Lament 2 .... a neat line in character assassination ...

This article 'Roar axe sharpened for under-achievers' on page 98 of the Courier-Mail on 24 January 2007 got me. Crikey.

'Let he who is without sin throw the first stone.' OK OK that would mean next to no journalism in Australia and probably a corrupt state - I know I know. But crikey. This is my team. It is our Queensland team. 32,000 of us watched them play what was one of the best games I have seen live. Certainly the best A-League game this year and I have watched all of them (most via Foxtel). Despite being a draw.

I was also staggered to read the comments from readers on the Courier-Mail online site. Didn't they see this team beat Melbourne (clearly the best team in the A-League) who were lucky enough to have Archie Thompson play for far less than he is worth (a factor of 10) and were lucky enough to sign Fred (who should be in Europe earning mega dollars) and who hoovered up all those Victorian based national soccer league champions plus Muscat (the only returning Australian from English Premier League to fire-up).

Did anyone notice this team's performance in the last 3 games? In the Sydney game that lead us to miss the finals, didn't they see that who ever booked Robbie Williams wrecked the pitch and caused Sydney's goal, that the Roar's goal was a sublime, planned combination from Sasa, Reinaldo and Damian, and that Australia's best referee missed a clear Sydney hand ball penalty?

Under-achievers? Get real.

Look at football results from around the world. For between one and three clubs in each competition it is about winning. For the rest it is about accumulating points. Sydney qualified and the Roar didn't because Sydney contrived and bored their own fans to draw 8 games and lost only 5. The Roar lost 8 and drew 5. Adelaide, who came second, lost 8 but won 10 as opposed to the Roar's 8. Adelaide coach Kossie said 'we were tanked' by the Roar in round one, but the score was 0-0 (Adelaide v Roar has been draw, Adelaide win, Roar win - even with 2nd place).

The under-achieving match-up the Roar lost was with NZ (5-0, 0-1 and 1-3) and NZ seem to have been able to breach (what is transparent of) FFA rules on squad numbers - fielding a very different team by the end of the season. Anyway, why is a close A-League competition that any team can win bad?

Players are people. Melbourne stuck with most of their 'under-achieving' players last season and built the foundation for a powerhouse that could attract 20,000 to 40,000 fans for home games. The Roar made big changes to their squad last season to find how difficult it is to match players to the style of the A-League.

Under-achievers? This is the sort of stuff written in this article:

'nor his waistline helped Dilevski's campaign'

- he looked fit to me, and scored the best set-piece goal of the season against Sydney in round one (later the paper reported that no set-piece goals had been scored under Miron).

'But a mid-season haircut appeared to have a Samson-like effect on Ognenovski, who battled a form slump before getting it together in the final few rounds.'

- the guy was out with injury and then wasn't played for what turned out to be the critical New Zealand game. Didn't this journalist see Sasa's 'getting it together' in the last game? 7/10 for Sasa and give 8.5 for Ben Griffin? Ben is good but next season he'll be better. Ben the same score as Matt McKay? Get real.

Marcus Wedau

3/10

. Get real. Frank didn't give him any game time. For some reason he played Chad. Will we ever know if Marcus was any good?

'Vidosic had lifted himself from the bottom of the club's priority list to become the most important player in the squad'

- I think the club have known about this guy for some time but he had a car accident before the pre-season and had to be temporarily replaced.

'Scottish striker all but disappeared from view. With the new restriction on overseas players set down by the FFA (four per club), Lynch could be an off-season casualty'

- Well he got injured. Then lost a bit of form. His relatives live on the Gold Coast, so if he became an Aussie (how long does that take?)? Simon Lynch's real problem is that Mori plays the role he played (up-front goal poacher) and the two of them together on the park looked awkward.

'.. only three goals ... but the years looked to have caught up with the likeable striker'

- Facts please, 4 goals.
Ante started from the bench to make way for Mori. He scored four cracker goals (round 1 against NZ set up by Zhang (80 min), against Melbourne in round one (16 min), round 2 Perth v Roar (14 min) when Roar were 0-1 after 90 seconds, and round three against NZ 80m). Plus he has set up some chances and goals particularly for Dario in 90+2 against Melbourne. But his big role is in mentoring - he has been a sensation particularly with Dario - I have watched them train side by side. He has had his head up all season. He only started 9 games, ran on for 19 and played for only 951 minutes - so 4 goals is not bad - look to the coaches.

Sorry Damian Mori took too long to score for the Roar to get 8.5. The Roar had to change the way the whole team played to suit him. He suits Central Coasts style. And that is probably the real story, don't be surprised if he starts for CCM next year.

But the one that makes me most.. well crikey...

'The Brazilian striker is a club favourite though it is hard to understand why on the back of yet another under-whelming performance. His season was a case of too many opportunities missed and he never really lived up to his so-called reputation as a header-specialist. Four goals was not good enough.'

- grrrrrrrr
Have you watched all his games? Frank sat Reinaldo in the stands a couple of times. And on the bench for others when they needed him. The problem with Reinaldo is that he plays brilliantly most of the time but not all the time.

Under-achievers? When in doubt blame the players.

How about the results reflecting the high quality of the A-League? Or the way football IS for almost all teams? Only Adelaide and Melbourne won more games than the Roar. Australian's expecting their team to win every game is a big frustration for the FFA. They talk of it in the press. Perhaps we are too used to cricket where our national team obliterates weak competition almost every year. Well good football isn't about that. And good journalism should be part of the explanation of good football and not encouraging the jingoism.

Round 19 and the A-League was still open and fans over Australia had a reason to go see their team. Maybe close is good.

The Roar spent less on acquiring players than the winning clubs in A-League version one and didn't spend the most in version two, the club made these calls. The fans got exciting football. But too few wins at home. But we also did not get our fair share of penalties. And in a sport where goals are rare, winning is rarer, and penalties are almost certain goals - this needs to be looked at. Why don't refs give the Roar more penalties - 1 in 42 games. Compare this to Melbourne - who got two against the Roar and 5 in the first 6 matches and then had to be warned by the FFA about diving in the box... hang on, something not right there... isn't that a criticism of the FFA against its own refs?

This is the world game. Australia's football performance is noticed outside Australia. Lift the journalism game. What about the quality of the journalism this year? 1/10 and that is for getting a story in. Facts wrong, stories missed.

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,21107895-5003412,00.html

We was robbed... My own David Bailey incident

Jeecy of the Roar suggested that it was Sasa and not Remo who slipped down onto his all fours just ahead of Alex Brosque's top 4 place winning shot. Shot so I had another look at the replay. And I found something amazing.

Later in the game, at the 60th minute, Mori hit his fantastic sizzer kick which was brilliantly saved by Bolton. Then the corner was quickly taken from the left. Mori soon got the ball again and ran with it on the right of the penalty box. He put the box back into the middle and Dario cannoned the ball into ..... a prostrate Ufuk Talay who stopped the ball with his - hand or FOREARM. Where was Australia's greatest referee? Bolton was out of position. Reinaldo was standing next to Talay and raised his hand - but the game went on. And Roar bow out - 42 A-League games and only one penalty (and there's Jade North giving away 3 hand ball penalties for Newcastle on his own).

By the way, the replay confirmed that it was Remo and not as the Roar reported on their site:
'when Sasa Ognenovski slipped on the loose surface Brosque was on hand to slam a right-footed shot past Liam Reddy.'

Sasa did slip twice, once running to cover the original pass and secondly after the pass was made ahead of Brosque. But it was Remo who ended on all fours in front of Brosque. If his footing holds he stops the pass and no goal. And Liam did get two hands on the ball but pushed it into the net... oh dear (why don't keepers catch the ball anymore?)

That end's final third looked like it was wet before the match. That section has been relayed as a result of the Robbie Williams concert and had to be given time to grow before the rugby league and union seasons. Imagine football fan Robbie Williams suffing up Qld Roar, oh well he did wear a Lions shirt or something.

Really Lang Park was badly prepared for such a key game and unfortunately it seemed to have dried out by the second half.
Also, Frank Farina was reported to be none to happy about a bunch of fans taking to the pitch in their football boots before the game. Wrong call event organisers - too big a game to risk the pitch like that.

Shame we won the toss and chose the wrong end to defend - there was me thinking the toss didn't matter in Football.

A-League: Helter Skelter - the battle for the top 4

One round to go and three teams are still vying for one spot. The focus is on Newcastle v Melbourne. Melbourne wins and its Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney and Queensland Roar with only the order to be decided. The order will determine who plays off for the home ground final.

Perth 3 - Newcastle 3

Newcastle scored in some wide-open spaces very early. And it looked like Newcastle were going to walk this one in. Perth coach and sometimes Socceroo assistant Ron Smith reconed he could have scored it. Then Jade North conceded his third hand-ball penalty this season and the teams went to the brake at 1-1.

Newcastle tired badly in the second half and played a defensive game. Not something we are used to seeing from a team that has at least matched results with Melbourne in the 2nd half of the season. Eventually, Perth put on two goals in quick succession and almost had a third. Then in the last two minutes of a four minute injury time, Newcastle - who had been looking badly beaten - sprung to life and it was Perth who looked done. Joel Griffiths scored twice in two minutes.

This draw means that if Newcastle beats Melbourne, the loser of Queensland v Sydney comes 5th. If Newcastle draws, by Friday three teams will have 28 points with Newcastle and Queensland on equal goal difference. Queensland must then draw with Sydney to gain a point and knock Newcastle out. If Roar lose their goal difference goes behind Newcastle and their out.

A-League: And it burns burns burns - the ring of fire... Adelaide 1 - Sydney 0

Defence didn't do the trick for Sydney tonight. Plus their two most feisty players, Milligan and McFlynn both copper their 4th yellows. Plus Alvin Ceccoli's 33rd minute injury puts a question mark over his next game.

Adelaide 1 Sydney 0
Fernando 89th
Crowd 14,704
Ref Matthew Breeze
Man of the match Daniel Beltrame (again a goal keeper)

So its Melb 45, Adelaide 30 - both in the finals. Sydney 28, Roar 28 and Newcastle 26 (with a game in hand). So unless Newcastle snags worse than two draws (which is possible given their last game is against Melbourne and which case we will know by Friday night), Queensland must beat Sydney to finish in the top 4.

The Sydney-side interest in the Adelaide v Sydney game was the absence of Sasho Petrovski (to the Japanese 2nd division) and the wait to the 77th minute for David Zdrilic. Zdrillic got a match saving save from Daniel Beltrame. Again Sydney played Terry's defensive game, and again we saw the problem. If the other team snags a goal - then that is it.

And for Adelaide we got an early look at their new Brazilian, Diego Walsh (68th Minute entry). Playing on mainly the left as an attacking mid-fielder, Diego won the goal by heading back towards goal and Fernando's legs, a ball that was heading out within feet of the left goal post. Fernando didn't know much, but Bolton knew less. And game to Adelaide.

However, the interesting point here is that the squad space for Diego seems to have been made by the cutting of Qu. Qu is said to have sustained a season ending injury. I remember Kossie commenting when Qu was sent off for head butting Chad Gibson what an expensive player Qu was and how much more was expected of him. Qu pleaded racism against Chad Gibson as extenuating circumstances - to which Chad rightly fired-up given his cultural background and family experiences of racism. We saw Qu once or twice more then he was gone. It highlights how much more ruthless Adelaide is as a club than the Roar. Qu recommended Zhang (pronounced Jang) to the Roar. But what the Roar didn't know at the time was that Zhang had a court case over his head for a maliciously car crash involving the team mate who replaced him. Actually I saw nothing that showed this possible side. The Roar also found Zhang to unsuitably fit. Frank Farina (at the time not the Roar's coach) wrote about this and pointed out the need to ask why a player wants to play. Zhang got a bit of airplay at the start of Frank's tenure but now sits in the stands. As it turns out it may be a pity the Roar was not able to find a replacement like Adelaide's Diego.

Anyway, barring a mishap for Newcastle at Perth. The top four will be determined by Queensland Roar v Sydney at Lang Park. Queensland will be without 2 of their best players, and Sydney without between 2 and 4 of their best (depending on how you rate Petrovski and I rate him highly and the progress of Alvin's injury). Foxtel and the Courier-Mail are predicting a huge crowd, maybe 30,000. Well that would be a turn-up given the Roar's home record and lack of matches up here - the last was a 0-3 lost to Newcastle on a tired old Thursday night.

Roar beat Melbourne 1-2

Confidence plus motivation have re-engaged the Roar's talent. Sometimes confidence and motivation can be enough. Almost always lack of confidence and, or lack motivation will sink a team. The A-league seats have witnessed this from the up and down form of both Queensland and New Zealand, as well as the Central Coast front of goal efforts.

Melbourne 1 Queensland 2
Crowd 28,900

The early news was Spase's pinpoint pass to Dario who flicked for - Mori's fantastic turn and step into space for a bulging net and his first Roar goal (18th Minute). Mori then copped an elbow to the head from Steve Pantelidis and played the rest of his game (77 minutes) bandaged to look like he had tonsillitis. A little later Pantelidis got what I thought looked like a wack from the ball - but the ref called a foul by Mori. Anyway by the second half Pantelidis and Mori were fighting for every ball and wearing matching bandages. Great match up.

In the first half the Roar's midfield dominated. Their best performance of the season.

Into the second half, the Roar sat back behind the ball. Sinking lower and lower into their final third. They missed a chance to beat Sydney playing this game in round one (1-1). By the 70th minute their energy seemed drained. And Melbourne got closer and closer until Archie Thompson picked up a ball rebounding from Ben Griffin's knee and toed in from around the middle of the penalty box (80th minute). This awoke the Roar's attacking game. And after a few missed opportunities from both sides, Dario Vidosic ran onto a left side cross in 90 minutes plus three. And the Roar had won.

The man of the match was Perth training squad and Australian under 20 goalkeeper Tando Velaphi. Tando pulled off at least one world class, right sided punching, save and several brave stops. Frank said this was his opportunity, and expect to see him in the Perth line-up next year - unless the Roar can snaffle him. Seo also had a great game taking Muscat out of the game. Spase had moments of great passing and setting up opportunities as did Reinaldo. Of course Sasa was back and he made a difference.

There was some downside for the Roar. Josh McCloughan and Matty McKay both seem to have scored their 4th yellow cards for the season and will miss the final and critical game against Sydney at home next week. Ref Mark Shield seemed to lose control around the middle of the game handing out 7 yellow cards in total. Several for minor offences. Matty's for apparently wasting time at the end of the first half (thanks Jeccy - talking to Frankie). Matty may be off contract at the end of the season - so we keep our fingers crossed he will be retained (thanks Jeccy - commentators suggest he has signed for two more years).

This will mean Massimo, who played around 26 minutes at his speedy best, will be key. He narrowly missed a goal opportunity just after coming on.