment on individuals but Waz has made a number of significant contributions to Brisbane Roar over the years, establishing the Roar Fans Federation and inputting fans perspective into the club, and to the FA on the rare occasion they've asked. It's tough being a football fan in Queensland at times, even tougher if you're a Roar fan too, especially of late. Just got to bear with us at times.
Marcel
Roar Rookie
Waz..In such a doomsday scenario I could picture things going back to an 8 team superleague as a worst case.... But a combined A-League / NSD?... I'd suggest the money behind SFc, WSW, MV, MC would exit pretty swiftly if they found themselves playing at suburban grounds on a weekly basis.... So be careful what you wish for...because the collapse of the ALM could very possibly be the death of professional football in this country entirely...
David Shilovsky
Expert
Yep. You can't make a comparison with the top divisions in Europe - a lot of those clubs are just happy to be there, plus there's many more meaningful games that will affect European qualification etc. The finals series is the greatest equaliser we have that gives fans of the majority of teams hope till late in the season.
David Shilovsky
Expert
Would you honestly describe most of your rants as 'constructive'? Your passion for the league is clear to see but if you just came back from the ledge on occasion, your contributions would be much more valuable.
Waz
Roar Rookie
lol Even “doomers” can be right though. I suspect i’m closer to the more likely outcome than you are. The challenge for the A League is a commercial one - tv pays the bills and for every $10m that P+ pays the APL for the ALM it needs 100,000 new subscribers to pay for that … and P+ ate in it to make a profit so would like want another 15k subs in that. Is the ALM getting 250,000 annual subscribers for P+?? I’m not wishing for the end of the A League, I love it … but a perpetual problem from years back is the A League doesn’t listen to constructive feedback and anyone that provides feedback judged by others to be “non-positive”, they are shut down, attacked, or labelled so we never get constructive debate.
Blood Dragon
Roar Rookie
You are delusional if you think the A-League will collapse and think the NSD will replace and asorb it if anything NSD will be lucky to get up and running at this stage, Crowds and Paramount subs are actually up for the A-League this season and have been on a gradual upwards trajectory for the past few seasons frankly Waz you are just a doomer at this point
Blood Dragon
Roar Rookie
The Aussies keep predicting us to self destruct but so far looks like we are still defying Aussie Expetations
NickA
Roar Rookie
Wilmering hardly 'thrust' his leg back. He was clearly trying to shield the ball from a potential clearance
Marcel
Roar Rookie
Maybe..First past the post, with the last few rounds of the Cup held in place of the finals series
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
It's simple physics, unless we telecast in 3-D TV, which we don't, there's no way to judge those close ball v line decisions from a distant camera angle. It's just not possible. I've often wondered why we don't put remote cameras on the goal line, both sides, both ends.
Waz
Roar Rookie
Too many people fiddling while Rome burns for my liking and seemingly hoping “she’ll be right” drive that last paragraph. I think we’ll see the ALM collapse and remaining clubs merge with the NSD under FFA control, again. So not all bad but I’m not sure QLD will be represented in that comp Ben Cahn is serious, what it is was meant to be confidential until some blogger-fan revealed it to the world last week - it looks like he won’t return in the HC role unfortunately.
Jordan Sports Fan
Roar Rookie
It is probably true that first past the post only works if there is relegation. And I dont even dislike finals per say, I'd just love to see what this league would dish up (even for one season) if the safety net of half the league making finals was removed.
Kitwally
Roar Rookie
Liked your post until the final paragraph Waz. What’s up with Cahn? Must be quite serious for him to step away.