There have been a couple on SBS.

I interpreted the article as though it was Davidde Corran who was reprimanded for publishing the Hagirty story.

Wanting to keep the Hagirty story “in house” is the scandal to me. The rest I couldn’t give a rats about but the Hagirty connection is big news with all the litle variables going arround (Les on the Ethics commitee recomending someone who’s main asset is that he is “close” to people).

I still enjoy Corran’s stuff and thought he had been doing great work lately (U17 world cup)…… if he’s moved on or such I would be very dissapointed in SBS.

I agree about the political stuff. I think that is probably his genre but gee it’s boring hearing about that stuff every week becase we were also seeing it all the time on the Roar and 442.

I thought his last column for SBS (may have been 2nd last) about the FFA while not agreeing with all of it was really really good, and didn’t feel like an old record.

I could see why Fink felt undermined/victimized by them submitting his article for fact checking by the FFA if that wasn’t the normal process……
If only some book authors were so diligent with their “fact checking”.

I think opinion writers have there place but it seems that’s all we get and the balance is way of. We need more Tonys.

There was an Aussie guy writing for ESPN who’s just on a break who is also really good.

All kinds of wrong with that decision.

They are banned from competing in this years comp because the FFA have something in the pipeline….. well they better hope it eventuates then and isn’t another Rovers.

Even from the FFA’s perspective as money hungry control freaks it’s dumb because the Victory are the A leagues best crowd puller. Them putting some numbers through the gate in the Mirrebella cup would be the best advertisement for a national cups potential.

I also personally believe that this format to determine a state champion is the perfect lead up into the later round of an FFA cup. State champion has meaning which means what would otherwise be a low profile top 16 clash is treated like a final. Then once you have a champion from each state and territory the national part kicks in with 3 rounds of knockout competition. That’s only 7 games of interstate travel which would be a huge cost saving…. and I think it’s the more interesting format.

If the series ever got off the ground agaisnt China it would most likely be CSL China vs A League Australia (with whoevers on the outer at their European club thrown in).

I don’t think the A league boys get together enough and they would all benefit from the increased profile being a Socceroo gives.

So I actually think it’s not a case of just fixing one thing at a time and you have to look at the whole picture. Most football fans will watch the Socceroos when they are on TV in prime time (this will be the case both home and away against China). From these games they will actually learn who some of these Chinese players are which might actually add some interest to the ACL games.

Because as it stands I have no idea who any of them are.

Thanks for the kind words.

Dortmund vs Bayern was the European match I most looked forward too (and enjoyed) this year because of the Langerak factor (I also like watching Kagawa).

I don’t watch too much of it live because of the time zone difference so I prefer local football but that game was well worth getting up early for. What I love about the Bundisliga is the openness of the competition and the that because of the fantastic crowds each game feels like an event.

His first couple of games were ok, didn’t score any goals.

I think Flores had much more of an impact on Adeliade for the last two games of Season 5 and didn’t get the same hype.

I thought he was alright but not the best import in the league (not in the top 5) and for the money he was on.

I remember someone writing a big piece that in a way dammed the A league that he was able to make such a contribution straight away but I felt then that the praise was way over top.

He had some nice touches as you would expect for an ex EPL player. Set a few up to be fair but he didn’t exactly bang in the goals.

I was just thinking there would be more spots, competitions, money and programs.

he doesn’t even pretend not to be biased in favor of Qatar when running the AFC ….but that goes into your point which is fair enough.

Without an ounce of shame there is now a Qatar side in the Eastern side of the ACL….. Australia, Thailand, Indonesia all wanted that spot and we missed out. I guess it’s not hard to imagine that he might introduce seeding rules and eligibility rules that favor Qatar but hurt us a lot.

Transparency…..well his motives are pretty transparent I will give him that 🙂

I guess it’s probably better for us if he gets up just because he will be biased towards our mutual confederation.

I really don’t get it.

He’s a big personality but I think MV could do a lot better.

It’s probably the best job in the A league.

I don’t think Myleftfoot is being facetious.

Those are solid numbers for a women’s comp on the ABC. Those TV ratings out do the A league which shows the reach of FTA.

I am sure the A league would rate higher if given a similar chance.

Typical NSW BS Gobouten…….

Nth Qld has produced many players just like Wollongong. I remember Wollongong struggling for crowds even when they had the best team to watch in the NSL. Nth Qld were expected to finish last both seasons.

The huge hype that NSW is a football state is based on participation when compared to other states. I suspect that’s because Rugby League isn’t as competitive (because it doesn’t suit everyone) as AFL is for young players.

If Sydney FC can’t regularily pull in a crowd what hope Wollongong.

Once the likes of Canberra and Wollongong get a chance to fail in the A league the “football heatland” myth will be exposed and we can move on to the real problem……the flaws with the model/set up (bad kick off times and no exposure).

People are kidding themselves if they think good crowds are going to rock up for a 15 game season in Wollongong at odd times and with no promotion.

He does attend nearly every home game so with the million or so from Cullinas/Smeltz contract off the books and the whole venture costing him less I think Clive would find it harder to walk away from keeping a team of young (and local) players in the national competition.

The QLD thing seems very important to him.

That’s actually a pretty good sign if young players are signing longer contracts.

While the players that have gone will mean Gold Coast will be less competitive none of them were ever going to be worth transfer fees to the extent they justified their wages. Traore is still there and he’s the one senior player that I think would be worth anything on the open market. Obviously Smeltz and Cullina are worth something but not enough to justify there salary.

I don’t think fans will react well to a side not trying to win the competition. But if I was running GCU this is probably how I would go about it.

It’s going to take a long time to win over most of the locals and they would lose bucket loads of money doing so under the current deal with Skilled Park.

Keeping it tight and promoting young and local talent would mean they will be losing a lot less money (through lower wages and possible transfer fees). It doesn’t necessarily mean the team will be hopeless either as a lot of young talent has come trough QLD lately (Vidosic, Langerak, Oar, Sarota, Cernak, Devere, Traore, Zullo, Kruise, Nichols…).

Then in 3 seasons once the current deal with Skilled has ended (if they keep pulling less than 5k, Skilled might let them out earlier) and there is a new TV deal in place they could step it up and have another crack at really growing their fan base.
You could play a few games at say Runaway bay and only contract with skilled for a handful of blockbusters.

I’m not saying that’s what they will do though (my money would be on the winding up)….. The first sign that was the plan would be them aggressively chasing young prospects which I haven’t heard but they have won the NYL for both seasons they were in the comp, and they ha a NYL team from day one whilst Heart who are all about youth development didn’t.

It doesn’t seem really justified given NSW haven’t exactly embraced the 3 clubs they do have.

Wollongong and West Sydney are decent prospects though but I don’t see any reason Wollongong would be any better than a Nth Qld or such.

The competition needs some marketing and TV presence to attract new fans.

Guys like Kewell and Croad feel different than the others because they would have tried their guts out to get the most out of themselves but the body couldn’t comply.

From Football i would say Bosnich and Viduka while legends would be decent fits. Bosnich finally makes it to Manchester United and threw it all away and Viduka reached a pretty high level but you felt had the ability to go even further.

Harsh to say he wasted his talent as he didn’t seem a natural athlete.

Well he still showed signs of adapting.

They play through the middle a lot but with Hernandz having a so so season it didn’t really work.

Look at the new signings he made in Cernak and Rojas. Two young wide players so he obviously had a new plan.

I think he would be a great pick up for Perth if they are too shy about going into the global market for a coach.

Have to give the points to Mahony there.

Brisbane have done well in one respect, the on the field side of it but there not the type of flagship that Victory were in the early years of the A league. Victory single handidly showed possible investos the potential pay off if you get it right.

Clubs that don’t lose money are as important as wha Brisbne have done by lifting the bar on the field.

He’s coming back from a serious knee injury. It takes time.

Archie being able to come in and fire straight away is the exception not the norm.

I’m fully aware Ward has left because he wasn’t good enough but he hasn’t been replaced/

Kemp had a bad game but he and Surat are solid players. Just need to get their form back and used in a more comortable system.

Victory still have a really good list though a little unbalanced in midfield in that the players are either defensive midfielders or playmakers in the centre. They could do with someone that offers a little bit going forward but can also defend like Nichols and Mckay.
The Victory had Ward and Celeski (a dm but quality) to fill those roles but both disapointed. Celeski seems a shadow of his former self.

With the new wide men though that should help and give the new coach some more options.

The new coach very well may make a lot of wholsale changes but they could also get away with just bringing in one or two players of genuine quality and that side could finish in the top two or be champions if the coach is good enough. There youth development letting them down a bit. Guys like Pondeljak should have been feeling the pressure to keep their spot in the squad this season.

Giving guys that have been at the team a while 1 year too many isn’t the worst of sins though. Loyatly is something I like about Victory’s culture.

I though of Matt Horsley (who missed his penalty in that shootout) when Matt Mackay stepped up.

Just had a similar feeling like Dukes in 07 and Horsely for the Gong…captain fantastic missing a penalty.

Phew 🙂

Amazing!!!!

Even I feel bad for the Mariners. They deserve at least half of the trophy.

Very even so far.

Brisbane started to get on top towards the end but the Mariners are one of those teams that are always a chance of scoring.

Too tough to call.

Broich has been involved a lot which is usually a good sign for Brisbane.