Big Daves Gussett wrote:
(when will I get over the novelty of being able to drink beer while watching football?)

I hope you got hod of some proper beer BDG. Because all they were selling at AAMI was Cascade Lite, XXXX Gold or VB Lite. Mid strength shite! Not exactly your Little Creature Bright Ale or your James Squire, unfortunately.

Unfortunately it's $6 for a plastic cup of VB at the SFS, Max.

And I usually have to ask them to fill the cup up properly.... if I'm paying $6 for cat's piss, I want a full measure of cat's piss.

Central Coast serve full strength beer during the game, most other venues seem to prefer the mid-strength. The Suncorp SAY it's mid-strength, I have my doubts though.

I haven't been to Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide or Perth so couldn't comment on their beer strategy.

Melbourne Arab wrote:
Big Daves Gussett wrote:
On a negative note, I did see something tonight I hoped I'd never see at a football match in Australia - an Oxford United scarf. An absolutely sickening sight and one I hope not to see again.

Time for my first boring, predicatble cheap shot at Sydney FC's crowds for the season.

Judging by the pitiful crowd last night, BDG, you should be grateful for anybody turning up wearing anything.

I honestly can't believe that crowd - 12,106.

Sydney Rovers are the most important football club in Australia.

I don't understand why the crowd issue is always such a big deal, with all the other sports that are on in Sydney at the moment I wasn't surprised to see only 12'000 for what is still a minority sport in this country.

I was actually a little surprised by the numbers that came up from Melbourne as thought a few more would've been up for the opener against the Champions?

Jonas77 wrote:

I don't understand why the crowd issue is always such a big deal

Might have something to with the huge losses all the A League clubs, and particulary Sydney FC, are making.

with all the other sports that are on in Sydney at the moment I wasn't surprised to see only 12'000

I assume those other sports were around last year when 15k turned up for the first home game after a season in which Sydney missed finals.

I was actually a little surprised by the numbers that came up from Melbourne as thought a few more would've been up for the opener against the Champions?

Ah, so it was the shite away support that was to blame.

This isn't an anti-Sydney FC thing you know. I was embarrassed by the pathetic turnout at last season's grand final and my work colleagues won't let me forget it every time I try to claim that football is here to stay.

Proper beer in the members area at Glory but no view of the game.

Piss-weak defending, as expected.

Talked to three guys who had bought memberships for the first time because Fowler was from (sic) Liverpool and so were they. One was an Everton fan.

Fat Cockney wrote:

Talked to three guys who had bought memberships for the first time because Fowler was from (sic) Liverpool and so were they. One was an Everton fan.

That's funny, but it seems to be widespread. A Scouser friend of mine who is an Everton fanatic went along to Sydney vs the Fury last season to watch Fowler (with mixed feelings) but ended up cheering his goal. I think the fact that Fowler was supposedly an Everton fan as a child, combined with being much more likeable than Owen or Gerrard for example mean that people can warm to him across the divide.

Little known German coach Holger Osieck has been appointed new Socceroos' coach. I can't say I've ever heard of him.... his wiki entry doesn't tell you much. Oh, well....

I thought the new coach was supposed to be somebody who was coaching at the World Cup - that's why there was so much speculation about Paul Le Guen.

Craig Foster is going to need an oxygen mask. Some lightening-quick Wiki vandalism has occured on Holger Osiek's page. At least I assume it's vandalism:

On the 11th of August 2010, Osieck signed a deal to coach the Australian national team for a period of four years ending after the 2014 World Cup.

When interviewed regarding his new job Osieck said "Mmmmm I sure do love those juicy mangoes you've got in Australia".

Melbourne Arab wrote:
I thought the new coach was supposed to be somebody who was coaching at the World Cup - that's why there was so much speculation about Paul Le Guen.

Cameroon's poor showing at the WC finals was said to have ruled Le Guen out.

The only previous national team coached by Osieck is Canada...!

Big Daves Gussett wrote:
Craig Foster is going to need an oxygen mask. Some lightening-quick Wiki vandalism has occured on Holger Osiek's page. At least I assume it's vandalism:

On the 11th of August 2010, Osieck signed a deal to coach the Australian national team for a period of four years ending after the 2014 World Cup.

When interviewed regarding his new job Osieck said "Mmmmm I sure do love those juicy mangoes you've got in Australia".


That's fantastic!

Mango sucking is a running joke on SBS's twg forum....

What an incredibly underwhelming appointment. Perhaps the FFA really have drained the coffers with the World Cup bid.

I was rather hoping the rumours that Maradonna might take the job would turn out to be true.

I remember that name. He got run out of Canada on a rail after coaching them to a Gold Cup win, if I recall correctly. If he's the one I'm thinking of, Canada went to the Confed Cup in Japan courtesy of that Gold Cup win, got destroyed, and he got summarily fired. Our Canadians on the MLS thread would remember him much better I think.

Melbourne Heart have scored their first ever A League goal - and what a beauty it was.

It came late in the game - a wonderful, curling lob from 20 yards out that left Newcastle keeper Ben Kennedy helpless. The scorer was Ben Kantarovski...Newcastle's centre half.

There have been 7 A League games so far this season and 6 have been draws (three of them 3-3).

Melbourne Arab wrote:
Melbourne Heart have scored their first ever A League goal - and what a beauty it was.

It came late in the game - a wonderful, curling lob from 20 yards out that left Newcastle keeper Ben Kennedy helpless. The scorer was Ben Kantarovski...Newcastle's centre half.

There have been 7 A League games so far this season and 6 have been draws (three of them 3-3).

Own Goal was the only way Heart were ever going to score.... they have no forward line.

They resemble Adelaide United in that respect...

Adelaide United play Melbourne Heart on Friday.

I predict it won't finish 3-3.

It doesn’t matter whether you play in an atmosphere-less bowl in front of 35,000 empty seats, with the crowd nowhere near the action, on a pitch that’s not fit to graze cattle on; or, in a rectangular stadium, with the crowd up against the pitch which is in immaculate condition.

Shite football is shite football. And Melbourne Victory are shite.

Victory’s first game at AAMI Park was appalling in almost every respect – atrocious football (from Victory at least), abysmal refereeing (how did Jacob Burns see out the 90 minutes?) and a very quiet passionless crowd of 20,358, about 5k below expectations. With Victory’s crowds continuing to dwindle, Heart having no supporter base yet and with salary cap cheats Melbourne Storm never having had any fans to begin with, AAMI Park could be a white elephant. Melbourne Rebels to save the day?

It’s perhaps too early to condemn Michael Petkovic, especially as I didn’t watch last week’s game but, having seen the goals from Sydney and his performance tonight, Mosslike is a word that is looking worryingly appropriate.

The defence is comically bad. Kevin should clearly have retired – he was actually Perth’s best passer of the ball last night.
As for Victory’s forays forward – basically, this consisted of the midfield and the strikers bunching together on the edge of the 18 yard line and making hundreds of 2 foot passes while the Perth defence stood and watched with their arms folded looking as bored as the crowd. Surat Sukha looked moderately dangerous early on but got substituted. The other player supposed to provide width, Evan Berger, had an appalling game and resorted to diving unconvincingly – he needs to look at Alex Brosque a bit more closely to perfect the art. For much of the game, centre half Adrian Leijer was playing as the right winger with predictable results.

Near the end, Carlos Hernandez went off injured. If he joins Archie and Robbie Kruse on the injury list, next week’s game will be a complete waste of time. Thankfully, it’s a 3pm kick off. I hate Saturday night games and I’m not sure I can face another one after last night’s debacle.

As for the stadium, it looks beautiful from the outside. I’ve only ever seen it in daylight before but, with the bubble roof all lit up, it’s a fantastic sight. Inside, it’s very green and, unfortunately, the 10,000 empty seats really stood out. The lack of atmosphere suggests that Etihad Stadium wasn’t necessarily the problem – it’s Victory’s supporters. I can’t believe how much this club has declined in such a short period of time. It’ll be interesting to see over the coming weeks and months how many have defected to Heart and how many have just given up.

I've just read Ernie's post match comments - he certainly knows how to look on the bright side:

"I thought our inter passing was very good." No doubt there is some statistic to show that passes made by players not called Kevin found a team mate 80% of the time. That's easy to achieve when you're standing right beside the bloke you're passing to.

"Our defending was, by and large, rock solid." I think "by and large" covers a multitude of sins here. 5 goals conceded in 2 games - 3 to a team who rarely score more than 1 and 2 at home to a team who hardly ever win on the road.

"We had 11 corners to Perth's 4." When Perth had a corner, they stuck the big men inside the 6 yard box and caused chaos. A goal from 1 corner, hit the bar from another. Victory didn't put anybody near Velaphi at corners and took most of them short. Perth survived untroubled.

Ernie then went on detail all the saves Velaphi made - all 3 of them. From what I can recall, they were pretty routine.