CCM 0 v Roar 2: Dangerous

1. The pitch.
Clearly Bluetongue stadium maintenance program is under-funded. Tonight it was dangerous and led Josh Mc to be substituted before half time. Seo came on to play his best so far this year. Will the pitch be deemed playable for the Asian Champions League? If not where will they be played?

2. The Crowd
Where were they? Only 9,000 is small even for Central Coast. The fans seem to have deserted their team. Shame.

3. CCM
The Mariners played a strong, dominant first half. But their once great strike-force had nothing in the final third. A goal down at half time, the Mariners were pushed back on the defensive in the second half. They looked dangerous from set pieces, but their defence looks brittle.

4. Danny Tiatto
What the? Danny doesn't seem to be able to handle the pressure of big games. His strength is when the Roar go a goal down. Tonight he looked dangerous, to the Roar. On the edge all night it was no surprise to see him get his second yellow. His first was a two footer in the first half that could have been a red. But his second was a case of not being given the benefit of the doubt, he had the ball, MacAlister ran into him - anyone else, in fact a few times tonight, and it is play on. The Danny decides to have a go at the ref. He ($500) and the Roar ($1,000) have just been fined for that. So will he get to play again this season?

5. Charmed
While 3 Roar players were carded, I don't think any Mariners were. Not even Petrovski when he took out McKay's legs from behind. And Nic Mrjda's swinging arm went un-detected even through he split Andy Packers lip. Why wasn't O'Grady carded when he gave away the penalty?

6. The Promotion
The build up to these FFA funded finals has been deafeningly quite.

7. Craig Moore.
Terrific tonight. He is the only A-League player playing for the Socceroos next week in Japan. Pim said he didn't want other A-Leaguers exposed for their finals. So it is just Craig hopping off the play and onto round two against the Mariners.

8. Mitch Nichols
Dangerous and on fire. Warming to his play maker role and scoring and setting up goals. Amazingly left Matt Simon in the shade. (Header from a corner goal plus tripped by O'Grady for the penalty).

9. The ACL
How disappointed must the FFA be that it is Newcastle and CCM representing Australia in the Asian Champions League.

It's a fool who plays it cool by making his world a little colder...

Less than a day away now. A win would set the Roar up for the biggest games in their history.

Biggest games so far:

- brain snaps in the last home and away game last year against Adelaide that saw Asia automatic qualification slip away and the chance of a home final at Lang Park
- 2-3 loss to Newcastle in the preliminary final

The last game this year at Lang Park needs a good tie up.

Sold. Why Newcastle and Wellington have actively found overseas contracts for their stars...

When a player off contract at the end of the season comes to club management half way through the year and says 'Match xyz A-League club's offer or I'm off.' And management can't - cause they are too close to the cap or the player is worthwhile but not worth more, management then have a massive opportunity to make money by selling the player overseas. So they do.

This happened when Jade North signed with the Fury and Newcastle bettered the deal with some Korean won. The same process, at least started, when Adam Griffiths signed with Gold Coast. And the same with Shane Smeltz being signed by Gold Coast.

It is clear, particularly for under-performing teams, as soon as a player announces another club is prepared to pay more, his club is incentivised - with nothing to lose - to sell him o/s. They just aren't going to have him next year anyway. Better to get him overseas and make something from the deal. Rather than nothing and having him play against you - a massive anti-fan move.

Jade North even put in in his contract - the Fury were cheesed because they thought Jade meant in principle, one day, he would leave within his 2 years - not before he even got there. Still Fury now have an even better deal with Fowler and perhaps Chipperfield.

Whether other contract selling post a player signing a transfer to an A-League hold up is yet to be tested. And who better to test it than Clive Palmer.

On a side issue, just why Newcastle seem to be emptying their decks is a real question.

Shane Smeltz - a bull in a china shop

Shane Smeltz has caused a PR nightmare for the A-League. In winning the golden boot, the Johnny Warren Medal (players' player of the year) and goal of the year, he wiped Australia from the A-League. But more than that few would rate as more than 'one of the' better strikers in the league. The first past the post split voting caused by players voting for their favourite player. Without penalties his goal scoring efforts did not match Danny Allsopp's 11. His goal of the season was good, but only as good as 6 or 7 other goals and surely not as good as Charlie Miller's long range side foot volley?

The result? Hardly a news ripple in Australia. In Queensland there was an expectation that Craig Moore's amazing cancer story would be rewarded. But no.

Even Wellington's basking glow was wiped out by Smeltz's very public move to the Gold Coast.

But Wellington, with nothing left to lose, got the last laugh. News soon broke that Wellington and Smeltz had signed a deal with a Turkish club shortly before the awards.

Gold Coast FC are ropable. And FFA have moved in to stop the deal. Perhaps it is outside the January window. Maybe even it was not Wellington's to make. Still how will Smeltz perform if forced to play for a club he is no longer interested in, and clearly thinks he is under-paid. From Gold Coast's view-point, they gave up a foreign spot for Smeltz.

Overall so many quality players were passed over for Smeltz. It all seems like a missed opportunity.

I wonder what Johnny Warren would think of a player playing for a foreign team winning this award and then using it to win a spot overseas?

John Kosmina

The A-League loses another paradise club member. What next to revive Sydney FC?

All clubs and their fans must be robust enough to miss out on the finals. For Sydney one day missing the finals was inevitable. And a long long way back next year. Will Gold Coast learn?

Sergio Van Dijk

He is Dutch and speaks Indonesian. And has Indonesian grandparents. In fact wants to play for Indonesia in the Asia Cup. He is also a sensation - 1 goal (a pen) in his first 11 games for the Roar - then 10 in 10.

Matildas 2 v Italy 2

In a number of ways the Matildas surpass the Socceroos. There is an uneasy cross promotion between the womens and mens versions of our code. Both teams play Dutch. But the most capped Australian player is Cheryl Salisbury who ended her 15 year national career yesterday.

And yesterday the Matildas outplayed the World's 12 best, Italy. It was a small crowd made look smaller by being played in the day-time and having the cameras focused on the opposite side to the crowd - with both at Parramatta park avoiding the steaming afternoon sun.

The Matildas played a flowing full pitch game, while Italy pressed on the counter. But the big difference was the game was shown in high definition on free to air. Something, and an audiance, the Socceroos will not get until the 2010 World Cup. And the pictures in HD were fantastic - better than regular Foxtel - and added the atmosphere of a great game. Lisa De Vanna was fantastic.

The only negative was the ABC broadcast on delay - not sure why - a daylight saving quirk?