My tips:
All home teams

Sons tips:
Brisbane
Wellington
Western
Adelaide
Mariners
Wanderers

Daughters tips:
Brisbane
Sydney
Newcastle
Adelaide
Perth
Macarthur

I’m sticking with you on this on, Lionheart.

I cannot argue the poor ownership, but I too do not see this as the end.

First tournament since our “worst ever Socceroos” side achieved our greatest World Cup result, and sadly this team is admittedly a whole lot worse.

Following players are missing due to retirement, injury or lack of game time or form:

Aaron Mooy (r), Matthew Leckie (i), Garang Kuol (l), Miles Degenek (l), J Mac (f), Ajdin Hrustic (i, l, f), Awer Mabil (l), I could go on.

I trust Graham Arnold, but he does not have it easy this time round.

Based on current form, not wanting to carry players who have been injured, but also considering how well they play for the Socceroos each time, this is my first XI (if fit):

Goalkeepers: Mat Ryan (c).

Defenders:
N. Atkinson, H. Souttar, K. Rowles, J. Bos.

Midfielders:
J. Irvine, C. Metcalfe, A. O’Neill.

Forwards:
C. Goodwin, M. Duke, B. Fornaroli.

If Arnold prefers a 1-4-4-2, then I would only move Goodwin into RM.

Bench wise, the regular players I would be going to would be:

Baccus, McGree, Silvera, Tilio, Burgess/Miller.

I’m confident we can make quater finals, but we need to have faith in probably all the players and rotate our team throughout the group stage in the early games and settle towards the 3rd and subsequent matches moving forward.

We cannot become overly dependent on Duke running ragged for 90 minutes every match.

For example, I would consider utilising Yengi in a similar capacity but for 30 minutes or so.

Fornaroli is the form forward going into the tournament and is playing plenty of minutes, he has to be picked! It’ll also most likely be his last chance he gets in green and gold cause after this tournament we will move forward and look to the next world cup. However, if he keep banging them in, then put him up top. Problem is we aren’t an attacking minded team like Victory and will not utilise Fornaroli in a similar role.

This is why Leckie is going to be a massive loss. We will need Goodwin to go to another level, he is now almost the general of the team without the likes of Mooy, Leckie, Hrustic.

Irvine will also need to lead the midfield very well and without Mooy I hope he isn’t caught out. Baccua did a great job at the world cup and i have faith that with him in CDM role Irvine will be able to free himself up a bit more.

The responsibility on Metcalfe and O’Neill will be huge but they are looking more and more like the future of our midfield and they too will need to step up. I hope Baccus can force his way in. I like what he can do but consistency at club level for minutes is where he is let down.

Silvera could be a potential bolter. He’s been progressing well at Middlesbrough.

I would start Fornaroli and bring Silvera on depending on how we are going.

The matches I’m most concerned about, naturally, are Saudi Arabia, Japan, South Korea.

Many thoughts, still hope, but this tournament isn’t going to be easy. I will be ecstatic with anything more than quater finals.

The future of the Socceroos lies ahead of the Asian Cup, but this is a test for us as a forever maturing football nation.

The more attention this particular issue gets, the better.

It’s that time of the week again.Tip time!

As it stands, I still hold a slender lead over my rivals, son and daughter.

1st. Myself 15 points
2nd. Son 13 points
3rd. Daughter 11points

It’s been a torrid season for tipping. Can’t manage to find any consistency, but so long as I show these Muppets how it’s done, I’ll call it a success.

Anyways, here are the tips for Round 9:

Sons tips:
Brisbane
Adelaide
Wanderers
Western
Victory
Macarthur

Daughter tips:
Brisbane
Adelaide
Wellington
Sydney
Victory
Perth

My tips:
Brisbane
Adelaide
Wellington
Western
Victory
Perth

I thoroughly enjoyed this article, Stuart!

For Brisbane, I’m curious as to the type of drugs you think they’re on?

I feel as though they are student that has ADHD but are potentially being misdiagnosed. For Brisbane, their problem is their parents, who lack in their responsibility and the rest of the school yard suffers.

If Brisbane had better parents, the student would benefit, as would the school.

The parents of Brisbane always seem to be too busy with overseas work and send in care takers, nannies, who are responsible for the care of the club.

Brisbane have all the potential but just need to be loved. When their care taker ensures they’ve taken their medication they seem to do well, but I think they’ve misdiagnosed. I actually don’t think they ADHD at all. Instead they just have terrible parents and just need love and they would easily rise to be consistently one of the top four students every year and the school would benefit from their improved results.

Sons tips:
Brisbane
Adelaide
Newcastle
Sydney
Mariners
Wellington

Daughters tips:
Brisbane
Adelaide
Newcastle
Sydney
City
Wellington

My tips:
Brisbane
Wanderers
Newcastle
Victory
Mariners
Macarthur

That fact that I’m going to Adelaide once this year should hopefully absolve me of East Coast bias? I will endeavour to make a trip to Perth to absolve myself of the guilt as well if this helps? 😂

I’ll be attending my first ever away game in Adelaide vs Brisbane this weekend. Took me 31 years and for my children they’ll have seen multiple women’s world cup games including the classic France vs Australia and they’ll have had an away day game, all before being adults. Lucky buggers.
I hope the city of churches (from what I’ve heard) and the location for vineyards hold up and put on a show when we arrive for what will be 3-4 days.
I hold the slimmest of hope the weather will come good, but if it doesn’t, it’ll still be an experience nonetheless.
Not only is it my first away trip, it’ll be first venture into SA. Only previously been NSW and overseas.
I gave great consideration to what my first ever away football trip would be and the first two that sprung to mind that didn’t involve a derby was Adelaide or central coast.
I thoroughly look forward to a great mini holiday away, a cracking game of football and a wonderful time with the wife and family!
Bring on the A-League this weekend!!!

I’ll try not to ruin the ground much when I’m on ground level for the foo fighters. 😛

1st. Myself 11 points
2nd. Son 9 points
3rd. Daughter 8 points

My tips:
Ccm
Wel
Draw (sfc v mac)
Perth
Bri
Wsw

Sons tips:
Mariners
City
Wellington
Sydney
Bri
Wsw

Daughters:
Draw (ccm v west)
Perth
Newcastle
Sydney
Draw (adl v bri)
Victory

After 5 rounds
1st. Myself 11 points
2nd. Son 9 points
3rd. Daughter 8 points

Tips for round 6

My tips:
Brisbane
Wellington
Sydney
Mariners
Newcastle
Adelaide

Sons tips:
Brisbane
Wellington
Sydney
Mariners
City
Adelaide

Daughters tips await.

Touch and go with respect to the game tonight for Roar vs Wanderers. See if I can pull it off and make?!

I’m looking forward to the Sunday games between Mariners v Victory and Newcastle v City.

Monday night fixture for Macarthur might be bad for attendance, but I’m looking forward to having something to watch that night as futsal commitments and soccer commitments have come to an end.

A-League is always my first competition I support.

Second is the EPL.

Since Ange took over at Tottenham, I’ve found myself watching double what I usually would, as I’m a Liverpool supporter first.

I’ve watched some amazing matches in the EPL this season.

I’ve watched the following games of EPL:

Chelsea vs City (amazing)
City vs Liverpool (good)
Tottenham vs Luton Town (ok)
Arsenal vs Tottenham (great)
Tottenham vs Aston Villa (ok)
Tottenham vs Chelsea (officiating destroyed this game)
Brighton vs Liverpool (ok)
Liverpool vs Everton (meh)

Yet on the other hand, I’ve watched the following A-League games:

Adelaide vs Central Coast (good)
Macarthur vs Brisbane (crap – weather)
City vs Western (good)
Sydney vs Victory (ok)
Glory vs Newcastle (good)
Roar vs Sydney (good – Roar were fantastic)
Victory vs Jets (entertaining)
Adelaide vs City (even better – loved seeing City walloped)
Wellington vs Roar (Roar didn’t stick to the plan, Nix played well – good game)
City vs Macarthur (really good game actually!)
Mariners vs Roar (good game)

That’s every game of football I’ve watched so far, not including international. Shift work and working arvo shifts definitely gets in the way.

Also watched majority of Mariners AFC Cup games.

Overall, there is enough in the A-League to watch that’s been entertaining and I’m sure plenty of others have watched many other entertaining matches.

There is a massive difference in the pace of the game but whenever EPL teams have come here, they’ve been affected by humidity, heat and travel. That’s exactly what every single one of our teams has to deal with each and every weekend!

Weather is a massive factor that affects the quality of the league. The quality of the football pitch too. Fix those two issues and I guarantee the quality would go up another notch here.

I don’t pay a lot of attention to overall fixturing in EPL, but i noticed Tottenham hadn’t had the best fixturing with more away games and they would play last game of the round and then would be first in the next round. That’s ridiculous but in EPL they play a lot more so whatever.

The fixturing here aids the following clubs the most – Sydney, Macarthur, Wanderers. You could then go Jets and Mariners. Then Victory, City and Western. The rest, no advantage at all!

The fact Wellington, Roar and Adelaide are in the top four is fantastic and Roar have had it the hardest out of all teams so far!

However, they’re playing back to back home games for first time this season. Some would say that’s nice, but I’ve never liked back to back home games. I prefer fortnightly fixturing. I feel it can be advantageous to the team, but disadvantageous to the fans.

Anyways, I’m enjoying football both A-League and EPL. And I’m hoping cards fall my way so that I can go to the game Friday night, however, weather has affected futsal and trials so we’ll see. If I can’t go, I’ll be watching on TV.

Daughter tips:
Victory + 2
City
Newcastle
Sydney fc
Brisbane
Adelaide

Sons tips:
Victory
City
Newcastle
WSW
Brisbane
Adelaide

My tips:
Victory
Wellington
Mariners
Sydney fc
Brisbane
Adelaide

Buddy, I’ve always believed this to be a major issue for our game. And completely agree!
My thoughts are as follows:
Losing Garang Kuol, a great coach like Montgomery and the personality that was Cumdog, it’s no wonder fans can become disenfranchised.
Everyone expects loyalty from fans, but when fans want loyalty, it’s not afforded the same respect.
I understand there is money to be made, their careers are only so long, etc etc. However, we cannot discount the fact that players consistently coming and going will have a negative effect to fans.
Irankunda is another example of this. I bet my bottom dollar that Adelaide fans talk about him a lot and with how good he is, I bet he has put bumbs on seats. I guarantee it. But now, it appears just like that he’ll be gone.
In other sports, you at least get your club champions who are marketable, who are from that area, who become the stalwarts of the club.
The A-League definitely does have some of these types of players and have had them in the past. What FFA and APL have failed to do, time and time again, is market these players.
Broich for Roar
Brosque for Sydney
Grant for Sydney now…
Craig Goodwin for Adelaide
Flores for Adelaide in the past
I honestly could sit here for the next half hour and come up with a litany of examples, but I would be wasting my time cause no one at APL is listening.
There is no marketing. Their interests only lie in recouping money spent or making more.
There is a huge disconnect between fans, players and administrators. Not all, but majority, yes.
This is why the cap doesn’t work. It doesn’t work because it is not an equal market.
Roar made Berisha yet because the club didn’t have the money or foresight to capitalise on the marketing potential of a player like him, Victory swooped.
This marquee idea is wonderful in theory, but only if a club is willing to pay. If you want a truly equal league, the cap is the cap and that’s that. Otherwise, scrap it and leg those with the big dollars really spend.
Let them bring a Suarez and assemble a great team and charge more for tickets. They could and would. If your team is the best and wins all the time and buys the better players, you could do this, but we don’t.
Instead we convince ourselves it is equal, but again its not.
If you look at the broncos in the nrl, you know how much they want to keep reece walsh.
He’s free marketing. He puts bumbs on seats.
Whilst Irankunda and football aren’t on that level, the problem is, we never allow ourselves to be.
A player has 3 good games, we mention socceroos and overseas and in our eyes they’re amazing. No.
A player with God given talent and/or hard work, backed and marketed or that good they don’t need to market, to be backed by the club is the approach required to keep fans.
You will always have your loyal fan base, but admittedly it appears not that large, so how do we get those fans back? How do we get a certain % of them to buy back in with interest? It’s not the administration.
It’s the players. Either spend big and bring in an ADP like player or develop the young exuberant and exciting player and watch them bring fans in.
Irankunda and Garang Kuol are recent examples of this!
Maybe it’s even the coach, like Montgomery, that the fans buy into?
I know I don’t follow Tottenhams games cause I like their team or the players, I follow Ange.
So player and coach can achieve success and bring fans in. Can administration? Whilst i think about it? I’ll go with a yes actually.
An administration that cares about its fans.
We want fans back, well, I’ve given some ideas how to do it. If we’re a development league, then players like Irankunda will come and go, so enjoy them while they’re here, but make money from them….
Well, that’s when the real business starts and investment needs to take place. Investment in the fans, the players, the club.
Each club has their problems, and we all want the best for football, but until we’re all on the game page, nothing will change or we’ll only see moments of momentum build where the fans come back due success or a player and then it will all fade again.
A bit of a ramble, but you get the gist. I’m off to bed now. The graveyard shift got me good.

Daughter tips:
Victory
Jets
Glory
Adelaide
City
Brisbane

Sons tips:
Victory
Western
Perth
Adelaide
Macarthur
Draw

At the conclusion of round 3, our ladder stands at:
1st. Myself 6 points
1st. Son 6 points
3rd. Daughter 4 points

I hope my luck is much better this round, especially for my daughter too, who didn’t manage a single point from last round.

My tips this weekend are:
Victory
Western
Wanderers
Adelaide
City
Mariners

Victory look good and have numerous threats in attack.
Jets are too inconsistent and their defence is their issue. If western can be resolute, they’ll win.
Wanderers at home will be hard to beat.
Adelaide have more than enough quality to cover for the loss of Irankunda and at home they are very good.
City have the extra days rest. This should count for something.
I’m worried for Roar away from home and Mariners need this win even more than Roar. The only thing going in Roars favour is more rest.

Every game still has such importance moving into the weekend and the stories almost write themselves.

Perth ans Staj are still a work in progress and now with City and Sydney having new coaches, this will also be interesting to see how they go. Newcastle are in each contest every game. Roar play attractive football and the rocket Ross sent up might get them going. Mariners are the champs, are doing well in Asia but A-league…

Another good weekend of football action ahead, but I’ll miss out on most of it as I’ll be camping this weekend. Hope I have some reception but battery might be the biggest issue after one game. Am I’m camping anyway, so phone should be away. Kids tips to be posted this arvo.

Oh I don’t blame him. The officiating was very poor. However, if I recall correct, the A-League spoke about coming down harder on dissent towards the match officials and also crowding/running up to and arguing with the referee. They want to stamp out this behaviour. Irankunda’s incident is barely even bad, but I love watching him play and I just want him to learn from these and go to even greater heights. The next team he faces will now aim to do the same. I’m sure in the background the officials will reflect on this one and come to a realisation that the extra attention on them due to poor officiating is not the attention they or the A-League wants. Djite is smart in his approach and the fact Thompson didn’t disagree will only compound the issue further for the officials. This will in turn most likely result in either more protection or greater scrutiny when fouls are committed. Irankunda is strong on the ball and doesn’t seem like the type to fall over but he jostles just as hard as his opposition so at times it appears an even contest. So that is difficult for referees when officiating. A league always needs talking points and I’m sure the victory v Adelaide match will give us plenty to talk about throughout the week.

Other talking points will be Sydney FC and Corica.

Mariners coach will be another talking point.

Ross Aloisi has said all that needs to be said for the Roar.

Perth and quiet achievers as are Macarthur at this point.

Victory will be happy with their first 3 rounds.

Western have at least bounced back quick after last week but not much will be said about them.

Wellington tactically look sound and can play a good possession based game and counter attacking style football. Funny how, and myself included, questions would be asked of Wellington’s crowds. Now 7k is great.

Zawada for Wellington is so good. I’m thinking he can challenge easily for golden boot.

Looking forward to Jets vs Wanderers. Hoping for a cracking game. Possibly game of the round today.

Melbourne Victory did their job well and got under the skin of Irankunda. That’s what you have to do against a quality player. You have to throw these youngsters off their game.

I disagree with Djite that these players need protecting. You go overseas and you’re getting a lot worse from opposition and fans for that matter.

These types of affairs will battle harden you as a player. Irankunda will need to learn to manage this and overcome these challenges. I understand his frustration completely, and he’s young with a lot of attention and expectation, but I just hope he’s also got the right people around him to not just pump up his tyres but also to deflate and pull back into line when needed.

My tips:
City + 1
Brisbane
Macarthur
Victory
Perth
Newcastle
Fingers crossed.

The article I’ve been waiting for, all week. It’s tips time!

After last week’s results, our ladder at home currently stands:

Daughter – 4 points
Son – 4 points
Myself – 4 points

This week’s tips are as follows:

Daughter:
Sydney + 2
Brisbane
Western
Adelaide
Mariners
Newcastle

Son:
City
Brisbane
Western
Adelaide
Perth
Wanderers

I’ll post my tips under this comment later.

Looking forward to City vs Sydney in a bottom of the table clash. For Corica, it’s potentially verging on must win. For Vidmar, it’s an opportunity back in the A-League. Let’s see what approach he brings to the table this time round.

Wellington vs Brisbane full from memory are always good games and I want to see Brisbane continue last weeks form.

Macarthur vs Western will be interesting. Can Western bounce back quick or will Macarthur continue to build on their undefeated start?

Game of the round easily victory vs Adelaide and I believe a sell out is very possible. The victory fans will need the 12th man to help beat Adelaide. If they dig turn up in full voice, I feel like Adelaide could run away with this one. Melbourne can score, but it’s their defence which was caught lacking last week.

Perth vs Mariners. Both teams need this win just as much as the other.

Perth should already be on 3 but let slip the win against the Jets. Mariners put in a better effort last week, but they’re really missing Cummings.

Jets finally playing at home. Fingers crossed they get a bumper crowd of 8k+ and the game gets some travelling Wanderers. Always love watching an afternoon game of football involving the Jets and Wanderers. Takes me back.

Well, well, well. There are plenty of us, in particular, Brisbane Roar fans, who saw this coming and have stated as such in the last week or so. This is not surprising.

Now, how well will Aurelio Vidmar go?

It’s been a long time since his days of coaching Adelaide United.

Mike, I would say you’ve mastered the art to be honest and kudos to you. Always enjoy the discussions. Thank you for the fair response.

Just a thought. Sounds like expansion should occur in Adelaide next!

I do not feel the content in this article sufficiently addresses the headline question, if at all.
The question is If the Matildas can draw sell-out crowds, why can’t the A-League Men?
Yet to merely suggest its a matter of just moving tickets is not sufficient.
I’ll do my best to answer the question.
In the modern age of society and sport, we have seen a shift in attitude towards women’s sport.
The team that has benefited most from this change in attitude has been the Matildas and this was prior to the World Cup.
As a by product of the changing attitude, coupled with Australias sport obsession and focus on “the best” of sport, a natural progression in which attention began to focus on players like Sam Kerr was only natural.
A astute observer can clearly see this and its not just occurring in Australia, however it is not occurring to the level as seen in other countries like England or America.
Why is this the case? Well, there are numerous reasons for this. Here are a few:
• Government funding and support
• sponsorship
• population
• geography in terms of how close or far away teams and its respective populations are. Much easier for fans of women’s football in England to travel and watch and away game then in Australia. This leads to the next point.
• economy, finances, income etc
• priorities
• scheduling – time, day of week
• weather
• culture – England are football mad so it is more likely they would have more attending, coupled with numerous other factors highlighted, in comparison to us.
I’m running out of ideas, but I’m sure there are many more.
With respect to the Matildas though and why they attained such a high attendance in comparison to the A-League this round, I’ll once again provide dot point reasons:
• cost
• popularity
• target audience
• time, day
• weather
• culture
• success
• is there a connect or disconnect between supporters, team, administrators
• recent FIFA women’s world cup and its success
• the comparative quality I.e. EPL v A-League vs Australian women’s football vs rest of the world. On the international stage, comparatively, the Matildas perform better.
And I’m sure once again others may find other reasons.
Perhaps the wrong question is being asked.
Rather than pose a question that has attached to it a negative connotation. Perhaps pose the question in a way that forwards the discussion in a positive light.
I know this will be hard for some. In all fairness though, depending on how you look at it, there is just as much to be happy about as there is to not.
That’s a given though in a domestic competition that’s run 19 seasons with now 12 different clubs in comparison to just one team, the Matildas, who are the beneficaries of today’s current social times.
I assure you, there will come a time where popularity wanes and criticism will come. This is normal, but right now, whilst there are surely some criticisms that can be made, the positives are far outweighing the negatives.
Therefore, I reiterate the point again, the only way to approach this is from a stand point of looking at the positives of the Matildas, with the aim of potentially integrating these thoughts, ideas and discussions to pushing the A-league in the right direction, whilst baring in mind thr glaring and obvious differences when comparing the two, which I’ve highlighted rather well.
So I pose the question in response, what positives can the A-League take from the current success of the Matildas that may help, assist, enhance, the approach from fans, teams and administrators in the A-League?
Language is important and one can be critical whilst being constructive. This is commonly referred to as constructive criticism. So I hope that answers your question, Mike.