2011 Asian Cup Squad Announced

Injury and club commitments have had a major impact on the squad announced to take part in the 2011 Asian Cup.  But that aside Holger Osieck still sprung a number of surprises when he announced his 23 man squad today.  The squad is

Mark Schwarzer, Brad Jones, Nathan Coe, David Carney, Lucas Neill, Luke Wilkshire, Jon McKain, Jade North, Sasa Ognenovski, Matthew Spiranovic, Tim Cahill, Jason Culina, Brett Emerton, Richard Garcia, Brett Holman, Mile Jedinak, Neil Kilkenny, Matt McKay, Carl Valeri, Nathan Burns, Harry Kewell, Robbie Kruse, Scott McDonald


Unsurprisingly the squad contains a host of now regular names but there has still been a number of interesting selections and omissions.  The tug of war between Australia and Turkey for Ersan Gulum appears to be over with him failing to gain selection here.  The path now seems open for him to solely pursue his international career with Turkey.  The other major surprise non-selection is that of Germany based forward Nikita Rukavytsya.  Despite seeing regular play in Hertha Berlin's starting line up he has been deemed surplus to requirements in a move that has surprised many.

Included in the squad though are Melbourne Victory forward Robbie Kruse.  The former Brisbane Roar bad boy has been in stellar form this season and has won his first call up for the Socceroos.  Leeds United midfielder Neil Kilkenny is another surprise call up having been on the outer since the Beijing Olympics.

Bearing in mind the stated intention to win the Asian Cup, does this squad stack up?  Personally I have my doubts.

In goal we are well served with three good keepers.  Adam Federici seems to have chosen not to come with may a January transfer move on the cards.  On top of this Eugene Galekovic has been ruled out with injury.  But Jones and Coe will provide able back up to the ever reliable Schwarzer.

Across the back line though things are not so rosy.  The left back position is still an area of concern and with only David Carney picked in this squad this could be a real weakness for us.  Centrally we have issues as Lucas Neill has been far from convincing for quite some time now.  The position next to him still seems far from settled and it is likely that Matthew Spiranovic and Sasa Ognenovski will be battling it out for the starting spot.  Spiranovic is my pick to take the spot but he needs to remain injury free.  For my mind Ognenovski was heavily exposed in his international debut and should not be a certainty to start.  Cover is provided by Jade North and Jon McKain who were picked ahead of Adrian Madaschi.  On the right Luke Wilkshite should hold down a spot, though North or even Brett Emerton could cover him.

The midfield appears strong but maybe a little unbalanced.  Culina, Jedinak and Valeri are all regulars who will be battling it out for starting berths in the centre.  But there is also extra competition from Kilkenny and the Roar's Matt McKay.  On the right we have Emerton and Richard Garcia, and Tim Cahill and Brett Holman in attacking roles.  Harry Kewell may be required to add width on the left.

Up front it may be an issue of where the goals are going to come from.  Scott McDonald wins a place despite his inability to score at international level so far.  He will  be joined by Kruse and AEK striker Nathan Burns.  That's not a lot of goal scoring pedigree at international level so we might be relying on goals from midfield to get us through.

Overall I think the squad is a bit suspect defensively and possibly short of goals.  I'm still not convinced that Osieck has the right plan to get all of our best players on the park at once and in the right system.  His 4-4-2 with Cahill as a striker hasn't really reaped full rewards so far and I'm not so sure it's the way to go at this tournament.  I'd prefer to see Kewell used as a striker rather than wide on the left and getting both Cahill and Holman on the park should be a major priority.

At the end of the day though this is largely the best squad we could put together.  We lost a lot of players due to injury as well as clashes with player transfer activity.  But that being said I do think a couple of selections are wrong and our depth could be tested at this tournament.

Australia will play a warm up game against the UAE where the fringe players look set to be given a strong hit out.

Moss Stars In M1 Draw

Kosta celebrates his tenth goal of the season

Brisbane Roar and Gold Coast United fought out a thrilling draw overnight in a rain sodden M1 derby.  Played in persistent rain the match lacked little in excitement with the home side twice coming from behind to earn a hard fought draw.  

Despite being played on a newly laid pitch that had seen little sunshine since being put down, the surface held up beautifully and there were no concerns over whether the match would be played out.

The match itself was a contrast in styles with Roar playing their typical attacking football and Gold Coast going with a very pragmatic approach.  Miron Bleiberg proved that the entertainers tag was well and truly shelved when he started the match with five defenders plus a defensive midfielder and by games end he had added another two defenders to that quota.  Gold Coast were clearly happy to defend deep in numbers and hope to nick something from the game.  After fifteen minutes it looked like they might be nicking all three points when Dino Djulbic headed home after a free kick.  But Brisbane were not to be deterred and in quarter of an hour they hit back with yet another slick passing move that saw Kosta Barbarouses played in behind the defence and he chipped his shot over a diving Glenn Moss.

Brisbane piled on the pressure only for Moss to deny them time and time again.  The Gold Coast keeper was a standout for his side and easily their best on the park.  Just as he did in the opening clash of the season he pulled off a series of quality saves to deny the Roar attack.  On the back of Moss' stellar keeping it looked like the Coast might just sneak away with the win after Robson waltzed through some flimsy Roar defending to put the visitors back in front.  But the pressure of defending the lead proved too much for the Coast and John Curtis, not for the first time on the night, was found wanting.  He slipped as he and Barbarouses chased a ball in the box and as Kosta hurdled him the defender stuck up a hand and tripped the Roar forward.  Solorzano scored from the resulting penalty and it was scores level again.  Thomas Broich should have sealed the win for Roar when he was played in behind the defence, but his chip over Moss sailed wide to waste a golden chance.

At the end of the day a draw was probably a fair result.  Roar wasted a bunch of chances and Moss saved Gold Coast a swag of times.  Brisbane had the better of the play and put a lot of pressure on the visitors who were content to sit and defend.

What was great to see last night was Brisbane post it's second best crowd of the season and on a horribly wet night.  It's a pity it wasn't dry because we could really have had a massive turnout.  But 13,065 in pouring rain is nothing to be sneezed at and bodes well for the remaining home games if we can get some better weather.

Brisbane has now extended it's unbeaten run to eighteen games and also their lead at the top of the table to eleven points courtesy of an Adelaide United loss earlier in the day.

All Set For Boxing Day Bash

December 26 is a big day in Australian sport.  It's the day that the Boxing Day test kicks off in Melbourne and it is all the day that sees the start of the famous Sydney to Hobart yacht race.  Now a new kid is on the block that will have special resonance in South East Queensland.  Boxing Day now marks the day on which the M1 Derby takes place.  Bitter A-League rivals, Brisbane Roar and Gold Coast United, will see the second installment of the big Boxing Day derby clash on Sunday evening and it's shaping up to be an enthralling contest.  With Gold Coast holding the wood over their more established rivals with three wins last season and a draw earlier this year.  But it is this very fixture last season that lingers long in the minds of the Roar and it's fans.  Gold Coast humbled us 1:5 down at Skilled Park and it's a result that we need to extract a little revenge on.

Squads
Brisbane
Michael Theoklitos, Matt Smith, Luke Devere, Shane Stefanutto, Ivan Franjic, Erik Paartalu, Kosta Barbarouses, Massimo Murdocca, Jean Carlo Solorzano, Rocky Visconte, Matt McKay, Mitch Nichols, Luke Brattan, Andrew Redmayne, James Meyer, Thomas Broich, Milan Susak (two to be omitted)

Gold Coast
Glenn Moss, Steve Pantelidis, Michael Thwaite, Dino Djulbic, Zenon Caravella, Anderson, Jason Culina, Bruce Djite, Bas Van Den Brink, Joel Porter, Tahj Minniecon, Kristian Rees, James Brown, Scott Higgins, Adama Traore, Steve Fitzsimmons, John Curtis, Steven Lustica (three to be omitted)


Both sides are looking strong with Brisbane only missing Henrique and Matt Mundy.  Gold Coast meanwhile will be without Robson, Chris Broadfoot, Daniel Piorkowski and Matt Osman.  Ange Postecoglou is no tinkerman so we can easily guess what side he will put out and James Meyer and Luke Brattan look the two players to miss out on spots come match day.  Miron Bleiberg is much more of a wildcard in his selections and he could well spring a few surprises.  But it's Steve Pantelidis, Anderson, Tahj Minniecon, James Brown, Steve Fitzsimmons and Steven Lustica who appear to be the players most likely to be in danger of missing the match through non-selection.

Tactics
Let's face it, there will be no surprises about how Brisbane will approach this game.  They have taken the same approach into every game this season and with it having worked so well there is clearly no reason to change.  They will defend from the front and high up the park and once they have the ball we'll see their possession game come into play.  Attacks will be built up patiently as players pass and move.  Broich will be a focus of the attacking with his angled dribbling runs from the left flank, while Barbarouses and Franjic will be working combinations down the right hand side.  Brisbane's highly mobile players will look to target the likes of Van Den Brink, Thwaite, Rees, Djulbic and Curtis in defence.

Gold Coast have become a lot more pragmatic side this season.  They are positioned well on the ladder but I don't think that they are as dangerous as they were last season.  I reckon Bleiberg will take a leaf out a number of other teams book and attempt to shut down our midfield by getting into our faces as quickly as possible.  They will try to pressure us as much as possible to prevent us from playing our natural game.  When they win the ball they will try and counter attack as quickly as possible to try and catch us at the back.  Expect them to play long balls into the channels to get someone in behind our defence and then look for a cross into the box.  If Gold Coast score first, expect them to sit back and shut up shop afterwards.

Pitch and Conditions
After the controversy surrounding the state of Skilled Park last weekend it will be interesting to see how Suncorp comes up for the this big game.  After a slew of major concerts the pitch has been relaid and the ground staff have been working overtime to get it ready.  Plenty of rain in recent weeks has helped but all accounts are that the pitch will be fine come Sunday.

Weather-wise we are expecting temperatures in the mid 20s with the possibility of some rain.  Apparently we can expect humidity in the mid 80s.  We saw up in Townsville that the conditions did affect a couple of the Brisbane players but I don't think Sunday's cooler but humid conditions will hurt too many people.  Of the two sides, Gold Coast are the ones most likely to have to lift their work rate in this match, and that may be a telling factor.

Referee
You can't ignore the fact that in this league the referees have a major impact on the game.  Chris Beath will be the man in the middle and I'm pretty sure we can expect to see a few yellow cards flying around as a result.  Brisbane has three wins under Beath this season which is a promising sign for the home side.  Gold Coast can count two draws under Beath this season which gives them hope for a result.

By The Numbers
Brisbane are unbeaten at Suncorp

The Result
There's a lot to play for here and derby are not typically the most attractive games as they often just descend into a battle.  However the opening round clash between these two sides was a nice open affair and I think we will see more of the same here.  I'm nervous about predicting the result in case I put the mozz on the Roar.  But I think we will see the lads in orange grab their first win over Gold Coast here.  I'm hoping for 2:0 or 2:1 to Brisbane.  I'm also hoping that we will see a big crowd turn out for this game.

BTW, are you listening Santa?

Roar Train Keeps On Rolling

Kosta grabs a brace

Brisbane Roar extended it's unbeaten streak to seventeen games overnight with a 2:0 win over North Queensland Fury in Townsville.  In hot and humid conditions the Roar grabbed an early lead before pushing on to take the win.

Ange Postecoglou was able to welcome back Massimo Murdocca and Shane Stefanutto from injury, and the pair were included on the bench.  Injuries and a heavy playing schedule forced Franz Straka to shuffle his troops once more.

Roar got off to a quick start when Thomas Broich chipped a perfectly weighted pass over the top of the Fury defence for Kosta Barbarouses.  The Roar striker took a touch to allow him to beat Justin Pasfield and calmly finished into an open goal.  It was an excellent start for the league leaders and they quickly settled into their typical style of play.  As the first half wore on Fury were able to create some promising passages of play and put some pressure on the visitors.  As the match progressed it became apparent that a few of the Roar players were feeling the conditions a bit and this was leading to uncharacteristically loose passing.  But with fifteen minutes to go Matt McKay slid a perfect pass through the defence for Barbarouses who fired his shot through the keeper's legs to round out another crucial win.

With Adelaide United having lost on Friday night to Melbourne Heart, the Roar's win sees them push their lead out to ten points.

Barbarouses' form in front of goal will have been a big boost for the Roar after the club sold striker Reinaldo to Qatari club Al Ahly during the week.  Rumour has it the Roar will have a dip into the transfer market to help strengthen their attacking options.

Roar's Sweet Sixteen

Kosta scores the match winner

Chalk up another milestone, Brisbane Roar has now extended it's record breaking unbeaten run to sixteen games.  In doing so they have equalled the all time Australia record held by South Melbourne, and cracked their hoodoo at Sydney Football Stadium.  In a tough match against the struggling defending champions, the Roar had to work hard to earn a narrow 1:0 win.

The first half was virtually a one way procession with Sydney opting to park the bus and sit deep in defence.  That left Brisbane free to play their possession game and they worked the ball around at will in an attempt to unlock the compact Sydney defence.  Space in behind the Sydney defence was hard to find as a result an Brisbane had to work hard to create their chances.  But they stretched Sydney on a number of occasions and it was through the good work of Ivan Necevski that they forced Brisbane to wait forty minutes for their opening goal.  When it came it was in superb fashion with Brisbane fashioning a wonderful goal.  The move started with Broich cutting back infield and delivering a cross field pass to Mitch Nichols who angled a nice pass into the feet of Jean Carlo Solorzano.  The Costa Rican delivered a superb chipped pass on the angle with his back to goal and he found Kosta Barbarouses in the box.  The little Kiwi forward lashed a great shot toward the goal from an acute angle and beat Necevski.

The second half was a much harder fought encounter with Sydney lifting noticeably through the introduction of Alex Brosque.  The former Roar striker added more pace and mobility up front as well as a high work rate.  Sydney as a result began playing with a higher intensity and also from a position further up the park.  Brisbane were tested on a number of occasions with Dimitri Petratos forcing a save from Theoklitos to register the best of them.  But Brisbane remained resolute in their defence and were able to ride out the match.

So Roar extend not only their unbeaten streak but also re-establish a seven point lead over Adelaide United at the top of the A-League table.

Nichols was instrumental
in Roar's win

There might be a bit of gossip floating around after this game with Reinaldo left out of the match day squad completely.  Nothing was asked in post match interviews and all that Fox Sports reported was that more would be announced about it in the coming days.  I'm not sure what is the issue, but the most likely situation appears to be a transfer.  The other thing I can think of is that maybe it's a disciplinary thing or for personal reasons.  Who knows, but I assume we'll find out in due course.

Fox also reported that Korean side Busan I'Park had scouts at the game and they were looking at Brisbane Roar players.  I'm not sure who they were looking at but you could expect that names like McKay, Solorzano and Broich would have been near the top of their lists.  Whether anything comes of this we'll just have to wait and see.

FFA Finally Scrap Rovers

It's the bullet that Australian football has been waiting to see delivered for a good six months now, but the FFA has finally killed off the doomed Sydney Rovers A-League bid.  Having awarded a provisional licence to the consortium which leap-frogged a number of other bidders, the Rovers consortium has grown into a considerable embarrassment having failed to put together anything of any substance that resembled a football club.

Many anticipated that the failed World Cup bid would sound the death knell for Rovers, so it was of no surprise yesterday when the FFA finally announced Rovers' demise.  The decision could be a harbinger of doom for the struggling North Queensland Fury franchise who are anxiously waiting for a decision on their future.  Many believe that Fury are likely to be cut now that Australia has failed to secure the World Cup.

If there is one thing that we can take away from the whole Sydney Rovers debacle it is that the calls for getting more 'football' people into the game are nothing more than hollow rhetoric.  Headed by Saatchi and Saatchi executive and former player Ian Rowden and former Socceroo Charlie Yankos, Rovers was the first franchise that appeared to fit this criteria.  It's total and utter abject failure highlights why this sort of sentiment will never move football in this country forward.  We need quality business people and sporting administrators running football clubs, not just former footballers who are only there simply because they once kicked a bit of leather around a park.

Sadly the footnote to this whole sad and sorry Rovers affair is that the FFA still appears totally hell bent on expanding the A-League into the Western Sydney region.  It seems that despite the league being financially on it's knees at the moment, the FFA are will to turn a blind eye to beginning a program of stabilization, and will merely push on with their already flawed program of expansion.  Along the way it looks as though they are more than willing to allow the Fury to become just a piece of collateral damagae.  Sadly though that may not be where the damage ends.

Word out of the Gold Coast this week saw Clive Palmer announce that the club's upcoming clash with the Central Coast Mariners will see the gates thrown open and admission free.  While many are applauding the move, to me this is a very worrying sign.  It strikes me that this is a test case by Palmer to see just how much potential support there may be out there.  Don't be surprised that if the hordes don't turn up for that match, then Palmer will decide to walk away from the club.  With their total lack of a support base it could be bad news for the future of the club with neither the FFA or any other investor probably in the possible to support a football club that is more or less non-viable as a business.

Other worrying news has been rumours that the FFA is looking to implement a number of measures to reduce  the financial burden on clubs.  Unfortunately they seem to want to reduce the number of games to reduce match day overheads.  On top of this they are apparently keen to also reduce the salary cap.  So basically all this will achieve is a lowering of the standard of play in the league due to not being able to keep or attract higher quality players and not enough games to allow players to develop their games.  Really bright thinking from the FFA.

McKay, Murdocca, Nichols Resigning Presser

Video from yesterday's press conference to announce the resigning of Matt McKay, Massimo Murdocca and Mitch Nichols.

Triple Treat For Roar Fans

Mckay, 3 more years

It was a big news day for Brisbane Roar today with the club announcing the resigning of three regular first team players.  Matt McKay, Massimo Murdocca and Mitch Nichols all put pen to paper on new contracts the club announced today.  McKay and Murdocca, the only remaining foundation players at the club, both signed off on three year deals while Nichols has agreed to a new two year deal.

McKay revealed that despite interest from a host of clubs both in Australia and overseas he was always set to sign a new deal with the club.  His midfield workhorse mate, Massimo Murdocca, also revealed that there was only one club that he was going to sign with having recently stated his willingness to play out his career in the orange of Brisbane.  Nichols meanwhile revealed that despite Gold Coast United talking up a big money move for him in the press, he never even bothered talking to another club and couldn't get his signature on a new Roar deal fast enough.

Murdocca, 3 more years

It's a great result for the Roar as this really cements our core group of players for the next few seasons.  The only position that really has a cloud over it now is that of striker with Reinaldo coming off contract at the end of the season and Solorzano only on a year long loan.  We have a few other boys coming off contract, but they fall into the fringe player category.  I'd expect we will see the club sort out what is happening up front as a matter of priority now.

Nichols, 2 more years

What this does mean for us is that we are going to have some real stability in the squad over the next couple of seasons.  If this side can carry on with the job this season and win us a title then that means we will be able to keep the majority of a championship winning side together, something that is traditionally a bit difficult in the A-League.  It sets us up to be able to keep improving as a playing group and be able to mount a really strong title defence and Asian Champions League campaign.  It really is a great basis on which to build upon and dare I say it, it could even be the start of a dynasty.

Credit to the club for getting these negotiations sorted out.  I dare say there are plenty of happy Roar fans around the Brisbane area tonight.  Now if we can just sort out a permanent deal for Solorzano.

Justice FFA Style

Whoever is responsible for handing out suspensions down at FFA headquarters has a pretty warped sense of reality.  We shouldn't be surprised, but yet again Kevin Muscat has escaped suspension despite clearly being being seen striking a rival coach.  It never ceases to amaze just how much the FFA is willing to protect a man is quite simply the biggest cunt in the game.

I'm lost for words.  Here's hoping one of the Heart players breaks the cunt's leg in the derby this weekend.

Fuck off FFA.

Fury Exodus Rising

You have to feel for poor old North Queensland Fury.  They have battled away manfully this season despite being put well and truly behind the eight ball by the FFA.  Forced to operate under just 85% of the salary by it's FFA administrators they have battled to stay competitive over the course of the season.  But their biggest problem lies in the lack of clarity over their future and the FFA imposed embargo on resigning players.  With all but David Williams signed to one year deals the Fury saw the period of contract negotiation open up with both hands tied behind their backs.  With other clubs free to negotiate with their players it was only a matter of time before player's put their own futures ahead of their loyalty to the struggling club.  Today the tally of players confirmed to have signed deals with other clubs hit four.

The first to seal his fate was Isaka Cernak who put pen to paper on a deal with Melbourne Victory some weeks back.  He was followed more recently by goal keeper Justin Pasfield who has committed his future to the Central Coast Mariners.  Now today Osama Malik announced that he was returning to Adelaide United, while striker Chris Payne announced that he had signed a deal with Newcastle Jets.

The Fury must be tearing their hair out as they watch some of their best talent walk out the door while they continue to wait for the FFA to make a decision on their future.  Apparently the FFA are having a board meeting on Thursday and it is possible that the Fury may know if they have a future after that.  I certainly hope so.  These guys deserve a break and if they are to stay in the league then they need to be able to get back into the transfer market as soon as possible, while they still have some semblance of squad left.

Meanwhile the FFA has announced that CEO Ben Buckley will be renewing his contract when it expires in a couple of weeks.  After the neglect that the A-League has suffered as a result of the failed World Cup bid, Buckley is going to have to make some big moves early on to prove that he can steer this ship back on course.

Contenders And Pretenders

We're getting towards the business end of the season now, but it's pretty hard to tell just what shape the league table is taking.  One of the vagaries of this season's jumbled draw is just who the real title contenders are.  With teams playing as many as twenty and as few as sixteen games the number of points accumulated isn't an overly accurate measure of where each of the teams are.  So how do things really sit?  Probably a better measure of how the teams are placed is to look at the number of points earned per game.  With that in mind, here is a look at how the league would stand and how each team's prospects stack up.

1. Brisbane Roar
One thing is certain at the moment, Brisbane Roar are undoubtedly the leading team in the league.  With an average of 2.05 points per game they are easily leading contender for the league.  They are playing easily the highest quality football in the league and have the best attack and one of the best defences.  Having played the most games of all the teams so far Roar also have the luxury of having the points in the bag.

2. Adelaide United
From wooden spoon to title contender, it's been an amazing turnaround for the Reds.  They made a great start to the season and led the league for much of the first half before suffering a few hiccups.  They have proven that they have plenty of goals in them, but a habit of not taking control of games can be their downfall at times.  Flores is an inspiration when sides are unable to contain him and with a proven goal scorer up front they will stay in the running this season.

3. Gold Coast United
It's been a tough year for Gold Coast who have shelved their entertainer hat and adopted a much more pragmatic approach.  They have lost star striker Shane Smeltz to Europe and a host of injuries have plagued their season.  But despite these setbacks they have kept themselves in the running all season.  Gold Coast will likely be in the running at the business end of the season but whether  they can bridge the gap to Roar is another question.

4. Central Coast Mariners
The Mariners have been a bit like Adelaide in a season that has had it's ups and downs.  The loss of Patricio Perez has been an issue to Graham Arnold's intended system, but he has been bolstered by the rise of young Mustafa Amini.  Adam Kwasnik appears to have emerged as the club's secret scoring weapon, while young keeper Matt Ryan has been a surprise packet in goal.  It looks likely that the Mariners might be a bit too far behind to grab top honours now unless they go on a real streak.

5. Newcastle Jets
The major smokey in the league actually now shapes as Newcastle.  They have played less games than anyone and there position on the ladder is potentially the most misleading.  Considering points per game the Jets have risen three places in the league.  Goals appear to be the Jets' major hurdle despite having more strikers on the roster than I have had hot dinners.  Injuries are also a hurdle likely to impede Newcastle's progress with a regular array of players heading to the treatment room.  The finals look a realistic chance for the Jets if they can put together a consistent run but don't expect them to be able to challenge for one of the higher places.

6. Wellington Phoenix
It's been a tough season for the Nix, but they have kept plugging away and remain in the hunt for a spot in the finals.  Paul Ifill hasn't fired as well this season and the Nix have found it much harder on the back of this.  They don't really seem to have enough in attack and their brand of football is starting to look a little dated.  They might sneak into the six, but it's going to be a challenge.

7. Melbourne Victory
Things have been a struggle for Victory so far this season, but with the return of Archie Thompson things might be about to turn around.  Their attacking options really centre around Thompson, Robbie Kruse and Carlos Hernandez and if they fire then results can come.  But their defence is starting to look a bit flimsy with the aging Kevin Muscat and Roddy Vargas found out on numerous occasions this season.  No chance for league honours now but could cause trouble in the finals if they make it.

8. Melbourne Heart
It's fair to say that the Heart have not lived up to the hype.  Injuries, a lack of mobility in attack and a slowness to really settle into Van't Schipp's system has hampered their season.  They have kept themselves in with a sniff of the finals but they are looking more likely to finish the season as also rans.

9. Sydney FC
Woeful is the one word to describe Sydney's season.  It's been a massive fall from grace and Viteslav Lavicka seems lost for answers.  Their defence is awful and without Alex Brosque they look limited in attack. Sydney can forget about the finals and should start working out how to avoid humiliation in the Asian Champions League.

10. North Queensland Fury
They were behind the eight ball before the season began with a limited wage budget and the season has proven to be a real struggle for the boys from the north.  Simply playing for pride now.

11. Perth Glory
Came out of the blocks like a champion and tripped over before they even got up the back straight.  On a points per game basis they sit stone cold motherless last and it's a fair representation of where they are at.  Nothing to be gained from this season at now, time to start planning for season seven.


Realistically Brisbane Roar sit out in front as the favourites at the moment.  If Brisbane falter it could let Adelaide, Gold Coast or Central Coast in with a chance.  But this remains a race in four at the most.  It's clear we have a two tier league at the moment and realistically the finals should only cater for the top four sides.  The fifth and sixth placed sides are two far back and genuinely don't deserve to be competing for the big old toilet seat.  There are a few teams competing for those consolation places and Newcastle and Victory may be the ones to sneak in.

Leeds Stay In Promotion Hunt

Becchio scored a brace overnight

OK, time to take a little bit of focus away from Brisbane Roar, World Cup bids and the Socceroos.  Over in England Leeds United have been toiling away in their return to the Championship in England.  It has been a bit of a roller-coaster ride through the first twenty rounds of the league, but Leeds are keeping pace with the top end of the table.  After a 2:1 win over Crystal Palace at Elland Road overnight they find themselves occupying sixth spot on the ladder and in the hunt for a spot in the playoffs, and potential promotion back to the Premier League.

While there have been plenty of ups and downs so far this season, and a number of really poor results, the Whites have managed to keep themselves in the top half of the table and have regularly occupied a spot in the top six.

Defence has proved a bit of a problem child for Leeds this season and they have conceded more goals than we all would have liked.  With Paddy Kisnorbo still recovering from the Achilles injury that he sustained last season, Leeds have chopped and changed their back four in a bid to find the most reliable combination.  The arrival of Bolton defender Andy O'Brien, and his partnership with Alex Bruce, seems to have helped a lot along with the inclusion of George McCartney at left back.  Both O'Brien and McCartney are with the club on loan and are contracted only until January I think.  Hopefully Leeds will be able to secure them on longer deals so that we can keep some stability at the back.

But while keeping the goals out has been an issue there hasn't been too much trouble putting them away at the other end of the park.  The ever reliable Luciano Becchio has led the way with a regular haul of goals and Davide Somma has stepped up to help fill the shoes of the departed Jermaine Beckford.  From midfield Jonny Howson has been doing his bit and his inspirational hat trick to earn us a win against Scunthorpe United was a real highlight of the season so far.

On the Aussie front Neil Kilkenny has kept the flag flying by being a regular in the centre of midfield.  It's a pity though that his good form at club level continues to go unrewarded at national team level.

Leeds face a typically busy schedule over the Christmas and New Year period, before a mid-January FA Cup with Premier League high flyers Arsenal.  Having seen their previous season de-rail a bit after a cup run I'm pretty all at Leeds will be ensuring that they keep their league form a priority over the coming months.

At the start of the season I would have been happy with a nice comfortable mid-table season.  But here we are nearing the mid-point of the season and Leeds are keeping themselves in with a sniff of promotion.  It would be awesome to get back into the top flight but there is always the concern about going up too soon.  At the end of the day though we are a club that should be in the top flight and if we are able to sneak back in this season then all well and good.  Whatever happens though I will be just happy if we keep a good steady run of form going for the remainder of the season.  Whatever comes at the end of it will be a bonus.

Consecutive Losses For Roar Youth

Roar goal scorer
Matt Thurtell

While Brisbane Roar had their A-League and W-League sides seeing action in Melbourne, it was a case of a trip across the Nullabor for their Natioanl Youth League side.  Sitting on top of the league the youth team was set to take on third placed Perth Glory.

The match proved to be a tough day at the office for Roar's young players with Perth fielding a side bristling with players from their A-League squad.  As a result Perth dominated the first half and took a two goal lead into the break with Tommy Amphlett and Anthony Skorich doing the damage.  But the introduction of Matt Thurtell in the second half saw Roar immediately reduce the margin to a single goal.  Unfortunately Brisbane were not able to find an equaliser and succumbed 1:2 to the home side.

Brisbane now slips to second on the ladder after Gold Coast United posted a victory over Sydney FC earlier in the day.  Brisbane's next game will see them take on Sydney in Wollongong next weekend.

Roar Ladies Smash Victory

Gielnik grabbed her maiden goal

Brisbane Roar ladies continued their strong form with a third straight win, this time smashing Melbourne Victory 4:1.  Obviously revelling in the comfort afforded from playing a rare fixture at one of the premier A-League venues the girls dominated the fixture at AAMI Park.

Tameka Butt was instrumental in setting up Brisbane's win scoring twice in as many minutes to set up a two goal first half lead.  Butt failed to push on and secure her hat trick despite a host of good chances.  With a plethora of chances being created and not taken, Brisbane could easily have grown frustrated.  It was a situation that was not helped by an under hit back pass from Brooke Spence that allowed Melbourne to pull a goal back through Caitlin Friend.  But Roar pushed on and with the introduction of Lisa De Vanna and Emily Gielnik from the bench they secured a comfortable win.  De Vanna showed her customary pace to run on to a route one ball from Kim Carroll and finish clinically past Melissa Barbieri.  De Vanna then turned provider by laying off a pass for Gielnik and the youngster delivered a searing strike from just outside the box to round out the win.

The victory sees Roar move to the top of the table with Sydney not playing this weekend due to the bye.  Their next match sees them take on struggling Adelaide United who saw their horror winless streak continue today.  The Reds conceded four goals in Canberra before torrential rain forced the match to be called off with the points awarded to the home side.  Brisbane will go into that game as unbackable favourites.

Roar Grab Controversial Fifteenth

Nico continues scoring run

Brisbane Roar extended their record unbeaten run to fifteen games overnight with an enthralling last gasp draw against Melbourne Victory.  Sadly though it won't be the performances of either side that will have the focus over the next few days after we saw yet another A-League clash marred by poor refereeing.  Melbourne looked to have staged their own heroic comeback after coming back from two goals down before Roar grabbed a controversial equaliser in the dying seconds.

Brisbane had gone to the break with a two goal lead after a Matthew Kemp own goal and a Jean Carlo Solorzano finish.  They looked to be cruising to yet another win when Melbourne burst back into the game with two goals to Robbie Kruse and a goal to Archie Thompson.  Victory appeared to have the points in the bag when Michael Theoklitos caught a ball just outside the box deep into injury time.  None of the officials seemed to spot the infringement and Theoklitos immediately punted the ball up field where Reinaldo flicked on a header that fell perfectly for Matt McKay.  The Roar skipper surged forward into the box and fired a shot at goal that was parried by Michael Petkovic.  Luck was with the Roar as the ball cannoned off Roddy Vargas and fell enticingly once more for McKay who finished off with a calm shot into the goal.



It was a massive blunder by the officials to miss Theo's clear handball.  In reality Victory should have had a free kick and Theo really should have earned a red card I guess.  Understandably Victory were incensed and had plenty to say to the officials as the final whistle blew.  Sadly though that was no excuse for what followed the game when Victory captain Kevin Muscat once more disgraced himself.  As the players milled around the centre circle words were exchanged between Muscat and Roar's goalkeeping coach Fernando Vaz Alves.  Muscat proceeded to march over to the Roar coach and struck him in the stomach.  Thankfully none of the Roar staff allowed themselves to be drawn down to Muscat's level and the situation was defused.  But the strike was clearly caught on television and a sanction must surely follow for Muscat.

The sad thing about this game was that it was marred throughout by poor decisions from the officials.  As much as Victory will cry about the final goal, they had a number of key decisions go their way.  Their second goal game after Kosta Barbarouses was adjudged to have handled the ball, despite it clearly coming off his stomach.  Their third goal came from a free kick given from the softest of fouls after Luke Brattan clearly got the ball in a tackle.  With all that happened a draw in the end was probably a fair result all round.  It is just a pity that it came in such poor circumstances.

For the Roar this was a match they should have had in the bag, but they let Victory back into the game.  Yet again though, they showed their amazing resolve to keep playing right through the ninety minutes and grab something from a match that looked to have got away from there.

On top of losing Massimo Murdocca during the week, Ange Postecoglou possibly has some new injury concerns with both Milan Susak and Mitch Nichols limping off in the second half.  Brisbane now has the luxury of a full week to recover and prepare for their next clash.  They will take on Sydney FC in a match where they will once more attempt to break their SFS hoodoo.  Given the way Roar are overcoming every hurdle in front of them this season there is a good chance we may just do it.

Russia And Qatar Announced As World Cup Hosts

Well folks all the results are in and the winners of the right to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups have been announced.  Russia beat out strong favorites England as well as Spain/Portugal and Netherlands/Belgium to host the 2018 World Cup.  Meanwhile Qatar beat out Australia, USA, Japan and Korea to host the 2022 World Cup.

Firstly, congratulations to the two winning nations.

In a pair of major moves, FIFA will take the World Cup to Eastern Europe for the first time and will host host a World Cup in the Arab world for the first time.  It is clear that this chance to break new ground held a lot of sway in the process.

For Australia it will be a major disappointment to lose the bid, but we must just now get on the with the job of developing the game in this country.  Sadly it seems the media is already starting to suggest that they smell a rat.  Personally I find it embarrassing that as a country this sort of sentiment will come out.  We lost, that's it, end of story.

At the end of the day I think Australia paid the price for a bid that lacked substance.  Unlike the likes of Qatar we offered zero social legacy and in all honesty I believe that is where we lost it.  We offered a World Cup that was nothing more than struth mate, chuck another prawn on the barbie.  It was an embarrassment and this is what we should focus on, not suggesting that the result was not fair.  For that Frank Lowy and his bid team must be held accountable.

The big question now is having missed out on hosting the World Cup what will the FFA do to grow the game.  That ball is in the court of Frank Lowy and his staff.  Let's hope they have the answers.