The A league thread

Was he in the Australia squad for the World Cup can’t remember

Smeltz to nod the winner

From western sydney, been playing in turkey and the czech republiv for the last few years. Hes 23 and had previously been in trouble with the man for gang related crimes which probably explain the amount of ink hes had done. Hes got a fucking boot on him though.
Loko, have you been to any wanderers games? They’re brilliant craic, I love it when they come up to Gosford.

TS? Yes but didnt play.

Probably, he’s a class act, especially with Antonis on now.

Antonis, 4-3 Sydney. He’s a special player who’s getting better and better.
Can’t believe Popovic hasn’t brougjt Haliti on yet.

No never been. I’ve been to a good few Sydney FC games. For whatever reason I’ve always been unable to go to the derby game. Have always been either away or something else on. They bring some atmosphere. There was some atmosphere last year in Gosford.
There we have it antonis

Antonis is class. He will be in Europe soon I’d say. Was suppose to go to Parma last year I think

The WSW boys must bw fucking wrecked, they only stepped off a plane from Japan yesterday morning.

wtf has happened with wsw?

are they still getting good crowds?

He lost a few of his best players from last year.
Full house in parramatta. Some game, great atmosphere and a great advertisement for the a league

They had a long campaign to win the Asian Champions LeGue, a pretty remarkable achievement for a club less than three years old. Their A League form has suffered as a result and theu just havent fired yet.
But they just lost in a brilliant game against Sydney.
Crowds still there.

I dont get why he got rid of Hersi?

Was it a money thing? Did beauchamp retire or was he let go? Also would have kept polenz. Should have tired harder to keep Mooy also.

Good game tonight. Even though I had money on victory it was a good game to watch. Burns was a different class.

[SIZE=5]Sydney’s surge[/SIZE]
At the turn of the year the A-League was split into two clear divisions with seven points separating the haves (Perth, Wellington, Victory and Adelaide) and the have-not-a-chance-in-hells. But since Round 14, Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne Heart have been the best performed teams in the league, with Sydney picking up 13 points from five matches, Brisbane 10 points from four, and City eight points from five. (By comparison, Perth have won just four points from five games, Wellington five from five, Victory five from four, and Adelaide seven from five.) In fact Sydney’s last loss was to Adelaide on Boxing Day after which time they’ve won four and drawn three. Admittedly only two of those games (a 3-1 win over Perth and a 3-all draw with Victory) were against teams higher on the ladder but that is a very impressive run and Graham Arnold deserves enormous credit, and perhaps even a hug. Coaches are people too, you know. In the lead up to Christmas, after a spate of injuries and a run of poor form, Sydney’s season had taken such a depressing turn it was reading like an excerpt from A.B. Facey’s A Fortunate Life. But a good transfer window, and a resurgent attacking line —led by a goal-hungry Mark Janko—has got Sydney right back in the mix, despite a still shaky defence that has leaked 10 goals in their past five matches. Remarkably, if Sydney can beat Newcastle on Friday night, and if Perth lose to Victory, Sydney could finish the round just one point off the lead.
(The Guardian)

Sydney have been clinical of late, thanks in no small part to Marc Janko.

Mariners sacked Phil Moss this morning, too little too late. I’ll go and watch them on Sunday, but it probably won’t be pretty and Damien Duff is out for the rest of the season for Citeh, so I won’t even get to see him.

Heading to Hobart myself so won’t see many of the games I suspect.
Sydney should beat Newcastle easily I think. $1.70 on the head to head is a decent price. With janko in good form, antonis getting more games into him they are going to be very dangerous. Really they just took the foot off the pedal last week and nearly got caught. Hoping for a big blue final.

Coming to the business end of the season. My predictions for the weekend.
Victory v CCM
Not an easy one for Victory, CCM have improved and Victory missing a few important players on international duty. 2-1 Victory
City v Roar
Mooy a big out for City. Roar missing McKay, Broich, North, Donachie, Theo and Henrique. City should have to much considering all Roar are missing. $1.90 about City is a good price. 2-0 City
Perth v Wanderers
Perth in pretty poor form and can’t buy a win. Wanderers had a good win mid week and may have turned the corner, however they have a lot unavailable this weekend which maybe their downfall. 1-0 Perth
Phoenix v Sydney
Pity such an important game is ruined by so many players on international duty. Ridiculous really. 1-1 draw
Jets v Adelaide
Jets have improved since the shambles of sacking the coaching staff. Adelaide haven’t been affected as much by international duty and should have to much. 1-3 Adelaide

Hmmm.
Victory / Mariners - hard one to pick, we have improved, but slightly and Eddy Bosnar is back tonight, so we’ll be shite at the back, as he is the worst professional footballer 've ever seen. We have’t won away all season. We won’t tonight, Victory still have plenty of personnel, 2-1 Victory.
Citeh / Roar - I’ve given up on Citeh, they’re shite. Roar to win, does anyone care?
Perth / Wanderers - Perth really have gone to shite, Wanderers looked good this week, Bullut the mad, gang related bastard is going to wreck them. 3-1 Wanderers.
Phoenix / Sydney - You’re right about this potentially brilliant game being ruined, Phoenix at home, still with plenty of ammo, 2-1 Phoenix.
Jets / Adelaide - This is the game Adelaide have to throw the shackles off and stop fucking around in front of goal. What was it last time? 7-0? 4-0 this time.

A League has to start growing up and realising that a lot of players play for their country also. It’s not rugby league, it’s real sport, international breaks now!

It’s absolutely ridiculous and laughable. Apart from the players on senior International duty you also have the U-20s players. Even if you play 2 games during the year mid week. At least have this round as a break.